{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52596/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52596","id":"gutenberg_52596","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52596","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Czechoslovakia","Tales -- Czechoslovakia"],"text":"CZECH FOLK TALES\n\n                       SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY\n\n                       DR. JOSEF BAUDIS, M.R.I.A.\n\n                   LECTURER IN COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY\n                        AT THE PRAGUE UNIVERSITY\n\n\n                          WITH 8 ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                    LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.\n                RUSKIN HOUSE       40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C. 1\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe present collection has been selected from the following sources:--\n\n\n    Josef Kub\u00edn, Pov\u00eddky kladsk\u00e9, i., ii. (in \"N\u00e1rodopisn\u00fd vestn\u00edk\n    ceskoslovansk\u00fd\"). V. Vondr\u00e1k, Nekolik poh\u00e1dek z Dubu u Vodnan\n    (S. Bohemia), in \"Cesk\u00fd Lid,\" xiii.\n\n    V. Tille, Pov\u00eddky sebran\u00e9 na Valassku (S. Moravia). \"N\u00e1rodopisn\u00fd\n    sborn\u00edk ceskoslovansk\u00fd,\" Svazek vii. Prague, 1901.\n\n    Elpl, Rada poh\u00e1dek a povest\u00ed nasb\u00edran\u00fdch v L\u00edsni u Brna (Moravia).\n\n    B. M. Kulda, Moravsk\u00e9 n\u00e1rodn\u00ed poh\u00e1dky a povesti, i. (Prague,\n    1874). From Moravia.\n\n    The first two stories (\"Twelve Months,\" \"V\u00edtazko\") have been retold\n    by the novelist Bozena Nemcov\u00e1 (from the Slovak).\n\n\nMy translation could not be, of course, a literal one, because many\nphrases in the original might seem strange to the English reader's ear.\n\nFinally, I wish to express my thanks to Miss Eleanor Hull and Mr. Robin\nFlower for revising my English.\n\n\nJOSEF BAUDIS.\n\nLondon, October 1917.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                PAGE\n\n    PREFACE                                                      vii\n    INTRODUCTION                                                xiii\n    THE TWELVE MONTHS. From B. Nemcov\u00e1                             2\n    V\u00cdTAZKO. From B. Nemcov\u00e1                                      16\n    BOOTS, CLOAK, AND RING. From B. M. Kulda                      39\n    SILLY JURA. From B. M. Kulda                                  55\n    SLEEPY JOHN. From B. M. Kulda                                 61\n    THREE DOVES. From B. M. Kulda                                 71\n    THE BEAR, THE EAGLE, AND THE FISH. From Elpl                  98\n    KOJATA. From V. Tille                                        103\n    SHEPHERD HYNEK. From Kub\u00edn                                   111\n    THE THREE ROSES. From Kub\u00edn                                  123\n    THE ENCHANTED PRINCESSES. From Kub\u00edn                         129\n    THE TWIN BROTHERS. From \"Cesk\u00fd Lid,\" xiii. p. 84             142\n     THE WATERNICK. From Kub\u00edn                                   151\n    THE MAN WHO MET MISERY. From Kub\u00edn                           157\n    NINE AT A BLOW. From \"Cesk\u00fd Lid,\" xiii. p. 130               161\n    A CLEVER LASS. From Kub\u00edn                                    165\n    THE SOLDIER AND THE DEVIL. From \"Cesk\u00fd Lid,\" xiii.\n        p. 167                                                   170\n    OLD NICK AND KITTY. From Kub\u00edn                               179\n    THE KNIGHT BAMBUS. From Kub\u00edn                                182\n    FRANCIS AND MARTIN. From \"Cesk\u00fd Lid,\" xiii. p. 213           186\n    WITCHES AT THE CROSS. From Kub\u00edn                             190\n    THE WITCH AND THE HORSESHOES. From Kub\u00edn                     191\n    THE HAUNTED MILL. From Kub\u00edn                                 195\n\n\n\nThe first two illustrations are copies of pictures by Josef M\u00e1nes;\nthe others have been drawn by Mr. E. Stanek, who in some cases has\nadapted drawings by Mikul\u00e1s Ales.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe present collection is intended to exemplify the spirit of the\nCzech race. It may perhaps be objected that folk-tale themes are part\nof a common stock belonging to all European races, and even to many\nprimitive peoples: but though this is perfectly true, it is also no\nless certain that the spirit of the nation manifests itself in the\nmanner of their telling. The selection has been made from all sorts\nof folk tales, artistic and primitive alike; and yet two things are\ncommon to all of them: the moral tendency and a sense of humour. By\nthis I do not mean morality in the vulgar sense of retribution for\nevil, or of filial devotion, or the sentimental insistence upon\n\"every one living happily ever afterwards,\" and above all upon Jack\nmarrying his Molly. I mean that higher sort of morality which was the\nmainspring of Protestantism. It is often supposed that Protestantism is\nvery unfavourable to the development and preservation of folk tales;\nbut those of Bohemia are certainly an exception to this rule. The\nCzech nation was the first to adopt the Protestant faith, and even\nto-day is still Protestant at heart, though the Habsburgs forced it\nback into the Catholic fold.\n\nThe Czechs, then, have preserved their love for folk tales,\nadapting them to the higher morality and to the national sentiment,\nand discarding many of their supernatural features, or where the\nsupernatural was allowed to remain for a moment, reverting very soon to\nthe strict limits of probability. It is the very same method which, for\nexample, Mr. Wells employs in some of his novels. That the Slav nations\nhave a certain tendency to lay stress upon the ethical side in their\nfolk tales has already been pointed out by the Czech poet Erben, whose\ntales have been translated into English in Wratislaw's Collection.\n\nAs for their humour, the Czechs have a natural tendency to satire. The\nbest works in Old Czech literature are satires, and in modern times\none of the most brilliant of Czech politicians, Karel Havlicek, was\nalso the greatest Czech satirist. This spirit may also be seen in\nthe present collection; but in every case the story-teller, instead\nof assuming the attitude of the morality preacher or of indulging\nin theatrical invective against the wickedness of the times, rests\ncontent with a good-humoured gibe at the folly of the world, at the\nfrailty of his fellow-men, and, it may be, at his own.\n\nThese two traits are inherent in the nature of the Czech people;\nand those who know their love of such tales and of the literature\nwhich has grown out of them, can realize their search for a haven of\nrefuge from the cruel present and their fond dream-pictures of a land\nwhere all was good, where at last everything was bound to end well,\nwhere truth and justice at last had conquered. Alas! to the victims of\nHabsburg rule and Austrian bayonets the bare possibility seemed utterly\nexcluded. And yet why should they not dream of such a land? Amo quia\nabsurdum! But at the very moment their humorous ego could not suppress\na sneer. Yes, even in that wonderland which their fancy painted are\nfoolish kings, ever prone to break their word: even there people are\nbad and stupid! But our tale says that the bad were vanquished and\nthe foolish put to shame: let, then, the tale be told! And even as he\ntells it, his heart nurses the inward hope that the foreign tyrants\nwho oppress him may one day be vanquished and annihilated.\n\nThat such were the wishes of the Czech people, the Great War has\nshown. They have proved by their deeds their love of freedom; and\nto-day Czechs are fighting bravely in every Allied army and in their\nown national units formed in Russia. May their Austrian oppressors be\nbrought to the ground, and may Bohemia regain the freedom for which\nshe has longed for three centuries!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWELVE MONTHS\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a mother who had two daughters. One was\nher own child, the other her stepdaughter. She was very fond of her own\ndaughter, but she would not so much as look at her stepdaughter. The\nonly reason was that Marusa, the stepdaughter, was prettier than her\nown daughter, Holena. The gentle-hearted Marusa did not know how\nbeautiful she was, and so she could never make out why her mother\nwas so cross with her whenever she looked at her. She had to do all\nthe housework, tidying up the cottage, cooking, washing, and sewing,\nand then she had to take the hay to the cow and look after her. She\ndid all this work alone, while Holena spent the time adorning herself\nand lazing about. But Marusa liked work, for she was a patient girl,\nand when her mother scolded and rated her, she bore it like a lamb. It\nwas no good, however, for they grew crueller and crueller every day,\nonly because Marusa was growing prettier and Holena uglier every day.\n\nAt last the mother thought: \"Why should I keep a pretty stepdaughter\nin my house? When the lads come courting here, they will fall in love\nwith Marusa and they won't look at Holena.\"\n\nFrom that moment the stepmother and her daughter were constantly\nscheming how to get rid of poor Marusa. They starved her and they\nbeat her. But she bore it all, and in spite of all she kept on growing\nprettier every day. They invented torments that the cruellest of men\nwould never have thought of.\n\nOne day--it was in the middle of January--Holena felt a longing for\nthe scent of violets.\n\n\"Go, Marusa, and get me some violets from the forest; I want to wear\nthem at my waist and to smell them,\" she said to her sister.\n\n\"Great heavens! sister. What a strange notion! Who ever heard of\nviolets growing under the snow?\" said poor Marusa.\n\n\"You wretched tatterdemalion! how dare you argue when I tell you to\ndo something? Off you go at once, and if you don't bring me violets\nfrom the forest I'll kill you!\" said Holena threateningly.\n\nThe stepmother caught hold of Marusa, turned her out of the door, and\nslammed it to after her. She went into the forest weeping bitterly. The\nsnow lay deep, and there wasn't a human footprint to be seen. Marusa\nwandered about for a long time, tortured by hunger and trembling with\ncold. She begged God to take her from the world.\n\nAt last she saw a light in the distance. She went towards the glow,\nand came at last to the top of a mountain. A big fire was burning\nthere, and round the fire were twelve stones with twelve men sitting\non them. Three of them had snow-white beards, three were not so old,\nand three were still younger. The three youngest were the handsomest of\nthem all. They were not speaking, but all sitting silent. These twelve\nmen were the twelve months. Great January sat highest of all; his\nhair and beard were as white as snow, and in his hand he held a club.\n\nMarusa was frightened. She stood still for a time in terror, but,\ngrowing bolder, she went up to them and said: \"Please, kind sirs,\nlet me warm my hands at your fire. I am trembling with the cold.\"\n\nGreat January nodded, and asked her: \"Why have you come here, my dear\nlittle girl? What are you looking for?\"\n\n\"I am looking for violets,\" answered Marusa.\n\n\"This is no time to be looking for violets, for everything is covered\nwith snow,\" answered Great January.\n\n\"Yes, I know; but my sister Holena and my stepmother said that I must\nbring them some violets from the forest. If I don't bring them, they'll\nkill me. Tell me, fathers, please tell me where I can find them.\"\n\nGreat January stood up and went to one of the younger months--it\nwas March--and, giving him the club, he said: \"Brother, take the\nhigh seat.\"\n\nMarch took the high seat upon the stone and waved the club over the\nfire. The fire blazed up, the snow began to melt, the trees began to\nbud, and the ground under the young beech-trees was at once covered\nwith grass and the crimson daisy buds began to peep through the\ngrass. It was springtime. Under the bushes the violets were blooming\namong their little leaves, and before Marusa had time to think, so\nmany of them had sprung up that they looked like a blue cloth spread\nout on the ground.\n\n\"Pick them quickly, Marusa!\" commanded March.\n\nMarusa picked them joyfully till she had a big bunch. Then she thanked\nthe months with all her heart and scampered merrily home.\n\nHolena and the stepmother wondered when they saw Marusa bringing the\nviolets. They opened the door to her, and the scent of violets filled\nall the cottage.\n\n\"Where did you get them?\" asked Holena sulkily.\n\n\"They are growing under the bushes in a forest on the high mountains.\"\n\nHolena put them in her waistband. She let her mother smell them,\nbut she did not say to her sister: \"Smell them.\"\n\nAnother day she was lolling near the stove, and now she longed for\nsome strawberries. So she called to her sister and said: \"Go, Marusa,\nand get me some strawberries from the forest.\"\n\n\"Alas! dear sister, where could I find any strawberries? Who ever\nheard of strawberries growing under the snow?\" said Marusa.\n\n\"You wretched little tatterdemalion, how dare you argue when I tell\nyou to do a thing? Go at once and get me the strawberries, or I'll\nkill you!\"\n\nThe stepmother caught hold of Marusa and pushed her out of the door\nand shut it after her. Marusa went to the forest weeping bitterly. The\nsnow was lying deep, and there wasn't a human footprint to be seen\nanywhere. She wandered about for a long time, tortured by hunger and\ntrembling with cold. At last she saw the light she had seen the other\nday. Overjoyed, she went towards it. She came to the great fire with\nthe twelve months sitting round it.\n\n\"Please, kind sirs, let me warm my hands at the fire. I am trembling\nwith cold.\"\n\nGreat January nodded, and asked her: \"Why have you come again, and\nwhat are you looking for here?\"\n\n\"I am looking for strawberries.\"\n\n\"But it is winter now, and strawberries don't grow on the snow,\"\nsaid January.\n\n\"Yes, I know,\" said Marusa sadly; \"but my sister Holena and my\nstepmother bade me bring them some strawberries, and if I don't\nbring them, they will kill me. Tell me, fathers, tell me, please,\nwhere I can find them.\"\n\nGreat January arose. He went over to the month sitting opposite\nto him--it was June--and handed the club to him, saying: \"Brother,\ntake the high seat.\"\n\nJune took the high seat upon the stone and swung the club over the\nfire. The fire shot up, and its heat melted the snow in a moment. The\nground was all green, the trees were covered with leaves, the birds\nbegan to sing, and the forest was filled with all kinds of flowers. It\nwas summer. The ground under the bushes was covered with white\nstarlets, the starry blossoms were turning into strawberries every\nminute. They ripened at once, and before Marusa had time to think,\nthere were so many of them that it looked as though blood had been\nsprinkled on the ground.\n\n\"Pick them at once, Marusa!\" commanded June.\n\nMarusa picked them joyfully till she had filled her apron full. Then\nshe thanked the months with all her heart and scampered merrily\nhome. Holena and the stepmother wondered when they saw Marusa bringing\nthe strawberries. Her apron was full of them. They ran to open the door\nfor her, and the scent of the strawberries filled the whole cottage.\n\n\"Where did you pick them?\" asked Holena sulkily.\n\n\"There are plenty of them growing under the young beech-trees in the\nforest on the high mountains.\"\n\nHolena took the strawberries, and went on eating them till she could\neat no more. So did the stepmother too, but they didn't say to Marusa:\n\"Here is one for you.\"\n\nWhen Holena had enjoyed the strawberries, she grew greedy for other\ndainties, and so on the third day she longed for some red apples.\n\n\"Marusa, go into the forest and get me some red apples,\" she said to\nher sister.\n\n\"Alas! sister dear, how am I to get apples for you in\nwinter?\" protested Marusa.\n\n\"You wretched little tatterdemalion, how dare you argue when I tell\nyou to do a thing? Go to the forest at once, and if you don't bring\nme the apples I will kill you!\" threatened Holena.\n\nThe stepmother caught hold of Marusa and pushed her out of the door and\nshut it after her. Marusa went to the forest weeping bitterly. The\nsnow was lying deep; there wasn't a human footprint to be seen\nanywhere. But she didn't wander about this time. She ran straight to\nthe top of the mountain where the big fire was burning. The twelve\nmonths were sitting round the fire; yes, there they certainly were,\nand Great January was sitting on the high seat.\n\n\"Please, kind sirs, let me warm my hands at the fire. I am trembling\nwith cold.\"\n\nGreat January nodded, and asked her: \"Why have you come here, and\nwhat are you looking for?\"\n\n\"I am looking for red apples.\"\n\n\"It is winter now, and red apples don't grow in winter,\" answered\nJanuary.\n\n\"Yes, I know,\" said Marusa sadly; \"but my sister and my stepmother,\ntoo, bade me bring them some red apples from the forest. If I don't\nbring them, they will kill me. Tell me, father, tell me, please,\nwhere I could find them.\"\n\nGreat January rose up. He went over to one of the older months--it\nwas September. He handed the club to him and said: \"Brother, take\nthe high seat.\"\n\nMonth September took the high seat upon the stone and swung the club\nover the fire. The fire began to burn with a red flame, the snow began\nto melt. But the trees were not covered with leaves; the leaves were\nwavering down one after the other, and the cold wind was driving them\nto and fro over the yellowing ground. This time Marusa did not see\nso many flowers. Only red pinks were blooming on the hillside, and\nmeadow saffrons were flowering in the valley. High fern and thick\nivy were growing under the young beech-trees. But Marusa was only\nlooking for red apples, and at last she saw an apple-tree with red\napples hanging high among its branches.\n\n\"Shake the tree at once, Marusa!\" commanded the month.\n\nRight gladly Marusa shook the tree, and one apple fell down. She\nshook it a second time, and another apple fell down.\n\n\"Now, Marusa, run home quickly!\" shouted the month.\n\nMarusa obeyed at once. She picked up the apples, thanked the months\nwith all her heart, and ran merrily home.\n\nHolena and the stepmother wondered when they saw Marusa bringing\nthe apples. They ran to open the door for her, and she gave them\ntwo apples.\n\n\"Where did you get them?\" asked Holena.\n\n\"There are plenty of them in the forest on the high mountain.\"\n\n\"And why didn't you bring more? Or did you eat them on the way\nhome?\" said Holena harshly.\n\n\"Alas! sister dear, I didn't eat a single one. But when I had shaken\nthe tree once, one apple fell down, and when I shook it a second time,\nanother apple fell down, and they wouldn't let me shake it again. They\nshouted to me to go straight home,\" protested Marusa.\n\nHolena began to curse her: \"May you be struck to death by\nlightning!\" and she was going to beat her.\n\nMarusa began to cry bitterly, and she prayed to God to take her\nto Himself, or she would be killed by her wicked sister and her\nstepmother. She ran away into the kitchen.\n\nGreedy Holena stopped cursing and began to eat the apple. It tasted\nso delicious that she told her mother she had never tasted anything\nso nice in all her life. The stepmother liked it too. When they had\nfinished, they wanted some more.\n\n\"Mother, give me my fur coat. I'll go to the forest myself. That ragged\nlittle wretch would eat them all up again on her way home. I'll find\nthe place all right, and I'll shake them all down, however they shout\nat me.\"\n\nHer mother tried to dissuade her, but it was no good. She took her\nfur coat, wrapped a cloth round her head, and off she went to the\nforest. Her mother stood on the threshold, watching to see how Holena\nwould manage to walk in the wintry weather.\n\nThe snow lay deep, and there wasn't a human footprint to be seen\nanywhere. Holena wandered about for a long time, but the desire of\nthe sweet apple kept driving her on. At last she saw a light in the\ndistance. She went towards it, and climbed to the top of the mountain\nwhere the big fire was burning, and round the fire on twelve stones\nthe twelve months were sitting. She was terrified at first, but she\nsoon recovered. She stepped up to the fire and stretched out her\nhands to warm them, but she didn't say as much as \"By your leave\"\nto the twelve months; no, she didn't say a single word to them.\n\n\"Why have you come here, and what are you looking for?\" asked Great\nJanuary crossly.\n\n\"Why do you want to know, you old fool? It's no business of yours,\"\nreplied Holena angrily, and she turned away from the fire and went\ninto the forest.\n\nGreat January frowned and swung the club over his head. The sky grew\ndark in a moment, the fire burned low, the snow began to fall as thick\nas if the feathers had been shaken out of a down quilt, and an icy\nwind began to blow through the forest. Holena couldn't see one step\nin front of her; she lost her way altogether, and several times she\nfell into snowdrifts. Then her limbs grew weak and began slowly to\nstiffen. The snow kept on falling and the icy wind blew more icily\nthan ever. Holena began to curse Marusa and the Lord God. Her limbs\nbegan to freeze, despite her fur coat.\n\nHer mother was waiting for Holena; she kept on looking out for her,\nfirst at the window, then outside the door, but all in vain.\n\n\"Does she like the apples so much that she can't leave them, or\nwhat is the matter? I must see for myself where she is,\" decided the\nstepmother at last. So she put on her fur coat, she wrapped a shawl\nround her head, and went out to look for Holena. The snow was lying\ndeep; there wasn't a human footprint to be seen; the snow fell fast,\nand the icy wind was blowing through the forest.\n\nMarusa had cooked the dinner, she had seen to the cow, and yet\nHolena and her mother did not come back. \"Where are they staying so\nlong?\" thought Marusa, as she sat down to work at the distaff. The\nspindle was full already and it was quite dark in the room, and yet\nHolena and the stepmother had not come back.\n\n\"Alas, Lord! what has come to them?\" cried Marusa, peering anxiously\nthrough the window. The sky was bright and the earth was all\nglittering, but there wasn't a human soul to be seen.... Sadly she\nshut the window; she crossed herself, and prayed for her sister and\nher mother.... In the morning she waited with breakfast, she waited\nwith dinner; but however much she waited, it was no good. Neither\nher mother nor her sister ever came back. Both of them were frozen\nto death in the forest.\n\nSo good Marusa inherited the cottage, a piece of ploughland and\nthe cow. She married a kind husband, and they both lived happily\never after.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV\u00cdTAZKO\n\n\nOnce there was a mother, and, being a mother, she had a son. She\nsuckled him for twice seven years. After that she took him into a\nforest and told him to pull up a fir-tree, roots and all. But the\nlad could not pull up the fir-tree.\n\n\"You are not strong enough yet,\" said the mother. So she suckled him\nfor another seven years. When she had suckled him for thrice seven\nyears, she took him to the forest again and told him to pull up a\nbeech-tree, roots and all. He seized hold of the beech and pulled\nit up.\n\n\"Now you are strong enough. So you are Victor (V\u00edtazko). Now you can\nprovide for me.\"\n\n\"Yes, I will. Only tell me what I can do for you.\"\n\n\"You must get me a good house first, and then you can take me there,\"\nsaid the mother, and she went home.\n\nV\u00edtazko took the beech-tree which he had pulled up, and, carrying\nit in his hand like a club, he started in search of a house for his\nmother. Following the wind, he walked by old roads and paths until\nhe came to a castle. This castle was inhabited by griffins.\n\nWhen V\u00edtazko reached the castle, the griffins would not let him in. But\nhe did not wait long for their permission: he smashed the gate and\nwent into the castle and killed the griffins; their bodies he flung\nover the wall, and then he went for a walk through the castle. He was\npleased with everything he saw. The rooms were nice, nine in number,\nbut the tenth was closed. When he had gone through the nine he went\ninto the tenth, and there he saw a griffin chained to the wall by\nthree iron bands.\n\n\"What are you doing here?\" asked V\u00edtazko.\n\n\"I am sitting here, as you see. My brothers have chained me here. Untie\nmy bonds and I will give you a splendid reward.\"\n\n\"You must be a wicked old rascal if your own brothers tied you there. I\nwon't unfasten your bonds either,\" said V\u00edtazko.\n\nSo he slammed the door, and went off to fetch his mother to the\ncastle. When he had brought her there, he showed her everything, but\nhe did not open the tenth room, and he forbade her to enter that room,\nfor otherwise there would be trouble. As soon as V\u00edtazko left the\nhouse, the mother could not rest, and she kept on walking near the\ndoor of that tenth room, till at last she went in, and, of course,\nshe found the griffin there.\n\n\"What are you doing here, and who are you?\"\n\n\"I am a griffin. My own brothers chained me here. They would have\nunfastened my bonds again, but your son has killed them all. Untie\nmy bonds and I will reward you, and, if you like, I will marry you,\"\nsaid the griffin.\n\n\"And what would V\u00edtazko say?\" answered the mother.\n\n\"What could he say? We will put him out of the world, and you will\nbe your own mistress.\"\n\nThe mother hesitated long enough, but at last she consented, and then\nshe asked the griffin how she could untie his bonds.\n\n\"Go into the cellar and fetch me a cup of wine from the last cask.\"\n\nThe mother went into the cellar and brought him a glass of wine\nfrom the last cask. As soon as he had drained the first cup,\ncrash! the first chain fell down. The mother brought him another cup\nand--well! the second chain snapped. So he begged her to bring him\na third cup, and when she brought him the third cup the third chain\nbroke too and the griffin was free again.\n\n\"But what am I to tell my son when he comes back?\" said the mother\nanxiously.\n\n\"Oh! you must feign illness, and when he asks you what will save you,\nsay that nothing can save you but a suckling of the earth sow. When\nhe goes to get it, the sow will tear him in pieces.\"\n\nWell (but not particularly well!), when V\u00edtazko returned from the\nchase, bringing a buck for his mother, she groaned and complained:\n\"Alas! my dear son, your toil has been in vain. It is no use your\nbringing me this good food; I cannot eat it, for I am deadly sick.\"\n\n\"Alas! mother, you must not die. Only tell me what would cure you,\nand I will bring it for you, even though it were from hell,\" cried\nthe good V\u00edtazko, for he loved his mother well.\n\n\"I can only be cured if I get the suckling of the earth sow.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko did not wait; he took his beech-tree and set off in quest of\nthe earth sow. He wandered through the country, poor soul! for he did\nnot know where to go, till at last he came to a tower, and there he\nfound Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"I am going to the earth sow to get one of her sucklings. My mother\nis ill, but this will cure her.\"\n\n\"My dear boy, it will be a hard task for you to get that\npiglet. However, I will help you. Only you must follow my advice\nexactly.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko promised that he would follow it exactly. So first she gave\nhim a long, sharp spit, and then she said:\n\n\"Go to the stable and take my horse. He will bring you to the place\nwhere the earth sow lies buried in the earth. When you have come there\nyou must prick one of her pigs. The pig will squeak, and the sow,\nhearing it, will start up and run round the earth in a moment. But\nshe won't see you or anybody else, and so she will tell the pigs that\nif they squeak again she will tear them to pieces. Then she will\nlie down to sleep, and then you must spit the pig and run quickly\naway. The pig will be afraid to squeak, the sow won't stir, and my\nhorse will carry you away.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko promised to carry out her directions exactly. He took the\nspit, mounted the magic horse, and it brought him swiftly to the\nplace--far, very far it was--where the earth sow lay buried in the\nearth. V\u00edtazko pricked one of the pigs, and it squeaked terribly. The\nsow started wildly up and ran round the earth in one moment. But the\nmagic horse did not move, so the sow did not see him or anybody else,\nand she said angrily to the pigs:\n\n\"If one of you squeaks, I will tear you all to pieces at once.\"\n\nHaving said this, she buried herself again.\n\nAt once V\u00edtazko spitted the pig. It kept quiet and didn't squeak at\nall, and the magic horse began to fly, and it wasn't long till they\nwere home again.\n\n\"Well, V\u00edtazko, how did it go?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Well, it went just as you said, and here is the pig.\"\n\n\"Very well. Take it to your mother.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko gave her back the spit; he led the magic horse back to its\nstall, thanked Holy Sunday, and, hanging the pig from the beech-tree,\nmade haste to go home to his mother.\n\nThe mother and the griffin were feasting; they did not expect V\u00edtazko,\nand here he was. They ran away and discussed what they should do\nwith him.\n\n\"When he has given you the pig, you must still pretend to be ill,\"\nsaid the griffin; \"and when he asks you what will save you, tell him\nthat only the Water of Life and the Water of Death can cure you. If\nhe goes in quest of that, he is bound to perish.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko came running to the castle full of joy. He gave the pig to\nhis mother, but she still went on groaning and complaining that she\nwas going to die, and that the pig would not cure her.\n\n\"Alas! mother, don't die, but tell me what will cure you, so that I\nmay bring it for you at once,\" said V\u00edtazko anxiously.\n\n\"Ah! my dear son, I can only be cured by the Water of Life and the\nWater of Death, and where would you get that?\" sighed the mother.\n\nV\u00edtazko did not waste time thinking about it. He grasped his beech,\nand off he went to Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Where are you going, V\u00edtazko?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"I am coming to you to ask where I could find the Water of Life and\nthe Water of Death, for my mother is still ill, and only those will\ncure her.\"\n\n\"It will be a hard task for you to get them, but I will help you as\nwell as I can. Here are two jugs; mount my magic horse, and he will\nbring you to two banks. Beneath those two banks spring forth the\nWater of Life and the Water of Death. The right bank opens at noon,\nand from beneath it gushes the Water of Life. The left bank opens at\nmidnight, and beneath it is the Water of Death. As soon as the bank\nopens, run up to it and fill your jug with water, and so you must do\nin the other case too. When you have the water, come back. Follow my\ninstructions carefully.\"\n\nSaying this, she gave him two jugs. He took them and mounted the magic\nhorse, and in a moment they were gone like the wind. The two banks were\nin a far distant land, and thither the magic horse brought V\u00edtazko. At\nnoon he raised the right bank and the Water of Life gushed forth, then,\ncrash! the bank fell down again, and it was a wonder that it did not\ntake V\u00edtazko's heels off. Quickly V\u00edtazko mounted the magic horse and\nmade haste for the left bank. There they waited till midnight. When\nthe bank lifted, beneath it was the Water of Death. He hurried to it\nand filled the jug, and, crash! down fell the bank again; and it was\na marvel it didn't take V\u00edtazko's hand off. Quickly he mounted the\nmagic horse, the horse flew off, and soon they were home again.\n\n\"Well, V\u00edtazko, how have you fared?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Oh! everything went all right, Holy Sunday; and here is the water,\"\nsaid V\u00edtazko, giving her the water.\n\nHoly Sunday kept the water, and gave him two jugs full of spring\nwater and told him to take them to his mother. V\u00edtazko thanked her\nand went home.\n\nThe mother and the griffin were carousing as before, for they did not\nexpect that he would ever return--and there he was just outside. They\nwere terribly frightened, and considered how they could get rid of him.\n\n\"You must pretend to be sick still, and tell him you won't recover\nunless you get the Pelican bird, and he will perish on the quest,\"\nsaid the griffin.\n\nV\u00edtazko brought the water joyfully, but the mother was still groaning\nand complaining; even that was no good, she was sure she was going\nto die.\n\n\"Ah! don't die, sweet mother. Tell me what will cure you, and I shall\nbe glad to get it all for you,\" said the good lad.\n\n\"There is no help for me unless I can see the Pelican bird. Where\ncould you get it for me?\" groaned the mother.\n\nV\u00edtazko took his beech again, and it was no trouble to him to go to\nHoly Sunday once more.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Well, I am coming to you to ask for advice. Mother is still sick;\nthe water did not cure her either, and she says she must see the\nPelican bird. And where is the Pelican bird?\"\n\n\"My dear child, it would be very hard for you to get the Pelican\nbird. But I will help you all I can. The Pelican bird is a gigantic\nbird. His neck is very long, and, whenever he shakes his wings,\nhe raises such a wind that the trees begin to shake. Here is a gun;\nmount my magic horse, and he will bring you to the place where the\nPelican bird lives. But be careful. Point the gun against the wind\nfrom whatever quarter it blows, and when the hammer falls, ram the gun\nwith the ramrod and come quickly back. You must not look into the gun.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko took the gun and mounted the magic horse, and the horse spread\nhis wings, and they were flying through the air a long way until\nthey came to a vast desert, where dwelt the Pelican bird. There the\nmagic horse stopped. Now V\u00edtazko perceived that the wind was blowing\nstrongly on his left cheek, so he pointed the gun in that direction,\nand, clap! the hammer fell. V\u00edtazko rammed the gun quickly with the\nramrod and flung it over his shoulder, and the horse started flying,\nand very soon they were home again.\n\n\"Well, how did things go?\"\n\n\"I don't know whether they went well or ill, but I did what you\ncommanded,\" answered V\u00edtazko, handing down the gun to Holy Sunday.\n\n\"All right. You did quite right. Here he is!\" she said. And then\nshe took out the Pelican bird. Then she gave V\u00edtazko another gun\nto shoot an eagle with. He went out into the forest, and returned\nbefore long with an eagle. She gave him this eagle for his mother,\nin place of the Pelican bird.\n\nThe griffin and the mother were making merry again, hoping that V\u00edtazko\nwould never come back, but he was already near. They were terrified,\nand began to consider what new task they were to set him.\n\n\"You must pretend to be sick still, and tell him nothing can do you\nany good but the golden apples from the garden of the Griffin. If\nhe goes there the Griffin will tear him in pieces, for he is enraged\nbecause V\u00edtazko has killed his brothers.\"\n\nJoyfully V\u00edtazko gave the bird to his mother, but she still kept\non groaning; nothing was any good, only the golden apples from the\ngarden of the Griffin could save her.\n\n\"You shall have them,\" said V\u00edtazko, and without resting, he started\nagain and came to Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Where are you going, V\u00edtazko?\"\n\n\"Well,\" he replied, \"not even that did her any good. Mother is still\nsick, for only the golden apples from the garden of the Griffin will\ncure her.\"\n\n\"Well, you'll have to fight, my boy,\" said Holy Sunday; \"but, even\nthough you were stronger than you are, it would be a bad look-out\nfor you. Still, I will help you all I can. Here is a ring for you;\nput it on your finger, and, when you are in need, think of me, turn\nthe ring round on your finger, and you will have the strength of a\nhundred men. Now mount the magic horse; he will take you there.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko thanked her heartily, mounted the magic horse, and was carried\nby him a far journey, till they came to a garden hedged about by\na high rampart. Had it not been for the magic horse V\u00edtazko could\nnever have got into the garden, but the horse flew like a bird over\nthe rampart. V\u00edtazko leapt down from the horse, and instantly began\nto look for a tree with golden apples. A beautiful girl met him and\nasked him what he was looking for. V\u00edtazko said that he was looking\nfor golden apples to cure his sick mother, and begged her to tell\nhim where to look for them.\n\n\"The apple-tree is under my charge, and I must not give the apples\nto anybody, or the Griffin would tear me to pieces. I am a king's\ndaughter, and the Griffin carried me off and brought me to this garden\nand put me in charge of the apples. Go back, good youth, go back,\nfor the Griffin is very strong, and, if he sees you, he will kill\nyou like a fly,\" said the girl.\n\nBut V\u00edtazko was not to be turned back, and he hastened on into the\ngarden. So the princess pulled off a priceless ring and handed it to\nV\u00edtazko, saying: \"Take this ring, and when you think of me and turn\nthis ring round on your finger, you will have the strength of a hundred\nmen, otherwise you could not gain the victory over the Griffin.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko took the ring and put it on his finger. He thanked her and went\noff to the centre of the garden. In the middle of the garden stood\nan apple-tree full of golden apples, and underneath it a horrible\nGriffin was lying.\n\n\"What do you want here, murderer of my brothers?\" shouted the Griffin.\n\n\"I have come to get some apples from this tree,\" answered V\u00edtazko\nundauntedly.\n\n\"You shall not have any of the apples unless you wrestle with me,\"\nexclaimed the Griffin angrily.\n\n\"I will if you like. Come on!\" said V\u00edtazko, and he turned the ring\non his right hand and thought of Holy Sunday. He set his legs wide\napart and they began to wrestle. In the first round the Griffin moved\nV\u00edtazko a little, but V\u00edtazko drove him into the ground above his\nankles. Just at this moment they heard a swirl of wings above them,\nand a black raven shouted to them:\n\n\"Which am I to help, the Griffin or V\u00edtazko?\"\n\n\"Help me,\" said the Griffin.\n\n\"And what will you give me?\"\n\n\"I will give you gold and silver as much as you like.\"\n\n\"Help me,\" cried V\u00edtazko, \"and I will give you all those horses\ngrazing on yonder meadow.\"\n\n\"I will help you, then,\" said the raven. \"But how am I to help you?\"\n\n\"Cool me when I grow hot,\" said V\u00edtazko. He felt hot indeed, for\nthe Griffin was breathing out fire against him. So they went on\nwrestling. The Griffin seized V\u00edtazko and drove him into the ground up\nto his ankles. V\u00edtazko turned the ring, and again he thought of Holy\nSunday. He put his arms round the Griffin's waist and drove him down\ninto the ground above his knees. The black raven dipped his wings\nin a spring, and then he alighted on V\u00edtazko's head and sprinkled\ncool drops over V\u00edtazko's hot cheeks, and thus he cooled him. Then\nV\u00edtazko turned the other ring and thought of the beautiful maiden,\nand they began wrestling again. So the Griffin drove V\u00edtazko into the\nground up to his ankles, but V\u00edtazko took hold of him and drove him\ninto the ground up to his shoulders, and quickly he seized his sword,\nthe gift of Holy Sunday, and cut the Griffin's head off.\n\nThe princess came to him at once and plucked the golden apples for\nhim. She thanked him too for delivering her, and said that she liked\nhim well and she would marry him.\n\n\"I like you well too,\" confessed V\u00edtazko, \"and, if I could, I would go\nwith you at once. But if you really love me, and if you will consent\nto wait a year for me, I will come to you then.\"\n\nThe princess pledged herself by shaking hands with him, and she said\nshe would wait a year for him. And so they said good-bye to each\nother. V\u00edtazko mounted his horse, cleared the rampart at a leap,\nkilled the horses on the meadow for the black raven, and hastened home.\n\n\"Well, how have you fared?\" asked Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Very well, but if it hadn't been for a ring which was given me by\na princess I should have fared very badly,\" answered V\u00edtazko, and he\ntold her everything. She told him to go home with the golden apples\nand to take the magic horse with him too. V\u00edtazko obeyed.\n\nThe griffin and the mother were carousing again. They were greatly\nstartled when V\u00edtazko came riding home; they had never expected that\nhe would return alive even from the garden of the Griffin. The mother\nasked what she should do; but the griffin had no more shifts; he made\noff to the tenth room at once and hid himself there. When V\u00edtazko had\ngiven the apples to his mother, she pretended that the mere sight of\nthem had cured her, and, rising from the bed, she put the finest of\nfood before V\u00edtazko and then began to caress him as she used to do\nsometimes when he was a tiny baby. V\u00edtazko was delighted to see his\nmother in good health again. The mother took a strong cotton cord and\nsaid jestingly: \"Lie down, dear son; I will wind this cord round you\nas I used to wind it round your father, to see if you are as strong\nas he was, and if you can break it.\"\n\nV\u00edtazko smiled and laid himself down, and allowed his mother to wind\nthe cord round him. When she had finished, he stretched his limbs\nand snapt the cord in pieces.\n\n\"You are strong,\" she said. \"But wait! I will wind this thin silk\ncord round you to see if you can break it also.\"\n\nSo she did. V\u00edtazko tried to stretch his limbs, but the more he\nstretched, the deeper the cord cut into him. So he was helpless,\nand had to lie like a baby in its swaddling-clothes. Now the griffin\nhastened to cut his head off; he hewed the body in pieces and hung\nthe heart from the ceiling. The mother packed the body in a cloth,\nand put the bundle on the back of the magic horse, which was waiting\nin the courtyard, saying:\n\n\"You carried him alive, so you can carry him dead too, wherever\nyou like.\"\n\nThe horse did not wait, but flew off, and soon they reached home.\n\nHoly Sunday had been expecting him, for she knew what would probably\nhappen to him. Without delay she rubbed the body with the Water of\nDeath, then she put it together and poured the Water of Life over\nit. V\u00edtazko yawned, and rose to his feet alive and well. \"Well,\nI have had a long sleep,\" he said to himself.\n\n\"You would have been sleeping till doomsday if I hadn't awakened\nyou. Well, how do you feel now?\"\n\n\"Oh! I am all right! Only, it's funny: it's as though I had not got\nany heart.\"\n\n\"That is true; you haven't got a heart,\" answered Holy Sunday.\n\n\"Where can it be, then?\"\n\n\"Where else should it be, but in the castle, hanging from the\ncrossbeam?\" said Holy Sunday, and she told him all that had happened\nto him.\n\nBut V\u00edtazko could not be angry, neither could he weep, for he had\nno heart. So he had to go and get it. Holy Sunday gave him a fiddle\nand sent him to the castle. He was to play on the fiddle, and, as a\nreward, was to ask for the heart, and, when he got it, he must return\nat once to Holy Sunday--those were her orders.\n\nV\u00edtazko went to the castle, and when he saw that his mother was\nlooking out of the window, he began playing beautifully. The mother\nwas delighted with the music below, so she called the old fiddler\n(for Holy Sunday had put that shape upon him) into the castle and\nasked him to play. He played, and the mother danced with the griffin;\nthey danced hard, and did not stop until they were tired. Then the\nmother gave the fiddler meat and drink, and she offered him gold,\nbut he would not take it.\n\n\"What could I do with all that money? I am too old for it,\" he\nanswered.\n\n\"Well, what am I to give you, then? It is for you to ask,\" said\nthe mother.\n\n\"What are you to give me?\" said he, looking round the room. \"Oh! give\nme that heart, hanging there from the crossbeam!\"\n\n\"If you like that, we can give it to you,\" said the griffin, and the\nmother took it down and gave it to V\u00edtazko. He thanked them for it,\nand hastened from the castle to Holy Sunday.\n\n\"It is lucky that we have got it again,\" said Holy Sunday; and\nshe took the heart in her hands, washed it first in the Water of\nDeath and afterwards in the Water of Life, and then she put it in\nthe bill of the Pelican bird. The bird stretched out his long neck\nand replaced the heart in V\u00edtazko's breast. At once V\u00edtazko felt it\njoyfully leaping. And for this service Holy Sunday gave the Pelican\nbird his freedom again.\n\nAnd now she said to V\u00edtazko: \"You must go once more to the castle and\ndeal out justice. Take the form of a pigeon and, when you think of me,\nyou will regain your own shape.\"\n\nNo sooner had she said this than V\u00edtazko was changed into a pigeon, and\naway he flew to the castle. The mother and the griffin were caressing\neach other when suddenly a pigeon alighted on the window-sill. As\nsoon as the mother saw the pigeon she sent the griffin to shoot him,\nbut before the griffin could get hold of his crossbow the pigeon\nflew down into the hall, took human form, seized the sword and cut\nthe griffin's head off at a stroke.\n\n\"And what am I to do with thee, thou good-for-nothing mother?\" he\nsaid, turning to his mother, who in terror fell at his feet begging\nfor mercy. \"Do not be afraid--I will not do you any harm. Let God\njudge between us.\" He took her hand and led her to the castle yard,\nunsheathed his sword, and said: \"Behold, mother! I will throw this\nsword into the air. If I am guilty, it will strike me; if you are\nguilty, it is you it will strike. Let God decide.\"\n\nThe sword whirled through the air, it darted past V\u00edtazko's head,\nand smote straight into his mother's heart.\n\nV\u00edtazko lamented over her and buried her. Then he returned to Holy\nSunday and thanked her well for all her kindness. He girded on the\nsword, took his beech-tree in his hand, and went to his beautiful\nprincess. He found her with her royal father, who had tried to make her\nmarry various kings and princes, but she would marry none of them. She\nwould wait a year, she said. The year was not yet over when one day\nV\u00edtazko arrived in the royal palace to ask for the maiden's hand.\n\n\"This is my betrothed,\" exclaimed the princess joyfully, as soon as\nshe saw him, and she went straight up to him.\n\nA splendid feast was made ready, the father gave his kingdom into\ntheir hands, and that is the end of this story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBOOTS, CLOAK, AND RING\n\n\nOnce there was a blacksmith, and he had only one son, John by\nname. They sent him to school, but fortune changed and his parents fell\ninto poverty, so they were forced to take their son home again. John\nhad already passed through the higher standard, but he could not\nsupport his parents. So one day he said:\n\n\"Father and mother! What can I do at home? There is no business here,\nso I can't be a clerk, and I am too old now to learn a trade. So I\nwill go out into the world and find myself a job, and, whenever I can,\nI will send you some money. And when I get a good job, you must sell\nyour cottage and come and live with me.\"\n\nHis father and mother wept, because he wanted to leave them, but they\nknew that he was right, for there was no chance for him if he stayed\nat home. So they let him go. They gave him their blessing before he\nwent out into the world. John wept till his heart nearly broke at\nparting with his aged parents.\n\nHe walked on till noon. At noon he sat down beneath a lime-tree beside\na well, and had his meal and a drink. Then, strengthened and refreshed,\nhe walked on till nightfall. The country was quite unknown to him,\nso he had to spend the night in the forest. The next day he went on\nagain till he came into a wild mountain country. There he stopped\nand thought over what he should do next. He stood awhile, and then\nhe went on again. He reached a pleasant valley, and there he found\nthree brothers. They were quarrelling and on the point of coming to\nblows. John asked them what the matter was. The eldest answered:\n\n\"Our father has died, and he bequeathed to us these boots, this cloak,\nand this hat. And each of us would like to own the boots.\"\n\n\"Why?\" asked John.\n\n\"Because they have the property that whoever puts them on can cover\nten miles in the moment he wishes it. The cloak has the property that\nits owner can fly as far and as high as he likes. And the property\nof the hat is that it makes its wearer invisible.\"\n\nJohn said: \"You are brothers, and you ought not to quarrel. You must\nlove one another. So that you won't quarrel any more, I will decide\nthe matter for you. Give me those things.\"\n\nThey gave him the boots, the cloak, and the hat. He put the hat on,\nand they couldn't see him any more; he wrapped himself in the cloak,\ntook the boots, and flew away.\n\nHe flew some distance before he alighted upon a log and put the boots\non. As he sat on the log, it turned over, and he saw a big hole under\nit. He went down the hole and came to some stairs, and went down them\nto the bottom without any difficulty. There he found a big room without\nany human being in it. The table was laid for one person. He thought:\n\"I am hungry. Shall I eat this meal?\" Finally he decided to risk it;\nhe took off his hat and began to eat.\n\nWhen he had finished, an old crone entered the room, and asked:\n\"Did you like your meal?\"\n\n\"Oh, it was very nice indeed,\" answered John; \"and, by the way,\ncould you give me lodging for the night?\"\n\n\"I will, if you can stand it; for at midnight twenty-four ghosts will\ncome, and they will try to make you play cards with them and dance\nwith them. But you must sit still and not so much as look at them.\"\n\nSo the first night came. John was sitting eating his meal. When he had\nfinished, he remained at table. After eleven o'clock two dozen ghosts\nentered the room and asked him to play cards with them. He refused,\nso they began preparations for playing skittles, and again asked\nhim to join them, but he would not. Then a delightful music began\nto play, and they asked him to dance with them. No, he wouldn't;\nhe did not so much as look at them. They kept on dragging him about,\ntearing and biting him, till he began to think it was all over with\nhim. But just then it struck twelve, and the ghosts vanished.\n\nIn the morning the old crone came back and waked him, for he was\nstill asleep on the ground. She asked him: \"How did you sleep?\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said John.\n\n\"Did you, now?\" answered the old woman. \"Well, next night will be\nstill worse, if you can stand it. Two score of ghosts will come, and\nthey'll urge you to play cards and skittles with them and to dance\nwith them. But you must sit quiet; don't so much as look at them.\"\n\nHe stayed there that day, and had a good time. Then the second night\ncame. After eleven o'clock twoscore ghosts rushed in. They urged\nhim to play cards and skittles with them and to dance with them. But\nJohn wouldn't. He sat still, without so much as looking at them. So\nthey began to torture him again, and dragged him about even worse\nthan before. But when it struck twelve they left him on the ground\nand disappeared.\n\nIn the morning the old crone came. She washed him with some lotion\ntill he recovered. She asked him: \"How did you sleep?\"\n\n\"Splendidly,\" said he.\n\n\"Did you, now?\" said she. \"It was a bad lodging for you, but the third\nnight will be even worse, if you can stand it. Three score of ghosts\nwill come, and will urge you to play cards and skittles and to dance\nwith them. But you must sit still and not so much as look at them.\"\n\nAll that day he had a good time again. The third night came, and\nafter eleven o'clock three score of ghosts rushed in. They gathered\nround him, and urged, prayed, and besought him to play and dance with\nhim. When he refused, they seized him and began knocking him against\nthe ground, tearing and biting him, so that he lost his senses and\ndid not see them go away.\n\nIn the morning the old crone came and anointed him with a precious\nsalve till he recovered. The old woman said: \"You wouldn't have had\nsuch a bad time if you had not stolen the boots, the cloak, and the\nhat. The ghosts would simply have pressed you; they would have had no\npower over you. As you followed my advice and did not play with them,\nyou have delivered an enchanted town and a beautiful princess. She\nwill come to you at once. Now you are rich, return the stolen goods.\"\n\nThen there came a girl in a white robe. It was the beautiful princess,\nand she thanked him for delivering her and the whole town. He went\nto the window, and outside he saw streets full of people and soldiers\nand a great bustle going on. The princess said:\n\n\"My father is a king, and you will marry me and succeed him. But my\nfather dwells far from here, and we will go to him. Do you take this\nring here.\"\n\nSo they went off. When the wedding was to take place, John wanted his\nparents to be present, so he asked the princess: \"May I go to see my\nparents? I would like them to be at our wedding.\"\n\nThe princess answered: \"They live a great way from us, but you will\nbe able to get to them. The ring I gave you has the property that,\nwhen you turn it on your finger and wish to go a hundred miles, you\nwill cover that distance in a moment. On your way you will come to a\nking who has a beautiful daughter. But you must not think of her nor\nof me, for then you will lose the ring, and you will not be able to\ngo any farther.\"\n\nJohn started. He turned the ring, and in a moment he was a hundred\nmiles off, and found himself with a king who had several sons. They\nentertained him splendidly. Then he came to another king who had an\nonly daughter, and she was very vulgar. The king insisted that John\nshould marry her. John thought: \"What are you thinking of, my man? My\nbright one is so beautiful that there is not her equal in the wide\nworld, while your daughter is only a vulgar creature.\" At the moment he\nthought of his bride the ring slipped from his finger and disappeared.\n\nJohn left them then. He was very sad, and considered what he should\ndo. \"My bride is far away now,\" he thought. \"I cannot find my way\neither to her or to my parents.\"\n\nAs he was walking along in this sad mood, he thought of his cloak,\nand it came into his mind that, if he could reach the Sun's abode\nthe same day, he could ask where his bride's castle was. As soon\nas he thought of this he was at the Sun's house. The Sun was not\nin; only his housekeeper was at home. He asked her for a lodging,\nand said that he would like to ask the Sun whether he knew the\ncastle where his bride dwelt. She gave him the lodging. When the\nSun returned home in the evening, John asked him whether he had any\nknowledge of the castle in which his wife dwelt. The Sun answered:\n\"I don't know. I never shone there. But go and ask the Moon.\"\n\nThe next day, as soon as he woke, he flew off on his cloak to the\nMoon's castle. When he got there, the Moon was not in, and John asked\nthe housekeeper for a night's lodging. He said he would like to ask\nthe Moon's advice.\n\nThe housekeeper said: \"You must wait till the Moon comes home, but\nyou will be very cold, for my mistress is an extremely cold person.\"\n\n\"I will crouch in a corner and wait till the mistress comes; in any\ncase, my cloak is warm enough.\"\n\nWhen the morning drew near, the Moon returned home, and John asked\nher whether she knew where his bride's castle was.\n\nThe Moon said: \"I never shone there. But go to the Wind. He is a\nfellow who penetrates everywhere, and so he is likely to know where\nthat castle is.\"\n\nSo John went to the Wind's house. The Wind was not in, but Melusine,\nhis wife, was alone at home. John asked her to let him stay there\nfor the night. She tried to dissuade him.\n\n\"It is impossible, good sir. My lord is used to blow terribly. It\nwill be exceedingly cold.\"\n\nHe answered: \"I will cover myself up and crouch somewhere. I can\nendure cold, and, anyhow, my cloak is warm enough.\" So he stayed\nthere for the night.\n\nAfter midnight the Wind came home and asked: \"Who is here with you,\nwife? I smell a man.\"\n\n\"Who should be here?\" she said. \"Your nose is still full of the\nhuman smell.\"\n\nBut the Wind persisted: \"There is somebody here! Tell me!\"\n\nSo she confessed. \"Don't be angry, dear husband! There is a man staying\nhere for the night, and he wants to ask you whether you will be kind\nenough to take him to his bride's castle.\"\n\nThe Wind answered: \"It is very far from here, and I must ask the\nLord how strongly I am to blow, if we are to get there. I was there\nyesterday; they are going to celebrate a wedding there, and they have\nbeen drying some shirts ready for it, and I have been helping them.\"\n\nThe Wind went to ask the Lord; and when he came back, he said to John:\n\"I can blow strongly enough, but I don't know whether you will be\nable to keep step with me.\"\n\nJohn answered: \"I have got good boots, and I am sure I can.\"\n\nSo he wrapped himself in his cloak, covered his head with his hat,\nand put his boots on, and he went ahead so quickly that the Wind\ncould hardly keep step with him. As they drew near to the castle,\nthe Wind said: \"Here it is,\" and disappeared in a whirl.\n\nThe other bridegroom had already arrived, and was at the wedding\nfeast. John passed through the castle, and came to the table at which\nthey were dining. Nobody could see him. He remained standing near the\nbride, and whenever she lifted the food to her mouth, he ate it before\nit could reach her mouth, so that the spoon reached her mouth empty.\n\nAfter the banquet she said: \"My plates were well filled, and yet it\nis as though I had been eating nothing at all. Who is it that has\neaten my food? My glass was full too. I have not drunk, and yet it\nis empty. Who has drunk my wine?\"\n\nThen she went to the kitchen, and John followed close at her\nheels. When she was alone he revealed himself. He took his hat off,\nand she knew him. She was greatly rejoiced at this, and ran to the\nroom and said:\n\n\"Gentlemen, I would like to ask you a question. I had a golden key\nand I lost it. So I had a silver key made for me, and, now that it is\nmade, I have found the golden key. Would you be so kind as to advise\nme which of them I ought to keep?\"\n\nThe bridegroom stepped forward and said: \"Keep the golden key.\"\n\nOff she went. She dressed John in beautiful garments, and then\npresented him to the guests, saying: \"This is my golden key. He\ndelivered me from torment, and I was to marry him. He went to see\nhis parents, but he could not reach them. Now he has come back to me\njust as I was going to marry another man, the silver key of my story,\nthough I had given up all hope of his return. Yet he has come back,\nand I shall keep him, the golden key, for the silver key has himself\ndecided so.\"\n\nThe wedding was celebrated the next day, and John took charge of the\nold king's kingdom. Then they both went to visit his old parents,\nand brought them back with them to the palace. On their way back they\ncalled on the three brothers, and John gave them back the boots,\nthe cloak, and the hat. And if they haven't died since, they are\nstill alive enjoying their kingdom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSILLY JURA\n\n\nOnce there were two brothers. They were lazy fellows, and thieves\ninto the bargain. They were expected to give a feast. They said to\none another: \"We haven't got anything. Wherever shall we find food\nfor the feast?\"\n\nSo the first said: \"I'll go to our neighbour's. He has some fine\napples, and I'll pluck some of them.\"\n\nThe second said: \"I'll go to the shepherd's. He has some fine\nrams. I'll steal a ram from him.\"\n\nThese two brothers hated the third, and so they abused him: \"Silly\nJura! You won't get anything yourself, but you'll be ready enough to\neat what we get.\"\n\nSo Jura said: \"I'll go to the burgomaster's and get some nuts.\"\n\nIn the evening they went their ways. When he had finished plucking\nthe nuts, Jura went into the charnel-house at the back of the church\nand began to crack the nuts there. The watchmen heard the cracking\nin the charnel-house, and they thought the place was haunted. As\nthere was no priest in the village (he lived in the next village),\nthey went to the burgomaster and asked him to go with them to the\ncharnel-house, saying that the place was haunted.\n\nThe burgomaster said: \"I am so ill that I can't stand on my feet;\nno doctor can help me.\"\n\nBut the watchmen insisted, and so the burgomaster told his servant to\ntake him on his back and carry him to the place. The servant carried\nhim along, and the watchmen called at the churchwarden's to ask for\nsome holy water.\n\nWhen they came near to the charnel-house, Jura thought it was his\nbrother bringing the ram, so he called out: \"Are you bringing him?\"\n\nThe servant was frightened, and let the burgomaster fall and ran\naway. The burgomaster was terrified too. He jumped up and ran after\nthe servant. He cleared a wooden fence with one leap in his flight,\nand it wasn't long till he reached home. His family wondered to see\nhim cured so quickly without the help of a doctor.\n\nNext day the burgomaster proclaimed that he would give a pound to the\nman who had stolen his nuts the day before, if he would only come to\nsee him. So Jura went to him, and the burgomaster said: \"I ought to\npunish you for stealing, but since you have cured my illness which\nnobody was able to cure, I'll give you the pound I promised, but\nyou mustn't steal any more.\" So Jura promised not to steal any more,\nand went home.\n\nThe brothers grew very fond of him now that he had money. They borrowed\nthe money from him and bought themselves new clothes, and said: \"We'll\ngo to see the world and to get wives for ourselves. As for you, Silly\nJura, you must stay at home; you'd never get a good wife for yourself.\"\n\nSo off they went. But Jura went too. He went to the forest and he\nwas utterly dazzled. He had often heard that there was an enchanted\ncastle in that forest. When he came to the place where the ruins of the\ncastle were, night overtook him, and so he could see nothing except\nwhat looked like a light in a cellar. So he went into the cellar to\nmake his night's lodging there. There was nobody in the cellar but a\ncat. The cat greeted him: \"Welcome, dear Jura! How did you come here?\"\n\nJura was frightened when he heard the cat speak, and was going to\nrun away. But the cat told him not to go; there was no need to be\nfrightened. He must come back, and no harm would be done to him. If\nhe wanted to eat, he could go into the storeroom and take what he\nwanted. She would take him for her servant.\n\nSo he stayed there a year and had a good time. He never saw a cook,\nbut he always found meals ready prepared in the storeroom. He had\nnothing to do but get firewood, and at the end of the year he was told\nto make a great pile of it. Then the cat said: \"You must light the\npile to-day, and throw me into the fire. You must not help me out,\nhowever I entreat you, but you must let me be consumed.\"\n\nJura answered: \"I can't do that. I have had a good time with you. Why\nshould I repay you in such an evil way?\"\n\nThe cat said: \"If you don't do as I have said, you will be very\nunhappy. If you do it, you will be happy.\"\n\nSo Jura kindled the pile, and, when it was well alight, he picked up\nthe cat and threw her into the fire. She wanted to escape from the\nfire, but he wouldn't let her go. At last he was so weary that he was\nforced to lie down, and soon he fell asleep. When he awoke, he opened\nhis eyes, and behold! there was no ruin; he heard delightful music\nand saw a beautiful palace with crowds of servants. He was wondering\nat all this, when a splendidly dressed lady came up to him and asked\nhim if he did not know her.\n\nJura said: \"How should I know your ladyship? I never saw you before\nin my life.\"\n\nThe lady said: \"I am that cat. Witches had put me under enchantment\nin the shape of a cat. Now we will go after your brothers who hated\nyou so much and see how they are getting on.\"\n\nShe ordered her people to dress him in fine clothes, a fine carriage\nwas prepared, and they drove off. As they were approaching the village,\nthe lady said to her bridegroom: \"Put your old clothes on.\" Then she\ncalled an old, ragged beggarwoman and sent him with her. She herself\nremained outside of the village.\n\nWhen the brothers saw Jura coming with the ragged beggarwoman, they\nshouted: \"He is bringing home an old ragged bride, and he's in rags\ntoo.\" The other brothers were married too, and they were pretty badly\noff, so they turned him out and wouldn't have him at home.\n\nSo Jura went out of the village; he changed his clothes and drove back\nwith the lady to his brothers' cottage. When the carriage stopped\nbefore the cottage, the brothers said: \"What a fine carriage! Who\nis that noble lord and the beautiful lady who have come to our\ncottage?\" They did not recognize their brother.\n\nSo she said: \"Look here. You were always hard on your brother, always\nsneering at him, and now you are badly off enough, while he is getting\non splendidly. If you mend your ways, you will get on too.\"\n\nAfterwards she gave them some money and went away with Jura.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSLEEPY JOHN\n\n\nOnce there was a lad named John, and he used to go to sleep always\nand everywhere. One day he came to an inn where some farmers were\nfeeding their horses. So he crept into the cart, lay down on the\nstraw, and went to sleep. When the farmers had driven some distance,\nthey noticed John asleep in the cart. They thought: \"What are we to\ndo with him? We have a beer cask here. We'll put him in it and leave\nhim in the forest.\" So they shut him in the cask, and off they drove.\n\nJohn went on sleeping in the cask for a long time. Suddenly he woke\nup and found himself in the cask, but he did not know how he had got\ninto it, neither did he know where he was. There was something running\nto and fro near the cask, so he looked through the bunghole and saw\na great number of wolves gathered under the rocks. They had flocked\nround, attracted by the human smell. One of the wolves pushed his\ntail through the hole, and Sleepy John began to think that the hour\nof his death was approaching. But he wound the wolf's tail round his\nhand. The wolf was terrified, and, dragging the cask after him, he\nran after the rest of the wolves, who set off in all directions. Their\nterror grew greater and greater as the cask bumped after them. At last\nthe cask struck against a rock and was smashed. John let go the wolf,\nwho took himself off as fast as he could.\n\nNow John found himself in a wild mountain region. He began walking\nabout among the mountains and he met a hermit. The hermit said to him:\n\"You may stay here with me. I shall die in three days. Bury me then,\nand I will pay you well for it.\"\n\nSo John stayed with him, and, when the third day came, the hermit,\nwho was about to die, gave him a stick, saying: \"In whatever direction\nyou point this stick, you will find yourself there.\" Then he gave\nhim a knapsack, saying: \"Anything you want you will find in this\nknapsack.\" Then he gave him a cap, saying: \"As soon as you put this\ncap on, nobody will be able to see you.\"\n\nThen the hermit died, and John buried him.\n\nJohn gathered his things together, pointed the stick, and said:\n\"Let me be instantly in the town where the king lives.\" He found\nhimself there on the instant, and he was told that the queen would\nevery night wear out a dozen pairs of shoes, yet nobody was able\nto follow her track. The lords were all flocking to offer to follow\nthe queen's traces, and John went too. He went into the palace and\nhad himself announced to the king. When he came before the king,\nhe said that he would like to trace the queen. The king asked him:\n\"Who are you?\"\n\nHe answered \"Sleepy John.\"\n\nThe king said: \"And how are you going to trace her, when you are\nsleeping all the time? If you fail to trace her you will lose your\nhead.\"\n\nJohn answered that he would try to trace her all the same.\n\nWhen the evening was come the queen went to bed in one room and John\nwent to bed in the next room, through which the queen had to pass. He\ndid not go to sleep, but when the queen was going by he pretended to\nbe in a deep slumber. So the queen lit a candle and scorched the soles\nof his feet to make sure that he was asleep. But John didn't stir,\nand so she was certain that he was asleep. Then she took her twelve\npairs of new shoes and off she went.\n\nJohn got up, put his cap on, and pointed with his stick and said:\n\"Let me be where the queen is.\"\n\nNow, when the queen came to a certain rock, the earth opened before\nher and two dragons came to meet her. They took her on their backs\nand carried her as far as the lead forest. Then John said: \"Let me\nbe where the queen is,\" and instantly he was in the lead forest. So\nhe broke off a twig for a proof and put it in his knapsack. But\nwhen he broke off the twig it gave out a shrill sound as if a bell\nwere ringing. The queen was frightened, but she rode on again. John\npointed with his stick and said: \"Let me be where the queen is,\" and\ninstantly he was in the tin forest. He broke off a twig again and\nput it in his knapsack, and it rang again. The queen turned pale,\nbut she rode on again. John pointed with his stick again and said:\n\"Let me be where the queen is,\" and instantly he was in the silver\nforest. He broke off a twig again and put it into his knapsack. As\nhe broke it, it gave out a ringing sound and the queen fainted. The\ndragons hastened on again till they came to a green meadow.\n\nA crowd of devils came to meet them here, and they revived the\nqueen. Then they had a feast. Sleepy John was there too. The cook was\nnot at home that day, so John sat down in his place, and, as he had his\ncap on, nobody could see him. They put aside a part of the food for the\ncook, but John ate it all. They were all surprised to see all the food\nthey put aside disappearing. They couldn't make out what was happening,\nbut they didn't care very much. And when the banquet was at an end the\ndevils began to dance with the queen, and they kept on dancing until\nthe queen had worn out all her shoes. When her shoes were worn out,\nthose two dragons took her on their backs again and brought her to\nthe place where the earth had opened before her. John said: \"Let me be\nwhere the queen is.\" By this time she was walking on the earth again,\nand he followed her. When they came near the palace he went ahead of\nthe queen and went to bed; and, as the queen was going in, she saw\nhim sleeping, and so she went to her own room and lay down and slept.\n\nIn the morning the lords gathered together and the king asked whether\nany of them had tracked the queen. But none of them could say \"Yes.\"\n\nSo he summoned Sleepy John before him. John said:\n\n\"Gracious Lord King, I did indeed track her, and I know that she used\nup those twelve pairs of shoes upon the green meadows in Hell.\"\n\nThe queen stood forth at once, and John took from his knapsack the\nleaden twig and said: \"The queen was carried by two dragons towards\nHell, and she came to the leaden forest; there I broke off this twig\nand the queen was frightened.\"\n\nThe king said: \"That's no good. You might have made the twig yourself.\"\n\nSo John produced the tin twig from his knapsack and said: \"After that\nthe queen drove through the tin forest, and there I broke off this\ntwig. That time the queen grew pale.\"\n\nThe king said: \"You might have made even this twig.\"\n\nSo John produced the silver twig and said: \"Afterwards the queen drove\nthrough the silver forest, and when I broke off this twig she fainted,\nand so she was until the devils brought her to life again.\"\n\nThe queen, seeing that all was known, cried out: \"Let the earth\nswallow me!\" and she was swallowed by the earth.\n\nSleepy John got the half of the kingdom, and, when the king died,\nthe other half too.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHREE DOVES\n\n\nA certain merchant died. His son was nineteen years old at the\ntime. He said to his mother: \"Mother dear, I'm going to try my luck\nin the world.\"\n\nHis mother answered: \"Go, dear son, but don't stay long there, for\nI am old, and should like some help in my old age.\" She fitted him\nout for the journey, and said good-bye to him.\n\nOut into the world went the son, and he travelled on till he came\ninto a forest. He had been going through it for three days, and\nno end appeared. On the third day he kept on and came at last to a\ncottage. He went into the cottage and he saw a horrible being seated\non a stool. The fellow asked him where he was going.\n\n\"I don't know where I am going. I'm seeking my fortune in some\nservice.\"\n\n\"Well, if you like, you can enter my service.\"\n\nThe lad was very hungry, so he took service with the other.\n\nHis master said to him: \"You must serve me for a year at least.\"\n\nSo he served him for a year. He was treated very well, and he was\na faithful servant to his master. The master was a sorcerer, but he\ndidn't do any harm to the lad. He had a big pond, and three doves used\nto come there to bathe. Each of them had three golden feathers. These\nthree doves were three enchanted princesses.\n\nWhen the year's service was ended, the sorcerer said: \"What wages\nshall I give you?\"\n\nThe lad said he left it to him.\n\n\"You're a good lad,\" said the sorcerer. \"Come with me to my cellar\nand take as much money as you like, gold or silver, just as you wish.\"\n\nSo the lad took as much as he could carry, and the sorcerer gave him\none of the three doves too, saying:\n\n\"When you get home, if you haven't got a house of your own, have one\nbuilt, and then pluck those three feathers out of the dove, and hide\nthem away so carefully that no human eye can see them. The dove will\nturn into a lovely princess and you may marry her.\"\n\nSo he took the dove and returned home. He had a house built and made\na secret place in one of the walls for the three feathers. When he\nplucked out the feathers the dove became a beautiful princess, but she\ndid not know where the feathers were. But his mother knew quite well,\nfor he had told her all and showed her where the feathers were hidden.\n\nWhen they had been living together for three years he went a-hunting\none day with another lord, and his mother stayed at home with her\ndaughter-in-law. The mother said to her: \"Dear daughter-in-law,\nI can't tell you how beautiful I think you. If one were to search\nthe whole world through, one couldn't find so beautiful a woman.\"\n\nThe daughter-in-law answered: \"Dear lady, the beauty I have now is\nnothing to what I should have had I but one of my golden feathers.\"\n\nThe mother went straight off, fetched one of the feathers, and gave\nit to her.\n\nShe thrust it into her skin, and she was immediately far more beautiful\nthan before. The mother kept looking at her, and said: \"If you had the\nothers as well, you would be even more beautiful.\" Then she fetched\nthe other two feathers and gave them to her.\n\nShe thrust them into her skin, and behold! she was a dove again. She\nflew off through the window, thanking her mother-in-law: \"Thank you,\ndearest mother, for giving me these three feathers. I will wait a\nlittle for my husband, to say good-bye to him.\"\n\nSo she perched on the roof to wait till her husband should return\nfrom the forest.\n\nNow, the husband's nose fell to bleeding violently. He grew frightened,\nand began to wonder what great misfortune had befallen him at home. He\nmounted his horse and hastened home. As he was approaching the door\nthe dove called out: \"Good-bye, dear husband. I thank you for your\ntrue love, but you will never see me more.\"\n\nThen the dove flew away, and the husband began to weep and to wail. Of\ncourse, he was very angry with his mother, and he decided to go away\nagain and follow wherever his eyes might lead him. So he started\noff, and he went back to the sorcerer in whose service he had been\nbefore. As soon as he entered the sorcerer said:\n\n\"Aha! you have not followed my advice. I won't help you this time;\nthe three doves are gone from here. But go to my brother, for all\nthe birds and animals are under his power, and perhaps some of them\nmight know where the doves are. I will give you a ball, and when you\nroll it three times, you will get there this evening. You must ask\nhim whether he knows anything about the doves, and you must tell him,\ntoo, that I sent you to him.\"\n\nThe lad thanked him heartily and went on his way. He rolled the\nball thrice and reached the other brother's by evening. He told him\nthat his brother had asked to be remembered kindly to him, and then\nhe asked whether he knew where the doves that used to bathe in his\nbrother's pond were.\n\nThe brother answered: \"My good lad, I know nothing at all about\nthem. You must wait till morning. All the birds and animals are under\nmy power, and if they know anything about it, it will be all right.\"\n\nIn the morning they went to the forest. The brother blew a whistle,\nand instantly swarms of birds gathered round, asking what was their\nmaster's will.\n\nHe said: \"Tell me, does any one of you know about those three golden\ndoves which used to bathe in my brother's pond?\"\n\nNone of them knew, so he blew his whistle again and all manner of\nanimals gathered round him: bears, lions, squirrels, wolves, every\nkind of wild animal, and they asked what was their master's will.\n\nHe said: \"I would know whether any one of you knows anything about\nthree golden doves which used to bathe in my brother's pond.\"\n\nNone of them knew. So he said:\n\n\"My dear lad, I cannot help you any more in this matter, but I have\nanother brother, and, if he cannot tell you anything about them,\nthen you will never hear of them any more. He dwells twice seventy\nmiles from here, and all the devils of Hell are subjected to him. I\nwill give you another ball like the one you had yesterday, and,\nwhen you have rolled it thrice, you will get there before evening.\"\n\nHe rolled the ball thrice and got there the same evening. The sorcerer\nwas sitting in his garden on the grass. His hair was all dishevelled\nlike a mop, his paunch was bare like a pail, his nose reached to\nhis middle, and was as bare as a stick--in fact, his appearance\nwas terrible.\n\nThe lad was terrified, but the sorcerer said: \"Don't be frightened,\nmy boy; though I look so hideous, yet I have a good heart. What do\nyou want?\"\n\n\"I have come from your brother to ask whether you can tell me about\nthe three doves which used to bathe in your brother's pond.\"\n\n\"My dear lad, I know nothing about them, but as soon as you get up\nin the morning I will call my apprentices, to find if any one of them\nknows anything about the doves.\"\n\nIn the morning they got up and went into the forest. The sorcerer\nblew a whistle, and at once hosts of devils appeared, such a multitude\nthat they darkened the whole forest.\n\nThe lad was frightened, but the sorcerer said: \"Don't be afraid;\nnot a hair of your head shall be harmed.\"\n\nThe devils asked what was their master's will.\n\nHe said: \"Does any one of you know anything, about the three doves\nwhich used to bathe in my brother's pond?\"\n\nNone of them knew anything. The sorcerer looked about him and asked:\n\"Where is the lame one?\"\n\nThe lame one had been left behind, but he was hurrying up for fear he\nshould be too late. He came and asked what was his master's will. The\nsorcerer answered: \"I want to find out whether you know anything\nabout those three doves that used to bathe in my brother's pond.\"\n\n\"Of course I know about them, for I have been driving them before\nme. They are bathing in the Red Sea now.\"\n\nThe sorcerer said: \"You must take up this man and carry him as far\nas their gold-roofed palace,\" and he took the lad aside and whispered\nin his ear:\n\n\"When the devil asks you how quick he is to take you, if he says:\n'As quickly as the wind blows?' say 'No'; and if he says, 'As quickly\nas the step goes?' say 'No' again. But if he says, 'As quickly as the\nair goes?' say 'Even so.' If your cap falls, do not look after it,\nand don't tell the devil about it, or he will let you fall and won't\ncarry you to the palace. When you are seven miles from the palace you\nwill see it, and the devil will ask you if you see it; but shut your\neyes tight and say that you can't see it. When you are three miles from\nit, you will see it quite plainly, and he will ask you again whether\nyou see it. But you must shut your eyes tight and say that you can't\nsee it. Then you will be above the palace roof, and he will ask you\nagain whether you see it. You must say again that you can't see it,\nor he will let you drop on the roof and you won't be able to get down.\"\n\nThe devil took the man and flew with him as the air goes. When they\nwere seven miles from the palace, the devil asked: \"Do you see the\npalace now? It is quite plain to see now.\"\n\nThe lad shut his eyes tight and said that he couldn't see it. So they\nflew on, and when they were three miles from the castle the devil\nasked him did he see it now. He shut his eyes tight and said that he\ncouldn't see it. When they were right over the roof, the devil asked:\n\"Surely you must see it now; we are just over the roof.\"\n\nBut he shut his eyes tight and said: \"I don't see it.\"\n\nThe devil said angrily: \"You must be blind if you can't see it; we\nare just above the roof.\" And he seized him in anger, and set him on\nthe golden table in that royal castle.\n\nThe three princesses were sitting at the table, knitting with golden\nthread. His own wife was the middle one, and she knew him at once. She\nsprang up right gladly and welcomed him with joy. She nearly fainted,\nshe was so pleased that he had been able to come so many miles in\nsuch a short time.\n\n\"Welcome, dear husband, welcome! Welcome, our deliverer! You will\nsave us from the enchantment under which we are in this castle.\"\n\nThe time passed very slowly there. So one day his wife brought him\nthe keys and showed him through all the rooms and closets, letting\nhim see everything except one room, which she would not open for him.\n\nThe three princesses had to take the shape of doves for two hours\nin the morning and three hours before the evening, and they had to\ngo to the Red Sea to bathe there. One day when they had gone out to\nbathe he thought: \"Why don't you want to open that room for me?\" So\nhe went and searched among the other keys for the key, and opened\nthe room for himself.\n\nIn the room he saw a three-headed dragon, and each of its heads was\nstuck upon a hook so that it hung down from it. Under the dragon were\nplaced three glasses of water. The lad was terrified and started to run\naway. But the dragon kept on calling out: \"Don't be frightened, don't\nrun away, but come back again and give me that glass of water. Your\nlife shall be spared this once.\"\n\nSo he gave him the glass of water; the dragon drained it up, and\ninstantly one of the heads fell from the hook. He begged again: \"Now\ngive me that other glass of water, and your life shall be spared a\nsecond time.\"\n\nHe gave it him; the dragon drank it up, and immediately the second\nhead fell from the hook. Then the dragon said: \"Now do as you like. But\nyou must give me the third glass of water, whether you like it or not!\"\n\nIn terror he gave him the third glass; the third head drank it up and\nfell from its hook. Now the dragon was quite free, and instantly he\nmade for the Red Sea, and began to chase after the three doves until\nhe caught one of them. It was the lad's wife.\n\nThe other two princesses came back again and began to weep and to wail.\n\n\"Thou luckless fellow! we were happy in the hope that thou wouldst\ndeliver us, and now we are worse off than ever--now our torments will\nlast till doomsday!\"\n\nHe, too, burst into tears, for he was sad at heart that the dragon\nhad carried off his wife, whom he had won at the risk of his life.\n\nThe princesses' three brothers were under enchantment too. One of\nthem was in the castle, changed into the shape of a horse. One day\nthe horse said to the sorrowing husband: \"The dragon is away from\nhome now. Let us go and steal the princess.\"\n\nSo they went to the dragon's castle, carried off the princess, and\nran for home. The other brother of the three princesses was in the\ndragon's castle under enchantment in the shape of a horse.\n\nWhen the dragon came home, he said to the horse: \"Where is my\nprincess?\"\n\nThe horse answered: \"They came and carried her away.\"\n\nThe dragon mounted the horse at once and said: \"Now we'll ride as\nfast as we can. We must overtake them.\"\n\nThe horse answered: \"We cannot possibly overtake them.\"\n\nBut the dragon said: \"Only let us start; we shall overtake them.\"\n\nThey started, and they overtook them near the castle. The dragon\nsnapped the princess away at once, saying to the lad: \"I promised to\nspare your life in return for that glass of water; now I have spared\nit, but don't dare to come to my castle ever again.\"\n\nAnd with that the dragon rode home, carrying the princess with him.\n\nSome time after that the horse said to the sorrowing husband: \"The\ndragon is away from home again. Let us go and steal the princess.\"\n\nSo they went and stole her again.\n\nThe dragon came home and asked the horse: \"Where is my princess?\"\n\nThe horse answered: \"Hibad! They have stolen her again, but we cannot\novertake them this time.\"\n\nThe dragon said: \"We must overtake them.\"\n\nHe mounted the horse, and they went flying after them till at last they\novertook them. The dragon snapped away the princess, saying to the lad:\n\"There's your life spared for the second glass. But if you come again,\nI'll tear you to pieces.\"\n\nThe lad was sorrowful, and wept and bewailed his fate because he had\nlost his wife for ever. But the horse said:\n\n\"I will give you one more counsel. I know a place where there are\nsome young ravens. We will go there, and you must take the young\nravens from their nest on the tree. The old ones will fly at you\nand peck you--they won't want to let you have their young chicks;\nbut tell them that you won't give them back their chicks unless they\nbring you the healing water and the water of life.\n\n\"When they bring the water, take one of the young ravens and pull its\nhead off; then dip it in the healing water and put the head to the\nbody again. That's how you will be certain that they have brought you\nthe real water of life. If the wound grows together again, you may\nbe sure it is the real water of life. As soon as the wound has grown\ntogether, take the water of life and pour some of it into the raven's\nbill, and when the bird revives, you will know quite certainly that\nit is the water of life.\"\n\nThe lad did all this. The old ravens brought him the water in leather\nbottles. He took one of the chicks, pulled its head off, dipped it\ninto the healing water, and the wound grew together again. Then he\npoured some of the water of life into its bill, and it came alive\nagain. Then he put the young ravens back into the nest again, took\nthe water, and went home.\n\nWhen he got there, the horse said to him: \"The dragon is away from\nhome to-day. Let us go and see if we can get the princess.\"\n\nSo off they went and carried away the princess. They ran off as fast\nas they could.\n\nThe dragon came home and asked the horse: \"Where is my princess?\"\n\nThe horse replied: \"She's gone from us. They've carried her off again,\nand this time we shall never catch up with them.\"\n\nThe dragon said in a rage: \"What should prevent us from getting her\nback? Let's go at once.\"\n\nSo they flew after them, and they reached the castle just as the\nfugitives were going in through the gate.\n\nThe dragon snapped the princess away, saying to the lad: \"You rascal! I\ntold you I would tear you to pieces if you came a third time for her.\"\n\nSo he caught hold of him, and took a foot in each claw, and tore him\nin two. Then he went off with the princess and the horse.\n\nThe lad's horse took the healing water, dipped the two halves into\nit, put the one against the other, and they grew together. Then he\ntook the water of life and poured it into the lad's mouth, and he\nwas alive again. Then they went into the castle.\n\nThe lad was weeping bitterly and crying out that all was over, that\nnow he would be separated from his wife for ever. But the horse gave\nhim comfort, saying:\n\n\"Well, I really don't know what advice I ought to give you now. We\nhave been three times, and he caught up with us every time. And\nthe last time you were torn in pieces. I don't know how things will\nturn out. But I have another brother across the Red Sea, and he is\nstronger than I or the dragon. If we could only get him, we should\nbe sure to kill the dragon. But it's a hard thing to do, for he is\nin service with the Devil's grandmother. We will try it together,\nif only we can manage to cross the Red Sea. And, if you follow the\nadvice I give you, you will get the horse.\n\n\"You must serve the Devil's grandmother for three days, and, when\nyou have served the three days, you must ask for that lean horse as\nwages. You will have to herd twelve horses for three days. Nobody\nhas ever managed to do it yet. When the first day's service is done,\non the next day the Devil's grandmother always cuts off the servant's\nhead and hangs it on a hook. Now, listen carefully. While you are\nherding the horses, anything the hag gives you to eat at home, eat\nyour fill of it. But, if she gives you anything to eat in the field,\ndo not eat it, but throw it away. If you were to eat it, sleep would\ncome down on you, your horses would stray, and the Devil's grandmother\nwould cut off your head and hang it upon a hook.\"\n\nSo off they went together till they came to the Red Sea. As they were\ndrawing near to the sea, they saw a huge fly entangled in a cobweb\nand struggling to free itself. So the lad went up to it and said:\n\"Poor fly! You can't get out of that cobweb; wait a bit, and I will\nhelp you.\"\n\nThe cobweb was as big as a sheet, but he tore it in two and the fly\ncrept out.\n\nThe fly said: \"Thank you for helping me out of the cobweb. Tear one\nof my feet from under my belly, and, whenever you are in need, think\nof me, and I will help you.\"\n\nThe lad thought: \"Poor fly! how could you help me?\" Nevertheless,\nhe tore off one of her feet and kept it.\n\nThen he went on his way, and he saw a wolf with his tail trapped under\na heavy log, and he was unable to help himself, for wolves have stiff\nbacks, and no wolf has ever been able to turn. The lad rolled the\nlog away and released the wolf.\n\nThe wolf said: \"Thank you for helping me. Take one of my claws, and,\nwhenever you are in sore need, think of me, and I will help you.\" So\nthe lad took one of his claws and kept it.\n\nWhen he got quite close to the sea, he saw a crab as big as a\nbarrel. The crab was lying on the sand with his belly upwards, and\nhe couldn't manage to turn himself over again. So the lad went and\nturned the crab over again. The crab asked him where he was going. He\nsaid he was going to the Devil's grandmother across the Red Sea.\n\nThe crab said: \"My dear lad, I'll make a bridge for you across the\nsea, so that you will be able to get across. But, besides that, you\nmust pluck off one of my claws from under my belly, and when you are\nin sore need, think of me, and I will help you.\"\n\nSo he plucked off one of the claws and kept it. The crab sidled into\nthe sea, and immediately all the crabs of the sea came together,\nand they closed in on one another so that they made a bridge\nacross the sea. The lad crossed the bridge and came to the Devil's\ngrandmother. She was standing waiting for him in the doorway of her\nhouse, and welcomed him. He'd just come at the right time; she wanted\nhim to herd her horses. She gave him plenty of good food to eat,\nand sent him out to the fields. She put twelve horses in his charge,\nand said to him:\n\n\"Look to it that you herd them well, for if you lose one of them\nyou will lose your head. Just look here at these twenty-four posts,\nwith a hook on each one of them. There are heads on twenty-three of\nthem. The last hook is waiting for your head. If you herd my horses\nbadly, that hook is waiting for your head.\"\n\nThen she fitted him out for herding the horses. She gave him a piece\nof bread, so that he might have enough to eat and not starve. He\nmeant to follow the horse's advice, and threw the bread away. But a\nfierce hunger came upon him, and he had to go and look for the bread\nand eat it up.\n\nThe moment he had eaten it he fell asleep and all the horses were\nlost. When he awoke there wasn't a single horse there. Sorrowfully\nhe said: \"The Devil's grandmother was right; my head will hang from\nthat hook.\" In his grief he thought of the fly, and it came flying\nup and called out: \"Why are you weeping and wailing?\"\n\nHe said that he had been hungry, and had been forced to eat the bread,\nso that he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.\n\nThe fly tried to comfort him, saying: \"Don't be troubled, dear lad;\nI will help you.\"\n\nSo she called together all the flies, and they flew everywhere looking\nfor the horses, and when they found them, they buzzed round them and\nplagued them till they drove them up to the herdsman. He drove them\njoyfully home.\n\nThe Devil's grandmother welcomed them, and when she saw that all\nthe horses were there, she said: \"You've herded them well enough,\nfor you have brought them all back.\" Then she seized a hatchet and\nbegan to beat the horses with it, and most of all the lean one,\ntill the flesh hung in strips from its body. The lad was sorry for\nthe horse, for the hag was beating it hardest and it was the leanest\nof them all. But the Devil's grandmother took a salve and anointed\nthe horses' wounds, and they were healed by morning.\n\nThe next day she fitted him out again for herding the horses, and\ngave him some more of the bread, telling him to eat it all. But\nwhen he came to the pasture he crumbled the bread and trampled the\ncrumbs into the ground, so that it should be uneatable. But it was no\ngood. He was forced to dig it up and eat it, earth and all, so great\nwas the hunger that the Devil's grandmother had sent against him. In\na moment he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.\n\nWhen he woke he saw that there were no horses there. He wept and\nwailed. But he thought of the wolf, and the wolf came running up\nand asked him: \"Why are you weeping and wailing? Don't be troubled;\nI will help you.\"\n\nHe went and summoned all the wolves. A great flock of wolves ran up,\nand they scattered everywhere, looking for the horses. When they found\nthem, they drove them to the herdsman, each horse with a wolf at its\nside leading it by the ear. The herdsman was overjoyed, and took the\nhorses and drove them home.\n\nThe Devil's grandmother was waiting for him in front of the house. She\nsaid: \"Indeed you have herded them well; this is the second day that\nyou have brought them all home.\" But she beat the horses with the\nhatchet far worse than the day before; then she anointed their wounds\nwith the salve, so that they should be healed by morning.\n\nOn the third day she sent him out again to herd the horses, and gave\nhim some more of the bread, telling him to eat it and not to throw it\naway. But when he came to the pasture he threw the bread down on the\nsand and trampled it in, so that it should be uneatable. But he had to\nsearch it out again, so great was the hunger the Devil's grandmother\nsent against him. The moment he had finished it he fell asleep and\nthe horses were lost. When he woke he burst into tears. This time\nit was all up with him; the fly and the wolf had helped him before,\nbut the crab had already made a bridge for him, so there was nobody\nto help him. The horses didn't know where to hide themselves to save\nthemselves from being beaten by the Devil's grandmother, so they\nleapt into the sea, where nobody could find them.\n\nThe herdsman was in agony, and he kept on wailing that now his head\nmust hang upon that hook. At last he thought of the crab. The crab\nturned round in the sea, and instantly all the crabs collected and\nbegan searching the sea for the horses, and they pinched them until\nthey drove them out of the sea. But the lean one, since he couldn't\nthink of a better hiding-place, crouched under the crab's belly. The\nother crabs set to work to look for him, and at last they found\nhim. The big crab had to turn over, and then they drove the lean\nhorse out. The herdsman took the horses and drove them home joyfully,\nbecause his three days of service were now over.\n\nThe Devil's grandmother was waiting for him, and she beat the horses\nwith the hatchet so fiercely that their flesh hung in strips from\ntheir bodies. Then she anointed them with the salve, and the wounds\nhealed by morning. In the morning she asked the herdsman what wages\nhe wanted. He answered: \"I want nothing but that lean old horse.\"\n\nShe said: \"It would be a sorry thing to give you such a wretched\nhorse in return for such good service; I will give you the best horse.\"\n\nHe answered: \"I won't take any horse but the lean one.\"\n\nShe asked him why he wanted the leanest one. He replied: \"Because I\nam sorry for him, for he always gets the worst beating. I will have\nthat one, and no other.\"\n\nSo she said: \"Well, I will give him to you, if you must have him,\nbut I will give you this fat one too. You can ride on his back home\nand lead the lean one with you.\"\n\nHe mounted the fat horse and rode off. But when they were drawing\nnear to the gate, the lean horse said: \"Get down from that horse and\nmount me, or you will be the worse for it.\"\n\nSo he jumped down from the fat horse and mounted the lean one.\n\nThe fat horse growled: \"It's the Devil gave you that advice.\"\n\nAnd the lean horse said: \"If you had gone under the gate on that\nhorse's back, he would have dashed you against the vault of the gate,\nso that your head would have been knocked off, and you would have\nbeen killed.\"\n\nSo they came safely home. When the princesses saw him come back they\nwere delighted.\n\nThe other horse said: \"Now, brother, let us go. The dragon is away\nfrom home, and the princess will be ours.\" So they went and carried\noff the princess.\n\nWhen the dragon came home, he asked his horse: \"Where is my princess?\"\n\nThe horse replied: \"She has gone, and this time we shan't get her\nback. The horse from the Red Sea has come, and he will get the better\nof us all.\"\n\nThe dragon took no heed of that, but flew after them and caught them\nup just by the gate. He was going to snap the princess away, but this\ntime he could not do it. For the horse from over the Red Sea kicked\nhis nose with his hoof, so that the dragon fell down from his horse,\nand the other two horses fell upon him, and between them they killed\nthe dragon.\n\nThey came to the castle with the princess, and they were congratulating\none another on their victory over their enemy. Then the horse which\nhad been giving good advice to his rider all the time said: \"Now,\ndear brother-in-law, take my sword there hanging from the ceiling\nand cut my head off.\"\n\nHe was sad and said: \"How could I do that, after all the acts of\nkindness you have done for me?\"\n\nThe horse said: \"My good friend, I cannot tell you why you must behead\nme, but you would do me a great wrong if you did not do it.\"\n\nSo he hesitated no longer, but cut his head off. The blood spurted\nup twelve feet high, and instantly the horse became a beautiful\nyouth. Seeing that, the lad was quick to behead the other horses,\nand they all turned into handsome princes like the first one.\n\nThey all thanked him for delivering them, and they made him king of\nthat castle, and there he lived with his wife and her two sisters\nin all happiness and harmony till they died. The three brothers took\npossession of the dragon's castle.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR, THE EAGLE, AND THE FISH\n\n\nOnce there was a count and he had three daughters. All of them were\nyoung and as pretty as peacocks, but the youngest was the loveliest\nof them all. The count had little money to spend, for he had lost it\nall by gambling. And so--since he had to spend the time in some way\nor other--he used to go hunting. One day, when he was out hunting\nhe lost his way in a forest, and he could not find his way out of\nit. Suddenly a big bear rushed out at him, shouting at the top of\nhis voice. He said he would show him the way out of the forest and,\nbesides, he would give him as much gold and silver as he wanted on\none condition, and that condition was that the count should give him\none of his daughters in marriage. The count was terrified. But after\nthinking it over for a time, he consented at last. The bear showed\nhim the way out of the forest and gave him everything he had promised,\nand so the count was pleased.\n\nHe spent his time eating and drinking and gambling, till all the money\nmelted away. He never so much as gave a thought to the bear, until\none day, when the eldest daughter was marriageable, a carriage came\nrolling up. The carriage was drawn by a pair of raven-black horses,\nand in it sat a prince with cheeks of white and red, whose robes\nblazed with gold. He came and took the eldest daughter and drove\noff. The countess wept, but the count did not mind a bit, but being\nshort of money, he began hunting again.\n\nOne day he lost his way again, and this time an eagle flew down to\nhim and promised to show him the way out of the forest, and to give\nhim heaps of money into the bargain, if he would only give him his\nsecond daughter in return. The bargain was made and the eagle fetched\naway the second daughter, and only the youngest was left at home. Yet\neven her the count sold, and it was a fish that got her.\n\nSo the count and the countess were left alone. They were very sad,\nbut after a time a boy was born to them, and they watched over him\nlike the apple of their eye. When the boy was grown up, he saw that\nthe countess looked sad sometimes, and he gave her no rest till she\nhad told him everything. When he had heard the story, he put his best\nclothes on, took his sword, mounted his horse, and said good-bye to his\nparents, telling them that he was going to search for his lost sisters.\n\nSo he rode on till he came to the eldest sister. Her he found playing\nwith three little bear cubs, for these were her babies. He met his\nbrother-in-law, who gave him three hairs and told him to rub those\nhairs with his fingers if he found himself in any difficulty. Then\nhe went to the second sister, and found her with two eaglets and the\nold eagle, his brother-in-law, as well. The eagle gave him three\nfeathers, saying they would be of help to him in time of need. He\nthanked the eagle for that and went on his way, and at last he came\nto his youngest sister. It was not so easy to get to her, for she\ndwelt under the water, and he had to drop into her house through\nthe chimney. He would have missed the chimney if it hadn't been for\nthe smoke from it: it was bluish smoke, hardly visible. His sister\nwelcomed him heartily and showed him her baby, a pretty little fish,\nand her husband, a giant fish. The lad got three fish-scales from\nthe husband to use in time of trouble.\n\nHe learned that the bear and the eagle were the brothers of the\nfish. They were sons of a powerful king, but they had been enchanted\nby an envious magician and turned into these shapes. The sorcerer could\ntake different forms. But the brother must not let that dismay him. He\nmust get hold of a golden egg which was hidden in the sorcerer and\nthrow it on the ground. If he began to grow faint and did not know\nwhat to do, he must call one of his brothers-in-law, and he would\nadvise him what to do.\n\nAnd so it was. The young count attacked the magician, who turned into\na bull. But the young count was not afraid: he rubbed the bear's hair;\nthe bear came running up and tore the bull in pieces. But out of the\nbull flew a wild duck and tried to escape. Then the count thought of\nthe eagle feathers, and immediately the eagle flew up, and he tore\nthe duck to pieces. But a golden egg fell from the duck and it rolled\ninto the pond. But that too was of no avail, for the count rubbed\nthe fish scales, and after a while the fish threw the egg upon the\nbank. The count caught it and flung it to the ground so that it was\nsmashed into many pieces.\n\nAt once all around was changed. The pond turned into a meadow upon\nwhich a beautiful castle was shining. The castle was full of servants\nand the three princes, with their wives and children, were just walking\nout of it. All were overjoyed to be so happily delivered, and, when\nthey had enough of rejoicing, they started off to find their parents.\n\nTheir first journey was to the old count and countess, so that they\nmight enjoy the sight of their children and grandchildren. Afterwards\nthey hastened to the old king. He ordered many cannon to be fired,\nand prepared a splendid banquet. And he gave the kingdom to his\neldest son. The second son went to the land of the count, and it\nwas divided between him and his brother-in-law. And the youngest\nwent to the disenchanted castle. All of them reigned prosperously\nand wisely in their several realms and, if they haven't died since,\nthey are reigning still.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOJATA\n\n\nOnce there was a king who had an only son. One day the king went\nto inspect his estates. He came to the first farm and found it\nall right. Before he had finished going the round of his estates,\nthirteen big farms in all, he forgot that his wife was about to have\na child. On his way home he came to a forest, and such a thirst came\nupon him that he bade his driver stop and look for some water. The\ndriver looked everywhere for water, but he couldn't find any. So the\nking himself went to look for it, and he found a well.\n\nNow, just as he was going to drink, he kneeled down and he saw\nsomething in the well which had claws like a crab and red eyes. It\nseized him by the beard with one of its claws--he had a pretty long\nbeard--and it refused to let him go unless he promised to give it the\nthing that he had at home unknown to himself. So he said to himself: \"I\nknow everything at home.\" But he forgot about his wife's condition. By\nthis time his wife had been delivered of a prince, and so the king,\nwithout knowing it, had promised his son to the thing in the well. And\non that it let him go.\n\nWhen he got home he saw the new-born prince, and of course he was\nvery sad. He remained so for twelve years. The prince asked him why he\nwas so sad. And the king answered: \"Because you are sold.\" The prince\ntold him not to worry about it; he would be able to help himself.\n\nThe prince called for his horse and started out. He had been riding\nfive days' journey from his home, when he came to a lake. There\nhe tethered his horse. He saw thirteen ducks swimming on the lake,\nand there were thirteen shifts lying on the bank. So he carried off\none of the shifts and hid himself. When they saw this, twelve of the\nducks flew away, but the thirteenth was running hither and thither,\nlooking for her shift. So when he saw her running hither and thither\nlooking for her shift, he came out of his hiding-place. Now the father\nof those ducks was the being which had seized the king by the beard. He\nwas a sorcerer, and his name was Kojata.\n\nThis girl was his youngest daughter. And she said to the prince:\n\n\"Now I will give you a good counsel. You will save me and I will save\nyou. My father will set you a difficult task. I will perform it for\nyou, but you must not let him know that I am helping you. Leave your\nhorse here and hurry on to my father's. He will give you a lodging,\nand he will give you three days to consider over the task. You will\nbe in your room alone, and in the evening I will come humming to your\nwindow, for I shall come to you in a bee's shape, because I can't\ncome in any other way. And you must follow my advice. My father has\nthirteen daughters, and we all resemble one another exactly and we\nall wear the same sort of clothes. You will have to find out which is\nthe youngest, but you will have no other means of recognizing me than\nby noticing a tiny fly under my left eye, so be very careful about it.\"\n\nSo it was. The sorcerer called him in and the thirteen daughters\nwere standing in a row. The sorcerer asked him whether he could\nmake out which was the youngest; if he could do so, his life would\nbe spared. So he went the round of them three times, but it was as\nmuch as he could do to recognize her. But he pointed her out. She was\nthe third from the end. So the sorcerer asked him who had been giving\nhim advice. But the prince answered that it was none of his business.\n\nThe next day the sorcerer gave him another task: to build a palace of\npure gold and silver without using hammer or trowel. The prince was\nvery worried about it. But in the evening the youngest daughter came\nflying to him again, and she gave him a wand. At a single stroke of\nthe wand the palace rose up ready-built, and it was more perfect than\nthe old one. In the morning he was strolling about the palace looking\nround him. When King Kojata saw him, he came up to him and stopped:\n\"Who has given you this counsel?\" he asked. The prince answered that\nit was the person who had given him advice the time before.\n\nSo the sorcerer set him the third task, and this time the daughter\nwas not able to advise him. She came to him in the evening and said:\n\"I have no other advice than for both of us to flee at once, otherwise\nyou will be lost and I too.\"\n\nNow, in the evening she turned herself into a horse, and he mounted her\nand rode as far as the lake. There he found his own horse, and they\nboth mounted it and rode off at full speed. Soon she heard a great\nnoise behind her, so she turned herself into a church and the prince\nbecame a monk. The sorcerer's apprentices were riding in pursuit of\nthem. When they got as far as the church they turned and went back to\nKojata. When they came to him they said that they had not overtaken\nanybody; they had only seen a church and a monk in it. And he said:\n\"Those were they!\"\n\nNext day he sent them again to pursue the runaways. Though they\nwere riding faster than the day before, again they heard a trampling\nbehind them. So she turned herself into a great river and him into\nan old broken bridge. Their pursuers came as far as the river and the\nbridge, and then they turned back and reported to their king, Kojata,\nthat they had seen nothing but a river and a bridge. He said at once:\n\"Well, those were they!\"\n\nOn the third day the runaways started again and made for the border\nas fast as they could, and soon they were in their own land. When\nthey reached the third church, the sorcerer had no more power over\nthem. He began to tear his hair and knock his head against the ground\nand to curse his daughter for tricking him.\n\nSo the young king came home, bringing a lovely young princess with\nhim. His father was very pleased at that!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSHEPHERD HYNEK\n\n\nTo cut a long story short, there was a prince and he had three\nsons. The first two followed in their father's footsteps, but the third\ndid not. He said he would like to be a forester. The father was angry\nand turned him out of the house. What was he to do with the fellow,\nwhen he was so obstinate and would be a forester?\n\n\"Well, be whatever you like,\" said the prince, and he gave him a\nshepherd's dress and Hynek went out into the world.\n\nHe had been walking through a forest for three days. He was hungry\nand cold, and everything seemed to be against him. He was tired\ntoo, and at last he fell asleep under a tree. As he was sleeping,\na black man came to him. He would not leave him to sleep, but waked\nhim up. Hynek was frightened. But he told him there was no need to\nbe afraid. He was a good man, though his skin was black. So Hynek\nstayed with him for seven years and learnt the seven languages,\nzither playing, and all that sort of thing.\n\nNow the seven years were over. In that land there was a king who had\nan only daughter. And there was a fierce dragon which was ravaging\nthe whole of that kingdom, and everybody was forced to give him\none sheep and one human being to appease him. So the lot fell upon\nthe princess too. The black man told Hynek that something ought to\nbe done to deliver the people and to save the princess from being\ndevoured by that dragon.\n\n\"Go to the next homestead,\" he said, \"and ask to be taken on as a\nshepherd, and in the morning you will have to drive the sheep into\nthis forest.\"\n\nSo they took leave of one another. Hynek was engaged as shepherd, and\nin the morning he drove the sheep into the forest, where the black\nman was waiting for him. When he came with the sheep, the black man\ngave him a wand and a ring, and said:\n\n\"When you turn this ring, you will be brought to a castle where a\ngiant dwells, and you will have to tackle the giant. This wand will\nhelp you to do it. Then you must take his robe, his horse, and his\nsword. Then you will be brought to the town, and it will be about\nthe time that the princess will be brought out.\"\n\nSo Hynek took his leave and found everything just as he had said. As\nhe came near to the castle, the giant was looking out and said:\n\n\"You earthworm, what are you looking for?\"\n\n\"Oh! I should like to have a try for that big head of yours.\"\n\nThe giant fell into a rage. He was holding a great club in his hand,\nand he flung it at Hynek, but Hynek dodged aside and the club sank\ndeep into the ground, it had been flung with such force. So Hynek\nwent right up to him, and, crack! he struck him with the wand. So\nthe giant tumbled over. Hynek took his sword and struck his head\noff. Then he took an iron key out of the giant's pocket. He opened\nthe lock, took the robe and the horse, and dressed himself as became a\nknight. Then he turned the ring, and in a moment he found himself on\nthe road along which they were bringing the princess to be devoured\nby the dragon. When he saw the procession, he asked:\n\n\"What's going on here, and why are the people in such grief?\"\n\n\"Because the princess is to be devoured by a dragon to-day.\"\n\nHynek said: \"For the sake of her beauty, show me his den where\nhe dwells.\"\n\nSo he rode up to the rock and called out loudly: \"Now, dragon, come\non; your meal is ready here, waiting for you.\"\n\nBut the dragon answered: \"I don't want it to-day; come to-morrow,\nat eleven.\"\n\nSo Hynek returned. He rode towards them and said that the dragon would\nnot leave his den to-day. So they all went back to the town with the\nknight, and the king would not let him go away on any account. But\nHynek began to make excuses. He had to deliver a letter for the field\nmarshal and he could not remain there. Then he turned the ring on his\nfinger, and instantly he was in the castle again. He left the clothes\nand the horse there, putting the clothes tidily together. Then he put\non his shepherd's dress, turned the ring, and at once he was near the\nforest, where the black man had been tending his sheep meanwhile. He\ngreeted him kindly:\n\n\"You have done everything well. Always act like that.\"\n\nSo he drove the sheep home and played the zither again. Everybody ran\nup to the door to listen to the magic playing of the shepherd. But\nhe said nothing to anybody.\n\nThe next day he drove the sheep to the forest still earlier. The\nblack man was there waiting for him, and said: \"Follow my advice and\nyou will be happy.\"\n\nHe said that he would do so. The black man was to mind the sheep\nagain. He gave Hynek the wand and the ring, and Hynek came to another\ncastle.\n\nThe giant was looking out as he came up; he was standing in the\ndoorway. He asked the lad grimly what he was looking for.\n\n\"Oh! it's nothing. I only want to try for that big head of yours.\"\n\nThe giant was holding a hammer and he hurled it at him. No eye could\nsee where it fell. Hynek leapt towards him, and, crack! he struck\nhim with the wand, and the giant fell over and Hynek cut his head\noff too. He took a silver key out of the giant's pocket and went\nstraight to the castle. There he chose a robe, girded on a sword,\ntook a horse, and turned the ring again. Once more he was on the road\nwhere the princess was being brought to be devoured. He asked them\nin a different language why they were wailing so.\n\n\"Well, our princess is to be devoured by the dragon to-day. He would\nnot leave his den yesterday.\"\n\n\"Show me his den: I will sacrifice myself for the sake of her beauty.\"\n\nThey showed him the rock, and he rode straight up to it and called out:\n\"Now, dragon, come on; your meal is ready here.\"\n\n\"I don't want it to-day, wait till eleven to-morrow.\"\n\nThe king was still less willing to let him go this time, but he\nfound some excuse, turned his horse, and went back with everything\nto the castle.\n\nThen he returned to the forest and the black man. The black man said:\n\"Drive your sheep home now, but come earlier to-morrow, for a heavy\ntask awaits you.\"\n\nHynek could not rest that night: he was so afraid that he would be too\nlate. As soon as dawn came he let out the flock and drove it to the\nforest. When he got there, the black man said to him: \"There's only\nto-day now. It will be the last time. But it will be a heavy task for\nyou to tackle the third giant and the dragon.\" Then he gave him the\nwand and the ring, and said that the key to-day would be of gold. He\nmust choose the robe and take a black horse, and he must take with\nhim the sword with which he had killed the giant and the dragon.\n\nHe turned the ring and was brought to the third castle. Here was a\ngiant again, much huger than the other two. He ran at Hynek, but,\ncrack! Hynek struck him with the wand. Then he took his sword and\nkilled him. Then he opened the castle with a golden key; he went\nto the stable, then he put on a green robe and brought out a black\nhorse. There was a sword hanging there, and he girded it on. Then he\nturned the ring, and in a moment he was on the road along which they\nwere bringing the princess to be devoured by the dragon.\n\nHe asked them in yet another language why they were so sorrowful. He\nwas ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of her beauty. So they\nshowed him the den in which the dragon dwelt, and he called out:\n\"Well, come on, dragon; your meal is ready and waiting for you here.\"\n\nNow the rock began to shake; all the stones came rolling down, and the\ndragon flew out of the rock, his seven heads burning with flame, and\nhe made straight for Hynek. Hynek began cutting at the seven heads\nuntil he was weary that he could not do any more. Then the horse\nbegan to crush the dragon, until after a while Hynek, being rested,\ntook his sword, and at once he cut all the seven heads off.\n\nHe was so scorched by the fire that he could not run away, and he\nfainted on the spot. The people had seen what was happening, so they\nrode up and carried him away, lest he should perish of the dragon's\npoison. They brought him and laid him in the princess's lap. She gave\nhim her ring and a golden neckchain, and so he recovered his senses\nand found himself lying in the princess's lap. He was afraid that he\nhad stayed too long, for he was supposed to be with the marshal by\nthis time. They were all trying to hold him back from going, but he\nfound an excuse and promised he would come back within three days. So\nat last they just had to let him go.\n\nHe returned to the castle, where he put everything back in its place\nagain, except the sword, which he took with him and gave to the black\nman. The black man said to him: \"You have succeeded now, and it will\nbe well with both of us.\"\n\nSo Hynek drove his sheep home rejoicing. He was playing the zither,\nand all the people gathered outside to listen to his rare and sweet\nmusic. He asked what had happened to the princess: had the dragon\ndevoured her?\n\n\"Oh no! A knight delivered her, and the king is going to give her in\nmarriage to him.\"\n\n\"Alas! silly shepherd that I am, why did I not tackle him myself with\nmy shepherd's staff!\"\n\nBut they all laughed at him: \"You mind your sheep, that's what\nbefits you.\"\n\nIn the royal castle the wedding-feast was ready. The sixth day had\ncome and they were still waiting for him. But the bridegroom did not\ncome and the princess was sad. On the sixth day he asked the marshal\nif he could go to the castle to play his zither to the princess;\nhe would like to cheer her, since she was so sad.\n\n\"You may go, and, if you succeed, you shall make some extra money.\"\n\nSo Hynek went and played, and the music was so sweet that the lords\ncould listen to nothing but his beautiful playing. He played for\nthree hours, and then he must go home. They asked him what reward he\nwould like.\n\n\"Nothing but to drink a cup of wine with the princess.\"\n\nHe had ready the ring which the princess had given him when he was\nin her lap. His request was granted, and the rest of the musicians\nwho were there were angry with him for claiming so insignificant a\nreward. When they had filled the cup for him, he drank the wine and\ndropped the ring into the cup.\n\nNow, the cupbearer who was filling the cup looked into it and saw the\nglittering ring. So he hastened to the princess with it. She recognized\nit as her own, so she ordered them to bring that shepherd before her.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, \"surely they won't beat me!\"\n\nThey brought him before the princess, and she made him tell her how\nhe had got that ring and how he had been clothed.\n\nSo he said: \"All those three days I was with you.\"\n\nHynek did not go back to the marshal, though he complained of the\nloss of his shepherd. He was clad in royal robes now, and they had a\nsplendid wedding in the castle. But the princess did not know what his\nparentage was, although she could see that he was not a low-born man.\n\nSo after a year he said he would like to visit his parents, and he\ntold her to prepare for the journey. She was to send a letter to\nPrince So-and-So that the young queen was going to visit him. He\nwould go on ahead.\n\nSo he put his shepherd's dress on once more and purposely tore it\nin several places, and, when his princess arrived and everybody was\nwelcoming her, he went straight into the great hall. Now, when the old\nPrince saw that it was his son all tattered and torn, he bade them\nput him under lock and key. But he had no difficulty in escaping,\nand while they were feasting, he came into the hall again and sat\ndown next to the princess. The father was furious that his son should\nbehave so shamefully. But the princess reassured him. It was all right,\nshe said. She did not mind at all; he might sit where he pleased.\n\nAfter dinner she called for a bath. They prepared it for her. But\nHynek was quicker, and slipped into the bathroom before her. She shut\nthe door and he put on his royal robes, and then they went before\nhis father. The Prince was frightened, since he had thought so ill\nof his son, and he fell on his knees. But Hynek lifted him up and\nhimself kneeled before him and asked his forgiveness.\n\nThen came in the black man. He gave Hynek the sword and bade him cut\nhis head off. Hynek would not repay his kindness in this way.\n\n\"Then we shall both be unhappy.\"\n\nSo when he saw what he was to do, he cut the head off and, when he\nhad done that, an English prince appeared in his stead. He was only\neighteen years old. All his followers woke up too. Hynek accompanied\nhim to England, and then took leave of him.\n\nHow are they all now?\n\nI don't know.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE ROSES\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a mother who had three daughters. There\nwas to be a market in the next town, and she said she would go to\nit. She asked the daughters what she should bring them back. Two of\nthem named a great number of things; she must buy all of them, they\nsaid. You know the sort of women, and the sort of things they would\nwant. Well, when they had asked for more than enough, the mother\nasked the third daughter:\n\n\"And you, don't you want anything?\"\n\n\"No, I don't want anything; but, if you like, you can bring me three\nroses, please.\"\n\nIf she wanted no more than that, her mother was ready to bring them.\n\nWhen the mother knew all she wanted, she went off to market. She bought\nall she could, piled it all on her back, and started for home. But\nshe was overtaken by nightfall, and the poor mother completely lost\nher way and could go no farther. She wandered through the forest till\nshe was quite worn out, and at last she came to a palace, though she\nhad never before heard of any palace there. There was a large garden\nfull of roses, so beautiful that no painter alive could paint them,\nand all the roses were smiling at her. So she remembered her youngest\ndaughter, who had wished for just such roses. She had forgotten it\nentirely till then. Surely that was because she was so old! Now she\nthought: \"There are plenty of roses here, so I will take these three.\"\n\nSo she went into the garden and took the roses. At once a basilisk\ncame and demanded her daughter in exchange for the roses. The mother\nwas terrified and wanted to throw the flowers away. But the basilisk\nsaid that wouldn't be any use, and he threatened to tear her to\npieces. So she had to promise him her daughter. There was no help\nfor it, and so she went home.\n\nShe took the three roses to her daughter and said: \"Here are the\nroses, but I had to pay dearly for them. You must go to yonder castle\nin payment for them, and I don't even know whether you will ever\ncome back.\"\n\nBut Mary seemed as though she didn't mind at all, and she said she\nwould go. So the mother took her to the castle. There was everything\nshe wanted there. Soon the basilisk appeared and told Mary that she\nmust nurse him in her lap for three hours every day. There was no\nway out, do it she must, and so the basilisk came and she nursed him\nfor three hours. Then he went out, but he came next day and the day\nafter that. On the third day he brought a sword and told poor Mary\nto cut his head off.\n\nShe protested that she wasn't used to doing things like that, and do\nit she could not. But the basilisk said in a rage that, if that was so,\nhe would tear her to pieces. As there was no choice, she went up to him\nand cut his head off. And as the basilisk's head rolled on the ground,\nthere came forth from his body a long serpent, hissing horribly. He\nasked her to cut his head off again. Mary did not hesitate this time,\nbut cut his head off at once.\n\nThe serpent (by the way, he held the golden keys of that palace in\nhis mouth) was immediately changed into a beautiful youth, and he\nsaid in a pleasant voice: \"This castle belongs to me, and, as you\nhave delivered me, there is no help for it: I must marry you.\"\n\nSo there was a great wedding, the castle was full of their attendants,\nand they all had to play and dance. But the floor was of paper,\nso I fell through it, and here I am now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED PRINCESSES\n\n\nIn the days of King Bambita, his two noble daughters oppressed the\npeople, laying heavy taxes on them without the king's knowledge. The\npeople cursed them, and the curses did their work. The princesses\nvanished. The king sent some of his servants to look for the\nprincesses. But the servants came back empty-handed. None of them\nhad been able to find the princesses.\n\nNow, a captain and a lieutenant heard of the king's trouble. So the\nlieutenant went to the king, and \"I see,\" says he, \"that you are in\ntrouble. I will go and look for the princesses.\"\n\n\"How much do you want for it?\" asked the king.\n\n\"Twenty pounds.\"\n\nThe king agreed, and gave him the money. \"If you find them,\" said he,\n\"half of my kingdom is yours.\"\n\nThe lieutenant and the captain had plenty of money now, so they went\nto an inn and passed the time drinking. On the third day the captain\nsaid: \"To-day I will go to the king. If he gave you twenty pounds,\nhe is certain to give me more.\"\n\nSo he went to the king and said: \"I see that your majesty is in\ntrouble. I should like to go and look for the princesses.\"\n\n\"How much do you want for it?\" said the king.\n\n\"Thirty pounds.\"\n\nWell, the king gave him the money without any more ado, adding that,\nif he found the princesses, he would get half of his kingdom.\n\nThey fell to drinking again and had a splendid time.\n\nThere was a drummer near them, and he heard them saying that they\nwere to look for the princesses. So he went to the king and said:\n\"I hear that your majesty is prostrated by sore trouble. I, too,\nwould like to look for the princesses.\"\n\n\"How much do you want for it?\"\n\n\"Forty pounds, at least.\"\n\nThe king gave him the money without more ado. The two officers and the\ndrummer left that inn for another, and so they went on spending their\nmoney recklessly in one drinking-house after another. The drummer\nwent with the other two, but he was more careful than they were. He\nwas not such a spendthrift as the two officers.\n\nThey asked him where he meant to go.\n\n\"Wherever you go, I will go too,\" he replied.\n\n\"Then why don't you join us and lead a gay life?\"\n\n\"That I can't do until I know where to find the princesses.\"\n\nThey invited him to join them, but he refused to do it.\n\nAt last they bought some bread and other food, and they all set out\ntogether on their journey. They came to a dark forest, and for a\nfortnight they searched it through and through, but they could find\nnothing. They couldn't find their way out of the forest either, so they\nagreed that one of them should climb to the top of the highest tree\nto see which way they ought to go. The drummer, being the youngest,\nclimbed up a pine-tree. He called out:\n\n\"I can see a cottage. Look, I will throw my hat towards it, and do\nyou follow the hat.\"\n\nWell, they went on until they reached the cottage.\n\n\"Go into the room,\" says the drummer.\n\n\"After you,\" said both the officers at once.\n\nSo the drummer stepped inside, and an old crone welcomed him.\n\n\"Welcome, Drummer Anthony,\" said she. \"How did you get here?\"\n\n\"I have come to deliver the princesses, and only for that.\"\n\n\"Well, you will find them, but those other two fellows will get them\nfrom you by a trick.\"\n\nShe gave him a rope three hundred fathoms long and told him to bind\nit round his body. She also gave him some wine and a sponge. Then\nshe said: \"Not far from here there is a well. When you come to it,\nyou must say that you will let yourself down into the well, if the\nother fellows will drink the fountain dry.\"\n\nWhen they got to the well, the captain and the lieutenant began to\ndrink the fountain, but it was just as full as before.\n\n\"If we kept on drinking this fountain till doomsday,\" they said,\n\"we could not drink it dry.\"\n\nSo the drummer took the sponge, and at once the water began to\ndisappear, and soon the well was dry. They began to quarrel as to who\nshould go down the well. The one on the right side said the other\nought to go, but at last they agreed that the drummer, who was the\nlightest, should go.\n\nSo he went down, and, when he reached the bottom of the well, he found\na stone there. He drew it aside, and then he saw the light of the other\nworld. He lowered himself on the rope into the other world. There\nhe saw a beautiful palace. He went towards it. When he reached it,\nhe saw that the table was laid for two persons. He ate his meal and\nthen went into the second room. There he laid himself down to sleep,\nand when he awoke in the morning, he found the Princess Anne in the\nthird room.\n\n\"Welcome,\" she said; \"what has brought you here?\"\n\nHe told her that he had come to deliver her.\n\nShe said: \"I don't know whether you will succeed in that. Here is a\nsword; see if you can brandish it.\"\n\nThe drummer took hold of the sword, but he could not even lift it,\nit was so heavy.\n\nThen the princess gave him a ring. \"Take this,\" she said, \"and whenever\nyou think of me, you will become strong. I have to hold the dragon in\nmy lap for a whole hour. As soon as he comes, he will smell a man. But\nyou must cut him in two, for then I shall be delivered. Just at nine\no'clock he comes.\"\n\nJust at nine o'clock the palace began to tremble and the dragon\ncame in. But the drummer encountered him and struck him in two with\nthe sword.\n\nAfter that the princess took him into another room. \"Now you have\ndelivered me,\" she said. \"But my sister is in worse trouble still. She\nhas to hold a dragon in her lap for two hours, and that dragon is\neven stronger than this one.\"\n\nThen they went into the fourth room, where was the Princess\nAntonia. She, too, greeted him, and told him that he would be able\nto deliver her if he could brandish the sword beside her. He tried,\nbut he could not even move it. Then she gave him a ring and told him\nthat, whenever he thought of her, he would have the strength of two\nhundred men. She said, too, that if he succeeded in setting her free\nshe would marry him.\n\nSoon eleven o'clock came. The hall began to tremble and the dragon\nappeared. But, as he was coming in, Anthony was ready for him near\nthe door, and he managed to cut the dragon in two.\n\nNow, when the two princesses had been set free, they gathered all the\nprecious stones they could to take with them, and went to the opening\nthat led into the world. But the drummer had quite forgotten the old\ncrone's warning about the other two fellows, and he sent the princesses\nup before him. Each of the officers took a princess for himself, and\nthe drummer was left behind at the bottom of the well. When his turn\ncame, he was careful enough to tie a stone to the rope. His companions\non the top pulled it up a little way and then suddenly let it drop,\nthrowing down other stones into the well to kill the drummer. But\nhe had remembered the crone's warning that his friends would try to\ntrick him. So he jumped aside and remained there in the other world.\n\nHe went back to the palace and entered the seventh room. On the table\nwere three boxes. He opened the first and found a whistle inside\nit. He blew the whistle, and in came some generals and asked what was\nhis majesty's will. He said he had only whistled to find out if they\nwere attending to their duty. Then he looked into the second box, and\nthere he saw a bugle. He blew the bugle, and in came some officers,\nwho said just what the generals had said. In the third box he found a\ndrum. He beat the drum, and immediately he was surrounded by infantry\nand cavalry, a great multitude of soldiers. He asked whether any of\nthem had ever been in Europe. Two men were found among them who had\nbeen shipwrecked.\n\n\"Where is the ship?\" said the drummer.\n\n\"Here on the seacoast,\" they replied.\n\nAt that, Anthony decked himself out in a royal robe and started on\nhis travels for Europe.\n\nMeanwhile the two princesses had reached home. One was engaged to\nbe married to the lieutenant, the other to the captain. But when\nthe time for the wedding came, both the princesses, still thinking\nof Anthony, asked for a delay of one year, and their royal father\ngranted their request.\n\nAnthony arrived safely in that land. He met a traveller and said to\nhim, \"Look here, why should you not change clothes with me?\"\n\nHe was glad to do so, and Anthony went on to the town in which the\nprincesses lived and sought out a goldsmith. He asked the goldsmith\nfor work.\n\n\"I haven't work enough for myself,\" said the goldsmith.\n\n\"Well,\" said the drummer, \"I have had an order for two rings, although\nI was only walking the street.\"\n\n\"You are a lucky fellow,\" said the goldsmith, and his wife, when\nshe heard of it, spoke in the drummer's favour, so he was taken on\nas assistant.\n\n\"Now,\" said he, \"give me what I want and I will make the rings. But\nnobody must enter my room: I will take my meals in at the door.\"\n\nOn the third day one ring was finished, and this one was meant for\nthe Princess Anne.\n\n\"You must take this ring to the Princess Anne, master,\" said he.\n\n\"So I will,\" said the goldsmith; \"but what is your price for it?\"\n\n\"A thousand pounds,\" said he.\n\n\"If that's so, I won't go. They would put me in jail.\"\n\n\"Be easy,\" said Anthony, \"nothing will happen to you.\"\n\nSo the goldsmith went to the palace, and sent in a message that his\nassistant had made a ring for the Princess Anne. She sent a message\nthat she had not ordered a ring, but she would look at it. As soon\nas she saw it, she asked: \"How much do you want for this?\" He replied\nthat he was almost afraid to say that it was worth a thousand pounds.\n\n\"Oh! it is worth much more than that,\" she said, and she paid the\nsum at once.\n\nThe goldsmith returned home and told his wife what he had got for the\nring. She wondered what sort of person their new assistant was. The\nmaster brought the money to him, but the assistant would not accept it.\n\n\"You can keep the money for yourself,\" he said, \"and I have just\nfinished the ring for the Princess Antonia. You will have to go to\nthe palace again with this.\"\n\nThis time the master-goldsmith was ready enough to go. \"How much am\nI to ask for this ring?\" he said.\n\n\"Ask two thousand pounds.\"\n\nSo he was brought to the princess, and he told her that his apprentice\nhad made a ring for her. She answered that she had not ordered a\nring. \"However, show it to me.\"\n\nAs soon as she glanced at it, she said: \"How much do you want for\nthis?\"\n\n\"Two thousand pounds.\"\n\n\"Oh! it's worth much more than that,\" she said.\n\nSo she paid down the money and told the master-goldsmith to fetch\nhis assistant to her. As soon as the master came home, he told his\nwife everything. She was still more astonished.\n\n\"O Lord!\" she said, \"I cannot understand it at all.\"\n\nThe master told Anthony that the princess bade him come and see her.\n\n\"She can come to me,\" was his reply.\n\nWhen the princess heard that, she lost no time, but took some royal\ngarments for him, and drove to Anthony's house in the royal coach. She\nwent straight to him and said, \"I am come to bring you home with me,\nAnthony.\"\n\nShe bade him put on the royal robe she had brought with her for\nhim, and they drove together to the palace, and their marriage was\ncelebrated not long after.\n\nThe two officers thought the king would banish them or inflict\nsome punishment upon them, but he pardoned them and gave them\nsufficient money to live at the court. Anthony himself did not care\nfor royalty. He and his wife arranged that they would return to the\nplace where he had first found the princesses. So they departed for\nthat land, but a storm drove them on shore near to the place where\nhe had met the old crone. She gave him welcome.\n\n\"So you are back again,\" she said.\n\nThey explained to her that what they wished was to go back to that\npalace beneath the fountain.\n\n\"Well,\" she said, \"I will show you the way to the other world, and\nI will let you down the well.\"\n\nThey came to the opening, and Anthony was about to enter the well,\nbut the old hag begged him to wait with her and let the princess go\non before.\n\nSo the princess was let down to the bottom of the well, and then\nthe crone said: \"I won't let you follow her unless you first cut off\nmy head.\"\n\n\"This is a strange way to repay the good you have done me,\" said\nAnthony.\n\n\"Well, unless you promise this you will never see your princess again.\"\n\nSo he had to promise, and with that she waved her wand and a road\nappeared, which led them straight to the princess. Then Anthony struck\noff the crone's head, and they found themselves amid crowds of farmers\nwho were ploughing and soldiers standing at attention, and one and\nall welcoming their new lords. For this land was an enchanted land,\nand the old crone was a witch.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWIN BROTHERS\n\n\nOnce there was a princess, and she was under a curse and enchantment,\nso that she had to spend her life in the shape of a fish. One day a\nwoman happened to be working in the meadow by the river, and she saw\na flock of birds flying above the river and talking to the fish. The\nwoman wondered what it was that was there, so she went to the waterside\nand looked in. All she saw was a fish swimming about. So she said:\n\"I should like to eat you, fish. I feel sure you would do me good.\"\n\nNow, when she said that, the fish answered: \"You could save me. You\nwill have twin sons, although you have never had any children before.\"\n\nThe woman said that, if she could help her in that, there was nothing\nthe fish could ask that she would not do to deliver her.\n\nThe fish answered: \"Catch me and take me to your field. There you must\nbury me and plant a rose-tree over me. When the roses first come into\nbloom you will bear twin sons. After three years, dig in the place\nwhere you buried me and you will find two swords, and these you must\nkeep. Your mare will have two foals and your bitch will have two pups,\nand each of your twins will have a sword, a horse, and a dog. Those\nswords will have the virtue that they will help your sons to victory\nover everybody. I shall be delivered as soon as my body has rotted.\"\n\nWhen the twin sons grew up they were very clever, and so they said:\n\"We must try our luck in the world. We are bold enough. One of us\nwill go to the East and one to the West. Each of us must look at his\nsword every morning to see if the other needs his help. For the sword\nwill begin to rust as soon as one of us is in peril.\"\n\nSo they cast lots which way they should go, and each of them took\nhis sword, his horse, and his dog, and away they went.\n\nThe first rode through deep forests, and he met a fierce dragon and a\nlion; so he attacked the dragon, which had nine heads. The lion stayed\nquiet while the knight attacked the dragon, and at last he succeeded\nin cutting one of the dragon's heads off. He felt tired then, and\nthe lion took his place; then the knight cut two more heads off the\ndragon. And so it went on till he had all the heads cut off. Then\nhe cut out the tongues from all the nine heads and kept them, and so\nwent forward on his adventurous journey.\n\nNow, it chanced that there were some woodcutters in these forests, and\none of them collected all the dragon's heads, having come across them\nby chance. That dragon used to come to the town and devour one person\nevery visit. This time the lot had fallen upon the princess, and so\nshe was to be devoured by the dragon. So the town was all hung with\nblack cloth. The woodcutter knew all about this, so he went with the\nheads to the town to sue for the princess, for it had been proclaimed\nthat whoever killed the dragon should be her husband. When the princess\nsaw that such a low-born man was to be her husband she was taken aback,\nand tried by all the means in her power to delay the wedding.\n\nThe knight happened to come to the town just then, and he saw a good\ninn, so he rode up to it. The innkeeper came at once to ask what he\ncould do for him. Now, there were other guests there, and it was a\nbusy place. The guests were all talking of the one matter: when the\nprincess was going to marry the man who had killed the dragon. The\nwedding ought to have been long ago, but the bride and her parents\nkept putting it off. The knight listened to all this talk, and then\nhe asked:\n\n\"Are you sure that it was that woodcutter who killed the dragon?\"\n\nThey answered that it certainly was, for the heads were preserved in\nthe palace.\n\nThe knight said nothing, but when he thought the proper time had come\nhe rode to the palace. The princess saw him from the window, and she\nwondered who it might be. He was ushered in, and he went straight to\nthe princess and told her everything. He asked her whether he might\nattend the wedding.\n\nShe answered: \"I am not at all pleased with my marriage. I would much\nrather marry you, sir.\"\n\nHe asked her why.\n\n\"If he killed the dragon he must be a great man.\"\n\n\"He is such a low-born man,\" said she, \"that it is not likely that\nhe killed the dragon.\"\n\n\"I should like to see him,\" said he.\n\nSo they brought the woodcutter before him, and the knight asked to see\nthe heads. So they brought the heads. He looked at the heads and said:\n\n\"There are no tongues in these heads. Where are the tongues?\"\n\nThen he turned to the woodcutter: \"Did you really kill the cruel\ndragon?\" he said.\n\nThe woodcutter persisted in his story.\n\n\"And how did you cut the heads off?\"\n\n\"With my hatchet.\"\n\n\"Why, you couldn't do it with your hatchet. You are a liar.\"\n\nThe woodcutter was taken aback and did not know what to say. He was\nfrightened already, but he said: \"It happened that the dragon didn't\nhave any tongues.\"\n\nThe knight produced the tongues and said: \"Here are the tongues,\nand it was I who killed the cruel dragon.\"\n\nThe princess took hold of him and embraced and kissed him, and she was\nready to marry him on the spot. As for the woodcutter, he was kicked\nout in disgrace, and they put him into jail for some time too. So\nthe princess married the knight and they lived happily together.\n\nOne day, looking out of the window, he saw in the distance, among\nthe mountains, a black castle. He asked his wife what castle it was\nand to whom it belonged.\n\n\"That is an enchanted castle, and nobody who goes into it ever\nreturns.\"\n\nBut he could not rest, and he was eager to explore the castle. So one\nmorning he ordered his horse to be saddled, and, accompanied by his\ndog, he rode to the castle. When they reached it they found the gate\nopen. As he went in he saw men and animals all turned to stone. In\nthe hall an old hag was sitting by the fire. When she saw him she\npretended to tremble.\n\n\"Dear lord,\" said she, \"bind your dog. He might bite me.\"\n\nHe said: \"Do not be afraid. He will do you no harm.\"\n\nHe bent down to pat the dog, and at that moment the hag took her\nwand and struck him with it. He was turned to stone, and his horse\nand dog too.\n\nThe princess waited for her lord, but he did not return. She mourned\nfor him, and the citizens, who loved their lord, were grieved at\nhis loss.\n\nNow, the other brother looked at his sword, and the sword began to\nrust; so he was sure that his brother was in trouble. He felt that\nhe must help him, so he rode off in that direction and came to the\ntown. The town was hung with black flags. As he rode through the\nstreets the citizens saw him, and they thought he was their lord, for\nhe had a horse and a dog just like their lord's horse and dog. When\nthe princess saw him, she embraced him and said: \"Where have you been\nso long, my dear husband?\"\n\nHe said that he had lost his way in the forest and that he had fallen\namong robbers, and, since he had no choice, he had to pretend to be\na robber too, and to promise to stay with them and to show them good\nhiding-places. The robbers, so he said, admitted him to be of their\ncompany, and he had not been able to escape before this.\n\nEverybody was delighted, and the lord's brother was careful enough\nnot to say that he was only the brother. But, whenever they went to\nbed, he put his sword between himself and the lady. The princess was\ntroubled at this, and she tried to find different explanations for the\nconduct of her supposed husband. One morning, as he was looking out of\nthe window, he saw that same castle, and he asked what castle it was.\n\nShe answered: \"I have told you already that it is an enchanted castle,\nand that nobody who goes there ever returns.\"\n\nSo he thought: \"It is surely there that my brother is.\"\n\nHe ordered his horse to be saddled and, without saying a word to\nanybody, he rode off to the castle. As soon as he entered the castle\nhe saw his brother and his dog turned to stone. He saw, too, all the\npetrified knights and their horses, and the hag sitting and keeping\nup the fire.\n\nHe said: \"You old hag, unless you bring my brother to life again I'll\nhew you in pieces with this sword of mine.\"\n\nThe hag knew that the sword had magical virtues, and so she said:\n\n\"Pray, sir, do not be angry with me. Take that box there and rub the\nointment beneath his nose and he will come to life again.\"\n\n\"Curse you, you evil old hag; do it yourself, and instantly.\"\n\nAnd he went and caught hold of her wand and struck her with it,\nand at once she was turned into stone. He had not meant to do that,\nfor he did not know that the wand had such power. He took the box\nand rubbed the ointment beneath his brother's nose, and the brother\ncame to life again. Then he anointed all the others who had been\nturned to stone, and they all came to life again. As for the hag,\nhe left her there just as she was.\n\nThen the brothers rode off to the princess. When she saw them, she did\nnot know which of them was her husband, they were so like one another.\n\nSo she said: \"What am I to do now? Which of you is my lord?\"\n\nThey came before her and bade her choose the right one. But still\nshe hesitated. So her husband went up to her and took her by the hand\nand said: \"I am the right one and that is my brother.\"\n\nHe told her everything, and she was glad that her real husband had\ncome again. So they lived happily together, and, as for the other\nbrother, he went to seek his fortune elsewhere.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WATERNICK\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were two children, a boy and a girl. They only\nhad a mother, who was a widow. One day their mother sent them to get\nsome wood for the fire. Off they went. The girl was just learning to\nknit, so she put a ball of wool in her pocket. They went on as far\nas they knew the way. Then suddenly they began to wonder whether they\ncould find their way home.\n\nThe girl said: \"I will bind the end of the thread to a tree, and so\nwe shall be able to find our way back.\"\n\nSo they went on till the thread had all run out. Then they turned back,\nbut they found that wild creatures had broken the thread. What were\nthey to do? They wandered on till night fell, and then they saw that\nthey would have to spend the night in the forest. They came to a pond,\nand they found that they could not go any farther. So they walked round\nthe pond till the Waternick got hold of them. He took them with him,\nand there they were.\n\nWhen he got home with them, his wife was waiting for him. Round the\nstove there were some shelves for vessels that they used for catching\npoor souls in. The Waternick and his wife were delighted with the\nchildren; they decided that they would employ them as servants, so\nMrs. Waternick took charge of them. The children spent some years in\nthis way and learned about everything under the water.\n\nOne day the Waternick went away to catch some human souls, and he\ngave orders to Mrs. Waternick not to leave the children alone. But\nthe old hag fell asleep, and the children walked some distance from\nthe hut, till they thought she would scold them, and so they returned\nhome. But they meant to go farther the next day, if only the old hag\nwent to sleep again. As soon as they were sure that she was asleep\nthey ran out of the hut and went as far as they could.\n\nThe old hag woke up and cried out: \"Where are you, children?\"\n\nShe jumped to her feet and ran after them. They were within a few steps\nof getting safe away, when, alas! she overtook them. She took them\nback and forced them to work, and they had to stay at home besides.\n\nWhen the Waternick came home, she told him all about it, and the\nWaternick said: \"Never mind, I'll set them to work, and they won't\nhave time to think about making their way home.\"\n\nSo in the morning he took them to the forest and gave them a wooden\nhatchet and a wooden saw and bade them, fell the trees.\n\n\"When they are all cut down, you shall go back again.\"\n\nSo the Waternick left them, and the children began the work at\nonce. They took the saw and tried to cut down a tree. But the saw\nsoon broke and they were done for. So they took the hatchet, and the\nhatchet split in two after one stroke. They began to cry.\n\n\"Things look bad for us,\" they said.\n\nSince they saw that they could not help themselves, they stayed where\nthey were, and presently they fell asleep. I don't know how long they\nhad been sleeping. But it was already time to go back.\n\nThe Waternick came and asked: \"Have you finished?\"\n\nThey said that the hatchet and saw were only made of wood, and that\nboth were broken. He took them home.\n\nNext day the Waternick went about his work, while Mrs. Waternick\nwas busy outside the hut. The children looked at the cups on the\nshelves. The cups were tilted up. So the girl lifted one of them. And\nshe heard the words: \"God speed you!\" She lifted another, and the\nsame greeting came again. So she kept on lifting the cups till she\nhad lifted all of them. Human souls had been imprisoned under those\ncups. Now the hag came into the room and she saw that all the cups\nhad been lifted. She began to curse, and she said that the children\nwould certainly get a good thrashing when the old man came home.\n\nThe children often felt lonely; they thought of their mother and\nwondered if she were still alive, and what they could do to get\naway. So they decided that the next day, when the hag was sleeping,\nthey would try how far they could get.\n\n\"If only we could get as far as home, it would be all right then.\"\n\nIn the morning the girl had to comb Mrs. Waternick's hair and dress\nher in her smart dress. When she had finished, Mrs. Waternick had a\nsleep. Now the children took to their heels; they were as quick as\nravens, trying to get away before Mrs. Waternick should wake. Being\nswift of foot, they reached the shore. They leapt out and ran straight\non again. Of course they heard the hag screeching behind them, but they\nwere on dry land, so they thought: \"We needn't care for anything now.\"\n\nThe hag soon stopped her pursuit. The children were tired, so they\nlay down under a tree in the forest and fell asleep. As they were\nsleeping, somebody woke them up. It was the forester. They told him\nthat they were afraid of falling into the Waternick's hands again. But\nthe forester told them not to be afraid, and asked how they came\nthere. The children told him everything just as it had happened.\n\nNow, the forester remembered that he had heard of a widow who had\nlost her children. So he thought that these must be the children. He\nsaid nothing, but he told his wife to get them some food, and asked\nthe children to sit down and eat. The children thought the food was\nvery nice, so he asked them what they were accustomed to eat. They\nsaid they were accustomed to eat flowers. So they ate plenty.\n\nThe forester decided to do all he could to get the children home. At\nlast it was discovered where their mother lived, and so the children\ncame back to her, and they lived with her until they died.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO MET MISERY\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a rich man, so rich that you might almost\nsay he oozed gold. He had a son, and from his boyhood the lad was a\nreal spendthrift, for he knew nothing about hard times. Yet he had\noften been told that there was Misery in the world. So when he was\ngrown up, he thought: \"Well, I'm sick of staying at home, so I'll go\nout into the world to see if I can meet Misery.\"\n\nHe told this to his father, and his father said at once: \"Yes, you can\ngo. If you stay at home, you'll soon turn into a lazy old woman. You'll\nget experience in the world, and that can't do you any harm.\"\n\nSo our Francis--that was his name, though really it doesn't matter\nvery much what his name was--took everything he wanted and started off\non his travels. So long as he had enough money, he was all right, he\ncouldn't meet with Misery. But when his money was all spent--that's\nwhen everybody feels the pinch--he began to hang his head and his\ntravels lost a good deal of their charm. But he told people his name\nand his father's name, and for a time they helped him. But at last\nhe came into a country that was quite strange to him. There was a\nvast desert, through which he walked for a long time, and he began\nto feel hungry and thirsty, but there was no water--no, not so much\nas would moisten his tongue.\n\nNow, as he went on his way, he saw a flight of stairs going down into\na hole, and, without hesitating, down he went.\n\nHe came into a cellar, and there he saw a man lying on a table. It\nwas an awfully big man, of the kind that used to be called ogres,\nand he was snoring like a circular saw.\n\nFrancis looked about him, and he saw all sorts of human bones lying\nabout. He thought: \"That's a nice mess. I expect the fellow's a\nman-eater, and he'll swallow me down like a currant. I'm done for now.\"\n\nHe would have liked to go away, but he was afraid to move. But he\nhad a dagger, so he drew it from its sheath without making any noise,\nand tried to steal up to the ogre quietly. The ogre's head was lying\non the table, so he pierced both his eyes with the dagger. The ogre\nsprang up, cursing horribly. He groped about him and found that he\nwas totally blind.\n\nFrancis cleared the stairs in two jumps and off he ran, trying to\nget as far from the ogre as he could. But the ogre knew the place\nwell and kept close on his heels.\n\n\"To think that a shrimp like that could make me suffer so!\" he thought;\nand yet he found that, run as he would, he couldn't catch the lad. So\nhe cried out: \"Wait a bit, you worm! Since you're such a champion and\nhave managed to tackle me, I'll give you something to remember me by.\"\n\nAs he said this, he flung a ring at the lad, and the jewel in it shone\nlike flame. The lad heard the ring tinkle as he ran by, so he picked it\nup and put it on his finger. But as soon as the ring was on his finger,\nthe giant called out: \"Where are you, ring?\" And the ring answered:\n\"Here I am,\" and the ogre ran after the sound. Francis jumped on one\nside, but the ogre called out again, \"Where are you?\" and the ring\nanswered: \"Here!\"\n\nSo it went on for some time, until Francis was so tired that his only\nthought was: \"Well, if he kills me, he kills me.\" He tried to pull\nthe ring off, but it clung tight, really cutting into the flesh, and\nthe ogre was still following close on his heels. At last--there was\nno other choice, for the ring kept on calling out \"Here I am\"--Francis\nstretched out that finger, and the ogre broke it off with one grip. Off\nran Francis, glad enough to get off with his life.\n\nWhen he reached home, they asked him: \"Did you meet Misery?\"\n\n\"Indeed I did. I know what it is now. It gave me a nice run for\nit. It's an awful thing, and there's no joking with it.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNINE AT A BLOW\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a tailor, and, whenever he hadn't a job,\nhe used to spend his time mending stockings. One day after dinner\nthe table was covered with flies. The tailor struck at them with a\nstocking and killed nine of them at a blow.\n\nAs he hadn't any job in hand, he started out to see the world, and\nhis belt had written on it \"Nine at a blow.\" On his way he met a\nboy, who asked him to buy a finch from him. He bought it, put it in\nhis knapsack, and went on his way. Then he came to a farm where the\nfarmer's wife was making cheese. He asked her for something to eat,\nso she gave him some sour milk and a piece of Yorkshire cheese. The\ntailor drank the milk and put the cheese in his knapsack and went on\nhis way. At last he reached a town. It was a hot day, so he lay down\nand fell asleep. Now, a giant happened to pass that way, and he saw\nwritten in golden letters: \"Nine at a blow.\"\n\nSo he waked the tailor and asked him: \"Have you really killed nine\nat a blow?\"\n\nThe tailor answered that he had, and the giant said: \"Let's have a\ntrial which of us is the stronger. I'll cast a stone, and it will be\nan hour before it comes down.\"\n\nThe tailor said: \"I'll cast a stone that won't come down at all.\"\n\nSo the giant cast a stone, and it was a full hour before it came down\nagain. Instead of casting a stone, the tailor let the finch go, and,\nof course, it didn't come back again.\n\nSo the giant said: \"Let's have another try. I'll crush a stone\nto powder.\"\n\nThe tailor said: \"I'll squeeze water from a stone.\"\n\nSo the giant took a pebble and crushed it to powder. The tailor took\nthe cheese and squeezed it till the water oozed out of it.\n\nThe giant gave in, and acknowledged that the tailor was the stronger\nof the two. So they went on together till they came to a cherry-tree\ngrowing near a meadow, and the cherries were ripe. They wanted to pick\nsome of the cherries for themselves. So the tailor climbed the tree,\nbut the giant simply bent down the top of the tree and began to pluck\nthe cherries. When he had finished he let go, and the tailor was flung\nonto a heap of dry grass piled up in the meadow. So the tailor said:\n\"If it hadn't been for my skill in flying, I should have broken my\nneck,\" and he promised to teach the giant how to fly.\n\nSo they went on their way again, and they came to a town. The town\nwas all in mourning. They asked the reason, and they were told that\na dragon had taken up his headquarters in the church and was killing\nthe people. The king would give a thousand pounds to whoever could\nkill the dragon. So they told the king that they would kill the dragon.\n\nThey ordered a big hammer and a big pair of tongs to be made for\nthem. When they were made, the giant took the tongs and he gave the\nhammer to the tailor to carry. But the tailor said: \"Wouldn't it shame\nyou if people should see us, each carrying such a trifle? Take both\nthe things yourself.\"\n\nWhen they came near the church door, the giant gave the hammer to\nthe tailor, who stuck fast to it. Then the dragon came dashing out,\nand flung the tailor behind him, but the giant split him in twain. But\nthe tailor protested:\n\n\"A nice mess you've made of it. I meant to take the dragon alive. We\nshould have got more money for him so.\" Then he said: \"Now I will\nteach you how to fly.\"\n\nSo they climbed up the church steeple, and the tailor said: \"When I\nsay 'One, two, three,' you must jump.\" And the giant jumped and broke\nhis neck.\n\nThe tailor told the king that the dragon had killed the giant, so he\npocketed the thousand pounds for himself.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA CLEVER LASS\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a shepherd. He used to pasture his sheep\nupon a hill, and one day he saw something glittering on the opposite\nhill. So he went there to see what it was. It was a golden mortar. He\ntook it up and said to his daughter: \"I will give this mortar to\nour king.\"\n\nBut she said: \"Don't do that. If you give him the mortar, you won't\nhave the pestle, and he is sure to ask for it, and then you will get\ninto trouble.\"\n\nBut the shepherd thought that she was only a silly girl. He took the\nmortar, and, when he came before the king, he said: \"Begging your\npardon, Mr. King, I want to give you this mortar.\"\n\nThe king answered him roughly: \"If you give me the mortar, I must\nhave the pestle as well. Unless the pestle is here within three days,\nyour life will be forfeit.\"\n\nThe shepherd began to lament: \"My daughter was right when she said\nthat when you had got the mortar you would want the pestle too. I\nwouldn't listen to her, so it serves me right.\"\n\n\"Have you such a clever daughter as that?\" asked the king.\n\n\"Indeed I have,\" said the shepherd.\n\n\"Then tell your daughter that I will marry her, if she comes neither\nwalking nor riding, clothed nor unclothed, neither by day nor by\nnight, neither at noon nor in the morning. And I won't ask for the\npestle either.\"\n\nThe shepherd went home and said: \"You can get me out of this, if you\ngo to Mr. King neither clothed nor unclothed,\" and the rest of it.\n\nBut the daughter wasn't a bit frightened. She came with the fall of\ndusk (and that was neither at noon nor in the morning); she dressed\nherself in fishing-nets; she took a goat, and she partly rode on the\ngoat and partly she walked.\n\nAnd when the king saw that she had only a fishing-net on, that she came\nwith the approach of dusk, and that she was partly walking, partly\nriding on the goat, he was bound to marry her. But he said to her:\n\"You will be my wife so long as you don't give advice to anybody;\nbut if you do, you must part with me.\"\n\nWell, she didn't give advice to anybody until one day there was a\nmarket in the town, and a farmer's mare had a foal at the market. The\nfoal ran away to another farmer, who was there with a gelding, and\nthe farmer said: \"This foal belongs to me.\"\n\nThey went to law about it, and at last the matter came before the\nking. And the king, considering that every animal ought to run to\nits mother, decided that a gelding had had a foal.\n\nThe farmer who owned the mare went down the stairs, saying over and\nover again: \"The gelding has foaled! the gelding has foaled!\"\n\nThe queen heard him, and she said: \"Man, you are talking nonsense.\"\n\nSo he told her that he had been at the market, that his mare had\nfoaled, but the foal ran to another farmer who was there with a\ngelding. \"And now,\" he said, \"it has been decided that the gelding\nhas foaled.\" So he thought there could be no mistake; at any rate,\nhe couldn't help it.\n\nWhen the queen heard this story she said: \"To-morrow, my lord the king\nwill go out for a stroll. Take a fishing-net, and begin fishing on the\nroad in front of him. The king will ask you: 'Why are you fishing on a\ndry road?' And you must answer: 'Why not? it's as hopeful as expecting\na gelding to foal.' But you must not say who gave you this advice.\"\n\nSo it was. As the king was walking along he saw the farmer fishing\non the dry road. He asked him why he was fishing there.\n\n\"Why not?\" said he, \"it's as hopeful as expecting a gelding to foal.\"\n\nThe king at once began to rate the farmer. \"That's not out of your own\nhead,\" he said, and he kept at the farmer until he let the secret out.\n\nSo the king came home, summoned the queen, and said to her: \"You have\nbeen with me for a long time, and you have given advice in spite of\nall, so you must go to-morrow. But I will allow you to take with you\nthe thing you like best.\"\n\nIt was no good arguing. So the king invited all his courtiers and\nprepared a splendid banquet. When the banquet was finished, the queen\nsaid to the king: \"Before we part, you must drink this glass of wine\nto my health,\" and she had put some opium into the wine on the sly.\n\nThe king drank it at a draught and fell asleep at once. A carriage was\ngot ready, and the queen put the king in it and drove to her father's\nold hut. There she laid the king on the straw, and, when he woke up,\nhe asked where he was.\n\n\"You are with me. Didn't you tell me that I could take the thing I\nliked best with me?\"\n\nThe king saw how clever she was, and he said: \"Now you can give advice\nto anybody you like.\"\n\nAnd so they drove home again, and he was king and she queen again.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SOLDIER AND THE DEVIL\n\n\nA discharged soldier was going home. He had only threepence in his\npocket. As he was going through a forest he met a beggar. The beggar\nasked him for a penny. The soldier gave him one, and went on his\nway. Then he met another beggar. This beggar was very ill, and he asked\nthe soldier for a penny. So the soldier gave him the other penny. Then\nhe met a third beggar. This beggar was half-dead. The soldier took\npity on him and gave him the third penny. Soon after he had left the\nforest our Lord appeared to him, and in return for those three pennies\nHe granted him three boons. For the first boon the soldier chose a\npipe that should be full of tobacco whenever he wished, so that he\nmight always have a smoke handy. The second boon he asked was that,\nif he wanted to put any one in his knapsack, they should be in it as\nsoon as he said: \"Leap into that knapsack.\" The third boon was that\nhis purse should be full of gold coins whenever he knocked on it.\n\nOur Lord said: \"So be it!\"\n\nSoon afterwards he came to a mill and asked for a night's lodging. They\nsaid that they only had one room for themselves; the other one was\nhaunted by a devil every midnight. But the soldier wasn't afraid. He\nsaid that they could leave him there alone; he didn't mind a bit.\n\nHe sat down at the table and played cards. When midnight came there\nwas a terrible noise, and the devil appeared, sure enough. When he saw\nthe soldier playing cards he grinned; he was sure he had him. So he sat\ndown opposite him and began to play too. It was nearly one o'clock at\nlast, time for him to go, so he caught hold of the soldier and tried\nto tear him in pieces. But he had no success. For the soldier said:\n\"Leap into my knapsack,\" and the devil was in it. Then the soldier\nthrew the sack with the devil in it under the bed, and went to sleep\nin the bed.\n\nIn the morning, as soon as he had got up, the millers went to see if\nthe soldier was still alive. They were greatly surprised to find him\nall right. They said they would give him anything he wanted, but he\nwouldn't take anything. Off he went, and called at a blacksmith's. He\ntold the blacksmith to give the devil in the sack a good hammering,\nand then he let the devil go.\n\nAfter that he came into a town. He heard that there was a count's\ndaughter there who was an accomplished cardplayer. She won everybody's\nmoney from them. He went to her palace and asked her if she would\nplay with him. She was ready. So they played and played, but she\ncouldn't win all his money from him, for his purse was always fuller\nthan before. It was late by now and the lady was sick of the game,\nso he went to bed. He put the three precious gifts on the table, but\nwhen he got up in the morning they were gone; the lady had stolen\nthem from him. He grieved over his bad luck, but it was no use,\nand he had to leave the palace.\n\nAs he went on his way, he saw a fine apple-tree by the side of the\nroad with delicious apples on it. So he took an apple and ate half\nof it. Then he went on his way, but he was surprised to see that\neverybody who looked at him ran away from him. So he went to a well\nand saw that he had horns on his head; that came from his eating the\napple. Back he went, and he found a pear-tree; he ate half of a pear\nand the horns fell off.\n\nHe thought that he would give the other half of the apple to the lady,\nand perhaps she would get horns too. So he went and gave her the half\napple. She enjoyed it very well, but soon horns grew on her head. The\ncount called together all the doctors and asked them to operate on the\nhorns. But the more they cut at the horns the longer they grew. So the\nking proclaimed that she would marry the man who should rid her of the\nhorns, but if he failed, his life should be forfeit. So the soldier\ncame back and told the lady that he would rid her of the horns if she\nwould give him his three treasures back. She agreed at once. So he gave\nher the other half of the pear; she ate it, and the horns fell off.\n\nThe soldier was quite happy now. One day he met Death, and he said\nto him: \"Leap into my knapsack.\" And Death was immediately imprisoned\nin the knapsack.\n\nThe soldier was carrying Death about for some time, until at last\nthe Lord appeared to him and told him he must not do that: he must\nlet Death go, for people could not die, and there would soon be too\nmany of them in the world. So he let Death go. He wanted to go to\nHeaven himself. But he went to Hell, and as he drew near Hell the\ndevils closed the gate, they were so frightened of him. When he\nreached the gate of Heaven, he knocked. St. Peter opened the gate,\nbut he wouldn't let him in. The soldier asked him to let him have\njust one peep, so that at least he might know what Heaven looked like.\n\nNow, he remembered that he still had his soldier's cloak in his\nknapsack, so he took it out of the knapsack and threw it into\nHeaven. Then he jumped after it and sat down on it, and then he said\nhe was sitting on his own property. He sat there for a full hundred\nyears, though it only seemed a short time to him. But he couldn't\ncome to an agreement with St. Peter on the case, so our Lord told\nhim that he must first die, for no living people were admitted into\nHeaven. So the soldier had to leave the premises. He returned to this\nworld, and afterwards he went to Heaven again, and there he is still,\nas right as rain.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOLD NICK AND KITTY\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old maid-servant on a farm. She was a\nscore or two years old, but she wanted to get married, though nobody\nwould even touch her. She never missed a dance; she was sure to turn\nup at every one of them, though nobody ever asked her to dance. So\nat last she said:\n\n\"I'd dance with Old Nick if only he'd come.\"\n\nThe clock struck eleven and a youth clothed in green entered the\nroom. He went straight up to our Kitty and began to dance with\nher. All the girls couldn't keep from laughing, but they daren't laugh\nopenly. So they held their aprons over their faces. Kitty was very\nangry, but she kept on dancing like the wind. She thought: \"Let the\nfools laugh; they'd be glad enough to dance with the lad themselves.\"\n\nIt was hard upon twelve now, and Old Nick--for Old Nick it was--had\nto start for home. But Kitty wouldn't let him go. What was he to do\nwith her? He was absolutely at a loss what to do, for she was clinging\non to him behind.\n\nHe went to the pond, thinking he'd be able to throw her in. He tried\nto do it, but she clasped him round the neck and he couldn't manage\nit. So off he went to Hell with her. But the people of Hell made an\noutcry against her and wouldn't let her stay at any price.\n\n\"Hang it all!\" says Old Nick, \"I can't go all round the world with\nher.\"\n\nAt last he met a shepherd: \"I say, shepherd,\" says he, \"would you\nlike this maiden here?\"\n\n\"A nice maiden that is, the ugly old spinster! Keep her for\nyourself. You can pickle her.\"\n\nNow, when the devil saw that he was going to fail again, he promised\nthe shepherd a heap of money, only to rid himself of the hideous old\ncrone. But the shepherd refused.\n\n\"I'll make it so much,\" says Old Nick.\n\n\"Well, if you will, I agree.\"\n\nNow, the shepherd was a good-looking fellow, and Kitty was easily\npersuaded to stay with him. He had lots of money now, and he had\nthe same idea as the devil, to throw her into the pond. What else\ncould he do with such a hideous old hag? He had a great fur coat,\nand he put it on so high over his head that she couldn't catch hold\nof his neck, and, plump! off she went into the pond. But, you know,\na bad one's a bad one, and you can't get rid of them so easily. So\nit was with Kitty. She wasn't drowned.\n\nA short time after this, Old Nick had an appointment with a man. I\ndon't exactly know how the case stood, but anyhow the devil was to\nget him. The man asked the shepherd to save him; he was quite ready\nto pay him well for it.\n\n\"All right,\" says the shepherd, \"I can do that much for you. Old Nick\nand I are the best of friends.\"\n\nNow, a crowd of people had collected and they were all wondering how it\nwas going to end. In comes Old Nick. The shepherd runs to meet him and:\n\"Old Kitty's here asking for you,\" says he.\n\nThe devil left things as they were, and before you could say \"Jack\nRobinson\" he was off. So it all turned out all right.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE KNIGHT BAMBUS\n\n\nThere was a poor gamekeeper once, who had suffered from hard times\nall his life, so as he grew older, he wanted to get rich. He was\nonly an under-forester. One day the forester said: \"Near those old\nruins, you know the ones I mean, a fox or a roe, or some creature of\nthat sort, often crosses my path, and I can never manage to hit it,\nthough I have shot at it a hundred times. If you happen to be going\nin that direction, look out for it.\"\n\nWhen the gamekeeper heard this, the first thing he did was to go to\nthe ruins. Just as he got there, a huge fox appeared with a rustling\nnoise. The gamekeeper felt uneasy, but the fox disappeared at once, so\nhe sat down, put five big charges in his gun, and waited. It wasn't\nlong till the fox appeared again, and this time he was carrying\na young fawn in his mouth. The gamekeeper shot at him--boom! The\nfox cried out, and ran off into the bushes. But the gamekeeper saw\nthat the fawn had run away and hidden itself in a cave. He thought:\n\"The fox cried out, so he has some of my shots in his fur coat. I'll\nget him some other time.\"\n\nSo he went into the ruins through the gate. Within, there was\na courtyard all deserted, and with its wall fallen down. So the\ngamekeeper passed through the courtyard and came into a spacious\ncellar. There he saw three lamps burning, and looking round, he was\nfilled with amazement. But all this was as nothing, for in the corner\nwere three glittering heaps of golden coins and one heap of big gold\npieces. The gamekeeper reflected: \"If I had all that, I should give\nup gamekeeping and have a splendid time.\"\n\nNo sooner had he said this than a grey old man appeared and asked:\n\"What are you looking for, gamekeeper?\"\n\n\"Well, I shot at a fox and he ran in somewhere here, and so I'm\nwandering about looking for him.\"\n\n\"You won't get the fox you're looking for, for I am he.\"\n\n\"And why are you here in a fox's shape? What's the reason of that?\"\n\n\"I am the Knight Bambus, and all these forests belong to this castle. I\nwas a robber-knight, and so as a punishment I have to keep watch\nhere now.\"\n\n\"And how long is it to last?\"\n\n\"When three poor people come here, and each of them takes away two\nsackfuls of gold, I shall be delivered. I am bound to give all this\ngold away for nothing. Already I have outlived three generations of\nmy kinsmen here.\"\n\nThen he bade him fetch two leather sacks from the other room and\ncollect the gold into them, filling them up to the brim. He must keep\nit all for himself and must not tell any one what he had seen. The\ngamekeeper promised that he wouldn't even tell his wife, H\u00e1ticka,\nhow he had got the money. So he filled the two sacks up to the brim,\nand the old man helped him to hoist them on to his shoulders and\nsaw him out of the door. All the time he kept warning him to keep\nhis mouth shut: \"For what a woman knows all the world knows; that's\ngospel truth, sure enough.\"\n\nSo the gamekeeper left the castle, carrying those two sacks, and the\nman shook hands with him before he left. At the border of the forest,\nnear a beech-tree, his wife, H\u00e1ta, was standing looking for him. She\nran up to him.\n\n\"Great Heavens, Florian! where have you been all this long time? I\nhave been looking everywhere for you for three days.\"\n\nNow Florian was delighted that his wife had come to meet him, so\nhe blurted out: \"H\u00e1ticka, wife, Count Bambus has given me these two\nsacks of gold pieces. Have a look here--see what heaps of the stuff\nthere are!\" and he let one of the sacks fall on the ground. But\nbehold! instead of gold there were only rustling leaves in it. Then\nhe remembered that he was not to say anything about it. He frowned,\nand his wife burst into tears; and they had to spend the rest of\ntheir life, until they died, in poverty just as before.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFRANCIS AND MARTIN\n\n\nOnce there was a father who had only one son, Francis by name. They had\na farmhand called Martin. One day Martin and Francis were ploughing\nbehind the barn. Francis's mother brought their meal for them, and\nFrancis said: \"Well, mother, the old man must have a lot more money\nthan he lets on to have. We are not in debt, and yet he's always\ncomplaining that he hasn't any money.\"\n\n\"Well, my son, you see, he's built that large building.\"\n\nNext day Francis and Martin were ploughing together again. They\ndecided that they must get on the old man's track to see whether he\nhad any money, and where he hid it. Francis promised Martin that,\nif he could find it out, he would build a cottage for him at the back\nof the barn. So they agreed that Martin should stay away from church\nto try to find out if the farmer had any money hidden away at home.\n\nWhen Sunday came, Francis went to church, but Martin kept on saying\nhe wouldn't go, until the farmer forced him to go. So he dressed for\nchurch and went out through the farm gate. But he came back on the\nother side, climbed over the fence, and hid himself in the barn. Soon\nafter this the farmer came into the barn, carrying a basket full of\ncoins. He dug a hole in the threshing-floor, put the money in it,\nand said: \"Black Barabbas! preserve this money for me! Thou black\nbird! I put it in thy power!\" Then he went and fetched a second basket\nand put it in the hole. But while he was gone to fetch the money,\nMartin slipped out of his hiding-place, took some of the money, and\nput it in his boots. Now, the farmer came back again with a third\nbasket, and said once more: \"Thou black bird! keep this money for\nme, and let nobody else have it, unless he gets it by ploughing this\nthreshing-floor with three black goats!\"\n\nAs he was saying these words, a blackbird was soaring above his head\nand crying out: \"Master, what about the money in the boots?\"\n\nBut the farmer did not understand what it meant, and so he went to\nlook at his own boots, which were in the room. But he found no money\nthere, so he was angry and said: \"What, you devil! it's rubbish you\nare talking. I've looked in my boots and there's nothing there.\" Then\nhe buried the money, stamped down the threshing-floor hard again,\nand went out.\n\nMartin went to the stable, and there he found Francis waiting for\nhim to tell him what the parson's sermon had been about that day,\nso that he would know what to say if the farmer asked him about it.\n\nSoon afterwards the old man was taken ill and died. The two lads\nwere pleased at this, for they hoped that they wouldn't be long about\ngetting the money. Martin got three black goats, he put them in the\nplough, and sent Francis to plough there. The wind began to blow\nviolently, and the whole barn looked as though it were on fire. He\nwas frightened and stopped ploughing, and immediately the whole barn\nwas just as it had been before. So he went out of the barn and asked\nMartin to plough for him. Martin started, and, although the wind blew\nviolently enough, he kept on ploughing until he got the money.\n\nWhen Francis had the money, he began to build just as he wanted until\nhe had spent it all. Then he gave Martin the sack.\n\nMartin said sorrowfully: \"This is the world's gratitude.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWITCHES AT THE CROSS\n\n\nThough the witches used to be pretty lively in other places, they\nwere fond of climbing up and down the cross that stands by the road\nto Mal\u00e1 Cerm\u00e1 (near Slan\u00fd). Joe Hilma heard tell of this, so he took\nhis horse and off he rode to see. He took with him a piece of chalk\nwhich had been blessed, and made a circle with it. Then he went into\nthe circle and waited till midnight. Then, sure enough, he saw the\nwitches, a great swarm of them, climbing up and down the cross. They\ndidn't see him while this was going on, but when he rode out of the\ncircle, off went the witches after him. He galloped home at full\nspeed. When he rode into the yard they were close on his heels. They\ncouldn't go any farther, for they had no power to do it. I don't know\nhow it happened, but one of them flung a burning broom after him. The\nbroom hit the door, and the door was burned. Joe had quite enough of\nseeing the witches.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCH AND THE HORSESHOES\n\n\nOnce there was a farmer's wife--I can't tell you which one--who was\na witch. Now these folks used to have a feast every Eve of St. Philip\nand St. James. As soon as they began to burn the brooms she couldn't\nrest: go she must. So she stripped her clothes off, and, standing\nunder the chimney, she anointed herself with some ointment. When she\nhad finished, she said: \"Fly, but don't touch anything.\" And away\nshe flew in the twinkling of an eye. Yes, that was just how it was.\n\nBut the farmhand was watching all this from the stables, and he\nwatched carefully where she put the ointment. So he went in too,\nstripped his clothes off, and anointed himself. He said: \"Fly,\nbut don't touch anything.\" And off he flew till he came to the\nplace where the witches were having their feast. Now, when he came\nthere, the farmer's wife knew him, and, to hide herself from him,\nshe turned herself into a white horse. But he did not lose sight of\nthe horse. He mounted it and went to the smith with it, and told him\nto shoe it. Next day the woman had four horseshoes on, two on her\nhands and two on her feet. And she had to stay like that always!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAUNTED MILL\n\n\nThere was a haunted mill, and, dear me, what was it like! A rope-dancer\ncame there with some monkeys. In the evening the Waternick came with\na basketful of fishes. He made a fire and fried the fishes. Meanwhile\nthe monkeys had been sitting behind the stove, but when the Nick\nput the fishes in the pan and was tasting whether they were done,\nthe monkeys came from behind the stove, and one of them put its paw\ninto the pan. The man smacked him over the paw and said: \"Get away,\npussy! You didn't catch them, so don't eat them.\" And the monkey\nran away.\n\nAfter awhile comes another monkey and puts his paw in the pan. He\nsmacked him too and said the same. But the rope-dancer had a bear,\ntoo, which was lying under the table all the time; and, when he heard\nthe Waternick speak, he came from under the table, ran straight to the\npan, and put his paw into it. The Waternick did the same to him as he\nhad done to the monkeys. But the bear couldn't stand that. He sprang\nupon the poor Waternick and gave him a good beating. The Waternick\nhad to run off, leaving the fishes behind. He didn't haunt the mill\nany more, and that's how they got rid of him.","title":"Czech Folk Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":35141}