{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_641/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_641","id":"gutenberg_641","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/641","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Literature","Fairy tales","Folklore"],"text":"Produced by Charles Keller for Tina\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE VIOLET FAIRY BOOK\n\nBy Various\n\nEdited By Andrew Lang\n\n\n\n     TO VIOLET MYERS\n     IS DEDICATED\n     THE VIOLET FAIRY BOOK\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe Editor takes this opportunity to repeat what he has often said\nbefore, that he is not the author of the stories in the Fairy Books;\nthat he did not invent them \u2018out of his own head.\u2019 He is accustomed to\nbeing asked, by ladies, \u2018Have you written anything else except the Fairy\nBooks?\u2019 He is then obliged to explain that he has NOT written the Fairy\nBooks, but, save these, has written almost everything else, except\nhymns, sermons, and dramatic works.\n\nThe stories in this Violet Fairy Book, as in all the others of the\nseries, have been translated out of the popular traditional tales in a\nnumber of different languages. These stories are as old as anything\nthat men have invented. They are narrated by naked savage women to naked\nsavage children. They have been inherited by our earliest civilised\nancestors, who really believed that beasts and trees and stones can talk\nif they choose, and behave kindly or unkindly. The stories are full of\nthe oldest ideas of ages when science did not exist, and magic took the\nplace of science. Anybody who has the curiosity to read the \u2018Legendary\nAustralian Tales,\u2019 which Mrs. Langloh Parker has collected from the lips\nof the Australian savages, will find that these tales are closely akin\nto our own. Who were the first authors of them nobody knows--probably\nthe first men and women. Eve may have told these tales to amuse Cain and\nAbel. As people grew more civilised and had kings and queens, princes\nand princesses, these exalted persons generally were chosen as heroes\nand heroines. But originally the characters were just \u2018a man,\u2019 and \u2018a\nwoman,\u2019 and \u2018a boy,\u2019 and \u2018a girl,\u2019 with crowds of beasts, birds, and\nfishes, all behaving like human beings. When the nobles and other people\nbecame rich and educated, they forgot the old stories, but the country\npeople did not, and handed them down, with changes at pleasure, from\ngeneration to generation. Then learned men collected and printed\nthe country people\u2019s stories, and these we have translated, to amuse\nchildren. Their tastes remain like the tastes of their naked ancestors,\nthousands of years ago, and they seem to like fairy tales better than\nhistory, poetry, geography, or arithmetic, just as grown-up people like\nnovels better than anything else.\n\nThis is the whole truth of the matter. I have said so before, and I\nsay so again. But nothing will prevent children from thinking that I\ninvented the stories, or some ladies from being of the same opinion.\nBut who really invented the stories nobody knows; it is all so long ago,\nlong before reading and writing were invented. The first of the stories\nactually written down, were written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, or on\nBabylonian cakes of clay, three or four thousand years before our time.\n\nOf the stories in this book, Miss Blackley translated \u2018Dwarf Long Nose,\u2019\n\u2018The Wonderful Beggars,\u2019 \u2018The Lute Player,\u2019 \u2018Two in a Sack,\u2019 and \u2018The\nFish that swam in the Air.\u2019 Mr. W. A. Craigie translated from the\nScandinavian, \u2018Jasper who herded the Hares.\u2019 Mrs. Lang did the rest.\n\nSome of the most interesting are from the Roumanion, and three were\npreviously published in the late Dr. Steere\u2019s \u2018Swahili Tales.\u2019 By the\npermission of his representatives these three African stories have here\nbeen abridged and simplified for children.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n     A Tale of the Tontlawald\n     The finest Liar in the World\n     The Story of three Wonderful Beggars\n     Schippeitaro\n     The Three Princes and their Beasts\n     The Goat\u2019s Ears of the Emperor Trojan\n     The Nine Pea-hens and the Golden Apples\n     The Lute Player\n     The Grateful Prince\n     The Child who came from an Egg\n     Stan Bolovan\n     The Two Frogs\n     The Story of a Gazelle\n     How a Fish swam in the Air and a Hare in the Water\n     Two in a Sack\n     The Envious Neighbour\n     The Fairy of the Dawn\n     The Enchanted Knife\n     Jesper who herded the Hares\n     The Underground Workers\n     The History of Dwarf Long Nose\n     The Nunda, Eater of People\n     The Story of Hassebu\n     The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet\n     The Monkey and the Jelly-fish\n     The Headless Dwarfs\n     The young Man who would have his Eyes opened\n     The Boys with the Golden Stars\n     The Frog\n     The Princess who was hidden Underground\n     The Girl who pretended to be a Boy\n     The Story of Halfman\n     The Prince who wanted to see the World\n     Virgililus the Sorcerer\n     Mogarzea and his Son\n\n\n\n\nA TALE OF THE TONTLAWALD\n\nLong, long ago there stood in the midst of a country covered with lakes\na vast stretch of moorland called the Tontlawald, on which no man ever\ndared set foot. From time to time a few bold spirits had been drawn by\ncuriosity to its borders, and on their return had reported that they had\ncaught a glimpse of a ruined house in a grove of thick trees, and round\nabout it were a crowd of beings resembling men, swarming over the grass\nlike bees. The men were as dirty and ragged as gipsies, and there were\nbesides a quantity of old women and half-naked children.\n\nOne night a peasant who was returning home from a feast wandered a\nlittle farther into the Tontlawald, and came back with the same story. A\ncountless number of women and children were gathered round a huge fire,\nand some were seated on the ground, while others danced strange dances\non the smooth grass. One old crone had a broad iron ladle in her hand,\nwith which every now and then she stirred the fire, but the moment she\ntouched the glowing ashes the children rushed away, shrieking like night\nowls, and it was a long while before they ventured to steal back. And\nbesides all this there had once or twice been seen a little old man with\na long beard creeping out of the forest, carrying a sack bigger than\nhimself. The women and children ran by his side, weeping and trying to\ndrag the sack from off his back, but he shook them off, and went on\nhis way. There was also a tale of a magnificent black cat as large as a\nfoal, but men could not believe all the wonders told by the peasant,\nand it was difficult to make out what was true and what was false in his\nstory. However, the fact remained that strange things did happen there,\nand the King of Sweden, to whom this part of the country belonged, more\nthan once gave orders to cut down the haunted wood, but there was no one\nwith courage enough to obey his commands. At length one man, bolder than\nthe rest, struck his axe into a tree, but his blow was followed by\na stream of blood and shrieks as of a human creature in pain. The\nterrified woodcutter fled as fast as his legs would carry him, and after\nthat neither orders nor threats would drive anybody to the enchanted\nmoor.\n\nA few miles from the Tontlawald was a large village, where dwelt a\npeasant who had recently married a young wife. As not uncommonly happens\nin such cases, she turned the whole house upside down, and the two\nquarrelled and fought all day long.\n\nBy his first wife the peasant had a daughter called Elsa, a good quiet\ngirl, who only wanted to live in peace, but this her stepmother would\nnot allow. She beat and cuffed the poor child from morning till night,\nbut as the stepmother had the whip-hand of her husband there was no\nremedy.\n\nFor two years Elsa suffered all this ill-treatment, when one day\nshe went out with the other village children to pluck strawberries.\nCarelessly they wandered on, till at last they reached the edge of the\nTontlawald, where the finest strawberries grew, making the grass red\nwith their colour. The children flung themselves down on the ground,\nand, after eating as many as they wanted, began to pile up their\nbaskets, when suddenly a cry arose from one of the older boys:\n\n\u2018Run, run as fast as you can! We are in the Tontlawald!\u2019\n\nQuicker than lightning they sprang to their feet, and rushed madly away,\nall except Elsa, who had strayed farther than the rest, and had found a\nbed of the finest strawberries right under the trees. Like the others,\nshe heard the boy\u2019s cry, but could not make up her mind to leave the\nstrawberries.\n\n\u2018After all, what does it matter?\u2019 thought she. \u2018The dwellers in the\nTontlawald cannot be worse than my stepmother\u2019; and looking up she saw\na little black dog with a silver bell on its neck come barking towards\nher, followed by a maiden clad all in silk.\n\n\u2018Be quiet,\u2019 said she; then turning to Elsa she added: \u2018I am so glad you\ndid not run away with the other children. Stay here with me and be my\nfriend, and we will play delightful games together, and every day we\nwill go and gather strawberries. Nobody will dare to beat you if I tell\nthem not. Come, let us go to my mother\u2019; and taking Elsa\u2019s hand she led\nher deeper into the wood, the little black dog jumping up beside them\nand barking with pleasure.\n\nOh! what wonders and splendours unfolded themselves before Elsa\u2019s\nastonished eyes! She thought she really must be in Heaven. Fruit trees\nand bushes loaded with fruit stood before them, while birds gayer than\nthe brightest butterfly sat in their branches and filled the air with\ntheir song. And the birds were not shy, but let the girls take them in\ntheir hands, and stroke their gold and silver feathers. In the centre\nof the garden was the dwelling-house, shining with glass and precious\nstones, and in the doorway sat a woman in rich garments, who turned to\nElsa\u2019s companion and asked:\n\n\u2018What sort of a guest are you bringing to me?\u2019\n\n\u2018I found her alone in the wood,\u2019 replied her daughter, \u2018and brought her\nback with me for a companion. You will let her stay?\u2019\n\nThe mother laughed, but said nothing, only she looked Elsa up and down\nsharply. Then she told the girl to come near, and stroked her cheeks and\nspoke kindly to her, asking if her parents were alive, and if she really\nwould like to stay with them. Elsa stooped and kissed her hand, then,\nkneeling down, buried her face in the woman\u2019s lap, and sobbed out:\n\n\u2018My mother has lain for many years under the ground. My father is still\nalive, but I am nothing to him, and my stepmother beats me all the day\nlong. I can do nothing right, so let me, I pray you, stay with you. I\nwill look after the flocks or do any work you tell me; I will obey your\nlightest word; only do not, I entreat you, send me back to her. She will\nhalf kill me for not having come back with the other children.\u2019\n\nAnd the woman smiled and answered, \u2018Well, we will see what we can do\nwith you,\u2019 and, rising, went into the house.\n\nThen the daughter said to Elsa, \u2018Fear nothing, my mother will be your\nfriend. I saw by the way she looked that she would grant your request\nwhen she had thought over it,\u2019 and, telling Elsa to wait, she entered\nthe house to seek her mother. Elsa meanwhile was tossed about between\nhope and fear, and felt as if the girl would never come.\n\nAt last Elsa saw her crossing the grass with a box in her hand.\n\n\u2018My mother says we may play together to-day, as she wants to make up her\nmind what to do about you. But I hope you will stay here always, as I\ncan\u2019t bear you to go away. Have you ever been on the sea?\u2019\n\n\u2018The sea?\u2019 asked Elsa, staring; \u2018what is that? I\u2019ve never heard of such\na thing!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I\u2019ll soon show you,\u2019 answered the girl, taking the lid from the\nbox, and at the very bottom lay a scrap of a cloak, a mussel shell, and\ntwo fish scales. Two drops of water were glistening on the cloak, and\nthese the girl shook on the ground. In an instant the garden and lawn\nand everything else had vanished utterly, as if the earth had opened\nand swallowed them up, and as far as the eye could reach you could see\nnothing but water, which seemed at last to touch heaven itself. Only\nunder their feet was a tiny dry spot. Then the girl placed the mussel\nshell on the water and took the fish scales in her hand. The mussel\nshell grew bigger and bigger, and turned into a pretty little boat,\nwhich would have held a dozen children. The girls stepped in, Elsa very\ncautiously, for which she was much laughed at by her friend, who used\nthe fish scales for a rudder. The waves rocked the girls softly, as if\nthey were lying in a cradle, and they floated on till they met other\nboats filled with men, singing and making merry.\n\n\u2018We must sing you a song in return,\u2019 said the girl, but as Elsa did not\nknow any songs, she had to sing by herself. Elsa could not understand\nany of the men\u2019s songs, but one word, she noticed, came over and over\nagain, and that was \u2018Kisika.\u2019 Elsa asked what it meant, and the girl\nreplied that it was her name.\n\nIt was all so pleasant that they might have stayed there for ever had\nnot a voice cried out to them, \u2018Children, it is time for you to come\nhome!\u2019\n\nSo Kisika took the little box out of her pocket, with the piece of\ncloth lying in it, and dipped the cloth in the water, and lo! they\nwere standing close to a splendid house in the middle of the garden.\nEverything round them was dry and firm, and there was no water anywhere.\nThe mussel shell and the fish scales were put back in the box, and the\ngirls went in.\n\nThey entered a large hall, where four and twenty richly dressed women\nwere sitting round a table, looking as if they were about to attend a\nwedding. At the head of the table sat the lady of the house in a golden\nchair.\n\nElsa did not know which way to look, for everything that met her eyes\nwas more beautiful than she could have dreamed possible. But she sat\ndown with the rest, and ate some delicious fruit, and thought she must\nbe in heaven. The guests talked softly, but their speech was strange\nto Elsa, and she understood nothing of what was said. Then the hostess\nturned round and whispered something to a maid behind her chair, and the\nmaid left the hall, and when she came back she brought a little old man\nwith her, who had a beard longer than himself. He bowed low to the lady\nand then stood quietly near the door.\n\n\u2018Do you see this girl?\u2019 said the lady of the house, pointing to Elsa. \u2018I\nwish to adopt her for my daughter. Make me a copy of her, which we can\nsend to her native village instead of herself.\u2019\n\nThe old man looked Elsa all up and down, as if he was taking her\nmeasure, bowed again to the lady, and left the hall. After dinner the\nlady said kindly to Elsa, \u2018Kisika has begged me to let you stay with\nher, and you have told her you would like to live here. Is that so?\u2019\n\nAt these words Elsa fell on her knees, and kissed the lady\u2019s hands and\nfeet in gratitude for her escape from her cruel stepmother; but her\nhostess raised her from the ground and patted her head, saying, \u2018All\nwill go well as long as you are a good, obedient child, and I will take\ncare of you and see that you want for nothing till you are grown up and\ncan look after yourself. My waiting-maid, who teaches Kisika all sorts\nof fine handiwork, shall teach you too.\u2019\n\nNot long after the old man came back with a mould full of clay on his\nshoulders, and a little covered basket in his left hand. He put down his\nmould and his basket on the ground, took up a handful of clay, and made\na doll as large as life. When it was finished he bored a hole in the\ndoll\u2019s breast and put a bit of bread inside; then, drawing a snake out\nof the basket, forced it to enter the hollow body.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 he said to the lady, \u2018all we want is a drop of the maiden\u2019s\nblood.\u2019\n\nWhen she heard this Elsa grew white with horror, for she thought she was\nselling her soul to the evil one.\n\n\u2018Do not be afraid!\u2019 the lady hastened to say; \u2018we do not want your blood\nfor any bad purpose, but rather to give you freedom and happiness.\u2019\n\nThen she took a tiny golden needle, pricked Elsa in the arm, and gave\nthe needle to the old man, who stuck it into the heart of the doll. When\nthis was done he placed the figure in the basket, promising that the\nnext day they should all see what a beautiful piece of work he had\nfinished.\n\nWhen Elsa awoke the next morning in her silken bed, with its soft white\npillows, she saw a beautiful dress lying over the back of a chair, ready\nfor her to put on. A maid came in to comb out her long hair, and brought\nthe finest linen for her use; but nothing gave Elsa so much joy as the\nlittle pair of embroidered shoes that she held in her hand, for the girl\nhad hitherto been forced to run about barefoot by her cruel stepmother.\nIn her excitement she never gave a thought to the rough clothes she had\nworn the day before, which had disappeared as if by magic during the\nnight. Who could have taken them? Well, she was to know that by-and-by.\nBut WE can guess that the doll had been dressed in them, which was to go\nback to the village in her stead. By the time the sun rose the doll had\nattained her full size, and no one could have told one girl from\nthe other. Elsa started back when she met herself as she looked only\nyesterday.\n\n\u2018You must not be frightened,\u2019 said the lady, when she noticed her\nterror; \u2018this clay figure can do you no harm. It is for your stepmother,\nthat she may beat it instead of you. Let her flog it as hard as she\nwill, it can never feel any pain. And if the wicked woman does not come\none day to a better mind your double will be able at last to give her\nthe punishment she deserves.\u2019\n\nFrom this moment Elsa\u2019s life was that of the ordinary happy child, who\nhas been rocked to sleep in her babyhood in a lovely golden cradle. She\nhad no cares or troubles of any sort, and every day her tasks became\neasier, and the years that had gone before seemed more and more like\na bad dream. But the happier she grew the deeper was her wonder at\neverything around her, and the more firmly she was persuaded that some\ngreat unknown power must be at the bottom of it all.\n\nIn the courtyard stood a huge granite block about twenty steps from the\nhouse, and when meal times came round the old man with the long beard\nwent to the block, drew out a small silver staff, and struck the stone\nwith it three times, so that the sound could be heard a long way off.\nAt the third blow, out sprang a large golden cock, and stood upon the\nstone. Whenever he crowed and flapped his wings the rock opened and\nsomething came out of it. First a long table covered with dishes ready\nlaid for the number of persons who would be seated round it, and this\nflew into the house all by itself.\n\nWhen the cock crowed for the second time, a number of chairs appeared,\nand flew after the table; then wine, apples, and other fruit, all\nwithout trouble to anybody. After everybody had had enough, the old\nman struck the rock again. The golden cock crowed afresh, and back went\ndishes, table, chairs, and plates into the middle of the block.\n\nWhen, however, it came to the turn of the thirteenth dish, which nobody\never wanted to eat, a huge black cat ran up, and stood on the rock close\nto the cock, while the dish was on his other side.\n\nThere they all remained, till they were joined by the old man.\n\nHe picked up the dish in one hand, tucked the cat under his arm, told\nthe cock to get on his shoulder, and all four vanished into the rock.\nAnd this wonderful stone contained not only food, but clothes and\neverything you could possibly want in the house.\n\nAt first a language was often spoken at meals which was strange to\nElsa, but by the help of the lady and her daughter she began slowly\nto understand it, though it was years before she was able to speak it\nherself.\n\nOne day she asked Kisika why the thirteenth dish came daily to the table\nand was sent daily away untouched, but Kisika knew no more about it\nthan she did. The girl must, however, have told her mother what Elsa had\nsaid, for a few days later she spoke to Elsa seriously:\n\n\u2018Do not worry yourself with useless wondering. You wish to know why\nwe never eat of the thirteenth dish? That, dear child, is the dish of\nhidden blessings, and we cannot taste of it without bringing our happy\nlife here to an end. And the world would be a great deal better if\nmen, in their greed, did not seek to snatch every thing for themselves,\ninstead of leaving something as a thankoffering to the giver of the\nblessings. Greed is man\u2019s worst fault.\u2019\n\nThe years passed like the wind for Elsa, and she grew into a lovely\nwoman, with a knowledge of many things that she would never have learned\nin her native village; but Kisika was still the same young girl that she\nhad been on the day of her first meeting with Elsa. Each morning they\nboth worked for an hour at reading and writing, as they had always done,\nand Elsa was anxious to learn all she could, but Kisika much preferred\nchildish games to anything else. If the humour seized her, she would\nfling aside her tasks, take her treasure box, and go off to play in the\nsea, where no harm ever came to her.\n\n\u2018What a pity,\u2019 she would often say to Elsa, \u2018that you have grown so big,\nyou cannot play with me any more.\u2019\n\nNine years slipped away in this manner, when one day the lady called\nElsa into her room. Elsa was surprised at the summons, for it was\nunusual, and her heart sank, for she feared some evil threatened her. As\nshe crossed the threshold, she saw that the lady\u2019s cheeks were flushed,\nand her eyes full of tears, which she dried hastily, as if she would\nconceal them from the girl. \u2018Dearest child,\u2019 she began, \u2018the time has\ncome when we must part.\u2019\n\n\u2018Part?\u2019 cried Elsa, burying her head in the lady\u2019s lap. \u2018No, dear lady,\nthat can never be till death parts us. You once opened your arms to me;\nyou cannot thrust me away now.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah, be quiet, child,\u2019 replied the lady; \u2018you do not know what I would\ndo to make you happy. Now you are a woman, and I have no right to keep\nyou here. You must return to the world of men, where joy awaits you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Dear lady,\u2019 entreated Elsa again. \u2018Do not, I beseech you, send me from\nyou. I want no other happiness but to live and die beside you. Make me\nyour waiting maid, or set me to any work you choose, but do not cast me\nforth into the world. It would have been better if you had left me with\nmy stepmother, than first to have brought me to heaven and then send me\nback to a worse place.\u2019\n\n\u2018Do not talk like that, dear child,\u2019 replied the lady; \u2018you do not know\nall that must be done to secure your happiness, however much it costs\nme. But it has to be. You are only a common mortal, who will have to die\none day, and you cannot stay here any longer. Though we have the\nbodies of men, we are not men at all, though it is not easy for you to\nunderstand why. Some day or other you will find a husband who has\nbeen made expressly for you, and will live happily with him till death\nseparates you. It will be very hard for me to part from you, but it has\nto be, and you must make up your mind to it.\u2019 Then she drew her golden\ncomb gently through Elsa\u2019s hair, and bade her go to bed; but little\nsleep had the poor girl! Life seemed to stretch before her like a dark\nstarless night.\n\nNow let us look back a moment, and see what had been going on in Elsa\u2019s\nnative village all these years, and how her double had fared. It is\na well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as she grows\nolder, and Elsa\u2019s stepmother was no exception to the rule; but as the\nfigure that had taken the girl\u2019s place could feel no pain, the blows\nthat were showered on her night and day made no difference. If the\nfather ever tried to come to his daughter\u2019s help, his wife turned upon\nhim, and things were rather worse than before.\n\nOne day the stepmother had given the girl a frightful beating, and then\nthreatened to kill her outright. Mad with rage, she seized the figure by\nthe throat with both hands, when out came a black snake from her mouth\nand stung the woman\u2019s tongue, and she fell dead without a sound. At\nnight, when the husband came home, he found his wife lying dead upon the\nground, her body all swollen and disfigured, but the girl was nowhere\nto be seen. His screams brought the neighbours from their cottages, but\nthey were unable to explain how it had all come about. It was true, they\nsaid, that about mid-day they had heard a great noise, but as that was\na matter of daily occurrence they did not think much of it. The rest of\nthe day all was still, but no one had seen anything of the daughter.\nThe body of the dead woman was then prepared for burial, and her tired\nhusband went to bed, rejoicing in his heart that he had been delivered\nfrom the firebrand who had made his home unpleasant. On the table he\nsaw a slice of bread lying, and, being hungry, he ate it before going to\nsleep.\n\nIn the morning he too was found dead, and as swollen as his wife, for\nthe bread had been placed in the body of the figure by the old man who\nmade it. A few days later he was placed in the grave beside his wife,\nbut nothing more was ever heard of their daughter.\n\nAll night long after her talk with the lady Elsa had wept and wailed her\nhard fate in being cast out from her home which she loved.\n\nNext morning, when she got up, the lady placed a gold seal ring on her\nfinger, strung a little golden box on a ribbon, and placed it round her\nneck; then she called the old man, and, forcing back her tears, took\nleave of Elsa. The girl tried to speak, but before she could sob out her\nthanks the old man had touched her softly on the head three times with\nhis silver staff. In an instant Elsa knew that she was turning into\na bird: wings sprang from beneath her arms; her feet were the feet of\neagles, with long claws; her nose curved itself into a sharp beak, and\nfeathers covered her body. Then she soared high in the air, and floated\nup towards the clouds, as if she had really been hatched an eagle.\n\nFor several days she flew steadily south, resting from time to time when\nher wings grew tired, for hunger she never felt. And so it happened\nthat one day she was flying over a dense forest, and below hounds were\nbarking fiercely, because, not having wings themselves, she was out of\ntheir reach. Suddenly a sharp pain quivered through her body, and she\nfell to the ground, pierced by an arrow.\n\nWhen Elsa recovered her senses, she found herself lying under a bush in\nher own proper form. What had befallen her, and how she got there, lay\nbehind her like a bad dream.\n\nAs she was wondering what she should do next the king\u2019s son came riding\nby, and, seeing Elsa, sprang from his horse, and took her by the hand,\nsawing, \u2018Ah! it was a happy chance that brought me here this morning.\nEvery night, for half a year, have I dreamed, dear lady, that I should\none day find you in this wood. And although I have passed through it\nhundreds of times in vain, I have never given up hope. To-day I was\ngoing in search of a large eagle that I had shot, and instead of the\neagle I have found--you.\u2019 Then he took Elsa on his horse, and rode with\nher to the town, where the old king received her graciously.\n\nA few days later the wedding took place, and as Elsa was arranging the\nveil upon her hair fifty carts arrived laden with beautiful things which\nthe lady of the Tontlawald had sent to Elsa. And after the king\u2019s death\nElsa became queen, and when she was old she told this story. But that\nwas the last that was ever heard of the Tontlawald.\n\n(From Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE FINEST LIAR IN THE WORLD\n\nAt the edge of a wood there lived an old man who had only one son, and\none day he called the boy to him and said he wanted some corn ground,\nbut the youth must be sure never to enter any mill where the miller was\nbeardless.\n\nThe boy took the corn and set out, and before he had gone very far he\nsaw a large mill in front of him, with a beardless man standing in the\ndoorway.\n\n\u2018Good greeting, beardless one!\u2019 cried he.\n\n\u2018Good greeting, sonny,\u2019 replied the man.\n\n\u2018Could I grind something here?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, certainly! I will finish what I am doing and then you can grind as\nlong as you like.\u2019\n\nBut suddenly the boy remembered what his father had told him, and bade\nfarewell to the man, and went further down the river, till he came\nto another mill, not knowing that as soon as his back was turned the\nbeardless man had picked up a bag of corn and run hastily to the same\nmill before him. When the boy reached the second mill, and saw a second\nbeardless man sitting there, he did not stop, and walked on till he\ncame to a third mill. But this time also the beardless man had been too\nclever for him, and had arrived first by another road. When it happened\na fourth time the boy grew cross, and said to himself, \u2018It is no good\ngoing on; there seems to be a beardless man in every mill\u2019; and he took\nhis sack from his back, and made up his mind to grind his corn where he\nwas.\n\nThe beardless man finished grinding his own corn, and when he had done\nhe said to the boy, who was beginning to grind his, \u2018Suppose, sonny, we\nmake a cake of what you have there.\u2019\n\nNow the boy had been rather uneasy when he recollected his father\u2019s\nwords, but he thought to himself, \u2018What is done cannot be undone,\u2019 and\nanswered, \u2018Very well, so let it be.\u2019\n\nThen the beardless one got up, threw the flour into the tub, and made a\nhole in the middle, telling the boy to fetch some water from the river\nin his two hands, to mix the cake. When the cake was ready for baking\nthey put it on the fire, and covered it with hot ashes, till it was\ncooked through. Then they leaned it up against the wall, for it was too\nbig to go into a cupboard, and the beardless one said to the boy:\n\n\u2018Look here, sonny: if we share this cake we shall neither of us have\nenough. Let us see who can tell the biggest lie, and the one who lies\nthe best shall have the whole cake.\u2019\n\nThe boy, not knowing what else to do, answered, \u2018All right; you begin.\u2019\n\nSo the beardless one began to lie with all his might, and when he was\ntired of inventing new lies the boy said to him, \u2018My good fellow, if\nTHAT is all you can do it is not much! Listen to me, and I will tell you\na true story.\n\n\u2018In my youth, when I was an old man, we had a quantity of beehives.\nEvery morning when I got up I counted them over, and it was quite easy\nto number the bees, but I never could reckon the hives properly. One\nday, as I was counting the bees, I discovered that my best bee was\nmissing, and without losing a moment I saddled a cock and went out to\nlook for him. I traced him as far as the shore, and knew that he had\ncrossed the sea, and that I must follow. When I had reached the other\nside I found a man had harnessed my bee to a plough, and with his help\nwas sowing millet seed.\n\n\u2018\u201cThat is my bee!\u201d I shouted. \u201cWhere did you get him from?\u201d\u2019\n\u201cBrother,\u201d replied the man, \u201cif he is yours, take him.\u201d And he not only\ngave me back my bee, but a sack of millet seed into the bargain, because\nhe had made use of my bee. Then I put the bag on my shoulders, took\nthe saddle from the cock, and placed it on the back of the bee, which I\nmounted, leading the cock by a string, so that he should have a rest. As\nwe were flying home over the sea one of the strings that held the bag\nof millet broke in two, and the sack dropped straight into the ocean. It\nwas quite lost, of course, and there was no use thinking about it, and\nby the time we were safe back again night had come. I then got down from\nmy bee, and let him loose, that he might get his supper, gave the cock\nsome hay, and went to sleep myself. But when I awoke with the sun what\na scene met my eyes! During the night wolves had come and had eaten my\nbee. And honey lay ankle-deep in the valley and knee-deep on the hills.\nThen I began to consider how I could best collect some, to take home\nwith me.\n\n\u2018Now it happened that I had with me a small hatchet, and this I took to\nthe wood, hoping to meet some animal which I could kill, whose skin\nI might turn into a bag. As I entered the forest I saw two roe-deer\nhopping on one foot, so I slew them with a single blow, and made three\nbags from their skins, all of which I filled with honey and placed on\nthe back of the cock. At length I reached home, where I was told that my\nfather had just been born, and that I must go at once to fetch some holy\nwater to sprinkle him with. As I went I turned over in my mind if there\nwas no way for me to get back my millet seed, which had dropped into the\nsea, and when I arrived at the place with the holy water I saw the seed\nhad fallen on fruitful soil, and was growing before my eyes. And more\nthan that, it was even cut by an invisible hand, and made into a cake.\n\n\u2018So I took the cake as well as the holy water, and was flying back\nwith them over the sea, when there fell a great rain, and the sea was\nswollen, and swept away my millet cake. Ah, how vexed I was at its loss\nwhen I was safe on earth again.\n\n\u2018Suddenly I remembered that my hair was very long. If I stood it touched\nthe ground, although if I was sitting it only reached my ears. I seized\na knife and cut off a large lock, which I plaited together, and when\nnight came tied it into a knot, and prepared to use it for a pillow. But\nwhat was I to do for a fire? A tinder box I had, but no wood. Then it\noccurred to me that I had stuck a needle in my clothes, so I took the\nneedle and split it in pieces, and lit it, then laid myself down by\nthe fire and went to sleep. But ill-luck still pursued me. While I was\nsleeping a spark from the fire lighted on the hair, which was burnt up\nin a moment. In despair I threw myself on the ground, and instantly\nsank in it as far as my waist. I struggled to get out, but only fell in\nfurther; so I ran to the house, seized a spade, dug myself out, and took\nhome the holy water. On the way I noticed that the ripe fields were full\nof reapers, and suddenly the air became so frightfully hot that the men\ndropped down in a faint. Then I called to them, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you bring out\nour mare, which is as tall as two days, and as broad as half a day, and\nmake a shade for yourselves?\u201d My father heard what I said and jumped\nquickly on the mare, and the reapers worked with a will in the shadow,\nwhile I snatched up a wooden pail to bring them some water to drink.\nWhen I got to the well everything was frozen hard, so in order to draw\nsome water I had to take off my head and break the ice with it. As I\ndrew near them, carrying the water, the reapers all cried out, \u201cWhy,\nwhat has become of your head?\u201d I put up my hand and discovered that I\nreally had no head, and that I must have left it in the well. I ran back\nto look for it, but found that meanwhile a fox which was passing by had\npulled my head out of the water, and was tearing at my brains. I stole\ncautiously up to him, and gave him such a kick that he uttered a loud\nscream, and let fall a parchment on which was written, \u201cThe cake is\nmine, and the beardless one goes empty-handed.\u201d\u2019\n\nWith these words the boy rose, took the cake, and went home, while the\nbeardless one remained behind to swallow his disappointment.\n\n(Volksmarchen der Serben.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THREE WONDERFUL BEGGARS\n\nThere once lived a merchant whose name was Mark, and whom people called\n\u2018Mark the Rich.\u2019 He was a very hard-hearted man, for he could not bear\npoor people, and if he caught sight of a beggar anywhere near his house,\nhe would order the servants to drive him away, or would set the dogs at\nhim.\n\nOne day three very poor old men came begging to the door, and just as\nhe was going to let the fierce dogs loose on them, his little daughter,\nAnastasia, crept close up to him and said:\n\n\u2018Dear daddy, let the poor old men sleep here to-night, do--to please\nme.\u2019\n\nHer father could not bear to refuse her, and the three beggars were\nallowed to sleep in a loft, and at night, when everyone in the house was\nfast asleep, little Anastasia got up, climbed up to the loft, and peeped\nin.\n\nThe three old men stood in the middle of the loft, leaning on their\nsticks, with their long grey beards flowing down over their hands, and\nwere talking together in low voices.\n\n\u2018What news is there?\u2019 asked the eldest.\n\n\u2018In the next village the peasant Ivan has just had his seventh son. What\nshall we name him, and what fortune shall we give him?\u2019 said the second.\n\nThe third whispered, \u2018Call him Vassili, and give him all the property of\nthe hard-hearted man in whose loft we stand, and who wanted to drive us\nfrom his door.\u2019\n\nAfter a little more talk the three made themselves ready and crept\nsoftly away.\n\nAnastasia, who had heard every word, ran straight to her father, and\ntold him all.\n\nMark was very much surprised; he thought, and thought, and in the\nmorning he drove to the next village to try and find out if such a child\nreally had been born. He went first to the priest, and asked him about\nthe children in his parish.\n\n\u2018Yesterday,\u2019 said the priest, \u2018a boy was born in the poorest house\nin the village. I named the unlucky little thing \u201cVassili.\u201d He is the\nseventh son, and the eldest is only seven years old, and they hardly\nhave a mouthful amongst them all. Who can be got to stand godfather to\nsuch a little beggar boy?\u2019\n\nThe merchant\u2019s heart beat fast, and his mind was full of bad thoughts\nabout that poor little baby. He would be godfather himself, he said,\nand he ordered a fine christening feast; so the child was brought and\nchristened, and Mark was very friendly to its father. After the ceremony\nwas over he took Ivan aside and said:\n\n\u2018Look here, my friend, you are a poor man. How can you afford to bring\nup the boy? Give him to me and I\u2019ll make something of him, and I\u2019ll give\nyou a present of a thousand crowns. Is that a bargain?\u2019\n\nIvan scratched his head, and thought, and thought, and then he agreed.\nMark counted out the money, wrapped the baby up in a fox skin, laid\nit in the sledge beside him, and drove back towards home. When he had\ndriven some miles he drew up, carried the child to the edge of a steep\nprecipice and threw it over, muttering, \u2018There, now try to take my\nproperty!\u2019\n\nVery soon after this some foreign merchants travelled along that same\nroad on the way to see Mark and to pay the twelve thousand crowns which\nthey owed him.\n\nAs they were passing near the precipice they heard a sound of crying,\nand on looking over they saw a little green meadow wedged in between two\ngreat heaps of snow, and on the meadow lay a baby amongst the flowers.\n\nThe merchants picked up the child, wrapped it up carefully, and drove\non. When they saw Mark they told him what a strange thing they had\nfound. Mark guessed at once that the child must be his godson, asked to\nsee him, and said:\n\n\u2018That\u2019s a nice little fellow; I should like to keep him. If you will\nmake him over to me, I will let you off your debt.\u2019\n\nThe merchants were very pleased to make so good a bargain, left the\nchild with Mark, and drove off.\n\nAt night Mark took the child, put it in a barrel, fastened the lid tight\ndown, and threw it into the sea. The barrel floated away to a great\ndistance, and at last it floated close up to a monastery. The monks were\njust spreading out their nets to dry on the shore, when they heard the\nsound of crying. It seemed to come from the barrel which was bobbing\nabout near the water\u2019s edge. They drew it to land and opened it, and\nthere was a little child! When the abbot heard the news, he decided to\nbring up the boy, and named him \u2018Vassili.\u2019\n\nThe boy lived on with the monks, and grew up to be a clever, gentle, and\nhandsome young man. No one could read, write, or sing better than he,\nand he did everything so well that the abbot made him wardrobe keeper.\n\nNow, it happened about this time that the merchant, Mark, came to the\nmonastery in the course of a journey. The monks were very polite to him\nand showed him their house and church and all they had. When he went\ninto the church the choir was singing, and one voice was so clear and\nbeautiful, that he asked who it belonged to. Then the abbot told him\nof the wonderful way in which Vassili had come to them, and Mark saw\nclearly that this must be his godson whom he had twice tried to kill.\n\nHe said to the abbot: \u2018I can\u2019t tell you how much I enjoy that young\nman\u2019s singing. If he could only come to me I would make him overseer of\nall my business. As you say, he is so good and clever. Do spare him to\nme. I will make his fortune, and will present your monastery with twenty\nthousand crowns.\u2019\n\nThe abbot hesitated a good deal, but he consulted all the other monks,\nand at last they decided that they ought not to stand in the way of\nVassili\u2019s good fortune.\n\nThen Mark wrote a letter to his wife and gave it to Vassili to take\nto her, and this was what was in the letter: \u2018When the bearer of this\narrives, take him into the soap factory, and when you pass near the\ngreat boiler, push him in. If you don\u2019t obey my orders I shall be very\nangry, for this young man is a bad fellow who is sure to ruin us all if\nhe lives.\u2019\n\nVassili had a good voyage, and on landing set off on foot for Mark\u2019s\nhome. On the way he met three beggars, who asked him: \u2018Where are you\ngoing, Vassili?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am going to the house of Mark the Merchant, and have a letter for his\nwife,\u2019 replied Vassili.\n\n\u2018Show us the letter.\u2019\n\nVassili handed them the letter. They blew on it and gave it back to\nhim, saying: \u2018Now go and give the letter to Mark\u2019s wife. You will not be\nforsaken.\u2019\n\nVassili reached the house and gave the letter. When the mistress read\nit she could hardly believe her eyes and called for her daughter. In the\nletter was written, quite plainly: \u2018When you receive this letter,\nget ready for a wedding, and let the bearer be married next day to my\ndaughter, Anastasia. If you don\u2019t obey my orders I shall be very angry.\u2019\n\nAnastasia saw the bearer of the letter and he pleased her very much.\nThey dressed Vassili in fine clothes and next day he was married to\nAnastasia.\n\nIn due time, Mark returned from his travels. His wife, daughter, and\nson-in-law all went out to meet him. When Mark saw Vassili he flew into\na terrible rage with his wife. \u2018How dared you marry my daughter without\nmy consent?\u2019 he asked.\n\n\u2018I only carried out your orders,\u2019 said she. \u2018Here is your letter.\u2019\n\nMark read it. It certainly was his handwriting, but by no means his\nwishes.\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 thought he, \u2018you\u2019ve escaped me three times, but I think I shall\nget the better of you now.\u2019 And he waited a month and was very kind and\npleasant to his daughter and her husband.\n\nAt the end of that time he said to Vassili one day, \u2018I want you to go\nfor me to my friend the Serpent King, in his beautiful country at the\nworld\u2019s end. Twelve years ago he built a castle on some land of mine. I\nwant you to ask for the rent for those twelve years and also to find out\nfrom him what has become of my twelve ships which sailed for his country\nthree years ago.\u2019\n\nVassili dared not disobey. He said good-bye to his young wife, who cried\nbitterly at parting, hung a bag of biscuits over his shoulders, and set\nout.\n\nI really cannot tell you whether the journey was long or short. As he\ntramped along he suddenly heard a voice saying: \u2018Vassili! where are you\ngoing?\u2019\n\nVassili looked about him, and, seeing no one, called out: \u2018Who spoke to\nme?\u2019\n\n\u2018I did; this old wide-spreading oak. Tell me where you are going.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am going to the Serpent King to receive twelve years\u2019 rent from him.\u2019\n\n\u2018When the time comes, remember me and ask the king: \u201cRotten to the\nroots, half dead but still green, stands the old oak. Is it to stand\nmuch longer on the earth?\u201d\u2019\n\nVassili went on further. He came to a river and got into the ferryboat.\nThe old ferryman asked: \u2018Are you going far, my friend?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am going to the Serpent King.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then think of me and say to the king: \u201cFor thirty years the ferryman\nhas rowed to and fro. Will the tired old man have to row much longer?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 said Vassili; \u2018I\u2019ll ask him.\u2019\n\nAnd he walked on. In time he came to a narrow strait of the sea and\nacross it lay a great whale over whose back people walked and drove as\nif it had been a bridge or a road. As he stepped on it the whale said,\n\u2018Do tell me where you are going.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am going to the Serpent King.\u2019\n\nAnd the whale begged: \u2018Think of me and say to the king: \u201cThe poor whale\nhas been lying three years across the strait, and men and horses have\nnearly trampled his back into his ribs. Is he to lie there much longer?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018I will remember,\u2019 said Vassili, and he went on.\n\nHe walked, and walked, and walked, till he came to a great green meadow.\nIn the meadow stood a large and splendid castle. Its white marble walls\nsparkled in the light, the roof was covered with mother o\u2019 pearl,\nwhich shone like a rainbow, and the sun glowed like fire on the crystal\nwindows. Vassili walked in, and went from one room to another astonished\nat all the splendour he saw.\n\nWhen he reached the last room of all, he found a beautiful girl sitting\non a bed.\n\nAs soon as she saw him she said: \u2018Oh, Vassili, what brings you to this\naccursed place?\u2019\n\nVassili told her why he had come, and all he had seen and heard on the\nway.\n\nThe girl said: \u2018You have not been sent here to collect rents, but for\nyour own destruction, and that the serpent may devour you.\u2019\n\nShe had not time to say more, when the whole castle shook, and a\nrustling, hissing, groaning sound was heard. The girl quickly pushed\nVassili into a chest under the bed, locked it and whispered: \u2018Listen to\nwhat the serpent and I talk about.\u2019\n\nThen she rose up to receive the Serpent King.\n\nThe monster rushed into the room, and threw itself panting on the bed,\ncrying: \u2018I\u2019ve flown half over the world. I\u2019m tired, VERY tired, and want\nto sleep--scratch my head.\u2019\n\nThe beautiful girl sat down near him, stroking his hideous head, and\nsaid in a sweet coaxing voice: \u2018You know everything in the world. After\nyou left, I had such a wonderful dream. Will you tell me what it means?\u2019\n\n\u2018Out with it then, quick! What was it?\u2019\n\n\u2018I dreamt I was walking on a wide road, and an oak tree said to me: \u201cAsk\nthe king this: Rotten at the roots, half dead, and yet green stands the\nold oak. Is it to stand much longer on the earth?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018It must stand till some one comes and pushes it down with his foot.\nThen it will fall, and under its roots will be found more gold and\nsilver than even Mark the Rich has got.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I dreamt I came to a river, and the old ferryman said to me: \u201cFor\nthirty year\u2019s the ferryman has rowed to and fro. Will the tired old man\nhave to row much longer?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018That depends on himself. If some one gets into the boat to be ferried\nacross, the old man has only to push the boat off, and go his way\nwithout looking back. The man in the boat will then have to take his\nplace.\u2019\n\n\u2018And at last I dreamt that I was walking over a bridge made of a whale\u2019s\nback, and the living bridge spoke to me and said: \u201cHere have I been\nstretched out these three years, and men and horses have trampled my\nback down into my ribs. Must I lie here much longer?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018He will have to lie there till he has thrown up the twelve ships of\nMark the Rich which he swallowed. Then he may plunge back into the sea\nand heal his back.\u2019\n\nAnd the Serpent King closed his eyes, turned round on his other side,\nand began to snore so loud that the windows rattled.\n\nIn all haste the lovely girl helped Vassili out of the chest, and showed\nhim part of his way back. He thanked her very politely, and hurried off.\n\nWhen he reached the strait the whale asked: \u2018Have you thought of me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, as soon as I am on the other side I will tell you what you want to\nknow.\u2019\n\nWhen he was on the other side Vassili said to the whale: \u2018Throw up those\ntwelve ships of Mark\u2019s which you swallowed three years ago.\u2019\n\nThe great fish heaved itself up and threw up all the twelve ships and\ntheir crews. Then he shook himself for joy, and plunged into the sea.\n\nVassili went on further till he reached the ferry, where the old man\nasked: \u2018Did you think of me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, and as soon as you have ferried me across I will tell you what you\nwant to know.\u2019\n\nWhen they had crossed over, Vassili said: \u2018Let the next man who comes\nstay in the boat, but do you step on shore, push the boat off, and you\nwill be free, and the other man must take your place.\n\nThen Vassili went on further still, and soon came to the old oak tree,\npushed it with his foot, and it fell over. There, at the roots, was more\ngold and silver than even Mark the Rich had.\n\nAnd now the twelve ships which the whale had thrown up came sailing\nalong and anchored close by. On the deck of the first ship stood the\nthree beggars whom Vassili had met formerly, and they said: \u2018Heaven has\nblessed you, Vassili.\u2019 Then they vanished away and he never saw them\nagain.\n\nThe sailors carried all the gold and silver into the ship, and then they\nset sail for home with Vassili on board.\n\nMark was more furious than ever. He had his horses harnessed and drove\noff himself to see the Serpent King and to complain of the way in which\nhe had been betrayed. When he reached the river he sprang into the\nferryboat. The ferryman, however, did not get in but pushed the boat\noff....\n\nVassili led a good and happy life with his dear wife, and his kind\nmother-in-law lived with them. He helped the poor and fed and clothed\nthe hungry and naked and all Mark\u2019s riches became his.\n\nFor many years Mark has been ferrying people across the river. His face\nis wrinkled, his hair and beard are snow white, and his eyes are dim;\nbut still he rows on.\n\n(From the Serbian.)\n\n\n\n\nSCHIPPEITARO\n\nIt was the custom in old times that as soon as a Japanese boy reached\nmanhood he should leave his home and roam through the land in search of\nadventures. Sometimes he would meet with a young man bent on the same\nbusiness as himself, and then they would fight in a friendly manner,\nmerely to prove which was the stronger, but on other occasions the\nenemy would turn out to be a robber, who had become the terror of the\nneighbourhood, and then the battle was in deadly earnest.\n\nOne day a youth started off from his native village, resolved never\nto come back till he had done some great deed that would make his name\nfamous. But adventures did not seem very plentiful just then, and he\nwandered about for a long time without meeting either with fierce giants\nor distressed damsels. At last he saw in the distance a wild mountain,\nhalf covered with a dense forest, and thinking that this promised well\nat once took the road that led to it. The difficulties he met with--huge\nrocks to be climbed, deep rivers to be crossed, and thorny tracts to be\navoided--only served to make his heart beat quicker, for he was really\nbrave all through, and not merely when he could not help himself, like a\ngreat many people. But in spite of all his efforts he could not find his\nway out of the forest, and he began to think he should have to pass the\nnight there. Once more he strained his eyes to see if there was no place\nin which he could take shelter, and this time he caught sight of a small\nchapel in a little clearing. He hastened quickly towards it, and curling\nhimself up in a warm corner soon fell asleep.\n\nNot a sound was heard through the whole forest for some hours, but at\nmidnight there suddenly arose such a clamour that the young man, tired\nas he was, started broad awake in an instant. Peeping cautiously between\nthe wooden pillars of the chapel, he saw a troop of hideous cats,\ndancing furiously, making the night horrible with their yells. The\nfull moon lighted up the weird scene, and the young warrior gazed\nwith astonishment, taking great care to keep still, lest he should be\ndiscovered. After some time he thought that in the midst of all their\nshrieks he could make out the words, \u2018Do not tell Schippeitaro! Keep it\nhidden and secret! Do not tell Schippeitaro!\u2019 Then, the midnight\nhour having passed, they all vanished, and the youth was left alone.\nExhausted by all that had been going on round him, he flung himself on\nthe ground and slept till the sun rose.\n\nThe moment he woke he felt very hungry, and began to think how he could\nget something to eat. So he got up and walked on, and before he had gone\nvery far was lucky enough to find a little side-path, where he could\ntrace men\u2019s footsteps. He followed the track, and by-and-by came on some\nscattered huts, beyond which lay a village. Delighted at this discovery,\nhe was about to hasten to the village when he heard a woman\u2019s voice\nweeping and lamenting, and calling on the men to take pity on her and\nhelp her. The sound of her distress made him forget he was hungry, and\nhe strode into the hut to find out for himself what was wrong. But\nthe men whom he asked only shook their heads and told him it was not a\nmatter in which he could give any help, for all this sorrow was caused\nby the Spirit of the Mountain, to whom every year they were bound to\nfurnish a maiden for him to eat.\n\n\u2018To-morrow night,\u2019 said they, \u2018the horrible creature will come for his\ndinner, and the cries you have heard were uttered by the girl before\nyou, upon whom the lot has fallen.\u2019\n\nAnd when the young man asked if the girl was carried off straight from\nher home, they answered no, but that a large cask was set in the forest\nchapel, and into this she was fastened.\n\nAs he listened to this story, the young man was filled with a great\nlonging to rescue the maiden from her dreadful fate. The mention of the\nchapel set him thinking of the scene of the previous night, and he\nwent over all the details again in his mind. \u2018Who is Schippeitaro?\u2019 he\nsuddenly asked; \u2018can any of you tell me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Schippeitaro is the great dog that belongs to the overseer of our\nprince,\u2019 said they; \u2018and he lives not far away.\u2019 And they began to laugh\nat the question, which seemed to them so odd and useless.\n\nThe young man did not laugh with them, but instead left the hut and went\nstraight to the owner of the dog, whom he begged to lend him the animal\njust for one night. Schippeitaro\u2019s master was not at all willing to\ngive him in charge to a man of whom he knew nothing, but in the end\nhe consented, and the youth led the dog away, promising faithfully to\nreturn him next day to his master. He next hurried to the hut where\nthe maiden lived, and entreated her parents to shut her up safely in a\ncloset, after which he took Schippeitaro to the cask, and fastened him\ninto it. In the evening he knew that the cask would be placed in the\nchapel, so he hid himself there and waited.\n\nAt midnight, when the full moon appeared above the top of the mountain,\nthe cats again filled the chapel and shrieked and yelled and danced\nas before. But this time they had in their midst a huge black cat who\nseemed to be their king, and whom the young man guessed to be the Spirit\nof the Mountain. The monster looked eagerly about him, and his eyes\nsparkled with joy when he saw the cask. He bounded high into the air\nwith delight and uttered cries of pleasure; then he drew near and undid\nthe bolts.\n\nBut instead of fastening his teeth in the neck of a beautiful maiden,\nSchippeitaro\u2019s teeth were fastened in HIM, and the youth ran up and cut\noff his head with his sword. The other cats were so astonished at the\nturn things had taken that they forgot to run away, and the young man\nand Schippeitaro between them killed several more before they thought of\nescaping.\n\nAt sunrise the brave dog was taken back to his master, and from that\ntime the mountain girls were safe, and every year a feast was held in\nmemory of the young warrior and the dog Schippeitaro.\n\n(Japanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCES AND THEIR BEASTS (LITHUANIAN FAIRY TALE)\n\nOnce on a time there were three princes, who had a step-sister. One day\nthey all set out hunting together. When they had gone some way through a\nthick wood they came on a great grey wolf with three cubs. Just as they\nwere going to shoot, the wolf spoke and said, \u2018Do not shoot me, and I\nwill give each of you one of my young ones. It will be a faithful friend\nto you.\u2019\n\nSo the princes went on their way, and a little wolf followed each of\nthem.\n\nSoon after they came on a lioness with three cubs. And she too begged\nthem not to shoot her, and she would give each of them a cub. And so it\nhappened with a fox, a hare, a boar, and a bear, till each prince had\nquite a following of young beasts padding along behind him.\n\nTowards evening they came to a clearing in the wood, where three birches\ngrew at the crossing of three roads. The eldest prince took an arrow,\nand shot it into the trunk of one of the birch trees. Turning to his\nbrothers he said:\n\n\u2018Let each of us mark one of these trees before we part on different\nways. When any one of us comes back to this place, he must walk round\nthe trees of the other two, and if he sees blood flowing from the mark\nin the tree he will know that that brother is dead, but if milk flows he\nwill know that his brother is alive.\u2019\n\nSo each of the princes did as the eldest brother had said, and when\nthe three birches were marked by their arrows they turned to their\nstep-sister and asked her with which of them she meant to live.\n\n\u2018With the eldest,\u2019 she answered. Then the brothers separated from each\nother, and each of them set out down a different road, followed by their\nbeasts. And the step-sister went with the eldest prince.\n\nAfter they had gone a little way along the road they came into a forest,\nand in one of the deepest glades they suddenly found themselves opposite\na castle in which there lived a band of robbers. The prince walked up to\nthe door and knocked. The moment it was opened the beasts rushed in, and\neach seized on a robber, killed him, and dragged the body down to\nthe cellar. Now, one of the robbers was not really killed, only badly\nwounded, but he lay quite still and pretended to be dead like the\nothers. Then the prince and his step-sister entered the castle and took\nup their abode in it.\n\nThe next morning the prince went out hunting. Before leaving he told his\nstep-sister that she might go into every room in the house except into\nthe cave where the dead robbers lay. But as soon as his back was turned\nshe forgot what he had said, and having wandered through all the other\nrooms she went down to the cellar and opened the door. As soon as she\nlooked in the robber who had only pretended to be dead sat up and said\nto her:\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid. Do what I tell you, and I will be your friend.\n\nIf you marry me you will be much happier with me than with your brother.\nBut you must first go into the sitting-room and look in the cupboard.\nThere you will find three bottles. In one of them there is a healing\nointment which you must put on my chin to heal the wound; then if I\ndrink the contents of the second bottle it will make me well, and the\nthird bottle will make me stronger than I ever was before. Then, when\nyour brother comes back from the wood with his beasts you must go to him\nand say, \u201cBrother, you are very strong. If I were to fasten your thumbs\nbehind your back with a stout silk cord, could you wrench yourself\nfree?\u201d And when you see that he cannot do it, call me.\u2019\n\nWhen the brother came home, the step-sister did as the robber had told\nher, and fastened her brother\u2019s thumbs behind his back. But with one\nwrench he set himself free, and said to her, \u2018Sister, that cord is not\nstrong enough for me.\u2019\n\nThe next day he went back to the wood with his beasts, and the robber\ntold her that she must take a much stouter cord to bind his thumbs with.\nBut again he freed himself, though not so easily as the first time, and\nhe said to his sister:\n\n\u2018Even that cord is not strong enough.\u2019\n\nThe third day, on his return from the wood he consented to have his\nstrength tested for the last time. So she took a very strong cord of\nsilk, which she had prepared by the robber\u2019s advice, and this time,\nthough the prince pulled and tugged with all his might, he could not\nbreak the cord. So he called to her and said: \u2018Sister, this time the\ncord is so strong I cannot break it. Come and unfasten it for me.\u2019\n\nBut instead of coming she called to the robber, who rushed into the room\nbrandishing a knife, with which he prepared to attack the prince.\n\nBut the prince spoke and said:\n\n\u2018Have patience for one minute. I would like before I die to blow three\nblasts on my hunting horn--one in this room, one on the stairs, and one\nin the courtyard.\u2019\n\nSo the robber consented, and the prince blew the horn. At the first\nblast, the fox, which was asleep in the cage in the courtyard, awoke,\nand knew that his master needed help. So he awoke the wolf by flicking\nhim across the eyes with his brush. Then they awoke the lion, who sprang\nagainst the door of the cage with might and main, so that it fell in\nsplinters on the ground, and the beasts were free. Rushing through the\ncourt to their master\u2019s aid, the fox gnawed the cord in two that bound\nthe prince\u2019s thumbs behind his back, and the lion flung himself on the\nrobber, and when he had killed him and torn him in pieces each of the\nbeasts carried off a bone.\n\nThen the prince turned to the step-sister and said:\n\n\u2018I will not kill you, but I will leave you here to repent.\u2019 And he\nfastened her with a chain to the wall, and put a great bowl in front of\nher and said, \u2018I will not see you again till you have filled this bowl\nwith your tears.\u2019\n\nSo saying, he called his beasts, and set out on his travels. When he had\ngone a little way he came to an inn. Everyone in the inn seemed so sad\nthat he asked them what was the matter.\n\n\u2018Ah,\u2019 replied they, \u2018to-day our king\u2019s daughter is to die. She is to be\nhanded over to a dreadful nine-headed dragon.\u2019\n\nThen the prince said: \u2018Why should she die? I am very strong, I will save\nher.\u2019\n\nAnd he set out to the sea-shore, where the dragon was to meet the\nprincess. And as he waited with his beasts round him a great procession\ncame along, accompanying the unfortunate princess: and when the shore\nwas reached all the people left her, and returned sadly to their houses.\nBut the prince remained, and soon he saw a movement in the water a long\nway off. As it came nearer, he knew what it was, for skimming swiftly\nalong the waters came a monster dragon with nine heads. Then the prince\ntook counsel with his beasts, and as the dragon approached the shore\nthe fox drew his brush through the water and blinded the dragon by\nscattering the salt water in his eyes, while the bear and the lion threw\nup more water with their paws, so that the monster was bewildered and\ncould see nothing. Then the prince rushed forward with his sword and\nkilled the dragon, and the beasts tore the body in pieces.\n\nThen the princess turned to the prince and thanked him for delivering\nher from the dragon, and she said to him:\n\n\u2018Step into this carriage with me, and we will drive back to my father\u2019s\npalace.\u2019 And she gave him a ring and half of her handkerchief. But on\nthe way back the coachman and footman spoke to one another and said:\n\n\u2018Why should we drive this stranger back to the palace? Let us kill him,\nand then we can say to the king that we slew the dragon and saved the\nprincess, and one of us shall marry her.\u2019\n\nSo they killed the prince, and left him dead on the roadside. And the\nfaithful beasts came round the dead body and wept, and wondered what\nthey should do. Then suddenly the wolf had an idea, and he started off\ninto the wood, where he found an ox, which he straightway killed. Then\nhe called the fox, and told him to mount guard over the dead ox, and if\na bird came past and tried to peck at the flesh he was to catch it and\nbring it to the lion. Soon after a crow flew past, and began to peck\nat the dead ox. In a moment the fox had caught it and brought it to the\nlion. Then the lion said to the crow:\n\n\u2018We will not kill you if you will promise to fly to the town where there\nare three wells of healing and to bring back water from them in your\nbeak to make this dead man alive.\u2019\n\nSo the crow flew away, and she filled her beak at the well of healing,\nthe well of strength, and the well of swiftness, and she flew back to\nthe dead prince and dropped the water from her beak upon his lips, and\nhe was healed, and could sit up and walk.\n\nThen he set out for the town, accompanied by his faithful beasts.\n\nAnd when they reached the king\u2019s palace they found that preparations\nfor a great feast were being made, for the princess was to marry the\ncoachman.\n\nSo the prince walked into the palace, and went straight up to the\ncoachman and said: \u2018What token have you got that you killed the dragon\nand won the hand of the princess? I have her token here--this ring and\nhalf her handkerchief.\u2019\n\nAnd when the king saw these tokens he knew that the prince was speaking\nthe truth. So the coachman was bound in chains and thrown into prison,\nand the prince was married to the princess and rewarded with half the\nkingdom.\n\nOne day, soon after his marriage, the prince was walking through the\nwoods in the evening, followed by his faithful beasts. Darkness came on,\nand he lost his way, and wandered about among the trees looking for the\npath that would lead him back to the palace. As he walked he saw the\nlight of a fire, and making his way to it he found an old woman raking\nsticks and dried leaves together, and burning them in a glade of the\nwood.\n\nAs he was very tired, and the night was very dark, the prince determined\nnot to wander further. So he asked the old woman if he might spend the\nnight beside her fire.\n\n\u2018Of course you may,\u2019 she answered. \u2018But I am afraid of your beasts. Let\nme hit them with my rod, and then I shall not be afraid of them.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 said the prince, \u2018I don\u2019t mind\u2019; and she stretched out her\nrod and hit the beasts, and in one moment they were turned into stone,\nand so was the prince.\n\nNow soon after this the prince\u2019s youngest brother came to the\ncross-roads with the three birches, where the brothers had parted from\neach other when they set out on their wanderings. Remembering what they\nhad agreed to do, he walked round the two trees, and when he saw that\nblood oozed from the cut in the eldest prince\u2019s tree he knew that his\nbrother must be dead. So he set out, followed by his beasts, and came to\nthe town over which his brother had ruled, and where the princess he\nhad married lived. And when he came into the town all the people were in\ngreat sorrow because their prince had disappeared.\n\nBut when they saw his youngest brother, and the beasts following him,\nthey thought it was their own prince, and they rejoiced greatly, and\ntold him how they had sought him everywhere. Then they led him to the\nking, and he too thought that it was his son-in-law. But the princess\nknew that he was not her husband, and she begged him to go out into the\nwoods with his beasts, and to look for his brother till he found him.\n\nSo the youngest prince set out to look for his brother, and he too lost\nhis way in the wood and night overtook him. Then he came to the clearing\namong the trees, where the fire was burning and where the old woman was\nraking sticks and leaves into the flames. And he asked her if he might\nspend the night beside her fire, as it was too late and too dark to go\nback to the town.\n\nAnd she answered: \u2018Certainly you may. But I am afraid of your beasts.\nMay I give them a stroke with my rod, then I shall not be afraid of\nthem.\u2019\n\nAnd he said she might, for he did not know that she was a witch. So she\nstretched out her rod, and in a moment the beasts and their master were\nturned into stone.\n\nIt happened soon after that the second brother returned from his\nwanderings and came to the cross-roads where the three birches grew. As\nhe went round the trees he saw that blood poured from the cuts in the\nbark of two of the trees. Then he wept and said:\n\n\u2018Alas! both my brothers are dead.\u2019 And he too set out towards the town\nin which his brother had ruled, and his faithful beasts followed him.\nWhen he entered the town, all the people thought it was their own prince\ncome back to them, and they gathered round him, as they had gathered\nround his youngest brother, and asked him where he had been and why\nhe had not returned. And they led him to the king\u2019s palace, but the\nprincess knew that he was not her husband. So when they were alone\ntogether she besought him to go and seek for his brother and bring him\nhome. Calling his beasts round him, he set out and wandered through the\nwoods. And he put his ear down to the earth, to listen if he could hear\nthe sound of his brother\u2019s beasts. And it seemed to him as if he heard a\nfaint sound far off, but he did not know from what direction it came. So\nhe blew on his hunting horn and listened again. And again he heard the\nsound, and this time it seemed to come from the direction of a fire\nburning in the wood. So he went towards the fire, and there the old\nwoman was raking sticks and leaves into the embers. And he asked her\nif he might spend the night beside her fire. But she told him she was\nafraid of his beasts, and he must first allow her to give each of them a\nstroke with her rod.\n\nBut he answered her:\n\n\u2018Certainly not. I am their master, and no one shall strike them but\nI myself. Give me the rod\u2019; and he touched the fox with it, and in a\nmoment it was turned into stone. Then he knew that the old woman was a\nwitch, and he turned to her and said:\n\n\u2018Unless you restore my brothers and their beasts back to life at once,\nmy lion will tear you in pieces.\u2019\n\nThen the witch was terrified, and taking a young oak tree she burnt\nit into white ashes, and sprinkled the ashes on the stones that stood\naround. And in a moment the two princes stood before their brother, and\ntheir beasts stood round them.\n\nThen the three princes set off together to the town. And the king did\nnot know which was his son-in-law, but the princess knew which was her\nhusband, and there were great rejoicings throughout the land.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOAT\u2019S EARS OF THE EMPEROR TROJAN\n\nOnce upon a time there lived an emperor whose name was Trojan, and he\nhad ears like a goat. Every morning, when he was shaved, he asked if the\nman saw anything odd about him, and as each fresh barber always replied\nthat the emperor had goat\u2019s ears, he was at once ordered to be put to\ndeath.\n\nNow after this state of things had lasted a good while, there was hardly\na barber left in the town that could shave the emperor, and it came\nto be the turn of the Master of the Company of Barbers to go up to the\npalace. But, unluckily, at the very moment that he should have set out,\nthe master fell suddenly ill, and told one of his apprentices that he\nmust go in his stead.\n\nWhen the youth was taken to the emperor\u2019s bedroom, he was asked why he\nhad come and not his master. The young man replied that the master was\nill, and there was no one but himself who could be trusted with the\nhonour. The emperor was satisfied with the answer, and sat down, and let\na sheet of fine linen be put round him. Directly the young barber began\nhis work, he, like the rest, remarked the goat\u2019s ears of the emperor,\nbut when he had finished and the emperor asked his usual question as\nto whether the youth had noticed anything odd about him, the young man\nreplied calmly, \u2018No, nothing at all.\u2019 This pleased the emperor so much\nthat he gave him twelve ducats, and said, \u2018Henceforth you shall come\nevery day to shave me.\u2019\n\nSo when the apprentice returned home, and the master inquired how he had\ngot on with the emperor, the young man answered, \u2018Oh, very well, and\nhe says I am to shave him every day, and he has given me these twelve\nducats\u2019; but he said nothing about the goat\u2019s ears of the emperor.\n\nFrom this time the apprentice went regularly up to the palace, receiving\neach morning twelve ducats in payment. But after a while, his secret,\nwhich he had carefully kept, burnt within him, and he longed to tell it\nto somebody. His master saw there was something on his mind, and asked\nwhat it was. The youth replied that he had been tormenting himself\nfor some months, and should never feel easy until some one shared his\nsecret.\n\n\u2018Well, trust me,\u2019 said the master, \u2018I will keep it to myself; or, if you\ndo not like to do that, confess it to your pastor, or go into some field\noutside the town and dig a hole, and, after you have dug it, kneel down\nand whisper your secret three times into the hole. Then put back the\nearth and come away.\u2019\n\nThe apprentice thought that this seemed the best plan, and that very\nafternoon went to a meadow outside the town, dug a deep hole, then knelt\nand whispered to it three times over, \u2018The Emperor Trojan has goat\u2019s\nears.\u2019 And as he said so a great burden seemed to roll off him, and he\nshovelled the earth carefully back and ran lightly home.\n\nWeeks passed away, and there sprang up in the hole an elder tree which\nhad three stems, all as straight as poplars. Some shepherds, tending\ntheir flocks near by, noticed the tree growing there, and one of them\ncut down a stem to make flutes of; but, directly he began to play, the\nflute would do nothing but sing: \u2018The Emperor Trojan has goat\u2019s ears.\u2019\nOf course, it was not long before the whole town knew of this wonderful\nflute and what it said; and, at last, the news reached the emperor in\nhis palace. He instantly sent for the apprentice and said to him:\n\n\u2018What have you been saying about me to all my people?\u2019\n\nThe culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never told\nanyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of listening, only\ndrew his sword from its sheath, which so frightened the poor fellow\nthat he confessed exactly what he had done, and how he had whispered the\ntruth three times to the earth, and how in that very place an elder tree\nhad sprung up, and flutes had been cut from it, which would only repeat\nthe words he had said. Then the emperor commanded his coach to be made\nready, and he took the youth with him, and they drove to the spot, for\nhe wished to see for himself whether the young man\u2019s confession was\ntrue; but when they reached the place only one stem was left. So the\nemperor desired his attendants to cut him a flute from the remaining\nstem, and, when it was ready, he ordered his chamberlain to play on it.\nBut no tune could the chamberlain play, though he was the best flute\nplayer about the court--nothing came but the words, \u2018The Emperor Trojan\nhas goat\u2019s ears.\u2019 Then the emperor knew that even the earth gave up its\nsecrets, and he granted the young man his life, but he never allowed him\nto be his barber any more.\n\n(Volksmarchen der Serben.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE NINE PEA-HENS AND THE GOLDEN APPLES\n\nOnce upon a time there stood before the palace of an emperor a golden\napple tree, which blossomed and bore fruit each night. But every morning\nthe fruit was gone, and the boughs were bare of blossom, without anyone\nbeing able to discover who was the thief.\n\nAt last the emperor said to his eldest son, \u2018If only I could prevent\nthose robbers from stealing my fruit, how happy I should be!\u2019\n\nAnd his son replied, \u2018I will sit up to-night and watch the tree, and I\nshall soon see who it is!\u2019\n\nSo directly it grew dark the young man went and hid himself near the\napple tree to begin his watch, but the apples had scarcely begun to\nripen before he fell asleep, and when he awoke at sunrise the apples\nwere gone. He felt very much ashamed of himself, and went with lagging\nfeet to tell his father!\n\nOf course, though the eldest son had failed, the second made sure that\nhe would do better, and set out gaily at nightfall to watch the apple\ntree. But no sooner had he lain himself down than his eyes grew heavy,\nand when the sunbeams roused him from his slumbers there was not an\napple left on the tree.\n\nNext came the turn of the youngest son, who made himself a comfortable\nbed under the apple tree, and prepared himself to sleep. Towards\nmidnight he awoke, and sat up to look at the tree. And behold! the\napples were beginning to ripen, and lit up the whole palace with their\nbrightness. At the same moment nine golden pea-hens flew swiftly through\nthe air, and while eight alighted upon the boughs laden with fruit, the\nninth fluttered to the ground where the prince lay, and instantly was\nchanged into a beautiful maiden, more beautiful far than any lady in\nthe emperor\u2019s court. The prince at once fell in love with her, and they\ntalked together for some time, till the maiden said her sisters had\nfinished plucking the apples, and now they must all go home again. The\nprince, however, begged her so hard to leave him a little of the fruit\nthat the maiden gave him two apples, one for himself and one for his\nfather. Then she changed herself back into a pea-hen, and the whole nine\nflew away.\n\nAs soon as the sun rose the prince entered the palace, and held out\nthe apple to his father, who was rejoiced to see it, and praised his\nyoungest son heartily for his cleverness. That evening the prince\nreturned to the apple tree, and everything passed as before, and so it\nhappened for several nights. At length the other brothers grew angry at\nseeing that he never came back without bringing two golden apples with\nhim, and they went to consult an old witch, who promised to spy after\nhim, and discover how he managed to get the apples. So, when the evening\ncame, the old woman hid herself under the tree and waited for the\nprince. Before long he arrived and laid down on his bed, and was soon\nfast asleep. Towards midnight there was a rush of wings, and the eight\npea-hens settled on the tree, while the ninth became a maiden, and ran\nto greet the prince. Then the witch stretched out her hand, and cut off\na lock of the maiden\u2019s hair, and in an instant the girl sprang up, a\npea-hen once more, spread her wings and flew away, while her sisters,\nwho were busily stripping the boughs, flew after her.\n\nWhen he had recovered from his surprise at the unexpected disappearance\nof the maiden, the prince exclaimed, \u2018What can be the matter?\u2019 and,\nlooking about him, discovered the old witch hidden under the bed. He\ndragged her out, and in his fury called his guards, and ordered them to\nput her to death as fast as possible. But that did no good as far as the\npea-hens went. They never came back any more, though the prince returned\nto the tree every night, and wept his heart out for his lost love. This\nwent on for some time, till the prince could bear it no longer, and\nmade up his mind he would search the world through for her. In vain his\nfather tried to persuade him that his task was hopeless, and that other\ngirls were to be found as beautiful as this one. The prince would listen\nto nothing, and, accompanied by only one servant, set out on his quest.\n\nAfter travelling for many days, he arrived at length before a large\ngate, and through the bars he could see the streets of a town, and even\nthe palace. The prince tried to pass in, but the way was barred by the\nkeeper of the gate, who wanted to know who he was, why he was there, and\nhow he had learnt the way, and he was not allowed to enter unless the\nempress herself came and gave him leave. A message was sent to her, and\nwhen she stood at the gate the prince thought he had lost his wits, for\nthere was the maiden he had left his home to seek. And she hastened to\nhim, and took his hand, and drew him into the palace. In a few days they\nwere married, and the prince forgot his father and his brothers, and\nmade up his mind that he would live and die in the castle.\n\nOne morning the empress told him that she was going to take a walk by\nherself, and that she would leave the keys of twelve cellars to his\ncare. \u2018If you wish to enter the first eleven cellars,\u2019 said she, \u2018you\ncan; but beware of even unlocking the door of the twelfth, or it will be\nthe worse for you.\u2019\n\nThe prince, who was left alone in the castle, soon got tired of being by\nhimself, and began to look about for something to amuse him.\n\n\u2018What CAN there be in that twelfth cellar,\u2019 he thought to himself,\n\u2018which I must not see?\u2019 And he went downstairs and unlocked the doors,\none after the other. When he got to the twelfth he paused, but his\ncuriosity was too much for him, and in another instant the key was\nturned and the cellar lay open before him. It was empty, save for a\nlarge cask, bound with iron hoops, and out of the cask a voice was\nsaying entreatingly, \u2018For goodness\u2019 sake, brother, fetch me some water;\nI am dying of thirst!\u2019\n\nThe prince, who was very tender-hearted, brought some water at once, and\npushed it through a hole in the barrel; and as he did so one of the iron\nhoops burst.\n\nHe was turning away, when a voice cried the second time, \u2018Brother, for\npity\u2019s sake fetch me some water; I\u2019m dying of thirst!\u2019\n\nSo the prince went back, and brought some more water, and again a hoop\nsprang.\n\nAnd for the third time the voice still called for water; and when water\nwas given it the last hoop was rent, the cask fell in pieces, and out\nflew a dragon, who snatched up the empress just as she was returning\nfrom her walk, and carried her off. Some servants who saw what had\nhappened came rushing to the prince, and the poor young man went nearly\nmad when he heard the result of his own folly, and could only cry out\nthat he would follow the dragon to the ends of the earth, until he got\nhis wife again.\n\nFor months and months he wandered about, first in this direction and\nthen in that, without finding any traces of the dragon or his captive.\nAt last he came to a stream, and as he stopped for a moment to look\nat it he noticed a little fish lying on the bank, beating its tail\nconvulsively, in a vain effort to get back into the water.\n\n\u2018Oh, for pity\u2019s sake, my brother,\u2019 shrieked the little creature, \u2018help\nme, and put me back into the river, and I will repay you some day. Take\none of my scales, and when you are in danger twist it in your fingers,\nand I will come!\u2019\n\nThe prince picked up the fish and threw it into the water; then he took\noff one of its scales, as he had been told, and put it in his pocket,\ncarefully wrapped in a cloth. Then he went on his way till, some miles\nfurther down the road, he found a fox caught in a trap.\n\n\u2018Oh! be a brother to me!\u2019 called the fox, \u2018and free me from this trap,\nand I will help you when you are in need. Pull out one of my hairs, and\nwhen you are in danger twist it in your fingers, and I will come.\u2019\n\nSo the prince unfastened the trap, pulled out one of the fox\u2019s hairs,\nand continued his journey. And as he was going over the mountain he\npassed a wolf entangled in a snare, who begged to be set at liberty.\n\n\u2018Only deliver me from death,\u2019 he said, \u2018and you will never be sorry\nfor it. Take a lock of my fur, and when you need me twist it in your\nfingers.\u2019 And the prince undid the snare and let the wolf go.\n\nFor a long time he walked on, without having any more adventures, till\nat length he met a man travelling on the same road.\n\n\u2018Oh, brother!\u2019 asked the prince, \u2018tell me, if you can, where the\ndragon-emperor lives?\u2019\n\nThe man told him where he would find the palace, and how long it would\ntake him to get there, and the prince thanked him, and followed his\ndirections, till that same evening he reached the town where the\ndragon-emperor lived. When he entered the palace, to his great joy he\nfound his wife sitting alone in a vast hall, and they began hastily to\ninvent plans for her escape.\n\nThere was no time to waste, as the dragon might return directly, so they\ntook two horses out of the stable, and rode away at lightning speed.\nHardly were they out of sight of the palace than the dragon came home\nand found that his prisoner had flown. He sent at once for his talking\nhorse, and said to him:\n\n\u2018Give me your advice; what shall I do--have my supper as usual, or set\nout in pursuit of them?\u2019\n\n\u2018Eat your supper with a free mind first,\u2019 answered the horse, \u2018and\nfollow them afterwards.\u2019\n\nSo the dragon ate till it was past mid-day, and when he could eat no\nmore he mounted his horse and set out after the fugitives. In a short\ntime he had come up with them, and as he snatched the empress out of her\nsaddle he said to the prince:\n\n\u2018This time I will forgive you, because you brought me the water when I\nwas in the cask; but beware how you return here, or you will pay for it\nwith your life.\u2019\n\nHalf mad with grief, the prince rode sadly on a little further, hardly\nknowing what he was doing. Then he could bear it no longer and turned\nback to the palace, in spite of the dragon\u2019s threats. Again the empress\nwas sitting alone, and once more they began to think of a scheme by\nwhich they could escape the dragon\u2019s power.\n\n\u2018Ask the dragon when he comes home,\u2019 said the prince, \u2018where he got that\nwonderful horse from, and then you can tell me, and I will try to find\nanother like it.\u2019\n\nThen, fearing to meet his enemy, he stole out of the castle.\n\nSoon after the dragon came home, and the empress sat down near him, and\nbegan to coax and flatter him into a good humour, and at last she said:\n\n\u2018But tell me about that wonderful horse you were riding yesterday.\nThere cannot be another like it in the whole world. Where did you get it\nfrom?\u2019\n\nAnd he answered:\n\n\u2018The way I got it is a way which no one else can take. On the top of a\nhigh mountain dwells an old woman, who has in her stables twelve horses,\neach one more beautiful than the other. And in one corner is a thin,\nwretched-looking animal whom no one would glance at a second time,\nbut he is in reality the best of the lot. He is twin brother to my own\nhorse, and can fly as high as the clouds themselves. But no one can ever\nget this horse without first serving the old woman for three whole days.\nAnd besides the horses she has a foal and its mother, and the man who\nserves her must look after them for three whole days, and if he does not\nlet them run away he will in the end get the choice of any horse as a\npresent from the old woman. But if he fails to keep the foal and its\nmother safe on any one of the three nights his head will pay.\u2019\n\nThe next day the prince watched till the dragon left the house, and then\nhe crept in to the empress, who told him all she had learnt from her\ngaoler. The prince at once determined to seek the old woman on the top\nof the mountain, and lost no time in setting out. It was a long and\nsteep climb, but at last he found her, and with a low bow he began:\n\n\u2018Good greeting to you, little mother!\u2019\n\n\u2018Good greeting to you, my son! What are you doing here?\u2019\n\n\u2018I wish to become your servant,\u2019 answered he.\n\n\u2018So you shall,\u2019 said the old woman. \u2018If you can take care of my mare for\nthree days I will give you a horse for wages, but if you let her stray\nyou will lose your head\u2019; and as she spoke she led him into a courtyard\nsurrounded with palings, and on every post a man\u2019s head was stuck. One\npost only was empty, and as they passed it cried out:\n\n\u2018Woman, give me the head I am waiting for!\u2019\n\nThe old woman made no answer, but turned to the prince and said:\n\n\u2018Look! all those men took service with me, on the same conditions as\nyou, but not one was able to guard the mare!\u2019\n\nBut the prince did not waver, and declared he would abide by his words.\n\nWhen evening came he led the mare out of the stable and mounted her,\nand the colt ran behind. He managed to keep his seat for a long time,\nin spite of all her efforts to throw him, but at length he grew so weary\nthat he fell fast asleep, and when he woke he found himself sitting on a\nlog, with the halter in his hands. He jumped up in terror, but the mare\nwas nowhere to be seen, and he started with a beating heart in search of\nher. He had gone some way without a single trace to guide him, when he\ncame to a little river. The sight of the water brought back to his mind\nthe fish whom he had saved from death, and he hastily drew the scale\nfrom his pocket. It had hardly touched his fingers when the fish\nappeared in the stream beside him.\n\n\u2018What is it, my brother?\u2019 asked the fish anxiously.\n\n\u2018The old woman\u2019s mare strayed last night, and I don\u2019t know where to look\nfor her.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I can tell you that: she has changed herself into a big fish, and\nher foal into a little one. But strike the water with the halter and\nsay, \u201cCome here, O mare of the mountain witch!\u201d and she will come.\u2019\n\nThe prince did as he was bid, and the mare and her foal stood before\nhim. Then he put the halter round her neck, and rode her home, the foal\nalways trotting behind them. The old woman was at the door to receive\nthem, and gave the prince some food while she led the mare back to the\nstable.\n\n\u2018You should have gone among the fishes,\u2019 cried the old woman, striking\nthe animal with a stick.\n\n\u2018I did go among the fishes,\u2019 replied the mare; \u2018but they are no friends\nof mine, for they betrayed me at once.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, go among the foxes this time,\u2019 said she, and returned to the\nhouse, not knowing that the prince had overheard her.\n\nSo when it began to grow dark the prince mounted the mare for the second\ntime and rode into the meadows, and the foal trotted behind its mother.\nAgain he managed to stick on till midnight: then a sleep overtook him\nthat he could not battle against, and when he woke up he found himself,\nas before, sitting on the log, with the halter in his hands. He gave a\nshriek of dismay, and sprang up in search of the wanderers. As he went\nhe suddenly remembered the words that the old woman had said to the\nmare, and he drew out the fox hair and twisted it in his fingers.\n\n\u2018What is it, my brother?\u2019 asked the fox, who instantly appeared before\nhim.\n\n\u2018The old witch\u2019s mare has run away from me, and I do not know where to\nlook for her.\u2019\n\n\u2018She is with us,\u2019 replied the fox, \u2018and has changed herself into a big\nfox, and her foal into a little one, but strike the ground with a halter\nand say, \u201cCome here, O mare of the mountain witch!\u201d\u2019\n\nThe prince did so, and in a moment the fox became a mare and stood\nbefore him, with the little foal at her heels. He mounted and rode back,\nand the old woman placed food on the table, and led the mare back to the\nstable.\n\n\u2018You should have gone to the foxes, as I told you,\u2019 said she, striking\nthe mare with a stick.\n\n\u2018I did go to the foxes,\u2019 replied the mare, \u2018but they are no friends of\nmine and betrayed me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, this time you had better go to the wolves,\u2019 said she, not knowing\nthat the prince had heard all she had been saying.\n\nThe third night the prince mounted the mare and rode her out to the\nmeadows, with the foal trotting after. He tried hard to keep awake,\nbut it was of no use, and in the morning there he was again on the log,\ngrasping the halter. He started to his feet, and then stopped, for he\nremembered what the old woman had said, and pulled out the wolf\u2019s grey\nlock.\n\n\u2018What is it, my brother?\u2019 asked the wolf as it stood before him.\n\n\u2018The old witch\u2019s mare has run away from me,\u2019 replied the prince, \u2018and I\ndon\u2019t know where to find her.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, she is with us,\u2019 answered the wolf, \u2018and she has changed herself\ninto a she-wolf, and the foal into a cub; but strike the earth here with\nthe halter, and cry, \u201cCome to me, O mare of the mountain witch.\u201d\u2019\n\nThe prince did as he was bid, and as the hair touched his fingers the\nwolf changed back into a mare, with the foal beside her. And when he had\nmounted and ridden her home the old woman was on the steps to receive\nthem, and she set some food before the prince, but led the mare back to\nher stable.\n\n\u2018You should have gone among the wolves,\u2019 said she, striking her with a\nstick.\n\n\u2018So I did,\u2019 replied the mare, \u2018but they are no friends of mine and\nbetrayed me.\u2019\n\nThe old woman made no answer, and left the stable, but the prince was at\nthe door waiting for her.\n\n\u2018I have served you well,\u2019 said he, \u2018and now for my reward.\u2019\n\n\u2018What I promised that will I perform,\u2019 answered she. \u2018Choose one of\nthese twelve horses; you can have which you like.\u2019\n\n\u2018Give me, instead, that half-starved creature in the corner,\u2019 asked the\nprince. \u2018I prefer him to all those beautiful animals.\u2019\n\n\u2018You can\u2019t really mean what you say?\u2019 replied the woman.\n\n\u2018Yes, I do,\u2019 said the prince, and the old woman was forced to let him\nhave his way. So he took leave of her, and put the halter round his\nhorse\u2019s neck and led him into the forest, where he rubbed him down till\nhis skin was shining like gold. Then he mounted, and they flew straight\nthrough the air to the dragon\u2019s palace. The empress had been looking for\nhim night and day, and stole out to meet him, and he swung her on to his\nsaddle, and the horse flew off again.\n\nNot long after the dragon came home, and when he found the empress was\nmissing he said to his horse, \u2018What shall we do? Shall we eat and drink,\nor shall we follow the runaways?\u2019 and the horse replied, \u2018Whether you\neat or don\u2019t eat, drink or don\u2019t drink, follow them or stay at home,\nmatters nothing now, for you can never, never catch them.\u2019\n\nBut the dragon made no reply to the horse\u2019s words, but sprang on his\nback and set off in chase of the fugitives. And when they saw him coming\nthey were frightened, and urged the prince\u2019s horse faster and faster,\ntill he said, \u2018Fear nothing; no harm can happen to us,\u2019 and their hearts\ngrew calm, for they trusted his wisdom.\n\nSoon the dragon\u2019s horse was heard panting behind, and he cried out, \u2018Oh,\nmy brother, do not go so fast! I shall sink to the earth if I try to\nkeep up with you.\u2019\n\nAnd the prince\u2019s horse answered, \u2018Why do you serve a monster like that?\nKick him off, and let him break in pieces on the ground, and come and\njoin us.\u2019\n\nAnd the dragon\u2019s horse plunged and reared, and the dragon fell on a\nrock, which broke him in pieces. Then the empress mounted his horse,\nand rode back with her husband to her kingdom, over which they ruled for\nmany years.\n\n(Volksmarchen der Serben.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE LUTE PLAYER\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king and queen who lived happily and\ncomfortably together. They were very fond of each other and had nothing\nto worry them, but at last the king grew restless. He longed to go out\ninto the world, to try his strength in battle against some enemy and to\nwin all kinds of honour and glory.\n\nSo he called his army together and gave orders to start for a distant\ncountry where a heathen king ruled who ill-treated or tormented everyone\nhe could lay his hands on. The king then gave his parting orders and\nwise advice to his ministers, took a tender leave of his wife, and set\noff with his army across the seas.\n\nI cannot say whether the voyage was short or long; but at last he\nreached the country of the heathen king and marched on, defeating all\nwho came in his way. But this did not last long, for in time he came\nto a mountain pass, where a large army was waiting for him, who put his\nsoldiers to flight, and took the king himself prisoner.\n\nHe was carried off to the prison where the heathen king kept his\ncaptives, and now our poor friend had a very bad time indeed. All night\nlong the prisoners were chained up, and in the morning they were yoked\ntogether like oxen and had to plough the land till it grew dark.\n\nThis state of things went on for three years before the king found\nany means of sending news of himself to his dear queen, but at last he\ncontrived to send this letter: \u2018Sell all our castles and palaces,\nand put all our treasures in pawn and come and deliver me out of this\nhorrible prison.\u2019\n\nThe queen received the letter, read it, and wept bitterly as she said to\nherself, \u2018How can I deliver my dearest husband? If I go myself and the\nheathen king sees me he will just take me to be one of his wives. If I\nwere to send one of the ministers!--but I hardly know if I can depend on\nthem.\u2019\n\nShe thought, and thought, and at last an idea came into her head.\n\nShe cut off all her beautiful long brown hair and dressed herself in\nboy\u2019s clothes. Then she took her lute and, without saying anything to\nanyone, she went forth into the wide world.\n\nShe travelled through many lands and saw many cities, and went through\nmany hardships before she got to the town where the heathen king lived.\nWhen she got there she walked all round the palace and at the back\nshe saw the prison. Then she went into the great court in front of\nthe palace, and taking her lute in her hand, she began to play so\nbeautifully that one felt as though one could never hear enough.\n\nAfter she had played for some time she began to sing, and her voice was\nsweeter than the lark\u2019s:\n\n     \u2018I come from my own country far\n           Into this foreign land,\n      Of all I own I take alone\n           My sweet lute in my hand.\n\n     \u2018Oh!  who will thank me for my song,\n           Reward my simple lay?\n       Like lover\u2019s sighs it still shall rise\n           To greet thee day by day.\n\n     \u2018I sing of blooming flowers\n           Made sweet by sun and rain;\n      Of all the bliss of love\u2019s first kiss,\n           And parting\u2019s cruel pain.\n\n     \u2018Of the sad captive\u2019s longing\n           Within his prison wall,\n      Of hearts that sigh when none are nigh\n           To answer to their call.\n\n     \u2018My song begs for your pity,\n           And gifts from out your store,\n      And as I play my gentle lay\n          I linger near your door.\n\n     \u2018And if you hear my singing\n          Within your palace, sire,\n     Oh! give, I pray, this happy day,\n          To me my heart\u2019s desire.\u2019\n\nNo sooner had the heathen king heard this touching song sung by such a\nlovely voice, than he had the singer brought before him.\n\n\u2018Welcome, O lute player,\u2019 said he. \u2018Where do you come from?\u2019\n\n\u2018My country, sire, is far away across many seas. For years I have been\nwandering about the world and gaining my living by my music.\u2019\n\n\u2018Stay here then a few days, and when you wish to leave I will give you\nwhat you ask for in your song--your heart\u2019s desire.\u2019\n\nSo the lute player stayed on in the palace and sang and played almost\nall day long to the king, who could never tire of listening and almost\nforgot to eat or drink or to torment people.\n\nHe cared for nothing but the music, and nodded his head as he declared,\n\u2018That\u2019s something like playing and singing. It makes me feel as if some\ngentle hand had lifted every care and sorrow from me.\u2019\n\nAfter three days the lute player came to take leave of the king.\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 said the king, \u2018what do you desire as your reward?\u2019\n\n\u2018Sire, give me one of your prisoners. You have so many in your prison,\nand I should be glad of a companion on my journeys. When I hear his\nhappy voice as I travel along I shall think of you and thank you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Come along then,\u2019 said the king, \u2018choose whom you will.\u2019 And he took\nthe lute player through the prison himself.\n\nThe queen walked about amongst the prisoners, and at length she picked\nout her husband and took him with her on her journey. They were long on\ntheir way, but he never found out who she was, and she led him nearer\nand nearer to his own country.\n\nWhen they reached the frontier the prisoner said:\n\n\u2018Let me go now, kind lad; I am no common prisoner, but the king of this\ncountry. Let me go free and ask what you will as your reward.\u2019\n\n\u2018Do not speak of reward,\u2019 answered the lute player. \u2018Go in peace.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then come with me, dear boy, and be my guest.\u2019\n\n\u2018When the proper time comes I shall be at your palace,\u2019 was the reply,\nand so they parted.\n\nThe queen took a short way home, got there before the king and changed\nher dress.\n\nAn hour later all the people in the palace were running to and fro and\ncrying out: \u2018Our king has come back! Our king has returned to us.\u2019\n\nThe king greeted every one very kindly, but he would not so much as look\nat the queen.\n\nThen he called all his council and ministers together and said to them:\n\n\u2018See what sort of a wife I have. Here she is falling on my neck, but\nwhen I was pining in prison and sent her word of it she did nothing to\nhelp me.\u2019\n\nAnd his council answered with one voice, \u2018Sire, when news was brought\nfrom you the queen disappeared and no one knew where she went. She only\nreturned to-day.\u2019\n\nThen the king was very angry and cried, \u2018Judge my faithless wife!\n\nNever would you have seen your king again, if a young lute player had\nnot delivered him. I shall remember him with love and gratitude as long\nas I live.\u2019\n\nWhilst the king was sitting with his council, the queen found time to\ndisguise herself. She took her lute, and slipping into the court in\nfront of the palace she sang, clear and sweet:\n\n     \u2018I sing the captive\u2019s longing\n           Within his prison wall,\n      Of hearts that sigh when none are nigh\n           To answer to their call.\n\n     \u2018My song begs for your pity,\n           And gifts from out your store,\n      And as I play my gentle lay\n           I linger near your door.\n\n     \u2018And if you hear my singing\n           Within your palace, sire,\n      Oh!  give, I pray, this happy day,\n           To me my heart\u2019s desire.\u2019\n\nAs soon as the king heard this song he ran out to meet the lute player,\ntook him by the hand and led him into the palace.\n\n\u2018Here,\u2019 he cried, \u2018is the boy who released me from my prison. And now,\nmy true friend, I will indeed give you your heart\u2019s desire.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am sure you will not be less generous than the heathen king was,\nsire. I ask of you what I asked and obtained from him. But this time I\ndon\u2019t mean to give up what I get. I want YOU--yourself!\u2019\n\nAnd as she spoke she threw off her long cloak and everyone saw it was\nthe queen.\n\nWho can tell how happy the king was? In the joy of his heart he gave a\ngreat feast to the whole world, and the whole world came and rejoiced\nwith him for a whole week.\n\nI was there too, and ate and drank many good things. I sha\u2019n\u2019t forget\nthat feast as long as I live.\n\n(From the Russian.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE GRATEFUL PRINCE\n\nOnce upon a time the king of the Goldland lost himself in a forest, and\ntry as he would he could not find the way out. As he was wandering down\none path which had looked at first more hopeful than the rest he saw a\nman coming towards him.\n\n\u2018What are you doing here, friend?\u2019 asked the stranger; \u2018darkness is\nfalling fast, and soon the wild beasts will come from their lairs to\nseek for food.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have lost myself,\u2019 answered the king, \u2018and am trying to get home.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then promise me that you will give me the first thing that comes out of\nyour house, and I will show you the way,\u2019 said the stranger.\n\nThe king did not answer directly, but after awhile he spoke: \u2018Why should\nI give away my BEST sporting dog. I can surely find my way out of the\nforest as well as this man.\u2019\n\nSo the stranger left him, but the king followed path after path for\nthree whole days, with no better success than before. He was almost in\ndespair, when the stranger suddenly appeared, blocking up his way.\n\n\u2018Promise you will give me the first thing that comes out of your house\nto meet you?\u2019\n\nBut still the king was stiff-necked and would promise nothing.\n\nFor some days longer he wandered up and down the forest, trying first\none path, then another, but his courage at last gave way, and he sank\nwearily on the ground under a tree, feeling sure his last hour had come.\nThen for the third time the stranger stood before the king, and said:\n\n\u2018Why are you such a fool? What can a dog be to you, that you should give\nyour life for him like this? Just promise me the reward I want, and I\nwill guide you out of the forest.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, my life is worth more than a thousand dogs,\u2019 answered the king,\n\u2018the welfare of my kingdom depends on me. I accept your terms, so\ntake me to my palace.\u2019 Scarcely had he uttered the words than he found\nhimself at the edge of the wood, with the palace in the dim distance. He\nmade all the haste he could, and just as he reached the great gates out\ncame the nurse with the royal baby, who stretched out his arms to his\nfather. The king shrank back, and ordered the nurse to take the baby\naway at once.\n\nThen his great boarhound bounded up to him, but his caresses were only\nanswered by a violent push.\n\nWhen the king\u2019s anger was spent, and he was able to think what was best\nto be done, he exchanged his baby, a beautiful boy, for the daughter of\na peasant, and the prince lived roughly as the son of poor people, while\nthe little girl slept in a golden cradle, under silken sheets. At the\nend of a year, the stranger arrived to claim his property, and took away\nthe little girl, believing her to be the true child of the king. The\nking was so delighted with the success of his plan that he ordered a\ngreat feast to be got ready, and gave splendid presents to the foster\nparents of his son, so that he might lack nothing. But he did not dare\nto bring back the baby, lest the trick should be found out. The peasants\nwere quite contented with this arrangement, which gave them food and\nmoney in abundance.\n\nBy-and-by the boy grew big and tall, and seemed to lead a happy life in\nthe house of his foster parents. But a shadow hung over him which really\npoisoned most of his pleasure, and that was the thought of the poor\ninnocent girl who had suffered in his stead, for his foster father\nhad told him in secret, that he was the king\u2019s son. And the prince\ndetermined that when he grew old enough he would travel all over the\nworld, and never rest till he had set her free. To become king at the\ncost of a maiden\u2019s life was too heavy a price to pay. So one day he put\non the dress of a farm servant, threw a sack of peas on his back, and\nmarched straight into the forest where eighteen years before his father\nhad lost himself. After he had walked some way he began to cry loudly:\n\u2018Oh, how unlucky I am! Where can I be? Is there no one to show me the\nway out of the wood?\u2019\n\nThen appeared a strange man with a long grey beard, with a leather bag\nhanging from his girdle. He nodded cheerfully to the prince, and said:\n\u2018I know this place well, and can lead you out of it, if you will promise\nme a good reward.\u2019\n\n\u2018What can a beggar such as I promise you?\u2019 answered the prince. \u2018I have\nnothing to give you save my life; even the coat on my back belongs to my\nmaster, whom I serve for my keep and my clothes.\u2019\n\nThe stranger looked at the sack of peas, and said, \u2018But you must possess\nsomething; you are carrying this sack, which seems to be very heavy.\u2019\n\n\u2018It is full of peas,\u2019 was the reply. \u2018My old aunt died last night,\nwithout leaving money enough to buy peas to give the watchers, as is\nthe custom throughout the country. I have borrowed these peas from my\nmaster, and thought to take a short cut across the forest; but I have\nlost myself, as you see.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you are an orphan?\u2019 asked the stranger. \u2018Why should you not enter\nmy service? I want a sharp fellow in the house, and you please me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not, indeed, if we can strike a bargain?\u2019 said the other. \u2018I was\nborn a peasant, and strange bread is always bitter, so it is the same to\nme whom I serve! What wages will you give me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Every day fresh food, meat twice a week, butter and vegetables, your\nsummer and winter clothes, and a portion of land for your own use.\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall be satisfied with that,\u2019 said the youth. \u2018Somebody else will\nhave to bury my aunt. I will go with you!\u2019\n\nNow this bargain seemed to please the old fellow so much that he spun\nround like a top, and sang so loud that the whole wood rang with his\nvoice. Then he set out with his companion, and chattered so fast that he\nnever noticed that his new servant kept dropping peas out of the sack.\nAt night they slept under a fig tree, and when the sun rose started\non their way. About noon they came to a large stone, and here the\nold fellow stopped, looked carefully round, gave a sharp whistle, and\nstamped three times on the ground with his left foot. Suddenly there\nappeared under the stone a secret door, which led to what looked like\nthe mouth of a cave. The old fellow seized the youth by the arm, and\nsaid roughly, \u2018Follow me!\u2019\n\nThick darkness surrounded them, yet it seemed to the prince as if their\npath led into still deeper depths. After a long while he thought he saw\na glimmer of light, but the light was neither that of the sun nor of\nthe moon. He looked eagerly at it, but found it was only a kind of pale\ncloud, which was all the light this strange underworld could boast.\nEarth and water, trees and plants, birds and beasts, each was different\nfrom those he had seen before; but what most struck terror into his\nheart was the absolute stillness that reigned everywhere. Not a rustle\nor a sound could be heard. Here and there he noticed a bird sitting on a\nbranch, with head erect and swelling throat, but his ear caught nothing.\nThe dogs opened their mouths as if to bark, the toiling oxen seemed\nabout to bellow, but neither bark nor bellow reached the prince. The\nwater flowed noiselessly over the pebbles, the wind bowed the tops of\nthe trees, flies and chafers darted about, without breaking the silence.\nThe old greybeard uttered no word, and when his companion tried to ask\nhim the meaning of it all he felt that his voice died in his throat.\n\nHow long this fearful stillness lasted I do not know, but the prince\ngradually felt his heart turning to ice, his hair stood up like\nbristles, and a cold chill was creeping down his spine, when at\nlast--oh, ecstasy!--a faint noise broke on his straining ears, and this\nlife of shadows suddenly became real. It sounded as if a troop of horses\nwere ploughing their way over a moor.\n\nThen the greybeard opened his mouth, and said: \u2018The kettle is boiling;\nwe are expected at home.\u2019\n\nThey walked on a little further, till the prince thought he heard the\ngrinding of a saw-mill, as if dozens of saws were working together, but\nhis guide observed, \u2018The grandmother is sleeping soundly; listen how she\nsnores.\u2019\n\nWhen they had climbed a hill which lay before them the prince saw in\nthe distance the house of his master, but it was so surrounded with\nbuildings of all kinds that the place looked more like a village or\neven a small town. They reached it at last, and found an empty kennel\nstanding in front of the gate. \u2018Creep inside this,\u2019 said the master,\n\u2018and wait while I go in and see my grandmother. Like all very old\npeople, she is very obstinate, and cannot bear fresh faces about her.\u2019\n\nThe prince crept tremblingly into the kennel, and began to regret the\ndaring which had brought him into this scrape.\n\nBy-and-by the master came back, and called him from his hiding-place.\nSomething had put out his temper, for with a frown he said, \u2018Watch\ncarefully our ways in the house, and beware of making any mistake, or it\nwill go ill with you. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut,\nobey without questions. Be grateful if you will, but never speak unless\nyou are spoken to.\u2019\n\nWhen the prince stepped over the threshold he caught sight of a maiden\nof wonderful beauty, with brown eyes and fair curly hair. \u2018Well!\u2019 the\nyoung man said to himself, \u2018if the old fellow has many daughters like\nthat I should not mind being his son-in-law. This one is just what I\nadmire\u2019; and he watched her lay the table, bring in the food, and take\nher seat by the fire as if she had never noticed that a strange man was\npresent. Then she took out a needle and thread, and began to darn her\nstockings. The master sat at table alone, and invited neither his new\nservant nor the maid to eat with him. Neither was the old grandmother\nanywhere to be seen. His appetite was tremendous: he soon cleared all\nthe dishes, and ate enough to satisfy a dozen men. When at last he could\neat no more he said to the girl, \u2018Now you can pick up the pieces, and\ntake what is left in the iron pot for your own dinner, but give the\nbones to the dog.\u2019\n\nThe prince did not at all like the idea of dining off scraps, which\nhe helped the girl to pick up, but, after all, he found that there was\nplenty to eat, and that the food was very good. During the meal he stole\nmany glances at the maiden, and would even have spoken to her, but\nshe gave him no encouragement. Every time he opened his mouth for the\npurpose she looked at him sternly, as if to say, \u2018Silence,\u2019 so he could\nonly let his eyes speak for him. Besides, the master was stretched on a\nbench by the oven after his huge meal, and would have heard everything.\n\nAfter supper that night, the old man said to the prince, \u2018For two days\nyou may rest from the fatigues of the journey, and look about the house.\nBut the day after to-morrow you must come with me, and I will point out\nthe work you have to do. The maid will show you where you are to sleep.\u2019\n\nThe prince thought, from this, he had leave to speak, but his master\nturned on him with a face of thunder and exclaimed:\n\n\u2018You dog of a servant! If you disobey the laws of the house you will\nsoon find yourself a head shorter! Hold your tongue, and leave me in\npeace.\u2019\n\nThe girl made a sign to him to follow her, and, throwing open a door,\nnodded to him to go in. He would have lingered a moment, for he thought\nshe looked sad, but dared not do so, for fear of the old man\u2019s anger.\n\n\u2018It is impossible that she can be his daughter!\u2019 he said to himself,\n\u2018for she has a kind heart. I am quite sure she must be the same girl who\nwas brought here instead of me, so I am bound to risk my head in this\nmad adventure.\u2019 He got into bed, but it was long before he fell asleep,\nand even then his dreams gave him no rest. He seemed to be surrounded by\ndangers, and it was only the power of the maiden who helped him through\nit all.\n\nWhen he woke his first thoughts were for the girl, whom he found hard at\nwork. He drew water from the well and carried it to the house for her,\nkindled the fire under the iron pot, and, in fact, did everything that\ncame into his head that could be of any use to her. In the afternoon\nhe went out, in order to learn something of his new home, and wondered\ngreatly not to come across the old grandmother. In his rambles he came\nto the farmyard, where a beautiful white horse had a stall to itself; in\nanother was a black cow with two white-faced calves, while the clucking\nof geese, ducks, and hens reached him from a distance.\n\nBreakfast, dinner, and supper were as savoury as before, and the prince\nwould have been quite content with his quarters had it not been for\nthe difficulty of keeping silence in the presence of the maiden. On the\nevening of the second day he went, as he had been told, to receive his\norders for the following morning.\n\n\u2018I am going to set you something very easy to do to-morrow,\u2019 said the\nold man when his servant entered. \u2018Take this scythe and cut as much\ngrass as the white horse will want for its day\u2019s feed, and clean out its\nstall. If I come back and find the manger empty it will go ill with you.\nSo beware!\u2019\n\nThe prince left the room, rejoicing in his heart, and saying to himself,\n\u2018Well, I shall soon get through that! If I have never yet handled either\nthe plough or the scythe, at least I have often watched the country\npeople work them, and know how easy it is.\u2019\n\nHe was just going to open his door, when the maiden glided softly past\nand whispered in his ear: \u2018What task has he set you?\u2019\n\n\u2018For to-morrow,\u2019 answered the prince, \u2018it is really nothing at all! Just\nto cut hay for the horse, and to clean out his stall!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, luckless being!\u2019 sighed the girl; \u2018how will you ever get through\nwith it. The white horse, who is our master\u2019s grandmother, is always\nhungry: it takes twenty men always mowing to keep it in food for one\nday, and another twenty to clean out its stall. How, then, do you expect\nto do it all by yourself? But listen to me, and do what I tell you. It\nis your only chance. When you have filled the manger as full as it will\nhold you must weave a strong plait of the rushes which grow among the\nmeadow hay, and cut a thick peg of stout wood, and be sure that the\nhorse sees what you are doing. Then it will ask you what it is for, and\nyou will say, \u2018With this plait I intend to bind up your mouth so that\nyou cannot eat any more, and with this peg I am going to keep you still\nin one spot, so that you cannot scatter your corn and water all over\nthe place!\u2019 After these words the maiden went away as softly as she had\ncome.\n\nEarly the next morning he set to work. His scythe danced through the\ngrass much more easily than he had hoped, and soon he had enough to fill\nthe manger. He put it in the crib, and returned with a second supply,\nwhen to his horror he found the crib empty.\n\nThen he knew that without the maiden\u2019s advice he would certainly have\nbeen lost, and began to put it into practice. He took out the rushes\nwhich had somehow got mixed up with the hay, and plaited them quickly.\n\n\u2018My son, what are you doing?\u2019 asked the horse wonderingly.\n\n\u2018Oh, nothing!\u2019 replied he. \u2018Just weaving a chin strap to bind your jaws\ntogether, in case you might wish to eat any more!\u2019\n\nThe white horse sighed deeply when it heard this, and made up its mind\nto be content with what it had eaten.\n\nThe youth next began to clean out the stall, and the horse knew it had\nfound a master; and by mid-day there was still fodder in the manger,\nand the place was as clean as a new pin. He had barely finished when in\nwalked the old man, who stood astonished at the door.\n\n\u2018Is it really you who have been clever enough to do that?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Or\nhas some one else given you a hint?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I have had no help,\u2019 replied the prince, \u2018except what my poor weak\nhead could give me.\u2019\n\nThe old man frowned, and went away, and the prince rejoiced that\neverything had turned out so well.\n\nIn the evening his master said, \u2018To-morrow I have no special task to set\nyou, but as the girl has a great deal to do in the house you must milk\nthe black cow for her. But take care you milk her dry, or it may be the\nworse for you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 thought the prince as he went away, \u2018unless there is some trick\nbehind, this does not sound very hard. I have never milked a cow before,\nbut I have good strong fingers.\u2019\n\nHe was very sleepy, and was just going toward his room, when the maiden\ncame to him and asked: \u2018What is your task to-morrow?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am to help you,\u2019 he answered, \u2018and have nothing to do all day, except\nto milk the black cow dry.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, you are unlucky,\u2019 cried she. \u2018If you were to try from morning till\nnight you couldn\u2019t do it. There is only one way of escaping the danger,\nand that is, when you go to milk her, take with you a pan of burning\ncoals and a pair of tongs. Place the pan on the floor of the stall, and\nthe tongs on the fire, and blow with all your might, till the coals burn\nbrightly. The black cow will ask you what is the meaning of all this,\nand you must answer what I will whisper to you.\u2019 And she stood on\ntip-toe and whispered something in his ear, and then went away.\n\nThe dawn had scarcely reddened the sky when the prince jumped out of\nbed, and, with the pan of coals in one hand and the milk pail in the\nother, went straight to the cow\u2019s stall, and began to do exactly as the\nmaiden had told him the evening before.\n\nThe black cow watched him with surprise for some time, and then said:\n\u2018What are you doing, sonny?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, nothing,\u2019 answered he; \u2018I am only heating a pair of tongs in case\nyou may not feel inclined to give as much milk as I want.\u2019\n\nThe cow sighed deeply, and looked at the milkman with fear, but he took\nno notice, and milked briskly into the pail, till the cow ran dry.\n\nJust at that moment the old man entered the stable, and sat down to milk\nthe cow himself, but not a drop of milk could he get. \u2018Have you really\nmanaged it all yourself, or did somebody help you?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have nobody to help me,\u2019 answered the prince, \u2018but my own poor head.\u2019\nThe old man got up from his seat and went away.\n\nThat night, when the prince went to his master to hear what his next\nday\u2019s work was to be, the old man said: \u2018I have a little hay-stack out\nin the meadow which must be brought in to dry. To-morrow you will have\nto stack it all in the shed, and, as you value your life, be careful not\nto leave the smallest strand behind.\u2019 The prince was overjoyed to hear\nhe had nothing worse to do.\n\n\u2018To carry a little hay-rick requires no great skill,\u2019 thought he, \u2018and\nit will give me no trouble, for the horse will have to draw it in. I am\ncertainly not going to spare the old grandmother.\u2019\n\nBy-and-by the maiden stole up to ask what task he had for the next day.\n\nThe young man laughed, and said: \u2018It appears that I have got to learn\nall kinds of farmer\u2019s work. To-morrow I have to carry a hay-rick, and\nleave not a stalk in the meadow, and that is my whole day\u2019s work!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, you unlucky creature!\u2019 cried she; \u2018and how do you think you are to\ndo it. If you had all the men in the world to help you, you could not\nclear off this one little hay-rick in a week. The instant you have\nthrown down the hay at the top, it will take root again from below. But\nlisten to what I say. You must steal out at daybreak to-morrow and\nbring out the white horse and some good strong ropes. Then get on the\nhay-stack, put the ropes round it, and harness the horse to the ropes.\nWhen you are ready, climb up the hay-stack and begin to count one, two,\nthree.\n\nThe horse will ask you what you are counting, and you must be sure to\nanswer what I whisper to you.\u2019\n\nSo the maiden whispered something in his ear, and left the room. And the\nprince knew nothing better to do than to get into bed.\n\nHe slept soundly, and it was still almost dark when he got up and\nproceeded to carry out the instructions given him by the girl. First he\nchose some stout ropes, and then he led the horse out of the stable and\nrode it to the hay-stack, which was made up of fifty cartloads, so that\nit could hardly be called \u2018a little one.\u2019 The prince did all that the\nmaiden had told him, and when at last he was seated on top of the rick,\nand had counted up to twenty, he heard the horse ask in amazement: \u2018What\nare you counting up there, my son?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, nothing,\u2019 said he, \u2018I was just amusing myself with counting the\npacks of wolves in the forest, but there are really so many of them that\nI don\u2019t think I should ever be done.\u2019\n\nThe word \u2018wolf\u2019 was hardly out of his mouth than the white horse was\noff like the wind, so that in the twinkling of an eye it had reached\nthe shed, dragging the hay-stack behind it. The master was dumb with\nsurprise as he came in after breakfast and found his man\u2019s day\u2019s work\nquite done.\n\n\u2018Was it really you who were so clever?\u2019 asked he. \u2018Or did some one give\nyou good advice?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I have only myself to take counsel with,\u2019 said the prince, and the\nold man went away, shaking his head.\n\nLate in the evening the prince went to his master to learn what he was\nto do next day.\n\n\u2018To-morrow,\u2019 said the old man, \u2018you must bring the white-headed calf to\nthe meadow, and, as you value your life, take care it does not escape\nfrom you.\u2019\n\nThe prince answered nothing, but thought, \u2018Well, most peasants of\nnineteen have got a whole herd to look after, so surely I can manage\none.\u2019 And he went towards his room, where the maiden met him.\n\n\u2018To morrow I have got an idiot\u2019s work,\u2019 said he; \u2018nothing but to take\nthe white-headed calf to the meadow.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, you unlucky being!\u2019 sighed she. \u2018Do you know that this calf is so\nswift that in a single day he can run three times round the world? Take\nheed to what I tell you. Bind one end of this silk thread to the left\nfore-leg of the calf, and the other end to the little toe of your left\nfoot, so that the calf will never be able to leave your side, whether\nyou walk, stand, or lie.\u2019 After this the prince went to bed and slept\nsoundly.\n\nThe next morning he did exactly what the maiden had told him, and led\nthe calf with the silken thread to the meadow, where it stuck to his\nside like a faithful dog.\n\nBy sunset, it was back again in its stall, and then came the master and\nsaid, with a frown, \u2018Were you really so clever yourself, or did somebody\ntell you what to do?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I have only my own poor head,\u2019 answered the prince, and the old man\nwent away growling, \u2018I don\u2019t believe a word of it! I am sure you have\nfound some clever friend!\u2019\n\nIn the evening he called the prince and said: \u2018To-morrow I have no work\nfor you, but when I wake you must come before my bed, and give me your\nhand in greeting.\u2019\n\nThe young man wondered at this strange freak, and went laughing in\nsearch of the maiden.\n\n\u2018Ah, it is no laughing matter,\u2019 sighed she. \u2018He means to eat you, and\nthere is only one way in which I can help you. You must heat an iron\nshovel red hot, and hold it out to him instead of your hand.\u2019\n\nSo next morning he wakened very early, and had heated the shovel before\nthe old man was awake. At length he heard him calling, \u2018You lazy fellow,\nwhere are you? Come and wish me good morning.\u2019\n\nBut when the prince entered with the red-hot shovel his master only\nsaid, \u2018I am very ill to-day, and too weak even to touch your hand. You\nmust return this evening, when I may be better.\u2019\n\nThe prince loitered about all day, and in the evening went back to the\nold man\u2019s room. He was received in the most; friendly manner, and, to\nhis surprise, his master exclaimed, \u2018I am very well satisfied with you.\nCome to me at dawn and bring the maiden with you. I know you have long\nloved each other, and I wish to make you man and wife.\u2019\n\nThe young man nearly jumped into the air for joy, but, remembering the\nrules of the house, he managed to keep still. When he told the maiden,\nhe saw to his astonishment that she had become as white as a sheet, and\nshe was quite dumb.\n\n\u2018The old man has found out who was your counsellor,\u2019 she said when she\ncould speak, \u2018and he means to destroy us both.\u2019 We must escape somehow,\nor else we shall be lost. Take an axe, and cut off the head of the calf\nwith one blow. With a second, split its head in two, and in its brain\nyou will see a bright red ball. Bring that to me. Meanwhile, I will do\nwhat is needful here.\n\nAnd the prince thought to himself, \u2018Better kill the calf than be killed\nourselves. If we can once escape, we will go back home. The peas which I\nstrewed about must have sprouted, so that we shall not miss the way.\u2019\n\nThen he went into the stall, and with one blow of the axe killed the\ncalf, and with the second split its brain. In an instant the place was\nfilled with light, as the red ball fell from the brain of the calf. The\nprince picked it up, and, wrapping it round with a thick cloth, hid it\nin his bosom. Mercifully, the cow slept through it all, or by her cries\nshe would have awakened the master.\n\nHe looked round, and at the door stood the maiden, holding a little\nbundle in her arms.\n\n\u2018Where is the ball?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018Here,\u2019 answered he.\n\n\u2018We must lose no time in escaping,\u2019 she went on, and uncovered a tiny\nbit of the shining ball, to light them on their way.\n\nAs the prince had expected the peas had taken root, and grown into a\nlittle hedge, so that they were sure they would not lose the path.\nAs they fled, the girl told him that she had overheard a conversation\nbetween the old man and his grandmother, saying that she was a king\u2019s\ndaughter, whom the old fellow had obtained by cunning from her parents.\nThe prince, who knew all about the affair, was silent, though he was\nglad from his heart that it had fallen to his lot to set her free. So\nthey went on till the day began to dawn.\n\nThe old man slept very late that morning, and rubbed his eyes till he\nwas properly awake. Then he remembered that very soon the couple were\nto present themselves before him. After waiting and waiting till quite\na long time had passed, he said to himself, with a grin, \u2018Well, they are\nnot in much hurry to be married,\u2019 and waited again.\n\nAt last he grew a little uneasy, and cried loudly, \u2018Man and maid! what\nhas become of you?\u2019\n\nAfter repeating this many times, he became quite frightened, but, call\nas he would, neither man nor maid appeared. At last he jumped angrily\nout of bed to go in search of the culprits, but only found an empty\nhouse, and beds that had never been slept in.\n\nThen he went straight to the stable, where the sight of the dead calf\ntold him all. Swearing loudly, he opened the door of the third stall\nquickly, and cried to his goblin servants to go and chase the fugitives.\n\u2018Bring them to me, however you may find them, for have them I must!\u2019 he\nsaid. So spake the old man, and the servants fled like the wind.\n\nThe runaways were crossing a great plain, when the maiden stopped.\n\u2018Something has happened!\u2019 she said. \u2018The ball moves in my hand, and\nI\u2019m sure we are being followed!\u2019 and behind them they saw a black cloud\nflying before the wind. Then the maiden turned the ball thrice in her\nhand, and cried,\n\n          \u2018Listen to me, my ball, my ball.\n            Be quick and change me into a brook,\n           And my lover into a little fish.\u2019\n\nAnd in an instant there was a brook with a fish swimming in it. The\ngoblins arrived just after, but, seeing nobody, waited for a little,\nthen hurried home, leaving the brook and the fish undisturbed. When they\nwere quite out of sight, the brook and the fish returned to their usual\nshapes and proceeded on their journey.\n\nWhen the goblins, tired and with empty hands, returned, their master\ninquired what they had seen, and if nothing strange had befallen them.\n\n\u2018Nothing,\u2019 said they; \u2018the plain was quite empty, save for a brook and a\nfish swimming in it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Idiots!\u2019 roared the master; \u2018of course it was they!\u2019 And dashing open\nthe door of the fifth stall, he told the goblins inside that they must\ngo and drink up the brook, and catch the fish. And the goblins jumped\nup, and flew like the wind.\n\nThe young pair had almost reached the edge of the wood, when the maiden\nstopped again. \u2018Something has happened,\u2019 said she. \u2018The ball is moving\nin my hand,\u2019 and looking round she beheld a cloud flying towards them,\nlarge and blacker than the first, and striped with red. \u2018Those are our\npursuers,\u2019 cried she, and turning the ball three times in her hand she\nspoke to it thus:\n\n          \u2018Listen to me, my ball, my ball.\n            Be quick and change us both.\n            Me into a wild rose bush,\n         And him into a rose on my stem.\u2019\n\nAnd in the twinkling of an eye it was done. Only just in time too, for\nthe goblins were close at hand, and looked round eagerly for the stream\nand the fish. But neither stream nor fish was to be seen; nothing but a\nrose bush. So they went sorrowing home, and when they were out of sight\nthe rose bush and rose returned to their proper shapes and walked all\nthe faster for the little rest they had had.\n\n\u2018Well, did you find them?\u2019 asked the old man when his goblins came back.\n\n\u2018No,\u2019 replied the leader of the goblins, \u2018we found neither brook nor\nfish in the desert.\u2019\n\n\u2018And did you find nothing else at all?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, nothing but a rose tree on the edge of a wood, with a rose hanging\non it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Idiots!\u2019 cried he. \u2018Why, that was they.\u2019 And he threw open the door of\nthe seventh stall, where his mightiest goblins were locked in. \u2018Bring\nthem to me, however you find them, dead or alive!\u2019 thundered he, \u2018for I\nwill have them! Tear up the rose tree and the roots too, and don\u2019t leave\nanything behind, however strange it may be!\u2019\n\nThe fugitives were resting in the shade of a wood, and were refreshing\nthemselves with food and drink. Suddenly the maiden looked up.\n\u2018Something has happened,\u2019 said she. \u2018The ball has nearly jumped out of\nmy bosom! Some one is certainly following us, and the danger is near,\nbut the trees hide our enemies from us.\u2019\n\nAs she spoke she took the ball in her hand, and said:\n\n          \u2018Listen to me, my ball, my ball.\n            Be quick and change me into a breeze,\n           And make my lover into a midge.\u2019\n\nAn instant, and the girl was dissolved into thin air, while the prince\ndarted about like a midge. The next moment a crowd of goblins rushed up,\nand looked about in search of something strange, for neither a rose bush\nnor anything else was to be seen. But they had hardly turned their backs\nto go home empty-handed when the prince and the maiden stood on the\nearth again.\n\n\u2018We must make all the haste we can,\u2019 said she, \u2018before the old man\nhimself comes to seek us, for he will know us under any disguise.\u2019\n\nThey ran on till they reached such a dark part of the forest that, if\nit had not been for the light shed by the ball, they could not have\nmade their way at all. Worn out and breathless, they came at length to\na large stone, and here the ball began to move restlessly. The maiden,\nseeing this, exclaimed:\n\n          \u2018Listen to me, my ball, my ball.\n            Roll the stone quickly to one side,\n           That we may find a door.\u2019\n\nAnd in a moment the stone had rolled away, and they had passed through\nthe door to the world again.\n\n\u2018Now we are safe,\u2019 cried she. \u2018Here the old wizard has no more power\nover us, and we can guard ourselves from his spells. But, my friend, we\nhave to part! You will return to your parents, and I must go in search\nof mine.\u2019\n\n\u2018No! no!\u2019 exclaimed the prince. \u2018I will never part from you. You\nmust come with me and be my wife. We have gone through many troubles\ntogether, and now we will share our joys. The maiden resisted his words\nfor some time, but at last she went with him.\n\nIn the forest they met a woodcutter, who told them that in the palace,\nas well as in all the land, there had been great sorrow over the loss\nof the prince, and many years had now passed away during which they had\nfound no traces of him. So, by the help of the magic ball, the maiden\nmanaged that he should put on the same clothes that he had been wearing\nat the time he had vanished, so that his father might know him more\nquickly. She herself stayed behind in a peasant\u2019s hut, so that father\nand son might meet alone.\n\nBut the father was no longer there, for the loss of his son had killed\nhim; and on his deathbed he confessed to his people how he had contrived\nthat the old wizard should carry away a peasant\u2019s child instead of the\nprince, wherefore this punishment had fallen upon him.\n\nThe prince wept bitterly when he heard this news, for he had loved his\nfather well, and for three days he ate and drank nothing. But on the\nfourth day he stood in the presence of his people as their new king,\nand, calling his councillors, he told them all the strange things that\nhad befallen him, and how the maiden had borne him safe through all.\n\nAnd the councillors cried with one voice, \u2018Let her be your wife, and our\nliege lady.\u2019\n\nAnd that is the end of the story.\n\n(Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILD WHO CAME FROM AN EGG\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a queen whose heart was sore because she\nhad no children. She was sad enough when her husband was at home with\nher, but when he was away she would see nobody, but sat and wept all day\nlong.\n\nNow it happened that a war broke out with the king of a neighbouring\ncountry, and the queen was left in the palace alone.\n\nShe was so unhappy that she felt as if the walls would stifle her, so\nshe wandered out into the garden, and threw herself down on a grassy\nbank, under the shade of a lime tree. She had been there for some time,\nwhen a rustle among the leaves caused her to look up, and she saw an old\nwoman limping on her crutches towards the stream that flowed through the\ngrounds.\n\nWhen she had quenched her thirst, she came straight up to the queen, and\nsaid to her: \u2018Do not take it evil, noble lady, that I dare to speak to\nyou, and do not be afraid of me, for it may be that I shall bring you\ngood luck.\u2019\n\nThe queen looked at her doubtfully, and answered: \u2018You do not seem as if\nyou had been very lucky yourself, or to have much good fortune to spare\nfor anyone else.\u2019\n\n\u2018Under rough bark lies smooth wood and sweet kernel,\u2019 replied the old\nwoman. \u2018Let me see your hand, that I may read the future.\u2019\n\nThe queen held out her hand, and the old woman examined its lines\nclosely. Then she said, \u2018Your heart is heavy with two sorrows, one old\nand one new. The new sorrow is for your husband, who is fighting far\naway from you; but, believe me, he is well, and will soon bring you\njoyful news. But your other sorrow is much older than this. Your\nhappiness is spoilt because you have no children.\u2019 At these words the\nqueen became scarlet, and tried to draw away her hand, but the old woman\nsaid:\n\n\u2018Have a little patience, for there are some things I want to see more\nclearly.\u2019\n\n\u2018But who are you?\u2019 asked the queen, \u2018for you seem to be able to read my\nheart.\u2019\n\n\u2018Never mind my name,\u2019 answered she, \u2018but rejoice that it is permitted to\nme to show you a way to lessen your grief. You must, however, promise to\ndo exactly what I tell you, if any good is to come of it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I will obey you exactly,\u2019 cried the queen, \u2018and if you can help me\nyou shall have in return anything you ask for.\u2019\n\nThe old woman stood thinking for a little: then she drew something from\nthe folds of her dress, and, undoing a number of wrappings, brought out\na tiny basket made of birch-bark. She held it out to the queen, saying,\n\u2018In the basket you will find a bird\u2019s egg. This you must be careful to\nkeep in a warm place for three months, when it will turn into a doll.\nLay the doll in a basket lined with soft wool, and leave it alone, for\nit will not need any food, and by-and-by you will find it has grown to\nbe the size of a baby. Then you will have a baby of your own, and you\nmust put it by the side of the other child, and bring your husband to\nsee his son and daughter. The boy you will bring up yourself, but you\nmust entrust the little girl to a nurse. When the time comes to have\nthem christened you will invite me to be godmother to the princess, and\nthis is how you must send the invitation. Hidden in the cradle, you will\nfind a goose\u2019s wing: throw this out of the window, and I will be with\nyou directly; but be sure you tell no one of all the things that have\nbefallen you.\u2019\n\nThe queen was about to reply, but the old woman was already limping\naway, and before she had gone two steps she had turned into a young\ngirl, who moved so quickly that she seemed rather to fly than to walk.\nThe queen, watching this transformation, could hardly believe her eyes,\nand would have taken it all for a dream, had it not been for the basket\nwhich she held in her hand. Feeling a different being from the poor\nsad woman who had wandered into the garden so short a time before, she\nhastened to her room, and felt carefully in the basket for the egg.\nThere it was, a tiny thing of soft blue with little green spots, and she\ntook it out and kept it in her bosom, which was the warmest place she\ncould think of.\n\nA fortnight after the old woman had paid her visit, the king came home,\nhaving conquered his enemies. At this proof that the old woman had\nspoken truth, the queen\u2019s heart bounded, for she now had fresh hopes\nthat the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled.\n\nShe cherished the basket and the egg as her chiefest treasures, and had\na golden case made for the basket, so that when the time came to lay the\negg in it, it might not risk any harm.\n\nThree months passed, and, as the old woman had bidden her, the queen\ntook the egg from her bosom, and laid it snugly amidst the warm woollen\nfolds. The next morning she went to look at it, and the first thing she\nsaw was the broken eggshell, and a little doll lying among the pieces.\nThen she felt happy at last, and leaving the doll in peace to grow,\nwaited, as she had been told, for a baby of her own to lay beside it.\n\nIn course of time, this came also, and the queen took the little girl\nout of the basket, and placed it with her son in a golden cradle which\nglittered with precious stones. Next she sent for the king, who nearly\nwent mad with joy at the sight of the children.\n\nSoon there came a day when the whole court was ordered to be present at\nthe christening of the royal babies, and when all was ready the queen\nsoftly opened the window a little, and let the goose wing fly out.\nThe guests were coming thick and fast, when suddenly there drove up a\nsplendid coach drawn by six cream-coloured horses, and out of it stepped\na young lady dressed in garments that shone like the sun. Her face could\nnot be seen, for a veil covered her head, but as she came up to the\nplace where the queen was standing with the babies she drew the veil\naside, and everyone was dazzled with her beauty. She took the little\ngirl in her arms, and holding it up before the assembled company\nannounced that henceforward it would be known by the name of\nDotterine--a name which no one understood but the queen, who knew that\nthe baby had come from the yolk of an egg. The boy was called Willem.\n\nAfter the feast was over and the guests were going away, the godmother\nlaid the baby in the cradle, and said to the queen, \u2018Whenever the baby\ngoes to sleep, be sure you lay the basket beside her, and leave the\neggshells in it. As long as you do that, no evil can come to her; so\nguard this treasure as the apple of your eye, and teach your daughter\nto do so likewise.\u2019 Then, kissing the baby three times, she mounted her\ncoach and drove away.\n\nThe children throve well, and Dotterine\u2019s nurse loved her as if she\nwere the baby\u2019s real mother. Every day the little girl seemed to grow\nprettier, and people used to say she would soon be as beautiful as her\ngodmother, but no one knew, except the nurse, that at night, when the\nchild slept, a strange and lovely lady bent over her. At length she told\nthe queen what she had seen, but they determined to keep it as a secret\nbetween themselves.\n\nThe twins were by this time nearly two years old, when the queen was\ntaken suddenly ill. All the best doctors in the country were sent for,\nbut it was no use, for there is no cure for death. The queen knew she\nwas dying, and sent for Dotterine and her nurse, who had now become\nher lady-in-waiting. To her, as her most faithful servant, she gave the\nlucky basket in charge, and besought her to treasure it carefully. \u2018When\nmy daughter,\u2019 said the queen, \u2018is ten years old, you are to hand it over\nto her, but warn her solemnly that her whole future happiness depends on\nthe way she guards it. About my son, I have no fears. He is the heir of\nthe kingdom, and his father will look after him.\u2019 The lady-in-waiting\npromised to carry out the queen\u2019s directions, and above all to keep the\naffair a secret. And that same morning the queen died.\n\nAfter some years the king married again, but he did not love his second\nwife as he had done his first, and had only married her for reasons of\nambition. She hated her step-children, and the king, seeing this, kept\nthem out of the way, under the care of Dotterine\u2019s old nurse. But if\nthey ever strayed across the path of the queen, she would kick them out\nof her sight like dogs.\n\nOn Dotterine\u2019s tenth birthday her nurse handed her over the cradle, and\nrepeated to her her mother\u2019s dying words; but the child was too young to\nunderstand the value of such a gift, and at first thought little about\nit.\n\nTwo more years slipped by, when one day during the king\u2019s absence the\nstepmother found Dotterine sitting under a lime tree. She fell as\nusual into a passion, and beat the child so badly that Dotterine went\nstaggering to her own room. Her nurse was not there, but suddenly, as\nshe stood weeping, her eyes fell upon the golden case in which lay the\nprecious basket. She thought it might contain something to amuse her,\nand looked eagerly inside, but nothing was there save a handful of wool\nand two empty eggshells. Very much disappointed, she lifted the wool,\nand there lay the goose\u2019s wing. \u2018What old rubbish,\u2019 said the child to\nherself, and, turning, threw the wing out of the open window.\n\nIn a moment a beautiful lady stood beside her. \u2018Do not be afraid,\u2019 said\nthe lady, stroking Dotterine\u2019s head. \u2018I am your godmother, and have come\nto pay you a visit. Your red eyes tell me that you are unhappy. I know\nthat your stepmother is very unkind to you, but be brave and patient,\nand better days will come. She will have no power over you when you are\ngrown up, and no one else can hurt you either, if only you are careful\nnever to part from your basket, or to lose the eggshells that are in it.\nMake a silken case for the little basket, and hide it away in your dress\nnight and day and you will be safe from your stepmother and anyone that\ntries to harm you. But if you should happen to find yourself in any\ndifficulty, and cannot tell what to do, take the goose\u2019s wing from the\nbasket, and throw it out of the window, and in a moment I will come to\nhelp you. Now come into the garden, that I may talk to you under the\nlime trees, where no one can hear us.\u2019\n\nThey had so much to say to each other, that the sun was already setting\nwhen the godmother had ended all the good advice she wished to give the\nchild, and saw it was time for her to be going. \u2018Hand me the basket,\u2019\nsaid she, \u2018for you must have some supper. I cannot let you go hungry to\nbed.\u2019\n\nThen, bending over the basket, she whispered some magic words, and\ninstantly a table covered with fruits and cakes stood on the ground\nbefore them. When they had finished eating, the godmother led the child\nback, and on the way taught her the words she must say to the basket\nwhen she wanted it to give her something.\n\nIn a few years more, Dotterine was a grown-up young lady, and those who\nsaw her thought that the world did not contain so lovely a girl.\n\nAbout this time a terrible war broke out, and the king and his army were\nbeaten back and back, till at length they had to retire into the town,\nand make ready for a siege. It lasted so long that food began to fail,\nand even in the palace there was not enough to eat.\n\nSo one morning Dotterine, who had had neither supper nor breakfast,\nand was feeling very hungry, let her wing fly away. She was so weak and\nmiserable, that directly her godmother appeared she burst into tears,\nand could not speak for some time.\n\n\u2018Do not cry so, dear child,\u2019 said the godmother. \u2018I will carry you away\nfrom all this, but the others I must leave to take their chance.\u2019 Then,\nbidding Dotterine follow her, she passed through the gates of the town,\nand through the army outside, and nobody stopped them, or seemed to see\nthem.\n\nThe next day the town surrendered, and the king and all his courtiers\nwere taken prisoners, but in the confusion his son managed to make his\nescape. The queen had already met her death from a spear carelessly\nthrown.\n\nAs soon as Dotterine and her godmother were clear of the enemy,\nDotterine took off her own clothes, and put on those of a peasant,\nand in order to disguise her better her godmother changed her face\ncompletely. \u2018When better times come,\u2019 her protectress said cheerfully,\n\u2018and you want to look like yourself again, you have only to whisper the\nwords I have taught you into the basket, and say you would like to have\nyour own face once more, and it will be all right in a moment. But you\nwill have to endure a little longer yet.\u2019 Then, warning her once more to\ntake care of the basket, the lady bade the girl farewell.\n\nFor many days Dotterine wandered from one place to another without\nfinding shelter, and though the food which she got from the basket\nprevented her from starving, she was glad enough to take service in a\npeasant\u2019s house till brighter days dawned. At first the work she had\nto do seemed very difficult, but either she was wonderfully quick in\nlearning, or else the basket may have secretly helped her. Anyhow at the\nend of three days she could do everything as well as if she had cleaned\npots and swept rooms all her life.\n\nOne morning Dotterine was busy scouring a wooden tub, when a noble lady\nhappened to pass through the village. The girl\u2019s bright face as she\nstood in the front of the door with her tub attracted the lady, and she\nstopped and called the girl to come and speak to her.\n\n\u2018Would you not like to come and enter my service?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018Very much,\u2019 replied Dotterine, \u2018if my present mistress will allow me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I will settle that,\u2019 answered the lady; and so she did, and the\nsame day they set out for the lady\u2019s house, Dotterine sitting beside the\ncoachman.\n\nSix months went by, and then came the joyful news that the king\u2019s son\nhad collected an army and had defeated the usurper who had taken his\nfather\u2019s place, but at the same moment Dotterine learned that the old\nking had died in captivity. The girl wept bitterly for his loss, but in\nsecrecy, as she had told her mistress nothing about her past life.\n\nAt the end of a year of mourning, the young king let it be known that he\nintended to marry, and commanded all the maidens in the kingdom to come\nto a feast, so that he might choose a wife from among them. For weeks\nall the mothers and all the daughters in the land were busy preparing\nbeautiful dresses and trying new ways of putting up their hair, and the\nthree lovely daughters of Dotterine\u2019s mistress were as much excited as\nthe rest. The girl was clever with her fingers, and was occupied all day\nwith getting ready their smart clothes, but at night when she went to\nbed she always dreamed that her godmother bent over her and said, \u2018Dress\nyour young ladies for the feast, and when they have started follow them\nyourself. Nobody will be so fine as you.\u2019\n\nWhen the great day came, Dotterine could hardly contain herself, and\nwhen she had dressed her young mistresses and seen them depart with\ntheir mother she flung herself on her bed, and burst into tears. Then\nshe seemed to hear a voice whisper to her, \u2018Look in your basket, and you\nwill find in it everything that you need.\u2019\n\nDotterine did not want to be told twice! Up she jumped, seized her\nbasket, and repeated the magic words, and behold! there lay a dress on\nthe bed, shining as a star. She put it on with fingers that trembled\nwith joy, and, looking in the glass, was struck dumb at her own beauty.\nShe went downstairs, and in front of the door stood a fine carriage,\ninto which she stepped and was driven away like the wind.\n\nThe king\u2019s palace was a long way off, yet it seemed only a few minutes\nbefore Dotterine drew up at the great gates. She was just going to\nalight, when she suddenly remembered she had left her basket behind her.\nWhat was she to do? Go back and fetch it, lest some ill-fortune should\nbefall her, or enter the palace and trust to chance that nothing evil\nwould happen? But before she could decide, a little swallow flew up with\nthe basket in its beak, and the girl was happy again.\n\nThe feast was already at its height, and the hall was brilliant with\nyouth and beauty, when the door was flung wide and Dotterine entered,\nmaking all the other maidens look pale and dim beside her. Their hopes\nfaded as they gazed, but their mothers whispered together, saying,\n\u2018Surely this is our lost princess!\u2019\n\nThe young king did not know her again, but he never left her side nor\ntook his eyes from her. And at midnight a strange thing happened. A\nthick cloud suddenly filled the hall, so that for a moment all was dark.\nThen the mist suddenly grew bright, and Dotterine\u2019s godmother was seen\nstanding there.\n\n\u2018This,\u2019 she said, turning to the king, \u2018is the girl whom you have always\nbelieved to be your sister, and who vanished during the siege. She is\nnot your sister at all, but the daughter of the king of a neighbouring\ncountry, who was given to your mother to bring up, to save her from the\nhands of a wizard.\u2019\n\nThen she vanished, and was never seen again, nor the wonder-working\nbasket either; but now that Dotterine\u2019s troubles were over she could get\non without them, and she and the young king lived happily together till\nthe end of their days.\n\n(Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nSTAN BOLOVAN\n\nOnce upon a time what happened did happen, and if it had not happened\nthis story would never have been told.\n\nOn the outskirts of a village just where the oxen were turned out to\npasture, and the pigs roamed about burrowing with their noses among the\nroots of the trees, there stood a small house. In the house lived a man\nwho had a wife, and the wife was sad all day long.\n\n\u2018Dear wife, what is wrong with you that you hang your head like a\ndrooping rosebud?\u2019 asked her husband one morning. \u2018You have everything\nyou want; why cannot you be merry like other women?\u2019\n\n\u2018Leave me alone, and do not seek to know the reason,\u2019 replied she,\nbursting into tears, and the man thought that it was no time to question\nher, and went away to his work.\n\nHe could not, however, forget all about it, and a few days after he\ninquired again the reason of her sadness, but only got the same reply.\nAt length he felt he could bear it no longer, and tried a third time,\nand then his wife turned and answered him.\n\n\u2018Good gracious!\u2019 cried she, \u2018why cannot you let things be as they are?\nIf I were to tell you, you would become just as wretched as myself. If\nyou would only believe, it is far better for you to know nothing.\u2019\n\nBut no man yet was ever content with such an answer. The more you beg\nhim not to inquire, the greater is his curiosity to learn the whole.\n\n\u2018Well, if you MUST know,\u2019 said the wife at last, \u2018I will tell you. There\nis no luck in this house--no luck at all!\u2019\n\n\u2018Is not your cow the best milker in all the village? Are not your trees\nas full of fruit as your hives are full of bees? Has anyone cornfields\nlike ours? Really you talk nonsense when you say things like that!\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, all that you say is true, but we have no children.\u2019\n\nThen Stan understood, and when a man once understands and has his eyes\nopened it is no longer well with him. From that day the little house in\nthe outskirts contained an unhappy man as well as an unhappy woman. And\nat the sight of her husband\u2019s misery the woman became more wretched than\never.\n\nAnd so matters went on for some time.\n\nSome weeks had passed, and Stan thought he would consult a wise man\nwho lived a day\u2019s journey from his own house. The wise man was sitting\nbefore his door when he came up, and Stan fell on his knees before him.\n\u2018Give me children, my lord, give me children.\u2019\n\n\u2018Take care what you are asking,\u2019 replied the wise man. \u2018Will not\nchildren be a burden to you? Are you rich enough to feed and clothe\nthem?\u2019\n\n\u2018Only give them to me, my lord, and I will manage somehow!\u2019 and at a\nsign from the wise man Stan went his way.\n\nHe reached home that evening tired and dusty, but with hope in his\nheart. As he drew near his house a sound of voices struck upon his ear,\nand he looked up to see the whole place full of children. Children\nin the garden, children in the yard, children looking out of every\nwindow--it seemed to the man as if all the children in the world must be\ngathered there. And none was bigger than the other, but each was smaller\nthan the other, and every one was more noisy and more impudent and more\ndaring than the rest, and Stan gazed and grew cold with horror as he\nrealised that they all belonged to him.\n\n\u2018Good gracious! how many there are! how many!\u2019 he muttered to himself.\n\n\u2018Oh, but not one too many,\u2019 smiled his wife, coming up with a crowd more\nchildren clinging to her skirts.\n\nBut even she found that it was not so easy to look after a hundred\nchildren, and when a few days had passed and they had eaten up all the\nfood there was in the house, they began to cry, \u2018Father! I am hungry--I\nam hungry,\u2019 till Stan scratched his head and wondered what he was to do\nnext. It was not that he thought there were too many children, for his\nlife had seemed more full of joy since they appeared, but now it came to\nthe point he did not know how he was to feed them. The cow had ceased to\ngive milk, and it was too early for the fruit trees to ripen.\n\n\u2018Do you know, old woman!\u2019 said he one day to his wife, \u2018I must go out\ninto the world and try to bring back food somehow, though I cannot tell\nwhere it is to come from.\u2019\n\nTo the hungry man any road is long, and then there was always the\nthought that he had to satisfy a hundred greedy children as well as\nhimself.\n\nStan wandered, and wandered, and wandered, till he reached to the end of\nthe world, where that which is, is mingled with that which is not, and\nthere he saw, a little way off, a sheepfold, with seven sheep in it. In\nthe shadow of some trees lay the rest of the flock.\n\nStan crept up, hoping that he might manage to decoy some of them away\nquietly, and drive them home for food for his family, but he soon found\nthis could not be. For at midnight he heard a rushing noise, and through\nthe air flew a dragon, who drove apart a ram, a sheep, and a lamb, and\nthree fine cattle that were lying down close by. And besides these he\ntook the milk of seventy-seven sheep, and carried it home to his old\nmother, that she might bathe in it and grow young again. And this\nhappened every night.\n\nThe shepherd bewailed himself in vain: the dragon only laughed, and Stan\nsaw that this was not the place to get food for his family.\n\nBut though he quite understood that it was almost hopeless to fight\nagainst such a powerful monster, yet the thought of the hungry children\nat home clung to him like a burr, and would not be shaken off, and at\nlast he said to the shepherd, \u2018What will you give me if I rid you of the\ndragon?\u2019\n\n\u2018One of every three rams, one of every three sheep, one of every three\nlambs,\u2019 answered the herd.\n\n\u2018It is a bargain,\u2019 replied Stan, though at the moment he did not know\nhow, supposing he DID come off the victor, he would ever be able to\ndrive so large a flock home.\n\nHowever, that matter could be settled later. At present night was not\nfar off, and he must consider how best to fight with the dragon.\n\nJust at midnight, a horrible feeling that was new and strange to him\ncame over Stan--a feeling that he could not put into words even to\nhimself, but which almost forced him to give up the battle and take\nthe shortest road home again. He half turned; then he remembered the\nchildren, and turned back.\n\n\u2018You or I,\u2019 said Stan to himself, and took up his position on the edge\nof the flock.\n\n\u2018Stop!\u2019 he suddenly cried, as the air was filled with a rushing noise,\nand the dragon came dashing past.\n\n\u2018Dear me!\u2019 exclaimed the dragon, looking round. \u2018Who are you, and where\ndo you come from?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am Stan Bolovan, who eats rocks all night, and in the day feeds on\nthe flowers of the mountain; and if you meddle with those sheep I will\ncarve a cross on your back.\u2019\n\nWhen the dragon heard these words he stood quite still in the middle of\nthe road, for he knew he had met with his match.\n\n\u2018But you will have to fight me first,\u2019 he said in a trembling voice, for\nwhen you faced him properly he was not brave at all.\n\n\u2018I fight you?\u2019 replied Stan, \u2018why I could slay you with one breath!\u2019\nThen, stooping to pick up a large cheese which lay at his feet, he\nadded, \u2018Go and get a stone like this out of the river, so that we may\nlose no time in seeing who is the best man.\u2019\n\nThe dragon did as Stan bade him, and brought back a stone out of the\nbrook.\n\n\u2018Can you get buttermilk out of your stone?\u2019 asked Stan.\n\nThe dragon picked up his stone with one hand, and squeezed it till it\nfell into powder, but no buttermilk flowed from it. \u2018Of course I can\u2019t!\u2019\nhe said, half angrily.\n\n\u2018Well, if you can\u2019t, I can,\u2019 answered Stan, and he pressed the cheese\ntill buttermilk flowed through his fingers.\n\nWhen the dragon saw that, he thought it was time he made the best of his\nway home again, but Stan stood in his path.\n\n\u2018We have still some accounts to settle,\u2019 said he, \u2018about what you have\nbeen doing here,\u2019 and the poor dragon was too frightened to stir, lest\nStan should slay him at one breath and bury him among the flowers in the\nmountain pastures.\n\n\u2018Listen to me,\u2019 he said at last. \u2018I see you are a very useful person,\nand my mother has need of a fellow like you. Suppose you enter her\nservice for three days, which are as long as one of your years, and she\nwill pay you each day seven sacks full of ducats.\u2019\n\nThree times seven sacks full of ducats! The offer was very tempting,\nand Stan could not resist it. He did not waste words, but nodded to the\ndragon, and they started along the road.\n\nIt was a long, long way, but when they came to the end they found the\ndragon\u2019s mother, who was as old as time itself, expecting them. Stan saw\nher eyes shining like lamps from afar, and when they entered the house\nthey beheld a huge kettle standing on the fire, filled with milk. When\nthe old mother found that her son had arrived empty-handed she grew very\nangry, and fire and flame darted from her nostrils, but before she could\nspeak the dragon turned to Stan.\n\n\u2018Stay here,\u2019 said he, \u2018and wait for me; I am going to explain things to\nmy mother.\u2019\n\nStan was already repenting bitterly that he had ever come to such a\nplace, but, since he was there, there was nothing for it but to take\neverything quietly, and not show that he was afraid.\n\n\u2018Listen, mother,\u2019 said the dragon as soon as they were alone, \u2018I have\nbrought this man in order to get rid of him. He is a terrific fellow who\neats rocks, and can press buttermilk out of a stone,\u2019 and he told her\nall that had happened the night before.\n\n\u2018Oh, just leave him to me!\u2019 she said. \u2018I have never yet let a man slip\nthrough my fingers.\u2019 So Stan had to stay and do the old mother service.\n\nThe next day she told him that he and her son should try which was the\nstrongest, and she took down a huge club, bound seven times with iron.\n\nThe dragon picked it up as if it had been a feather, and, after whirling\nit round his head, flung it lightly three miles away, telling Stan to\nbeat that if he could.\n\nThey walked to the spot where the club lay. Stan stooped and felt\nit; then a great fear came over him, for he knew that he and all his\nchildren together would never lift that club from the ground.\n\n\u2018What are you doing?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018I was thinking what a beautiful club it was, and what a pity it is that\nit should cause your death.\u2019\n\n\u2018How do you mean--my death?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018Only that I am afraid that if I throw it you will never see another\ndawn. You don\u2019t know how strong I am!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, never mind that be quick and throw.\u2019\n\n\u2018If you are really in earnest, let us go and feast for three days: that\nwill at any rate give you three extra days of life.\u2019\n\nStan spoke so calmly that this time the dragon began to get a little\nfrightened, though he did not quite believe that things would be as bad\nas Stan said.\n\nThey returned to the house, took all the food that could be found in the\nold mother\u2019s larder, and carried it back to the place where the club was\nlying. Then Stan seated himself on the sack of provisions, and remained\nquietly watching the setting moon.\n\n\u2018What are you doing?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018Waiting till the moon gets out of my way.\u2019\n\n\u2018What do you mean? I don\u2019t understand.\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you see that the moon is exactly in my way? But of course, if you\nlike, I will throw the club into the moon.\u2019\n\nAt these words the dragon grew uncomfortable for the second time.\n\nHe prized the club, which had been left him by his grandfather, very\nhighly, and had no desire that it should be lost in the moon.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll tell you what,\u2019 he said, after thinking a little. \u2018Don\u2019t throw\nthe club at all. I will throw it a second time, and that will do just as\nwell.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, certainly not!\u2019 replied Stan. \u2018Just wait till the moon sets.\u2019\n\nBut the dragon, in dread lest Stan should fulfil his threats, tried\nwhat bribes could do, and in the end had to promise Stan seven sacks of\nducats before he was suffered to throw back the club himself.\n\n\u2018Oh, dear me, that is indeed a strong man,\u2019 said the dragon, turning to\nhis mother. \u2018Would you believe that I have had the greatest difficulty\nin preventing him from throwing the club into the moon?\u2019\n\nThen the old woman grew uncomfortable too! Only to think of it! It was\nno joke to throw things into the moon! So no more was heard of the club,\nand the next day they had all something else to think about.\n\n\u2018Go and fetch me water!\u2019 said the mother, when the morning broke, and\ngave them twelve buffalo skins with the order to keep filling them till\nnight.\n\nThey set out at once for the brook, and in the twinkling of an eye the\ndragon had filled the whole twelve, carried them into the house, and\nbrought them back to Stan. Stan was tired: he could scarcely lift the\nbuckets when they were empty, and he shuddered to think of what would\nhappen when they were full. But he only took an old knife out of his\npocket and began to scratch up the earth near the brook.\n\n\u2018What are you doing there? How are you going to carry the water into the\nhouse?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018How? Dear me, that is easy enough! I shall just take the brook!\u2019\n\nAt these words the dragon\u2019s jaw dropped. This was the last thing that\nhad ever entered his head, for the brook had been as it was since the\ndays of his grandfather.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll tell you what!\u2019 he said. \u2018Let me carry your skins for you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Most certainly not,\u2019 answered Stan, going on with his digging, and the\ndragon, in dread lest he should fulfil his threat, tried what bribes\nwould do, and in the end had again to promise seven sacks of ducats\nbefore Stan would agree to leave the brook alone and let him carry the\nwater into the house.\n\nOn the third day the old mother sent Stan into the forest for wood, and,\nas usual, the dragon went with him.\n\nBefore you could count three he had pulled up more trees than Stan could\nhave cut down in a lifetime, and had arranged them neatly in rows. When\nthe dragon had finished, Stan began to look about him, and, choosing the\nbiggest of the trees, he climbed up it, and, breaking off a long rope of\nwild vine, bound the top of the tree to the one next it. And so he did\nto a whole line of trees.\n\n\u2018What are you doing there?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018You can see for yourself,\u2019 answered Stan, going quietly on with his\nwork.\n\n\u2018Why are you tying the trees together?\u2019\n\n\u2018Not to give myself unnecessary work; when I pull up one, all the others\nwill come up too.\u2019\n\n\u2018But how will you carry them home?\u2019\n\n\u2018Dear me! don\u2019t you understand that I am going to take the whole forest\nback with me?\u2019 said Stan, tying two other trees as he spoke.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll tell you what,\u2019 cried the dragon, trembling with fear at the\nthought of such a thing; \u2018let me carry the wood for you, and you shall\nhave seven times seven sacks full of ducats.\u2019\n\n\u2018You are a good fellow, and I agree to your proposal,\u2019 answered Stan,\nand the dragon carried the wood.\n\nNow the three days\u2019 service which were to be reckoned as a year were\nover, and the only thing that disturbed Stan was, how to get all those\nducats back to his home!\n\nIn the evening the dragon and his mother had a long talk, but Stan heard\nevery word through a crack in the ceiling.\n\n\u2018Woe be to us, mother,\u2019 said the dragon; \u2018this man will soon get us into\nhis power. Give him his money, and let us be rid of him.\u2019\n\nBut the old mother was fond of money, and did not like this.\n\n\u2018Listen to me,\u2019 said she; \u2018you must murder him this very night.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am afraid,\u2019 answered he.\n\n\u2018There is nothing to fear,\u2019 replied the old mother. \u2018When he is asleep\ntake the club, and hit him on the head with it. It is easily done.\u2019\n\nAnd so it would have been, had not Stan heard all about it. And when the\ndragon and his mother had put out their lights, he took the pigs\u2019 trough\nand filled it with earth, and placed it in his bed, and covered it with\nclothes. Then he hid himself underneath, and began to snore loudly.\n\nVery soon the dragon stole softly into the room, and gave a tremendous\nblow on the spot where Stan\u2019s head should have been. Stan groaned loudly\nfrom under the bed, and the dragon went away as softly as he had come.\nDirectly he had closed the door, Stan lifted out the pigs\u2019 trough, and\nlay down himself, after making everything clean and tidy, but he was\nwise enough not to shut his eyes that night.\n\nThe next morning he came into the room when the dragon and his mother\nwere having their breakfast.\n\n\u2018Good morning,\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018Good morning. How did you sleep?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, very well, but I dreamed that a flea had bitten me, and I seem to\nfeel it still.\u2019\n\nThe dragon and his mother looked at each other. \u2018Do you hear that?\u2019\nwhispered he. \u2018He talks of a flea. I broke my club on his head.\u2019\n\nThis time the mother grew as frightened as her son. There was nothing to\nbe done with a man like this, and she made all haste to fill the sacks\nwith ducats, so as to get rid of Stan as soon as possible. But on his\nside Stan was trembling like an aspen, as he could not lift even one\nsack from the ground. So he stood still and looked at them.\n\n\u2018What are you standing there for?\u2019 asked the dragon.\n\n\u2018Oh, I was standing here because it has just occurred to me that I\nshould like to stay in your service for another year. I am ashamed that\nwhen I get home they should see I have brought back so little. I know\nthat they will cry out, \u201cJust look at Stan Bolovan, who in one year has\ngrown as weak as a dragon.\u201d\u2019\n\nHere a shriek of dismay was heard both from the dragon and his mother,\nwho declared they would give him seven or even seven times seven the\nnumber of sacks if he would only go away.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll tell you what!\u2019 said Stan at last. \u2018I see you don\u2019t want me to\nstay, and I should be very sorry to make myself disagreeable. I will\ngo at once, but only on condition that you shall carry the money home\nyourself, so that I may not be put to shame before my friends.\u2019\n\nThe words were hardly out of his mouth before the dragon had snatched up\nthe sacks and piled them on his back. Then he and Stan set forth.\n\nThe way, though really not far, was yet too long for Stan, but at length\nhe heard his children\u2019s voices, and stopped short. He did not wish the\ndragon to know where he lived, lest some day he should come to take back\nhis treasure. Was there nothing he could say to get rid of the monster?\nSuddenly an idea came into Stan\u2019s head, and he turned round.\n\n\u2018I hardly know what to do,\u2019 said he. \u2018I have a hundred children, and I\nam afraid they may do you harm, as they are always ready for a fight.\nHowever, I will do my best to protect you.\u2019\n\nA hundred children! That was indeed no joke! The dragon let fall the\nsacks from terror, and then picked them up again. But the children, who\nhad had nothing to eat since their father had left them, came rushing\ntowards him, waving knives in their right hands and forks in their left,\nand crying, \u2018Give us dragon\u2019s flesh; we will have dragon\u2019s flesh.\u2019\n\nAt this dreadful sight the dragon waited no longer: he flung down his\nsacks where he stood and took flight as fast as he could, so terrified\nat the fate that awaited him that from that day he has never dared to\nshow his face in the world again.\n\n(Adapted from Rumanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO FROGS\n\nOnce upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of\nwhom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast,\nwhile the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the\ncity of Kioto. At such a great distance apart, they had never even heard\nof each other; but, funnily enough, the idea came into both their heads\nat once that they should like to see a little of the world, and the\nfrog who lived at Kioto wanted to visit Osaka, and the frog who lived at\nOsaka wished to go to Kioto, where the great Mikado had his palace.\n\nSo one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that\nled from Kioto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the other.\nThe journey was more tiring than they expected, for they did not know\nmuch about travelling, and half way between the two towns there arose a\nmountain which had to be climbed. It took them a long time and a great\nmany hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and what was\nthe surprise of each to see another frog before him! They looked at each\nother for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation,\nexplaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. It was\ndelightful to find that they both felt the same wish--to learn a little\nmore of their native country--and as there was no sort of hurry they\nstretched themselves out in a cool, damp place, and agreed that they\nwould have a good rest before they parted to go their ways.\n\n\u2018What a pity we are not bigger,\u2019 said the Osaka frog; \u2018for then we could\nsee both towns from here, and tell if it is worth our while going on.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, that is easily managed,\u2019 returned the Kioto frog. \u2018We have only got\nto stand up on our hind legs, and hold on to each other, and then we can\neach look at the town he is travelling to.\u2019\n\nThis idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and\nput his front paws on the shoulders of his friend, who had risen also.\nThere they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could, and\nholding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down. The Kioto\nfrog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his nose\ntowards Kioto; but the foolish things forgot that when they stood up\ntheir great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their\nnoses might point to the places to which they wanted to go their eyes\nbeheld the places from which they had come.\n\n\u2018Dear me!\u2019 cried the Osaka frog, \u2018Kioto is exactly like Osaka. It is\ncertainly not worth such a long journey. I shall go home!\u2019\n\n\u2018If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kioto I should\nnever have travelled all this way,\u2019 exclaimed the frog from Kioto, and\nas he spoke he took his hands from his friend\u2019s shoulders, and they both\nfell down on the grass. Then they took a polite farewell of each other,\nand set off for home again, and to the end of their lives they believed\nthat Osaka and Kioto, which are as different to look at as two towns can\nbe, were as like as two peas.\n\n(Japanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF A GAZELLE\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a man who wasted all his money, and grew\nso poor that his only food was a few grains of corn, which he scratched\nlike a fowl from out of a dust-heap.\n\nOne day he was scratching as usual among a dust-heap in the street,\nhoping to find something for breakfast, when his eye fell upon a small\nsilver coin, called an eighth, which he greedily snatched up. \u2018Now I can\nhave a proper meal,\u2019 he thought, and after drinking some water at a well\nhe lay down and slept so long that it was sunrise before he woke again.\nThen he jumped up and returned to the dust-heap. \u2018For who knows,\u2019 he\nsaid to himself, \u2018whether I may not have some good luck again.\u2019\n\nAs he was walking down the road, he saw a man coming towards him,\ncarrying a cage made of twigs. \u2018Hi! you fellow!\u2019 called he, \u2018what have\nyou got inside there?\u2019\n\n\u2018Gazelles,\u2019 replied the man.\n\n\u2018Bring them here, for I should like to see them.\u2019\n\nAs he spoke, some men who were standing by began to laugh, saying to the\nman with the cage: \u2018You had better take care how you bargain with him,\nfor he has nothing at all except what he picks up from a dust-heap, and\nif he can\u2019t feed himself, will he be able to feed a gazelle?\u2019\n\nBut the man with the cage made answer: \u2018Since I started from my home in\nthe country, fifty people at the least have called me to show them\nmy gazelles, and was there one among them who cared to buy? It is the\ncustom for a trader in merchandise to be summoned hither and thither,\nand who knows where one may find a buyer?\u2019 And he took up his cage and\nwent towards the scratcher of dust-heaps, and the men went with him.\n\n\u2018What do you ask for your gazelles?\u2019 said the beggar. \u2018Will you let me\nhave one for an eighth?\u2019\n\nAnd the man with the cage took out a gazelle, and held it out, saying,\n\u2018Take this one, master!\u2019\n\nAnd the beggar took it and carried it to the dust-heap, where he\nscratched carefully till he found a few grains of corn, which he divided\nwith his gazelle. This he did night and morning, till five days went by.\n\nThen, as he slept, the gazelle woke him, saying, \u2018Master.\u2019\n\nAnd the man answered, \u2018How is it that I see a wonder?\u2019\n\n\u2018What wonder?\u2019 asked the gazelle.\n\n\u2018Why, that you, a gazelle, should be able to speak, for, from the\nbeginning, my father and mother and all the people that are in the world\nhave never told me of a talking gazelle.\u2019\n\n\u2018Never mind that,\u2019 said the gazelle, \u2018but listen to what I say! First,\nI took you for my master. Second, you gave for me all you had in the\nworld. I cannot run away from you, but give me, I pray you, leave to go\nevery morning and seek food for myself, and every evening I will come\nback to you. What you find in the dust-heaps is not enough for both of\nus.\u2019\n\n\u2018Go, then,\u2019 answered the master; and the gazelle went.\n\nWhen the sun had set, the gazelle came back, and the poor man was very\nglad, and they lay down and slept side by side.\n\nIn the morning it said to him, \u2018I am going away to feed.\u2019\n\nAnd the man replied, \u2018Go, my son,\u2019 but he felt very lonely without\nhis gazelle, and set out sooner than usual for the dust-heap where he\ngenerally found most corn. And glad he was when the evening came, and he\ncould return home. He lay on the grass chewing tobacco, when the gazelle\ntrotted up.\n\n\u2018Good evening, my master; how have you fared all day? I have been\nresting in the shade in a place where there is sweet grass when I am\nhungry, and fresh water when I am thirsty, and a soft breeze to fan me\nin the heat. It is far away in the forest, and no one knows of it but\nme, and to-morrow I shall go again.\u2019\n\nSo for five days the gazelle set off at daybreak for this cool spot, but\non the fifth day it came to a place where the grass was bitter, and it\ndid not like it, and scratched, hoping to tear away the bad blades. But,\ninstead, it saw something lying in the earth, which turned out to be a\ndiamond, very large and bright. \u2018Oh, ho!\u2019 said the gazelle to itself,\n\u2018perhaps now I can do something for my master who bought me with all the\nmoney he had; but I must be careful or they will say he has stolen it.\nI had better take it myself to some great rich man, and see what it will\ndo for me.\u2019\n\nDirectly the gazelle had come to this conclusion, it picked up the\ndiamond in its mouth, and went on and on and on through the forest, but\nfound no place where a rich man was likely to dwell. For two more days\nit ran, from dawn to dark, till at last early one morning it caught\nsight of a large town, which gave it fresh courage.\n\nThe people were standing about the streets doing their marketing, when\nthe gazelle bounded past, the diamond flashing as it ran. They called\nafter it, but it took no notice till it reached the palace, where the\nsultan was sitting, enjoying the cool air. And the gazelle galloped up\nto him, and laid the diamond at his feet.\n\nThe sultan looked first at the diamond and next at the gazelle; then he\nordered his attendants to bring cushions and a carpet, that the gazelle\nmight rest itself after its long journey. And he likewise ordered milk\nto be brought, and rice, that it might eat and drink and be refreshed.\n\nAnd when the gazelle was rested, the sultan said to it: \u2018Give me the\nnews you have come with.\u2019\n\nAnd the gazelle answered: \u2018I am come with this diamond, which is\na pledge from my master the Sultan Darai. He has heard you have a\ndaughter, and sends you this small token, and begs you will give her to\nhim to wife.\u2019\n\nAnd the sultan said: \u2018I am content. The wife is his wife, the family is\nhis family, the slave is his slave. Let him come to me empty-handed, I\nam content.\u2019\n\nWhen the sultan had ended, the gazelle rose, and said: \u2018Master,\nfarewell; I go back to our town, and in eight days, or it may be in\neleven days, we shall arrive as your guests.\u2019\n\nAnd the sultan answered: \u2018So let it be.\u2019\n\nAll this time the poor man far away had been mourning and weeping for\nhis gazelle, which he thought had run away from him for ever.\n\nAnd when it came in at the door he rushed to embrace it with such joy\nthat he would not allow it a chance to speak.\n\n\u2018Be still, master, and don\u2019t cry,\u2019 said the gazelle at last; \u2018let us\nsleep now, and in the morning, when I go, follow me.\u2019\n\nWith the first ray of dawn they got up and went into the forest, and on\nthe fifth day, as they were resting near a stream, the gazelle gave\nits master a sound beating, and then bade him stay where he was till it\nreturned. And the gazelle ran off, and about ten o\u2019clock it came near\nthe sultan\u2019s palace, where the road was all lined with soldiers who were\nthere to do honour to Sultan Darai. And directly they caught sight of\nthe gazelle in the distance one of the soldiers ran on and said, \u2018Sultan\nDarai is coming: I have seen the gazelle.\u2019\n\nThen the sultan rose up, and called his whole court to follow him,\nand went out to meet the gazelle, who, bounding up to him, gave him\ngreeting. The sultan answered politely, and inquired where it had left\nits master, whom it had promised to bring back.\n\n\u2018Alas!\u2019 replied the gazelle, \u2018he is lying in the forest, for on our way\nhere we were met by robbers, who, after beating and robbing him, took\naway all his clothes. And he is now hiding under a bush, lest a passing\nstranger might see him.\u2019\n\nThe sultan, on hearing what had happened to his future son-in-law,\nturned his horse and rode to the palace, and bade a groom to harness\nthe best horse in the stable and order a woman slave to bring a bag of\nclothes, such as a man might want, out of the chest; and he chose out\na tunic and a turban and a sash for the waist, and fetched himself a\ngold-hilted sword, and a dagger and a pair of sandals, and a stick of\nsweet-smelling wood.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said he to the gazelle, \u2018take these things with the soldiers to\nthe sultan, that he may be able to come.\u2019\n\nAnd the gazelle answered: \u2018Can I take those soldiers to go and put my\nmaster to shame as he lies there naked? I am enough by myself, my lord.\u2019\n\n\u2018How will you be enough,\u2019 asked the sultan, \u2018to manage this horse and\nall these clothes?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, that is easily done,\u2019 replied the gazelle. \u2018Fasten the horse to my\nneck and tie the clothes to the back of the horse, and be sure they are\nfixed firmly, as I shall go faster than he does.\u2019\n\nEverything was carried out as the gazelle had ordered, and when all was\nready it said to the sultan: \u2018Farewell, my lord, I am going.\u2019\n\n\u2018Farewell, gazelle,\u2019 answered the sultan; \u2018when shall we see you again?\u2019\n\n\u2018To-morrow about five,\u2019 replied the gazelle, and, giving a tug to the\nhorse\u2019s rein, they set off at a gallop.\n\nThe sultan watched them till they were out of sight: then he said to his\nattendants, \u2018That gazelle comes from gentle hands, from the house of a\nsultan, and that is what makes it so different from other gazelles.\u2019 And\nin the eyes of the sultan the gazelle became a person of consequence.\n\nMeanwhile the gazelle ran on till it came to the place where its master\nwas seated, and his heart laughed when he saw the gazelle.\n\nAnd the gazelle said to him, \u2018Get up, my master, and bathe in the\nstream!\u2019 and when the man had bathed it said again, \u2018Now rub yourself\nwell with earth, and rub your teeth well with sand to make them bright\nand shining.\u2019 And when this was done it said, \u2018The sun has gone down\nbehind the hills; it is time for us to go\u2019: so it went and brought the\nclothes from the back of the horse, and the man put them on and was well\npleased.\n\n\u2018Master!\u2019 said the gazelle when the man was ready, \u2018be sure that where\nwe are going you keep silence, except for giving greetings and asking\nfor news. Leave all the talking to me. I have provided you with a wife,\nand have made her presents of clothes and turbans and rare and precious\nthings, so it is needless for you to speak.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very good, I will be silent,\u2019 replied the man as he mounted the horse.\n\u2018You have given all this; it is you who are the master, and I who am the\nslave, and I will obey you in all things.\u2019\n\n\u2018So they went their way, and they went and went till the gazelle saw in\nthe distance the palace of the sultan. Then it said, \u2018Master, that is\nthe house we are going to, and you are not a poor man any longer: even\nyour name is new.\u2019\n\n\u2018What IS my name, eh, my father?\u2019 asked the man.\n\n\u2018Sultan Darai,\u2019 said the gazelle.\n\nVery soon some soldiers came to meet them, while others ran off to tell\nthe sultan of their approach. And the sultan set off at once, and the\nviziers and the emirs, and the judges, and the rich men of the city, all\nfollowed him.\n\nDirectly the gazelle saw them coming, it said to its master: \u2018Your\nfather-in-law is coming to meet you; that is he in the middle, wearing a\nmantle of sky-blue. Get off your horse and go to greet him.\u2019\n\nAnd Sultan Darai leapt from his horse, and so did the other sultan, and\nthey gave their hands to one another and kissed each other, and went\ntogether into the palace.\n\nThe next morning the gazelle went to the rooms of the sultan, and said\nto him: \u2018My lord, we want you to marry us our wife, for the soul of\nSultan Darai is eager.\u2019\n\n\u2018The wife is ready, so call the priest,\u2019 answered he, and when the\nceremony was over a cannon was fired and music was played, and within\nthe palace there was feasting.\n\n\u2018Master,\u2019 said the gazelle the following morning, \u2018I am setting out on\na journey, and I shall not be back for seven days, and perhaps not then.\nBut be careful not to leave the house till I come.\u2019\n\nAnd the master answered, \u2018I will not leave the house.\u2019\n\nAnd it went to the sultan of the country and said to him: \u2018My lord,\nSultan Darai has sent me to his town to get the house in order. It will\ntake me seven days, and if I am not back in seven days he will not leave\nthe palace till I return.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very good,\u2019 said the sultan.\n\nAnd it went and it went through the forest and wilderness, till it\narrived at a town full of fine houses. At the end of the chief road was\na great house, beautiful exceedingly, built of sapphire and turquoise\nand marbles. \u2018That,\u2019 thought the gazelle, \u2018is the house for my master,\nand I will call up my courage and go and look at the people who are\nin it, if any people there are. For in this town have I as yet seen no\npeople. If I die, I die, and if I live, I live. Here can I think of no\nplan, so if anything is to kill me, it will kill me.\u2019\n\nThen it knocked twice at the door, and cried \u2018Open,\u2019 but no one\nanswered. And it cried again, and a voice replied:\n\n\u2018Who are you that are crying \u201cOpen\u201d?\u2019\n\nAnd the gazelle said, \u2018It is I, great mistress, your grandchild.\u2019\n\n\u2018If you are my grandchild,\u2019 returned the voice, \u2018go back whence you\ncame. Don\u2019t come and die here, and bring me to my death as well.\u2019\n\n\u2018Open, mistress, I entreat, I have something to say to you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Grandchild,\u2019 replied she, \u2018I fear to put your life in danger, and my\nown too.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, mistress, my life will not be lost, nor yours either; open, I pray\nyou.\u2019 So she opened the door.\n\n\u2018What is the news where you come from, my grandson,\u2019 asked she.\n\n\u2018Great lady, where I come from it is well, and with you it is well.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah, my son, here it is not well at all. If you seek a way to die, or if\nyou have not yet seen death, then is to-day the day for you to know what\ndying is.\u2019\n\n\u2018If I am to know it, I shall know it,\u2019 replied the gazelle; \u2018but tell\nme, who is the lord of this house?\u2019\n\nAnd she said: \u2018Ah, father! in this house is much wealth, and much\npeople, and much food, and many horses. And the lord of it all is an\nexceeding great and wonderful snake.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh!\u2019 cried the gazelle when he heard this; \u2018tell me how I can get at\nthe snake to kill him?\u2019\n\n\u2018My son,\u2019 returned the old woman, \u2018do not say words like these; you risk\nboth our lives. He has put me here all by myself, and I have to cook his\nfood. When the great snake is coming there springs up a wind, and blows\nthe dust about, and this goes on till the great snake glides into the\ncourtyard and calls for his dinner, which must always be ready for him\nin those big pots. He eats till he has had enough, and then drinks a\nwhole tankful of water. After that he goes away. Every second day he\ncomes, when the sun is over the house. And he has seven heads. How then\ncan you be a match for him, my son?\u2019\n\n\u2018Mind your own business, mother,\u2019 answered the gazelle, \u2018and don\u2019t mind\nother people\u2019s! Has this snake a sword?\u2019\n\n\u2018He has a sword, and a sharp one too. It cuts like a dash of lightning.\u2019\n\n\u2018Give it to me, mother!\u2019 said the gazelle, and she unhooked the sword\nfrom the wall, as she was bidden. \u2018You must be quick,\u2019 she said, \u2018for\nhe may be here at any moment. Hark! is not that the wind rising? He has\ncome!\u2019\n\nThey were silent, but the old woman peeped from behind a curtain, and\nsaw the snake busy at the pots which she had placed ready for him in\nthe courtyard. And after he had done eating and drinking he came to the\ndoor:\n\n\u2018You old body!\u2019 he cried; \u2018what smell is that I smell inside that is not\nthe smell of every day?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, master!\u2019 answered she, \u2018I am alone, as I always am! But to-day,\nafter many days, I have sprinkled fresh scent all over me, and it is\nthat which you smell. What else could it be, master?\u2019\n\nAll this time the gazelle had been standing close to the door, holding\nthe sword in one of its front paws. And as the snake put one of\nhis heads through the hole that he had made so as to get in and out\ncomfortably, it cut it of so clean that the snake really did not feel\nit. The second blow was not quite so straight, for the snake said to\nhimself, \u2018Who is that who is trying to scratch me?\u2019 and stretched out\nhis third head to see; but no sooner was the neck through the hole than\nthe head went rolling to join the rest.\n\nWhen six of his heads were gone the snake lashed his tail with such fury\nthat the gazelle and the old woman could not see each other for the dust\nhe made. And the gazelle said to him, \u2018You have climbed all sorts of\ntrees, but this you can\u2019t climb,\u2019 and as the seventh head came darting\nthrough it went rolling to join the rest.\n\nThen the sword fell rattling on the ground, for the gazelle had fainted.\n\nThe old woman shrieked with delight when she saw her enemy was dead, and\nran to bring water to the gazelle, and fanned it, and put it where the\nwind could blow on it, till it grew better and gave a sneeze. And\nthe heart of the old woman was glad, and she gave it more water, till\nby-and-by the gazelle got up.\n\n\u2018Show me this house,\u2019 it said, \u2018from beginning to end, from top to\nbottom, from inside to out.\u2019\n\nSo she arose and showed the gazelle rooms full of gold and precious\nthings, and other rooms full of slaves. \u2018They are all yours, goods and\nslaves,\u2019 said she.\n\nBut the gazelle answered, \u2018You must keep them safe till I call my\nmaster.\u2019\n\nFor two days it lay and rested in the house, and fed on milk and rice,\nand on the third day it bade the old woman farewell and started back to\nits master.\n\nAnd when he heard that the gazelle was at the door he felt like a man\nwho has found the time when all prayers are granted, and he rose and\nkissed it, saying: \u2018My father, you have been a long time; you have left\nsorrow with me. I cannot eat, I cannot drink, I cannot laugh; my heart\nfelt no smile at anything, because of thinking of you.\u2019\n\nAnd the gazelle answered: \u2018I am well, and where I come from it is well,\nand I wish that after four days you would take your wife and go home.\u2019\n\nAnd he said: \u2018It is for you to speak. Where you go, I will follow.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I shall go to your father-in-law and tell him this news.\u2019\n\n\u2018Go, my son.\u2019\n\nSo the gazelle went to the father-in-law and said: \u2018I am sent by my\nmaster to come and tell you that after four days he will go away with\nhis wife to his own home.\u2019\n\n\u2018Must he really go so quickly? We have not yet sat much together, I\nand Sultan Darai, nor have we yet talked much together, nor have we yet\nridden out together, nor have we eaten together; yet it is fourteen days\nsince he came.\u2019\n\nBut the gazelle replied: \u2018My lord, you cannot help it, for he wishes to\ngo home, and nothing will stop him.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very good,\u2019 said the sultan, and he called all the people who were in\nthe town, and commanded that the day his daughter left the palace ladies\nand guards were to attend her on her way.\n\nAnd at the end of four days a great company of ladies and slaves and\nhorses went forth to escort the wife of Sultan Darai to her new home.\nThey rode all day, and when the sun sank behind the hills they rested,\nand ate of the food the gazelle gave them, and lay down to sleep. And\nthey journeyed on for many days, and they all, nobles and slaves, loved\nthe gazelle with a great love--more than they loved the Sultan Darai.\n\nAt last one day signs of houses appeared, far, far off. And those who\nsaw cried out, \u2018Gazelle!\u2019\n\nAnd it answered, \u2018Ah, my mistresses, that is the house of Sultan Darai.\u2019\n\nAt this news the women rejoiced much, and the slaves rejoiced much, and\nin the space of two hours they came to the gates, and the gazelle bade\nthem all stay behind, and it went on to the house with Sultan Darai.\n\nWhen the old woman saw them coming through the courtyard she jumped and\nshouted for joy, and as the gazelle drew near she seized it in her arms,\nand kissed it. The gazelle did not like this, and said to her: \u2018Old\nwoman, leave me alone; the one to be carried is my master, and the one\nto be kissed is my master.\u2019\n\nAnd she answered, \u2018Forgive me, my son. I did not know this was our\nmaster,\u2019 and she threw open all the doors so that the master might see\neverything that the rooms and storehouses contained. Sultan Darai looked\nabout him, and at length he said:\n\n\u2018Unfasten those horses that are tied up, and let loose those people that\nare bound. And let some sweep, and some spread the beds, and some cook,\nand some draw water, and some come out and receive the mistress.\u2019\n\nAnd when the sultana and her ladies and her slaves entered the house,\nand saw the rich stuffs it was hung with, and the beautiful rice that\nwas prepared for them to eat, they cried: \u2018Ah, you gazelle, we have seen\ngreat houses, we have seen people, we have heard of things. But this\nhouse, and you, such as you are, we have never seen or heard of.\u2019\n\nAfter a few days, the ladies said they wished to go home again. The\ngazelle begged them hard to stay, but finding they would not, it brought\nmany gifts, and gave some to the ladies and some to their slaves. And\nthey all thought the gazelle greater a thousand times than its master,\nSultan Darai.\n\nThe gazelle and its master remained in the house many weeks, and one day\nit said to the old woman, \u2018I came with my master to this place, and I\nhave done many things for my master, good things, and till to-day he has\nnever asked me: \u201cWell, my gazelle, how did you get this house? Who is\nthe owner of it? And this town, were there no people in it?\u201d All good\nthings I have done for the master, and he has not one day done me any\ngood thing. But people say, \u201cIf you want to do any one good, don\u2019t do\nhim good only, do him evil also, and there will be peace between you.\u201d\n So, mother, I have done: I want to see the favours I have done to my\nmaster, that he may do me the like.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good,\u2019 replied the old woman, and they went to bed.\n\nIn the morning, when light came, the gazelle was sick in its stomach and\nfeverish, and its legs ached. And it said \u2018Mother!\u2019\n\nAnd she answered, \u2018Here, my son?\u2019\n\nAnd it said, \u2018Go and tell my master upstairs the gazelle is very ill.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very good, my son; and if he should ask me what is the matter, what am\nI to say?\u2019\n\n\u2018Tell him all my body aches badly; I have no single part without pain.\u2019\n\nThe old woman went upstairs, and she found the mistress and master\nsitting on a couch of marble spread with soft cushions, and they asked\nher, \u2018Well, old woman, what do you want?\u2019\n\n\u2018To tell the master the gazelle is ill,\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018What is the matter?\u2019 asked the wife.\n\n\u2018All its body pains; there is no part without pain.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, what can I do? Make some gruel of red millet, and give to it.\u2019\n\nBut his wife stared and said: \u2018Oh, master, do you tell her to make\nthe gazelle gruel out of red millet, which a horse would not eat? Eh,\nmaster, that is not well.\u2019\n\nBut he answered, \u2018Oh, you are mad! Rice is only kept for people.\u2019\n\n\u2018Eh, master, this is not like a gazelle. It is the apple of your eye. If\nsand got into that, it would trouble you.\u2019\n\n\u2018My wife, your tongue is long,\u2019 and he left the room.\n\nThe old woman saw she had spoken vainly, and went back weeping to the\ngazelle. And when the gazelle saw her it said, \u2018Mother, what is it, and\nwhy do you cry? If it be good, give me the answer; and if it be bad,\ngive me the answer.\u2019\n\nBut still the old woman would not speak, and the gazelle prayed her to\nlet it know the words of the master. At last she said: \u2018I went upstairs\nand found the mistress and the master sitting on a couch, and he asked\nme what I wanted, and I told him that you, his slave, were ill. And his\nwife asked what was the matter, and I told her that there was not a\npart of your body without pain. And the master told me to take some\nred millet and make you gruel, but the mistress said, \u2018Eh, master, the\ngazelle is the apple of your eye; you have no child, this gazelle is\nlike your child; so this gazelle is not one to be done evil to. This\nis a gazelle in form, but not a gazelle in heart; he is in all things\nbetter than a gentleman, be he who he may.\u2019\n\nAnd he answered her, \u2018Silly chatterer, your words are many. I know its\nprice; I bought it for an eighth. What loss will it be to me?\u2019\n\nThe gazelle kept silence for a few moments. Then it said, \u2018The elders\nsaid, \u201cOne that does good like a mother,\u201d and I have done him good, and\nI have got this that the elders said. But go up again to the master, and\ntell him the gazelle is very ill, and it has not drunk the gruel of red\nmillet.\u2019\n\nSo the old woman returned, and found the master and the mistress\ndrinking coffee. And when he heard what the gazelle had said, he cried:\n\u2018Hold your peace, old woman, and stay your feet and close your eyes,\nand stop your ears with wax; and if the gazelle bids you come to me, say\nyour legs are bent, and you cannot walk; and if it begs you to listen,\nsay your ears are stopped with wax; and if it wishes to talk, reply that\nyour tongue has got a hook in it.\u2019\n\nThe heart of the old woman wept as she heard such words, because she saw\nthat when the gazelle first came to that town it was ready to sell its\nlife to buy wealth for its master. Then it happened to get both life and\nwealth, but now it had no honour with its master.\n\nAnd tears sprung likewise to the eyes of the sultan\u2019s wife, and she\nsaid, \u2018I am sorry for you, my husband, that you should deal so wickedly\nwith that gazelle\u2019; but he only answered, \u2018Old woman, pay no heed to the\ntalk of the mistress: tell it to perish out of the way. I cannot sleep,\nI cannot eat, I cannot drink, for the worry of that gazelle. Shall a\ncreature that I bought for an eighth trouble me from morning till night?\nNot so, old woman!\u2019\n\nThe old woman went downstairs, and there lay the gazelle, blood flowing\nfrom its nostrils. And she took it in her arms and said, \u2018My son, the\ngood you did is lost; there remains only patience.\u2019\n\nAnd it said, \u2018Mother, I shall die, for my soul is full of anger and\nbitterness. My face is ashamed, that I should have done good to my\nmaster, and that he should repay me with evil.\u2019 It paused for a moment,\nand then went on, \u2018Mother, of the goods that are in this house, what do\nI eat? I might have every day half a basinful, and would my master be\nany the poorer? But did not the elders say, \u201cHe that does good like a\nmother!\u201d\u2019\n\nAnd it said, \u2018Go and tell my master that the gazelle is nearer death\nthan life.\u2019\n\nSo she went, and spoke as the gazelle had bidden her; but he answered,\n\u2018I have told you to trouble me no more.\u2019\n\nBut his wife\u2019s heart was sore, and she said to him: \u2018Ah, master, what\nhas the gazelle done to you? How has he failed you? The things you do\nto him are not good, and you will draw on yourself the hatred of the\npeople. For this gazelle is loved by all, by small and great, by women\nand men. Ah, my husband! I thought you had great wisdom, and you have\nnot even a little!\u2019\n\nBut he answered, \u2018You are mad, my wife.\u2019\n\nThe old woman stayed no longer, and went back to the gazelle, followed\nsecretly by the mistress, who called a maidservant and bade her take\nsome milk and rice and cook it for the gazelle.\n\n\u2018Take also this cloth,\u2019 she said, \u2018to cover it with, and this pillow\nfor its head. And if the gazelle wants more, let it ask me, and not its\nmaster. And if it will, I will send it in a litter to my father, and he\nwill nurse it till it is well.\u2019\n\nAnd the maidservant did as her mistress bade her, and said what her\nmistress had told her to say, but the gazelle made no answer, but turned\nover on its side and died quietly.\n\nWhen the news spread abroad, there was much weeping among the people,\nand Sultan Darai arose in wrath, and cried, \u2018You weep for that gazelle\nas if you wept for me! And, after all, what is it but a gazelle, that I\nbought for an eighth?\u2019\n\nBut his wife answered, \u2018Master, we looked upon that gazelle as we looked\nupon you. It was the gazelle who came to ask me of my father, it was the\ngazelle who brought me from my father, and I was given in charge to the\ngazelle by my father.\u2019\n\nAnd when the people heard her they lifted up their voices and spoke:\n\n\u2018We never saw you, we saw the gazelle. It was the gazelle who met with\ntrouble here, it was the gazelle who met with rest here.\n\nSo, then, when such an one departs from this world we weep for\nourselves, we do not weep for the gazelle.\u2019\n\nAnd they said furthermore:\n\n\u2018The gazelle did you much good, and if anyone says he could have done\nmore for you he is a liar! Therefore, to us who have done you no good,\nwhat treatment will you give? The gazelle has died from bitterness of\nsoul, and you ordered your slaves to throw it into the well. Ah! leave\nus alone that we may weep.\u2019\n\nBut Sultan Darai would not heed their words, and the dead gazelle was\nthrown into the well.\n\nWhen the mistress heard of it, she sent three slaves, mounted on\ndonkeys, with a letter to her father the sultan, and when the sultan had\nread the letter he bowed his head and wept, like a man who had lost his\nmother. And he commanded horses to be saddled, and called the governor\nand the judges and all the rich men, and said:\n\n\u2018Come now with me; let us go and bury it.\u2019\n\nNight and day they travelled, till the sultan came to the well where the\ngazelle had been thrown. And it was a large well, built round a rock,\nwith room for many people; and the sultan entered, and the judges and\nthe rich men followed him. And when he saw the gazelle lying there he\nwept afresh, and took it in his arms and carried it away.\n\nWhen the three slaves went and told their mistress what the sultan had\ndone, and how all the people were weeping, she answered:\n\n\u2018I too have eaten no food, neither have I drunk water, since the day the\ngazelle died. I have not spoken, and I have not laughed.\u2019\n\nThe sultan took the gazelle and buried it, and ordered the people to\nwear mourning for it, so there was great mourning throughout the city.\n\nNow after the days of mourning were at an end, the wife was sleeping at\nher husband\u2019s side, and in her sleep she dreamed that she was once more\nin her father\u2019s house, and when she woke up it was no dream.\n\nAnd the man dreamed that he was on the dust-heap, scratching. And when\nhe woke, behold! that also was no dream, but the truth.\n\n(Swahili Tales.)\n\n\n\n\nHOW A FISH SWAM IN THE AIR AND A HARE IN THE WATER.\n\nOnce upon a time an old man and his wife lived together in a little\nvillage. They might have been happy if only the old woman had had the\nsense to hold her tongue at proper times. But anything which might\nhappen indoors, or any bit of news which her husband might bring in when\nhe had been anywhere, had to be told at once to the whole village, and\nthese tales were repeated and altered till it often happened that much\nmischief was made, and the old man\u2019s back paid for it.\n\nOne day, he drove to the forest. When he reached the edge of it he got\nout of his cart and walked beside it. Suddenly he stepped on such a soft\nspot that his foot sank in the earth.\n\n\u2018What can this be?\u2019 thought he. \u2018I\u2019ll dig a bit and see.\u2019\n\nSo he dug and dug, and at last he came on a little pot full of gold and\nsilver.\n\n\u2018Oh, what luck! Now, if only I knew how I could take this treasure home\nwith me----but I can never hope to hide it from my wife, and once\nshe knows of it she\u2019ll tell all the world, and then I shall get into\ntrouble.\u2019\n\nHe sat down and thought over the matter a long time, and at last he made\na plan. He covered up the pot again with earth and twigs, and drove\non into the town, where he bought a live pike and a live hare in the\nmarket.\n\nThen he drove back to the forest and hung the pike up at the very top\nof a tree, and tied up the hare in a fishing net and fastened it on the\nedge of a little stream, not troubling himself to think how unpleasant\nsuch a wet spot was likely to be to the hare.\n\nThen he got into his cart and trotted merrily home.\n\n\u2018Wife!\u2019 cried he, the moment he got indoors. \u2018You can\u2019t think what a\npiece of good luck has come our way.\u2019\n\n\u2018What, what, dear husband? Do tell me all about it at once.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, no, you\u2019ll just go off and tell everyone.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, indeed! How can you think such things! For shame! If you like I\nwill swear never to----\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, well! if you are really in earnest then, listen.\u2019\n\nAnd he whispered in her ear: \u2018I\u2019ve found a pot full of gold and silver\nin the forest! Hush!----\u2019\n\n\u2018And why didn\u2019t you bring it back?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because we\u2019ll drive there together and bring it carefully back between\nus.\u2019\n\nSo the man and his wife drove to the forest.\n\nAs they were driving along the man said:\n\n\u2018What strange things one hears, wife! I was told only the other day\nthat fish will now live and thrive in the tree tops and that some wild\nanimals spend their time in the water. Well! well! times are certainly\nchanged.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, you must be crazy, husband! Dear, dear, what nonsense people do\ntalk sometimes.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nonsense, indeed! Why, just look. Bless my soul, if there isn\u2019t a fish,\na real pike I do believe, up in that tree.\u2019\n\n\u2018Gracious!\u2019 cried his wife. \u2018How did a pike get there? It IS a pike--you\nneedn\u2019t attempt to say it\u2019s not. Can people have said true----\u2019\n\nBut the man only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and opened\nhis mouth and gaped as if he really could not believe his own eyes.\n\n\u2018What are you standing staring at there, stupid?\u2019 said his wife. \u2018Climb\nup the tree quick and catch the pike, and we\u2019ll cook it for dinner.\u2019\n\nThe man climbed up the tree and brought down the pike, and they drove\non.\n\nWhen they got near the stream he drew up.\n\n\u2018What are you staring at again?\u2019 asked his wife impatiently. \u2018Drive on,\ncan\u2019t you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, I seem to see something moving in that net I set. I must just go\nand see what it is.\u2019\n\nHe ran to it, and when he had looked in it he called to his wife:\n\n\u2018Just look! Here is actually a four-footed creature caught in the net. I\ndo believe it\u2019s a hare.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good heavens!\u2019 cried his wife. \u2018How did the hare get into your net? It\nIS a hare, so you needn\u2019t say it isn\u2019t. After all, people must have said\nthe truth----\u2019\n\nBut her husband only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as if he\ncould not believe his own eyes.\n\n\u2018Now what are you standing there for, stupid?\u2019 cried his wife. \u2018Take up\nthe hare. A nice fat hare is a dinner for a feast day.\u2019\n\nThe old man caught up the hare, and they drove on to the place where the\ntreasure was buried. They swept the twigs away, dug up the earth, took\nout the pot, and drove home again with it.\n\nAnd now the old couple had plenty of money and were cheery and\ncomfortable. But the wife was very foolish. Every day she asked a lot\nof people to dinner and feasted them, till her husband grew quite\nimpatient. He tried to reason with her, but she would not listen.\n\n\u2018You\u2019ve got no right to lecture me!\u2019 said she. \u2018We found the treasure\ntogether, and together we will spend it.\u2019\n\nHer husband took patience, but at length he said to her: \u2018You may do as\nyou please, but I sha\u2019n\u2019t give you another penny.\u2019\n\nThe old woman was very angry. \u2018Oh, what a good-for-nothing fellow to\nwant to spend all the money himself! But just wait a bit and see what I\nshall do.\u2019\n\nOff she went to the governor to complain of her husband.\n\n\u2018Oh, my lord, protect me from my husband! Ever since he found the\ntreasure there is no bearing him. He only eats and drinks, and won\u2019t\nwork, and he keeps all the money to himself.\u2019\n\nThe governor took pity on the woman, and ordered his chief secretary to\nlook into the matter.\n\nThe secretary called the elders of the village together, and went with\nthem to the man\u2019s house.\n\n\u2018The governor,\u2019 said he, \u2018desires you to give all that treasure you\nfound into my care.\u2019\n\nThe man shrugged his shoulders and said: \u2018What treasure? I know nothing\nabout a treasure.\u2019\n\n\u2018How? You know nothing? Why your wife has complained of you. Don\u2019t\nattempt to tell lies. If you don\u2019t hand over all the money at once you\nwill be tried for daring to raise treasure without giving due notice to\nthe governor about it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Pardon me, your excellency, but what sort of treasure was it supposed\nto have been? My wife must have dreamt of it, and you gentlemen have\nlistened to her nonsense.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nonsense, indeed,\u2019 broke in his wife. \u2018A kettle full of gold and\nsilver, do you call that nonsense?\u2019\n\n\u2018You are not in your right mind, dear wife. Sir, I beg your pardon. Ask\nher how it all happened, and if she convinces you I\u2019ll pay for it with\nmy life.\u2019\n\n\u2018This is how it all happened, Mr. Secretary,\u2019 cried the wife. \u2018We\nwere driving through the forest, and we saw a pike up in the top of a\ntree----\u2019\n\n\u2018What, a PIKE?\u2019 shouted the secretary. \u2018Do you think you may joke with\nme, pray?\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed, I\u2019m not joking, Mr. Secretary! I\u2019m speaking the bare truth.\u2019\n\n\u2018Now you see, gentlemen,\u2019 said her husband, \u2018how far you can trust her,\nwhen she chatters like this.\u2019\n\n\u2018Chatter, indeed? I!! Perhaps you have forgotten, too, how we found a\nlive hare in the river?\u2019\n\nEveryone roared with laughter; even the secretary smiled and stroked his\nbeard, and the man said:\n\n\u2018Come, come, wife, everyone is laughing at you. You see for yourself,\ngentlemen, how far you can believe her.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, indeed,\u2019 said the village elders, \u2018it is certainly the first time\nwe have heard that hares thrive in the water or fish among the tree\ntops.\u2019\n\nThe secretary could make nothing of it all, and drove back to the town.\nThe old woman was so laughed at that she had to hold her tongue and\nobey her husband ever after, and the man bought wares with part of the\ntreasure and moved into the town, where he opened a shop, and prospered,\nand spent the rest of his days in peace.\n\n\n\n\nTWO IN A SACK\n\nWhat a life that poor man led with his wife, to be sure! Not a day\npassed without her scolding him and calling him names, and indeed\nsometimes she would take the broom from behind the stove and beat him\nwith it. He had no peace or comfort at all, and really hardly knew how\nto bear it.\n\nOne day, when his wife had been particularly unkind and had beaten him\nblack and blue, he strolled slowly into the fields, and as he could not\nendure to be idle he spread out his nets.\n\nWhat kind of bird do you think he caught in his net? He caught a crane,\nand the crane said, \u2018Let me go free, and I\u2019ll show myself grateful.\u2019\n\nThe man answered, \u2018No, my dear fellow. I shall take you home, and then\nperhaps my wife won\u2019t scold me so much.\u2019\n\nSaid the crane: \u2018You had better come with me to my house,\u2019 and so they\nwent to the crane\u2019s house.\n\nWhen they got there, what do you think the crane took from the wall? He\ntook down a sack, and he said:\n\n\u2018Two out of a sack!\u2019\n\nInstantly two pretty lads sprang out of the sack. They brought in oak\ntables, which they spread with silken covers, and placed all sorts of\ndelicious dishes and refreshing drinks on them. The man had never seen\nanything so beautiful in his life, and he was delighted.\n\nThen the crane said to him, \u2018Now take this sack to your wife.\u2019\n\nThe man thanked him warmly, took the sack, and set out.\n\nHis home was a good long way off, and as it was growing dark, and he was\nfeeling tired, he stopped to rest at his cousin\u2019s house by the way.\n\nThe cousin had three daughters, who laid out a tempting supper, but the\nman would eat nothing, and said to his cousin, \u2018Your supper is bad.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, make the best of it,\u2019 said she, but the man only said: \u2018Clear\naway!\u2019 and taking out his sack he cried, as the crane had taught him:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack!\u2019\n\nAnd out came the two pretty boys, who quickly brought in the oak tables,\nspread the silken covers, and laid out all sorts of delicious dishes and\nrefreshing drinks.\n\nNever in their lives had the cousin and her daughters seen such a\nsupper, and they were delighted and astonished at it. But the cousin\nquietly made up her mind to steal the sack, so she called to her\ndaughters: \u2018Go quickly and heat the bathroom: I am sure our dear guest\nwould like to have a bath before he goes to bed.\u2019\n\nWhen the man was safe in the bathroom she told her daughters to make a\nsack exactly like his, as quickly as possible. Then she changed the two\nsacks, and hid the man\u2019s sack away.\n\nThe man enjoyed his bath, slept soundly, and set off early next morning,\ntaking what he believed to be the sack the crane had given him.\n\nAll the way home he felt in such good spirits that he sang and whistled\nas he walked through the wood, and never noticed how the birds were\ntwittering and laughing at him.\n\nAs soon as he saw his house he began to shout from a distance, \u2018Hallo!\nold woman! Come out and meet me!\u2019\n\nHis wife screamed back: \u2018You come here, and I\u2019ll give you a good\nthrashing with the poker!\u2019\n\nThe man walked into the house, hung his sack on a nail, and said, as the\ncrane had taught him:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack!\u2019\n\nBut not a soul came out of the sack.\n\nThen he said again, exactly as the crane had taught him:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack!\u2019\n\nHis wife, hearing him chattering goodness knows what, took up her wet\nbroom and swept the ground all about him.\n\nThe man took flight and rushed oft into the field, and there he found\nthe crane marching proudly about, and to him he told his tale.\n\n\u2018Come back to my house,\u2019 said the crane, and so they went to the crane\u2019s\nhouse, and as soon as they got there, what did the crane take down from\nthe wall? Why, he took down a sack, and he said:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack!\u2019\n\nAnd instantly two pretty lads sprang out of the sack, brought in oak\ntables, on which they laid silken covers, and spread all sorts of\ndelicious dishes and refreshing drinks on them.\n\n\u2018Take this sack,\u2019 said the crane.\n\nThe man thanked him heartily, took the sack, and went. He had a long\nway to walk, and as he presently got hungry, he said to the sack, as the\ncrane had taught him:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack!\u2019\n\nAnd instantly two rough men with thick sticks crept out of the bag and\nbegan to beat him well, crying as they did so:\n\n  \u2018Don\u2019t boast to your cousins of what you have got,\n         One--two--\n            Or you\u2019ll find you will catch it uncommonly hot,\n                        One--two--\u2019\n\nAnd they beat on till the man panted out:\n\n\u2018Two into the sack.\u2019\n\nThe words were hardly out of his mouth, when the two crept back into the\nsack.\n\nThen the man shouldered the sack, and went off straight to his cousin\u2019s\nhouse. He hung the sack up on a nail, and said: \u2018Please have the\nbathroom heated, cousin.\u2019\n\nThe cousin heated the bathroom, and the man went into it, but he neither\nwashed nor rubbed himself, he just sat there and waited.\n\nMeantime his cousin felt hungry, so she called her daughters, and all\nfour sat down to table. Then the mother said:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack.\u2019\n\nInstantly two rough men crept out of the sack, and began to beat the\ncousin as they cried:\n\n            \u2018Greedy pack!  Thievish pack!\n                  One--two--\n                      Give the peasant back his sack!\n                           One--two--\u2019\n\nAnd they went on beating till the woman called to her eldest daughter:\n\u2018Go and fetch your cousin from the bathroom. Tell him these two ruffians\nare beating me black and blue.\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve not finished rubbing myself yet,\u2019 said the peasant.\n\nAnd the two ruffians kept on beating as they sang:\n\n          \u2018Greedy pack!  Thievish pack!\n                  One--two--                     Give the peasant back his sack!\n\n                          One--two--\u2019\n\nThen the woman sent her second daughter and said: \u2018Quick, quick, get him\nto come to me.\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m just washing my head,\u2019 said the man.\n\nThen she sent the youngest girl, and he said: \u2018I\u2019ve not done drying\nmyself.\u2019\n\nAt last the woman could hold out no longer, and sent him the sack she\nhad stolen.\n\nNOW he had quite finished his bath, and as he left the bathroom he\ncried:\n\n\u2018Two into the sack.\u2019\n\nAnd the two crept back at once into the sack.\n\nThen the man took both sacks, the good and the bad one, and went away\nhome.\n\nWhen he was near the house he shouted: \u2018Hallo, old woman, come and meet\nme!\u2019\n\nHis wife only screamed out:\n\n\u2018You broomstick, come here! Your back shall pay for this.\u2019\n\nThe man went into the cottage, hung his sack on a nail, and said, as the\ncrane had taught him:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack.\u2019\n\nInstantly two pretty lads sprang out of the sack, brought in oak tables,\nlaid silken covers on them, and spread them with all sorts of delicious\ndishes and refreshing drinks.\n\nThe woman ate and drank, and praised her husband.\n\n\u2018Well, now, old man, I won\u2019t beat you any more,\u2019 said she.\n\nWhen they had done eating, the man carried off the good sack, and put\nit away in his store-room, but hung the bad sack up on the nail. Then he\nlounged up and down in the yard.\n\nMeantime his wife became thirsty. She looked with longing eyes at the\nsack, and at last she said, as her husband had done:\n\n\u2018Two out of the sack.\u2019\n\nAnd at once the two rogues with their big sticks crept out of the sack,\nand began to belabour her as they sang:\n\n          \u2018Would you beat your husband true?\n\n                Don\u2019t cry so!\n                    Now we\u2019ll beat you black and blue!\n                         Oh!  Oh!\u2019\n\nThe woman screamed out: \u2018Old man, old man! Come here, quick! Here are\ntwo ruffians pommelling me fit to break my bones.\u2019\n\nHer husband only strolled up and down and laughed, as he said: \u2018Yes,\nthey\u2019ll beat you well, old lady.\u2019\n\nAnd the two thumped away and sang again:\n\n          \u2018Blows will hurt, remember, crone,\n                We mean you well, we mean you well;\n                    In future leave the stick alone,\n\n                          For how it hurts, you now can tell,\n                                One--two--\u2019\n\nAt last her husband took pity on her, and cried:\n\n\u2018Two into the sack.\u2019\n\nHe had hardly said the words before they were back in the sack again.\n\nFrom this time the man and his wife lived so happily together that it\nwas a pleasure to see them, and so the story has an end.\n\n(From Russiche Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOUR\n\nLong, long ago an old couple lived in a village, and, as they had no\nchildren to love and care for, they gave all their affection to a little\ndog. He was a pretty little creature, and instead of growing spoilt and\ndisagreeable at not getting everything he wanted, as even children will\ndo sometimes, the dog was grateful to them for their kindness, and never\nleft their side, whether they were in the house or out of it.\n\nOne day the old man was working in his garden, with his dog, as usual,\nclose by. The morning was hot, and at last he put down his spade and\nwiped his wet forehead, noticing, as he did so, that the animal was\nsnuffling and scratching at a spot a little way off. There was nothing\nvery strange in this, as all dogs are fond of scratching, and he went\non quietly with his digging, when the dog ran up to his master, barking\nloudly, and back again to the place where he had been scratching.\nThis he did several times, till the old man wondered what could be the\nmatter, and, picking up the spade, followed where the dog led him.\nThe dog was so delighted at his success that he jumped round, barking\nloudly, till the noise brought the old woman out of the house.\n\nCurious to know if the dog had really found anything, the husband began\nto dig, and very soon the spade struck against something. He stooped\ndown and pulled out a large box, filled quite full with shining gold\npieces. The box was so heavy that the old woman had to help to carry it\nhome, and you may guess what a supper the dog had that night! Now that\nhe had made them rich, they gave him every day all that a dog likes best\nto eat, and the cushions on which he lay were fit for a prince.\n\nThe story of the dog and his treasure soon became known, and a neighbour\nwhose garden was next the old people\u2019s grew so envious of their good\nluck that he could neither eat nor sleep. As the dog had discovered a\ntreasure once, this foolish man thought he must be able to discover one\nalways, and begged the old couple to lend him their pet for a little\nwhile, so that he might be made rich also.\n\n\u2018How can you ask such a thing?\u2019 answered the old man indignantly.\n\n\u2018You know how much we love him, and that he is never out of our sight\nfor five minutes.\u2019\n\nBut the envious neighbour would not heed his words, and came daily with\nthe same request, till at last the old people, who could not bear to\nsay no to anyone, promised to lend the dog, just for a night or two.\nNo sooner did the man get hold of the dog than he turned him into the\ngarden, but the dog did nothing but race about, and the man was forced\nto wait with what patience he could.\n\nThe next morning the man opened the house door, and the dog bounded\njoyfully into the garden, and, running up to the foot of a tree, began\nto scratch wildly. The man called loudly to his wife to bring a spade,\nand followed the dog, as he longed to catch the first glimpse of the\nexpected treasure. But when he had dug up the ground, what did he find?\nWhy, nothing but a parcel of old bones, which smelt so badly that he\ncould not stay there a moment longer. And his heart was filled with rage\nagainst the dog who had played him this trick, and he seized a pickaxe\nand killed it on the spot, before he knew what he was doing. When he\nremembered that he would have to go with his story to the old man and\nhis wife he was rather frightened, but there was nothing to be gained\nby putting it off, so he pulled a very long face and went to his\nneighbour\u2019s garden.\n\n\u2018Your dog,\u2019 said he, pretending to weep, \u2018has suddenly fallen down dead,\nthough I took every care of him, and gave him everything he could wish\nfor. And I thought I had better come straight and tell you.\u2019\n\nWeeping bitterly, the old man went to fetch the body of his favourite,\nand brought it home and buried it under the fig-tree where he had found\nthe treasure. From morning till night he and his wife mourned over their\nloss, and nothing could comfort them.\n\nAt length, one night when he was asleep, he dreamt that the dog appeared\nto him and told him to cut down the fig-tree over his grave, and out of\nits wood to make a mortar. But when the old man woke and thought of his\ndream he did not feel at all inclined to cut down the tree, which bore\nwell every year, and consulted his wife about it. The woman did not\nhesitate a moment, and said that after what had happened before, the\ndog\u2019s advice must certainly be obeyed, so the tree was felled, and a\nbeautiful mortar made from it. And when the season came for the rice\ncrop to be gathered the mortar was taken down from its shelf, and the\ngrains placed in it for pounding, when, lo and behold! in a twinkling of\nan eye, they all turned into gold pieces. At the sight of all this gold\nthe hearts of the old people were glad, and once more they blessed their\nfaithful dog.\n\nBut it was not long before this story also came to the ears of their\nenvious neighbour, and he lost no time in going to the old people and\nasking if they happened to have a mortar which they could lend him. The\nold man did not at all like parting with his precious treasure, but he\nnever could say no, so the neighbour went off with the mortar under his\narm.\n\nThe moment he got into his own house he took a great handful of rice,\nand began to shell off the husks, with the help of his wife. But,\ninstead of the gold pieces for which they looked, the rice turned into\nberries with such a horrible smell that they were obliged to run away,\nafter smashing the mortar in a rage and setting fire to the bits.\n\nThe old people next door were naturally very much put out when they\nlearned the fate of their mortar, and were not at all comforted by the\nexplanations and excuses made by their neighbour. But that night the dog\nagain appeared in a dream to his master, and told him that he must go\nand collect the ashes of the burnt mortar and bring them home. Then,\nwhen he heard that the Daimio, or great lord to whom this part of the\ncountry belonged, was expected at the capital, he was to carry the ashes\nto the high road, through which the procession would have to pass. And\nas soon as it was in sight he was to climb up all the cherry-trees and\nsprinkle the ashes on them, and they would soon blossom as they had\nnever blossomed before.\n\nThis time the old man did not wait to consult his wife as to whether he\nwas to do what his dog had told him, but directly he got up he went to\nhis neighbour\u2019s house and collected the ashes of the burnt mortar. He\nput them carefully in a china vase, and carried it to the high road,\nSitting down on a seat till the Daimio should pass. The cherry-trees\nwere bare, for it was the season when small pots of them were sold to\nrich people, who kept them in hot places, so that they might blossom\nearly and decorate their rooms. As to the trees in the open air, no one\nwould ever think of looking for the tiniest bud for more than a month\nyet. The old man had not been waiting very long before he saw a cloud of\ndust in the far distance, and knew that it must be the procession of the\nDaimio. On they came, every man dressed in his finest clothes, and the\ncrowd that was lining the road bowed their faces to the ground as they\nwent by. Only the old man did not bow himself, and the great lord saw\nthis, and bade one of his courtiers, in anger, go and inquire why he had\ndisobeyed the ancient customs. But before the messenger could reach him\nthe old man had climbed the nearest tree and scattered his ashes far and\nwide, and in an instant the white flowers had flashed into life, and the\nheart of the Daimio rejoiced, and he gave rich presents to the old man,\nwhom he sent for to his castle.\n\nWe may be sure that in a very little while the envious neighbour had\nheard this also, and his bosom was filled with hate. He hastened to the\nplace where he had burned the mortar, collected a few of the ashes which\nthe old man had left behind, and took them to the road, hoping that\nhis luck might be as good as the old man\u2019s, or perhaps even better.\nHis heart beat with pleasure when he caught the first glimpses of the\nDaimio\u2019s train, and he held himself ready for the right moment. As the\nDaimio drew near he flung a great handful of ashes over the trees, but\nno buds or flowers followed the action: instead, the ashes were all\nblown back into the eyes of the Daimio and his warriors, till they cried\nout from pain. Then the prince ordered the evil-doer to be seized and\nbound and thrown into prison, where he was kept for many months. By the\ntime he was set free everybody in his native village had found out his\nwickedness, and they would not let him live there any longer; and as he\nwould not leave off his evil ways he soon went from bad to worse, and\ncame to a miserable end.\n\n(Japanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRY OF THE DAWN\n\nOnce upon a time what should happen DID happen; and if it had not\nhappened this tale would never have been told.\n\nThere was once an emperor, very great and mighty, and he ruled over an\nempire so large that no one knew where it began and where it ended. But\nif nobody could tell the exact extent of his sovereignty everybody was\naware that the emperor\u2019s right eye laughed, while his left eye wept.\nOne or two men of valour had the courage to go and ask him the reason of\nthis strange fact, but he only laughed and said nothing; and the reason\nof the deadly enmity between his two eyes was a secret only known to the\nmonarch himself.\n\nAnd all the while the emperor\u2019s sons were growing up. And such sons! All\nthree like the morning stars in the sky!\n\nFlorea, the eldest, was so tall and broad-shouldered that no man in the\nkingdom could approach him.\n\nCostan, the second, was quite different. Small of stature, and slightly\nbuilt, he had a strong arm and stronger wrist.\n\nPetru, the third and youngest, was tall and thin, more like a girl than\na boy. He spoke very little, but laughed and sang, sang and laughed,\nfrom morning till night. He was very seldom serious, but then he had a\nway when he was thinking of stroking his hair over his forehead, which\nmade him look old enough to sit in his father\u2019s council!\n\n\u2018You are grown up, Florea,\u2019 said Petru one day to his eldest brother;\n\u2018do go and ask father why one eye laughs and the other weeps.\u2019\n\nBut Florea would not go. He had learnt by experience that this question\nalways put the emperor in a rage.\n\nPetru next went to Costan, but did not succeed any better with him.\n\n\u2018Well, well, as everyone else is afraid, I suppose I must do it myself,\u2019\nobserved Petru at length. No sooner said than done; the boy went\nstraight to his father and put his question.\n\n\u2018May you go blind!\u2019 exclaimed the emperor in wrath; \u2018what business is it\nof yours?\u2019 and boxed Petru\u2019s ears soundly.\n\nPetru returned to his brothers, and told them what had befallen him; but\nnot long after it struck him that his father\u2019s left eye seemed to weep\nless, and the right to laugh more.\n\n\u2018I wonder if it has anything to do with my question,\u2019 thought he.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll try again! After all, what do two boxes on the ear matter?\u2019\n\nSo he put his question for the second time, and had the same answer;\nbut the left eye only wept now and then, while the right eye looked ten\nyears younger.\n\n\u2018It really MUST be true,\u2019 thought Petru. \u2018Now I know what I have to do.\nI shall have to go on putting that question, and getting boxes on the\near, till both eyes laugh together.\u2019\n\nNo sooner said than done. Petru never, never forswore himself.\n\n\u2018Petru, my dear boy,\u2019 cried the emperor, both his eyes laughing\ntogether, \u2018I see you have got this on the brain. Well, I will let you\ninto the secret. My right eye laughs when I look at my three sons, and\nsee how strong and handsome you all are, and the other eye weeps\nbecause I fear that after I die you will not be able to keep the empire\ntogether, and to protect it from its enemies. But if you can bring me\nwater from the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn, to bathe my eyes, then\nthey will laugh for evermore; for I shall know that my sons are brave\nenough to overcome any foe.\u2019\n\nThus spoke the emperor, and Petru picked up his hat and went to find his\nbrothers.\n\nThe three young men took counsel together, and talked the subject well\nover, as brothers should do. And the end of it was that Florea, as the\neldest, went to the stables, chose the best and handsomest horse they\ncontained, saddled him, and took leave of the court.\n\n\u2018I am starting at once,\u2019 said he to his brothers, \u2018and if after a year,\na month, a week, and a day I have not returned with the water from the\nspring of the Fairy of the Dawn, you, Costan, had better come after me.\u2019\nSo saying he disappeared round a corner of the palace.\n\nFor three days and three nights he never drew rein. Like a spirit the\nhorse flew over mountains and valleys till he came to the borders of\nthe empire. Here was a deep, deep trench that girdled it the whole way\nround, and there was only a single bridge by which the trench could be\ncrossed. Florea made instantly for the bridge, and there pulled up to\nlook around him once more, to take leave of his native land Then he\nturned, but before him was standing a dragon--oh! SUCH a dragon!--a\ndragon with three heads and three horrible faces, all with their mouths\nwide open, one jaw reaching to heaven and the other to earth.\n\nAt this awful sight Florea did not wait to give battle. He put spurs to\nhis horse and dashed off, WHERE he neither knew nor cared.\n\nThe dragon heaved a sigh and vanished without leaving a trace behind\nhim.\n\nA week went by. Florea did not return home. Two passed; and nothing was\nheard of him. After a month Costan began to haunt the stables and to\nlook out a horse for himself. And the moment the year, the month, the\nweek, and the day were over Costan mounted his horse and took leave of\nhis youngest brother.\n\n\u2018If I fail, then you come,\u2019 said he, and followed the path that Florea\nhad taken.\n\nThe dragon on the bridge was more fearful and his three heads more\nterrible than before, and the young hero rode away still faster than his\nbrother had done.\n\nNothing more was heard either of him or Florea; and Petru remained\nalone.\n\n\u2018I must go after my brothers,\u2019 said Petru one day to his father.\n\n\u2018Go, then,\u2019 said his father, \u2018and may you have better luck than they\u2019;\nand he bade farewell to Petru, who rode straight to the borders of the\nkingdom.\n\nThe dragon on the bridge was yet more dreadful than the one Florea and\nCostan had seen, for this one had seven heads instead of only three.\n\nPetru stopped for a moment when he caught sight of this terrible\ncreature. Then he found his voice.\n\n\u2018Get out of the way!\u2019 cried he. \u2018Get out of the way!\u2019 he repeated again,\nas the dragon did not move. \u2018Get out of the way!\u2019 and with this last\nsummons he drew his sword and rushed upon him. In an instant the heavens\nseemed to darken round him and he was surrounded by fire--fire to right\nof him, fire to left of him, fire to front of him, fire to rear of him;\nnothing but fire whichever way he looked, for the dragon\u2019s seven heads\nwere vomiting flame.\n\nThe horse neighed and reared at the horrible sight, and Petru could not\nuse the sword he had in readiness.\n\n\u2018Be quiet! this won\u2019t do!\u2019 he said, dismounting hastily, but holding the\nbridle firmly in his left hand and grasping his sword in his right.\n\nBut even so he got on no better, for he could see nothing but fire and\nsmoke.\n\n\u2018There is no help for it; I must go back and get a better horse,\u2019 said\nhe, and mounted again and rode homewards.\n\nAt the gate of the palace his nurse, old Birscha, was waiting for him\neagerly.\n\n\u2018Ah, Petru, my son, I knew you would have to come back,\u2019 she cried. \u2018You\ndid not set about the matter properly.\u2019\n\n\u2018How ought I to have set about it?\u2019 asked Petru, half angrily, half\nsadly.\n\n\u2018Look here, my boy,\u2019 replied old Birscha. \u2018You can never reach the\nspring of the Fairy of the Dawn unless you ride the horse which your\nfather, the emperor, rode in his youth. Go and ask where it is to be\nfound, and then mount it and be off with you.\u2019\n\nPetru thanked her heartily for her advice, and went at once to make\ninquiries about the horse.\n\n\u2018By the light of my eyes!\u2019 exclaimed the emperor when Petru had put his\nquestion. \u2018Who has told you anything about that? It must have been that\nold witch of a Birscha? Have you lost your wits? Fifty years have passed\nsince I was young, and who knows where the bones of my horse may be\nrotting, or whether a scrap of his reins still lie in his stall? I have\nforgotten all about him long ago.\u2019\n\nPetru turned away in anger, and went back to his old nurse.\n\n\u2018Do not be cast down,\u2019 she said with a smile; \u2018if that is how the affair\nstands all will go well. Go and fetch the scrap of the reins; I shall\nsoon know what must be done.\u2019\n\nThe place was full of saddles, bridles, and bits of leather. Petru\npicked out the oldest, and blackest, and most decayed pair of reins,\nand brought them to the old woman, who murmured something over them and\nsprinkled them with incense, and held them out to the young man.\n\n\u2018Take the reins,\u2019 said she, \u2018and strike them violently against the\npillars of the house.\u2019\n\nPetru did what he was told, and scarcely had the reins touched the\npillars when something happened--HOW I have no idea--that made Petru\nstare with surprise. A horse stood before him--a horse whose equal\nin beauty the world had never seen; with a saddle on him of gold and\nprecious stones, and with such a dazzling bridle you hardly dared\nto look at it, lest you should lose your sight. A splendid horse, a\nsplendid saddle, and a splendid bridle, all ready for the splendid young\nprince!\n\n\u2018Jump on the back of the brown horse,\u2019 said the old woman, and she\nturned round and went into the house.\n\nThe moment Petru was seated on the horse he felt his arm three times as\nstrong as before, and even his heart felt braver.\n\n\u2018Sit firmly in the saddle, my lord, for we have a long way to go and no\ntime to waste,\u2019 said the brown horse, and Petru soon saw that they were\nriding as no man and horse had ever ridden before.\n\nOn the bridge stood a dragon, but not the same one as he had tried to\nfight with, for this dragon had twelve heads, each more hideous and\nshooting forth more terrible flames than the other. But, horrible though\nhe was, he had met his match. Petru showed no fear, but rolled up his\nsleeves, that his arms might be free.\n\n\u2018Get out of the way!\u2019 he said when he had done, but the dragon\u2019s heads\nonly breathed forth more flames and smoke. Petru wasted no more words,\nbut drew his sword and prepared to throw himself on the bridge.\n\n\u2018Stop a moment; be careful, my lord,\u2019 put in the horse, \u2018and be sure you\ndo what I tell you. Dig your spurs in my body up to the rowel, draw\nyour sword, and keep yourself ready, for we shall have to leap over both\nbridge and dragon. When you see that we are right above the dragon cut\noff his biggest head, wipe the blood off the sword, and put it back\nclean in the sheath before we touch earth again.\u2019\n\nSo Petru dug in his spurs, drew his sword, cut of the head, wiped the\nblood, and put the sword back in the sheath before the horse\u2019s hoofs\ntouched the ground again.\n\nAnd in this fashion they passed the bridge.\n\n\u2018But we have got to go further still,\u2019 said Petru, after he had taken a\nfarewell glance at his native land.\n\n\u2018Yes, forwards,\u2019 answered the horse; \u2018but you must tell me, my lord, at\nwhat speed you wish to go. Like the wind? Like thought? Like desire? or\nlike a curse?\u2019\n\nPetru looked about him, up at the heavens and down again to the earth.\nA desert lay spread out before him, whose aspect made his hair stand on\nend.\n\n\u2018We will ride at different speeds,\u2019 said he, \u2018not so fast as to grow\ntired nor so slow as to waste time.\u2019\n\nAnd so they rode, one day like the wind, the next like thought, the\nthird and fourth like desire and like a curse, till they reached the\nborders of the desert.\n\n\u2018Now walk, so that I may look about, and see what I have never seen\nbefore,\u2019 said Petru, rubbing his eyes like one who wakes from sleep, or\nlike him who beholds something so strange that it seems as if... Before\nPetru lay a wood made of copper, with copper trees and copper leaves,\nwith bushes and flowers of copper also.\n\nPetru stood and stared as a man does when he sees something that he has\nnever seen, and of which he has never heard.\n\nThen he rode right into the wood. On each side of the way the rows of\nflowers began to praise Petru, and to try and persuade him to pick some\nof them and make himself a wreath.\n\n\u2018Take me, for I am lovely, and can give strength to whoever plucks me,\u2019\nsaid one.\n\n\u2018No, take me, for whoever wears me in his hat will be loved by the most\nbeautiful woman in the world,\u2019 pleaded the second; and then one\nafter another bestirred itself, each more charming than the last, all\npromising, in soft sweet voices, wonderful things to Petru, if only he\nwould pick them.\n\nPetru was not deaf to their persuasion, and was just stooping to pick\none when the horse sprang to one side.\n\n\u2018Why don\u2019t you stay still?\u2019 asked Petru roughly.\n\n\u2018Do not pick the flowers; it will bring you bad luck; answered the\nhorse.\n\n\u2018Why should it do that?\u2019\n\n\u2018These flowers are under a curse. Whoever plucks them must fight the\nWelwa(1) of the woods.\u2019\n\n(1) A goblin.\n\n\u2018What kind of a goblin is the Welwa?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, do leave me in peace! But listen. Look at the flowers as much as\nyou like, but pick none,\u2019 and the horse walked on slowly.\n\nPetru knew by experience that he would do well to attend to the horse\u2019s\nadvice, so he made a great effort and tore his mind away from the\nflowers.\n\nBut in vain! If a man is fated to be unlucky, unlucky he will be,\nwhatever he may do!\n\nThe flowers went on beseeching him, and his heart grew ever weaker and\nweaker.\n\n\u2018What must come will come,\u2019 said Petru at length; \u2018at any rate I shall\nsee the Welwa of the woods, what she is like, and which way I had best\nfight her. If she is ordained to be the cause of my death, well, then\nit will be so; but if not I shall conquer her though she were twelve\nhundred Welwas,\u2019 and once more he stooped down to gather the flowers.\n\n\u2018You have done very wrong,\u2019 said the horse sadly. \u2018But it can\u2019t be\nhelped now. Get yourself ready for battle, for here is the Welwa!\u2019\n\nHardly had he done speaking, scarcely had Petru twisted his wreath, when\na soft breeze arose on all sides at once. Out of the breeze came a storm\nwind, and the storm wind swelled and swelled till everything around\nwas blotted out in darkness, and darkness covered them as with a thick\ncloak, while the earth swayed and shook under their feet.\n\n\u2018Are you afraid?\u2019 asked the horse, shaking his mane.\n\n\u2018Not yet,\u2019 replied Petru stoutly, though cold shivers were running down\nhis back. \u2018What must come will come, whatever it is.\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid,\u2019 said the horse. \u2018I will help you. Take the bridle\nfrom my neck, and try to catch the Welwa with it.\u2019\n\nThe words were hardly spoken, and Petru had no time even to unbuckle\nthe bridle, when the Welwa herself stood before him; and Petru could not\nbear to look at her, so horrible was she.\n\nShe had not exactly a head, yet neither was she without one. She did not\nfly through the air, but neither did she walk upon the earth. She had\na mane like a horse, horns like a deer, a face like a bear, eyes like a\npolecat; while her body had something of each. And that was the Welwa.\n\nPetru planted himself firmly in his stirrups, and began to lay about him\nwith his sword, but could feel nothing.\n\nA day and a night went by, and the fight was still undecided, but at\nlast the Welwa began to pant for breath.\n\n\u2018Let us wait a little and rest,\u2019 gasped she.\n\nPetru stopped and lowered his sword.\n\n\u2018You must not stop an instant,\u2019 said the horse, and Petru gathered up\nall his strength, and laid about him harder than ever.\n\nThe Welwa gave a neigh like a horse and a howl like a wolf, and threw\nherself afresh on Petru. For another day and night the battle raged more\nfuriously than before. And Petru grew so exhausted he could scarcely\nmove his arm.\n\n\u2018Let us wait a little and rest,\u2019 cried the Welwa for the second time,\n\u2018for I see you are as weary as I am.\u2019\n\n\u2018You must not stop an instant,\u2019 said the horse.\n\nAnd Petru went on fighting, though he barely had strength to move his\narm. But the Welwa had ceased to throw herself upon him, and began to\ndeliver her blows cautiously, as if she had no longer power to strike.\n\nAnd on the third day they were still fighting, but as the morning sky\nbegan to redden Petru somehow managed--how I cannot tell--to throw the\nbridle over the head of the tired Welwa. In a moment, from the Welwa\nsprang a horse--the most beautiful horse in the world.\n\n\u2018Sweet be your life, for you have delivered me from my enchantment,\u2019\nsaid he, and began to rub his nose against his brother\u2019s. And he told\nPetru all his story, and how he had been bewitched for many years.\n\nSo Petru tied the Welwa to his own horse and rode on. Where did he\nride? That I cannot tell you, but he rode on fast till he got out of the\ncopper wood.\n\n\u2018Stay still, and let me look about, and see what I never have seen\nbefore,\u2019 said Petru again to his horse. For in front of him stretched a\nforest that was far more wonderful, as it was made of glistening trees\nand shining flowers. It was the silver wood.\n\nAs before, the flowers began to beg the young man to gather them.\n\n\u2018Do not pluck them,\u2019 warned the Welwa, trotting beside him, \u2018for my\nbrother is seven times stronger than I\u2019; but though Petru knew by\nexperience what this meant, it was no use, and after a moment\u2019s\nhesitation he began to gather the flowers, and to twist himself a\nwreath.\n\nThen the storm wind howled louder, the earth trembled more violently,\nand the night grew darker, than the first time, and the Welwa of the\nsilver wood came rushing on with seven times the speed of the other.\nFor three days and three nights they fought, but at last Petru cast the\nbridle over the head of the second Welwa.\n\n\u2018Sweet be your life, for you have delivered me from enchantment,\u2019 said\nthe second Welwa, and they all journeyed on as before.\n\nBut soon they came to a gold wood more lovely far than the other\ntwo, and again Petru\u2019s companions pleaded with him to ride through it\nquickly, and to leave the flowers alone. But Petru turned a deaf ear\nto all they said, and before he had woven his golden crown he felt that\nsomething terrible, that he could not see, was coming near him right out\nof the earth. He drew his sword and made himself ready for the fight. \u2018I\nwill die!\u2019 cried he, \u2018or he shall have my bridle over his head.\u2019\n\nHe had hardly said the words when a thick fog wrapped itself around\nhim, and so thick was it that he could not see his own hand, or hear\nthe sound of his voice. For a day and a night he fought with his sword,\nwithout ever once seeing his enemy, then suddenly the fog began to\nlighten. By dawn of the second day it had vanished altogether, and the\nsun shone brightly in the heavens. It seemed to Petru that he had been\nborn again.\n\nAnd the Welwa? She had vanished.\n\n\u2018You had better take breath now you can, for the fight will have to\nbegin all over again,\u2019 said the horse.\n\n\u2018What was it?\u2019 asked Petru.\n\n\u2018It was the Welwa,\u2019 replied the horse, \u2018changed into a fog \u2018Listen! She\nis coming!\u2019\n\nAnd Petru had hardly drawn a long breath when he felt something\napproaching from the side, though what he could not tell. A river, yet\nnot a river, for it seemed not to flow over the earth, but to go where\nit liked, and to leave no trace of its passage.\n\n\u2018Woe be to me!\u2019 cried Petru, frightened at last.\n\n\u2018Beware, and never stand still,\u2019 called the brown horse, and more he\ncould not say, for the water was choking him.\n\nThe battle began anew. For a day and a night Petru fought on, without\nknowing at whom or what he struck. At dawn on the second, he felt that\nboth his feet were lame.\n\n\u2018Now I am done for,\u2019 thought he, and his blows fell thicker and harder\nin his desperation. And the sun came out and the water disappeared,\nwithout his knowing how or when.\n\n\u2018Take breath,\u2019 said the horse, \u2018for you have no time to lose. The Welwa\nwill return in a moment.\u2019\n\nPetru made no reply, only wondered how, exhausted as he was, he should\never be able to carry on the fight. But he settled himself in his\nsaddle, grasped his sword, and waited.\n\nAnd then something came to him--WHAT I cannot tell you. Perhaps, in his\ndreams, a man may see a creature which has what it has not got, and has\nnot got what it has. At least, that was what the Welwa seemed like to\nPetru. She flew with her feet, and walked with her wings; her head was\nin her back, and her tail was on top of her body; her eyes were in her\nneck, and her neck in her forehead, and how to describe her further I do\nnot know.\n\nPetru felt for a moment as if he was wrapped in a garment of fear; then\nhe shook himself and took heart, and fought as he had never yet fought\nbefore.\n\nAs the day wore on, his strength began to fail, and when darkness fell\nhe could hardly keep his eyes open. By midnight he knew he was no longer\non his horse, but standing on the ground, though he could not have\ntold how he got there. When the grey light of morning came, he was past\nstanding on his feet, but fought now upon his knees.\n\n\u2018Make one more struggle; it is nearly over now,\u2019 said the horse, seeing\nthat Petru\u2019s strength was waning fast.\n\nPetru wiped the sweat from his brow with his gauntlet, and with a\ndesperate effort rose to his feet.\n\n\u2018Strike the Welwa on the mouth with the bridle,\u2019 said the horse, and\nPetru did it.\n\nThe Welwa uttered a neigh so loud that Petru thought he would be deaf\nfor life, and then, though she too was nearly spent, flung herself upon\nher enemy; but Petru was on the watch and threw the bridle over her\nhead, as she rushed on, so that when the day broke there were three\nhorses trotting beside him.\n\n\u2018May your wife be the most beautiful of women,\u2019 said the Welwa, \u2018for\nyou have delivered me from my enchantment.\u2019 So the four horses galloped\nfast, and by nightfall they were at the borders of the golden forest.\n\nThen Petru began to think of the crowns that he wore, and what they had\ncost him.\n\n\u2018After all, what do I want with so many? I will keep the best,\u2019 he said\nto himself; and taking off first the copper crown and then the silver,\nhe threw them away.\n\n\u2018Stay!\u2019 cried the horse, \u2018do not throw them away! Perhaps we shall find\nthem of use. Get down and pick them up.\u2019 So Petru got down and picked\nthem up, and they all went on.\n\nIn the evening, when the sun is getting low, and all the midges are\nbeginning to bite, Peter saw a wide heath stretching before him.\n\nAt the same instant the horse stood still of itself.\n\n\u2018What is the matter?\u2019 asked Petru.\n\n\u2018I am afraid that something evil will happen to us,\u2019 answered the horse.\n\n\u2018But why should it?\u2019\n\n\u2018We are going to enter the kingdom of the goddess Mittwoch,(2) and the\nfurther we ride into it the colder we shall get. But all along the road\nthere are huge fires, and I dread lest you should stop and warm yourself\nat them.\u2019\n\n(2) In German \u2018Mittwoch,\u2019 the feminine form of Mercury.\n\n\u2018And why should I not warm myself?\u2019\n\n\u2018Something fearful will happen to you if you do,\u2019 replied the horse\nsadly.\n\n\u2018Well, forward!\u2019 cried Petru lightly, \u2018and if I have to bear cold, I\nmust bear it!\u2019\n\nWith every step they went into the kingdom of Mittwoch, the air grew\ncolder and more icy, till even the marrow in their bones was frozen. But\nPetru was no coward; the fight he had gone through had strengthened his\npowers of endurance, and he stood the test bravely.\n\nAlong the road on each side were great fires, with men standing by them,\nwho spoke pleasantly to Petru as he went by, and invited him to join\nthem. The breath froze in his mouth, but he took no notice, only bade\nhis horse ride on the faster.\n\nHow long Petru may have waged battle silently with the cold one cannot\ntell, for everybody knows that the kingdom of Mittwoch is not to be\ncrossed in a day, but he struggled on, though the frozen rocks burst\naround, and though his teeth chattered, and even his eyelids were\nfrozen.\n\nAt length they reached the dwelling of Mittwoch herself, and, jumping\nfrom his horse, Petru threw the reins over his horse\u2019s neck and entered\nthe hut.\n\n\u2018Good-day, little mother!\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018Very well, thank you, my frozen friend!\u2019\n\nPetru laughed, and waited for her to speak.\n\n\u2018You have borne yourself bravely,\u2019 went on the goddess, tapping him on\nthe shoulder. \u2018Now you shall have your reward,\u2019 and she opened an iron\nchest, out of which she took a little box.\n\n\u2018Look!\u2019 said she; \u2018this little box has been lying here for ages, waiting\nfor the man who could win his way through the Ice Kingdom. Take it, and\ntreasure it, for some day it may help you.\n\nIf you open it, it will tell you anything you want, and give you news of\nyour fatherland.\u2019\n\nPetru thanked her gratefully for her gift, mounted his horse, and rode\naway.\n\nWhen he was some distance from the hut, he opened the casket.\n\n\u2018What are your commands?\u2019 asked a voice inside.\n\n\u2018Give me news of my father,\u2019 he replied, rather nervously.\n\n\u2018He is sitting in council with his nobles,\u2019 answered the casket.\n\n\u2018Is he well?\u2019\n\n\u2018Not particularly, for he is furiously angry.\u2019\n\n\u2018What has angered him?\u2019\n\n\u2018Your brothers Costan and Florea,\u2019 replied the casket. \u2018It seems to me\nthey are trying to rule him and the kingdom as well, and the old man\nsays they are not fit to do it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Push on, good horse, for we have no time to lose!\u2019 cried Petru; then he\nshut up the box, and put it in his pocket.\n\nThey rushed on as fast as ghosts, as whirlwinds, as vampires when they\nhunt at midnight, and how long they rode no man can tell, for the way is\nfar.\n\n\u2018Stop! I have some advice to give you,\u2019 said the horse at last.\n\n\u2018What is it?\u2019 asked Petru.\n\n\u2018You have known what it is to suffer cold; you will have to endure heat,\nsuch as you have never dreamed of. Be as brave now as you were then. Let\nno one tempt you to try to cool yourself, or evil will befall you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Forwards!\u2019 answered Petru. \u2018Do not worry yourself. If I have escaped\nwithout being frozen, there is no chance of my melting.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not? This is a heat that will melt the marrow in your bones--a heat\nthat is only to be felt in the kingdom of the Goddess of Thunder.\u2019(3)\n\n(3) In the German \u2018Donnerstag\u2019--the day of the Thunder God, i.e.\nJupiter.\n\nAnd it WAS hot. The very iron of the horse\u2019s shoes began to melt, but\nPetru gave no heed. The sweat ran down his face, but he dried it with\nhis gauntlet. What heat could be he never knew before, and on the way,\nnot a stone\u2019s throw from the road, lay the most delicious valleys, full\nof shady trees and bubbling streams. When Petru looked at them his heart\nburned within him, and his mouth grew parched. And standing among the\nflowers were lovely maidens who called to him in soft voices, till he\nhad to shut his eyes against their spells.\n\n\u2018Come, my hero, come and rest; the heat will kill you,\u2019 said they.\n\nPetru shook his head and said nothing, for he had lost the power of\nspeech.\n\nLong he rode in this awful state, how long none can tell. Suddenly the\nheat seemed to become less, and, in the distance, he saw a little hut\non a hill. This was the dwelling of the Goddess of Thunder, and when he\ndrew rein at her door the goddess herself came out to meet him.\n\nShe welcomed him, and kindly invited him in, and bade him tell her all\nhis adventures. So Petru told her all that had happened to him, and why\nhe was there, and then took farewell of her, as he had no time to lose.\n\u2018For,\u2019 he said, \u2018who knows how far the Fairy of the Dawn may yet be?\u2019\n\n\u2018Stay for one moment, for I have a word of advice to give you. You are\nabout to enter the kingdom of Venus;(4) go and tell her, as a message\nfrom me, that I hope she will not tempt you to delay. On your way back,\ncome to me again, and I will give you something that may be of use to\nyou.\u2019\n\n(4) \u2018Vineri\u2019 is Friday, and also \u2018Venus.\u2019\n\nSo Petru mounted his horse, and had hardly ridden three steps when he\nfound himself in a new country. Here it was neither hot nor cold, but\nthe air was warm and soft like spring, though the way ran through a\nheath covered with sand and thistles.\n\n\u2018What can that be?\u2019 asked Petru, when he saw a long, long way off, at\nthe very end of the heath, something resembling a house.\n\n\u2018That is the house of the goddess Venus,\u2019 replied the horse, \u2018and if we\nride hard we may reach it before dark\u2019; and he darted off like an\narrow, so that as twilight fell they found themselves nearing the house.\nPetru\u2019s heart leaped at the sight, for all the way along he had been\nfollowed by a crowd of shadowy figures who danced about him from right\nto left, and from back to front, and Petru, though a brave man, felt now\nand then a thrill of fear.\n\n\u2018They won\u2019t hurt you,\u2019 said the horse; \u2018they are just the daughters of\nthe whirlwind amusing themselves while they are waiting for the ogre of\nthe moon.\u2019\n\nThen he stopped in front of the house, and Petru jumped off and went to\nthe door.\n\n\u2018Do not be in such a hurry,\u2019 cried the horse. \u2018There are several things\nI must tell you first. You cannot enter the house of the goddess Venus\nlike that. She is always watched and guarded by the whirlwind.\u2019\n\n\u2018What am I to do then?\u2019\n\n\u2018Take the copper wreath, and go with it to that little hill over\nthere. When you reach it, say to yourself, \u201cWere there ever such lovely\nmaidens! such angels! such fairy souls!\u201d Then hold the wreath high in\nthe air and cry, \u201cOh! if I knew whether any one would accept this wreath\nfrom me... if I knew! if I knew!\u201d and throw the wreath from you!\u2019\n\n\u2018And why should I do all this?\u2019 said Petru.\n\n\u2018Ask no questions, but go and do it,\u2019 replied the horse. And Petru did.\n\nScarcely had he flung away the copper wreath than the whirlwind flung\nhimself upon it, and tore it in pieces.\n\nThen Petru turned once more to the horse.\n\n\u2018Stop!\u2019 cried the horse again. \u2018I have other things to tell you.\n\nTake the silver wreath and knock at the windows of the goddess Venus.\nWhen she says, \u201cWho is there?\u201d answer that you have come on foot and\nlost your way on the heath. She will then tell you to go your way back\nagain; but take care not to stir from the spot. Instead, be sure you say\nto her, \u201cNo, indeed I shall do nothing of the sort, as from my childhood\nI have heard stories of the beauty of the goddess Venus, and it was not\nfor nothing that I had shoes made of leather with soles of steel, and\nhave travelled for nine years and nine months, and have won in battle\nthe silver wreath, which I hope you may allow me to give you, and have\ndone and suffered everything to be where I now am.\u201d This is what you\nmust say. What happens after is your affair.\u2019\n\nPetru asked no more, but went towards the house.\n\nBy this time it was pitch dark, and there was only the ray of light\nthat streamed through the windows to guide him, and at the sound of his\nfootsteps two dogs began to bark loudly.\n\n\u2018Which of those dogs is barking? Is he tired of life?\u2019 asked the goddess\nVenus.\n\n\u2018It is I, O goddess!\u2019 replied Petru, rather timidly. \u2018I have lost my way\non the heath, and do not know where I am to sleep this night.\u2019\n\n\u2018Where did you leave your horse?\u2019 asked the goddess sharply.\n\nPetru did not answer. He was not sure if he was to lie, or whether he\nhad better tell the truth.\n\n\u2018Go away, my son, there is no place for you here,\u2019 replied she, drawing\nback from the window.\n\nThen Petru repeated hastily what the horse had told him to say, and no\nsooner had he done so than the goddess opened the window, and in gentle\ntones she asked him:\n\n\u2018Let me see this wreath, my son,\u2019 and Petru held it out to her.\n\n\u2018Come into the house,\u2019 went on the goddess; \u2018do not fear the dogs, they\nalways know my will.\u2019 And so they did, for as the young man passed they\nwagged their tails to him.\n\n\u2018Good evening,\u2019 said Petru as he entered the house, and, seating himself\nnear the fire, listened comfortably to whatever the goddess might choose\nto talk about, which was for the most part the wickedness of men,\nwith whom she was evidently very angry. But Petru agreed with her in\neverything, as he had been taught was only polite.\n\nBut was anybody ever so old as she! I do not know why Petru devoured her\nso with his eyes, unless it was to count the wrinkles on her face; but\nif so he would have had to live seven lives, and each life seven times\nthe length of an ordinary one, before he could have reckoned them up.\n\nBut Venus was joyful in her heart when she saw Petru\u2019s eyes fixed upon\nher.\n\n\u2018Nothing was that is, and the world was not a world when I was born,\u2019\nsaid she. \u2018When I grew up and the world came into being, everyone\nthought I was the most beautiful girl that ever was seen, though many\nhated me for it. But every hundred years there came a wrinkle on my\nface. And now I am old.\u2019 Then she went on to tell Petru that she was the\ndaughter of an emperor, and their nearest neighbour was the Fairy of the\nDawn, with whom she had a violent quarrel, and with that she broke out\ninto loud abuse of her.\n\nPetru did not know what to do. He listened in silence for the most\npart, but now and then he would say, \u2018Yes, yes, you must have been badly\ntreated,\u2019 just for politeness\u2019 sake; what more could he do?\n\n\u2018I will give you a task to perform, for you are brave, and will carry it\nthrough,\u2019 continued Venus, when she had talked a long time, and both\nof them were getting sleepy. \u2018Close to the Fairy\u2019s house is a well, and\nwhoever drinks from it will blossom again like a rose. Bring me a flagon\nof it, and I will do anything to prove my gratitude. It is not easy! no\none knows that better than I do! The kingdom is guarded on every side by\nwild beasts and horrible dragons; but I will tell you more about that,\nand I also have something to give you.\u2019 Then she rose and lifted the lid\nof an iron-bound chest, and took out of it a very tiny flute.\n\n\u2018Do you see this?\u2019 she asked. \u2018An old man gave it to me when I was\nyoung: whoever listens to this flute goes to sleep, and nothing can wake\nhim. Take it and play on it as long as you remain in the kingdom of the\nFairy of the Dawn, and you will be safe.\n\nAt this, Petru told her that he had another task to fulfil at the well\nof the Fairy of the Dawn, and Venus was still better pleased when she\nheard his tale.\n\nSo Petru bade her good-night, put the flute in its case, and laid\nhimself down in the lowest chamber to sleep.\n\nBefore the dawn he was awake again, and his first care was to give to\neach of his horses as much corn as he could eat, and then to lead them\nto the well to water. Then he dressed himself and made ready to start.\n\n\u2018Stop,\u2019 cried Venus from her window, \u2018I have still a piece of advice\nto give you. Leave one of your horses here, and only take three. Ride\nslowly till you get to the fairy\u2019s kingdom, then dismount and go on\nfoot. When you return, see that all your three horses remain on the\nroad, while you walk. But above all beware never to look the Fairy\nof the Dawn in the face, for she has eyes that will bewitch you, and\nglances that will befool you.\n\nShe is hideous, more hideous than anything you can imagine, with owl\u2019s\neyes, foxy face, and cat\u2019s claws. Do you hear? do you hear? Be sure you\nnever look at her.\u2019\n\nPetru thanked her, and managed to get off at last.\n\nFar, far away, where the heavens touch the earth, where the stars kiss\nthe flowers, a soft red light was seen, such as the sky sometimes has in\nspring, only lovelier, more wonderful.\n\nThat light was behind the palace of the Fairy of the Dawn, and it took\nPetru two days and nights through flowery meadows to reach it. And\nbesides, it was neither hot nor cold, bright nor dark, but something of\nthem all, and Petru did not find the way a step too long.\n\nAfter some time Petru saw something white rise up out of the red of the\nsky, and when he drew nearer he saw it was a castle, and so splendid\nthat his eyes were dazzled when they looked at it. He did not know there\nwas such a beautiful castle in the world.\n\nBut no time was to be lost, so he shook himself, jumped down from his\nhorse, and, leaving him on the dewy grass, began to play on his flute as\nhe walked along.\n\nHe had hardly gone many steps when he stumbled over a huge giant, who\nhad been lulled to sleep by the music. This was one of the guards of the\ncastle! As he lay there on his back, he seemed so big that in spite of\nPetru\u2019s haste he stopped to measure him.\n\nThe further went Petru, the more strange and terrible were the sights he\nsaw--lions, tigers, dragons with seven heads, all stretched out in the\nsun fast asleep. It is needless to say what the dragons were like, for\nnowadays everyone knows, and dragons are not things to joke about. Petru\nran through them like the wind. Was it haste or fear that spurred him\non?\n\nAt last he came to a river, but let nobody think for a moment that this\nriver was like other rivers? Instead of water, there flowed milk,\nand the bottom was of precious stones and pearls, instead of sand\nand pebbles. And it ran neither fast nor slow, but both fast and slow\ntogether. And the river flowed round the castle, and on its banks slept\nlions with iron teeth and claws; and beyond were gardens such as only\nthe Fairy of the Dawn can have, and on the flowers slept a fairy! All\nthis saw Petru from the other side.\n\nBut how was he to get over? To be sure there was a bridge, but, even if\nit had not been guarded by sleeping lions, it was plainly not meant for\nman to walk on. Who could tell what it was made of? It looked like soft\nlittle woolly clouds!\n\nSo he stood thinking what was to be done, for get across he must.\n\nAfter a while, he determined to take the risk, and strode back to the\nsleeping giant. \u2018Wake up, my brave man!\u2019 he cried, giving him a shake.\n\nThe giant woke and stretched out his hand to pick up Petru, just as we\nshould catch a fly. But Petru played on his flute, and the giant fell\nback again. Petru tried this three times, and when he was satisfied that\nthe giant was really in his power he took out a handkerchief, bound the\ntwo little fingers of the giant together, drew his sword, and cried for\nthe fourth time, \u2018Wake up, my brave man.\u2019\n\nWhen the giant saw the trick which had been played on him he said to\nPetru. \u2018Do you call this a fair fight? Fight according to rules, if you\nreally are a hero!\u2019\n\n\u2018I will by-and-by, but first I want to ask you a question! Will you\nswear that you will carry me over the river if I fight honourably with\nyou?\u2019 And the giant swore.\n\nWhen his hands were freed, the giant flung himself upon Petru, hoping to\ncrush him by his weight. But he had met his match. It was not yesterday,\nnor the day before, that Petru had fought his first battle, and he bore\nhimself bravely.\n\nFor three days and three nights the battle raged, and sometimes one had\nthe upper hand, and sometimes the other, till at length they both lay\nstruggling on the ground, but Petru was on top, with the point of his\nsword at the giant\u2019s throat.\n\n\u2018Let me go! let me go!\u2019 shrieked he. \u2018I own that I am beaten!\u2019\n\n\u2018Will you take me over the river?\u2019 asked Petru.\n\n\u2018I will,\u2019 gasped the giant.\n\n\u2018What shall I do to you if you break your word?\u2019\n\n\u2018Kill me, any way you like! But let me live now.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 said Petru, and he bound the giant\u2019s left hand to his right\nfoot, tied one handkerchief round his mouth to prevent him crying out,\nand another round his eyes, and led him to the river.\n\nOnce they had reached the bank he stretched one leg over to the other\nside, and, catching up Petru in the palm of his hand, set him down on\nthe further shore.\n\n\u2018That is all right,\u2019 said Petru. Then he played a few notes on his\nflute, and the giant went to sleep again. Even the fairies who had been\nbathing a little lower down heard the music and fell asleep among the\nflowers on the bank. Petru saw them as he passed, and thought, \u2018If they\nare so beautiful, why should the Fairy of the Dawn be so ugly?\u2019 But he\ndared not linger, and pushed on.\n\nAnd now he was in the wonderful gardens, which seemed more wonderful\nstill than they had done from afar. But Petru could see no faded\nflowers, nor any birds, as he hastened through them to the castle. No\none was there to bar his way, for all were asleep. Even the leaves had\nceased to move.\n\nHe passed through the courtyard, and entered the castle itself.\n\nWhat he beheld there need not be told, for all the world knows that the\npalace of the Fairy of the Dawn is no ordinary place. Gold and precious\nstones were as common as wood with us, and the stables where the horses\nof the sun were kept were more splendid than the palace of the greatest\nemperor in the world.\n\nPetru went up the stairs and walked quickly through eight-and-forty\nrooms, hung with silken stuffs, and all empty. In the forty-ninth he\nfound the Fairy of the Dawn herself.\n\nIn the middle of this room, which was as large as a church, Petru saw\nthe celebrated well that he had come so far to seek. It was a well\njust like other wells, and it seemed strange that the Fairy of the Dawn\nshould have it in her own chamber; yet anyone could tell it had been\nthere for hundreds of years. And by the well slept the Fairy of the\nDawn--the Fairy of the Dawn--herself!\n\nAnd as Petru looked at her the magic flute dropped by his side, and he\nheld his breath.\n\nNear the well was a table, on which stood bread made with does\u2019 milk,\nand a flagon of wine. It was the bread of strength and the wine of\nyouth, and Petru longed for them. He looked once at the bread and once\nat the wine, and then at the Fairy of the Dawn, still sleeping on her\nsilken cushions.\n\nAs he looked a mist came over his senses. The fairy opened her eyes\nslowly and looked at Petru, who lost his head still further; but he just\nmanaged to remember his flute, and a few notes of it sent the Fairy\nto sleep again, and he kissed her thrice. Then he stooped and laid his\ngolden wreath upon her forehead, ate a piece of the bread and drank a\ncupful of the wine of youth, and this he did three times over. Then he\nfilled a flask with water from the well, and vanished swiftly.\n\nAs he passed through the garden it seemed quite different from what\nit was before. The flowers were lovelier, the streams ran quicker, the\nsunbeams shone brighter, and the fairies seemed gayer. And all this had\nbeen caused by the three kisses Petru had given the Fairy of the Dawn.\n\nHe passed everything safely by, and was soon seated in his saddle again.\nFaster than the wind, faster than thought, faster than longing, faster\nthan hatred rode Petru. At length he dismounted, and, leaving his horses\nat the roadside, went on foot to the house of Venus.\n\nThe goddess Venus knew that he was coming, and went to meet him, bearing\nwith her white bread and red wine.\n\n\u2018Welcome back, my prince,\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018Good day, and many thanks,\u2019 replied the young man, holding out the\nflask containing the magic water. She received it with joy, and after a\nshort rest Petru set forth, for he had no time to lose.\n\nHe stopped a few minutes, as he had promised, with the Goddess of\nThunder, and was taking a hasty farewell of her, when she called him\nback.\n\n\u2018Stay, I have a warning to give you,\u2019 said she. \u2018Beware of your life;\nmake friends with no man; do not ride fast, or let the water go out of\nyour hand; believe no one, and flee flattering tongues. Go, and take\ncare, for the way is long, the world is bad, and you hold something very\nprecious. But I will give you this cloth to help you. It is not much\nto look at, but it is enchanted, and whoever carries it will never be\nstruck by lightning, pierced by a lance, or smitten with a sword, and\nthe arrows will glance off his body.\u2019\n\nPetru thanked her and rode off, and, taking out his treasure box,\ninquired how matters were going at home. Not well, it said. The emperor\nwas blind altogether now, and Florea and Costan had besought him to give\nthe government of the kingdom into their hands; but he would not, saying\nthat he did not mean to resign the government till he had washed his\neyes from the well of the Fairy of the Dawn. Then the brothers had gone\nto consult old Birscha, who told them that Petru was already on his way\nhome bearing the water. They had set out to meet him, and would try\nto take the magic water from him, and then claim as their reward the\ngovernment of the emperor.\n\n\u2018You are lying!\u2019 cried Petru angrily, throwing the box on the ground,\nwhere it broke into a thousand pieces.\n\nIt was not long before he began to catch glimpses of his native land,\nand he drew rein near a bridge, the better to look at it. He was still\ngazing, when he heard a sound in the distance as if some one was calling\nhit by his name.\n\n\u2018You, Petru!\u2019 it said.\n\n\u2018On! on!\u2019 cried the horse; \u2018it will fare ill with you if you stop.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, let us stop, and see who and what it is!\u2019 answered Petru, turning\nhis horse round, and coming face to face with his two brothers. He had\nforgotten the warning given him by the Goddess of Thunder, and when\nCostan and Florea drew near with soft and flattering words he jumped\nstraight off his horse, and rushed to embrace them. He had a thousand\nquestions to ask, and a thousand things to tell. But his brown horse\nstood sadly hanging his head.\n\n\u2018Petru, my dear brother,\u2019 at length said Florea, \u2018would it not be better\nif we carried the water for you? Some one might try to take it from you\non the road, while no one would suspect us.\u2019\n\n\u2018So it would,\u2019 added Costan. \u2018Florea speaks well.\u2019 But Petru shook his\nhead, and told them what the Goddess of Thunder had said, and about the\ncloth she had given him. And both brothers understood there was only one\nway in which they could kill him.\n\nAt a stone\u2019s throw from where they stood ran a rushing stream, with\nclear deep pools.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you feel thirsty, Costan?\u2019 asked Florea, winking at him.\n\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 replied Costan, understanding directly what was wanted. \u2018Come,\nPetru, let us drink now we have the chance, and then we will set out on\nour way home. It is a good thing you have us with you, to protect you\nfrom harm.\u2019\n\nThe horse neighed, and Petru knew what it meant, and did not go with his\nbrothers.\n\nNo, he went home to his father, and cured his blindness; and as for his\nbrothers, they never returned again.\n\n(From Rumanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED KNIFE\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a young man who vowed that he would never\nmarry any girl who had not royal blood in her veins. One day he plucked\nup all his courage and went to the palace to ask the emperor for his\ndaughter. The emperor was not much pleased at the thought of such a\nmatch for his only child, but being very polite, he only said:\n\n\u2018Very well, my son, if you can win the princess you shall have her,\nand the conditions are these. In eight days you must manage to tame and\nbring to me three horses that have never felt a master. The first is\npure white, the second a foxy-red with a black head, the third coal\nblack with a white head and feet. And besides that, you must also bring\nas a present to the empress, my wife, as much gold as the three horses\ncan carry.\u2019\n\nThe young man listened in dismay to these words, but with an effort he\nthanked the emperor for his kindness and left the palace, wondering\nhow he was to fulfil the task allotted to him. Luckily for him, the\nemperor\u2019s daughter had overheard everything her father had said, and\npeeping through a curtain had seen the youth, and thought him handsomer\nthan anyone she had ever beheld.\n\nSo returning hastily to her own room, she wrote him a letter which she\ngave to a trusty servant to deliver, begging her wooer to come to her\nrooms early the next day, and to undertake nothing without her advice,\nif he ever wished her to be his wife.\n\nThat night, when her father was asleep, she crept softly into his\nchamber and took out an enchanted knife from the chest where he kept his\ntreasures, and hid it carefully in a safe place before she went to bed.\n\nThe sun had hardly risen the following morning when the princess\u2019s nurse\nbrought the young man to her apartments. Neither spoke for some minutes,\nbut stood holding each other\u2019s hands for joy, till at last they both\ncried out that nothing but death should part them. Then the maiden said:\n\n\u2018Take my horse, and ride straight through the wood towards the sunset\ntill you come to a hill with three peaks. When you get there, turn first\nto the right and then to the left, and you will find yourself in a sun\nmeadow, where many horses are feeding. Out of these you must pick out\nthe three described to you by my father. If they prove shy, and refuse\nto let you get near them, draw out your knife, and let the sun shine on\nit so that the whole meadow is lit up by its rays, and the horses will\nthen approach you of their own accord, and will let you lead them away.\nWhen you have them safely, look about till you see a cypress tree, whose\nroots are of brass, whose boughs are of silver, and whose leaves are\nof gold. Go to it, and cut away the roots with your knife, and you will\ncome to countless bags of gold. Load the horses with all they can carry,\nand return to my father, and tell him that you have done your task, and\ncan claim me for your wife.\u2019\n\nThe princess had finished all she had to say, and now it depended on the\nyoung man to do his part. He hid the knife in the folds of his girdle,\nmounted his horse, and rode off in search of the meadow. This he found\nwithout much difficulty, but the horses were all so shy that they\ngalloped away directly he approached them. Then he drew his knife, and\nheld it up towards the sun, and directly there shone such a glory that\nthe whole meadow was bathed in it. From all sides the horses rushed\npressing round, and each one that passed him fell on its knees to do him\nhonour.\n\nBut he only chose from them all the three that the emperor had\ndescribed. These he secured by a silken rope to his own horse, and then\nlooked about for the cypress tree. It was standing by itself in one\ncorner, and in a moment he was beside it, tearing away the earth with\nhis knife. Deeper and deeper he dug, till far down, below the roots of\nbrass, his knife struck upon the buried treasure, which lay heaped up\nin bags all around. With a great effort he lifted them from their hiding\nplace, and laid them one by one on his horses\u2019 backs, and when they\ncould carry no more he led them back to the emperor. And when the\nemperor saw him, he wondered, but never guessed how it was the young man\nhad been too clever for him, till the betrothal ceremony was over. Then\nhe asked his newly made son-in-law what dowry he would require with his\nbride. To which the bridegroom made answer, \u2018Noble emperor! all I desire\nis that I may have your daughter for my wife, and enjoy for ever the use\nof your enchanted knife.\u2019\n\n(Volksmarchen der Serben.)\n\n\n\n\nJESPER WHO HERDED THE HARES\n\nThere was once a king who ruled over a kingdom somewhere between sunrise\nand sunset. It was as small as kingdoms usually were in old times, and\nwhen the king went up to the roof of his palace and took a look round\nhe could see to the ends of it in every direction. But as it was all his\nown, he was very proud of it, and often wondered how it would get along\nwithout him. He had only one child, and that was a daughter, so he\nforesaw that she must be provided with a husband who would be fit to be\nking after him. Where to find one rich enough and clever enough to be\na suitable match for the princess was what troubled him, and often kept\nhim awake at night.\n\nAt last he devised a plan. He made a proclamation over all his kingdom\n(and asked his nearest neighbours to publish it in theirs as well) that\nwhoever could bring him a dozen of the finest pearls the king had ever\nseen, and could perform certain tasks that would be set him, should\nhave his daughter in marriage and in due time succeed to the throne. The\npearls, he thought, could only be brought by a very wealthy man, and the\ntasks would require unusual talents to accomplish them.\n\nThere were plenty who tried to fulfil the terms which the king proposed.\nRich merchants and foreign princes presented themselves one after the\nother, so that some days the number of them was quite annoying; but,\nthough they could all produce magnificent pearls, not one of them could\nperform even the simplest of the tasks set them. Some turned up, too,\nwho were mere adventurers, and tried to deceive the old king with\nimitation pearls; but he was not to be taken in so easily, and they were\nsoon sent about their business. At the end of several weeks the stream\nof suitors began to fall off, and still there was no prospect of a\nsuitable son-in-law.\n\nNow it so happened that in a little corner of the king\u2019s dominions,\nbeside the sea, there lived a poor fisher, who had three sons, and their\nnames were Peter, Paul, and Jesper. Peter and Paul were grown men, while\nJesper was just coming to manhood.\n\nThe two elder brothers were much bigger and stronger than the youngest,\nbut Jesper was far the cleverest of the three, though neither Peter nor\nPaul would admit this. It was a fact, however, as we shall see in the\ncourse of our story.\n\nOne day the fisherman went out fishing, and among his catch for the day\nhe brought home three dozen oysters. When these were opened, every shell\nwas found to contain a large and beautiful pearl. Hereupon the three\nbrothers, at one and the same moment, fell upon the idea of offering\nthemselves as suitors for the princess. After some discussion, it was\nagreed that the pearls should be divided by lot, and that each should\nhave his chance in the order of his age: of course, if the oldest was\nsuccessful the other two would be saved the trouble of trying.\n\nNext morning Peter put his pearls in a little basket, and set off for\nthe king\u2019s palace. He had not gone far on his way when he came upon the\nKing of the Ants and the King of the Beetles, who, with their armies\nbehind them, were facing each other and preparing for battle.\n\n\u2018Come and help me,\u2019 said the King of the Ants; \u2018the beetles are too big\nfor us. I may help you some day in return.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have no time to waste on other people\u2019s affairs,\u2019 said Peter; \u2018just\nfight away as best you can;\u2019 and with that he walked off and left them.\n\nA little further on the way he met an old woman.\n\n\u2018Good morning, young man,\u2019 said she; \u2018you are early astir. What have you\ngot in your basket?\u2019\n\n\u2018Cinders,\u2019 said Peter promptly, and walked on, adding to himself, \u2018Take\nthat for being so inquisitive.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, cinders be it,\u2019 the old woman called after him, but he\npretended not to hear her.\n\nVery soon he reached the palace, and was at once brought before the\nking. When he took the cover off the basket, the king and all his\ncourtiers said with one voice that these were the finest pearls they\nhad ever seen, and they could not take their eyes off them. But then\na strange thing happened: the pearls began to lose their whiteness and\ngrew quite dim in colour; then they grew blacker and blacker till at\nlast they were just like so many cinders. Peter was so amazed that he\ncould say nothing for himself, but the king said quite enough for both,\nand Peter was glad to get away home again as fast as his legs would\ncarry him. To his father and brothers, however, he gave no account of\nhis attempt, except that it had been a failure.\n\nNext day Paul set out to try his luck. He soon came upon the King of the\nAnts and the King of the Beetles, who with their armies had encamped on\nthe field of battle all night, and were ready to begin the fight again.\n\n\u2018Come and help me,\u2019 said the King of the Ants; \u2018we got the worst of it\nyesterday. I may help you some day in return.\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t care though you get the worst of it to-day too,\u2019 said Paul.\n\u2018I have more important business on hand than mixing myself up in your\nquarrels.\u2019\n\nSo he walked on, and presently the same old woman met him. \u2018Good\nmorning,\u2019 said she; \u2018what have YOU got in your basket?\u2019\n\n\u2018Cinders,\u2019 said Paul, who was quite as insolent as his brother, and\nquite as anxious to teach other people good manners.\n\n\u2018Very well, cinders be it,\u2019 the old woman shouted after him, but Paul\nneither looked back nor answered her. He thought more of what she said,\nhowever, after his pearls also turned to cinders before the eyes of\nking and court: then he lost no time in getting home again, and was very\nsulky when asked how he had succeeded.\n\nThe third day came, and with it came Jesper\u2019s turn to try his fortune.\nHe got up and had his breakfast, while Peter and Paul lay in bed and\nmade rude remarks, telling him that he would come back quicker than\nhe went, for if they had failed it could not be supposed that he would\nsucceed. Jesper made no reply, but put his pearls in the little basket\nand walked off.\n\nThe King of the Ants and the King of the Beetles were again marshalling\ntheir hosts, but the ants were greatly reduced in numbers, and had\nlittle hope of holding out that day.\n\n\u2018Come and help us,\u2019 said their king to Jesper, \u2018or we shall be\ncompletely defeated. I may help you some day in return.\u2019\n\nNow Jesper had always heard the ants spoken of as clever and industrious\nlittle creatures, while he never heard anyone say a good word for the\nbeetles, so he agreed to give the wished-for help. At the first charge\nhe made, the ranks of the beetles broke and fled in dismay, and those\nescaped best that were nearest a hole, and could get into it before\nJesper\u2019s boots came down upon them. In a few minutes the ants had the\nfield all to themselves; and their king made quite an eloquent speech to\nJesper, thanking him for the service he had done them, and promising to\nassist him in any difficulty.\n\n\u2018Just call on me when you want me,\u2019 he said, \u2018where-ever you are. I\u2019m\nnever far away from anywhere, and if I can possibly help you, I shall\nnot fail to do it.\u2019\n\nJesper was inclined to laugh at this, but he kept a grave face, said\nhe would remember the offer, and walked on. At a turn of the road he\nsuddenly came upon the old woman. \u2018Good morning,\u2019 said she; \u2018what have\nYOU got in your basket?\u2019\n\n\u2018Pearls,\u2019 said Jesper; \u2018I\u2019m going to the palace to win the princess with\nthem.\u2019 And in case she might not believe him, he lifted the cover and\nlet her see them.\n\n\u2018Beautiful,\u2019 said the old woman; \u2018very beautiful indeed; but they will\ngo a very little way towards winning the princess, unless you can also\nperform the tasks that are set you. However,\u2019 she said, \u2018I see you have\nbrought something with you to eat. Won\u2019t you give that to me: you are\nsure to get a good dinner at the palace.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, of course,\u2019 said Jesper, \u2018I hadn\u2019t thought of that\u2019; and he handed\nover the whole of his lunch to the old woman.\n\nHe had already taken a few steps on the way again, when the old woman\ncalled him back.\n\n\u2018Here,\u2019 she said; \u2018take this whistle in return for your lunch. It isn\u2019t\nmuch to look at, but if you blow it, anything that you have lost or that\nhas been taken from you will find its way back to you in a moment.\u2019\n\nJesper thanked her for the whistle, though he did not see of what use it\nwas to be to him just then, and held on his way to the palace.\n\nWhen Jesper presented his pearls to the king there were exclamations\nof wonder and delight from everyone who saw them. It was not pleasant,\nhowever, to discover that Jesper was a mere fisher-lad; that wasn\u2019t the\nkind of son-in-law that the king had expected, and he said so to the\nqueen.\n\n\u2018Never mind,\u2019 said she, \u2018you can easily set him such tasks as he will\nnever be able to perform: we shall soon get rid of him.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, of course,\u2019 said the king; \u2018really I forget things nowadays, with\nall the bustle we have had of late.\u2019\n\nThat day Jesper dined with the king and queen and their nobles, and at\nnight was put into a bedroom grander than anything of the kind he had\never seen. It was all so new to him that he could not sleep a wink,\nespecially as he was always wondering what kind of tasks would be set\nhim to do, and whether he would be able to perform them. In spite of the\nsoftness of the bed, he was very glad when morning came at last.\n\nAfter breakfast was over, the king said to Jesper, \u2018Just come with me,\nand I\u2019ll show you what you must do first.\u2019 He led him out to the barn,\nand there in the middle of the floor was a large pile of grain. \u2018Here,\u2019\nsaid the king, \u2018you have a mixed heap of wheat, barley, oats, and rye, a\nsackful of each. By an hour before sunset you must have these sorted out\ninto four heaps, and if a single grain is found to be in a wrong heap\nyou have no further chance of marrying my daughter. I shall lock the\ndoor, so that no one can get in to assist you, and I shall return at the\nappointed time to see how you have succeeded.\u2019\n\nThe king walked off, and Jesper looked in despair at the task before\nhim. Then he sat down and tried what he could do at it, but it was soon\nvery clear that single-handed he could never hope to accomplish it\nin the time. Assistance was out of the question--unless, he suddenly\nthought--unless the King of the Ants could help. On him he began to\ncall, and before many minutes had passed that royal personage made his\nappearance. Jesper explained the trouble he was in.\n\n\u2018Is that all?\u2019 said the ant; \u2018we shall soon put that to rights.\u2019 He gave\nthe royal signal, and in a minute or two a stream of ants came pouring\ninto the barn, who under the king\u2019s orders set to work to separate the\ngrain into the proper heaps.\n\nJesper watched them for a while, but through the continual movement\nof the little creatures, and his not having slept during the previous\nnight, he soon fell sound asleep. When he woke again, the king had just\ncome into the barn, and was amazed to find that not only was the task\naccomplished, but that Jesper had found time to take a nap as well.\n\n\u2018Wonderful,\u2019 said he; \u2018I couldn\u2019t have believed it possible. However,\nthe hardest is yet to come, as you will see to-morrow.\u2019\n\nJesper thought so too when the next day\u2019s task was set before him. The\nking\u2019s gamekeepers had caught a hundred live hares, which were to be let\nloose in a large meadow, and there Jesper must herd them all day, and\nbring them safely home in the evening: if even one were missing, he\nmust give up all thought of marrying the princess. Before he had quite\ngrasped the fact that this was an impossible task, the keepers had\nopened the sacks in which the hares were brought to the field, and, with\na whisk of the short tail and a flap of the long ears, each one of the\nhundred flew in a different direction.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said the king, \u2018as he walked away, \u2018let\u2019s see what your\ncleverness can do here.\u2019\n\nJesper stared round him in bewilderment, and having nothing better to do\nwith his hands, thrust them into his pockets, as he was in the habit of\ndoing. Here he found something which turned out to be the whistle given\nto him by the old woman. He remembered what she had said about the\nvirtues of the whistle, but was rather doubtful whether its powers\nwould extend to a hundred hares, each of which had gone in a different\ndirection and might be several miles distant by this time. However, he\nblew the whistle, and in a few minutes the hares came bounding through\nthe hedge on all the four sides of the field, and before long were all\nsitting round him in a circle. After that, Jesper allowed them to run\nabout as they pleased, so long as they stayed in the field.\n\nThe king had told one of the keepers to hang about for a little and see\nwhat became of Jesper, not doubting, however, that as soon as he saw the\ncoast clear he would use his legs to the best advantage, and never\nshow face at the palace again. It was therefore with great surprise and\nannoyance that he now learned of the mysterious return of the hares and\nthe likelihood of Jesper carrying out his task with success.\n\n\u2018One of them must be got out of his hands by hook or crook,\u2019 said he.\n\u2018I\u2019ll go and see the queen about it; she\u2019s good at devising plans.\u2019\n\nA little later, a girl in a shabby dress came into the field and walked\nup to Jesper.\n\n\u2018Do give me one of those hares,\u2019 she said; \u2018we have just got visitors\nwho are going to stay to dinner, and there\u2019s nothing we can give them to\neat.\u2019\n\n\u2018I can\u2019t,\u2019 said Jesper. \u2018For one thing, they\u2019re not mine; for another, a\ngreat deal depends on my having them all here in the evening.\u2019\n\nBut the girl (and she was a very pretty girl, though so shabbily\ndressed) begged so hard for one of them that at last he said:\n\n\u2018Very well; give me a kiss and you shall have one of them.\u2019\n\nHe could see that she didn\u2019t quite care for this, but she consented to\nthe bargain, and gave him the kiss, and went away with a hare in her\napron. Scarcely had she got outside the field, however, when Jesper blew\nhis whistle, and immediately the hare wriggled out of its prison like an\neel, and went back to its master at the top of its speed.\n\nNot long after this the hare-herd had another visit. This time it was a\nstout old woman in the dress of a peasant, who also was after a hare to\nprovide a dinner for unexpected visitors. Jesper again refused, but the\nold lady was so pressing, and would take no refusal, that at last he\nsaid:\n\n\u2018Very well, you shall have a hare, and pay nothing for it either, if you\nwill only walk round me on tiptoe, look up to the sky, and cackle like a\nhen.\u2019\n\n\u2018Fie,\u2019 said she; \u2018what a ridiculous thing to ask anyone to do; just\nthink what the neighbours would say if they saw me. They would think I\nhad taken leave of my senses.\u2019\n\n\u2018Just as you like,\u2019 said Jesper; \u2018you know best whether you want the\nhare or not.\u2019\n\nThere was no help for it, and a pretty figure the old lady made in\ncarrying out her task; the cackling wasn\u2019t very well done, but Jesper\nsaid it would do, and gave her the hare. As soon as she had left the\nfield, the whistle was sounded again, and back came long-legs-and-ears\nat a marvellous speed.\n\nThe next to appear on the same errand was a fat old fellow in the dress\nof a groom: it was the royal livery he wore, and he plainly thought a\ngood deal of himself.\n\n\u2018Young man,\u2019 said he, \u2018I want one of those hares; name your price, but I\nMUST have one of them.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 said Jesper; \u2018you can have one at an easy rate. Just stand\non your head, whack your heels together, and cry \u201cHurrah,\u201d and the hare\nis yours.\u2019\n\n\u2018Eh, what!\u2019 said the old fellow; \u2018ME stand on my head, what an idea!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, very well,\u2019 said Jesper, \u2018you needn\u2019t unless you like, you know;\nbut then you won\u2019t get the hare.\u2019\n\nIt went very much against the grain, one could see, but after some\nefforts the old fellow had his head on the grass and his heels in the\nair; the whacking and the \u2018Hurrah\u2019 were rather feeble, but Jesper was\nnot very exacting, and the hare was handed over. Of course, it wasn\u2019t\nlong in coming back again, like the others.\n\nEvening came, and home came Jesper with the hundred hares behind him.\nGreat was the wonder over all the palace, and the king and queen seemed\nvery much put out, but it was noticed that the princess actually smiled\nto Jesper.\n\n\u2018Well, well,\u2019 said the king; \u2018you have done that very well indeed.\nIf you are as successful with a little task which I shall give you\nto-morrow we shall consider the matter settled, and you shall marry the\nprincess.\u2019\n\nNext day it was announced that the task would be performed in the great\nhall of the palace, and everyone was invited to come and witness it. The\nking and queen sat on their thrones, with the princess beside them, and\nthe lords and ladies were all round the hall. At a sign from the king,\ntwo servants carried in a large empty tub, which they set down in the\nopen space before the throne, and Jesper was told to stand beside it.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said the king, \u2018you must tell us as many undoubted truths as will\nfill that tub, or you can\u2019t have the princess.\u2019\n\n\u2018But how are we to know when the tub is full?\u2019 said Jesper.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you trouble about that,\u2019 said the king; \u2018that\u2019s my part of the\nbusiness.\u2019\n\nThis seemed to everybody present rather unfair, but no one liked to be\nthe first to say so, and Jesper had to put the best face he could on the\nmatter, and begin his story.\n\n\u2018Yesterday,\u2019 he said, \u2018when I was herding the hares, there came to me a\ngirl, in a shabby dress, and begged me to give her one of them. She got\nthe hare, but she had to give me a kiss for it; AND THAT GIRL WAS THE\nPRINCESS. Isn\u2019t that true?\u2019 said he, looking at her.\n\nThe princess blushed and looked very uncomfortable, but had to admit\nthat it was true.\n\n\u2018That hasn\u2019t filled much of the tub,\u2019 said the king. \u2018Go on again.\u2019\n\n\u2018After that,\u2019 said Jesper, \u2018a stout old woman, in a peasant\u2019s dress,\ncame and begged for a hare. Before she got it, she had to walk round me\non tiptoe, turn up her eyes, and cackle like a hen; AND THAT OLD WOMAN\nWAS THE QUEEN. Isn\u2019t that true, now?\u2019\n\nThe queen turned very red and hot, but couldn\u2019t deny it.\n\n\u2018H-m,\u2019 said the king; \u2018that is something, but the tub isn\u2019t full yet.\u2019\nTo the queen he whispered, \u2018I didn\u2019t think you would be such a fool.\u2019\n\n\u2018What did YOU do?\u2019 she whispered in return.\n\n\u2018Do you suppose I would do anything for HIM?\u2019 said the king, and then\nhurriedly ordered Jesper to go on.\n\n\u2018In the next place,\u2019 said Jesper, \u2018there came a fat old fellow on the\nsame errand. He was very proud and dignified, but in order to get the\nhare he actually stood on his head, whacked his heels together, and\ncried \u201cHurrah\u201d; and that old fellow was the----\u2019\n\n\u2018Stop, stop,\u2019 shouted the king; \u2018you needn\u2019t say another word; the tub\nis full.\u2019 Then all the court applauded, and the king and queen accepted\nJesper as their son-in-law, and the princess was very well pleased, for\nby this time she had quite fallen in love with him, because he was so\nhandsome and so clever. When the old king got time to think over it, he\nwas quite convinced that his kingdom would be safe in Jesper\u2019s hands if\nhe looked after the people as well as he herded the hares.\n\n(Scandinavian.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE UNDERGROUND WORKERS\n\nOn a bitter night somewhere between Christmas and the New Year, a man\nset out to walk to the neighbouring village. It was not many miles off,\nbut the snow was so thick that there were no roads, or walls, or hedges\nleft to guide him, and very soon he lost his way altogether, and was\nglad to get shelter from the wind behind a thick juniper tree. Here he\nresolved to spend the night, thinking that when the sun rose he would be\nable to see his path again.\n\nSo he tucked his legs snugly under him like a hedgehog, rolled himself\nup in his sheepskin, and went to sleep. How long he slept, I cannot tell\nyou, but after awhile he became aware that some one was gently shaking\nhim, while a stranger whispered, \u2018My good man, get up! If you lie there\nany more, you will be buried in the snow, and no one will ever know what\nbecame of you.\u2019\n\nThe sleeper slowly raised his head from his furs, and opened his heavy\neyes. Near him stood a long thin man, holding in his hand a young fir\ntree taller than himself. \u2018Come with me,\u2019 said the man, \u2018a little way\noff we have made a large fire, and you will rest far better there than\nout upon this moor.\u2019 The sleeper did not wait to be asked twice, but\nrose at once and followed the stranger. The snow was falling so fast\nthat he could not see three steps in front of him, till the stranger\nwaved his staff, when the drifts parted before them. Very soon they\nreached a wood, and saw the friendly glow of a fire.\n\n\u2018What is your name?\u2019 asked the stranger, suddenly turning round.\n\n\u2018I am called Hans, the son of Long Hans,\u2019 said the peasant.\n\nIn front of the fire three men were sitting clothed in white, just as\nif it was summer, and for about thirty feet all round winter had been\nbanished. The moss was dry and the plants green, while the grass seemed\nall alive with the hum of bees and cockchafers. But above the noise the\nson of Long Hans could hear the whistling of the wind and the crackling\nof the branches as they fell beneath the weight of the snow.\n\n\u2018Well! you son of Long Hans, isn\u2019t this more comfortable than your\njuniper bush?\u2019 laughed the stranger, and for answer Hans replied he\ncould not thank his friend enough for having brought him here, and,\nthrowing off his sheepskin, rolled it up as a pillow. Then, after a hot\ndrink which warmed both their hearts, they lay down on the ground. The\nstranger talked for a little to the other men in a language Hans did\nnot understand, and after listening for a short time he once more fell\nasleep.\n\nWhen he awoke, neither wood nor fire was to be seen, and he did not know\nwhere he was. He rubbed his eyes, and began to recall the events of the\nnight, thinking he must have been dreaming; but for all that, he could\nnot make out how he came to be in this place.\n\nSuddenly a loud noise struck on his ear, and he felt the earth tremble\nbeneath his feet. Hans listened for a moment, then resolved to go\ntowards the place where the sound came from, hoping he might come across\nsome human being. He found himself at length at the mouth of a rocky\ncave in which a fire seemed burning. He entered, and saw a huge forge,\nand a crowd of men in front of it, blowing bellows and wielding hammers,\nand to each anvil were seven men, and a set of more comical smiths could\nnot be found if you searched all the world through! Their heads were\nbigger than their little bodies, and their hammers twice the size of\nthemselves, but the strongest men on earth could not have handled their\niron clubs more stoutly or given lustier blows.\n\nThe little blacksmiths were clad in leather aprons, which covered them\nfrom their necks to their feet in front, and left their backs naked.\nOn a high stool against the wall sat the man with the pinewood staff,\nwatching sharply the way the little fellows did their work, and near him\nstood a large can, from which every now and then the workers would come\nand take a drink. The master no longer wore the white garments of the\nday before, but a black jerkin, held in its place by a leathern girdle\nwith huge clasps.\n\nFrom time to time he would give his workmen a sign with his staff, for\nit was useless to speak amid such a noise.\n\nIf any of them had noticed that there was a stranger present they took\nno heed of him, but went on with what they were doing. After some hours\u2019\nhard labour came the time for rest, and they all flung their hammers to\nthe ground and trooped out of the cave.\n\nThen the master got down from his seat and said to Hans:\n\n\u2018I saw you come in, but the work was pressing, and I could not stop to\nspeak to you. To-day you must be my guest, and I will show you something\nof the way in which I live. Wait here for a moment, while I lay aside\nthese dirty clothes.\u2019 With these words he unlocked a door in the cave,\nand bade Hans pass in before him.\n\nOh, what riches and treasures met Hans\u2019 astonished eyes! Gold and silver\nbars lay piled on the floor, and glittered so that you could not look at\nthem! Hans thought he would count them for fun, and had already reached\nthe five hundred and seventieth when his host returned and cried,\nlaughing:\n\n\u2018Do not try to count them, it would take too long; choose some of the\nbars from the heap, as I should like to make you a present of them.\u2019\n\nHans did not wait to be asked twice, and stooped to pick up a bar of\ngold, but though he put forth all his strength he could not even move it\nwith both hands, still less lift it off the ground.\n\n\u2018Why, you have no more power than a flea,\u2019 laughed the host; \u2018you will\nhave to content yourself with feasting your eyes upon them!\u2019\n\nSo he bade Hans follow him through other rooms, till they entered one\nbigger than a church, filled, like the rest, with gold and silver.\nHans wondered to see these vast riches, which might have bought all the\nkingdoms of the world, and lay buried, useless, he thought, to anyone.\n\n\u2018What is the reason,\u2019 he asked of his guide, \u2018that you gather up these\ntreasures here, where they can do good to nobody? If they fell into\nthe hands of men, everyone would be rich, and none need work or suffer\nhunger.\u2019\n\n\u2018And it is exactly for that reason,\u2019 answered he, \u2018that I must keep\nthese riches out of their way. The whole world would sink to idleness if\nmen were not forced to earn their daily bread. It is only through work\nand care that man can ever hope to be good for anything.\u2019\n\nHans stared at these words, and at last he begged that his host would\ntell him what use it was to anybody that this gold and silver should lie\nmouldering there, and the owner of it be continually trying to increase\nhis treasure, which already overflowed his store rooms.\n\n\u2018I am not really a man,\u2019 replied his guide, \u2018though I have the outward\nform of one, but one of those beings to whom is given the care of the\nworld. It is my task and that of my workmen to prepare under the earth\nthe gold and silver, a small portion of which finds its way every year\nto the upper world, but only just enough to help them carry on their\nbusiness. To none comes wealth without trouble: we must first dig out\nthe gold and mix the grains with earth, clay, and sand. Then, after long\nand hard seeking, it will be found in this state, by those who have good\nluck or much patience. But, my friend, the hour of dinner is at hand. If\nyou wish to remain in this place, and feast your eyes on this gold, then\nstay till I call you.\u2019\n\nIn his absence Hans wandered from one treasure chamber to another,\nsometimes trying to break off a little lump of gold, but never able to\ndo it. After awhile his host came back, but so changed that Hans could\nnot believe it was really he. His silken clothes were of the brightest\nflame colour, richly trimmed with gold fringes and lace; a golden girdle\nwas round his waist, while his head was encircled with a crown of gold,\nand precious stones twinkled about him like stars in a winter\u2019s night,\nand in place of his wooden stick he held a finely worked golden staff.\n\nThe lord of all this treasure locked the doors and put the keys in his\npocket, then led Hans into another room, where dinner was laid for them.\nTable and seats were all of silver, while the dishes and plates were of\nsolid gold. Directly they sat down, a dozen little servants appeared to\nwait on them, which they did so cleverly and so quickly that Hans could\nhardly believe they had no wings. As they did not reach as high as the\ntable, they were often obliged to jump and hop right on to the top to\nget at the dishes. Everything was new to Hans, and though he was rather\nbewildered he enjoyed himself very much, especially when the man with\nthe golden crown began to tell him many things he had never heard of\nbefore.\n\n\u2018Between Christmas and the New Year,\u2019 said he, \u2018I often amuse myself\nby wandering about the earth watching the doings of men and learning\nsomething about them. But as far as I have seen and heard I cannot\nspeak well of them. The greater part of them are always quarrelling and\ncomplaining of each other\u2019s faults, while nobody thinks of his own.\u2019\n\nHans tried to deny the truth of these words, but he could not do it, and\nsat silent, hardly listening to what his friend was saying. Then he went\nto sleep in his chair, and knew nothing of what was happening.\n\nWonderful dreams came to him during his sleep, where the bars of gold\ncontinually hovered before his eyes. He felt stronger than he had ever\nfelt during his waking moments, and lifted two bars quite easily on\nto his back. He did this so often that at length his strength seemed\nexhausted, and he sank almost breathless on the ground. Then he heard\nthe sound of cheerful voices, and the song of the blacksmiths as they\nblew their bellows--he even felt as if he saw the sparks flashing before\nhis eyes. Stretching himself, he awoke slowly, and here he was in the\ngreen forest, and instead of the glow of the fire in the underworld\nthe sun was streaming on him, and he sat up wondering why he felt so\nstrange.\n\nAt length his memory came back to him, and as he called to mind all the\nwonderful things he had seen he tried in vain to make them agree with\nthose that happen every day. After thinking it over till he was nearly\nmad, he tried at last to believe that one night between Christmas and\nthe New Year he had met a stranger in the forest, and had slept all\nnight in his company before a big fire; the next day they had dined\ntogether, and had drunk a great deal more than was good for them--in\nshort, he had spent two whole days revelling with another man. But here,\nwith the full tide of summer around him, he could hardly accept his own\nexplanation, and felt that he must have been the plaything or sport of\nsome magician.\n\nNear him, in the full sunlight, were the traces of a dead fire, and when\nhe drew close to it he saw that what he had taken for ashes was really\nfine silver dust, and that the half burnt firewood was made of gold.\n\nOh, how lucky Hans thought himself; but where should he get a sack to\ncarry his treasure home before anyone else found it? But necessity is\nthe mother of invention: Hans threw off his fur coat, gathered up the\nsilver ashes so carefully in it that none remained behind, laid the gold\nsticks on top, and tied up the bag thus made with his girdle, so that\nnothing should fall out. The load was not, in point of fact, very heavy,\nalthough it seemed so to his imagination, and he moved slowly along till\nhe found a safe hiding-place for it.\n\nIn this way Hans suddenly became rich--rich enough to buy a property of\nhis own. But being a prudent man, he finally decided that it would be\nbest for him to leave his old neighbourhood and look for a home in a\ndistant part of the country, where nobody knew anything about him. It\ndid not take him long to find what he wanted, and after he had paid for\nit there was plenty of money left over. When he was settled, he married\na pretty girl who lived near by, and had some children, to whom on his\ndeath-bed he told the story of the lord of the underworld, and how he\nhad made Hans rich.\n\n(Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF DWARF LONG NOSE\n\nIt is a great mistake to think that fairies, witches, magicians, and\nsuch people lived only in Eastern countries and in such times as those\nof the Caliph Haroun Al-Raschid. Fairies and their like belong to every\ncountry and every age, and no doubt we should see plenty of them now--if\nwe only knew how.\n\nIn a large town in Germany there lived, some couple of hundred years\nago, a cobbler and his wife. They were poor and hard-working. The man\nsat all day in a little stall at the street corner and mended any shoes\nthat were brought him. His wife sold the fruit and vegetables they grew\nin their garden in the Market Place, and as she was always neat and\nclean and her goods were temptingly spread out she had plenty of\ncustomers.\n\nThe couple had one boy called Jem. A handsome, pleasant-faced boy of\ntwelve, and tall for his age. He used to sit by his mother in the market\nand would carry home what people bought from her, for which they often\ngave him a pretty flower, or a slice of cake, or even some small coin.\n\nOne day Jem and his mother sat as usual in the Market Place with plenty\nof nice herbs and vegetables spread out on the board, and in some\nsmaller baskets early pears, apples, and apricots. Jem cried his wares\nat the top of his voice:\n\n\u2018This way, gentlemen! See these lovely cabbages and these fresh herbs!\nEarly apples, ladies; early pears and apricots, and all cheap. Come,\nbuy, buy!\u2019\n\nAs he cried an old woman came across the Market Place. She looked very\ntorn and ragged, and had a small sharp face, all wrinkled, with red\neyes, and a thin hooked nose which nearly met her chin. She leant on\na tall stick and limped and shuffled and stumbled along as if she were\ngoing to fall on her nose at any moment.\n\nIn this fashion she came along till she got to the stall where Jem and\nhis mother were, and there she stopped.\n\n\u2018Are you Hannah the herb seller?\u2019 she asked in a croaky voice as her\nhead shook to and fro.\n\n\u2018Yes, I am,\u2019 was the answer. \u2018Can I serve you?\u2019\n\n\u2018We\u2019ll see; we\u2019ll see! Let me look at those herbs. I wonder if you\u2019ve\ngot what I want,\u2019 said the old woman as she thrust a pair of hideous\nbrown hands into the herb basket, and began turning over all the neatly\npacked herbs with her skinny fingers, often holding them up to her nose\nand sniffing at them.\n\nThe cobbler\u2019s wife felt much disgusted at seeing her wares treated like\nthis, but she dared not speak. When the old hag had turned over the\nwhole basket she muttered, \u2018Bad stuff, bad stuff; much better fifty\nyears ago--all bad.\u2019\n\nThis made Jem very angry\n\n\u2018You are a very rude old woman,\u2019 he cried out. \u2018First you mess all our\nnice herbs about with your horrid brown fingers and sniff at them with\nyour long nose till no one else will care to buy them, and then you say\nit\u2019s all bad stuff, though the duke\u2019s cook himself buys all his herbs\nfrom us.\u2019\n\nThe old woman looked sharply at the saucy boy, laughed unpleasantly, and\nsaid:\n\n\u2018So you don\u2019t like my long nose, sonny? Well, you shall have one\nyourself, right down to your chin.\u2019\n\nAs she spoke she shuffled towards the hamper of cabbages, took up one\nafter another, squeezed them hard, and threw them back, muttering again,\n\u2018Bad stuff, bad stuff.\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t waggle your head in that horrid way,\u2019 begged Jem anxiously. \u2018Your\nneck is as thin as a cabbage-stalk, and it might easily break and your\nhead fall into the basket, and then who would buy anything?\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you like thin necks?\u2019 laughed the old woman. \u2018Then you sha\u2019n\u2019t\nhave any, but a head stuck close between your shoulders so that it may\nbe quite sure not to fall off.\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t talk such nonsense to the child,\u2019 said the mother at last.\n\n\u2018If you wish to buy, please make haste, as you are keeping other\ncustomers away.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, I will do as you ask,\u2019 said the old woman, with an angry\nlook. \u2018I will buy these six cabbages, but, as you see, I can only walk\nwith my stick and can carry nothing. Let your boy carry them home for me\nand I\u2019ll pay him for his trouble.\u2019\n\nThe little fellow didn\u2019t like this, and began to cry, for he was afraid\nof the old woman, but his mother ordered him to go, for she thought\nit wrong not to help such a weakly old creature; so, still crying, he\ngathered the cabbages into a basket and followed the old woman across\nthe Market Place.\n\nIt took her more than half an hour to get to a distant part of the\nlittle town, but at last she stopped in front of a small tumble-down\nhouse. She drew a rusty old hook from her pocket and stuck it into a\nlittle hole in the door, which suddenly flew open. How surprised Jem\nwas when they went in! The house was splendidly furnished, the walls and\nceiling of marble, the furniture of ebony inlaid with gold and precious\nstones, the floor of such smooth slippery glass that the little fellow\ntumbled down more than once.\n\nThe old woman took out a silver whistle and blew it till the sound rang\nthrough the house. Immediately a lot of guinea pigs came running down\nthe stairs, but Jem thought it rather odd that they all walked on their\nhind legs, wore nutshells for shoes, and men\u2019s clothes, whilst even\ntheir hats were put on in the newest fashion.\n\n\u2018Where are my slippers, lazy crew?\u2019 cried the old woman, and hit about\nwith her stick. \u2018How long am I to stand waiting here?\u2019\n\nThey rushed upstairs again and returned with a pair of cocoa nuts lined\nwith leather, which she put on her feet. Now all limping and shuffling\nwas at an end. She threw away her stick and walked briskly across the\nglass floor, drawing little Jem after her. At last she paused in a room\nwhich looked almost like a kitchen, it was so full of pots and pans, but\nthe tables were of mahogany and the sofas and chairs covered with the\nrichest stuffs.\n\n\u2018Sit down,\u2019 said the old woman pleasantly, and she pushed Jem into\na corner of a sofa and put a table close in front of him. \u2018Sit down,\nyou\u2019ve had a long walk and a heavy load to carry, and I must give you\nsomething for your trouble. Wait a bit, and I\u2019ll give you some nice\nsoup, which you\u2019ll remember as long as you live.\u2019\n\nSo saying, she whistled again. First came in guinea pigs in men\u2019s\nclothing. They had tied on large kitchen aprons, and in their belts were\nstuck carving knives and sauce ladles and such things. After them hopped\nin a number of squirrels. They too walked on their hind legs, wore full\nTurkish trousers, and little green velvet caps on their heads. They\nseemed to be the scullions, for they clambered up the walls and brought\ndown pots and pans, eggs, flour, butter, and herbs, which they carried\nto the stove. Here the old woman was bustling about, and Jem could see\nthat she was cooking something very special for him. At last the broth\nbegan to bubble and boil, and she drew off the saucepan and poured its\ncontents into a silver bowl, which she set before Jem.\n\n\u2018There, my boy,\u2019 said she, \u2018eat this soup and then you\u2019ll have\neverything which pleased you so much about me. And you shall be a clever\ncook too, but the real herb--no, the REAL herb you\u2019ll never find. Why\nhad your mother not got it in her basket?\u2019\n\nThe child could not think what she was talking about, but he quite\nunderstood the soup, which tasted most delicious. His mother had often\ngiven him nice things, but nothing had ever seemed so good as this. The\nsmell of the herbs and spices rose from the bowl, and the soup tasted\nboth sweet and sharp at the same time, and was very strong. As he was\nfinishing it the guinea pigs lit some Arabian incense, which gradually\nfilled the room with clouds of blue vapour. They grew thicker and\nthicker and the scent nearly overpowered the boy. He reminded himself\nthat he must get back to his mother, but whenever he tried to rouse\nhimself to go he sank back again drowsily, and at last he fell sound\nasleep in the corner of the sofa.\n\nStrange dreams came to him. He thought the old woman took off all his\nclothes and wrapped him up in a squirrel skin, and that he went about\nwith the other squirrels and guinea pigs, who were all very pleasant and\nwell mannered, and waited on the old woman.\n\nFirst he learned to clean her cocoa-nut shoes with oil and to rub them\nup. Then he learnt to catch the little sun moths and rub them through\nthe finest sieves, and the flour from them he made into soft bread for\nthe toothless old woman.\n\nIn this way he passed from one kind of service to another, spending a\nyear in each, till in the fourth year he was promoted to the kitchen.\nHere he worked his way up from under-scullion to head-pastrycook, and\nreached the greatest perfection. He could make all the most difficult\ndishes, and two hundred different kinds of patties, soup flavoured\nwith every sort of herb--he had learnt it all, and learnt it well and\nquickly.\n\nWhen he had lived seven years with the old woman she ordered him one\nday, as she was going out, to kill and pluck a chicken, stuff it with\nherbs, and have it very nicely roasted by the time she got back. He did\nthis quite according to rule. He wrung the chicken\u2019s neck, plunged it\ninto boiling water, carefully plucked out all the feathers, and rubbed\nthe skin nice and smooth. Then he went to fetch the herbs to stuff it\nwith. In the store-room he noticed a half-opened cupboard which he did\nnot remember having seen before. He peeped in and saw a lot of baskets\nfrom which came a strong and pleasant smell. He opened one and found a\nvery uncommon herb in it. The stems and leaves were a bluish green, and\nabove them was a little flower of a deep bright red, edged with yellow.\nHe gazed at the flower, smelt it, and found it gave the same strong\nstrange perfume which came from the soup the old woman had made him. But\nthe smell was so sharp that he began to sneeze again and again, and at\nlast--he woke up!\n\nThere he lay on the old woman\u2019s sofa and stared about him in surprise.\n\u2018Well, what odd dreams one does have to be sure!\u2019 he said to himself.\n\u2018Why, I could have sworn I had been a squirrel, a companion of guinea\npigs and such creatures, and had become a great cook, too. How mother\nwill laugh when I tell her! But won\u2019t she scold me, though, for sleeping\naway here in a strange house, instead of helping her at market!\u2019\n\nHe jumped up and prepared to go: all his limbs still seemed quite stiff\nwith his long sleep, especially his neck, for he could not move his head\neasily, and he laughed at his own stupidity at being still so drowsy\nthat he kept knocking his nose against the wall or cupboards. The\nsquirrels and guinea pigs ran whimpering after him, as though they would\nlike to go too, and he begged them to come when he reached the door, but\nthey all turned and ran quickly back into the house again.\n\nThe part of the town was out of the way, and Jem did not know the many\nnarrow streets in it and was puzzled by their windings and by the crowd\nof people, who seemed excited about some show. From what he heard, he\nfancied they were going to see a dwarf, for he heard them call out:\n\u2018Just look at the ugly dwarf!\u2019 \u2018What a long nose he has, and see how his\nhead is stuck in between his shoulders, and only look at his ugly brown\nhands!\u2019 If he had not been in such a hurry to get back to his mother, he\nwould have gone too, for he loved shows with giants and dwarfs and the\nlike.\n\nHe was quite puzzled when he reached the market-place. There sat his\nmother, with a good deal of fruit still in her baskets, so he felt he\ncould not have slept so very long, but it struck him that she was sad,\nfor she did not call to the passers-by, but sat with her head resting on\nher hand, and as he came nearer he thought she looked paler than usual.\n\nHe hesitated what to do, but at last he slipped behind her, laid a hand\non her arm, and said: \u2018Mammy, what\u2019s the matter? Are you angry with me?\u2019\n\nShe turned round quickly and jumped up with a cry of horror.\n\n\u2018What do you want, you hideous dwarf?\u2019 she cried; \u2018get away; I can\u2019t\nbear such tricks.\u2019\n\n\u2018But, mother dear, what\u2019s the matter with you?\u2019 repeated Jem, quite\nfrightened. \u2018You can\u2019t be well. Why do you want to drive your son away?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have said already, get away,\u2019 replied Hannah, quite angrily. \u2018You\nwon\u2019t get anything out of me by your games, you monstrosity.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh dear, oh dear! she must be wandering in her mind,\u2019 murmured the lad\nto himself. \u2018How can I manage to get her home? Dearest mother, do look\nat me close. Can\u2019t you see I am your own son Jem?\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, did you ever hear such impudence?\u2019 asked Hannah, turning to a\nneighbour. \u2018Just see that frightful dwarf--would you believe that he\nwants me to think he is my son Jem?\u2019\n\nThen all the market women came round and talked all together and scolded\nas hard as they could, and said what a shame it was to make game of Mrs.\nHannah, who had never got over the loss of her beautiful boy, who had\nbeen stolen from her seven years ago, and they threatened to fall upon\nJem and scratch him well if he did not go away at once.\n\nPoor Jem did not know what to make of it all. He was sure he had gone\nto market with his mother only that morning, had helped to set out the\nstall, had gone to the old woman\u2019s house, where he had some soup and a\nlittle nap, and now, when he came back, they were all talking of seven\nyears. And they called him a horrid dwarf! Why, what had happened to\nhim? When he found that his mother would really have nothing to do\nwith him he turned away with tears in his eyes, and went sadly down the\nstreet towards his father\u2019s stall.\n\n\u2018Now I\u2019ll see whether he will know me,\u2019 thought he. \u2018I\u2019ll stand by the\ndoor and talk to him.\u2019\n\nWhen he got to the stall he stood in the doorway and looked in. The\ncobbler was so busy at work that he did not see him for some time, but,\nhappening to look up, he caught sight of his visitor, and letting shoes,\nthread, and everything fall to the ground, he cried with horror: \u2018Good\nheavens! what is that?\u2019\n\n\u2018Good evening, master,\u2019 said the boy, as he stepped in. \u2018How do you do?\u2019\n\n\u2018Very ill, little sir, replied the father, to Jem\u2019s surprise, for he did\nnot seem to know him. \u2018Business does not go well. I am all alone, and am\ngetting old, and a workman is costly.\u2019\n\n\u2018But haven\u2019t you a son who could learn your trade by degrees?\u2019 asked\nJem.\n\n\u2018I had one: he was called Jem, and would have been a tall sturdy lad\nof twenty by this time, and able to help me well. Why, when he was only\ntwelve he was quite sharp and quick, and had learnt many little things,\nand a good-looking boy too, and pleasant, so that customers were taken\nby him. Well, well! so goes the world!\u2019\n\n\u2018But where is your son?\u2019 asked Jem, with a trembling voice.\n\n\u2018Heaven only knows!\u2019 replied the man; \u2018seven years ago he was stolen\nfrom the market-place, and we have heard no more of him.\u2019\n\n\u2018SEVEN YEARS AGO!\u2019 cried Jem, with horror.\n\n\u2018Yes, indeed, seven years ago, though it seems but yesterday that my\nwife came back howling and crying, and saying the child had not come\nback all day. I always thought and said that something of the kind would\nhappen. Jem was a beautiful boy, and everyone made much of him, and\nmy wife was so proud of him, and liked him to carry the vegetables and\nthings to grand folks\u2019 houses, where he was petted and made much of. But\nI used to say, \u201cTake care--the town is large, there are plenty of bad\npeople in it--keep a sharp eye on Jem.\u201d And so it happened; for one day\nan old woman came and bought a lot of things--more than she could carry;\nso my wife, being a kindly soul, lent her the boy, and--we have never\nseen him since.\u2019\n\n\u2018And that was seven years ago, you say?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, seven years: we had him cried--we went from house to house. Many\nknew the pretty boy, and were fond of him, but it was all in vain. No\none seemed to know the old woman who bought the vegetables either; only\none old woman, who is ninety years old, said it might have been the\nfairy Herbaline, who came into the town once in every fifty years to buy\nthings.\u2019\n\nAs his father spoke, things grew clearer to Jem\u2019s mind, and he saw now\nthat he had not been dreaming, but had really served the old woman seven\nyears in the shape of a squirrel. As he thought it over rage filled his\nheart. Seven years of his youth had been stolen from him, and what had\nhe got in return? To learn to rub up cocoa nuts, and to polish glass\nfloors, and to be taught cooking by guinea pigs! He stood there\nthinking, till at last his father asked him:\n\n\u2018Is there anything I can do for you, young gentleman? Shall I make you a\npair of slippers, or perhaps\u2019 with a smile--\u2018a case for your nose?\u2019\n\n\u2018What have you to do with my nose?\u2019 asked Jem. \u2018And why should I want a\ncase for it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, everyone to his taste,\u2019 replied the cobbler; \u2018but I must say if I\nhad such a nose I would have a nice red leather cover made for it. Here\nis a nice piece; and think what a protection it would be to you. As it\nis, you must be constantly knocking up against things.\u2019\n\nThe lad was dumb with fright. He felt his nose. It was thick, and quite\ntwo hands long. So, then, the old woman had changed his shape, and that\nwas why his own mother did not know him, and called him a horrid dwarf!\n\n\u2018Master,\u2019 said he, \u2018have you got a glass that I could see myself in?\u2019\n\n\u2018Young gentleman,\u2019 was the answer, \u2018your appearance is hardly one to\nbe vain of, and there is no need to waste your time looking in a glass.\nBesides, I have none here, and if you must have one you had better\nask Urban the barber, who lives over the way, to lend you his. Good\nmorning.\u2019\n\nSo saying, he gently pushed Jem into the street, shut the door, and went\nback to his work.\n\nJem stepped across to the barber, whom he had known in old days.\n\n\u2018Good morning, Urban,\u2019 said he; \u2018may I look at myself in your glass for\na moment?\u2019\n\n\u2018With pleasure,\u2019 said the barber, laughing, and all the people in his\nshop fell to laughing also. \u2018You are a pretty youth, with your swan-like\nneck and white hands and small nose. No wonder you are rather vain; but\nlook as long as you like at yourself.\u2019\n\nSo spoke the barber, and a titter ran round the room. Meantime Jem had\nstepped up to the mirror, and stood gazing sadly at his reflection.\nTears came to his eyes.\n\n\u2018No wonder you did not know your child again, dear mother,\u2019 thought he;\n\u2018he wasn\u2019t like this when you were so proud of his looks.\u2019\n\nHis eyes had grown quite small, like pigs\u2019 eyes, his nose was huge and\nhung down over his mouth and chin, his throat seemed to have disappeared\naltogether, and his head was fixed stiffly between his shoulders. He was\nno taller than he had been seven years ago, when he was not much more\nthan twelve years old, but he made up in breadth, and his back and\nchest had grown into lumps like two great sacks. His legs were small and\nspindly, but his arms were as large as those of a well-grown man, with\nlarge brown hands, and long skinny fingers.\n\nThen he remembered the morning when he had first seen the old woman, and\nher threats to him, and without saying a word he left the barber\u2019s shop.\n\nHe determined to go again to his mother, and found her still in the\nmarket-place. He begged her to listen quietly to him, and he reminded\nher of the day when he went away with the old woman, and of many things\nin his childhood, and told her how the fairy had bewitched him, and he\nhad served her seven years. Hannah did not know what to think--the story\nwas so strange; and it seemed impossible to think her pretty boy and\nthis hideous dwarf were the same. At last she decided to go and talk to\nher husband about it. She gathered up her baskets, told Jem to follow\nher, and went straight to the cobbler\u2019s stall.\n\n\u2018Look here,\u2019 said she, \u2018this creature says he is our lost son. He has\nbeen telling me how he was stolen seven years ago, and bewitched by a\nfairy.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed!\u2019 interrupted the cobbler angrily. \u2018Did he tell you this? Wait a\nminute, you rascal! Why I told him all about it myself only an hour ago,\nand then he goes off to humbug you. So you were bewitched, my son were\nyou? Wait a bit, and I\u2019ll bewitch you!\u2019\n\nSo saying, he caught up a bundle of straps, and hit out at Jem so hard\nthat he ran off crying.\n\nThe poor little dwarf roamed about all the rest of the day without food\nor drink, and at night was glad to lie down and sleep on the steps of a\nchurch. He woke next morning with the first rays of light, and began to\nthink what he could do to earn a living. Suddenly he remembered that he\nwas an excellent cook, and he determined to look out for a place.\n\nAs soon as it was quite daylight he set out for the palace, for he\nknew that the grand duke who reigned over the country was fond of good\nthings.\n\nWhen he reached the palace all the servants crowded about him, and made\nfun of him, and at last their shouts and laughter grew so loud that the\nhead steward rushed out, crying, \u2018For goodness sake, be quiet, can\u2019t\nyou. Don\u2019t you know his highness is still asleep?\u2019\n\nSome of the servants ran off at once, and others pointed out Jem.\n\nIndeed, the steward found it hard to keep himself from laughing at the\ncomic sight, but he ordered the servants off and led the dwarf into his\nown room.\n\nWhen he heard him ask for a place as cook, he said: \u2018You make some\nmistake, my lad. I think you want to be the grand duke\u2019s dwarf, don\u2019t\nyou?\u2019\n\n\u2018No, sir,\u2019 replied Jem. \u2018I am an experienced cook, and if you will\nkindly take me to the head cook he may find me of some use.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, as you will; but believe me, you would have an easier place as\nthe grand ducal dwarf.\u2019\n\nSo saying, the head steward led him to the head cook\u2019s room.\n\n\u2018Sir,\u2019 asked Jem, as he bowed till his nose nearly touched the floor,\n\u2018do you want an experienced cook?\u2019\n\nThe head cook looked him over from head to foot, and burst out laughing.\n\n\u2018You a cook! Do you suppose our cooking stoves are so low that you can\nlook into any saucepan on them? Oh, my dear little fellow, whoever sent\nyou to me wanted to make fun of you.\u2019\n\nBut the dwarf was not to be put off.\n\n\u2018What matters an extra egg or two, or a little butter or flour and spice\nmore or less, in such a house as this?\u2019 said he. \u2018Name any dish you wish\nto have cooked, and give me the materials I ask for, and you shall see.\u2019\n\nHe said much more, and at last persuaded the head cook to give him a\ntrial.\n\nThey went into the kitchen--a huge place with at least twenty\nfireplaces, always alight. A little stream of clear water ran through\nthe room, and live fish were kept at one end of it. Everything in the\nkitchen was of the best and most beautiful kind, and swarms of cooks and\nscullions were busy preparing dishes.\n\nWhen the head cook came in with Jem everyone stood quite still.\n\n\u2018What has his highness ordered for luncheon?\u2019 asked the head cook.\n\n\u2018Sir, his highness has graciously ordered a Danish soup and red Hamburg\ndumplings.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good,\u2019 said the head cook. \u2018Have you heard, and do you feel equal to\nmaking these dishes? Not that you will be able to make the dumplings,\nfor they are a secret receipt.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is that all!\u2019 said Jem, who had often made both dishes. \u2018Nothing\neasier. Let me have some eggs, a piece of wild boar, and such and such\nroots and herbs for the soup; and as for the dumplings,\u2019 he added in a\nlow voice to the head cook, \u2018I shall want four different kinds of meat,\nsome wine, a duck\u2019s marrow, some ginger, and a herb called heal-well.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why,\u2019 cried the astonished cook, \u2018where did you learn cooking? Yes,\nthose are the exact materials, but we never used the herb heal-well,\nwhich, I am sure, must be an improvement.\u2019\n\nAnd now Jem was allowed to try his hand. He could not nearly reach up to\nthe kitchen range, but by putting a wide plank on two chairs he managed\nvery well. All the cooks stood round to look on, and could not help\nadmiring the quick, clever way in which he set to work. At last, when\nall was ready, Jem ordered the two dishes to be put on the fire till he\ngave the word. Then he began to count: \u2018One, two, three,\u2019 till he got to\nfive hundred when he cried, \u2018Now!\u2019 The saucepans were taken off, and he\ninvited the head cook to taste.\n\nThe first cook took a golden spoon, washed and wiped it, and handed\nit to the head cook, who solemnly approached, tasted the dishes, and\nsmacked his lips over them. \u2018First rate, indeed!\u2019 he exclaimed. \u2018You\ncertainly are a master of the art, little fellow, and the herb heal-well\ngives a particular relish.\u2019\n\nAs he was speaking, the duke\u2019s valet came to say that his highness was\nready for luncheon, and it was served at once in silver dishes. The head\ncook took Jem to his own room, but had hardly had time to question him\nbefore he was ordered to go at once to the grand duke. He hurried on his\nbest clothes and followed the messenger.\n\nThe grand duke was looking much pleased. He had emptied the dishes, and\nwas wiping his mouth as the head cook came in. \u2018Who cooked my luncheon\nto-day?\u2019 asked he. \u2018I must say your dumplings are always very good; but\nI don\u2019t think I ever tasted anything so delicious as they were to-day.\nWho made them?\u2019\n\n\u2018It is a strange story, your highness,\u2019 said the cook, and told him\nthe whole matter, which surprised the duke so much that he sent for the\ndwarf and asked him many questions. Of course, Jem could not say he had\nbeen turned into a squirrel, but he said he was without parents and had\nbeen taught cooking by an old woman.\n\n\u2018If you will stay with me,\u2019 said the grand duke, \u2018you shall have fifty\nducats a year, besides a new coat and a couple of pairs of trousers. You\nmust undertake to cook my luncheon yourself and to direct what I shall\nhave for dinner, and you shall be called assistant head cook.\u2019\n\nJem bowed to the ground, and promised to obey his new master in all\nthings.\n\nHe lost no time in setting to work, and everyone rejoiced at having him\nin the kitchen, for the duke was not a patient man, and had been known\nto throw plates and dishes at his cooks and servants if the things\nserved were not quite to his taste. Now all was changed. He never\neven grumbled at anything, had five meals instead of three, thought\neverything delicious, and grew fatter daily.\n\nAnd so Jem lived on for two years, much respected and considered, and\nonly saddened when he thought of his parents. One day passed much like\nanother till the following incident happened.\n\nDwarf Long Nose--as he was always called--made a practice of doing his\nmarketing as much as possible himself, and whenever time allowed went to\nthe market to buy his poultry and fruit. One morning he was in the goose\nmarket, looking for some nice fat geese. No one thought of laughing at\nhis appearance now; he was known as the duke\u2019s special body cook, and\nevery goose-woman felt honoured if his nose turned her way.\n\nHe noticed one woman sitting apart with a number of geese, but not\ncrying or praising them like the rest. He went up to her, felt and\nweighed her geese, and, finding them very good, bought three and the\ncage to put them in, hoisted them on his broad shoulders, and set off on\nhis way back.\n\nAs he went, it struck him that two of the geese were gobbling and\nscreaming as geese do, but the third sat quite still, only heaving a\ndeep sigh now and then, like a human being. \u2018That goose is ill,\u2019 said\nhe; \u2018I must make haste to kill and dress her.\u2019\n\nBut the goose answered him quite distinctly:\n\n          \u2018Squeeze too tight\n           And I\u2019ll bite,\n           If my neck a twist you gave\n           I\u2019d bring you to an early grave.\u2019\n\nQuite frightened, the dwarf set down the cage, and the goose gazed at\nhim with sad wise-looking eyes and sighed again.\n\n\u2018Good gracious!\u2019 said Long Nose. \u2018So you can speak, Mistress Goose. I\nnever should have thought it! Well, don\u2019t be anxious. I know better\nthan to hurt so rare a bird. But I could bet you were not always in this\nplumage--wasn\u2019t I a squirrel myself for a time?\u2019\n\n\u2018You are right,\u2019 said the goose, \u2018in supposing I was not born in this\nhorrid shape. Ah! no one ever thought that Mimi, the daughter of the\ngreat Weatherbold, would be killed for the ducal table.\u2019\n\n\u2018Be quite easy, Mistress Mimi,\u2019 comforted Jem. \u2018As sure as I\u2019m an honest\nman and assistant head cook to his highness, no one shall harm you. I\nwill make a hutch for you in my own rooms, and you shall be well fed,\nand I\u2019ll come and talk to you as much as I can. I\u2019ll tell all the other\ncooks that I am fattening up a goose on very special food for the grand\nduke, and at the first good opportunity I will set you free.\u2019\n\nThe goose thanked him with tears in her eyes, and the dwarf kept his\nword. He killed the other two geese for dinner, but built a little shed\nfor Mimi in one of his rooms, under the pretence of fattening her under\nhis own eye. He spent all his spare time talking to her and comforting\nher, and fed her on all the daintiest dishes. They confided their\nhistories to each other, and Jem learnt that the goose was the daughter\nof the wizard Weatherbold, who lived on the island of Gothland. He\nfell out with an old fairy, who got the better of him by cunning and\ntreachery, and to revenge herself turned his daughter into a goose and\ncarried her off to this distant place. When Long Nose told her his story\nshe said:\n\n\u2018I know a little of these matters, and what you say shows me that you\nare under a herb enchantment--that is to say, that if you can find the\nherb whose smell woke you up the spell would be broken.\u2019\n\nThis was but small comfort for Jem, for how and where was he to find the\nherb?\n\nAbout this time the grand duke had a visit from a neighbouring prince, a\nfriend of his. He sent for Long Nose and said to him:\n\n\u2018Now is the time to show what you can really do. This prince who is\nstaying with me has better dinners than any one except myself, and is a\ngreat judge of cooking. As long as he is here you must take care that\nmy table shall be served in a manner to surprise him constantly. At\nthe same time, on pain of my displeasure, take care that no dish shall\nappear twice. Get everything you wish and spare nothing. If you want to\nmelt down gold and precious stones, do so. I would rather be a poor man\nthan have to blush before him.\u2019\n\nThe dwarf bowed and answered:\n\n\u2018Your highness shall be obeyed. I will do all in my power to please you\nand the prince.\u2019\n\nFrom this time the little cook was hardly seen except in the kitchen,\nwhere, surrounded by his helpers, he gave orders, baked, stewed,\nflavoured and dished up all manner of dishes.\n\nThe prince had been a fortnight with the grand duke, and enjoyed himself\nmightily. They ate five times a day, and the duke had every reason to\nbe content with the dwarf\u2019s talents, for he saw how pleased his guest\nlooked. On the fifteenth day the duke sent for the dwarf and presented\nhim to the prince.\n\n\u2018You are a wonderful cook,\u2019 said the prince, \u2018and you certainly know\nwhat is good. All the time I have been here you have never repeated a\ndish, and all were excellent. But tell me why you have never served the\nqueen of all dishes, a Suzeraine Pasty?\u2019\n\nThe dwarf felt frightened, for he had never heard of this Queen of\nPasties before. But he did not lose his presence of mind, and replied:\n\n\u2018I have waited, hoping that your highness\u2019 visit here would last some\ntime, for I proposed to celebrate the last day of your stay with this\ntruly royal dish.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed,\u2019 laughed the grand duke; \u2018then I suppose you would have waited\nfor the day of my death to treat me to it, for you have never sent it\nup to me yet. However, you will have to invent some other farewell dish,\nfor the pasty must be on my table to-morrow.\u2019\n\n\u2018As your highness pleases,\u2019 said the dwarf, and took leave.\n\nBut it did not please HIM at all. The moment of disgrace seemed at hand,\nfor he had no idea how to make this pasty. He went to his rooms very\nsad. As he sat there lost in thought the goose Mimi, who was left free\nto walk about, came up to him and asked what was the matter? When she\nheard she said:\n\n\u2018Cheer up, my friend. I know the dish quite well: we often had it at\nhome, and I can guess pretty well how it was made.\u2019 Then she told him\nwhat to put in, adding: \u2018I think that will be all right, and if some\ntrifle is left out perhaps they won\u2019t find it out.\u2019\n\nSure enough, next day a magnificent pasty all wreathed round with\nflowers was placed on the table. Jem himself put on his best clothes and\nwent into the dining hall. As he entered the head carver was in the act\nof cutting up the pie and helping the duke and his guests. The grand\nduke took a large mouthful and threw up his eyes as he swallowed it.\n\n\u2018Oh! oh! this may well be called the Queen of Pasties, and at the same\ntime my dwarf must be called the king of cooks. Don\u2019t you think so, dear\nfriend?\u2019\n\nThe prince took several small pieces, tasted and examined carefully, and\nthen said with a mysterious and sarcastic smile:\n\n\u2018The dish is very nicely made, but the Suzeraine is not quite\ncomplete--as I expected.\u2019\n\nThe grand duke flew into a rage.\n\n\u2018Dog of a cook,\u2019 he shouted; \u2018how dare you serve me so? I\u2019ve a good mind\nto chop off your great head as a punishment.\u2019\n\n\u2018For mercy\u2019s sake, don\u2019t, your highness! I made the pasty according to\nthe best rules; nothing has been left out. Ask the prince what else I\nshould have put in.\u2019\n\nThe prince laughed. \u2018I was sure you could not make this dish as well\nas my cook, friend Long Nose. Know, then, that a herb is wanting called\nRelish, which is not known in this country, but which gives the pasty\nits peculiar flavour, and without which your master will never taste it\nto perfection.\u2019\n\nThe grand duke was more furious than ever.\n\n\u2018But I WILL taste it to perfection,\u2019 he roared. \u2018Either the pasty must\nbe made properly to-morrow or this rascal\u2019s head shall come off. Go,\nscoundrel, I give you twenty-four hours respite.\u2019\n\nThe poor dwarf hurried back to his room, and poured out his grief to the\ngoose.\n\n\u2018Oh, is that all,\u2019 said she, \u2018then I can help you, for my father taught\nme to know all plants and herbs. Luckily this is a new moon just now,\nfor the herb only springs up at such times. But tell me, are there\nchestnut trees near the palace?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, yes!\u2019 cried Long Nose, much relieved; \u2018near the lake--only a couple\nof hundred yards from the palace--is a large clump of them. But why do\nyou ask?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because the herb only grows near the roots of chestnut trees,\u2019 replied\nMimi; \u2018so let us lose no time in finding it. Take me under your arm and\nput me down out of doors, and I\u2019ll hunt for it.\u2019\n\nHe did as she bade, and as soon as they were in the garden put her on\nthe ground, when she waddled off as fast as she could towards the lake,\nJem hurrying after her with an anxious heart, for he knew that his life\ndepended on her success. The goose hunted everywhere, but in vain. She\nsearched under each chestnut tree, turning every blade of grass with her\nbill--nothing to be seen, and evening was drawing on!\n\nSuddenly the dwarf noticed a big old tree standing alone on the other\nside of the lake. \u2018Look,\u2019 cried he, \u2018let us try our luck there.\u2019\n\nThe goose fluttered and skipped in front, and he ran after as fast as\nhis little legs could carry him. The tree cast a wide shadow, and it was\nalmost dark beneath it, but suddenly the goose stood still, flapped\nher wings with joy, and plucked something, which she held out to her\nastonished friend, saying: \u2018There it is, and there is more growing here,\nso you will have no lack of it.\u2019\n\nThe dwarf stood gazing at the plant. It gave out a strong sweet scent,\nwhich reminded him of the day of his enchantment. The stems and leaves\nwere a bluish green, and it bore a dark, bright red flower with a yellow\nedge.\n\n\u2018What a wonder!\u2019 cried Long Nose. \u2018I do believe this is the very herb\nwhich changed me from a squirrel into my present miserable form. Shall I\ntry an experiment?\u2019\n\n\u2018Not yet,\u2019 said the goose. \u2018Take a good handful of the herb with you,\nand let us go to your rooms. We will collect all your money and clothes\ntogether, and then we will test the powers of the herb.\u2019\n\nSo they went back to Jem\u2019s rooms, and here he gathered together some\nfifty ducats he had saved, his clothes and shoes, and tied them all up\nin a bundle. Then he plunged his face into the bunch of herbs, and drew\nin their perfume.\n\nAs he did so, all his limbs began to crack and stretch; he felt his head\nrising above his shoulders; he glanced down at his nose, and saw it grow\nsmaller and smaller; his chest and back grew flat, and his legs grew\nlong.\n\nThe goose looked on in amazement. \u2018Oh, how big and how beautiful you\nare!\u2019 she cried. \u2018Thank heaven, you are quite changed.\u2019\n\nJem folded his hands in thanks, as his heart swelled with gratitude. But\nhis joy did not make him forget all he owed to his friend Mimi.\n\n\u2018I owe you my life and my release,\u2019 he said, \u2018for without you I should\nnever have regained my natural shape, and, indeed, would soon have been\nbeheaded. I will now take you back to your father, who will certainly\nknow how to disenchant you.\u2019\n\nThe goose accepted his offer with joy, and they managed to slip out of\nthe palace unnoticed by anyone.\n\nThey got through the journey without accident, and the wizard soon\nreleased his daughter, and loaded Jem with thanks and valuable presents.\nHe lost no time in hastening back to his native town, and his parents\nwere very ready to recognise the handsome, well-made young man as their\nlong-lost son. With the money given him by the wizard he opened a shop,\nwhich prospered well, and he lived long and happily.\n\nI must not forget to mention that much disturbance was caused in the\npalace by Jem\u2019s sudden disappearance, for when the grand duke sent\norders next day to behead the dwarf, if he had not found the necessary\nherbs, the dwarf was not to be found. The prince hinted that the duke\nhad allowed his cook to escape, and had therefore broken his word. The\nmatter ended in a great war between the two princes, which was known in\nhistory as the \u2018Herb War.\u2019 After many battles and much loss of life, a\npeace was at last concluded, and this peace became known as the \u2018Pasty\nPeace,\u2019 because at the banquet given in its honour the prince\u2019s cook\ndished up the Queen of Pasties--the Suzeraine--and the grand duke\ndeclared it to be quite excellent.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NUNDA, EATER OF PEOPLE\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a sultan who loved his garden dearly,\nand planted it with trees and flowers and fruits from all parts of\nthe world. He went to see them three times every day: first at seven\no\u2019clock, when he got up, then at three, and lastly at half-past five.\nThere was no plant and no vegetable which escaped his eye, but he\nlingered longest of all before his one date tree.\n\nNow the sultan had seven sons. Six of them he was proud of, for they\nwere strong and manly, but the youngest he disliked, for he spent all\nhis time among the women of the house. The sultan had talked to him, and\nhe paid no heed; and he had beaten him, and he paid no heed; and he had\ntied him up, and he paid no heed, till at last his father grew tired of\ntrying to make him change his ways, and let him alone.\n\nTime passed, and one day the sultan, to his great joy, saw signs\nof fruit on his date tree. And he told his vizir, \u2018My date tree is\nbearing;\u2019 and he told the officers, \u2018My date tree is bearing;\u2019 and he\ntold the judges, \u2018My date tree is bearing;\u2019 and he told all the rich men\nof the town.\n\nHe waited patiently for some days till the dates were nearly ripe, and\nthen he called his six sons, and said: \u2018One of you must watch the date\ntree till the dates are ripe, for if it is not watched the slaves will\nsteal them, and I shall not have any for another year.\u2019\n\nAnd the eldest son answered, \u2018I will go, father,\u2019 and he went.\n\nThe first thing the youth did was to summon his slaves, and bid them\nbeat drums all night under the date tree, for he feared to fall asleep.\nSo the slaves beat the drums, and the young man danced till four\no\u2019clock, and then it grew so cold he could dance no longer, and one\nof the slaves said to him: \u2018It is getting light; the tree is safe; lie\ndown, master, and go to sleep.\u2019\n\nSo he lay down and slept, and his slaves slept likewise.\n\nA few minutes went by, and a bird flew down from a neighbouring thicket,\nand ate all the dates, without leaving a single one. And when the tree\nwas stripped bare, the bird went as it had come. Soon after, one of the\nslaves woke up and looked for the dates, but there were no dates to see.\nThen he ran to the young man and shook him, saying:\n\n\u2018Your father set you to watch the tree, and you have not watched, and\nthe dates have all been eaten by a bird.\u2019\n\nThe lad jumped up and ran to the tree to see for himself, but there was\nnot a date anywhere. And he cried aloud, \u2018What am I to say to my father?\nShall I tell him that the dates have been stolen, or that a great rain\nfell and a great storm blew? But he will send me to gather them up and\nbring them to him, and there are none to bring! Shall I tell him that\nBedouins drove me away, and when I returned there were no dates? And he\nwill answer, \u201cYou had slaves, did they not fight with the Bedouins?\u201d It\nis the truth that will be best, and that will I tell him.\u2019\n\nThen he went straight to his father, and found him sitting in his\nverandah with his five sons round him; and the lad bowed his head.\n\n\u2018Give me the news from the garden,\u2019 said the sultan.\n\nAnd the youth answered, \u2018The dates have all been eaten by some bird:\nthere is not one left.\u2019\n\nThe sultan was silent for a moment: then he asked, \u2018Where were you when\nthe bird came?\u2019\n\nThe lad answered: \u2018I watched the date tree till the cocks were crowing\nand it was getting light; then I lay down for a little, and I slept.\nWhen I woke a slave was standing over me, and he said, \u201cThere is not\none date left on the tree!\u201d And I went to the date tree, and saw it was\ntrue; and that is what I have to tell you.\u2019\n\nAnd the sultan replied, \u2018A son like you is only good for eating and\nsleeping. I have no use for you. Go your way, and when my date tree\nbears again, I will send another son; perhaps he will watch better.\u2019\n\nSo he waited many months, till the tree was covered with more dates than\nany tree had ever borne before. When they were near ripening he sent one\nof his sons to the garden: saying, \u2018My son, I am longing to taste those\ndates: go and watch over them, for to-day\u2019s sun will bring them to\nperfection.\u2019\n\nAnd the lad answered: \u2018My father, I am going now, and to-morrow, when\nthe sun has passed the hour of seven, bid a slave come and gather the\ndates.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good,\u2019 said the sultan.\n\nThe youth went to the tree, and lay down and slept. And about midnight\nhe arose to look at the tree, and the dates were all there--beautiful\ndates, swinging in bunches.\n\n\u2018Ah, my father will have a feast, indeed,\u2019 thought he. \u2018What a fool my\nbrother was not to take more heed! Now he is in disgrace, and we know\nhim no more. Well, I will watch till the bird comes. I should like to\nsee what manner of bird it is.\u2019\n\nAnd he sat and read till the cocks crew and it grew light, and the dates\nwere still on the tree.\n\n\u2018Oh my father will have his dates; they are all safe now,\u2019 he thought\nto himself. \u2018I will make myself comfortable against this tree,\u2019 and he\nleaned against the trunk, and sleep came on him, and the bird flew down\nand ate all the dates.\n\nWhen the sun rose, the head-man came and looked for the dates, and there\nwere no dates. And he woke the young man, and said to him, \u2018Look at the\ntree.\u2019\n\nAnd the young man looked, and there were no dates. And his ears were\nstopped, and his legs trembled, and his tongue grew heavy at the thought\nof the sultan. His slave became frightened as he looked at him, and\nasked, \u2018My master, what is it?\u2019\n\nHe answered, \u2018I have no pain anywhere, but I am ill everywhere. My whole\nbody is well, and my whole body is sick I fear my father, for did I not\nsay to him, \u201cTo-morrow at seven you shall taste the dates\u201d? And he\nwill drive me away, as he drove away my brother! I will go away myself,\nbefore he sends me.\u2019\n\nThen he got up and took a road that led straight past the palace, but\nhe had not walked many steps before he met a man carrying a large silver\ndish, covered with a white cloth to cover the dates.\n\nAnd the young man said, \u2018The dates are not ripe yet; you must return\nto-morrow.\u2019\n\nAnd the slave went with him to the palace, where the sultan was sitting\nwith his four sons.\n\n\u2018Good greeting, master!\u2019 said the youth.\n\nAnd the sultan answered, \u2018Have you seen the man I sent?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have, master; but the dates are not yet ripe.\u2019\n\nBut the sultan did not believe his words, and said; \u2018This second year I\nhave eaten no dates, because of my sons. Go your ways, you are my son no\nlonger!\u2019\n\nAnd the sultan looked at the four sons that were left him, and promised\nrich gifts to whichever of them would bring him the dates from the tree.\nBut year by year passed, and he never got them. One son tried to keep\nhimself awake with playing cards; another mounted a horse and rode round\nand round the tree, while the two others, whom their father as a last\nhope sent together, lit bonfires. But whatever they did, the result was\nalways the same. Towards dawn they fell asleep, and the bird ate the\ndates on the tree.\n\nThe sixth year had come, and the dates on the tree were thicker than\never. And the head-man went to the palace and told the sultan what he\nhad seen. But the sultan only shook his head, and said sadly, \u2018What\nis that to me? I have had seven sons, yet for five years a bird has\ndevoured my dates; and this year it will be the same as ever.\u2019\n\nNow the youngest son was sitting in the kitchen, as was his custom, when\nhe heard his father say those words. And he rose up, and went to his\nfather, and knelt before him. \u2018Father, this year you shall eat dates,\u2019\ncried he. \u2018And on the tree are five great bunches, and each bunch I will\ngive to a separate nation, for the nations in the town are five. This\ntime, I will watch the date tree myself.\u2019 But his father and his mother\nlaughed heartily, and thought his words idle talk.\n\nOne day, news was brought to the sultan that the dates were ripe, and he\nordered one of his men to go and watch the tree. His son, who happened\nto be standing by, heard the order, and he said:\n\n\u2018How is it that you have bidden a man to watch the tree, when I, your\nson, am left?\u2019\n\nAnd his father answered, \u2018Ah, six were of no use, and where they failed,\nwill you succeed?\u2019\n\nBut the boy replied: \u2018Have patience to-day, and let me go, and to-morrow\nyou shall see whether I bring you dates or not.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let the child go, Master,\u2019 said his wife; \u2018perhaps we shall eat the\ndates--or perhaps we shall not--but let him go.\u2019\n\nAnd the sultan answered: \u2018I do not refuse to let him go, but my heart\ndistrusts him. His brothers all promised fair, and what did they do?\u2019\n\nBut the boy entreated, saying, \u2018Father, if you and I and mother be alive\nto-morrow, you shall eat the dates.\u2019\n\n\u2018Go then,\u2019 said his father.\n\nWhen the boy reached the garden, he told the slaves to leave him, and\nto return home themselves and sleep. When he was alone, he laid himself\ndown and slept fast till one o\u2019clock, when he arose, and sat opposite\nthe date tree. Then he took some Indian corn out of one fold of his\ndress, and some sandy grit out of another.\n\nAnd he chewed the corn till he felt he was growing sleepy, and then\nhe put some grit into his mouth, and that kept him awake till the bird\ncame.\n\nIt looked about at first without seeing him, and whispering to itself,\n\u2018There is no one here,\u2019 fluttered lightly on to the tree and stretched\nout his beak for the dates. Then the boy stole softly up, and caught it\nby the wing.\n\nThe bird turned and flew quickly away, but the boy never let go, not\neven when they soared high into the air.\n\n\u2018Son of Adam,\u2019 the bird said when the tops of the mountains looked small\nbelow them, \u2018if you fall, you will be dead long before you reach the\nground, so go your way, and let me go mine.\u2019\n\nBut the boy answered, \u2018Wherever you go, I will go with you. You cannot\nget rid of me.\u2019\n\n\u2018I did not eat your dates,\u2019 persisted the bird, \u2018and the day is dawning.\nLeave me to go my way.\u2019\n\nBut again the boy answered him: \u2018My six brothers are hateful to my\nfather because you came and stole the dates, and to-day my father shall\nsee you, and my brothers shall see you, and all the people of the town,\ngreat and small, shall see you. And my father\u2019s heart will rejoice.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, if you will not leave me, I will throw you off,\u2019 said the bird.\n\nSo it flew up higher still--so high that the earth shone like one of the\nother stars.\n\n\u2018How much of you will be left if you fall from here?\u2019 asked the bird.\n\n\u2018If I die, I die,\u2019 said the boy, \u2018but I will not leave you.\u2019\n\nAnd the bird saw it was no use talking, and went down to the earth\nagain.\n\n\u2018Here you are at home, so let me go my way,\u2019 it begged once more; \u2018or at\nleast make a covenant with me.\u2019\n\n\u2018What covenant?\u2019 said the boy.\n\n\u2018Save me from the sun,\u2019 replied the bird, \u2018and I will save you from\nrain.\u2019\n\n\u2018How can you do that, and how can I tell if I can trust you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Pull a feather from my tail, and put it in the fire, and if you want me\nI will come to you, wherever I am.\u2019\n\nAnd the boy answered, \u2018Well, I agree; go your way.\u2019\n\n\u2018Farewell, my friend. When you call me, if it is from the depths of the\nsea, I will come.\u2019\n\nThe lad watched the bird out of sight; then he went straight to the date\ntree. And when he saw the dates his heart was glad, and his body felt\nstronger and his eyes brighter than before. And he laughed out loud with\njoy, and said to himself, \u2018This is MY luck, mine, Sit-in-the-kitchen!\nFarewell, date tree, I am going to lie down. What ate you will eat you\nno more.\u2019\n\nThe sun was high in the sky before the head-man, whose business it was,\ncame to look at the date tree, expecting to find it stripped of all\nits fruit, but when he saw the dates so thick that they almost hid the\nleaves he ran back to his house, and beat a big drum till everybody came\nrunning, and even the little children wanted to know what had happened.\n\n\u2018What is it? What is it, head-man?\u2019 cried they.\n\n\u2018Ah, it is not a son that the master has, but a lion! This day\nSit-in-the-kitchen has uncovered his face before his father!\u2019\n\n\u2018But how, head-man?\u2019\n\n\u2018To day the people may eat the dates.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is it true, head-man?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh yes, it is true, but let him sleep till each man has brought forth\na present. He who has fowls, let him take fowls; he who has a goat, let\nhim take a goat; he who has rice, let him take rice.\u2019 And the people did\nas he had said.\n\nThen they took the drum, and went to the tree where the boy lay\nsleeping.\n\nAnd they picked him up, and carried him away, with horns and clarionets\nand drums, with clappings of hands and shrieks of joy, straight to his\nfather\u2019s house.\n\nWhen his father heard the noise and saw the baskets made of green\nleaves, brimming over with dates, and his son borne high on the necks of\nslaves, his heart leaped, and he said to himself \u2018To-day at last I shall\neat dates.\u2019 And he called his wife to see what her son had done, and\nordered his soldiers to take the boy and bring him to his father.\n\n\u2018What news, my son?\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018News? I have no news, except that if you will open your mouth you shall\nsee what dates taste like.\u2019 And he plucked a date, and put it into his\nfather\u2019s mouth.\n\n\u2018Ah! You are indeed my son,\u2019 cried the sultan. \u2018You do not take after\nthose fools, those good-for-nothings. But, tell me, what did you do with\nthe bird, for it was you, and you only who watched for it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, it was I who watched for it and who saw it. And it will not come\nagain, neither for its life, nor for your life, nor for the lives of\nyour children.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, once I had six sons, and now I have only one. It is you, whom I\ncalled a fool, who have given me the dates: as for the others, I want\nnone of them.\u2019\n\nBut his wife rose up and went to him, and said, \u2018Master, do not, I pray\nyou, reject them,\u2019 and she entreated long, till the sultan granted her\nprayer, for she loved the six elder ones more than her last one.\n\nSo they all lived quietly at home, till the sultan\u2019s cat went and caught\na calf. And the owner of the calf went and told the sultan, but he\nanswered, \u2018The cat is mine, and the calf mine,\u2019 and the man dared not\ncomplain further.\n\nTwo days after, the cat caught a cow, and the sultan was told, \u2018Master,\nthe cat has caught a cow,\u2019 but he only said, \u2018It was my cow and my cat.\u2019\n\nAnd the cat waited a few days, and then it caught a donkey, and they\ntold the sultan, \u2018Master, the cat has caught a donkey,\u2019 and he said,\n\u2018My cat and my donkey.\u2019 Next it was a horse, and after that a camel, and\nwhen the sultan was told he said, \u2018You don\u2019t like this cat, and want me\nto kill it. And I shall not kill it. Let it eat the camel: let it even\neat a man.\u2019\n\nAnd it waited till the next day, and caught some one\u2019s child. And the\nsultan was told, \u2018The cat has caught a child.\u2019 And he said, \u2018The cat is\nmine and the child mine.\u2019 Then it caught a grown-up man.\n\nAfter that the cat left the town and took up its abode in a thicket near\nthe road. So if any one passed, going for water, it devoured him. If it\nsaw a cow going to feed, it devoured him. If it saw a goat, it devoured\nhim. Whatever went along that road the cat caught and ate.\n\nThen the people went to the sultan in a body, and told him of all the\nmisdeeds of that cat. But he answered as before, \u2018The cat is mine and\nthe people are mine.\u2019 And no man dared kill the cat, which grew bolder\nand bolder, and at last came into the town to look for its prey.\n\nOne day, the sultan said to his six sons, \u2018I am going into the country,\nto see how the wheat is growing, and you shall come with me.\u2019 They went\non merrily along the road, till they came to a thicket, when out sprang\nthe cat, and killed three of the sons.\n\n\u2018The cat! The cat!\u2019 shrieked the soldiers who were with him. And this\ntime the sultan said:\n\n\u2018Seek for it and kill it. It is no longer a cat, but a demon!\u2019\n\nAnd the soldiers answered him, \u2018Did we not tell you, master, what the\ncat was doing, and did you not say, \u201cMy cat and my people\u201d?\u2019\n\nAnd he answered: \u2018True, I said it.\u2019\n\nNow the youngest son had not gone with the rest, but had stayed at home\nwith his mother; and when he heard that his brothers had been killed\nby the cat he said, \u2018Let me go, that it may slay me also.\u2019 His mother\nentreated him not to leave her, but he would not listen, and he took his\nsword and a spear and some rice cakes, and went after the cat, which by\nthis time had run of to a great distance.\n\nThe lad spent many days hunting the cat, which now bore the name of \u2018The\nNunda, eater of people,\u2019 but though he killed many wild animals he saw\nno trace of the enemy he was hunting for. There was no beast, however\nfierce, that he was afraid of, till at last his father and mother begged\nhim to give up the chase after the Nunda.\n\nBut he answered: \u2018What I have said, I cannot take back. If I am to die,\nthen I die, but every day I must go and seek for the Nunda.\u2019\n\nAnd again his father offered him what he would, even the crown itself,\nbut the boy would hear nothing, and went on his way.\n\nMany times his slaves came and told him, \u2018We have seen footprints, and\nto-day we shall behold the Nunda.\u2019 But the footprints never turned out\nto be those of the Nunda. They wandered far through deserts and through\nforests, and at length came to the foot of a great hill. And something\nin the boy\u2019s soul whispered that here was the end of all their seeking,\nand to-day they would find the Nunda.\n\nBut before they began to climb the mountain the boy ordered his slaves\nto cook some rice, and they rubbed the stick to make a fire, and when\nthe fire was kindled they cooked the rice and ate it. Then they began\ntheir climb.\n\nSuddenly, when they had almost reached the top, a slave who was on in\nfront cried:\n\n\u2018Master! Master!\u2019 And the boy pushed on to where the slave stood, and\nthe slave said:\n\n\u2018Cast your eyes down to the foot of the mountain.\u2019 And the boy looked,\nand his soul told him it was the Nunda.\n\nAnd he crept down with his spear in his hand, and then he stopped and\ngazed below him.\n\n\u2018This MUST be the real Nunda,\u2019 thought he. \u2018My mother told me its ears\nwere small, and this one\u2019s are small. She told me it was broad and not\nlong, and this is broad and not long. She told me it had spots like a\ncivet-cat, and this has spots like a civet-cat.\u2019\n\nThen he left the Nunda lying asleep at the foot of the mountain, and\nwent back to his slaves.\n\n\u2018We will feast to-day,\u2019 he said; \u2018make cakes of batter, and bring\nwater,\u2019 and they ate and drank. And when they had finished he bade them\nhide the rest of the food in the thicket, that if they slew the Nunda\nthey might return and eat and sleep before going back to the town. And\nthe slaves did as he bade them.\n\nIt was now afternoon, and the lad said: \u2018It is time we went after the\nNunda.\u2019 And they went till they reached the bottom and came to a great\nforest which lay between them and the Nunda.\n\nHere the lad stopped, and ordered every slave that wore two cloths to\ncast one away and tuck up the other between his legs. \u2018For,\u2019 said he,\n\u2018the wood is not a little one. Perhaps we may be caught by the thorns,\nor perhaps we may have to run before the Nunda, and the cloth might bind\nour legs, and cause us to fall before it.\u2019\n\nAnd they answered, \u2018Good, master,\u2019 and did as he bade them. Then they\ncrawled on their hands and knees to where the Nunda lay asleep.\n\nNoiselessly they crept along till they were quite close to it; then, at\na sign from the boy, they threw their spears. The Nunda did not stir:\nthe spears had done their work, but a great fear seized them all, and\nthey ran away and climbed the mountain.\n\nThe sun was setting when they reached the top, and glad they were to\ntake out the fruit and the cakes and the water which they had hidden\naway, and sit down and rest themselves. And after they had eaten and\nwere filled, they lay down and slept till morning.\n\nWhen the dawn broke they rose up and cooked more rice, and drank more\nwater. After that they walked all round the back of the mountain to the\nplace where they had left the Nunda, and they saw it stretched out where\nthey had found it, stiff and dead. And they took it up and carried it\nback to the town, singing as they went, \u2018He has killed the Nunda, the\neater of people.\u2019\n\nAnd when his father heard the news, and that his son was come, and was\nbringing the Nunda with him, he felt that the man did not dwell on the\nearth whose joy was greater than his. And the people bowed down to the\nboy and gave him presents, and loved him, because he had delivered them\nfrom the bondage of fear, and had slain the Nunda.\n\n(Adapted from Swahili Tales.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF HASSEBU\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a poor woman who had only one child, and\nhe was a little boy called Hassebu. When he ceased to be a baby, and\nhis mother thought it was time for him to learn to read, she sent him\nto school. And, after he had done with school, he was put into a shop\nto learn how to make clothes, and did not learn; and he was put to do\nsilversmith\u2019s work, and did not learn; and whatsoever he was taught, he\ndid not learn it. His mother never wished him to do anything he did not\nlike, so she said: \u2018Well, stay at home, my son.\u2019 And he stayed at home,\neating and sleeping.\n\nOne day the boy said to his mother: \u2018What was my father\u2019s business?\u2019\n\n\u2018He was a very learned doctor,\u2019 answered she.\n\n\u2018Where, then, are his books?\u2019 asked Hassebu.\n\n\u2018Many days have passed, and I have thought nothing of them. But look\ninside and see if they are there.\u2019 So Hassebu looked, and saw they were\neaten by insects, all but one book, which he took away and read.\n\nHe was sitting at home one morning poring over the medicine book, when\nsome neighbours came by and said to his mother: \u2018Give us this boy, that\nwe may go together to cut wood.\u2019 For wood-cutting was their trade, and\nthey loaded several donkeys with the wood, and sold it in the town.\n\nAnd his mother answered, \u2018Very well; to-morrow I will buy him a donkey,\nand you can all go together.\u2019\n\nSo the donkey was bought, and the neighbours came, and they worked hard\nall day, and in the evening they brought the wood back into the town,\nand sold it for a good sum of money. And for six days they went and did\nthe like, but on the seventh it rained, and the wood-cutters ran and\nhid in the rocks, all but Hassebu, who did not mind wetting, and stayed\nwhere he was.\n\nWhile he was sitting in the place where the wood-cutters had left him,\nhe took up a stone that lay near him, and idly dropped it on the ground.\nIt rang with a hollow sound, and he called to his companions, and said,\n\u2018Come here and listen; the ground seems hollow!\u2019\n\n\u2018Knock again!\u2019 cried they. And he knocked and listened.\n\n\u2018Let us dig,\u2019 said the boy. And they dug, and found a large pit like a\nwell, filled with honey up to the brim.\n\n\u2018This is better than firewood,\u2019 said they; \u2018it will bring us more money.\nAnd as you have found it, Hassebu, it is you who must go inside and dip\nout the honey and give to us, and we will take it to the town and sell\nit, and will divide the money with you.\u2019\n\nThe following day each man brought every bowl and vessel he could find\nat home, and Hassebu filled them all with honey. And this he did every\nday for three months.\n\nAt the end of that time the honey was very nearly finished, and there\nwas only a little left, quite at the bottom, and that was very deep\ndown, so deep that it seemed as if it must be right in the middle of the\nearth. Seeing this, the men said to Hassebu, \u2018We will put a rope under\nyour arms, and let you down, so that you may scrape up all the honey\nthat is left, and when you have done we will lower the rope again, and\nyou shall make it fast, and we will draw you up.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 answered the boy, and he went down, and he scraped and\nscraped till there was not so much honey left as would cover the point\nof a needle. \u2018Now I am ready!\u2019 he cried; but they consulted together and\nsaid, \u2018Let us leave him there inside the pit, and take his share of the\nmoney, and we will tell his mother, \u201cYour son was caught by a lion and\ncarried off into the forest, and we tried to follow him, but could not.\u201d\u2019\n\nThen they arose and went into the town and told his mother as they had\nagreed, and she wept much and made her mourning for many months. And\nwhen the men were dividing the money, one said, \u2018Let us send a little to\nour friend\u2019s mother,\u2019 and they sent some to her; and every day one took\nher rice, and one oil; one took her meat, and one took her cloth, every\nday.\n\nIt did not take long for Hassebu to find out that his companions had\nleft him to die in the pit, but he had a brave heart, and hoped that\nhe might be able to find a way out for himself. So he at once began to\nexplore the pit and found it ran back a long way underground. And by\nnight he slept, and by day he took a little of the honey he had gathered\nand ate it; and so many days passed by.\n\nOne morning, while he was sitting on a rock having his breakfast, a\nlarge scorpion dropped down at his feet, and he took a stone and killed\nit, fearing it would sting him. Then suddenly the thought darted into\nhis head, \u2018This scorpion must have come from somewhere! Perhaps there is\na hole. I will go and look for it,\u2019 and he felt all round the walls of\nthe pit till he found a very little hole in the roof of the pit, with\na tiny glimmer of light at the far end of it. Then his heart felt glad,\nand he took out his knife and dug and dug, till the little hole became\na big one, and he could wriggle himself through. And when he had got\noutside, he saw a large open space in front of him, and a path leading\nout of it.\n\nHe went along the path, on and on, till he reached a large house, with a\ngolden door standing open. Inside was a great hall, and in the middle\nof the hall a throne set with precious stones and a sofa spread with\nthe softest cushions. And he went in and lay down on it, and fell fast\nasleep, for he had wandered far.\n\nBy-and-by there was a sound of people coming through the courtyard, and\nthe measured tramp of soldiers. This was the King of the Snakes coming\nin state to his palace.\n\nThey entered the hall, but all stopped in surprise at finding a man\nlying on the king\u2019s own bed. The soldiers wished to kill him at once,\nbut the king said, \u2018Leave him alone, put me on a chair,\u2019 and the\nsoldiers who were carrying him knelt on the floor, and he slid from\ntheir shoulders on to a chair. When he was comfortably seated, he turned\nto his soldiers, and bade them wake the stranger gently. And they woke\nhim, and he sat up and saw many snakes all round him, and one of them\nvery beautiful, decked in royal robes.\n\n\u2018Who are you?\u2019 asked Hassebu.\n\n\u2018I am the King of the Snakes,\u2019 was the reply, \u2018and this is my palace.\nAnd will you tell me who you are, and where you come from?\u2019\n\n\u2018My name is Hassebu, but whence I come I know not, nor whither I go.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then stay for a little with me,\u2019 said the king, and he bade his\nsoldiers bring water from the spring and fruits from the forest, and to\nset them before the guest.\n\nFor some days Hassebu rested and feasted in the palace of the King\nof the Snakes, and then he began to long for his mother and his own\ncountry. So he said to the King of the Snakes, \u2018Send me home, I pray.\u2019\n\nBut the King of the Snakes answered, \u2018When you go home, you will do me\nevil!\u2019\n\n\u2018I will do you no evil,\u2019 replied Hassebu; \u2018send me home, I pray.\u2019\n\nBut the king said, \u2018I know it. If I send you home, you will come back,\nand kill me. I dare not do it.\u2019 But Hassebu begged so hard that at last\nthe king said, \u2018Swear that when you get home you will not go to bathe\nwhere many people are gathered.\u2019 And Hassebu swore, and the king ordered\nhis soldiers to take Hassebu in sight of his native city. Then he went\nstraight to his mother\u2019s house, and the heart of his mother was glad.\n\nNow the Sultan of the city was very ill, and all the wise men said that\nthe only thing to cure him was the flesh of the King of the Snakes, and\nthat the only man who could get it was a man with a strange mark on his\nchest. So the Vizir had set people to watch at the public baths, to see\nif such a man came there.\n\nFor three days Hassebu remembered his promise to the King of the Snakes,\nand did not go near the baths; then came a morning so hot he could\nhardly breathe, and he forgot all about it.\n\nThe moment he had slipped off his robe he was taken before the Vizir,\nwho said to him, \u2018Lead us to the place where the King of the Snakes\nlives.\u2019\n\n\u2018I do not know it!\u2019 answered he, but the Vizir did not believe him, and\nhad him bound and beaten till his back was all torn.\n\nThen Hassebu cried, \u2018Loose me, that I may take you.\u2019\n\nThey went together a long, long way, till they reached the palace of the\nKing of the Snakes.\n\nAnd Hassebu said to the King: \u2018It was not I: look at my back and you\nwill see how they drove me to it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Who has beaten you like this?\u2019 asked the King.\n\n\u2018It was the Vizir,\u2019 replied Hassebu.\n\n\u2018Then I am already dead,\u2019 said the King sadly, \u2018but you must carry me\nthere yourself.\u2019\n\nSo Hassebu carried him. And on the way the King said, \u2018When I arrive, I\nshall be killed, and my flesh will be cooked. But take some of the water\nthat I am boiled in, and put it in a bottle and lay it on one side. The\nVizir will tell you to drink it, but be careful not to do so. Then\ntake some more of the water, and drink it, and you will become a great\nphysician, and the third supply you will give to the Sultan. And when\nthe Vizir comes to you and asks, \u201cDid you drink what I gave you?\u201d you\nmust answer, \u201cI did, and this is for you,\u201d and he will drink it and die!\nand your soul will rest.\u2019\n\nAnd they went their way into the town, and all happened as the King of\nthe Snakes had said.\n\nAnd the Sultan loved Hassebu, who became a great physician, and cured\nmany sick people. But he was always sorry for the poor King of the\nSnakes.\n\n(Adapted from Swahili Tales,)\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAIDEN WITH THE WOODEN HELMET\n\nIn a little village in the country of Japan there lived long, long ago a\nman and his wife. For many years they were happy and prosperous, but bad\ntimes came, and at last nothing was left them but their daughter, who\nwas as beautiful as the morning. The neighbours were very kind, and\nwould have done anything they could to help their poor friends, but the\nold couple felt that since everything had changed they would rather go\nelsewhere, so one day they set off to bury themselves in the country,\ntaking their daughter with them.\n\nNow the mother and daughter had plenty to do in keeping the house clean\nand looking after the garden, but the man would sit for hours together\ngazing straight in front of him, and thinking of the riches that once\nwere his. Each day he grew more and more wretched, till at length he\ntook to his bed and never got up again.\n\nHis wife and daughter wept bitterly for his loss, and it was many months\nbefore they could take pleasure in anything. Then one morning the mother\nsuddenly looked at the girl, and found that she had grown still more\nlovely than before. Once her heart would have been glad at the sight,\nbut now that they two were alone in the world she feared some harm might\ncome of it. So, like a good mother, she tried to teach her daughter all\nshe knew, and to bring her up to be always busy, so that she would never\nhave time to think about herself. And the girl was a good girl, and\nlistened to all her mother\u2019s lessons, and so the years passed away.\n\nAt last one wet spring the mother caught cold, and though in the\nbeginning she did not pay much attention to it, she gradually grew more\nand more ill, and knew that she had not long to live. Then she called\nher daughter and told her that very soon she would be alone in the\nworld; that she must take care of herself, as there would be no one to\ntake care of her. And because it was more difficult for beautiful women\nto pass unheeded than for others, she bade her fetch a wooden helmet out\nof the next room, and put it on her head, and pull it low down over her\nbrows, so that nearly the whole of her face should lie in its shadow.\nThe girl did as she was bid, and her beauty was so hidden beneath the\nwooden cap, which covered up all her hair, that she might have gone\nthrough any crowd, and no one would have looked twice at her. And when\nshe saw this the heart of the mother was at rest, and she lay back in\nher bed and died.\n\nThe girl wept for many days, but by-and-by she felt that, being alone in\nthe world, she must go and get work, for she had only herself to depend\nupon. There was none to be got by staying where she was, so she made her\nclothes into a bundle, and walked over the hills till she reached the\nhouse of the man who owned the fields in that part of the country. And\nshe took service with him and laboured for him early and late, and every\nnight when she went to bed she was at peace, for she had not forgotten\none thing that she had promised her mother; and, however hot the sun\nmight be, she always kept the wooden helmet on her head, and the people\ngave her the nickname of Hatschihime.\n\nIn spite, however, of all her care the fame of her beauty spread abroad:\nmany of the impudent young men that are always to be found in the world\nstole softly up behind her while she was at work, and tried to lift off\nthe wooden helmet. But the girl would have nothing to say to them, and\nonly bade them be off; then they began to talk to her, but she never\nanswered them, and went on with what she was doing, though her wages\nwere low and food not very plentiful. Still she could manage to live,\nand that was enough.\n\nOne day her master happened to pass through the field where she was\nworking, and was struck by her industry and stopped to watch her. After\na while he put one or two questions to her, and then led her into his\nhouse, and told her that henceforward her only duty should be to tend\nhis sick wife. From this time the girl felt as if all her troubles were\nended, but the worst of them was yet to come.\n\nNot very long after Hatschihime had become maid to the sick woman, the\neldest son of the house returned home from Kioto, where he had been\nstudying all sorts of things. He was tired of the splendours of the town\nand its pleasures, and was glad enough to be back in the green country,\namong the peach-blossoms and sweet flowers. Strolling about in the early\nmorning, he caught sight of the girl with the odd wooden helmet on her\nhead, and immediately he went to his mother to ask who she was, and\nwhere she came from, and why she wore that strange thing over her face.\n\nHis mother answered that it was a whim, and nobody could persuade her\nto lay it aside; whereat the young man laughed, but kept his thoughts to\nhimself.\n\nOne hot day, however, he happened to be going towards home when he\ncaught sight of his mother\u2019s waiting maid kneeling by a little stream\nthat flowed through the garden, splashing some water over her face.\nThe helmet was pushed on one side, and as the youth stood watching\nfrom behind a tree he had a glimpse of the girl\u2019s great beauty; and he\ndetermined that no one else should be his wife. But when he told his\nfamily of his resolve to marry her they were very angry, and made up\nall sorts of wicked stories about her. However, they might have spared\nthemselves the trouble, as he knew it was only idle talk. \u2018I have merely\nto remain firm,\u2019 thought he, \u2018and they will have to give in.\u2019 It was\nsuch a good match for the girl that it never occurred to anyone that she\nwould refuse the young man, but so it was. It would not be right, she\nfelt, to make a quarrel in the house, and though in secret she wept\nbitterly, for a long while, nothing would make her change her mind. At\nlength one night her mother appeared to her in a dream, and bade her\nmarry the young man. So the next time he asked her--as he did nearly\nevery day--to his surprise and joy she consented. The parents then saw\nthey had better make the best of a bad business, and set about\nmaking the grand preparations suitable to the occasion. Of course the\nneighbours said a great many ill-natured things about the wooden helmet,\nbut the bridegroom was too happy to care, and only laughed at them.\n\nWhen everything was ready for the feast, and the bride was dressed in\nthe most beautiful embroidered dress to be found in Japan, the maids\ntook hold of the helmet to lift it off her head, so that they might do\nher hair in the latest fashion. But the helmet would not come, and\nthe harder they pulled, the faster it seemed to be, till the poor girl\nyelled with pain. Hearing her cries the bridegroom ran in and soothed\nher, and declared that she should be married in the helmet, as she could\nnot be married without. Then the ceremonies began, and the bridal pair\nsat together, and the cup of wine was brought them, out of which they\nhad to drink. And when they had drunk it all, and the cup was empty, a\nwonderful thing happened. The helmet suddenly burst with a loud noise,\nand fell in pieces on the ground; and as they all turned to look they\nfound the floor covered with precious stones which had fallen out of it.\nBut the guests were less astonished at the brilliancy of the diamonds\nthan at the beauty of the bride, which was beyond anything they had ever\nseen or heard of. The night was passed in singing and dancing, and then\nthe bride and bridegroom went to their own house, where they lived till\nthey died, and had many children, who were famous throughout Japan for\ntheir goodness and beauty.\n\n(Japanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE MONKEY AND THE JELLY-FISH\n\nChildren must often have wondered why jelly-fishes have no shells, like\nso many of the creatures that are washed up every day on the beach. In\nold times this was not so; the jelly-fish had as hard a shell as any\nof them, but he lost it through his own fault, as may be seen in this\nstory.\n\nThe sea-queen Otohime, whom you read of in the story of Uraschimatoro,\ngrew suddenly very ill. The swiftest messengers were sent hurrying to\nfetch the best doctors from every country under the sea, but it was all\nof no use; the queen grew rapidly worse instead of better. Everyone had\nalmost given up hope, when one day a doctor arrived who was cleverer\nthan the rest, and said that the only thing that would cure her was the\nliver of an ape. Now apes do not dwell under the sea, so a council of\nthe wisest heads in the nation was called to consider the question how a\nliver could be obtained. At length it was decided that the turtle, whose\nprudence was well known, should swim to land and contrive to catch a\nliving ape and bring him safely to the ocean kingdom.\n\nIt was easy enough for the council to entrust this mission to the\nturtle, but not at all so easy for him to fulfil it. However he swam to\na part of the coast that was covered with tall trees, where he thought\nthe apes were likely to be; for he was old, and had seen many things. It\nwas some time before he caught sight of any monkeys, and he often grew\ntired with watching for them, so that one hot day he fell fast asleep,\nin spite of all his efforts to keep awake. By-and-by some apes, who\nhad been peeping at him from the tops of the trees, where they had been\ncarefully hidden from the turtle\u2019s eyes, stole noiselessly down, and\nstood round staring at him, for they had never seen a turtle before, and\ndid not know what to make of it. At last one young monkey, bolder than\nthe rest, stooped down and stroked the shining shell that the strange\nnew creature wore on its back. The movement, gentle though it was, woke\nthe turtle. With one sweep he seized the monkey\u2019s hand in his mouth, and\nheld it tight, in spite of every effort to pull it away. The other apes,\nseeing that the turtle was not to be trifled with, ran off, leaving\ntheir young brother to his fate.\n\nThen the turtle said to the monkey, \u2018If you will be quiet, and do what\nI tell you, I won\u2019t hurt you. But you must get on my back and come with\nme.\u2019\n\nThe monkey, seeing there was no help for it, did as he was bid; indeed\nhe could not have resisted, as his hand was still in the turtle\u2019s mouth.\n\nDelighted at having secured his prize, the turtle hastened back to the\nshore and plunged quickly into the water. He swam faster than he had\never done before, and soon reached the royal palace. Shouts of joy broke\nforth from the attendants when he was seen approaching, and some of them\nran to tell the queen that the monkey was there, and that before long\nshe would be as well as ever she was. In fact, so great was their relief\nthat they gave the monkey such a kind welcome, and were so anxious to\nmake him happy and comfortable, that he soon forgot all the fears that\nhad beset him as to his fate, and was generally quite at his ease,\nthough every now and then a fit of home-sickness would come over him,\nand he would hide himself in some dark corner till it had passed away.\n\nIt was during one of these attacks of sadness that a jelly-fish happened\nto swim by. At that time jelly-fishes had shells. At the sight of the\ngay and lively monkey crouching under a tall rock, with his eyes closed\nand his head bent, the jelly-fish was filled with pity, and stopped,\nsaying, \u2018Ah, poor fellow, no wonder you weep; a few days more, and they\nwill come and kill you and give your liver to the queen to eat.\u2019\n\nThe monkey shrank back horrified at these words and asked the jelly-fish\nwhat crime he had committed that deserved death.\n\n\u2018Oh, none at all,\u2019 replied the jelly-fish, \u2018but your liver is the only\nthing that will cure our queen, and how can we get at it without killing\nyou? You had better submit to your fate, and make no noise about it, for\nthough I pity you from my heart there is no way of helping you.\u2019 Then he\nwent away, leaving the ape cold with horror.\n\nAt first he felt as if his liver was already being taken from his body,\nbut soon he began to wonder if there was no means of escaping this\nterrible death, and at length he invented a plan which he thought would\ndo. For a few days he pretended to be gay and happy as before, but when\nthe sun went in, and rain fell in torrents, he wept and howled from dawn\nto dark, till the turtle, who was his head keeper, heard him, and came\nto see what was the matter. Then the monkey told him that before he left\nhome he had hung his liver out on a bush to dry, and if it was always\ngoing to rain like this it would become quite useless. And the rogue\nmade such a fuss and moaning that he would have melted a heart of stone,\nand nothing would content him but that somebody should carry him back to\nland and let him fetch his liver again.\n\nThe queen\u2019s councillors were not the wisest of people, and they decided\nbetween them that the turtle should take the monkey back to his native\nland and allow him to get his liver off the bush, but desired the turtle\nnot to lose sight of his charge for a single moment. The monkey knew\nthis, but trusted to his power of beguiling the turtle when the time\ncame, and mounted on his back with feelings of joy, which he was,\nhowever, careful to conceal. They set out, and in a few hours were\nwandering about the forest where the ape had first been caught, and\nwhen the monkey saw his family peering out from the tree tops, he swung\nhimself up by the nearest branch, just managing to save his hind leg\nfrom being seized by the turtle. He told them all the dreadful things\nthat had happened to him, and gave a war cry which brought the rest of\nthe tribe from the neighbouring hills. At a word from him they rushed\nin a body to the unfortunate turtle, threw him on his back, and tore off\nthe shield that covered his body. Then with mocking words they hunted\nhim to the shore, and into the sea, which he was only too thankful to\nreach alive. Faint and exhausted he entered the queen\u2019s palace for the\ncold of the water struck upon his naked body, and made him feel ill\nand miserable. But wretched though he was, he had to appear before the\nqueen\u2019s advisers and tell them all that had befallen him, and how he had\nsuffered the monkey to escape. But, as sometimes happens, the turtle was\nallowed to go scot-free, and had his shell given back to him, and all\nthe punishment fell on the poor jelly-fish, who was condemned by the\nqueen to go shieldless for ever after.\n\n(Japanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE HEADLESS DWARFS\n\nThere was once a minister who spent his whole time in trying to find\na servant who would undertake to ring the church bells at midnight, in\naddition to all his other duties.\n\nOf course it was not everyone who cared to get up in the middle of the\nnight, when he had been working hard all day; still, a good many had\nagreed to do it. But the strange thing was that no sooner had the\nservant set forth to perform his task than he disappeared, as if the\nearth had swallowed him up. No bells were rung, and no ringer ever came\nback. The minister did his best to keep the matter secret, but it leaked\nout for all that, and the end of it was that no one would enter his\nservice. Indeed, there were even those who whispered that the minister\nhimself had murdered the missing men!\n\nIt was to no purpose that Sunday after Sunday the minister gave out from\nhis pulpit that double wages would be paid to anyone that would fulfil\nthe sacred duty of ringing the bells of the church. No one took the\nslightest notice of any offer he might make, and the poor man was in\ndespair, when one day, as he was standing at his house door, a youth\nknown in the village as Clever Hans came up to him. \u2018I am tired of\nliving with a miser who will not give me enough to eat and drink,\u2019 said\nhe, \u2018and I am ready to do all you want.\u2019 \u2018Very good, my son,\u2019 replied\nthe minister, \u2018you shall have the chance of proving your courage this\nvery night. To-morrow we will settle what your wages are to be.\u2019\n\nHans was quite content with this proposal, and went straight into the\nkitchen to begin his work, not knowing that his new master was quite\nas stingy as his old one. In the hope that his presence might be a\nrestraint upon them, the minister used to sit at the table during his\nservants\u2019 meals, and would exhort them to drink much and often, thinking\nthat they would not be able to eat as well, and beef was dearer than\nbeer. But in Hans he had met his match, and the minister soon found to\nhis cost that in his case at any rate a full cup did not mean an empty\nplate.\n\nAbout an hour before midnight, Hans entered the church and locked\nthe door behind him, but what was his surprise when, in place of the\ndarkness and silence he expected, he found the church brilliantly\nlighted, and a crowd of people sitting round a table playing cards. Hans\nfelt no fear at this strange sight, or was prudent enough to hide it if\nhe did, and, going up to the table, sat down amongst the players. One of\nthem looked up and asked, \u2018My friend, what are you doing here?\u2019 and Hans\ngazed at him for a moment, then laughed and answered, \u2018Well, if anybody\nhas a right to put that question, it is I! And if _I_ do not put it, it\nwill certainly be wiser for you not to do so!\u2019\n\nThen he picked up some cards, and played with the unknown men as if\nhe had known them all his life. The luck was on his side, and soon the\nmoney of the other gamblers found its way from their pockets into his.\nOn the stroke of midnight the cock crew, and in an instant lights,\ntable, cards, and people all had vanished, and Hans was left alone.\n\nHe groped about for some time, till he found the staircase in the tower,\nand then began to feel his way up the steps.\n\nOn the first landing a glimmer of light came through a slit in the wall,\nand he saw a tiny man sitting there, without a head. \u2018Ho! ho! my little\nfellow, what are you doing there?\u2019 asked Hans, and, without waiting for\nan answer, gave him a kick which sent him flying down the stairs. Then\nhe climbed higher still, and finding as he went dumb watchers sitting on\nevery landing, treated them as he had done the first.\n\nAt last he reached the top, and as he paused for a moment to look\nround him he saw another headless man cowering in the very bell itself,\nwaiting till Hans should seize the bell-pull in order to strike him a\nblow with the clapper, which would soon have made an end of him.\n\n\u2018Stop, my little friend!\u2019 cried Hans. \u2018That is not part of the bargain!\nPerhaps you saw how your comrades walked down stairs, and you are going\nafter them. But as you are in the highest place you shall make a more\ndignified exit, and follow them through the window!\u2019\n\nWith these words he began to climb the ladder, in order to take the\nlittle man from the bell and carry out his threat.\n\nAt this the dwarf cried out imploringly, \u2018Oh, brother! spare my life,\nand I promise that neither I nor my comrades will ever trouble you any\nmore. I am small and weak, but who knows whether some day I shall not be\nable to reward you.\u2019\n\n\u2018You wretched little shrimp,\u2019 replied Hans, \u2018a great deal of good\nyour gratitude is likely to do me! But as I happen to be feeling in a\ncheerful mood to-night I will let you have your life. But take care how\nyou come across me again, or you may not escape so easily!\u2019\n\nThe headless man thanked him humbly, slid hastily down the bell rope,\nand ran down the steps of the tower as if he had left a fire behind him.\nThen Hans began to ring lustily.\n\nWhen the minister heard the sound of the midnight bells he wondered\ngreatly, but rejoiced that he had at last found some one to whom he\ncould trust this duty. Hans rang the bells for some time, then went to\nthe hay-loft, and fell fast asleep.\n\nNow it was the custom of the minister to get up very early, and to go\nround to make sure that the men were all at their work. This morning\neveryone was in his place except Hans, and no one knew anything about\nhim. Nine o\u2019clock came, and no Hans, but when eleven struck the minister\nbegan to fear that he had vanished like the ringers who had gone before\nhim. When, however, the servants all gathered round the table for\ndinner, Hans at last made his appearance stretching himself and yawning.\n\n\u2018Where have you been all this time?\u2019 asked the minister.\n\n\u2018Asleep,\u2019 said Hans.\n\n\u2018Asleep!\u2019 exclaimed the minister in astonishment. \u2018You don\u2019t mean to\ntell me that you can go on sleeping till mid-day?\u2019\n\n\u2018That is exactly what I do mean,\u2019 replied Hans. \u2018If one works in the\nnight one must sleep in the day, just as if one works in the day one\nsleeps in the night. If you can find somebody else to ring the bells at\nmidnight I am ready to begin work at dawn; but if you want me to ring\nthem I must go on sleeping till noon at the very earliest.\u2019\n\nThe minister tried to argue the point with him, but at length the\nfollowing agreement was come to. Hans was to give up the ringing, and\nwas to work like the rest from sunrise to sunset, with the exception of\nan hour after breakfast and an hour after dinner, when he might go to\nsleep. \u2018But, of course,\u2019 added the minister carelessly, \u2018it may happen\nnow and then, especially in winter, when the days are short, that you\nwill have to work a little longer, to get something finished.\u2019\n\n\u2018Not at all!\u2019 answered Hans. \u2018Unless I were to leave off work earlier\nin summer, I will not do a stroke more than I have promised, and that is\nfrom dawn to dark; so you know what you have to expect.\u2019\n\nA few weeks later the minister was asked to attend a christening in the\nneighbouring town. He bade Hans come with him, but, as the town was only\na few hours\u2019 ride from where he lived, the minister was much surprised\nto see Hans come forth laden with a bag containing food.\n\n\u2018What are you taking that for?\u2019 asked the minister. \u2018We shall be there\nbefore dark.\u2019\n\n\u2018Who knows?\u2019 replied Hans. \u2018Many things may happen to delay our journey,\nand I need not remind you of our contract that the moment the sun sets\nI cease to be your servant. If we don\u2019t reach the town while it is still\ndaylight I shall leave you to shift for yourself.\u2019\n\nThe minister thought he was joking, and made no further remark. But when\nthey had left the village behind them, and had ridden a few miles, they\nfound that snow had fallen during the night, and had been blown by the\nwind into drifts. This hindered their progress, and by the time they had\nentered the thick wood which lay between them and their destination\nthe sun was already touching the tops of the trees. The horses ploughed\ntheir way slowly through the deep soft snow and as they went Hans kept\nturning to look at the sun, which lay at their backs.\n\n\u2018Is there anything behind you?\u2019 asked the minister. \u2018Or what is it you\nare always turning round for?\u2019\n\n\u2018I turn round because I have no eyes in the back of my neck,\u2019 said Hans.\n\n\u2018Cease talking nonsense,\u2019 replied the minister, \u2018and give all your mind\nto getting us to the town before nightfall.\u2019\n\nHans did not answer, but rode on steadily, though every now and then he\ncast a glance over his shoulder.\n\nWhen they arrived in the middle of the wood the sun sank altogether.\nThen Hans reined up his horse, took his knapsack, and jumped out of the\nsledge.\n\n\u2018What are you doing? Are you mad?\u2019 asked the minister, but Hans answered\nquietly, \u2018The sun is set and my work is over, and I am going to camp\nhere for the night.\u2019\n\nIn vain the master prayed and threatened, and promised Hans a large\nreward if he would only drive him on. The young man was not to be moved.\n\n\u2018Are you not ashamed to urge me to break my word?\u2019 said he. \u2018If you want\nto reach the town to-night you must go alone. The hour of my freedom has\nstruck, and I cannot go with you.\u2019\n\n\u2018My good Hans,\u2019 entreated the minister, \u2018I really ought not to leave\nyou here. Consider what danger you would be in! Yonder, as you see, a\ngallows is set up, and two evil-doers are hanging on it. You could not\npossibly sleep with such ghastly neighbours.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not?\u2019 asked Hans. \u2018Those gallows birds hang high in the air, and\nmy camp will be on the ground; we shall have nothing to do with each\nother.\u2019 As he spoke, he turned his back on the minister, and went his\nway.\n\nThere was no help for it, and the minister had to push on by himself, if\nhe expected to arrive in time for the christening. His friends were\nmuch surprised to see him drive up without a coachman, and thought some\naccident had happened. But when he told them of his conversation with\nHans they did not know which was the most foolish, master or man.\n\nIt would have mattered little to Hans had he known what they were saying\nor thinking of him. He satisfied his hunger with the food he had in his\nknapsack, lit his pipe, pitched his tent under the boughs of a tree,\nwrapped himself in his furs, and went sound asleep. After some hours,\nhe was awakened by a sudden noise, and sat up and looked about him.\nThe moon was shining brightly above his head, and close by stood two\nheadless dwarfs, talking angrily. At the sight of Hans the little dwarfs\ncried out:\n\n\u2018It is he! It is he!\u2019 and one of them stepping nearer exclaimed, \u2018Ah,\nmy old friend! it is a lucky chance that has brought us here. My bones\nstill ache from my fall down the steps of the tower. I dare say you\nhave not forgotten that night! Now it is the turn of your bones. Hi!\ncomrades, make haste! make haste!\u2019\n\nLike a swarm of midges, a host of tiny headless creatures seemed to\nspring straight out of the ground, and every one was armed with a club.\nAlthough they were so small, yet there were such numbers of them and\nthey struck so hard that even a strong man could do nothing against\nthem. Hans thought his last hour was come, when just as the fight was at\nthe hottest another little dwarf arrived on the scene.\n\n\u2018Hold, comrades!\u2019 he shouted, turning to the attacking party. \u2018This man\nonce did me a service, and I am his debtor. When I was in his power he\ngranted me my life. And even if he did throw you downstairs, well, a\nwarm bath soon cured your bruises, so you must just forgive him and go\nquietly home.\u2019\n\nThe headless dwarfs listened to his words and disappeared as suddenly as\nthey had come. As soon as Hans recovered himself a little he looked at\nhis rescuer, and saw he was the dwarf he had found seated in the church\nbell.\n\n\u2018Ah!\u2019 said the dwarf, seating himself quietly under the tree. \u2018You\nlaughed at me when I told you that some day I might do you a good turn.\nNow you see I was right, and perhaps you will learn for the future not\nto despise any creature, however small.\u2019\n\n\u2018I thank you from my heart,\u2019 answered Hans. \u2018My bones are still sore\nfrom their blows, and had it not been for you I should indeed have fared\nbadly.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have almost paid my debt,\u2019 went on the little man, \u2018but as you have\nsuffered already, I will do more, and give you a piece of information.\nYou need not remain any longer in the service of that stingy minister,\nbut when you get home to-morrow go at once to the north corner of the\nchurch, and there you will find a large stone built into the wall, but\nnot cemented like the rest. The day after to-morrow the moon is full,\nand at midnight you must go to the spot and get the stone out of the\nwall with a pickaxe. Under the stone lies a great treasure, which has\nbeen hidden there in time of war. Besides church plate, you will find\nbags of money, which have been lying in this place for over a hundred\nyears, and no one knows to whom it all belongs. A third of this money\nyou must give to the poor, but the rest you may keep for yourself.\u2019 As\nhe finished, the cocks in the village crowed, and the little man was\nnowhere to be seen. Hans found that his limbs no longer pained him, and\nlay for some time thinking of the hidden treasure. Towards morning he\nfell asleep.\n\nThe sun was high in the heavens when his master returned from the town.\n\n\u2018Hans,\u2019 said he, \u2018what a fool you were not to come with me yesterday! I\nwas well feasted and entertained, and I have money in my pocket into the\nbargain,\u2019 he went on, rattling some coins while he spoke, to make Hans\nunderstand how much he had lost.\n\n\u2018Ah, sir,\u2019 replied Hans calmly, \u2018in order to have gained so much money\nyou must have lain awake all night, but I have earned a hundred times\nthat amount while I was sleeping soundly.\u2019\n\n\u2018How did you manage that?\u2019 asked the minister eagerly, but Hans\nanswered, \u2018It is only fools who boast of their farthings; wise men take\ncare to hide their crowns.\u2019\n\nThey drove home, and Hans neglected none of his duties, but put up the\nhorses and gave them their food before going to the church corner, where\nhe found the loose stone, exactly in the place described by the dwarf.\nThen he returned to his work.\n\nThe first night of the full moon, when the whole village was asleep, he\nstole out, armed with a pickaxe, and with much difficulty succeeded in\ndislodging the stone from its place. Sure enough, there was the hole,\nand in the hole lay the treasure, exactly as the little man had said.\n\nThe following Sunday he handed over the third part to the village poor,\nand informed the minister that he wished to break his bond of\nservice. As, however, he did not claim any wages, the minister made no\nobjections, but allowed him to do as he wished. So Hans went his way,\nbought himself a large house, and married a young wife, and lived\nhappily and prosperously to the end of his days.\n\n(Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE YOUNG MAN WHO WOULD HAVE HIS EYES OPENED\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a youth who was never happy unless he was\nprying into something that other people knew nothing about. After he had\nlearned to understand the language of birds and beasts, he discovered\naccidentally that a great deal took place under cover of night which\nmortal eyes never saw. From that moment he felt he could not rest till\nthese hidden secrets were laid bare to him, and he spent his whole time\nwandering from one wizard to another, begging them to open his eyes,\nbut found none to help him. At length he reached an old magician called\nMana, whose learning was greater than that of the rest, and who could\ntell him all he wanted to know. But when the old man had listened\nattentively to him, he said, warningly:\n\n\u2018My son, do not follow after empty knowledge, which will not bring you\nhappiness, but rather evil. Much is hidden from the eyes of men, because\ndid they know everything their hearts would no longer be at peace.\nKnowledge kills joy, therefore think well what you are doing, or some\nday you will repent. But if you will not take my advice, then truly I\ncan show you the secrets of the night. Only you will need more than a\nman\u2019s courage to bear the sight.\u2019\n\nHe stopped and looked at the young man, who nodded his head, and then\nthe wizard continued, \u2018To-morrow night you must go to the place where,\nonce in seven years, the serpent-king gives a great feast to his whole\ncourt. In front of him stands a golden bowl filled with goats\u2019 milk,\nand if you can manage to dip a piece of bread in this milk, and eat it\nbefore you are obliged to fly, you will understand all the secrets of\nthe night that are hidden from other men. It is lucky for you that the\nserpent-king\u2019s feast happens to fall this year, otherwise you would have\nhad long to wait for it. But take care to be quick and bold, or it will\nbe the worse for you.\u2019\n\nThe young man thanked the wizard for his counsel, and went his way\nfirmly resolved to carry out his purpose, even if he paid for it with\nhis life; and when night came he set out for a wide, lonely moor, where\nthe serpent-king held his feast. With sharpened eyes, he looked eagerly\nall round him, but could see nothing but a multitude of small hillocks,\nthat lay motionless under the moonlight. He crouched behind a bush\nfor some time, till he felt that midnight could not be far off, when\nsuddenly there arose in the middle of the moor a brilliant glow, as if\na star was shining over one of the hillocks. At the same moment all the\nhillocks began to writhe and to crawl, and from each one came hundreds\nof serpents and made straight for the glow, where they knew they should\nfind their king. When they reached the hillock where he dwelt, which was\nhigher and broader than the rest, and had a bright light hanging over\nthe top, they coiled themselves up and waited. The whirr and confusion\nfrom all the serpent-houses were so great that the youth did not dare to\nadvance one step, but remained where he was, watching intently all that\nwent on; but at last he began to take courage, and moved on softly step\nby step.\n\nWhat he saw was creepier than creepy, and surpassed all he had ever\ndreamt of. Thousands of snakes, big and little and of every colour, were\ngathered together in one great cluster round a huge serpent, whose body\nwas as thick as a beam, and which had on its head a golden crown, from\nwhich the light sprang. Their hissings and darting tongues so terrified\nthe young man that his heart sank, and he felt he should never have\ncourage to push on to certain death, when suddenly he caught sight of\nthe golden bowl in front of the serpent-king, and knew that if he lost\nthis chance it would never come back. So, with his hair standing on end\nand his blood frozen in his veins, he crept forwards. Oh! what a noise\nand a whirr rose afresh among the serpents. Thousands of heads were\nreared, and tongues were stretched out to sting the intruder to death,\nbut happily for him their bodies were so closely entwined one in the\nother that they could not disentangle themselves quickly. Like lightning\nhe seized a bit of bread, dipped it in the bowl, and put it in his\nmouth, then dashed away as if fire was pursuing him. On he flew as if a\nwhole army of foes were at his heels, and he seemed to hear the noise\nof their approach growing nearer and nearer. At length his breath failed\nhim, and he threw himself almost senseless on the turf. While he lay\nthere dreadful dreams haunted him. He thought that the serpent-king with\nthe fiery crown had twined himself round him, and was crushing out his\nlife. With a loud shriek he sprang up to do battle with his enemy, when\nhe saw that it was rays of the sun which had wakened him. He rubbed his\neyes and looked all round, but nothing could he see of the foes of the\npast night, and the moor where he had run into such danger must be at\nleast a mile away. But it was no dream that he had run hard and far, or\nthat he had drunk of the magic goats\u2019 milk. And when he felt his limbs,\nand found them whole, his joy was great that he had come through such\nperils with a sound skin.\n\nAfter the fatigues and terrors of the night, he lay still till mid-day,\nbut he made up his mind he would go that very evening into the forest to\ntry what the goats\u2019 milk could really do for him, and if he would now be\nable to understand all that had been a mystery to him. And once in the\nforest his doubts were set at rest, for he saw what no mortal eyes had\never seen before. Beneath the trees were golden pavilions, with flags of\nsilver all brightly lighted up. He was still wondering why the pavilions\nwere there, when a noise was heard among the trees, as if the wind had\nsuddenly got up, and on all sides beautiful maidens stepped from the\ntrees into the bright light of the moon. These were the wood-nymphs,\ndaughters of the earth-mother, who came every night to hold their\ndances, in the forest. The young man, watching from his hiding place,\nwished he had a hundred eyes in his head, for two were not nearly enough\nfor the sight before him, the dances lasting till the first streaks of\ndawn. Then a silvery veil seemed to be drawn over the ladies, and they\nvanished from sight. But the young man remained where he was till the\nsun was high in the heavens, and then went home.\n\nHe felt that day to be endless, and counted the minutes till night\nshould come, and he might return to the forest. But when at last he got\nthere he found neither pavilions nor nymphs, and though he went back\nmany nights after he never saw them again. Still, he thought about them\nnight and day, and ceased to care about anything else in the world, and\nwas sick to the end of his life with longing for that beautiful vision.\nAnd that was the way he learned that the wizard had spoken truly when he\nsaid, \u2018Blindness is man\u2019s highest good.\u2019\n\n(Ehstnische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOYS WITH THE GOLDEN STARS\n\nOnce upon a time what happened did happen: and if it had not happened,\nyou would never have heard this story.\n\nWell, once upon a time there lived an emperor who had half a world all\nto himself to rule over, and in this world dwelt an old herd and his\nwife and their three daughters, Anna, Stana, and Laptitza.\n\nAnna, the eldest, was so beautiful that when she took the sheep to\npasture they forgot to eat as long as she was walking with them. Stana,\nthe second, was so beautiful that when she was driving the flock the\nwolves protected the sheep. But Laptitza, the youngest, with a skin\nas white as the foam on the milk, and with hair as soft as the finest\nlamb\u2019s wool, was as beautiful as both her sisters put together--as\nbeautiful as she alone could be.\n\nOne summer day, when the rays of the sun were pouring down on the earth,\nthe three sisters went to the wood on the outskirts of the mountain to\npick strawberries. As they were looking about to find where the largest\nberries grew they heard the tramp of horses approaching, so loud that\nyou would have thought a whole army was riding by. But it was only the\nemperor going to hunt with his friends and attendants.\n\nThey were all fine handsome young men, who sat their horses as if they\nwere part of them, but the finest and handsomest of all was the young\nemperor himself.\n\nAs they drew near the three sisters, and marked their beauty, they\nchecked their horses and rode slowly by.\n\n\u2018Listen, sisters!\u2019 said Anna, as they passed on. \u2018If one of those young\nmen should make me his wife, I would bake him a loaf of bread which\nshould keep him young and brave for ever.\u2019\n\n\u2018And if I,\u2019 said Stana, \u2018should be the one chosen, I would weave my\nhusband a shirt which will keep him unscathed when he fights with\ndragons; when he goes through water he will never even be wet; or if\nthrough fire, it will not scorch him.\u2019\n\n\u2018And I,\u2019 said Laptitza, \u2018will give the man who chooses me two boys,\ntwins, each with a golden star on his forehead, as bright as those in\nthe sky.\u2019\n\nAnd though they spoke low the young men heard, and turned their horses\u2019\nheads.\n\n\u2018I take you at your word, and mine shall you be, most lovely of\nempresses!\u2019 cried the emperor, and swung Laptitza and her strawberries\non the horse before him.\n\n\u2018And I will have you,\u2019 \u2018And I you,\u2019 exclaimed two of his friends, and\nthey all rode back to the palace together.\n\nThe following morning the marriage ceremony took place, and for three\ndays and three nights there was nothing but feasting over the whole\nkingdom. And when the rejoicings were over the news was in everybody\u2019s\nmouth that Anna had sent for corn, and had made the loaf of which she\nhad spoken at the strawberry beds. And then more days and nights passed,\nand this rumour was succeeded by another one--that Stana had procured\nsome flax, and had dried it, and combed it, and spun it into linen,\nand sewed it herself into the shirt of which she had spoken over the\nstrawberry beds.\n\nNow the emperor had a stepmother, and she had a daughter by her first\nhusband, who lived with her in the palace. The girl\u2019s mother had always\nbelieved that her daughter would be empress, and not the \u2018Milkwhite\nMaiden,\u2019 the child of a mere shepherd. So she hated the girl with all\nher heart, and only bided her time to do her ill.\n\nBut she could do nothing as long as the emperor remained with his wife\nnight and day, and she began to wonder what she could do to get him away\nfrom her.\n\nAt last, when everything else had failed, she managed to make her\nbrother, who was king of the neighbouring country, declare war against\nthe emperor, and besiege some of the frontier towns with a large army.\nThis time her scheme was successful. The young emperor sprang up in\nwrath the moment he heard the news, and vowed that nothing, not even\nhis wife, should hinder his giving them battle. And hastily assembling\nwhatever soldiers happened to be at hand he set off at once to meet\nthe enemy. The other king had not reckoned on the swiftness of his\nmovements, and was not ready to receive him. The emperor fell on him\nwhen he was off his guard, and routed his army completely. Then when\nvictory was won, and the terms of peace hastily drawn up, he rode home\nas fast as his horse would carry him, and reached the palace on the\nthird day.\n\nBut early that morning, when the stars were growing pale in the sky, two\nlittle boys with golden hair and stars on their foreheads were born to\nLaptitza. And the stepmother, who was watching, took them away, and dug\na hole in the corner of the palace, under the windows of the emperor,\nand put them in it, while in their stead she placed two little puppies.\n\nThe emperor came into the palace, and when they told him the news he\nwent straight to Laptitza\u2019s room. No words were needed; he saw with\nhis own eyes that Laptitza had not kept the promise she had made at the\nstrawberry beds, and, though it nearly broke his heart, he must give\norders for her punishment.\n\nSo he went out sadly and told his guards that the empress was to be\nburied in the earth up to her neck, so that everyone might know what\nwould happen to those who dared to deceive the emperor.\n\nNot many days after, the stepmother\u2019s wish was fulfilled. The emperor\ntook her daughter to wife, and again the rejoicings lasted for three\ndays and three nights.\n\nLet us now see what happened to the two little boys.\n\nThe poor little babies had found no rest even in their graves. In the\nplace where they had been buried there sprang up two beautiful young\naspens, and the stepmother, who hated the sight of the trees, which\nreminded her of her crime, gave orders that they should be uprooted. But\nthe emperor heard of it, and forbade the trees to be touched, saying,\n\u2018Let them alone; I like to see them there! They are the finest aspens I\nhave ever beheld!\u2019\n\nAnd the aspens grew as no aspens had ever grown before. In each day they\nadded a year\u2019s growth, and each night they added a year\u2019s growth, and at\ndawn, when the stars faded out of the sky, they grew three years\u2019 growth\nin the twinkling of an eye, and their boughs swept across the palace\nwindows. And when the wind moved them softly, the emperor would sit and\nlisten to them all the day long.\n\nThe stepmother knew what it all meant, and her mind never ceased from\ntrying to invent some way of destroying the trees. It was not an easy\nthing, but a woman\u2019s will can press milk out of a stone, and her cunning\nwill overcome heroes. What craft will not do soft words may attain, and\nif these do not succeed there still remains the resource of tears.\n\nOne morning the empress sat on the edge of her husband\u2019s bed, and began\nto coax him with all sorts of pretty ways.\n\nIt was some time before the bait took, but at length--even emperors are\nonly men!\n\n\u2018Well, well,\u2019 he said at last, \u2018have your way and cut down the trees;\nbut out of one they shall make a bed for me, and out of the other, one\nfor you!\u2019\n\nAnd with this the empress was forced to be content. The aspens were cut\ndown next morning, and before night the new bed had been placed in the\nemperor\u2019s room.\n\nNow when the emperor lay down in it he seemed as if he had grown a\nhundred times heavier than usual, yet he felt a kind of calm that was\nquite new to him. But the empress felt as if she was lying on thorns and\nnettles, and could not close her eyes.\n\nWhen the emperor was fast asleep, the bed began to crack loudly, and to\nthe empress each crack had a meaning. She felt as if she were listening\nto a language which no one but herself could understand.\n\n\u2018Is it too heavy for you, little brother?\u2019 asked one of the beds.\n\n\u2018Oh, no, it is not heavy at all,\u2019 answered the bed in which the emperor\nwas sleeping. \u2018I feel nothing but joy now that my beloved father rests\nover me.\u2019\n\n\u2018It is very heavy for me!\u2019 said the other bed, \u2018for on me lies an evil\nsoul.\u2019\n\nAnd so they talked on till the morning, the empress listening all the\nwhile.\n\nBy daybreak the empress had determined how to get rid of the beds. She\nwould have two others made exactly like them, and when the emperor had\ngone hunting they should be placed in his room. This was done and the\naspen beds were burnt in a large fire, till only a little heap of ashes\nwas left.\n\nYet while they were burning the empress seemed to hear the same words,\nwhich she alone could understand.\n\nThen she stooped and gathered up the ashes, and scattered them to the\nfour winds, so that they might blow over fresh lands and fresh seas, and\nnothing remain of them.\n\nBut she had not seen that where the fire burnt brightest two sparks flew\nup, and, after floating in the air for a few moments, fell down into the\ngreat river that flows through the heart of the country. Here the sparks\nhad turned into two little fishes with golden scales, and one was so\nexactly like the other that everyone could tell at the first glance that\nthey must be twins. Early one morning the emperor\u2019s fishermen went down\nto the river to get some fish for their master\u2019s breakfast, and cast\ntheir nets into the stream. As the last star twinkled out of the sky\nthey drew them in, and among the multitude of fishes lay two with scales\nof gold, such as no man had ever looked on.\n\nThey all gathered round and wondered, and after some talk they decided\nthat they would take the little fishes alive as they were, and give them\nas a present to the emperor.\n\n\u2018Do not take us there, for that is whence we came, and yonder lies our\ndestruction,\u2019 said one of the fishes.\n\n\u2018But what are we to do with you?\u2019 asked the fisherman.\n\n\u2018Go and collect all the dew that lies on the leaves, and let us swim in\nit. Then lay us in the sun, and do not come near us till the sun\u2019s rays\nshall have dried off the dew,\u2019 answered the other fish.\n\nThe fisherman did as they told him--gathered the dew from the leaves and\nlet them swim in it, then put them to lie in the sun till the dew should\nbe all dried up.\n\nAnd when he came back, what do you think he saw? Why, two boys, two\nbeautiful young princes, with hair as golden as the stars on their\nforeheads, and each so like the other, that at the first glance every\none would have known them for twins.\n\nThe boys grew fast. In every day they grew a year\u2019s growth, and in every\nnight another year\u2019s growth, but at dawn, when the stars were fading,\nthey grew three years\u2019 growth in the twinkling of an eye. And they\ngrew in other things besides height, too. Thrice in age, and thrice in\nwisdom, and thrice in knowledge. And when three days and three nights\nhad passed they were twelve years in age, twenty-four in strength, and\nthirty-six in wisdom.\n\n\u2018Now take us to our father,\u2019 said they. So the fisherman gave them each\na lambskin cap which half covered their faces, and completely hid their\ngolden hair and the stars on their foreheads, and led them to the court.\n\nBy the time they arrived there it was midday, and the fisherman and his\ncharges went up to an official who was standing about. \u2018We wish to speak\nwith the emperor,\u2019 said one of the boys.\n\n\u2018You must wait until he has finished his dinner,\u2019 replied the porter.\n\n\u2018No, while he is eating it,\u2019 said the second boy, stepping across the\nthreshold.\n\nThe attendants all ran forward to thrust such impudent youngsters\noutside the palace, but the boys slipped through their fingers like\nquicksilver, and entered a large hall, where the emperor was dining,\nsurrounded by his whole court.\n\n\u2018We desire to enter,\u2019 said one of the princes sharply to a servant who\nstood near the door.\n\n\u2018That is quite impossible,\u2019 replied the servant.\n\n\u2018Is it? let us see!\u2019 said the second prince, pushing the servants to\nright and left.\n\nBut the servants were many, and the princes only two. There was the\nnoise of a struggle, which reached the emperor\u2019s ears.\n\n\u2018What is the matter?\u2019 asked he angrily.\n\nThe princes stopped at the sound of their father\u2019s voice.\n\n\u2018Two boys who want to force their way in,\u2019 replied one of the servants,\napproaching the emperor.\n\n\u2018To FORCE their way in? Who dares to use force in my palace? What boys\nare they?\u2019 said the emperor all in one breath.\n\n\u2018We know not, O mighty emperor,\u2019 answered the servant, \u2018but they must\nsurely be akin to you, for they have the strength of lions, and have\nscattered the guards at the gate. And they are as proud as they are\nstrong, for they will not take their caps from their heads.\u2019\n\nThe emperor, as he listened, grew red with anger.\n\n\u2018Thrust them out,\u2019 cried he. \u2018Set the dogs after them.\u2019\n\n\u2018Leave us alone, and we will go quietly,\u2019 said the princes, and stepped\nbackwards, weeping silently at the harsh words. They had almost reached\nthe gates when a servant ran up to them.\n\n\u2018The emperor commands you to return,\u2019 panted he: \u2018the empress wishes to\nsee you.\u2019\n\nThe princes thought a moment: then they went back the way they had come,\nand walked straight up to the emperor, their caps still on their heads.\n\nHe sat at the top of a long table covered with flowers and filled with\nguests. And beside him sat the empress, supported by twelve cushions.\nWhen the princes entered one of the cushions fell down, and there\nremained only eleven.\n\n\u2018Take off your caps,\u2019 said one of the courtiers.\n\n\u2018A covered head is among men a sign of honour. We wish to seem what we\nare.\u2019\n\n\u2018Never mind,\u2019 said the emperor, whose anger had dropped before the\nsilvery tones of the boy\u2019s voice. \u2018Stay as you are, but tell me WHO you\nare! Where do you come from, and what do you want?\u2019\n\n\u2018We are twins, two shoots from one stem, which has been broken, and\nhalf lies in the ground and half sits at the head of this table. We have\ntravelled a long way, we have spoken in the rustle of the wind, have\nwhispered in the wood, we have sung in the waters, but now we wish to\ntell you a story which you know without knowing it, in the speech of\nmen.\u2019\n\nAnd a second cushion fell down.\n\n\u2018Let them take their silliness home,\u2019 said the empress.\n\n\u2018Oh, no, let them go on,\u2019 said the emperor. \u2018You wished to see them, but\nI wish to hear them. Go on, boys, sing me the story.\u2019\n\nThe empress was silent, but the princes began to sing the story of their\nlives.\n\n\u2018There was once an emperor,\u2019 began they, and the third cushion fell\ndown.\n\nWhen they reached the warlike expedition of the emperor three of the\ncushions fell down at once.\n\nAnd when the tale was finished there were no more cushions under the\nempress, but the moment that they lifted their caps, and showed their\ngolden hair and the golden stars, the eyes of the emperor and of all\nhis guests were bent on them, and they could hardly bear the power of so\nmany glances.\n\nAnd there happened in the end what should have happened in the\nbeginning. Laptitza sat next her husband at the top of the table. The\nstepmother\u2019s daughter became the meanest sewing maid in the palace, the\nstepmother was tied to a wild horse, and every one knew and has never\nforgotten that whoever has a mind turned to wickedness is sure to end\nbadly.\n\n(Rumanische Marchen.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROG\n\nOnce upon a time there was a woman who had three sons. Though they\nwere peasants they were well off, for the soil on which they lived was\nfruitful, and yielded rich crops. One day they all three told their\nmother they meant to get married. To which their mother replied: \u2018Do\nas you like, but see that you choose good housewives, who will look\ncarefully after your affairs; and, to make certain of this, take with\nyou these three skeins of flax, and give it to them to spin. Whoever\nspins the best will be my favourite daughter-in-law.\u2019\n\nNow the two eldest sons had already chosen their wives; so they took the\nflax from their mother, and carried it off with them, to have it spun\nas she had said. But the youngest son was puzzled what to do with his\nskein, as he knew no girl (never having spoken to any) to whom he could\ngive it to be spun. He wandered hither and thither, asking the girls\nthat he met if they would undertake the task for him, but at the sight\nof the flax they laughed in his face and mocked at him. Then in despair\nhe left their villages, and went out into the country, and, seating\nhimself on the bank of a pond began to cry bitterly.\n\nSuddenly there was a noise close beside him, and a frog jumped out of\nthe water on to the bank and asked him why he was crying. The youth told\nher of his trouble, and how his brothers would bring home linen spun for\nthem by their promised wives, but that no one would spin his thread.\n\nThen the frog answered: \u2018Do not weep on that account; give me the\nthread, and I will spin it for you.\u2019 And, having said this, she took\nit out of his hand, and flopped back into the water, and the youth went\nback, not knowing what would happen next.\n\nIn a short time the two elder brothers came home, and their mother asked\nto see the linen which had been woven out of the skeins of flax she had\ngiven them. They all three left the room; and in a few minutes the two\neldest returned, bringing with them the linen that had been spun by\ntheir chosen wives. But the youngest brother was greatly troubled, for\nhe had nothing to show for the skein of flax that had been given to him.\nSadly he betook himself to the pond, and sitting down on the bank, began\nto weep.\n\nFlop! and the frog appeared out of the water close beside him.\n\n\u2018Take this,\u2019 she said; \u2018here is the linen that I have spun for you.\u2019\n\nYou may imagine how delighted the youth was. She put the linen into his\nhands, and he took it straight back to his mother, who was so pleased\nwith it that she declared she had never seen linen so beautifully spun,\nand that it was far finer and whiter than the webs that the two elder\nbrothers had brought home.\n\nThen she turned to her sons and said: \u2018But this is not enough, my sons,\nI must have another proof as to what sort of wives you have chosen. In\nthe house there are three puppies. Each of you take one, and give it to\nthe woman whom you mean to bring home as your wife. She must train it\nand bring it up. Whichever dog turns out the best, its mistress will be\nmy favourite daughter-in-law.\u2019\n\nSo the young men set out on their different ways, each taking a puppy\nwith him. The youngest, not knowing where to go, returned to the pond,\nsat down once more on the bank, and began to weep.\n\nFlop! and close beside him, he saw the frog. \u2018Why are you weeping?\u2019 she\nsaid. Then he told her his difficulty, and that he did not know to whom\nhe should take the puppy.\n\n\u2018Give it to me,\u2019 she said, \u2018and I will bring it up for you.\u2019 And, seeing\nthat the youth hesitated, she took the little creature out of his arms,\nand disappeared with it into the pond.\n\nThe weeks and months passed, till one day the mother said she would like\nto see how the dogs had been trained by her future daughters-in-law. The\ntwo eldest sons departed, and returned shortly, leading with them two\ngreat mastiffs, who growled so fiercely, and looked so savage, that the\nmere sight of them made the mother tremble with fear.\n\nThe youngest son, as was his custom, went to the pond, and called on the\nfrog to come to his rescue.\n\nIn a minute she was at his side, bringing with her the most lovely\nlittle dog, which she put into his arms. It sat up and begged with its\npaws, and went through the prettiest tricks, and was almost human in the\nway it understood and did what it was told.\n\nIn high spirits the youth carried it off to his mother. As soon as she\nsaw it, she exclaimed: \u2018This is the most beautiful little dog I have\never seen. You are indeed fortunate, my son; you have won a pearl of a\nwife.\u2019\n\nThen, turning to the others, she said: \u2018Here are three shirts; take\nthem to your chosen wives. Whoever sews the best will be my favourite\ndaughter-in-law.\u2019\n\nSo the young men set out once more; and again, this time, the work of\nthe frog was much the best and the neatest.\n\nThis time the mother said: \u2018Now that I am content with the tests I gave,\nI want you to go and fetch home your brides, and I will prepare the\nwedding-feast.\u2019\n\nYou may imagine what the youngest brother felt on hearing these words.\nWhence was he to fetch a bride? Would the frog be able to help him in\nthis new difficulty? With bowed head, and feeling very sad, he sat down\non the edge of the pond.\n\nFlop! and once more the faithful frog was beside him.\n\n\u2018What is troubling you so much?\u2019 she asked him, and then the youth told\nher everything.\n\n\u2018Will you take me for a wife?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018What should I do with you as a wife,\u2019 he replied, wondering at her\nstrange proposal.\n\n\u2018Once more, will you have me or will you not?\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018I will neither have you, nor will I refuse you,\u2019 said he.\n\nAt this the frog disappeared; and the next minute the youth beheld a\nlovely little chariot, drawn by two tiny ponies, standing on the road.\nThe frog was holding the carriage door open for him to step in.\n\n\u2018Come with me,\u2019 she said. And he got up and followed her into the\nchariot.\n\nAs they drove along the road they met three witches; the first of them\nwas blind, the second was hunchbacked, and the third had a large thorn\nin her throat. When the three witches beheld the chariot, with the\nfrog seated pompously among the cushions, they broke into such fits of\nlaughter that the eyelids of the blind one burst open, and she recovered\nher sight; the hunchback rolled about on the ground in merriment till\nher back became straight, and in a roar of laughter the thorn fell out\nof the throat of the third witch. Their first thought was to reward\nthe frog, who had unconsciously been the means of curing them of their\nmisfortunes.\n\nThe first witch waved her magic wand over the frog, and changed her into\nthe loveliest girl that had ever been seen. The second witch waved\nthe wand over the tiny chariot and ponies, and they were turned into\na beautiful large carriage with prancing horses, and a coachman on the\nseat. The third witch gave the girl a magic purse, filled with money.\nHaving done this, the witches disappeared, and the youth with his lovely\nbride drove to his mother\u2019s home. Great was the delight of the mother at\nher youngest son\u2019s good fortune. A beautiful house was built for them;\nshe was the favourite daughter-in-law; everything went well with them,\nand they lived happily ever after.\n\n(From the Italian.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS WHO WAS HIDDEN UNDERGROUND\n\nOnce there was a king who had great riches, which, when he died, he\ndivided among his three sons. The two eldest of these lived in rioting\nand feasting, and thus wasted and squandered their father\u2019s wealth till\nnothing remained, and they found themselves in want and misery. The\nyoungest of the three sons, on the contrary, made good use of his\nportion. He married a wife and soon they had a most beautiful daughter,\nfor whom, when she was grown up, he caused a great palace to be built\nunderground, and then killed the architect who had built it. Next he\nshut up his daughter inside, and then sent heralds all over the world to\nmake known that he who should find the king\u2019s daughter should have her\nto wife. If he were not capable of finding her then he must die.\n\nMany young men sought to discover her, but all perished in the attempt.\n\nAfter many had met their death thus, there came a young man, beautiful\nto behold, and as clever as he was beautiful, who had a great desire to\nattempt the enterprise. First he went to a herdsman, and begged him to\nhide him in a sheepskin, which had a golden fleece, and in this disguise\nto take him to the king. The shepherd let himself be persuaded so to do,\ntook a skin having a golden fleece, sewed the young man in it, putting\nin also food and drink, and so brought him before the king.\n\nWhen the latter saw the golden lamb, he asked the herd: \u2018Will you sell\nme this lamb?\u2019\n\nBut the herd answered: \u2018No, oh king; I will not sell it; but if you find\npleasure therein, I will be willing to oblige you, and I will lend it to\nyou, free of charge, for three days, after that you must give it back to\nme.\u2019\n\nThis the king agreed to do, and he arose and took the lamb to his\ndaughter. When he had led it into her palace, and through many rooms,\nhe came to a shut door. Then he called \u2018Open, Sartara Martara of the\nearth!\u2019 and the door opened of itself. After that they went through many\nmore rooms, and came to another closed door. Again the king called out:\n\u2018Open, Sartara Martara of the earth!\u2019 and this door opened like the\nother, and they came into the apartment where the princess dwelt, the\nfloor, walls, and roof of which were all of silver.\n\nWhen the king had embraced the princess, he gave her the lamb, to her\ngreat joy. She stroked it, caressed it, and played with it.\n\nAfter a while the lamb got loose, which, when the princess saw, she\nsaid: \u2018See, father, the lamb is free.\u2019\n\nBut the king answered: \u2018It is only a lamb, why should it not be free?\u2019\n\nThen he left the lamb with the princess, and went his way.\n\nIn the night, however, the young man threw off the skin. When the\nprincess saw how beautiful he was, she fell in love with him, and asked\nhim: \u2018Why did you come here disguised in a sheepskin like that?\u2019\n\nThen he answered: \u2018When I saw how many people sought you, and could not\nfind you, and lost their lives in so doing, I invented this trick, and\nso I am come safely to you.\u2019\n\nThe princess exclaimed: \u2018You have done well so to do; but you must know\nthat your wager is not yet won, for my father will change me and my\nmaidens into ducks, and will ask you, \u201cWhich of these ducks is the\nprincess?\u201d Then I will turn my head back, and with my bill will clean my\nwings, so that you may know me.\u2019\n\nWhen they had spent three days together, chatting and caressing one\nanother, the herd came back to the king, and demanded his lamb. Then the\nking went to his daughter to bring it away, which troubled the princess\nvery much, for she said they had played so nicely together.\n\nBut the king said: \u2018I cannot leave it with you, my daughter, for it is\nonly lent to me.\u2019 So he took it away with him, and gave it back to the\nshepherd.\n\nThen the young man threw the skin from off him, and went to the king,\nsaying: \u2018Sire, I am persuaded I can find your daughter.\u2019\n\nWhen the king saw how handsome he was, he said: \u2018My lad, I have pity on\nyour youth. This enterprise has already cost the lives of many, and will\ncertainly be your death as well.\u2019\n\nBut the young man answered, \u2018I accept your conditions, oh king; I will\neither find her or lose my head.\u2019\n\nThereupon he went before the king, who followed after him, till they\ncame to the great door. Then the young man said to the king: \u2018Speak the\nwords that it may open.\u2019\n\nAnd the king answered: \u2018What are the words? Shall I say something like\nthis: \u201cShut; shut; shut\u201d?\u2019\n\n\u2018No,\u2019 said he; \u2018say \u201cOpen, Sartara Martara of the earth.\u201d\u2019\n\nWhen the king had so said, the door opened of itself, and they went\nin, while the king gnawed his moustache in anger. Then they came to the\nsecond door, where the same thing happened as at the first, and they\nwent in and found the princess.\n\nThen spoke the king and said: \u2018Yes, truly, you have found the princess.\nNow I will turn her as well as all her maidens into ducks, and if you\ncan guess which of these ducks is my daughter, then you shall have her\nto wife.\u2019\n\nAnd immediately the king changed all the maidens into ducks, and he\ndrove them before the young man, and said: \u2018Now show me which is my\ndaughter.\u2019\n\nThen the princess, according to their understanding, began to clean her\nwings with her bill, and the lad said: \u2018She who cleans her wings is the\nprincess.\u2019\n\nNow the king could do nothing more but give her to the young man to\nwife, and they lived together in great joy and happiness.\n\n(From the German.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL WHO PRETENDED TO BE A BOY\n\nOnce upon a time there lived an emperor who was a great conqueror, and\nreigned over more countries than anyone in the world. And whenever he\nsubdued a fresh kingdom, he only granted peace on condition that the\nking should deliver him one of his sons for ten years\u2019 service.\n\nNow on the borders of his kingdom lay a country whose emperor was as\nbrave as his neighbour, and as long as he was young he was the victor in\nevery war. But as years passed away, his head grew weary of making\nplans of campaign, and his people wanted to stay at home and till their\nfields, and at last he too felt that he must do homage to the other\nemperor.\n\nOne thing, however, held him back from this step which day by day he saw\nmore clearly was the only one possible. His new overlord would demand\nthe service of one of his sons. And the old emperor had no son; only\nthree daughters.\n\nLook on which side he would, nothing but ruin seemed to lie before him,\nand he became so gloomy, that his daughters were frightened, and did\neverything they could think of to cheer him up, but all to no purpose.\n\nAt length one day when they were at dinner, the eldest of the three\nsummoned up all her courage and said to her father:\n\n\u2018What secret grief is troubling you? Are your subjects discontented? or\nhave we given you cause for displeasure? To smooth away your wrinkles,\nwe would gladly shed our blood, for our lives are bound up in yours; and\nthis you know.\u2019\n\n\u2018My daughter,\u2019 answered the emperor, \u2018what you say is true. Never have\nyou given me one moment\u2019s pain. Yet now you cannot help me. Ah! why is\nnot one of you a boy!\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t understand,\u2019 she answered in surprise. \u2018Tell us what is wrong:\nand though we are not boys, we are not quite useless!\u2019\n\n\u2018But what can you do, my dear children? Spin, sew, and weave--that is\nall your learning. Only a warrior can deliver me now, a young giant who\nis strong to wield the battle-axe: whose sword deals deadly blows.\u2019\n\n\u2018But WHY do you need a son so much at present? Tell us all about it! It\nwill not make matters worse if we know!\u2019\n\n\u2018Listen then, my daughters, and learn the reason of my sorrow. You have\nheard that as long as I was young no man ever brought an army against\nme without it costing him dear. But the years have chilled my blood and\ndrunk my strength. And now the deer can roam the forest, my arrows will\nnever pierce his heart; strange soldiers will set fire to my houses and\nwater their horses at my wells, and my arm cannot hinder them. No, my\nday is past, and the time has come when I too must bow my head under the\nyoke of my foe! But who is to give him the ten years\u2019 service that is\npart of the price which the vanquished must pay?\u2019\n\n\u2018_I_ will,\u2019 cried the eldest girl, springing to her feet. But her father\nonly shook his head sadly.\n\n\u2018Never will I bring shame upon you,\u2019 urged the girl. \u2018Let me go. Am I\nnot a princess, and the daughter of an emperor?\u2019\n\n\u2018Go then!\u2019 he said.\n\nThe brave girl\u2019s heart almost stopped beating from joy, as she set about\nher preparations. She was not still for a single moment, but danced\nabout the house, turning chests and wardrobes upside down. She set\naside enough things for a whole year--dresses embroidered with gold and\nprecious stones, and a great store of provisions. And she chose the most\nspirited horse in the stable, with eyes of flame, and a coat of shining\nsilver.\n\nWhen her father saw her mounted and curvetting about the court, he gave\nher much wise advice, as to how she was to behave like the young man she\nappeared to be, and also how to behave as the girl she really was. Then\nhe gave her his blessing, and she touched her horse with the spur.\n\nThe silver armour of herself and her steed dazzled the eyes of the\npeople as she darted past. She was soon out of sight, and if after a few\nmiles she had not pulled up to allow her escort to join her, the rest of\nthe journey would have been performed alone.\n\nBut though none of his daughters were aware of the fact, the old emperor\nwas a magician, and had laid his plans accordingly. He managed, unseen,\nto overtake his daughter, and throw a bridge of copper over a stream\nwhich she would have to cross. Then, changing himself into a wolf, he\nlay down under one of the arches, and waited.\n\nHe had chosen his time well, and in about half an hour the sound of a\nhorse\u2019s hoofs was heard. His feet were almost on the bridge, when a big\ngrey wolf with grinning teeth appeared before the princess. With a deep\ngrowl that froze the blood, he drew himself up, and prepared to spring.\n\nThe appearance of the wolf was so sudden and so unexpected, that the\ngirl was almost paralysed, and never even dreamt of flight, till the\nhorse leaped violently to one side. Then she turned him round, and\nurging him to his fullest speed, never drew rein till she saw the gates\nof the palace rising before her.\n\nThe old emperor, who had got back long since, came to the door to meet\nher, and touching her shining armour, he said, \u2018Did I not tell you, my\nchild, that flies do not make honey?\u2019\n\nThe days passed on, and one morning the second princess implored her\nfather to allow her to try the adventure in which her sister had made\nsuch a failure. He listened unwillingly, feeling sure it was no use, but\nshe begged so hard that in the end he consented, and having chosen her\narms, she rode away.\n\nBut though, unlike her sister, she was quite prepared for the appearance\nof the wolf when she reached the copper bridge, she showed no greater\ncourage, and galloped home as fast as her horse could carry her. On the\nsteps of the castle her father was standing, and as still trembling with\nfright she knelt at his feet, he said gently, \u2018Did I not tell you, my\nchild, that every bird is not caught in a net?\u2019\n\nThe three girls stayed quietly in the palace for a little while,\nembroidering, spinning, weaving, and tending their birds and flowers,\nwhen early one morning, the youngest princess entered the door of the\nemperor\u2019s private apartments. \u2018My father, it is my turn now. Perhaps I\nshall get the better of that wolf!\u2019\n\n\u2018What, do you think you are braver than your sisters, vain little one?\nYou who have hardly left your long clothes behind you!\u2019 but she did not\nmind being laughed at, and answered,\n\n\u2018For your sake, father, I would cut the devil himself into small bits,\nor even become a devil myself. I think I shall succeed, but if I fail, I\nshall come home without more shame than my sisters.\u2019\n\nStill the emperor hesitated, but the girl petted and coaxed him till at\nlast he said,\n\n\u2018Well, well, if you must go, you must. It remains to be seen what I\nshall get by it, except perhaps a good laugh when I see you come back\nwith your head bent and your eyes on the ground.\u2019\n\n\u2018He laughs best who laughs last,\u2019 said the princess.\n\nHappy at having got her way, the princess decided that the first thing\nto be done was to find some old white-haired boyard, whose advice she\ncould trust, and then to be very careful in choosing her horse. So she\nwent straight to the stables where the most beautiful horses in the\nempire were feeding in the stalls, but none of them seemed quite what\nshe wanted. Almost in despair she reached the last box of all, which was\noccupied by her father\u2019s ancient war-horse, old and worn like himself,\nstretched sadly out on the straw.\n\nThe girl\u2019s eyes filled with tears, and she stood gazing at him. The\nhorse lifted his head, gave a little neigh, and said softly, \u2018You look\ngentle and pitiful, but I know it is your love for your father which\nmakes you tender to me. Ah, what a warrior he was, and what good times\nwe shared together! But now I too have grown old, and my master has\nforgotten me, and there is no reason to care whether my coat is dull or\nshining. Yet, it is not too late, and if I were properly tended, in a\nweek I could vie with any horse in the stables!\u2019\n\n\u2018And how should you be tended?\u2019 asked the girl.\n\n\u2018I must be rubbed down morning and evening with rain water, my barley\nmust be boiled in milk, because of my bad teeth, and my feet must be\nwashed in oil.\u2019\n\n\u2018I should like to try the treatment, as you might help me in carrying\nout my scheme.\u2019\n\n\u2018Try it then, mistress, and I promise you will never repent.\u2019\n\nSo in a week\u2019s time the horse woke up one morning with a sudden shiver\nthrough all his limbs; and when it had passed away, he found his skin\nshining like a mirror, his body as fat as a water melon, his movement\nlight as a chamois.\n\nThen looking at the princess who had come early to the stable, he said\njoyfully,\n\n\u2018May success await on the steps of my master\u2019s daughter, for she has\ngiven me back my life. Tell me what I can do for you, princess, and I\nwill do it.\u2019\n\n\u2018I want to go to the emperor who is our over-lord, and I have no one\nto advise me. Which of all the white-headed boyards shall I choose as\ncounsellor?\u2019\n\n\u2018If you have me, you need no one else: I will serve you as I served your\nfather, if you will only listen to what I say.\u2019\n\n\u2018I will listen to everything. Can you start in three days?\u2019\n\n\u2018This moment, if you like,\u2019 said the horse.\n\nThe preparations of the emperor\u2019s youngest daughter were much fewer and\nsimpler than those of her sisters. They only consisted of some boy\u2019s\nclothes, a small quantity of linen and food, and a little money in case\nof necessity. Then she bade farewell to her father, and rode away.\n\nA day\u2019s journey from the palace, she reached the copper bridge, but\nbefore they came in sight of it, the horse, who was a magician, had\nwarned her of the means her father would take to prove her courage.\n\nStill in spite of his warning she trembled all over when a huge wolf, as\nthin as if he had fasted for a month, with claws like saws, and mouth\nas wide as an oven, bounded howling towards her. For a moment her heart\nfailed her, but the next, touching the horse lightly with her spur, she\ndrew her sword from its sheath, ready to separate the wolf\u2019s head from\nits body at a single blow.\n\nThe beast saw the sword, and shrank back, which was the best thing it\ncould do, as now the girl\u2019s blood was up, and the light of battle in her\neyes. Then without looking round, she rode across the bridge.\n\nThe emperor, proud of this first victory, took a short cut, and waited\nfor her at the end of another day\u2019s journey, close to a river, over\nwhich he threw a bridge of silver. And this time he took the shape of a\nlion.\n\nBut the horse guessed this new danger and told the princess how to\nescape it. But it is one thing to receive advice when we feel safe and\ncomfortable, and quite another to be able to carry it out when some\nawful peril is threatening us. And if the wolf had made the girl quake\nwith terror, it seemed like a lamb beside this dreadful lion.\n\nAt the sound of his roar the very trees quivered and his claws were so\nlarge that every one of them looked like a cutlass.\n\nThe breath of the princess came and went, and her feet rattled in the\nstirrups. Suddenly the remembrance flashed across her of the wolf whom\nshe had put to flight, and waving her sword, she rushed so violently on\nthe lion that he had barely time to spring on one side, so as to avoid\nthe blow. Then, like a flash, she crossed this bridge also.\n\nNow during her whole life, the princess had been so carefully brought\nup, that she had never left the gardens of the palace, so that the sight\nof the hills and valleys and tinkling streams, and the song of the larks\nand blackbirds, made her almost beside herself with wonder and delight.\nShe longed to get down and bathe her face in the clear pools, and pick\nthe brilliant flowers, but the horse said \u2018No,\u2019 and quickened his pace,\nneither turning to the right or the left.\n\n\u2018Warriors,\u2019 he told her, \u2018only rest when they have won the victory. You\nhave still another battle to fight, and it is the hardest of all.\u2019\n\nThis time it was neither a wolf nor a lion that was waiting for her at\nthe end of the third day\u2019s journey, but a dragon with twelve heads, and\na golden bridge behind it.\n\nThe princess rode up without seeing anything to frighten her, when a\nsudden puff of smoke and flame from beneath her feet, caused her to\nlook down, and there was the horrible creature twisted and writhing, its\ntwelve heads reared up as if to seize her between them.\n\nThe bridle fell from her hand: and the sword which she had just grasped\nslid back into its sheath, but the horse bade her fear nothing, and with\na mighty effort she sat upright and spurred straight on the dragon.\n\nThe fight lasted an hour and the dragon pressed her hard. But in the\nend, by a well-directed side blow, she cut off one of the heads, and\nwith a roar that seemed to rend the heavens in two, the dragon fell back\non the ground, and rose as a man before her.\n\nAlthough the horse had informed the princess the dragon was really her\nown father, the girl had hardly believed him, and stared in amazement at\nthe transformation. But he flung his arms round her and pressed her to\nhis heart saying, \u2018Now I see that you are as brave as the bravest, and\nas wise as the wisest. You have chosen the right horse, for without his\nhelp you would have returned with a bent head and downcast eyes. You\nhave filled me with the hope that you may carry out the task you have\nundertaken, but be careful to forget none of my counsels, and above all\nto listen to those of your horse.\u2019\n\nWhen he had done speaking, the princess knelt down to receive his\nblessing, and they went their different ways.\n\nThe princess rode on and on, till at last she came to the mountains\nwhich hold up the roof of the world. There she met two Genii who had\nbeen fighting fiercely for two years, without one having got the least\nadvantage over the other. Seeing what they took to be a young man\nseeking adventures, one of the combatants called out, \u2018Fet-Fruners!\ndeliver me from my enemy, and I will give you the horn that can be\nheard the distance of a three days\u2019 journey;\u2019 while the other cried,\n\u2018Fet-Fruners! help me to conquer this pagan thief, and you shall have my\nhorse, Sunlight.\u2019\n\nBefore answering, the princess consulted her own horse as to which offer\nshe should accept, and he advised her to side with the genius who was\nmaster of Sunlight, his own younger brother, and still more active than\nhimself.\n\nSo the girl at once attacked the other genius, and soon clove his skull;\nthen the one who was left victor begged her to come back with him to his\nhouse and he would hand her over Sunlight, as he had promised.\n\nThe mother of the genius was rejoiced to see her son return safe and\nsound, and prepared her best room for the princess, who, after so much\nfatigue, needed rest badly. But the girl declared that she must first\nmake her horse comfortable in his stable; but this was really only an\nexcuse, as she wanted to ask his advice on several matters.\n\nBut the old woman had suspected from the very first that the boy who\nhad come to the rescue of her son was a girl in disguise, and told the\ngenius that she was exactly the wife he needed. The genius scoffed, and\ninquired what female hand could ever wield a sabre like that; but, in\nspite of his sneers, his mother persisted, and as a proof of what she\nsaid, laid at night on each of their pillows a handful of magic flowers,\nthat fade at the touch of man, but remain eternally fresh in the fingers\nof a woman.\n\nIt was very clever of her, but unluckily the horse had warned the\nprincess what to expect, and when the house was silent, she stole very\nsoftly to the genius\u2019s room, and exchanged his faded flowers for those\nshe held. Then she crept back to her own bed and fell fast asleep.\n\nAt break of day, the old woman ran to see her son, and found, as she\nknew she would, a bunch of dead flowers in his hand. She next passed\non to the bedside of the princess, who still lay asleep grasping the\nwithered flowers. But she did not believe any the more that her guest\nwas a man, and so she told her son. So they put their heads together and\nlaid another trap for her.\n\nAfter breakfast the genius gave his arm to his guest, and asked her to\ncome with him into the garden. For some time they walked about looking\nat the flowers, the genius all the while pressing her to pick any she\nfancied. But the princess, suspecting a trap, inquired roughly why they\nwere wasting the precious hours in the garden, when, as men, they should\nbe in the stables looking after their horses. Then the genius told his\nmother that she was quite wrong, and his deliverer was certainly a man.\nBut the old woman was not convinced for all that.\n\nShe would try once more she said, and her son must lead his visitor\ninto the armoury, where hung every kind of weapon used all over the\nworld--some plain and bare, others ornamented with precious stones--and\nbeg her to make choice of one of them. The princess looked at them\nclosely, and felt the edges and points of their blades, then she hung at\nher belt an old sword with a curved blade, that would have done credit\nto an ancient warrior. After this she informed the genius that she would\nstart early next day and take Sunlight with her.\n\nAnd there was nothing for the mother to do but to submit, though she\nstill stuck to her own opinion.\n\nThe princess mounted Sunlight, and touched him with her spur, when the\nold horse, who was galloping at her side, suddenly said:\n\n\u2018Up to this time, mistress, you have obeyed my counsels and all has gone\nwell. Listen to me once more, and do what I tell you. I am old, and--now\nthat there is someone to take my place, I will confess it--I am afraid\nthat my strength is not equal to the task that lies before me. Give me\nleave, therefore, to return home, and do you continue your journey under\nthe care of my brother. Put your faith in him as you put it in me, and\nyou will never repent. Wisdom has come early to Sunlight.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, my old comrade, you have served me well; and it is only through\nyour help that up to now I have been victorious. So grieved though I am\nto say farewell, I will obey you yet once more, and will listen to your\nbrother as I would to yourself. Only, I must have a proof that he loves\nme as well as you do.\u2019\n\n\u2018How should I not love you?\u2019 answered Sunlight; \u2018how should I not be\nproud to serve a warrior such as you? Trust me, mistress, and you\nshall never regret the absence of my brother. I know there will be\ndifficulties in our path, but we will face them together.\u2019\n\nThen, with tears in her eyes, the princess took leave of her old horse,\nwho galloped back to her father.\n\nShe had ridden only a few miles further, when she saw a golden curl\nlying on the road before her. Checking her horse, she asked whether it\nwould be better to take it or let it lie.\n\n\u2018If you take it,\u2019 said Sunlight, \u2018you will repent, and if you don\u2019t, you\nwill repent too: so take it.\u2019 On this the girl dismounted, and picking\nup the curl, wound it round her neck for safety.\n\nThey passed by hills, they passed by mountains, they passed through\nvalleys, leaving behind them thick forests, and fields covered with\nflowers; and at length they reached the court of the over-lord.\n\nHe was sitting on his throne, surrounded by the sons of the other\nemperors, who served him as pages. These youths came forward to greet\ntheir new companion, and wondered why they felt so attracted towards\nhim.\n\nHowever, there was no time for talking and concealing her fright.\n\nThe princess was led straight up to the throne, and explained, in a low\nvoice, the reason of her coming. The emperor received her kindly, and\ndeclared himself fortunate at finding a vassal so brave and so charming,\nand begged the princess to remain in attendance on his person.\n\nShe was, however, very careful in her behaviour towards the other pages,\nwhose way of life did not please her. One day, however, she had been\namusing herself by making sweetmeats, when two of the young princes\nlooked in to pay her a visit. She offered them some of the food which\nwas already on the table, and they thought it so delicious that they\neven licked their fingers so as not to lose a morsel. Of course they did\nnot keep the news of their discovery to themselves, but told all their\ncompanions that they had just been enjoying the best supper they had\nhad since they were born. And from that moment the princess was left no\npeace, till she had promised to cook them all a dinner.\n\nNow it happened that, on the very day fixed, all the cooks in the palace\nbecame intoxicated, and there was no one to make up the fire.\n\nWhen the pages heard of this shocking state of things, they went to\ntheir companion and implored her to come to the rescue.\n\nThe princess was fond of cooking, and was, besides, very good-natured;\nso she put on an apron and went down to the kitchen without delay. When\nthe dinner was placed before the emperor he found it so nice that he ate\nmuch more than was good for him. The next morning, as soon as he woke,\nhe sent for his head cook, and told him to send up the same dishes as\nbefore. The cook, seized with fright at this command, which he knew he\ncould not fulfil, fell on his knees, and confessed the truth.\n\nThe emperor was so astonished that he forgot to scold, and while he was\nthinking over the matter, some of his pages came in and said that their\nnew companion had been heard to boast that he knew where Iliane was to\nbe found--the celebrated Iliane of the song which begins:\n\n          \u2018Golden Hair\n           The fields are green,\u2019\n\nand that to their certain knowledge he had a curl of her hair in his\npossession.\n\nWhen he heard that, the emperor desired the page to be brought before\nhim, and, as soon as the princess obeyed his summons, he said to her\nabruptly:\n\n\u2018Fet-Fruners, you have hidden from me the fact that you knew the\ngolden-haired Iliane! Why did you do this? for I have treated you more\nkindly than all my other pages.\u2019\n\nThen, after making the princess show him the golden curl which she wore\nround her neck, he added: \u2018Listen to me; unless by some means or other\nyou bring me the owner of this lock, I will have your head cut off in\nthe place where you stand. Now go!\u2019\n\nIn vain the poor girl tried to explain how the lock of hair came into\nher possession; the emperor would listen to nothing, and, bowing low,\nshe left his presence and went to consult Sunlight what she was to do.\n\nAt his first words she brightened up. \u2018Do not be afraid, mistress;\nonly last night my brother appeared to me in a dream and told me that a\ngenius had carried off Iliane, whose hair you picked up on the road. But\nIliane declares that, before she marries her captor, he must bring her,\nas a present, the whole stud of mares which belong to her. The genius,\nhalf crazy with love, thinks of nothing night and day but how this can\nbe done, and meanwhile she is quite safe in the island swamps of the\nsea. Go back to the emperor and ask him for twenty ships filled with\nprecious merchandise. The rest you shall know by-and-by.\u2019\n\nOn hearing this advice, the princess went at once into the emperor\u2019s\npresence.\n\n\u2018May a long life be yours, O Sovereign all mighty!\u2019 said she. \u2018I have\ncome to tell you that I can do as you command if you will give me twenty\nships, and load them with the most precious wares in your kingdom.\u2019\n\n\u2018You shall have all that I possess if you will bring me the\ngolden-haired Iliane,\u2019 said the emperor.\n\nThe ships were soon ready, and the princess entered the largest and\nfinest, with Sunlight at her side. Then the sails were spread and the\nvoyage began.\n\nFor seven weeks the wind blew them straight towards the west, and early\none morning they caught sight of the island swamps of the sea.\n\nThey cast anchor in a little bay, and the princess made haste to\ndisembark with Sunlight, but, before leaving the ship, she tied to her\nbelt a pair of tiny gold slippers, adorned with precious stones. Then\nmounting Sunlight, she rode about till she came to several palaces,\nbuilt on hinges, so that they could always turn towards the sun.\n\nThe most splendid of these was guarded by three slaves, whose greedy\neyes were caught by the glistening gold of the slippers. They hastened\nup to the owner of these treasures, and inquired who he was. \u2018A\nmerchant,\u2019 replied the princess, \u2018who had somehow missed his road, and\nlost himself among the island swamps of the sea.\u2019\n\nNot knowing if it was proper to receive him or not, the slaves returned\nto their mistress and told her all they had seen, but not before she had\ncaught sight of the merchant from the roof of her palace. Luckily her\ngaoler was away, always trying to catch the stud of mares, so for the\nmoment she was free and alone.\n\nThe slaves told their tale so well that their mistress insisted on going\ndown to the shore and seeing the beautiful slippers for herself. They\nwere even lovelier than she expected, and when the merchant besought her\nto come on board, and inspect some that he thought were finer still, her\ncuriosity was too great to refuse, and she went.\n\nOnce on board ship, she was so busy turning over all the precious things\nstored there, that she never knew that the sails were spread, and that\nthey were flying along with the wind behind them; and when she did know,\nshe rejoiced in her heart, though she pretended to weep and lament at\nbeing carried captive a second time. Thus they arrived at the court of\nthe emperor.\n\nThey were just about to land, when the mother of the genius stood before\nthem. She had learnt that Iliane had fled from her prison in company\nwith a merchant, and, as her son was absent, had come herself in\npursuit. Striding over the blue waters, hopping from wave to wave, one\nfoot reaching to heaven, and the other planted in the foam, she was\nclose at their heels, breathing fire and flame, when they stepped on\nshore from the ship. One glance told Iliane who the horrible old woman\nwas, and she whispered hastily to her companion. Without saying a word,\nthe princess swung her into Sunlight\u2019s saddle, and leaping up behind\nher, they were off like a flash.\n\nIt was not till they drew near the town that the princess stooped and\nasked Sunlight what they should do. \u2018Put your hand into my left ear,\u2019\nsaid he, \u2018and take out a sharp stone, which you must throw behind you.\u2019\n\nThe princess did as she was told, and a huge mountain sprang up behind\nthem. The mother of the genius began to climb up it, and though they\ngalloped quickly, she was quicker still.\n\nThey heard her coming, faster, faster; and again the princess stooped to\nask what was to be done now. \u2018Put your hand into my right ear,\u2019 said\nthe horse, \u2018and throw the brush you will find there behind you.\u2019 The\nprincess did so, and a great forest sprang up behind them, and, so thick\nwere its leaves, that even a wren could not get through. But the old\nwoman seized hold of the branches and flung herself like a monkey from\none to the others, and always she drew nearer--always, always--till\ntheir hair was singed by the flames of her mouth.\n\nThen, in despair, the princess again bent down and asked if there was\nnothing more to be done, and Sunlight replied \u2018Quick, quick, take off\nthe betrothal ring on the finger of Iliane and throw it behind you.\u2019\n\nThis time there sprang up a great tower of stone, smooth as ivory,\nhard as steel, which reached up to heaven itself. And the mother of the\ngenius gave a howl of rage, knowing that she could neither climb it\nnor get through it. But she was not beaten yet, and gathering herself\ntogether, she made a prodigious leap, which landed her on the top of the\ntower, right in the middle of Iliane\u2019s ring which lay there, and held\nher tight. Only her claws could be seen grasping the battlements.\n\nAll that could be done the old witch did; but the fire that poured from\nher mouth never reached the fugitives, though it laid waste the country\na hundred miles round the tower, like the flames of a volcano. Then,\nwith one last effort to free herself, her hands gave way, and, falling\ndown to the bottom of the tower, she was broken in pieces.\n\nWhen the flying princess saw what had happened she rode back to the\nspot, as Sunlight counselled her, and placed her finger on the top of\nthe tower, which was gradually shrinking into the earth. In an instant\nthe tower had vanished as if it had never been, and in its place was the\nfinger of the princess with a ring round it.\n\nThe emperor received Iliane with all the respect that was due to her,\nand fell in love at first sight besides.\n\nBut this did not seem to please Iliane, whose face was sad as she walked\nabout the palace or gardens, wondering how it was that, while other\ngirls did as they liked, she was always in the power of someone whom she\nhated.\n\nSo when the emperor asked her to share his throne Iliane answered:\n\n\u2018Noble Sovereign, I may not think of marriage till my stud of horses has\nbeen brought me, with their trappings all complete.\u2019\n\nWhen he heard this, the emperor once more sent for Fet-Fruners, and\nsaid:\n\n\u2018Fet-Fruners, fetch me instantly the stud of mares, with their trappings\nall complete. If not, your head shall pay the forfeit.\u2019\n\n\u2018Mighty Emperor, I kiss your hands! I have but just returned from doing\nyour bidding, and, behold, you send me on another mission, and stake my\nhead on its fulfilment, when your court is full of valiant young men,\npining to win their spurs. They say you are a just man; then why not\nentrust this quest to one of them? Where am I to seek these mares that I\nam to bring you?\u2019\n\n\u2018How do I know? They may be anywhere in heaven or earth; but, wherever\nthey are, you will have to find them.\u2019\n\nThe princess bowed and went to consult Sunlight. He listened while she\ntold her tale, and then said:\n\n\u2018Fetch quickly nine buffalo skins; smear them well with tar, and lay\nthem on my back. Do not fear; you will succeed in this also; but, in the\nend, the emperor\u2019s desires will be his undoing.\u2019\n\nThe buffalo skins were soon got, and the princess started off with\nSunlight. The way was long and difficult, but at length they reached the\nplace where the mares were grazing. Here the genius who had carried off\nIliane was wandering about, trying to discover how to capture them, all\nthe while believing that Iliane was safe in the palace where he had left\nher.\n\nAs soon as she caught sight of him, the princess went up and told\nhim that Iliane had escaped, and that his mother, in her efforts\nto recapture her, had died of rage. At this news a blind fury took\npossession of the genius, and he rushed madly upon the princess, who\nawaited his onslaught with perfect calmness. As he came on, with his\nsabre lifted high in the air, Sunlight bounded right over his head, so\nthat the sword fell harmless. And when in her turn the princess prepared\nto strike, the horse sank upon his knees, so that the blade pierced the\ngenius\u2019s thigh.\n\nThe fight was so fierce that it seemed as if the earth would give way\nunder them, and for twenty miles round the beasts in the forests fled to\ntheir caves for shelter. At last, when her strength was almost gone, the\ngenius lowered his sword for an instant. The princess saw her chance,\nand, with one swoop of her arm, severed her enemy\u2019s head from his body.\nStill trembling from the long struggle, she turned away, and went to the\nmeadow where the stud were feeding.\n\nBy the advice of Sunlight, she took care not to let them see her, and\nclimbed a thick tree, where she could see and hear without being seen\nherself. Then he neighed, and the mares came galloping up, eager to\nsee the new comer--all but one horse, who did not like strangers, and\nthought they were very well as they were. As Sunlight stood his ground,\nwell pleased with the attention paid him, this sulky creature suddenly\nadvanced to the charge, and bit so violently that had it not been for\nthe nine buffalo skins Sunlight\u2019s last moment would have come. When\nthe fight was ended, the buffalo skins were in ribbons, and the beaten\nanimal writhing with pain on the grass.\n\nNothing now remained to be done but to drive the whole stud to the\nemperor\u2019s court. So the princess came down from the tree and mounted\nSunlight, while the stud followed meekly after, the wounded horse\nbringing up the rear. On reaching the palace, she drove them into a\nyard, and went to inform the emperor of her arrival.\n\nThe news was told at once to Iliane, who ran down directly and called\nthem to her one by one, each mare by its name. And at the first sight of\nher the wounded animal shook itself quickly, and in a moment its wounds\nwere healed, and there was not even a mark on its glossy skin.\n\nBy this time the emperor, on hearing where she was, joined her in the\nyard, and at her request ordered the mares to be milked, so that both he\nand she might bathe in the milk and keep young for ever. But they would\nsuffer no one to come near them, and the princess was commanded to\nperform this service also.\n\nAt this, the heart of the girl swelled within her. The hardest tasks\nwere always given to her, and long before the two years were up, she\nwould be worn out and useless. But while these thoughts passed through\nher mind, a fearful rain fell, such as no man remembered before, and\nrose till the mares were standing up to their knees in water. Then as\nsuddenly it stopped, and, behold! the water was ice, which held the\nanimals firmly in its grasp. And the princess\u2019s heart grew light again,\nand she sat down gaily to milk them, as if she had done it every morning\nof her life.\n\nThe love of the emperor for Iliane waxed greater day by day, but she\npaid no heed to him, and always had an excuse ready to put off their\nmarriage. At length, when she had come to the end of everything she\ncould think of, she said to him one day: \u2018Grant me, Sire, just one\nrequest more, and then I will really marry you; for you have waited\npatiently this long time.\u2019\n\n\u2018My beautiful dove,\u2019 replied the emperor, \u2018both I and all I possess are\nyours, so ask your will, and you shall have it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Get me, then,\u2019 she said, \u2018a flask of the holy water that is kept in a\nlittle church beyond the river Jordan, and I will be your wife.\u2019\n\nThen the emperor ordered Fet-Fruners to ride without delay to the river\nJordan, and to bring back, at whatever cost, the holy water for Iliane.\n\n\u2018This, my mistress,\u2019 said Sunlight, when she was saddling him, \u2018is the\nlast and most difficult of your tasks. But fear nothing, for the hour of\nthe emperor has struck.\u2019\n\nSo they started; and the horse, who was not a wizard for nothing, told\nthe princess exactly where she was to look for the holy water.\n\n\u2018It stands,\u2019 he said, \u2018on the altar of a little church, and is guarded\nby a troop of nuns. They never sleep, night or day, but every now and\nthen a hermit comes to visit them, and from him they learn certain\nthings it is needful for them to know. When this happens, only one of\nthe nuns remains on guard at a time, and if we are lucky enough to hit\nupon this moment, we may get hold of the vase at once; if not, we shall\nhave to wait the arrival of the hermit, however long it may be; for\nthere is no other means of obtaining the holy water.\u2019\n\nThey came in sight of the church beyond the Jordan, and, to their great\njoy, beheld the hermit just arriving at the door. They could hear him\ncalling the nuns around him, and saw them settle themselves under a\ntree, with the hermit in their midst--all but one, who remained on\nguard, as was the custom.\n\nThe hermit had a great deal to say, and the day was very hot, so the\nnun, tired of sitting by herself, lay down right across the threshold,\nand fell sound asleep.\n\nThen Sunlight told the princess what she was to do, and the girl stepped\nsoftly over the sleeping nun, and crept like a cat along the dark aisle,\nfeeling the wall with her fingers, lest she should fall over something\nand ruin it all by a noise. But she reached the altar in safety, and\nfound the vase of holy water standing on it. This she thrust into her\ndress, and went back with the same care as she came. With a bound she\nwas in the saddle, and seizing the reins bade Sunlight take her home as\nfast as his legs could carry him.\n\nThe sound of the flying hoofs aroused the nun, who understood instantly\nthat the precious treasure was stolen, and her shrieks were so loud and\npiercing that all the rest came flying to see what was the matter. The\nhermit followed at their heels, but seeing it was impossible to overtake\nthe thief, he fell on his knees and called his most deadly curse down on\nher head, praying that if the thief was a man, he might become a woman;\nand if she was a woman, that she might become a man. In either case he\nthought that the punishment would be severe.\n\nBut punishments are things about which people do not always agree, and\nwhen the princess suddenly felt she was really the man she had pretended\nto be, she was delighted, and if the hermit had only been within reach\nshe would have thanked him from her heart.\n\nBy the time she reached the emperor\u2019s court, Fet-Fruners looked a young\nman all over in the eyes of everyone; and even the mother of the genius\nwould now have had her doubts set at rest. He drew forth the vase from\nhis tunic and held it up to the emperor, saying: \u2018Mighty Sovereign, all\nhail! I have fulfilled this task also, and I hope it is the last you\nhave for me; let another now take his turn.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am content, Fet-Fruners,\u2019 replied the emperor, \u2018and when I am dead it\nis you who will sit upon my throne; for I have yet no son to come after\nme. But if one is given me, and my dearest wish is accomplished, then\nyou shall be his right hand, and guide him with your counsels.\u2019\n\nBut though the emperor was satisfied, Iliane was not, and she determined\nto revenge herself on the emperor for the dangers which he had caused\nFet-Fruners to run. And as for the vase of holy water, she thought that,\nin common politeness, her suitor ought to have fetched it himself, which\nhe could have done without any risk at all.\n\nSo she ordered the great bath to be filled with the milk of her mares,\nand begged the emperor to clothe himself in white robes, and enter the\nbath with her, an invitation he accepted with joy. Then, when both were\nstanding with the milk reaching to their necks, she sent for the horse\nwhich had fought Sunlight, and made a secret sign to him. The horse\nunderstood what he was to do, and from one nostril he breathed fresh\nair over Iliane, and from the other, he snorted a burning wind which\nshrivelled up the emperor where he stood, leaving only a little heap of\nashes.\n\nHis strange death, which no one could explain, made a great sensation\nthroughout the country, and the funeral his people gave him was the\nmost splendid ever known. When it was over, Iliane summoned Fet-Fruners\nbefore her, and addressed him thus:\n\n\u2018Fet-Fruners! it is you who brought me and have saved my life, and\nobeyed my wishes. It is you who gave me back my stud; you who killed the\ngenius, and the old witch his mother; you who brought me the holy water.\nAnd you, and none other, shall be my husband.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, I will marry you,\u2019 said the young man, with a voice almost as soft\nas when he was a princess. \u2018But know that in OUR house, it will be the\ncock who sings and not the hen!\u2019\n\n(From Sept Contes Roumains, Jules Brun and Leo Bachelin.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF HALFMAN\n\nIn a certain town there lived a judge who was married but had no\nchildren. One day he was standing lost in thought before his house, when\nan old man passed by.\n\n\u2018What is the matter, sir, said he, \u2018you look troubled?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, leave me alone, my good man!\u2019\n\n\u2018But what is it?\u2019 persisted the other.\n\n\u2018Well, I am successful in my profession and a person of importance, but\nI care nothing for it all, as I have no children.\u2019\n\nThen the old man said, \u2018Here are twelve apples. If your wife eats them,\nshe will have twelve sons.\u2019\n\nThe judge thanked him joyfully as he took the apples, and went to seek\nhis wife. \u2018Eat these apples at once,\u2019 he cried, \u2018and you will have\ntwelve sons.\u2019\n\nSo she sat down and ate eleven of them, but just as she was in the\nmiddle of the twelfth her sister came in, and she gave her the half that\nwas left.\n\nThe eleven sons came into the world, strong and handsome boys; but when\nthe twelfth was born, there was only half of him.\n\nBy-and-by they all grew into men, and one day they told their father it\nwas high time he found wives for them. \u2018I have a brother,\u2019 he answered,\n\u2018who lives away in the East, and he has twelve daughters; go and marry\nthem.\u2019 So the twelve sons saddled their horses and rode for twelve days,\ntill they met an old woman.\n\n\u2018Good greeting to you, young men!\u2019 said she, \u2018we have waited long for\nyou, your uncle and I. The girls have become women, and are sought, in\nmarriage by many, but I knew you would come one day, and I have kept\nthem for you. Follow me into my house.\u2019\n\nAnd the twelve brothers followed her gladly, and their father\u2019s brother\nstood at the door, and gave them meat and drink. But at night, when\nevery one was asleep, Halfman crept softly to his brothers, and said to\nthem, \u2018Listen, all of you! This man is no uncle of ours, but an ogre.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nonsense; of course he is our uncle,\u2019 answered they.\n\n\u2018Well, this very night you will see!\u2019 said Halfman. And he did not go to\nbed, but hid himself and watched.\n\nNow in a little while he saw the wife of the ogre steal into the room\non tiptoe and spread a red cloth over the brothers and then go and cover\nher daughters with a white cloth. After that she lay down and was soon\nsnoring loudly. When Halfman was quite sure she was sound asleep, he\ntook the red cloth from his brothers and put it on the girls, and laid\ntheir white cloth over his brothers. Next he drew their scarlet caps\nfrom their heads and exchanged them for the veils which the ogre\u2019s\ndaughters were wearing. This was hardly done when he heard steps coming\nalong the floor, so he hid himself quickly in the folds of a curtain.\nThere was only half of him!\n\nThe ogress came slowly and gently along, stretching out her hands before\nher, so that she might not fall against anything unawares, for she had\nonly a tiny lantern slung at her waist, which did not give much light.\nAnd when she reached the place where the sisters were lying, she stooped\ndown and held a corner of the cloth up to the lantern. Yes! it certainly\nwas red! Still, to make sure that there was no mistake, she passed her\nhands lightly over their heads, and felt the caps that covered them.\nThen she was quite certain the brothers lay sleeping before her, and\nbegan to kill them one by one. And Halfman whispered to his brothers,\n\u2018Get up and run for your lives, as the ogress is killing her daughters.\u2019\nThe brothers needed no second bidding, and in a moment were out of the\nhouse.\n\nBy this time the ogress had slain all her daughters but one, who awoke\nsuddenly and saw what had happened. \u2018Mother, what are you doing?\u2019 cried\nshe. \u2018Do you know that you have killed my sisters?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, woe is me!\u2019 wailed the ogress. \u2018Halfman has outwitted me after\nall!\u2019 And she turned to wreak vengeance on him, but he and his brothers\nwere far away.\n\nThey rode all day till they got to the town where their real uncle\nlived, and inquired the way to his house.\n\n\u2018Why have you been so long in coming?\u2019 asked he, when they had found\nhim.\n\n\u2018Oh, dear uncle, we were very nearly not coming at all!\u2019 replied they.\n\u2018We fell in with an ogress who took us home and would have killed us if\nit had not been for Halfman. He knew what was in her mind and saved us,\nand here we are. Now give us each a daughter to wife, and let us return\nwhence we came.\u2019\n\n\u2018Take them!\u2019 said the uncle; \u2018the eldest for the eldest, the second for\nthe second, and so on to the youngest.\u2019\n\nBut the wife of Halfman was the prettiest of them all, and the other\nbrothers were jealous and said to each other: \u2018What, is he who is only\nhalf a man to get the best? Let us put him to death and give his wife to\nour eldest brother!\u2019 And they waited for a chance.\n\nAfter they had all ridden, in company with their brides, for some\ndistance, they arrived at a brook, and one of them asked, \u2018Now, who will\ngo and fetch water from the brook?\u2019\n\n\u2018Halfman is the youngest,\u2019 said the elder brother, \u2018he must go.\u2019\n\nSo Halfman got down and filled a skin with water, and they drew it up by\na rope and drank. When they had done drinking, Halfman, who was standing\nin the middle of the stream, called out: \u2018Throw me the rope and draw me\nup, for I cannot get out alone.\u2019 And the brothers threw him a rope to\ndraw him up the steep bank; but when he was half-way up they cut the\nrope, and he fell back into the stream. Then the brothers rode away as\nfast as they could, with his bride.\n\nHalfman sank down under the water from the force of the fall, but\nbefore he touched the bottom a fish came and said to him, \u2018Fear nothing,\nHalfman; I will help you.\u2019 And the fish guided him to a shallow place,\nso that he scrambled out. On the way it said to him, \u2018Do you understand\nwhat your brothers, whom you saved from death, have done to you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes; but what am I to do?\u2019 asked Halfman.\n\n\u2018Take one of my scales,\u2019 said the fish, \u2018and when you find yourself in\ndanger, throw it in the fire. Then I will appear before you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Thank you,\u2019 said Halfman, and went his way, while the fish swam back to\nits home.\n\nThe country was strange to Halfman, and he wandered about without\nknowing where he was going, till he suddenly found the ogress standing\nbefore him. \u2018Ah, Halfman, have I got you at last? You killed my\ndaughters and helped your brothers to escape. What do you think I shall\ndo with you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Whatever you like!\u2019 said Halfman.\n\n\u2018Come into my house, then,\u2019 said the ogress, and he followed her.\n\n\u2018Look here!\u2019 she called to her husband, \u2018I have got hold of Halfman. I\nam going to roast him, so be quick and make up the fire!\u2019\n\nSo the ogre brought wood, and heaped it up till the flames roared up the\nchimney. Then he turned to his wife and said: \u2018It is all ready, let us\nput him on!\u2019\n\n\u2018What is the hurry, my good ogre?\u2019 asked Halfman. \u2018You have me in your\npower, and I cannot escape. I am so thin now, I shall hardly make one\nmouthful. Better fatten me up; you will enjoy me much more.\u2019\n\n\u2018That is a very sensible remark,\u2019 replied the ogre; \u2018but what fattens\nyou quickest?\u2019\n\n\u2018Butter, meat, and red wine,\u2019 answered Halfman.\n\n\u2018Very good; we will lock you into this room, and here you shall stay\ntill you are ready for eating.\u2019\n\nSo Halfman was locked into the room, and the ogre and his wife brought\nhim his food. At the end of three months he said to his gaolers: \u2018Now I\nhave got quite fat; take me out, and kill me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Get out, then!\u2019 said the ogre.\n\n\u2018But,\u2019 went on Halfman, \u2018you and your wife had better go to invite your\nfriends to the feast, and your daughter can stay in the house and look\nafter me!\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, that is a good idea,\u2019 answered they.\n\n\u2018You had better bring the wood in here,\u2019 continued Halfman, \u2018and I will\nsplit it up small, so that there may be no delay in cooking me.\u2019\n\nSo the ogress gave Halfman a pile of wood and an axe, and then set out\nwith her husband, leaving Halfman and her daughter busy in the house.\n\nAfter he had chopped for a little while he called to the girl, \u2018Come and\nhelp me, or else I shan\u2019t have it all ready when your mother gets back.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 said she, and held a billet of wood for him to chop.\n\nBut he raised his axe and cut off her head, and ran away like the wind.\nBy-and-by the ogre and his wife returned and found their daughter\nlying without her head, and they began to cry and sob, saying, \u2018This is\nHalfman\u2019s work, why did we listen to him?\u2019 But Halfman was far away.\n\nWhen he escaped from the house he ran on straight before him for some\ntime, looking for a safe shelter, as he knew that the ogre\u2019s legs were\nmuch longer than his, and that it was his only chance. At last he saw\nan iron tower which he climbed up. Soon the ogre appeared, looking right\nand left lest his prey should be sheltering behind a rock or tree, but\nhe did not know Halfman was so near till he heard his voice calling,\n\u2018Come up! come up! you will find me here!\u2019\n\n\u2018But how can I come up?\u2019 said the ogre, \u2018I see no door, and I could not\npossibly climb that tower.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, there is no door,\u2019 replied Halfman.\n\n\u2018Then how did you climb up?\u2019\n\n\u2018A fish carried me on his back.\u2019\n\n\u2018And what am I to do?\u2019\n\n\u2018You must go and fetch all your relations, and tell them to bring plenty\nof sticks; then you must light a fire, and let it burn till the tower\nbecomes red hot. After that you can easily throw it down.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very good,\u2019 said the ogre, and he went round to every relation he had,\nand told them to collect wood and bring it to the tower where Halfman\nwas. The men did as they were ordered, and soon the tower was glowing\nlike coral, but when they flung themselves against it to overthrow it,\nthey caught themselves on fire and were burnt to death. And overhead sat\nHalfman, laughing heartily. But the ogre\u2019s wife was still alive, for she\nhad taken no part in kindling the fire.\n\n\u2018Oh,\u2019 she shrieked with rage, \u2018you have killed my daughters and my\nhusband, and all the men belonging to me; how can I get at you to avenge\nmyself?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, that is easy enough,\u2019 said Halfman. \u2018I will let down a rope, and if\nyou tie it tightly round you, I will draw it up.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 returned the ogress, fastening the rope which Halfman let\ndown. \u2018Now pull me up.\u2019\n\n\u2018Are you sure it is secure?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, quite sure.\u2019\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I am not afraid at all!\u2019\n\nSo Halfman slowly drew her up, and when she was near the top he let go\nthe rope, and she fell down and broke her neck. Then Halfman heaved a\ngreat sigh and said, \u2018That was hard work; the rope has hurt my hands\nbadly, but now I am rid of her for ever.\u2019\n\nSo Halfman came down from the tower, and went on, till he got to a\ndesert place, and as he was very tired, he lay down to sleep. While\nit was still dark, an ogress passed by, and she woke him and said,\n\u2018Halfman, to-morrow your brother is to marry your wife.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, how can I stop it?\u2019 asked he. \u2018Will you help me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, I will,\u2019 replied the ogress.\n\n\u2018Thank you, thank you!\u2019 cried Halfman, kissing her on the forehead. \u2018My\nwife is dearer to me than anything else in the world, and it is not my\nbrother\u2019s fault that I am not dead long ago.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, I will rid you of him,\u2019 said the ogress, \u2018but only on one\ncondition. If a boy is born to you, you must give him to me!\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, anything,\u2019 answered Halfman, \u2018as long as you deliver me from my\nbrother, and get me my wife.\u2019\n\n\u2018Mount on my back, then, and in a quarter of an hour we shall be there.\u2019\n\nThe ogress was as good as her word, and in a few minutes they arrived at\nthe outskirts of the town where Halfman and his brothers lived. Here\nshe left him, while she went into the town itself, and found the wedding\nguests just leaving the brother\u2019s house. Unnoticed by anyone, the ogress\ncrept into a curtain, changing herself into a scorpion, and when the\nbrother was going to get into bed, she stung him behind the ear, so that\nhe fell dead where he stood. Then she returned to Halfman and told him\nto go and claim his bride. He jumped up hastily from his seat, and\ntook the road to his father\u2019s house. As he drew near he heard sounds\nof weeping and lamentations, and he said to a man he met: \u2018What is the\nmatter?\u2019\n\n\u2018The judge\u2019s eldest son was married yesterday, and died suddenly before\nnight.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 thought Halfman, \u2018my conscience is clear anyway, for it is quite\nplain he coveted my wife, and that is why he tried to drown me.\u2019 He\nwent at once to his father\u2019s room, and found him sitting in tears on\nthe floor. \u2018Dear father,\u2019 said Halfman, \u2018are you not glad to see me? You\nweep for my brother, but I am your son too, and he stole my bride from\nme and tried to drown me in the brook. If he is dead, I at least am\nalive.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, no, he was better than you!\u2019 moaned the father.\n\n\u2018Why, dear father?\u2019\n\n\u2018He told me you had behaved very ill,\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018Well, call my brothers,\u2019 answered Halfman, \u2018as I have a story to tell\nthem.\u2019 So the father called them all into his presence. Then Halfman\nbegan: \u2018After we were twelve days\u2019 journey from home, we met an ogress,\nwho gave us greeting and said, \u201cWhy have you been so long coming? The\ndaughters of your uncle have waited for you in vain,\u201d and she bade us\nfollow her to the house, saying, \u201cNow there need be no more delay; you\ncan marry your cousins as soon as you please, and take them with you to\nyour own home.\u201d But I warned my brothers that the man was not our uncle,\nbut an ogre.\n\n\u2018When we lay down to sleep, she spread a red cloth over us, and covered\nher daughters with a white one; but I changed the cloths, and when the\nogress came back in the middle of the night, and looked at the cloths,\nshe mistook her own daughters for my brothers, and killed them one by\none, all but the youngest. Then I woke my brothers, and we all stole\nsoftly from the house, and we rode like the wind to our real uncle.\n\n\u2018And when he saw us, he bade us welcome, and married us to his twelve\ndaughters, the eldest to the eldest, and so on to me, whose bride was\nthe youngest of all and also the prettiest. And my brothers were filled\nwith envy, and left me to drown in a brook, but I was saved by a fish\nwho showed me how to get out. Now, you are a judge! Who did well, and\nwho did evil--I or my brothers?\u2019\n\n\u2018Is this story true?\u2019 said the father, turning to his sons.\n\n\u2018It is true, my father,\u2019 answered they. \u2018It is even as Halfman has said,\nand the girl belongs to him.\u2019\n\nThen the judge embraced Halfman and said to him: \u2018You have done well, my\nson. Take your bride, and may you both live long and happily together!\u2019\n\nAt the end of the year Halfman\u2019s wife had a son, and not long after she\ncame one day hastily into the room, and found her husband weeping. \u2018What\nis the matter?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018The matter?\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018Yes, why are you weeping?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because,\u2019 replied Halfman, \u2018the baby is not really ours, but belongs to\nan ogress.\u2019\n\n\u2018Are you mad?\u2019 cried the wife. \u2018What do you mean by talking like that?\u2019\n\n\u2018I promised,\u2019 said Halfman, \u2018when she undertook to kill my brother and\nto give you to me, that the first son we had should be hers.\u2019\n\n\u2018And will she take him from us now?\u2019 said the poor woman.\n\n\u2018No, not quite yet,\u2019 replied Halfman; \u2018when he is bigger.\u2019\n\n\u2018And is she to have all our children?\u2019 asked she.\n\n\u2018No, only this one,\u2019 returned Halfman.\n\nDay by day the boy grew bigger, and one day as he was playing in the\nstreet with the other children, the ogress came by. \u2018Go to your father,\u2019\nshe said, \u2018and repeat this speech to him: \u201cI want my forfeit; when am I\nto have it?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 replied the child, but when he went home forgot all about\nit. The next day the ogress came again, and asked the boy what answer\nthe father had given. \u2018I forgot all about it,\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018Well, put this ring on your finger, and then you won\u2019t forget.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 replied the boy, and went home.\n\nThe next morning, as he was at breakfast, his mother said to him,\n\u2018Child, where did you get that ring?\u2019\n\n\u2018A woman gave it to me yesterday, and she told me, father, to tell you\nthat she wanted her forfeit, and when was she to have it?\u2019\n\nThen his father burst into tears and said, \u2018If she comes again you\nmust say to her that your parents bid her take her forfeit at once, and\ndepart.\u2019\n\nAt this they both began to weep afresh, and his mother kissed him, and\nput on his new clothes and said, \u2018If the woman bids you to follow her,\nyou must go,\u2019 but the boy did not heed her grief, he was so pleased\nwith his new clothes. And when he went out, he said to his play-fellows,\n\u2018Look how smart I am; I am going away with my aunt to foreign lands.\u2019\n\nAt that moment the ogress came up and asked him, \u2018Did you give my\nmessage to your father and mother?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, dear aunt, I did.\u2019\n\n\u2018And what did they say?\u2019\n\n\u2018Take it away at once!\u2019\n\nSo she took him.\n\nBut when dinner-time came, and the boy did not return, his father and\nmother knew that he would never come back, and they sat down and wept\nall day. At last Halfman rose up and said to his wife, \u2018Be comforted; we\nwill wait a year, and then I will go to the ogress and see the boy, and\nhow he is cared for.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, that will be the best,\u2019 said she.\n\nThe year passed away, then Halfman saddled his horse, and rode to the\nplace where the ogress had found him sleeping. She was not there, but\nnot knowing what to do next, he got off his horse and waited. About\nmidnight she suddenly stood before him.\n\n\u2018Halfman, why did you come here?\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018I have a question I want to ask you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, ask it; but I know quite well what it is. Your wife wishes you to\nask whether I shall carry off your second son as I did the first.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, that is it,\u2019 replied Halfman. Then he seized her hand and said,\n\u2018Oh, let me see my son, and how he looks, and what he is doing.\u2019\n\nThe ogress was silent, but stuck her staff hard in the earth, and the\nearth opened, and the boy appeared and said, \u2018Dear father, have you come\ntoo?\u2019 And his father clasped him in his arms, and began to cry. But the\nboy struggled to be free, saying \u2018Dear father, put me down. I have got\na new mother, who is better than the old one; and a new father, who is\nbetter than you.\u2019\n\nThen his father sat him down and said, \u2018Go in peace, my boy, but listen\nfirst to me. Tell your father the ogre and your mother the ogress, that\nnever more shall they have any children of mine.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 replied the boy, and called \u2018Mother!\u2019\n\n\u2018What is it?\u2019\n\n\u2018You are never to take away any more of my father and mother\u2019s\nchildren!\u2019\n\n\u2018Now that I have got you, I don\u2019t want any more,\u2019 answered she.\n\nThen the boy turned to his father and said, \u2018Go in peace, dear father,\nand give my mother greeting and tell her not to be anxious any more, for\nshe can keep all her children.\u2019\n\nAnd Halfman mounted his horse and rode home, and told his wife all he\nhad seen, and the message sent by Mohammed--Mohammed the son of Halfman,\nthe son of the judge.\n\n(Marchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis. Hans von Stumme.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCE WHO WANTED TO SEE THE WORLD\n\nThere was once a king who had only one son, and this young man tormented\nhis father from morning till night to allow him to travel in far\ncountries. For a long time the king refused to give him leave; but at\nlast, wearied out, he granted permission, and ordered his treasurer to\nproduce a large sum of money for the prince\u2019s expenses. The youth was\noverjoyed at the thought that he was really going to see the world, and\nafter tenderly embracing his father he set forth.\n\nHe rode on for some weeks without meeting with any adventures; but one\nnight when he was resting at an inn, he came across another traveller,\nwith whom he fell into conversation, in the course of which the stranger\ninquired if he never played cards. The young man replied that he was\nvery fond of doing so. Cards were brought, and in a very short time the\nprince had lost every penny he possessed to his new acquaintance. When\nthere was absolutely nothing left at the bottom of the bag, the stranger\nproposed that they should have just one more game, and that if the\nprince won he should have the money restored to him, but in case he\nlost, should remain in the inn for three years, and besides that should\nbe his servant for another three. The prince agreed to those terms,\nplayed, and lost; so the stranger took rooms for him, and furnished him\nwith bread and water every day for three years.\n\nThe prince lamented his lot, but it was no use; and at the end of three\nyears he was released and had to go to the house of the stranger, who\nwas really the king of a neighbouring country, and be his servant.\nBefore he had gone very far he met a woman carrying a child, which was\ncrying from hunger. The prince took it from her, and fed it with his\nlast crust of bread and last drop of water, and then gave it back to its\nmother. The woman thanked him gratefully, and said:\n\n\u2018Listen, my lord. You must walk straight on till you notice a very\nstrong scent, which comes from a garden by the side of the road. Go in\nand hide yourself close to a tank, where three doves will come to bathe.\nAs the last one flies past you, catch hold of its robe of feathers, and\nrefuse to give it back till the dove has promised you three things.\u2019\n\nThe young man did as he was told, and everything happened as the woman\nhad said. He took the robe of feathers from the dove, who gave him in\nexchange for it a ring, a collar, and one of its own plumes, saying:\n\u2018When you are in any trouble, cry \u201cCome to my aid, O dove!\u201d I am the\ndaughter of the king you are going to serve, who hates your father and\nmade you gamble in order to cause your ruin.\u2019\n\nThus the prince went on his way, and in course of time he arrived at the\nking\u2019s palace. As soon as his master knew he was there, the young man\nwas sent for into his presence, and three bags were handed to him with\nthese words:\n\n\u2018Take this wheat, this millet, and this barley, and sow them at once, so\nthat I may have loaves of them all to-morrow.\u2019\n\nThe prince stood speechless at this command, but the king did not\ncondescend to give any further explanation, and when he was dismissed\nthe young man flew to the room which had been set aside for him, and\npulling out his feather, he cried: \u2018Dove, dove! be quick and come.\u2019\n\n\u2018What is it?\u2019 said the dove, flying in through the open window, and\nthe prince told her of the task before him, and of his despair at being\nunable to accomplish it. \u2018Fear nothing; it will be all right,\u2019 replied\nthe dove, as she flew away again.\n\nThe next morning when the prince awoke he saw the three loaves standing\nbeside his bed. He jumped up and dressed, and he was scarcely ready\nwhen a page arrived with the message that he was to go at once into the\nking\u2019s chamber. Taking the loaves in his arm he followed the boy, and,\nbowing low, laid them down before the king. The monarch looked at the\nloaves for a moment without speaking, then he said:\n\n\u2018Good. The man who can do this can also find the ring which my eldest\ndaughter dropped into the sea.\u2019\n\nThe prince hastened back to his room and summoned the dove, and when she\nheard this new command she said: \u2018Now listen. To-morrow take a knife\nand a basin and go down to the shore and get into a boat you will find\nthere.\u2019\n\nThe young man did not know what he was to do when he was in the boat or\nwhere he was to go, but as the dove had come to his rescue before, he\nwas ready to obey her blindly.\n\nWhen he reached the boat he found the dove perched on one of the masts,\nand at a signal from her he put to sea; the wind was behind them and\nthey soon lost sight of land. The dove then spoke for the first time and\nsaid, \u2018Take that knife and cut off my head, but be careful that not a\nsingle drop of blood falls to the ground. Afterwards you must throw it\ninto the sea.\u2019\n\nWondering at this strange order, the prince picked up his knife and\nsevered the dove\u2019s head from her body at one stroke. A little while\nafter a dove rose from the water with a ring in its beak, and laying\nit in the prince\u2019s hand, dabbled itself with the blood that was in the\nbasin, when its head became that of a beautiful girl. Another moment and\nit had vanished completely, and the prince took the ring and made his\nway back to the palace.\n\nThe king stared with surprise at the sight of the ring, but he thought\nof another way of getting rid of the young man which was surer even than\nthe other two.\n\n\u2018This evening you will mount my colt and ride him to the field, and\nbreak him in properly.\u2019\n\nThe prince received this command as silently as he had received the\nrest, but no sooner was he in his room than he called for the dove, who\nsaid: \u2018Attend to me. My father longs to see you dead, and thinks he will\nkill you by this means. He himself is the colt, my mother is the saddle,\nmy two sisters are the stirrups, and I am the bridle. Do not forget to\ntake a good club, to help you in dealing with such a crew.\u2019\n\nSo the prince mounted the colt, and gave him such a beating that when he\ncame to the palace to announce that the animal was now so meek that it\ncould be ridden by the smallest child, he found the king so bruised that\nhe had to be wrapped in cloths dipped in vinegar, the mother was too\nstiff to move, and several of the daughters\u2019 ribs were broken. The\nyoungest, however, was quite unharmed. That night she came to the prince\nand whispered to him:\n\n\u2018Now that they are all in too much pain to move, we had better seize our\nchance and run away. Go to the stable and saddle the leanest horse\nyou can find there.\u2019 But the prince was foolish enough to choose the\nfattest: and when they had started and the princess saw what he had\ndone, she was very sorry, for though this horse ran like the wind, the\nother flashed like thought. However, it was dangerous to go back, and\nthey rode on as fast as the horse would go.\n\nIn the night the king sent for his youngest daughter, and as she did\nnot come he sent again; but she did not come any the more for that. The\nqueen, who was a witch, discovered that her daughter had gone off with\nthe prince, and told her husband he must leave his bed and go after\nthem. The king got slowly up, groaning with pain, and dragged himself to\nthe stables, where he saw the lean horse still in his stall.\n\nLeaping on his back he shook the reins, and his daughter, who knew what\nto expect and had her eyes open, saw the horse start forward, and in the\ntwinkling of an eye changed her own steed into a cell, the prince into a\nhermit, and herself into a nun.\n\nWhen the king reached the chapel, he pulled up his horse and asked if\na girl and a young man had passed that way. The hermit raised his eyes,\nwhich were bent on the ground, and said that he had not seen a living\ncreature. The king, much disgusted at this news, and not knowing what\nto do, returned home and told his wife that, though he had ridden for\nmiles, he had come across nothing but a hermit and a nun in a cell.\n\n\u2018Why those were the runaways, of course,\u2019 she cried, flying into a\npassion, \u2018and if you had only brought a scrap of the nun\u2019s dress, or a\nbit of stone from the wall, I should have had them in my power.\u2019\n\nAt these words the king hastened back to the stable, and brought out the\nlean horse who travelled quicker than thought. But his daughter saw\nhim coming, and changed her horse into a plot of ground, herself into\na rose-tree covered with roses, and the prince into a gardener. As the\nking rode up, the gardener looked up from the tree which he was trimming\nand asked if anything was the matter. \u2018Have you seen a young man and a\ngirl go by?\u2019 said the king, and the gardener shook his head and replied\nthat no one had passed that way since he had been working there. So the\nking turned his steps homewards and told his wife.\n\n\u2018Idiot!\u2019 cried she, \u2018if you had only brought me one of the roses, or a\nhandful of earth, I should have had them in my power. But there is no\ntime to waste. I shall have to go with you myself.\u2019\n\nThe girl saw them from afar, and a great fear fell on her, for she knew\nher mother\u2019s skill in magic of all kinds. However, she determined to\nfight to the end, and changed the horse into a deep pool, herself into\nan eel, and the prince into a turtle. But it was no use. Her mother\nrecognised them all, and, pulling up, asked her daughter if she did not\nrepent and would not like to come home again. The eel wagged \u2018No\u2019 with\nher tail, and the queen told her husband to put a drop of water from\nthe pool into a bottle, because it was only by that means that she could\nseize hold of her daughter. The king did as he was bid, and was just in\nthe act of drawing the bottle out of the water after he had filled it,\nwhen the turtle knocked against and spilt it all. The king then filled\nit a second time, but again the turtle was too quick for him.\n\nThe queen saw that she was beaten, and called down a curse on her\ndaughter that the prince should forget all about her. After having\nrelieved her feelings in this manner, she and the king went back to the\npalace.\n\nThe others resumed their proper shapes and continued their journey, but\nthe princess was so silent that at last the prince asked her what was\nthe matter. \u2018It is because I know you will soon forget all about me,\u2019\nsaid she, and though he laughed at her and told her it was impossible,\nshe did not cease to believe it.\n\nThey rode on and on and on, till they reached the end of the world,\nwhere the prince lived, and leaving the girl in an inn he went himself\nto the palace to ask leave of his father to present her to him as his\nbride; but in his joy at seeing his family once more he forgot all about\nher, and even listened when the king spoke of arranging a marriage for\nhim.\n\nWhen the poor girl heard this she wept bitterly, and cried out, \u2018Come to\nme, my sisters, for I need you badly!\u2019\n\nIn a moment they stood beside her, and the elder one said, \u2018Do not be\nsad, all will go well,\u2019 and they told the innkeeper that if any of the\nking\u2019s servants wanted any birds for their master they were to be sent\nup to them, as they had three doves for sale.\n\nAnd so it fell out, and as the doves were very beautiful the servant\nbought them for the king, who admired them so much that he called his\nson to look at them. The prince was much pleased with the doves and was\ncoaxing them to come to him, when one fluttered on to the top of the\nwindow and said, \u2018If you could only hear us speak, you would admire us\nstill more.\u2019\n\nAnd another perched on a table and added, \u2018Talk away, it might help him\nto remember!\u2019\n\nAnd the third flew on his shoulder and whispered to him, \u2018Put on this\nring, prince, and see if it fits you.\u2019\n\nAnd it did. Then they hung a collar round his neck, and held a feather\non which was written the name of the dove. And at last his memory came\nback to him, and he declared he would marry the princess and nobody\nelse. So the next day the wedding took place, and they lived happy till\nthey died.\n\n(From the Portuguese.)\n\n\n\n\nVIRGILIUS THE SORCERER\n\nLong, long ago there was born to a Roman knight and his wife Maja a\nlittle boy called Virgilius. While he was still quite little, his father\ndied, and the kinsmen, instead of being a help and protection to the\nchild and his mother, robbed them of their lands and money, and the\nwidow, fearing that they might take the boy\u2019s life also, sent him away\nto Spain, that he might study in the great University of Toledo.\n\nVirgilius was fond of books, and pored over them all day long. But one\nafternoon, when the boys were given a holiday, he took a long walk, and\nfound himself in a place where he had never been before. In front of him\nwas a cave, and, as no boy ever sees a cave without entering it, he went\nin. The cave was so deep that it seemed to Virgilius as if it must run\nfar into the heart of the mountain, and he thought he would like to see\nif it came out anywhere on the other side. For some time he walked on\nin pitch darkness, but he went steadily on, and by-and-by a glimmer of\nlight shot across the floor, and he heard a voice calling, \u2018Virgilius!\nVirgilius!\u2019\n\n\u2018Who calls?\u2019 he asked, stopping and looking round.\n\n\u2018Virgilius!\u2019 answered the voice, \u2018do you mark upon the ground where you\nare standing a slide or bolt?\u2019\n\n\u2018I do,\u2019 replied Virgilius.\n\n\u2018Then,\u2019 said the voice, \u2018draw back that bolt, and set me free.\u2019\n\n\u2018But who are you?\u2019 asked Virgilius, who never did anything in a hurry.\n\n\u2018I am an evil spirit,\u2019 said the voice, \u2018shut up here till Doomsday,\nunless a man sets me free. If you will let me out I will give you some\nmagic books, which will make you wiser than any other man.\u2019\n\nNow Virgilius loved wisdom, and was tempted by these promises, but again\nhis prudence came to his aid, and he demanded that the books should be\nhanded over to him first, and that he should be told how to use them.\nThe evil spirit, unable to help itself, did as Virgilius bade him, and\nthen the bolt was drawn back. Underneath was a small hole, and out of\nthis the evil spirit gradually wriggled himself; but it took some time,\nfor when at last he stood upon the ground he proved to be about three\ntimes as large as Virgilius himself, and coal black besides.\n\n\u2018Why, you can\u2019t have been as big as that when you were in the hole!\u2019\ncried Virgilius.\n\n\u2018But I was!\u2019 replied the spirit.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t believe it!\u2019 answered Virgilius.\n\n\u2018Well, I\u2019ll just get in and show you,\u2019 said the spirit, and after\nturning and twisting, and curling himself up, then he lay neatly packed\ninto the hole. Then Virgilius drew the bolt, and, picking the books up\nunder his arm, he left the cave.\n\nFor the next few weeks Virgilius hardly ate or slept, so busy was he in\nlearning the magic the books contained. But at the end of that time a\nmessenger from his mother arrived in Toledo, begging him to come at\nonce to Rome, as she had been ill, and could look after their affairs no\nlonger.\n\nThough sorry to leave Toledo, where he was much thought of as showing\npromise of great learning, Virgilius would willingly have set out at\nonce, but there were many things he had first to see to. So he entrusted\nto the messenger four pack-horses laden with precious things, and a\nwhite palfrey on which she was to ride out every day. Then he set about\nhis own preparations, and, followed by a large train of scholars, he at\nlength started for Rome, from which he had been absent twelve years.\n\nHis mother welcomed him back with tears in her eyes, and his poor\nkinsmen pressed round him, but the rich ones kept away, for they feared\nthat they would no longer be able to rob their kinsman as they had done\nfor many years past. Of course, Virgilius paid no attention to this\nbehaviour, though he noticed they looked with envy on the rich presents\nhe bestowed on the poorer relations and on anyone who had been kind to\nhis mother.\n\nSoon after this had happened the season of tax-gathering came round, and\neveryone who owned land was bound to present himself before the emperor.\nLike the rest, Virgilius went to court, and demanded justice from the\nemperor against the men who had robbed him. But as these were kinsmen\nto the emperor he gained nothing, as the emperor told him he would think\nover the matter for the next four years, and then give judgment. This\nreply naturally did not satisfy Virgilius, and, turning on his heel, he\nwent back to his own home, and, gathering in his harvest, he stored it\nup in his various houses.\n\nWhen the enemies of Virgilius heard of this, they assembled together\nand laid siege to his castle. But Virgilius was a match for them. Coming\nforth from the castle so as to meet them face to face, he cast a spell\nover them of such power that they could not move, and then bade them\ndefiance. After which he lifted the spell, and the invading army slunk\nback to Rome, and reported what Virgilius had said to the emperor.\n\nNow the emperor was accustomed to have his lightest word obeyed, almost\nbefore it was uttered, and he hardly knew how to believe his ears. But\nhe got together another army, and marched straight off to the castle.\nBut directly they took up their position Virgilius girded them about\nwith a great river, so that they could neither move hand nor foot, then,\nhailing the emperor, he offered him peace, and asked for his friendship.\nThe emperor, however, was too angry to listen to anything, so Virgilius,\nwhose patience was exhausted, feasted his own followers in the presence\nof the starving host, who could not stir hand or foot.\n\nThings seemed getting desperate, when a magician arrived in the camp and\noffered to sell his services to the emperor. His proposals were gladly\naccepted, and in a moment the whole of the garrison sank down as if they\nwere dead, and Virgilius himself had much ado to keep awake. He did not\nknow how to fight the magician, but with a great effort struggled to\nopen his Black Book, which told him what spells to use. In an instant\nall his foes seemed turned to stone, and where each man was there he\nstayed. Some were half way up the ladders, some had one foot over the\nwall, but wherever they might chance to be there every man remained,\neven the emperor and his sorcerer. All day they stayed there like\nflies upon the wall, but during the night Virgilius stole softly to\nthe emperor, and offered him his freedom, as long as he would do him\njustice. The emperor, who by this time was thoroughly frightened, said\nhe would agree to anything Virgilius desired. So Virgilius took off his\nspells, and, after feasting the army and bestowing on every man a gift,\nbade them return to Rome. And more than that, he built a square tower\nfor the emperor, and in each corner all that was said in that quarter of\nthe city might be heard, while if you stood in the centre every whisper\nthroughout Rome would reach your ears.\n\nHaving settled his affairs with the emperor and his enemies, Virgilius\nhad time to think of other things, and his first act was to fall in\nlove! The lady\u2019s name was Febilla, and her family was noble, and her\nface fairer than any in Rome, but she only mocked Virgilius, and was\nalways playing tricks upon him. To this end, she bade him one day come\nto visit her in the tower where she lived, promising to let down a\nbasket to draw him up as far as the roof. Virgilius was enchanted at\nthis quite unexpected favour, and stepped with glee into the basket. It\nwas drawn up very slowly, and by-and-by came altogether to a standstill,\nwhile from above rang the voice of Febilla crying, \u2018Rogue of a sorcerer,\nthere shalt thou hang!\u2019 And there he hung over the market-place, which\nwas soon thronged with people, who made fun of him till he was mad with\nrage. At last the emperor, hearing of his plight, commanded Febilla to\nrelease him, and Virgilius went home vowing vengeance.\n\nThe next morning every fire in Rome went out, and as there were no\nmatches in those days this was a very serious matter. The emperor,\nguessing that this was the work of Virgilius, besought him to break\nthe spell. Then Virgilius ordered a scaffold to be erected in the\nmarket-place, and Febilla to be brought clothed in a single white\ngarment. And further, he bade every one to snatch fire from the maiden,\nand to suffer no neighbour to kindle it. And when the maiden appeared,\nclad in her white smock, flames of fire curled about her, and the Romans\nbrought some torches, and some straw, and some shavings, and fires were\nkindled in Rome again.\n\nFor three days she stood there, till every hearth in Rome was alight,\nand then she was suffered to go where she would.\n\nBut the emperor was wroth at the vengeance of Virgilius, and threw him\ninto prison, vowing that he should be put to death. And when everything\nwas ready he was led out to the Viminal Hill, where he was to die.\n\nHe went quietly with his guards, but the day was hot, and on reaching\nhis place of execution he begged for some water. A pail was brought, and\nhe, crying \u2018Emperor, all hail! seek for me in Sicily,\u2019 jumped headlong\ninto the pail, and vanished from their sight.\n\nFor some time we hear no more of Virgilius, or how he made his peace\nwith the emperor, but the next event in his history was his being sent\nfor to the palace to give the emperor advice how to guard Rome from\nfoes within as well as foes without. Virgilius spent many days in deep\nthought, and at length invented a plan which was known to all as the\n\u2018Preservation of Rome.\u2019\n\nOn the roof of the Capitol, which was the most famous public building\nin the city, he set up statues representing the gods worshipped by every\nnation subject to Rome, and in the middle stood the god of Rome herself.\nEach of the conquered gods held in its hand a bell, and if there was\neven a thought of treason in any of the countries its god turned its\nback upon the god of Rome and rang its bell furiously, and the senators\ncame hurrying to see who was rebelling against the majesty of the\nempire. Then they made ready their armies, and marched against the foe.\n\nNow there was a country which had long felt bitter jealousy of Rome,\nand was anxious for some way of bringing about its destruction. So the\npeople chose three men who could be trusted, and, loading them with\nmoney, sent them to Rome, bidding them to pretend that they were\ndiviners of dreams. No sooner had the messengers reached the city than\nthey stole out at night and buried a pot of gold far down in the earth,\nand let down another into the bed of the Tiber, just where a bridge\nspans the river.\n\nNext day they went to the senate house, where the laws were made, and,\nbowing low, they said, \u2018Oh, noble lords, last night we dreamed that\nbeneath the foot of a hill there lies buried a pot of gold. Have we your\nleave to dig for it?\u2019 And leave having been given, the messengers took\nworkmen and dug up the gold and made merry with it.\n\nA few days later the diviners again appeared before the senate, and\nsaid, \u2018Oh, noble lords, grant us leave to seek out another treasure,\nwhich has been revealed to us in a dream as lying under the bridge over\nthe river.\u2019\n\nAnd the senators gave leave, and the messengers hired boats and men, and\nlet down ropes with hooks, and at length drew up the pot of gold, some\nof which they gave as presents to the senators.\n\nA week or two passed by, and once more they appeared in the senate\nhouse.\n\n\u2018O, noble lords!\u2019 said they, \u2018last night in a vision we beheld twelve\ncasks of gold lying under the foundation stone of the Capitol, on which\nstands the statue of the Preservation of Rome. Now, seeing that by your\ngoodness we have been greatly enriched by our former dreams, we wish, in\ngratitude, to bestow this third treasure on you for your own profit; so\ngive us workers, and we will begin to dig without delay.\u2019\n\nAnd receiving permission they began to dig, and when the messengers had\nalmost undermined the Capitol they stole away as secretly as they had\ncome.\n\nAnd next morning the stone gave way, and the sacred statue fell on its\nface and was broken. And the senators knew that their greed had been\ntheir ruin.\n\nFrom that day things went from bad to worse, and every morning crowds\npresented themselves before the emperor, complaining of the robberies,\nmurders, and other crimes that were committed nightly in the streets.\n\nThe emperor, desiring nothing so much as the safety of his subjects,\ntook counsel with Virgilius how this violence could be put down.\n\nVirgilius thought hard for a long time, and then he spoke:\n\n\u2018Great prince,\u2019 said he, \u2018cause a copper horse and rider to be made, and\nstationed in front of the Capitol. Then make a proclamation that at ten\no\u2019clock a bell will toll, and every man is to enter his house, and not\nleave it again.\u2019\n\nThe emperor did as Virgilius advised, but thieves and murderers laughed\nat the horse, and went about their misdeeds as usual.\n\nBut at the last stroke of the bell the horse set off at full gallop\nthrough the streets of Rome, and by daylight men counted over two\nhundred corpses that it had trodden down. The rest of the thieves--and\nthere were still many remaining--instead of being frightened into\nhonesty, as Virgilius had hoped, prepared rope ladders with hooks to\nthem, and when they heard the sound of the horse\u2019s hoofs they stuck\ntheir ladders into the walls, and climbed up above the reach of the\nhorse and its rider.\n\nThen the emperor commanded two copper dogs to be made that would run\nafter the horse, and when the thieves, hanging from the walls, mocked\nand jeered at Virgilius and the emperor, the dogs leaped high after them\nand pulled them to the ground, and bit them to death.\n\nThus did Virgilius restore peace and order to the city.\n\nNow about this time there came to be noised abroad the fame of the\ndaughter of the sultan who ruled over the province of Babylon, and\nindeed she was said to be the most beautiful princess in the world.\n\nVirgilius, like the rest, listened to the stories that were told of her,\nand fell so violently in love with all he heard that he built a bridge\nin the air, which stretched all the way between Rome and Babylon.\nHe then passed over it to visit the princess, who, though somewhat\nsurprised to see him, gave him welcome, and after some conversation\nbecame in her turn anxious to see the distant country where this\nstranger lived, and he promised that he would carry her there himself,\nwithout wetting the soles of his feet.\n\nThe princess spent some days in the palace of Virgilius, looking at\nwonders of which she had never dreamed, though she declined to accept\nthe presents he longed to heap on her. The hours passed as if they were\nminutes, till the princess said that she could be no longer absent from\nher father. Then Virgilius conducted her himself over the airy bridge,\nand laid her gently down on her own bed, where she was found next\nmorning by her father.\n\nShe told him all that had happened to her, and he pretended to be very\nmuch interested, and begged that the next time Virgilius came he might\nbe introduced to him.\n\nSoon after, the sultan received a message from his daughter that the\nstranger was there, and he commanded that a feast should be made ready,\nand, sending for the princess delivered into her hands a cup, which he\nsaid she was to present to Virgilius herself, in order to do him honour.\n\nWhen they were all seated at the feast the princess rose and presented\nthe cup to Virgilius, who directly he had drunk fell into a deep sleep.\n\nThen the sultan ordered his guards to bind him, and left him there till\nthe following day.\n\nDirectly the sultan was up he summoned his lords and nobles into his\ngreat hall, and commanded that the cords which bound Virgilius should be\ntaken off, and the prisoner brought before him. The moment he appeared\nthe sultan\u2019s passion broke forth, and he accused his captive of the\ncrime of conveying the princess into distant lands without his leave.\n\nVirgilius replied that if he had taken her away he had also brought her\nback, when he might have kept her, and that if they would set him free\nto return to his own land he would come hither no more.\n\n\u2018Not so!\u2019 cried the sultan, \u2018but a shameful death you shall die!\u2019 And\nthe princess fell on her knees, and begged she might die with him.\n\n\u2018You are out in your reckoning, Sir Sultan!\u2019 said Virgilius, whose\npatience was at an end, and he cast a spell over the sultan and his\nlords, so that they believed that the great river of Babylon was flowing\nthrough the hall, and that they must swim for their lives. So, leaving\nthem to plunge and leap like frogs and fishes, Virgilius took the\nprincess in his arms, and carried her over the airy bridge back to Rome.\n\nNow Virgilius did not think that either his palace, or even Rome itself,\nwas good enough to contain such a pearl as the princess, so he built her\na city whose foundations stood upon eggs, buried far away down in the\ndepths of the sea. And in the city was a square tower, and on the roof\nof the tower was a rod of iron, and across the rod he laid a bottle, and\non the bottle he placed an egg, and from the egg there hung chained an\napple, which hangs there to this day. And when the egg shakes the city\nquakes, and when the egg shall be broken the city shall be destroyed.\nAnd the city Virgilius filled full of wonders, such as never were seen\nbefore, and he called its name Naples.\n\n(Adapted from \u2018Virgilius the Sorcerer.\u2019)\n\n\n\n\nMOGARZEA AND HIS SON\n\nThere was once a little boy, whose father and mother, when they were\ndying, left him to the care of a guardian. But the guardian whom they\nchose turned out to be a wicked man, and spent all the money, so the boy\ndetermined to go away and strike out a path for himself.\n\nSo one day he set off, and walked and walked through woods and meadows\ntill when evening came he was very tired, and did not know where to\nsleep. He climbed a hill and looked about him to see if there was no\nlight shining from a window. At first all seemed dark, but at length he\nnoticed a tiny spark far, far off, and, plucking up his spirits, he at\nonce went in search of it.\n\nThe night was nearly half over before he reached the spark, which turned\nout to be a big fire, and by the fire a man was sleeping who was so\ntall he might have been a giant. The boy hesitated for a moment what he\nshould do; then he crept close up to the man, and lay down by his legs.\n\nWhen the man awoke in the morning he was much surprised to find the boy\nnestling up close to him.\n\n\u2018Dear me! where do you come from?\u2019 said he.\n\n\u2018I am your son, born in the night,\u2019 replied the boy.\n\n\u2018If that is true,\u2019 said the man, \u2018you shall take care of my sheep, and I\nwill give you food. But take care you never cross the border of my land,\nor you will repent it.\u2019 Then he pointed out where the border of his land\nlay, and bade the boy begin his work at once.\n\nThe young shepherd led his flock out to the richest meadows and stayed\nwith them till evening, when he brought them back, and helped the man to\nmilk them. When this was done, they both sat down to supper, and while\nthey were eating the boy asked the big man: \u2018What is your name, father?\u2019\n\n\u2018Mogarzea,\u2019 answered he.\n\n\u2018I wonder you are not tired of living by yourself in this lonely place.\u2019\n\n\u2018There is no reason you should wonder! Don\u2019t you know that there was\nnever a bear yet who danced of his own free will?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, that is true,\u2019 replied the boy. \u2018But why is it you are always so\nsad? Tell me your history, father.\u2019\n\n\u2018What is the use of my telling you things that would only make you sad\ntoo?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, never mind that! I should like to hear. Are you not my father, and\nam I not your son?\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, if you really want to know my story, this is it: As I told you,\nmy name is Mogarzea, and my father is an emperor. I was on my way to the\nSweet Milk Lake, which lies not far from here, to marry one of the three\nfairies who have made the lake their home. But on the road three wicked\nelves fell on me, and robbed me of my soul, so that ever since I have\nstayed in this spot watching my sheep without wishing for anything\ndifferent, without having felt one moment\u2019s joy, or ever once being able\nto laugh. And the horrible elves are so ill-natured that if anyone sets\none foot on their land he is instantly punished. That is why I warn you\nto be careful, lest you should share my fate.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right, I will take great care. Do let me go, father,\u2019 said the boy,\nas they stretched themselves out to sleep.\n\nAt sunrise the boy got up and led his sheep out to feed, and for\nsome reason he did not feel tempted to cross into the grassy meadows\nbelonging to the elves, but let his flock pick up what pasture they\ncould on Mogarzea\u2019s dry ground.\n\nOn the third day he was sitting under the shadow of a tree, playing\non his flute--and there was nobody in the world who could play a flute\nbetter--when one of his sheep strayed across the fence into the flowery\nfields of the elves, and another and another followed it. But the boy\nwas so absorbed in his flute that he noticed nothing till half the flock\nwere on the other side.\n\nHe jumped up, still playing on his flute, and went after the sheep,\nmeaning to drive them back to their own side of the border, when\nsuddenly he saw before him three beautiful maidens who stopped in front\nof him, and began to dance. The boy understood what he must do, and\nplayed with all his might, but the maidens danced on till evening.\n\n\u2018Now let me go,\u2019 he cried at last, \u2018for poor Mogarzea must be dying of\nhunger. I will come and play for you to-morrow.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, you may go!\u2019 they said, \u2018but remember that even if you break your\npromise you will not escape us.\u2019\n\nSo they both agreed that the next day he should come straight there with\nthe sheep, and play to them till the sun went down. This being settled,\nthey each returned home.\n\nMogarzea was surprised to find that his sheep gave so much more milk\nthan usual, but as the boy declared he had never crossed the border the\nbig man did not trouble his head further, and ate his supper heartily.\n\nWith the earliest gleams of light, the boy was off with his sheep to the\nelfin meadow, and at the first notes of his flute the maidens appeared\nbefore him and danced and danced and danced till evening came. Then the\nboy let the flute slip through his fingers, and trod on it, as if by\naccident.\n\nIf you had heard the noise he made, and how he wrung his hands and wept\nand cried that he had lost his only companion, you would have been sorry\nfor him. The hearts of the elves were quite melted, and they did all\nthey could to comfort him.\n\n\u2018I shall never find another flute like that, moaned he. \u2018I have never\nheard one whose tone was as sweet as mine! It was cut from the centre of\na seven-year-old cherry tree!\u2019\n\n\u2018There is a cherry tree in our garden that is exactly seven years old,\u2019\nsaid they. \u2018Come with us, and you shall make yourself another flute.\u2019\n\nSo they all went to the cherry tree, and when they were standing round\nit the youth explained that if he tried to cut it down with an axe he\nmight very likely split open the heart of the tree, which was needed for\nthe flute. In order to prevent this, he would make a little cut in the\nbark, just large enough for them to put their fingers in, and with this\nhelp he could manage to tear the tree in two, so that the heart should\nrun no risk of damage. The elves did as he told them without a thought;\nthen he quickly drew out the axe, which had been sticking into the\ncleft, and behold! all their fingers were imprisoned tight in the tree.\n\nIt was in vain that they shrieked with pain and tried to free\nthemselves. They could do nothing, and the young man remained cold as\nmarble to all their entreaties.\n\nThen he demanded of them Mogarzea\u2019s soul.\n\n\u2018Oh, well, if you must have it, it is in a bottle on the window sill,\u2019\nsaid they, hoping that they might obtain their freedom at once. But they\nwere mistaken.\n\n\u2018You have made so many men suffer,\u2019 answered he sternly, \u2018that it is but\njust you should suffer yourselves, but to-morrow I will let you go.\u2019 And\nhe turned towards home, taking his sheep and the soul of Mogarzea with\nhim.\n\nMogarzea was waiting at the door, and as the boy drew near he began\nscolding him for being so late. But at the first word of explanation the\nman became beside himself with joy, and he sprang so high into the air\nthat the false soul which the elves had given him flew out of his mouth,\nand his own, which had been shut tightly into the flask of water, took\nits place.\n\nWhen his excitement had somewhat calmed down, he cried to the boy,\n\u2018Whether you are really my son matters nothing to me; tell me, how can I\nrepay you for what you have done for me?\u2019\n\n\u2018By showing me where the Milk Lake is, and how I can get one of the\nthree fairies who lives there to wife, and by letting me remain your son\nfor ever.\u2019\n\nThe night was passed by Mogarzea and his son in songs and feasting, for\nboth were too happy to sleep, and when day dawned they set out together\nto free the elves from the tree. When they reached the place of their\nimprisonment, Mogarzea took the cherry tree and all the elves with it on\nhis back, and carried them off to his father\u2019s kingdom, where everyone\nrejoiced to see him home again. But all he did was to point to the boy\nwho had saved him, and had followed him with his flock.\n\nFor three days the boy stayed in the palace, receiving the thanks and\npraises of the whole court. Then he said to Mogarzea:\n\n\u2018The time has come for me to go hence, but tell me, I pray you, how to\nfind the Sweet Milk Lake, and I will return, and will bring my wife back\nwith me.\u2019\n\nMogarzea tried in vain to make him stay, but, finding it was useless, he\ntold him all he knew, for he himself had never seen the lake.\n\nFor three summer days the boy and his flute journeyed on, till one\nevening he reached the lake, which lay in the kingdom of a powerful\nfairy. The next morning had scarcely dawned when the youth went down\nto the shore, and began to play on his flute, and the first notes had\nhardly sounded when he saw a beautiful fairy standing before him, with\nhair and robes that shone like gold. He gazed at her in wonder, when\nsuddenly she began to dance. Her movements were so graceful that\nhe forgot to play, and as soon as the notes of his flute ceased she\nvanished from his sight. The next day the same thing happened, but on\nthe third he took courage, and drew a little nearer, playing on his\nflute all the while. Suddenly he sprang forward, seized her in his arms\nand kissed her, and plucked a rose from her hair.\n\nThe fairy gave a cry, and begged him to give her back her rose, but he\nwould not. He only stuck the rose in his hat, and turned a deaf ear to\nall her prayers.\n\nAt last she saw that her entreaties were vain, and agreed to marry him,\nas he wished. And they went together to the palace, where Mogarzea was\nstill waiting for him, and the marriage was celebrated by the emperor\nhimself. But every May they returned to the Milk Lake, they and their\nchildren, and bathed in its waters.\n\n(Olumanische Marchen.)","title":"The Violet Fairy Book","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":102614}