{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64807/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64807","id":"gutenberg_64807","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64807","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales","Folklore -- Romania","Folklore -- Turkey","Tales -- Romania","Tales -- Turkey"],"text":"TURKISH FAIRY TALES\n\n\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n TURKISH FAIRY TALES\n\n AND FOLK TALES\n\n Collected by D\u02b3. Ign\u00e1cz K\u00fanos\n\n Translated from the Hungarian version\n\n BY\n R.NISBET.BAIN.\n\n Illustrated by\n Celia Levetus\n\n London\n A. H. Bullen\n 18 Cecil Court, W.C.\n 1901]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThese stories were collected from the mouths of the Turkish peasantry by\nthe Hungarian savant Dr. Ignatius Kunos, during his travels through\nAnatolia,[1] and published for the first time in 1889 by the well-known\nHungarian Literary Society, \u201cA Kisfaludy T\u00e1rsas\u00e1g,\u201d under the Title of\n_T\u00f6r\u00f6k N\u00e9pm\u00e9sek_ (\u201cTurkish Folk Tales\u201d), with an introduction by\nProfessor V\u00e1mbery. That distinguished Orientalist, certainly the\ngreatest living authority on the primitive culture of the Turko-Tartaric\npeoples, who is as familiar with Uzbeg epics and Uiguric didactics as\nwith the poetical masterpieces of Western Europe, is enthusiastic in his\npraises of these folk-tales. He compares the treasures of Turkish\nfolk-lore to precious stones lying neglected in the byways of philology\nfor want of gleaners to gather them in, and he warns the student of\nethnology that when once the threatened railroad actually invades the\nclassic land of Anatolia, these naively poetical myths and legends will,\ninfallibly, be the first victims of Western civilization.\n\nThe almost unique collection of Dr. Ignatius Kunos may therefore be\nregarded as a brand snatched from the burning; in any case it is an\nimportant \u201cfind,\u201d as well for the scientific folk-lorist as for the\nlover of fairy-tales pure and simple. That these stories should contain\nanything absolutely new is, indeed, too much to expect. Professor\nV\u00e1mbery himself traces affinities between many of them and other purely\nOriental stories which form the bases of _The Arabian Nights_. A few\nSlavonic and Scandinavian elements are also plainly distinguishable,\nsuch, for instance, as that mysterious fowl, the Emerald Anka, obviously\nno very distant relative of the Bird Mogol and the Bird Zhar, which\nfigure in my _Russian Fairy Tales_ and _Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk\nTales_ respectively, while the story of the _Enchanted Turban_ is, in\nsome particulars, curiously like Hans Andersen\u2019s story, _The Travelling\nCompanion_. Nevertheless, these tales have a character peculiarly their\nown; above all, they are remarkable for a vivid imaginativeness, a\ngorgeous play of fancy, compared with which the imagery of the most\npopular fairy tales of the West seem almost prosaically jejune, and if,\nas Professor V\u00e1mbery suggests, these _N\u00e9pm\u00e9sek_ provide the sort of\nentertainment which beguiles the leisure of the Turkish ladies while\nthey sip their mocha and whiff their fragrant narghilies, we cannot but\nadmire the poetical taste and nice discrimination, in this respect, of\nthe harem and the seraglio.\n\nI have Englished these tales from the first Hungarian edition, so that\nthis version is, perhaps, open to the objection of being a translation\nof a translation. Inasmuch, however, as I have followed my text very\nclosely, and having regard to the fact that Hungarian and Turkish are\nclosely cognate dialects (in point of grammatical construction they are\npractically identical), I do not think they will be found to have lost\nso very much of their original fragrance and flavour.\n\nI have supplemented these purely Turkish with four semi-Turkish tales\ntranslated from the original Roumanian of Ispirescu\u2019s _Legende sau\nBasmele Rom\u00e2nilor\u016d_. Bucharest, 1892. This collection, which I commend\nto the notice of the Folk-Lore Society, is very curious and original,\nabounding as it does in extraordinarily bizarre and beautiful variants\nof the best-known fairy tales, a very natural result of the peculiar\ncombination in Roumanian of such heterogeneous elements as Romance,\nSlavonic, Magyar, and Turkish.\n\n R. NISBET BAIN.\n\n_July 1896_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\nTHE STAG-PRINCE 1\n\nTHE THREE ORANGE-PERIS 12\n\nTHE ROSE-BEAUTY 30\n\nMAD MEHMED 42\n\nTHE GOLDEN-HAIRED CHILDREN 53\n\nTHE HORSE-DEVIL AND THE WITCH 74\n\nTHE CINDER-YOUTH 84\n\nTHE PIECE OF LIVER 97\n\nTHE MAGIC TURBAN, THE MAGIC WHIP, AND THE MAGIC CARPET 102\n\nTHE WIND-DEMON 112\n\nTHE CROW-PERI 134\n\nTHE FORTY PRINCES AND THE SEVEN-HEADED DRAGON 143\n\nTHE WORLD\u2019S MOST BEAUTEOUS DAMSEL 154\n\nTHE PADISHAH OF THE FORTY PERIS 166\n\nTHE SERPENT-PERI AND THE MAGIC MIRROR 176\n\nSTONE-PATIENCE AND KNIFE-PATIENCE 188\n\nTHE GHOST OF THE SPRING AND THE SHREW 196\n\n\nROUMANIAN FAIRY TALES\n\n PAGE\n\nTHE STORY OF THE HALF-MAN-RIDING-ON-THE-WORSE-HALF-OF-A-LAME-HORSE 209\n\nTHE ENCHANTED HOG 222\n\nBOY-BEAUTIFUL, THE GOLDEN APPLES, AND THE WERE-WOLF 244\n\nYOUTH WITHOUT AGE, AND LIFE WITHOUT DEATH 260\n\n\n\n\nTURKISH FAIRY TALES\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAG-PRINCE\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when the servants of Allah were many, there lived a\nPadishah[2] who had one son and one daughter. The Padishah grew old, his\ntime came, and he died; his son ruled in his stead, and he had not ruled\nvery long before he had squandered away his whole inheritance.\n\nOne day he said to his sister: \u201cLittle sister! all our money is spent.\nIf people were to hear that we had nothing left they would drive us out\nof doors, and we should never be able to look our fellow-men in the face\nagain. Far better, therefore, if we depart and take up our abode\nelsewhere.\u201d So they tied together the little they had left, and then the\nbrother and sister quitted their father\u2019s palace in the night-time, and\nwandered forth into the wide world.\n\nThey went on and on till they came to a vast sandy desert, where they\nwere like to have fallen to the ground for the burning heat. The youth\nfelt that he could go not a step further, when he saw on the ground a\nlittle puddle of water. \u201cLittle sister!\u201d said he, \u201cI will not go a step\nfurther till I have drunk this water.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, dear brother!\u201d replied the girl, \u201cwho can tell whether it be\nreally water or filth? If we have held up so long, surely we can hold up\na little longer. Water we are bound to find soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI tell thee,\u201d replied her brother, \u201cthat I\u2019ll not go another step\nfurther till I have drunk up this puddle, though I die for it,\u201d--and\nwith that he knelt down, sucked up every drop of the dirty water, and\ninstantly became a stag.\n\nThe little sister wept bitterly at this mischance; but there was nothing\nfor it but to go on as they were. They went on and on, up hill and down\ndale, right across the sandy waste till they came to a full spring\nbeneath a large tree, and there they sat them down and rested. \u201cHearken\nnow, little sister!\u201d said the stag, \u201cthou must mount up into that tree,\nwhile I go to see if I can find something to eat.\u201d So the girl climbed\nup into the tree, and the stag went about his business, ran up hill and\ndown dale, caught a hare, brought it back, and he and his sister ate it\ntogether, and so they lived from day to day and from week to week.\n\nNow the horses of the Padishah of that country were wont to be watered\nat the spring beneath the large tree. One evening the horsemen led their\nhorses up to it as usual, but, just as they were on the point of\ndrinking, they caught sight of the reflection of the damsel in the\nwatery mirror and reared back. The horsemen fancied that perhaps the\nwater was not quite pure, so they drew off the trough and filled it\nafresh, but again the horses reared backwards and would not drink of it.\nThe horsemen knew not what to make of it, so they went and told the\nPadishah.\n\n\u201cPerchance the water is muddy,\u201d said the Padishah.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d replied the horsemen, \u201cwe emptied the trough once and filled it\nfull again with fresh water, and yet the horses would not drink of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo again,\u201d said their master, \u201cand look well about you; perchance there\nis some one near the spring of whom they are afraid.\u201d\n\nThe horsemen returned, and, looking well about the spring, cast their\neyes at last upon the large tree, on the top of which they perceived the\ndamsel. They immediately went back and told the Padishah. The Padishah\ntook the trouble to go and look for himself, and raising his eyes\nperceived in the tree a damsel as lovely as the moon when she is\nfourteen days old, so that he absolutely could not take his eyes off\nher. \u201cArt thou a spirit or a peri?\u201d[3] said the Padishah to the damsel.\n\n\u201cI am neither a spirit nor a peri, but a mortal as thou art,\u201d replied\nthe damsel.\n\nIn vain the Padishah begged her to come down from the tree. In vain he\nimplored her, nothing he could say would make her come down. Then the\nPadishah waxed wroth. He commanded them to cut down the tree. The men\nbrought their axes and fell a-hewing at the tree. They hewed away at the\nvast tree, they hewed and hewed until only a little strip of solid trunk\nremained to be cut through; but, meanwhile, eventide had drawn nigh and\nit began to grow dark, so they left off their work, which they purposed\nto finish next day.\n\nScarcely had they departed when the stag came running out of the forest,\nlooked at the tree, and asked the little sister what had happened. The\ngirl told him that she would not descend from the tree, so they had\ntried to cut it down. \u201cThou didst well,\u201d replied the stag, \u201cand take\ncare thou dost not come down in future, whatever they may say.\u201d With\nthat he went to the tree, licked it with his tongue, and immediately the\ntree grew bigger round the hewed trunk than before.\n\n[Illustration: The Damsel and the Old Witch.--p. 5.]\n\nThe next day, when the stag had again departed about his business, the\nPadishah\u2019s men came and saw that the tree was larger and harder round\nthe trunk than ever. Again they set to work hewing at the tree, and\nhewed and hewed till they had cut half through it; but by that time\nevening fell upon them again, and again they put off the rest of the\nwork till the morrow and went home.\n\nBut all their labour was lost, for the stag came again, licked the gap\nin the tree with his tongue, and immediately it grew thicker and harder\nthan ever.\n\nEarly next morning, when the stag had only just departed, the Padishah\nand his wood-cutters again came to the tree, and when they saw that the\ntrunk of the tree had filled up again larger and firmer than ever, they\ndetermined to try some other means. So they went home again and sent for\na famous old witch, told her of the damsel in the tree, and promised her\na rich reward if she would, by subtlety, make the damsel come down. The\nold witch willingly took the matter in hand, and bringing with her an\niron tripod, a cauldron, and sundry raw meats, placed them by the side\nof the spring. She placed the tripod on the ground, and the kettle on\nthe top of it but upside down, drew water from the spring and poured it\nnot into the kettle, but on the ground beside it, and with that she kept\nher eyes closed as if she were blind.\n\nThe damsel fancied she really was blind, and called to her from the\ntree. \u201cNay but, my dear elder sister! thou hast placed the kettle on the\ntripod upside down, and art pouring all the water on the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my sweet little damsel!\u201d cried the old woman, \u201cthat is because I\nhave no eyes to see with. I have brought some dirty linen with me, and\nif thou dost love Allah, thou wilt come down and put the kettle right,\nand help me to wash the things.\u201d Then the damsel thought of the words of\nthe little stag, and she did _not_ come down.\n\nThe next day the old witch came again, stumbled about the tree, laid a\nfire, and brought forth a heap of meal in order to sift it, but instead\nof meal she put ashes into the sieve. \u201cPoor silly old granny!\u201d cried the\ndamsel compassionately, and then she called down from the tree to the\nold woman, and told her that she was sifting ashes instead of meal. \u201cOh,\nmy dear damsel!\u201d cried the old woman, weeping, \u201cI am blind, I cannot\nsee. Come down and help me a little in my affliction.\u201d Now the little\nstag had strictly charged her that very morning not to come down from\nthe tree whatever might be said to her, and she obeyed the words of her\nbrother.\n\nOn the third day the old witch again came beneath the tree. This time\nshe brought a sheep with her, and brought out a knife to flay it with,\nand began to jag and skin it from behind instead of cutting its throat.\nThe poor little sheep bleated piteously, and the damsel in the tree,\nunable to endure the sight of the beast\u2019s sufferings, came down from the\ntree to put the poor thing out of its misery. Then the Padishah, who was\nconcealed close to the tree, rushed out and carried the damsel off to\nhis palace.\n\nThe damsel pleased the Padishah so mightily that he wanted to be married\nto her without more ado; but the damsel would not consent till they had\nbrought her her brother, the little stag: until she saw him, she said,\nshe could have not a moment\u2019s rest. Then the Padishah sent men out into\nthe forest, who caught the stag and brought him to his sister. After\nthat he never left his sister\u2019s side. They lay down together, and\ntogether they rose up. Even when the Padishah and the damsel were\nwedded, the little stag was never far away from them, and in the evening\nwhen he found out where they were, he would softly stroke each of them\nall over with one of his front feet before going to sleep beside them,\nand say--\n\n \u201cThis little foot is for my sister,\n That little foot is for my brother.\u201d\n\nBut time, as men count it, passes quickly to its fulfilment, more\nquickly still passes the time of fairy tales, but quickest of all flies\nthe time of true love. Yet our little people would have lived on happily\nif there had not been a black female slave in the palace. Jealousy\ndevoured her at the thought that the Padishah had taken to his bosom the\nragged damsel from the tree-top rather than herself, and she watched for\nan opportunity of revenge.\n\nNow there was a beautiful garden in the palace, with a fountain in the\nmidst of it, and there the Sultan\u2019s damsel used to walk about. One day,\nwith a golden saucer in her hand and a silver sandal on her foot, she\nwent towards the great fountain, and the black slave followed after her\nand pushed her in. There was a big fish in the basin, and it immediately\nswallowed up the Sultan\u2019s pet damsel. Then the black slave returned to\nthe palace, put on the golden raiment of the Sultan\u2019s damsel, and sat\ndown in her place.\n\nIn the evening the Padishah came and asked the damsel what she had done\nto her face that it was so much altered. \u201cI have walked too much in the\ngarden, and so the sun has tanned my face,\u201d replied the girl. The\nPadishah believed her and sat down beside her, but the little stag came\nalso, and when he began to stroke them both down with his fore-foot he\nrecognized the slave-girl as he said--\n\n \u201cThis little foot is for my sister,\n And this little foot is for my brother.\u201d\n\nThen it became the one wish of the slave-girl\u2019s heart to be rid of the\nlittle stag as quickly as possible, lest it should betray her.\n\nSo after a little thought she made herself sick, and sent for the\ndoctors, and gave them much money to say to the Padishah that the only\nthing that could save her was the heart of the little stag to eat. So\nthe doctors went and told the Padishah that the sick woman must swallow\nthe heart of the little stag, or there was no hope for her. Then the\nPadishah went to the slave-girl whom he fancied to be his pet damsel,\nand asked her if it did not go against her to eat the heart of her own\nbrother?\n\n\u201cWhat can I do?\u201d sighed the impostor; \u201cif I die, what will become of my\npoor little pet? If he be cut up I shall live, while he will be spared\nthe torments of those poor beasts that grow old and sick.\u201d Then the\nPadishah gave orders that a butcher\u2019s knife should be whetted, and a\nfire lighted, and a cauldron of water put over the fire.\n\nThe poor little stag perceived all the bustling about and ran down into\nthe garden to the fountain, and called out three times to his sister--\n\n \u201cThe knife is on the stone,\n The water\u2019s on the boil,\n Haste, little sister, hasten!\u201d\n\nAnd thrice she answered back to him from the fish\u2019s maw--\n\n \u201cHere am I in the fish\u2019s belly,\n In my hand a golden saucer,\n On my foot a silver sandal,\n In my arms a little Padishah!\u201d\n\nFor the Sultan\u2019s pet damsel had brought forth a little son in the fish\u2019s\nbelly.\n\nNow the Padishah was intent on catching the little stag when it ran down\ninto the garden to the fountain, and, coming up softly behind it, heard\nevery word of what the brother and sister were saying to each other. He\nquietly ordered all the water to be drained off the basin of the\nfountain, drew up the fish, cut open its belly, and what do you think he\nsaw? In the belly of the fish was his wife, with a golden saucer in her\nhand, and a silver sandal on her foot, and a little son in her arms.\nThen the Padishah embraced his wife, and kissed his son, and brought\nthem both to the palace, and heard the tale of it all to the very end.\n\nBut the little stag found something in the fish\u2019s blood, and when he had\nswallowed it, he became a man again. Then he rushed to his sister, and\nthey embraced and wept with joy over each other\u2019s happiness.\n\nBut the Padishah sent for his black slave-girl, and asked her which she\nwould like the best--four good steeds or four good swords. The\nslave-girl replied: \u201cLet the swords be for the throats of my enemies,\nbut give me the four steeds that I may take my pleasure on horseback.\u201d\nThen they tied the slave-girl to the tails of four good steeds, and sent\nher out for a ride; and the four steeds tore the black girl into little\nbits and scattered them abroad.\n\nBut the Padishah and his wife lived happily together, and the king\u2019s son\nwho had been a stag abode with them; and they gave a great banquet,\nwhich lasted four days and four nights; and they attained their desires,\nand may ye, O my readers, attain your desires likewise.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE ORANGE-PERIS\n\n\nIn the olden times, when there were sieves in straws and lies in\neverything, in the olden times when there was abundance, and men ate and\ndrank the whole day and yet lay down hungry, in those olden, olden times\nthere was once a Padishah whose days were joyless, for he had never a\nson to bless himself with.\n\nOne day he was in the path of pleasure with his Vizier, and when they\nhad drunk their coffee and smoked their chibooks, they went out for a\nwalk, and went on and on till they came to a great valley. Here they sat\ndown to rest a while, and as they were looking about them to the right\nhand and to the left, the valley was suddenly shaken as if by an\nearthquake, a whip cracked, and a dervish, a green-robed,\nyellow-slippered, white-bearded dervish, suddenly stood before them. The\nPadishah and the Vizier were so frightened that they dared not budge;\nbut when the dervish approached them and addressed them with the words,\n\u201cSelamun aleykyum,\u201d[4] they took heart a bit, and replied courteously,\n\u201cVe aleykyum selam.\u201d[5]\n\n\u201cWhat is thy errand here, my lord Padishah?\u201d asked the dervish.\n\n\u201cIf thou dost know that I am a Padishah, thou dost also know my errand,\u201d\nreplied the Padishah.\n\nThen the dervish took from his bosom an apple, gave it to the Padishah,\nand said these words: \u201cGive half of this to thy Sultana, and eat the\nother half thyself,\u201d and with these words he disappeared.\n\nThen the Padishah went home, gave half the apple to his consort, and ate\nthe other half himself, and in exactly nine months and ten days there\nwas a little prince in the harem. The Padishah was beside himself for\njoy. He scattered sequins among the poor, restored to freedom his\nslaves, and the banquet he gave to his friends had neither beginning nor\nend.\n\nSwiftly flies the time in fairy tales, and the child had reached his\nfourteenth summer while yet they fondled him. One day he said to his\nfather: \u201cMy lord father Padishah, make me now a little marble palace,\nand let there be two springs under it, and let one of them run with\nhoney, and the other with butter!\u201d Dearly did the Padishah love his\nlittle son, because he was his only child, so he made him the marble\npalace with the springs inside it as his son desired. There then sat the\nKing\u2019s son in the marble palace, and while he was looking at the springs\nthat bubbled forth both butter and honey, he saw an old woman with a\npitcher in her hand, and she would fain have filled it from the spring.\nThen the King\u2019s son caught up a stone and flung it at the old woman\u2019s\npitcher, and broke it into pieces. The old woman said not a word, but\nshe went away.\n\nBut the next day she was there again with her pitcher, and again she\nmade as if she would fill it, and a second time the King\u2019s son cast a\nstone at her and broke her pitcher. The old woman went away without\nspeaking a word. She came on the third day also, and it fared with her\npitcher then as on the first two days. Then the old woman spoke. \u201cOh,\nyouth!\u201d cried she, \u201c\u2019tis the will of Allah that thou shouldst fall in\nlove with the three Orange-peris,\u201d and with that she quitted him.\n\nFrom thenceforth the heart of the King\u2019s son was consumed by a hidden\nfire. He began to grow pale and wither away. When the Padishah saw that\nhis son was ill, he sent for the wise men and the leeches, but they\ncould find no remedy for the disease. One day the King\u2019s son said to his\nfather: \u201cOh, my dear little daddy Shah! these wise men of thine cannot\ncure me of my disease, and all their labours are in vain. I have fallen\nin love with the three Oranges, and never shall I be better till I find\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my dear little son!\u201d groaned the Padishah, \u201cthou art all that I\nhave in the wide world: if thou dost leave me, in whom can I rejoice?\u201d\nThen the King\u2019s son slowly withered away, and his days were as a heavy\nsleep; so his father saw that it would be better to let him go forth on\nhis way and find, if so be he might, the three Oranges that were as the\nbalsam of his soul. \u201cPerchance too he may return again,\u201d thought the\nPadishah.\n\nSo the King\u2019s son arose one day and took with him things that were light\nto carry, but heavy in the scales of value, and pursued his way over\nmountains and valleys, rising up and lying down again for many days. At\nlast in the midst of a vast plain, in front of the high-road, he came\nupon her Satanic Majesty the Mother of Devils, as huge as a minaret. One\nof her legs was on one mountain, and the other leg on another mountain;\nshe was chewing gum (her mouth was full of it) so that you could hear\nher half-an-hour\u2019s journey off; her breath was a hurricane, and her arms\nwere yards and yards long.\n\n\u201cGood-day, little mother!\u201d cried the youth, and he embraced the broad\nwaist of the Mother of Devils. \u201cGood-day, little sonny!\u201d she replied.\n\u201cIf thou hadst not spoken to me so politely, I should have gobbled thee\nup.\u201d Then she asked him whence he came and whither he was going.\n\n\u201cAlas! dear little mother,\u201d sighed the youth, \u201csuch a terrible\nmisfortune has befallen me that I can neither tell thee nor answer thy\nquestion.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, come, out with it, my son,\u201d urged the Mother of Devils.\n\n\u201cWell then, my sweet little mother,\u201d cried the youth, and he sighed\nworse than before, \u201cI have fallen violently in love with the three\nOranges. If only I might find my way thither!\u201d\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d cried the Mother of Devils, \u201cit is not lawful to even think of\nthat name, much less pronounce it. I and my sons are its guardians, yet\neven we don\u2019t know the way to it. Forty sons have I, and they go up and\ndown the earth more than I do, perchance they may tell thee something of\nthe matter.\u201d So when it began to grow dusk towards evening, ere yet the\ndevil-sons had come home, the old woman gave the King\u2019s son a tap, and\nturned him into a pitcher of water. And she did it not a moment too\nsoon, for immediately afterwards the forty sons of the Mother of Devils\nknocked at the door and cried: \u201cMother, we smell man\u2019s flesh!\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d cried the Mother of Devils. \u201cWhat, I should like to know,\nhave the sons of men to do here? It seems to me you had better all clean\nyour teeth.\u201d So she gave the forty sons forty wooden stakes to clean\ntheir teeth with, and out of one\u2019s tooth fell an arm, and out of\nanother\u2019s a thigh, and out of another\u2019s an arm, till they had all\ncleaned their teeth. Then they sat them down to eat and drink, and in\nthe middle of the meal their mother said to them: \u201cIf now ye had a man\nfor your brother, what would ye do with him?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo,\u201d they replied, \u201cwhy love him like a brother, of course!\u201d\n\nThen the Mother of Devils tapped the water-jar, and the King\u2019s son stood\nthere again. \u201cHere is your brother!\u201d cried she to her forty sons.\n\nThe devils thanked the King\u2019s son for his company with great joy,\ninvited their new brother to sit down, and asked their mother why she\nhad not told them about him before, as then they might all have eaten\ntheir meal together.\n\n\u201cNay but, my sons,\u201d cried she, \u201che does not live on the same sort of\nmeat as ye; fowls, mutton, and such-like is what _he_ feeds on.\u201d\n\nAt this one of them jumped up, went out, fetched a sheep, slew it, and\nlaid it before the new brother.\n\n\u201cOh, what a child thou art!\u201d cried the Mother of Devils. \u201cDost thou not\nknow that thou must first cook it for him?\u201d\n\nThen they skinned the sheep, made a fire, roasted it, and placed it\nbefore him. The King\u2019s son ate a piece, and after satisfying his hunger,\nleft the rest of it. \u201cWhy, that\u2019s nothing!\u201d cried the devils, and they\nurged him again and again to eat more. \u201cNay, my sons,\u201d cried their\nmother, \u201cmen never eat more than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us see then what this sheep-meat is like,\u201d said one of the forty\nbrothers. So they fell upon it and devoured the whole lot in a couple of\nmouthfuls.\n\nNow when they all rose up early in the morning, the Mother of Devils\nsaid to her sons: \u201cOur new brother hath a great trouble.\u201d--\u201cWhat is it?\u201d\ncried they, \u201cfor we would help him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has fallen in love with the three Oranges!\u201d--\u201cWell,\u201d replied the\ndevils, \u201cwe know not the place of the three Oranges ourselves, but\nperchance our aunt may know.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen lead this youth to her,\u201d said their mother; \u201ctell her that he is\nmy son and worthy of all honour, let her also receive him as a son and\nease him of his trouble.\u201d Then the devils took the youth to their aunt,\nand told her on what errand he had come.\n\nNow this Aunt of the Devils had sixty sons, and as she did not know the\nplace of the three Oranges, she had to wait till they came home. But\nlest any harm should happen to this her new son, she gave him a tap and\nturned him into a piece of crockery.\n\n\u201cWe smell man\u2019s flesh, mother,\u201d cried the devils, as they crossed the\nthreshold.\n\n\u201cPerchance ye have eaten man\u2019s flesh, and the remains thereof are still\nwithin your teeth,\u201d said their mother. Then she gave them great logs of\nwood that they might pick their teeth clean, and so be able to swallow\ndown something else. But in the midst of the meal the woman gave the\npiece of crockery a tap, and when the sixty devils saw their little\nhuman brother, they rejoiced at the sight, made him sit down at table,\nand bade him fall to if there was anything there he took a fancy to. \u201cMy\nsons,\u201d said the Mother of the Devils to her sixty sons when they all\nrose up early on the morrow, \u201cthis lad here has fallen in love with the\nthree Oranges, cannot you show him the way thither?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe know not the way,\u201d replied the devils; \u201cbut perchance our old\ngreat-aunt may know something about it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen take the youth thither,\u201d said their mother, \u201cand bid her hold him\nin high honour. He is my son, let him be hers also and help him out of\nhis distress.\u201d Then they took him off to their great-aunt, and told her\nthe whole business. \u201cAlas! I do not know, my sons!\u201d said the old, old\ngreat-aunt; \u201cbut if you wait till the evening, when my ninety sons come\nhome, I will ask them.\u201d\n\nThen the sixty devils departed and left the King\u2019s son there, and when\nit grew dusk the Mother of the Devils gave the youth a tap, turned him\ninto a broom, and placed him in the doorway. Shortly afterwards the\nninety devils came home, and they also smelt the smell of man, and took\nthe pieces of man\u2019s flesh out of their teeth. In the middle of their\nmeal their mother asked them how they would treat a human brother if\nthey had one. When they had sworn upon eggs that they would not hurt so\nmuch as his little finger, their mother gave the broom a tap, and the\nKing\u2019s son stood before them.\n\nThe devil brothers entreated him courteously, inquired after his health,\nand served him so heartily with eatables that they scarcely gave him\ntime to breathe. In the midst of the meal their mother asked them\nwhether they knew where the three Oranges were, for their new brother\nhad fallen in love with them. Then the least of the ninety devils leaped\nup with a shout of joy, and said that he knew.\n\n\u201cThen if thou knowest,\u201d said his mother, \u201csee that thou take this son of\nours thither, that he may satisfy his heart\u2019s desire.\u201d\n\nOn arising next morning, the devil-son took the King\u2019s son with him, and\nthe pair of them went merrily along the road together. They went on, and\non, and on, and at last the little devil said these words: \u201cMy brother,\nwe shall come presently to a large garden, and in the fountain thereof\nare the three. When I say to thee: \u2018Shut thine eye, open thine eye!\u2019 lay\nhold of what thou shalt see.\u201d\n\nThey went on a little way further till they came to the garden, and the\nmoment the devil saw the fountain he said to the King\u2019s son: \u201cShut thine\neye and open thine eye!\u201d He did so, and saw the three Oranges bobbing up\nand down on the surface of the water where it came bubbling out of the\nspring, and he snatched up one of them and popped it in his pocket.\nAgain the devil called to him: \u201cOpen thine eye and shut thine eye!\u201d He\ndid so, and snatched up the second orange, and so with the third also in\nthe same way. \u201cNow take care,\u201d said the devil, \u201cthat thou dost not cut\nopen these oranges in any place where there is no water, or it will go\nill with thee.\u201d The King\u2019s son promised, and so they parted, one went to\nthe right, and the other to the left.\n\nThe King\u2019s son went on, and on, and on. He went a long way, and he went\na short way, he went across mountains and through valleys. At last he\ncame to a sandy desert, and there he bethought him of the oranges, and\ndrawing one out, he cut it open. Scarcely had he cut into it when a\ndamsel, lovely as a Peri, popped out of it before him; the moon when it\nis fourteen days old is not more dazzling. \u201cFor Allah\u2019s sake, give me a\ndrop of water!\u201d cried the damsel, and inasmuch as there was no trace of\nwater anywhere, she vanished from the face of the earth. The King\u2019s son\ngrieved right sorely, but there was no help for it, the thing was done.\n\nAgain he went on his way, and when he had gone a little further he\nthought to himself, \u201cI may as well cut open one more orange.\u201d So he drew\nout the second orange, and scarcely had he cut into it than there popped\ndown before him a still more lovely damsel, who begged piteously for\nwater, but as the King\u2019s son had none to give her, she also vanished.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll take better care of the third,\u201d cried he, and continued his\njourney. He went on and on till he came to a large spring, drank out of\nit, and then thought to himself: \u201cWell, now I\u2019ll cut open the third\norange also.\u201d He drew it out and cut it, and immediately a damsel even\nlovelier than the other two stood before him. As soon as she called for\nwater, he led her to the spring and gave her to drink, and the damsel\ndid not disappear, but remained there as large as life.\n\nMother-naked was the damsel, and as he could not take her to town like\nthat, he bade her climb up a large tree that stood beside the spring,\nwhile he went into the town to buy her raiment and a carriage.\n\nWhile the King\u2019s son had gone away, a negro servant came to the spring\nto draw water, and saw the reflection of the damsel in the watery\nmirror. \u201cWhy, thou art something like a damsel,\u201d said she to herself,\n\u201cand ever so much lovelier than thy mistress; so she ought to fetch\nwater for me, not I for her.\u201d With that she broke the pitcher in two,\nwent home, and when her mistress asked where the pitcher of water was,\nshe replied: \u201cI am much more beautiful than thou, so thou must fetch\nwater for me, not I for thee.\u201d Her mistress took up a mirror, held it\nbefore her, and said: \u201cMethinks thou must have taken leave of thy\nsenses; look at this mirror!\u201d The Moor looked into the mirror, and saw\nthat she was as coal-black as ever. Without another word she took up the\npitcher, went again to the spring, and seeing the damsel\u2019s face in the\nmirror, again fancied that it was hers.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m right, after all,\u201d she cried; \u201cI\u2019m ever so much more beautiful than\nmy mistress.\u201d So she broke the pitcher to pieces again, and went home.\nAgain her mistress asked her why she had not drawn water. \u201cBecause I am\never so much more beautiful than thou, so thou must draw water for me,\u201d\nreplied she.\n\n\u201cThou art downright crazy,\u201d replied her mistress, drew out a mirror, and\nshowed it to her; and when the Moor-girl saw her face in it, she took up\nanother pitcher and went to the fountain for the third time. The\ndamsel\u2019s face again appeared in the water, but just as she was about to\nbreak the pitcher again, the damsel called to her from the tree: \u201cBreak\nnot thy pitchers, \u2019tis my face thou dost see in the water, and thou wilt\nsee thine own there also.\u201d\n\nThe Moor-girl looked up, and when she saw the wondrously beautiful shape\nof the damsel in the tree, she climbed up beside her and spake coaxing\nwords to her: \u201cOh, my little golden damsel, thou wilt get the cramp from\ncrouching there so long; come, rest thy head!\u201d And with that she laid\nthe damsel\u2019s head on her breast, felt in her bosom, drew out a needle,\npricked the damsel with it in the skull, and in an instant the\nOrange-Damsel was changed into a bird, and pr-r-r-r-r! she was gone,\nleaving the Moor all alone in the tree.\n\nNow when the King\u2019s son came back with his fine coach and beautiful\nraiment, looked up into the tree, and saw the black face, he asked the\ngirl what had happened to her. \u201cA nice question!\u201d replied the Moor-girl.\n\u201cWhy, thou didst leave me here all day, and wentest away, so of course\nthe sun has tanned me black.\u201d What could the poor King\u2019s son do? He made\nthe black damsel sit in the coach, and took her straight home to his\nfather\u2019s house.\n\nIn the palace of the Padishah they were all waiting, full of eagerness,\nto behold the Peri-Bride, and when they saw the Moorish damsel they\nsaid to the King\u2019s son: \u201cHowever couldst thou lose thy heart to a black\nmaid?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is not a black maid,\u201d said the King\u2019s son. \u201cI left her at the top\nof a tree, and she was blackened there by the rays of the sun. If only\nyou let her rest a bit she\u2019ll soon grow white again.\u201d And with that he\nled her into her chamber, and waited for her to grow white again.\n\nNow there was a beautiful garden in the palace of the King\u2019s son, and\none day the Orange-Bird came flying on to a tree there, and called down\nto the gardener.\n\n\u201cWhat dost thou want with me?\u201d asked the gardener.\n\n\u201cWhat is the King\u2019s son doing?\u201d inquired the bird.\n\n\u201cHe is doing no harm that I know of,\u201d replied the gardener.\n\n\u201cAnd what about his black bride?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, she\u2019s there too, sitting with him as usual.\u201d\n\nThen the little bird sang these words:\n\n \u201cShe may sit by his side,\n But she shall not abide;\n For all her fair showing\n The thorns are a-growing.\n As I hop on this tree,\n It will wither \u2019neath me.\u201d\n\nAnd with that it flew away.\n\nThe next day it came again, and inquired once more about the King\u2019s son\nand his black consort, and repeated what it said before. The third day\nit did in like manner, and as many trees as it hopped upon withered\nright away beneath it.\n\nOne day the King\u2019s son felt weary of his black bride, so he went out\ninto the garden for a walk. Then his eye fell on the withered trees, and\nhe called the gardener and said to him: \u201cWhat is this, gardener? Why\ndost thou not take better care of thy trees? Dost thou not see that they\nare all withering away?\u201d Then the gardener replied that it was of but\nlittle use for him to take care of the trees, for a few days ago a\nlittle bird had been there, and asked what the King\u2019s son and his black\nconsort were doing, and had said that though she might be sitting there,\nshe should not sit for ever, but that thorns would grow, and every tree\nit lit upon should wither.\n\nThe Bang\u2019s son commanded the gardener to smear the trees with bird-lime,\nand if the bird then lit upon it, to bring it to him. So the gardener\nsmeared the trees with bird-lime, and when the bird came there next day\nhe caught it, and brought it to the King\u2019s son, who put it in a cage.\nNow no sooner did the black woman look upon the bird than she knew at\nonce that it was the damsel. So she pretended to be very ill, sent for\nthe chief medicine-man, and by dint of rich gifts persuaded him to say\nto the King\u2019s son that his consort would never get well unless he fed\nher with such and such birds.\n\nThe King\u2019s son saw that his consort was very sick, he sent for the\ndoctor, went with him to see the sick woman, and asked him how she was\nto be cured. The doctor said she could only be cured if they gave her\nsuch and such birds to eat. \u201cWhy, only this very day have I caught one\nof such birds,\u201d said the King\u2019s son; and they brought the bird, killed\nit, and fed the sick lady with the flesh thereof. In an instant the\nblack damsel arose from her bed. But one of the bird\u2019s dazzling feathers\nfell accidentally to the ground and slipped between the planks, so that\nnobody noticed it.\n\nTime went on, and the King\u2019s son was still waiting and waiting for his\nconsort to turn white. Now there was an old woman in the palace who used\nto teach the dwellers in the harem to read and write. One day as she was\ngoing down-stairs she saw something gleaming between the planks of the\nfloor, and going towards it, perceived that it was a bird\u2019s feather that\nsparkled like a diamond. She took it home and thrust it behind a rafter.\nThe next day she went to the palace, and while she was away the bird\u2019s\nfeather leaped down from the rafter, shivered a little, and the next\nmoment turned into a most lovely damsel. She put the room tidy, cooked\nthe meal, set everything in order, and then leaped back upon the rafter\nand became a feather again. When the old woman came home she was amazed\nat what she saw. She thought: \u201cSomebody must have done all this,\u201d so she\nwent up and down, backwards and forwards through the house, but nobody\ncould she see.\n\nEarly next morning she again went to the palace, and the feather leaped\ndown again in like manner, and did all the household work. When the old\nwoman came home, she perceived the house all nice and clean, and\neverything in order. \u201cI really must find out the secret of this,\u201d\nthought she, so next morning she made as if she were going away as\nusual, and left the door ajar, but went and hid herself in a corner. All\nat once she perceived that there was a damsel in the room, who tidied\nthe room and cooked the meal, whereupon the old woman dashed out, seized\nhold of her, and asked her who she was and whence she came. Then the\ndamsel told her her sad fate, and how she had been twice killed by the\nblack woman, and had come thither in the shape of a feather.\n\n\u201cDistress thyself no more, my lass,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cI\u2019ll put thy\nbusiness to rights, and this very day, too.\u201d And with that she went\nstraight to the King\u2019s son and invited him to come and see her that\nevening. The King\u2019s son was now so sick unto death of his black bride\nthat he was glad of any excuse to escape from his own house, so the\nevening found him punctually at the old woman\u2019s. They sat down to\nsupper, and when the coffee followed the meats, the damsel entered with\nthe cups, and when the King\u2019s son saw her he was like to have fainted.\n\u201cNay, but, mother,\u201d said the King\u2019s son, when he had come to himself a\nlittle, \u201cwho is that damsel?\u201d\n\n\u201cThy wife,\u201d replied the old woman.\n\n\u201cHow didst thou get that fair creature?\u201d inquired the King\u2019s son. \u201cWilt\nthou not give her to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can _I_ give her to thee, seeing that she was thine own once upon a\ntime,\u201d said the old woman; and with that the old woman took the damsel\nby the hand, led her to the King\u2019s son, and laid her on his breast.\n\u201cTake better care of the Orange-Peri another time,\u201d said she.\n\nThe King\u2019s son now nearly fainted in real earnest, but it was from sheer\njoy. He took the damsel to his palace, put to death the black\nslave-girl, but held high festival with the Peri for forty days and\nforty nights. So they had the desire of their hearts, and may Allah\nsatisfy your desires likewise.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ROSE-BEAUTY\n\n\nOnce upon a time in the old old days when straws were sieves, and the\ncamel a chapman, and the mouse a barber, and the cuckoo a tailor, and\nthe donkey ran errands, and the tortoise baked bread, and I was only\nfifteen years old, but my father rocked my cradle, and there was a\nmiller in the land who had a black cat--in those olden times, I say,\nthere was a King who had three daughters, and the first daughter was\nforty, and the second was thirty, and the third was twenty. One day the\nyoungest daughter wrote this letter to her father: \u201cMy lord father! my\neldest sister is forty and my second sister is thirty, and still thou\nhast given neither of them a husband. I have no desire to grow grey in\nwaiting for a husband.\u201d\n\nThe King read the letter, sent for his three daughters, and addressed\nthem in these words: \u201cLook now! let each one of you shoot an arrow from\na bow and seek her sweetheart wherever her arrow falls!\u201d So the three\ndamsels took their bows. The eldest damsel\u2019s arrow fell into the palace\nof the Vizier\u2019s son, so the Vizier\u2019s son took her to wife. The second\ngirl\u2019s arrow flew into the palace of the Chief Mufti\u2019s son, so they gave\nher to him. The third damsel also fired her arrow, and lo! it stuck in\nthe hut of a poor young labourer. \u201cThat won\u2019t do, that won\u2019t do!\u201d cried\nthey all. So she fired again, and again the arrow stuck in the hut. She\naimed a third time, and a third time the arrow stuck in the hut of the\npoor young labourer. Then the King was wroth and cried to the damsel:\n\u201cLook now, thou slut! thou hast got thy deserts. Thy sisters waited\npatiently, and therefore they have got their hearts\u2019 desires. Thou wast\nthe youngest of all, yet didst thou write me that saucy letter, hence\nthy punishment. Out of my sight, thou slave-girl, to this husband of\nthine, and thou shalt have nought but what he can give thee!\u201d So the\npoor damsel departed to the hut of the labourer, and they gave her to\nhim to wife.\n\nThey lived together for a time, and on the tenth day of the ninth month\nthe time came that she should bear a child, and her husband, the\nlabourer, hastened away for the midwife. While the husband was thus away\nhis wife had neither a bed to lie down upon nor a fire to warm herself\nby, though grinding winter was upon them. All at once the walls of the\npoor hut opened hither and thither, and three beautiful damsels of the\nPeri race stepped into it. One stood at the damsel\u2019s head, another at\nher feet, the third by her side, and they all seemed to know their\nbusiness well. In a moment everything in the poor hut was in order, the\nprincess lay on a beautiful soft couch, and before she could blink her\neyes a pretty little new-born baby girl was lying by her side. When\neverything was finished the three Peris set about going, but first of\nall they approached the bed one by one, and the first said:\n\n \u201cRosa be thy damsel\u2019s name,\n And she shall weep not tears but pearls!\u201d\n\nThe second Peri approached the bed and said:\n\n \u201cRosa be thy damsel\u2019s name,\n The rose shall blossom when she smiles!\u201d\n\nAnd the third Peri wound up with these words:\n\n \u201cRosa be thy damsel\u2019s name,\n Sweet verdure in her footsteps spring!\u201d\n\nwhereupon they all three disappeared.\n\nNow all this time the husband was seeking a midwife, but could find one\nnowhere. What could he do but go home? But when he got back he was\namazed to find everything in the poor hut in beautiful order, and his\nwife lying on a splendid bed. Then she told him the story of the three\nPeris, and there was no more spirit left in him, so astounded was he.\nBut the little girl grew more and more lovely from hour to day, and from\nday to week, so that there was not another like her in the whole world.\nWhosoever looked upon her lost his heart at once, and pearls fell from\nher eyes when she wept, roses burst into bloom when she smiled, and a\nbright riband of fresh green verdure followed her footsteps. Whosoever\nsaw her had no more spirit left in him, and the fame of lovely Rosa went\nfrom mouth to mouth.\n\nAt last the King of that land also heard of the damsel, and instantly\nmade up his mind that she and nobody else should be his son\u2019s consort.\nSo he sent for his son, and told him that there was a damsel in the town\nof so rare a beauty that pearls fell from her eyes when she wept, roses\nburst into bloom when she smiled, and the earth grew fresh and green\nbeneath her footsteps, and with that he bade him up and woo her.\n\nNow the Peris had for a long time shown the King\u2019s son the beautiful\nRose-damsel in his dreams, and the sweet fire of love already burned\nwithin him; but he was ashamed to let his father see this, so he hung\nback a little. At this his father became more and more pressing, bade\nhim go and woo her at once, and commanded the chief dame of the palace\nto accompany him to the hut of the labourer.\n\nThey entered the hut, said on what errand they came, and claimed the\ndamsel for the King\u2019s son in the name of Allah. The poor folks rejoiced\nat their good luck, promised the girl, and began to make ready.\n\nNow this palace dame\u2019s daughter was also a beauty, and not unlike Rosa.\nTerribly distressed was the dame that the King\u2019s son should take to wife\na poor labourer\u2019s daughter, instead of her own child; so she made up her\nmind to deceive them and put her own daughter in Rosa\u2019s place. So on the\nday of the banquet she made the poor girl eat many salted meats, and\nthen brought a pitcher of water and a large basket, got into the bridal\ncoach with Rosa and her own daughter, and set out for the palace. As\nthey were on the road (and a very long time they were about it) the\ndamsel grew thirsty and asked the palace dame for some water. \u201cNot till\nthou hast given me one of thine eyes,\u201d said the palace dame. What could\nthe poor damsel do?--she was dying with thirst. So she cut out one of\nher eyes and gave it for a drink of water.\n\nThey went on and on, further and further, and the damsel again became\nthirsty and asked for another drink of water. \u201cThou shalt have it if\nthou give me thy other eye,\u201d said the palace dame. And the poor damsel\nwas so tormented with thirst that she gave the other eye for a drink of\nwater.\n\nThe old dame took the two eyes, pitched the sightless damsel into the\nbig basket, and left her all alone on the top of a mountain. But the\nbeautiful bridal robe she put upon her own daughter, brought her to the\nKing\u2019s son, and gave her to him with the words: \u201cBehold thy wife!\u201d So\nthey made a great banquet, and when they had brought the damsel to her\nbridegroom and taken off her veil, he perceived that the damsel who now\nstood before him was not the damsel of his dreams. As, however, she\nresembled her a little he said nothing about it to anybody. So they lay\ndown to rest, and when they rose up again early next morning the King\u2019s\nson was quite undeceived, for the damsel of his dreams had wept pearls,\nsmiled roses, and sweet green herbs had grown up in her footsteps, but\nthis girl had neither roses nor pearls nor green herbs to show for\nherself. The youth felt there was some trickery at work here. This was\nnot the girl he had meant to have. \u201cHow am I to find it all out?\u201d\nthought he to himself; but not a word did he say to any one.\n\nWhile all these things were going on in the palace, poor Rosa was\nweeping on the mountain top, and such showers of pearls fell from her by\ndint of her sore weeping that there was scarce room to hold them all in\nthe big basket. Now a mud-carrier happened to be passing by who was\ncarting mud away, and hearing the weeping of the damsel was terribly\nafraid, and cried: \u201cWho art thou?--A Jinn or a Peri?\u201d--\u201cI am neither a\nJinn nor yet a Peri,\u201d replied the damsel, \u201cbut the remains of a living\nchild of man.\u201d Whereupon the mud-raker took courage, opened the basket,\nand there a poor sightless damsel was sobbing, and her tears fell from\nher in showers of pearls. So he took the damsel by the hand and led her\nto his hut, and as the old man had nobody about him he adopted the\ndamsel as if she were his own child and took care of her. But the poor\ngirl did nothing but weep for her two eyes, and the old man had all he\ncould do to pick up the pearls, and whenever they were in want of money\nhe would take a pearl and sell it, and they lived on whatever he got for\nit.\n\nThus time passed, and there was mirth in the palace, and misery in the\nhut of the mud-raker. Now it chanced one day as fair Rosa was sitting in\nthe hut, that something made her smile, and immediately a rose bloomed.\nThen the damsel said to her foster-father, the mud-raker: \u201cTake this\nrose, papa, and go with it in front of the palace of the King\u2019s son, and\ncry aloud that thou hast roses for sale that are not to be matched in\nthe wide world. But if the dame of the palace comes out, see that thou\ndost not give her the rose for money, but say that thou wilt sell it for\na human eye.\u201d\n\nSo the man took the rose and stood in front of the palace, and began to\ncry aloud: \u201cA rose for sale, a rose for sale, the like of which is\nnowhere to be found.\u201d Now it was not the season for roses, so when the\ndame of the palace heard the man crying a rose for sale, she thought to\nherself: \u201cI\u2019ll put it in my daughter\u2019s hair, and thus the King\u2019s son\nwill think that she is his true bride.\u201d So she called the poor man to\nher, and asked him what he would sell the rose for? \u201cFor nothing,\u201d\nreplied the man, \u201cfor no money told down, but I\u2019ll give it thee for a\nhuman eye.\u201d Then the dame of the palace brought forth one of fair Rosa\u2019s\neyes and gave it for the rose. Then she took it to her daughter, plaited\nit in her hair, and when the King\u2019s son saw the rose, he thought of the\nPeri of his dreams, but could not understand whither she had gone.\nNevertheless he now fancied he was about to find out, so he said not a\nword to any one.\n\nMeanwhile, the old man went home with the eye and gave it to the damsel,\nfair Rosa. Then she fitted it in its right place, sighed from her heart\nin prayer to Allah, who can do all things; and behold! she could see\nright well again with her one eye. The poor girl was so pleased that\nshe could not help smiling, and immediately another rose sprang forth.\nThis also she gave to her father that he might walk in front of the\npalace and give it for another human eye. The old man took the rose, and\nscarcely had he begun crying it before the palace when the old dame\nagain heard him. \u201cHe has just come at the nick of time,\u201d thought she;\n\u201cthe King\u2019s son has begun to love my rose-bedizened daughter; if I can\nonly get this rose also, he will love her still better, and this\nserving-wench will go out of his mind altogether.\u201d So she called the\nmud-raker to her and asked for the rose, but again he would not take\nmoney for it, though he was willing to let her have it in exchange for a\nhuman eye. Then the old woman gave him the second eye, and the old man\nhastened home with it and gave it to the damsel. Rosa immediately put it\nin its proper place, prayed to Allah, and was so rejoiced when her two\nbright eyes sparkled with living light that she smiled all the day, and\nroses bloomed on every side of her. Henceforth she was lovelier than\never. Now one day beautiful Rosa went for a walk, and as she smiled\ncontinually as she walked along, roses bloomed around her and the ground\ngrew fresh and green beneath her feet. The palace dame saw her and was\nterrified. What will become of me, she thought, if the affair of this\ndamsel comes to be known? She knew where the poor mud-scraper lived, so\nshe went all alone to his dwelling, and terrified him by telling him\nthat he had an evil witch in his house. The poor man had never seen a\nwitch, so he was terrified to death, and asked the palace dame what he\nhad better do. \u201cFind out, first of all, what her talisman is,\u201d advised\nthe palace dame, \u201cand then I\u2019ll come and do the rest.\u201d\n\nSo the first thing the old man did when the damsel came home was to ask\nher how she, a mere child of man, had come to have such magic power. The\ndamsel, suspecting no ill, said that she had got her talisman from the\nthree Peris, and that pearls, roses, and fresh sweet verdure would\naccompany her so long as her talisman was alive.\n\n\u201cWhat then is thy talisman?\u201d asked the old man.\n\n \u201cA little deer on the hill-top;\n If it die, I also dead drop,\u201d\n\nanswered she.\n\nThe next day the palace dame came thither in the utmost misery, heard\nall about it from the mud-scraper, and hastened home with great joy. She\ntold her daughter that on the top of the neighbouring hill was a little\ndeer which she should ask her husband to get for her. That very same day\nthe Sultana told her husband of the little deer on the top of the hill,\nand begged and implored him to get her its heart to eat. And after not\nmany days the Prince\u2019s men caught the little deer and killed it, and\ntook out its heart and gave it to the Sultana. At the same instant when\nthey killed the little fawn fair Rosa died. The mud-raker sorrowed over\nher till he could sorrow no more, and then took and buried her.\n\nNow in the heart of the little fawn there was a little red coral eye\nwhich nobody took any notice of. When the Sultana ate the heart, the\nlittle red coral eye fell out and rolled down the steps as if it wanted\nto hide itself.\n\nTime went on, and in not more than nine months and ten days the Prince\u2019s\nconsort was brought to bed of a little daughter, who wept pearls when\nshe cried, dropt roses when she smiled, and sweet green herbs sprang up\nin her footsteps.\n\nWhen the Prince saw it he mused and mused over it, the little girl was\nthe very image of fair Rosa, and not a bit like the mother who had borne\nher. So his sleep was no repose to him, till one night fair Rosa\nappeared to him in his dreams and spoke these words to him: \u201cOh, my\nprince! oh, my betrothed! my soul is beneath thy palace steps, my body\nis in the tomb, thy little girl is my little girl, my talisman is the\nlittle coral eye.\u201d\n\nThe Prince had no sooner awakened than he went to the staircase and\nsearched about, and lo! there was the little coral eye. He picked it up,\ntook it into his chamber, and laid it on the table. Meanwhile, the\nlittle girl entered the room, saw the red coral, and scarcely had she\nlaid hold of it than she vanished as if she had never been. The three\nPeris had carried off the child and taken her to her mother\u2019s tomb, and\nscarcely had she placed the coral eye in the dead woman\u2019s mouth than she\nawoke up to a new life.\n\nBut the King\u2019s son was not easy in his mind. He went to the cemetery,\nhad the tomb opened, and there in her coffin lay the Rose-beauty of his\ndreams, with her little girl in her arms and the coral talisman in her\nmouth. They arose from the tomb and embraced him, and pearls fell from\nthe eyes of both of them as they wept, and roses from their mouths as\nthey smiled, and sweet green herbs grew up in their footsteps.\n\nThe palace dame and her daughter paid for their crimes, but beautiful\nRosa and her father and her mother, the Sultan\u2019s daughter, were all\nre-united, and for forty days and forty nights they held high revel\namidst the beating of drums and the tinkling of cymbals.\n\n\n\n\nMAD MEHMED\n\n\nOnce upon a time in the old old days when the camel was only a spy, when\ntoads rose in the air on wings, and I myself rode in the air while I\nwalked on the ground, and went up hill and down dale at the same time,\nin those days, I say, there were two brothers who dwelt together.\n\nAll that they had inherited from their father were some oxen and other\nbeasts, and a sick mother. One day the spirit of division seized upon\nthe younger brother (he was half-witted besides, Allah help him!), and\nhe went to his brother and said: \u201cLook now, brother! at these two\nstables! One of them is as new as new can be, while the other is old and\nrotten. Let us drive our cattle hither, and whatever goes into the new\nstable shall be mine, and all the rest shall be thine.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, Mehmed,\u201d said the elder brother; \u201clet whatever goes into the\nold stable be thine!\u201d To this also the half-crazy Mehmed agreed. That\nsame day they went and drove up their cattle, and all the cattle went\ninto the new stable except a helpless old ox that was so blind that it\nmistook its way and went into the old stable instead. Mehmed said never\na word, but took the blind old ox into the fields to graze; every\nmorning early he drove it thither, and late every evening he drove it\nback again. One day when he was on the road, the wind began to shake a\nbig wayside tree so violently that its vast branches whined and\nwhimpered again. \u201cHi! whimpering old dad!\u201d said the fool to the tree,\n\u201chast thou seen my elder brother?\u201d But the tree, as if it didn\u2019t hear,\nonly went on whining. The fool flew into such a rage at this that he\ncaught up his chopper and struck at the tree, when out of it gushed a\nwhole stream of golden sequins. At this the fool rallied what little\nwits he had, hastened home, and asked his brother to lend him another\nox, as he wanted to plough with a pair. He found a cart also, and some\nempty sacks. These he filled with earth, and set out forthwith for his\ntree. There he emptied his sacks of their earth, filled them with\nsequins instead, and when he returned home in the evening, his brother\nwell-nigh dropped down for amazement at the sight of the monstrous\ntreasure.\n\nThey could think of nothing now but dividing it, so the younger brother\nwent to their neighbour for a three-peck measure to measure it with.\nNow the neighbour was curious to know what such clodpoles could have to\nmeasure. So he took and smeared the bottom of the measure with tar, and,\nsure enough, when the fool brought the measure back a short time\nafterwards, a sequin was sticking to the bottom of it. The neighbour\nimmediately went and told it to another, who went and told it to a\nthird, and so it was not long before everybody knew all about it.\n\nNow the wiser brother knew not what might happen to them now that they\nhad all this money, and he began to feel frightened. So he snatched up\nhis pick and shovel, dug a trench, buried the treasure, and made off as\nfast as his heels could carry him. On the way it occurred to the wise\nbrother that he had done foolishly in not shutting the door of the hut\nbehind him, so he sent off his younger brother to do it for him. So the\nfool went back to the house, and he thought to himself: \u201cWell, since I\nam here, I ought not to forget my old mother either.\u201d So he filled a\nhuge cauldron with water, boiled it, and soused his old mother in it so\nthoroughly that her poor old head was never likely to speak again. After\nthat he propped the old woman against the wall with the broom, tore the\ndoor off its hinges, threw it over his shoulders, and went and rejoined\nhis brother in the wood.\n\nThe elder brother looked at the door, and listened to the sad case of\nhis poor old mother, but scold and chide his younger brother as he might\nthe latter grew more cock-a-hoop than ever--he fancied he had done such\na clever thing. He had brought the door away with him, he said, in order\nthat no one might get into the house. The wise brother would have given\nanything to have got rid of the fool, and began turning over in his mind\nhow he might best manage it. He looked before him and behind him, he\nlooked down the high-road, and there were three horsemen galloping\nalong. The thought instantly occurred to the pair of them that these\nhorsemen were on their track, so they scrambled up a tree forthwith,\ndoor and all. They were scarcely comfortably settled when the three\nhorsemen drove up beneath the tree and encamped there. The dusk of\nevening had come on at the very nick of time, so that they could not see\nthe two brothers.\n\nNow the two brothers would have done very well indeed up in the tree had\nnot one of them been a fool. Mehmed the fool began to practise\npleasantries which disturbed the repose of the horsemen beneath the\ntree. Presently, however, came a crash--bang!--and down on the heads of\nthe three sleepers fell the great heavy door from the top of the tree.\n\u201cThe end of the world has come, the end of the world has come!\u201d cried\nthey, and they rushed off in such a fright that no doubt they haven\u2019t\nceased running to this very day. This finished the business so far as\nthe elder brother was concerned. In the morning he arose and went on his\nway, and left the foolish younger brother by himself.\n\nThus poor silly Mehmed had to go forth into the wide world alone. He\nwent on and on till he came to a village, by which time he was very\nhungry. There he stood in the gate of a mosque, and got one or two\nparas[6] from those who went in and out till he had enough to buy\nhimself something to eat. At that moment a fat little man came out of\nthe mosque, and casting his eyes on Mehmed, asked him if he would like\nto enter his service.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t mind if I do,\u201d replied Mehmed, \u201cbut only on condition that\nneither of us is to get angry with the other for any cause whatever. If\nthou art wroth with me I\u2019ll kill thee, and if I get wroth with thee thou\nmayest kill me also.\u201d The fat man agreed to these terms, for there was a\ngreat lack of servants in that village.\n\nIn order to make short work of the fat little man the fool began by at\nonce chasing all the hens and sheep off his master\u2019s premises. \u201cArt\nangry, master?\u201d he then inquired of his lord. His master was amazed, but\nhe only answered: \u201cAngry? Not I! Why should I be?\u201d At the same time he\nentrusted nothing more to him, but let him sit in the house without\nanything to do.\n\nHis master had a wife and child, and Mehmed had to look after them. He\nliked to dandle the child up and down, but he knocked it about and hurt\nit, so clumsy was he; so he soon had to leave that off. But the wife\nbegan to be afraid that her turn would come next, sooner or later, so\nshe persuaded her husband to run away from the fool one night. Mehmed\noverheard what they said, hid himself in their storebox, and when they\nopened it in the next village out he popped.\n\nAfter a while his master and his wife agreed together that they would go\nand sleep at night on the shores of a lake. They took Mehmed with them,\nand put his bed right on the water\u2019s edge, that he might tumble in when\nhe went to sleep. However, the fool was not such a fool but that he made\nhis master\u2019s wife jump into the lake instead of himself. \u201cArt angry,\nmaster?\u201d cried he.--\u201cAngry indeed! How can I help being angry when I see\nmy property wasted, and my wife and child killed, and myself a\nbeggar--and all through thee!\u201d Then the fool seized his master, put him\nin mind of their compact, and pitched him into the water.\n\nMehmed now found himself all alone, so he went forth into the wide world\nonce more. He went on and on, did nothing but drink sweet coffee, smoke\nchibooks, look about over his shoulder, and walk leisurely along at his\nease. As he was thus knocking about, he chanced to light upon a\nfive-para piece, which he speedily changed for some lebleb,[7] which he\nimmediately fell to chewing, and, as he chewed, part of it fell into a\nwayside spring, whereupon the fool began roaring loud enough to split\nhis throat: \u201cGive me back my lebleb, give me back my lebleb!\u201d At this\nfrightful bawling a Jinn popped up his head, and he was so big that his\nupper lip swept the sky, while his lower lip hid the earth. \u201cWhat dost\nthou require?\u201d asked the Jinn.--\u201cI want my lebleb, I want my lebleb!\u201d\ncried Mehmed.\n\nThe Jinn ducked down into the spring, and when he came up again, he held\na little table in his hand. This little table he gave to the fool and\nsaid: \u201cWhenever thou art hungry thou hast only to say: \u2018Little table,\ngive me to eat;\u2019 and when thou hast eaten thy fill, say: \u2018Little table,\nI have now had enough.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo Mehmed took the table and went with it into a village, and when he\nfelt hungry he said: \u201cLittle table, give me to eat!\u201d and immediately\nthere stood before him so many beautiful, nice dishes that he couldn\u2019t\nmake up his mind which to begin with. \u201cWell,\u201d thought he, \u201cI must let\nthe poor people of the village see this wonder also,\u201d so he went and\ninvited them all to a great banquet.\n\nThe villagers came one after another, they looked to the right, they\nlooked to the left, but there was no sign of a fire, or any preparations\nfor a meal. \u201cNay, but he would needs make fools of us!\u201d thought they.\nBut the young man brought out his table, set it in the midst, and cried:\n\u201cLittle table, give me to eat!\u201d and there before them stood all manner\nof delicious meats and drinks, and so much thereof that when the guests\nhad stuffed themselves to the very throat, there was enough left over to\nfill the servants. Then the villagers laid their heads together as to\nhow they might manage to have a meal like this every day. \u201cCome now!\u201d\nsaid some of them, \u201clet us steal a march upon Mehmed one day and lay\nhands upon his table, and then there will be an end to the fool\u2019s\nglory.\u201d And they did so.\n\nWhat could the poor, empty-bellied fool do then? Why he went to the\nwayside spring and asked again: \u201cI want my lebleb, I want my lebleb!\u201d\nAnd he asked and asked so long that at last the Jinn popped up his head\nagain out of the spring and inquired what was the matter. \u201cI want my\nlebleb, I want my lebleb!\u201d cried the fool.--\u201cBut where\u2019s thy little\ntable?\u201d--\u201cThey stole it.\u201d\n\nThe big-lipped Jinn again popped down, and when he rose out of the\nspring again he had a little mill in his hand. This he gave to the fool\nand said to him: \u201cGrind it to the right and gold will flow out of it,\ngrind it to the left and it will give thee silver.\u201d So the youth took\nthe mill home and ground it first to the right and then to the left, and\nhuge treasures of gold and silver lay heaped about him on the floor. So\nhe grew such a rich man that his equal was not to be found in the\nvillage, nay, nor in the town either.\n\nBut no sooner had the people of the village got to know all about the\nlittle mill than they laid their heads together and schemed and schemed\ntill the mill also disappeared[8] one fine morning from Mehmed\u2019s\ncottage. Then Mehmed ran off to the spring once more and cried: \u201cI want\nmy lebleb, I want my lebleb!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where is thy little table? Where is thy little mill?\u201d asked the\nbig-lipped Jinn.\n\n\u201cThey have stolen them both from me,\u201d lamented the witless one, and he\nwept bitterly.\n\nAgain the Jinn bobbed down, and this time he brought up two sticks with\nhim. He gave them to the fool, and impressed upon him very strongly on\nno account to say: \u201cStrike, strike, my little sticks!\u201d\n\nMehmed took the sticks, and first he turned them to the right and then\nto the left, but could make nothing of them. Then he thought he would\njust try the effect of saying: \u201cStrike, strike, my little sticks!\u201d and\nno sooner were the words out of his mouth than the sticks fell upon him\nunmercifully, and belaboured him on every part of the body that can\nfeel--the head, the foot, the arm, the back--till he was nothing but one\nbig ache. \u201cStop, stop, my little sticks!\u201d cried he, and lo! the two\nsticks were still. Then, for all his aches and pains, Mehmed rejoiced\ngreatly that he had found out the mystery.\n\nHe had no sooner got home with the two sticks than he called together\nall the villagers, but said not a word about what he meant to do. In\nless than a couple of hours everybody had assembled there, and awaited\nthe new show with great curiosity. Then Mehmed came with his two sticks\nand cried: \u201cStrike, strike, my little sticks, strike, strike!\u201d whereupon\nthe two sticks gave the whole lot of them such a rub-a-dub-dubbing that\nit was as much as they could do to howl for mercy. \u201cNow,\u201d said Mehmed,\nwho was getting his wits back again, \u201cI\u2019ll have no mercy till you have\ngiven back to me my little table and my little mill.\u201d\n\nThe people of the village, all bruised and bleeding as they were,\nconsented to everything, and hurried off for the little table and the\nlittle mill. Then Mehmed cried: \u201cStand still, my little sticks!\u201d and\nthere was peace and quiet as before.\n\nThen the man took away the three gifts to his own village, and as he now\nhad money he grew more sensible, and there also he found his brother. He\ngave all the buried treasure to his brother, and each of them sought out\na damsel meet to be a wife, and married, and lived each in a world of\nhis own. And there was not a wiser man in that village than Mad Mehmed\nnow that he had grown rich.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN-HAIRED CHILDREN\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in days long gone by, when my father was my father,\nand I was my fathers son, when my father was my son, and I was my\nfather\u2019s mother, once upon a time, I say, at the uttermost ends of the\nworld, hard by the realm of demons, stood a great city.\n\nIn this same city there dwelt three poor damsels, the daughters of a\npoor wood-cutter. From morn to eve, from evening to morning, they did\nnothing but sew and stitch, and when the embroideries were finished, one\nof them would go to the market-place and sell them, and so purchase\nwherewithal to live upon.\n\nNow it fell out, one day, that the Padishah of that city was wroth with\nthe people, and in his rage he commanded that for three days and three\nnights nobody should light a candle in that city. What were these three\npoor sisters to do? They could not work in the dark. So they covered\ntheir window with a large thick curtain, lit a tiny rushlight, and sat\nthem down to earn their daily bread.\n\nOn the third night of the prohibition, the Padishah took it into his\nhead to go round the city himself to see whether every one was keeping\nhis commandment. He chanced to step in front of the house of the three\npoor damsels, and as the folds of the curtain did not quite cover the\nbottom of the window he caught sight of the light within. The damsels,\nhowever, little suspecting their danger, went on sewing and stitching\nand talking amongst themselves about their poor affairs.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said the eldest, \u201cif only the Padishah would wed me to his chief\ncook, what delicious dishes I should have every day. Yes, and I would\nembroider him for it a carpet so long that all his horses and all his\nmen could find room upon it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs for me,\u201d said the middling damsel, \u201cI should like to be wedded to\nthe keeper of his wardrobe. What lovely splendid raiment I should then\nhave to put on. And then I would make the Padishah a tent so large, that\nall his horses and all his men should find shelter beneath it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d cried the youngest damsel, \u201cI\u2019ll look at nobody but the Padishah\nhimself, and if he would only take me to wife I would bear him two\nlittle children with golden hair. One should be a boy and the other a\ngirl, and a half-moon should shine on the forehead of the boy, and a\nbright star should sparkle on the temples of the girl.\u201d\n\nThe Padishah heard the discourse of the three damsels, and no sooner did\nthe red dawn shine in the morning sky than he sent for all three to the\npalace. The eldest he gave to his head pantler, the second to his head\nchamberlain, but the youngest he took for himself.\n\nAnd in truth it fared excellently well with the three damsels. The\neldest got so many rich dishes to eat, that when it came to sewing the\npromised carpet she could scarce move her needle for the sleep of\nsurfeit. So they sent her back again to the wood-cutters hut. The second\ndamsel, too, when they dressed her up in gold and silver raiment, would\nnot deign to dirty her fingers by making tents, so they sent her back\ntoo, to keep her elder sister company.\n\nAnd how about the youngest? Well, after nine months and ten days the two\nelder sisters came sidling up to the palace to see if the poor thing\nwould really be as good as her word, and bring forth the two wondrous\nchildren. In the gates of the palace they met an old woman, and they\npersuaded her with gifts and promises to meddle in the matter. Now this\nold woman was the devil\u2019s own daughter, so that mischief and malice\nwere her meat and drink. She now went and picked up two pups and took\nthem with her to the sick woman\u2019s bed.\n\nAnd oh, my soul! the wife of the Padishah brought forth two little\nchildren like shining stars. One was a boy, the other a girl; on the\nboys forehead was a half-moon and on the girl\u2019s a star, so that darkness\nwas turned to light when they were by. Then the wicked old woman\nexchanged the children for the pups, and told it in the ears of the\nPadishah that his wife had brought forth two pups. The Padishah was like\nto have had a fit in the furiousness of his rage. He took his poor wife,\nburied her up to the waist in the ground, and commanded throughout the\ncity that every passer-by should strike her on the head with a stone.\nBut no sooner had the evil witch got hold of the two children, than she\ntook them a long way outside the town, exposed them on the bank of a\nflowing stream, and returned to the palace right glad that she had done\nher work so well.\n\nNow close to the water where the two children lay stood a hut where\nlived an aged couple. The old man had a she-goat which used to go out in\nthe morning to graze, and come back in the evening to be milked, and\nthat was how the poor people kept body and soul together. One day,\nhowever, the old woman was\n\n[Illustration: The Golden-Haired Children.--p. 57.]\n\nsurprised to find that the goat did not give one drop of milk. She\ncomplained about it to the old man her husband, and told him to follow\nthe goat to see if perchance there was any one who stole the milk.\n\nSo the next day the old man went after the goat, which went right up to\nthe water\u2019s edge, and then disappeared behind a tree. And what do you\nthink he saw? He saw a sight which would have delighted your eyes\nalso--two golden-haired children were lying in the grass, and the goat\nwent right up to them and gave them to suck. Then she bleated to them a\nlittle, and so left them and went off to graze. And the old man was so\ndelighted at the sight of the little starry things, that he was like to\nhave lost his head for joy. So he took the little ones (Allah had not\nblessed him with children of his own) and carried them to his hut and\ngave them to his wife. The woman was filled with a still greater joy at\nthe children which Allah had given her, and took care of them, and\nbrought them up. But now the little goat came bleating in as if in sore\ndistress, but the moment she saw the children, she went to them and\nsuckled them, and then went out to graze again.\n\nBut time comes and goes. The two wondrous children grew up and scampered\nup hill and down dale, and the dark woods were bright with the radiance\nof their golden hair. They hunted the wild beasts, tended sheep, and\nhelped the old people by word and deed. Time came and went till the\nchildren had grown up, and the old people had become very old indeed.\nThe golden-haired ones grew in strength while the silver-haired ones\ngrew in feebleness, till, at last, one morning they lay dead there, and\nthe brother and sister were left all alone. Sorely did the poor little\nthings weep and wail, but was ever woe mended by weeping? So they buried\ntheir old parents, and the girl stayed at home with the little she-goat,\nwhile the lad went a-hunting, for how to find food was now their great\ncare and their little care too.\n\nOne day, while he was hunting wild beasts in the forest, he met his\nfather, the Padishah, but he did not know it was his father, neither did\nthe father recognize his son. Yet the moment the Padishah beheld the\nwondrously beautiful child, he longed to clasp him to his breast, and\ncommanded those about him to inquire of the child from whence he came.\n\nThen one of the courtiers went up to the youth, and said: \u201cThou hast\nshot much game there, my Bey!\u201d--\u201cAllah also has created much,\u201d replied\nthe youth, \u201cand there is enough for thee and for me also,\u201d and with that\nhe left him like a blockhead.\n\nBut the Padishah went back to his palace, and was sick at heart because\nof the boy; and when they asked what ailed him, he said that he had\nseen such a wondrously beautiful child in the forest, and that he loved\nhim so that he could rest no more. The boy had the very golden hair and\nthe same radiant forehead that his wife had promised him.\n\nThe old woman was sore afraid at these words. She hastened to the\nstream, saw the house, peeped in, and there sat a lovely girl, like a\nmoon fourteen days old. The girl entreated the old woman courteously,\nand asked her what she sought. The old woman did not wait to be asked\ntwice; indeed, her foot was scarce across the threshold when she began\nto ask the girl with honey-sweet words whether she lived all alone.\n\n\u201cNay, my mother,\u201d replied the girl; \u201cI have a young brother. In the\nday-time he goes hunting, and in the evening he comes home.\u201d\n\n\u201cDost thou not grow weary of being all alone here by thyself?\u201d inquired\nthe witch.--\u201cIf even I did,\u201d said the girl, \u201cwhat can I do? I must fill\nup my time as best I may.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me now, my little diamond! dost thou dearly love this brother of\nthine?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course I do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, my girl,\u201d said the witch, \u201cI\u2019ll tell thee something, but\ndon\u2019t let it go any further! When thy brother comes home this evening,\nfall to weeping and wailing, and keep it up with all thy might. When\nthen he asks what ails thee, answer him not, and when he asks thee\nagain, again give him never a word. When, however, he asks thee a third\ntime, say that thou art tired to death with staying at home here all by\nthyself, and that if he loves thee, he will go to the garden of the\nQueen of the Peris, and bring thee from thence a branch. A lovelier\nbranch thou hast never seen all thy life long.\u201d--The girl promised she\nwould do this, and the old woman went away.\n\nTowards evening the damsel burst forth a-weeping and wailing till both\nher eyes were as red as blood. The brother came home in the evening, and\nwas amazed to see his sister in such dire distress, yet could he not\nprevail upon her to tell him the cause of it. He promised her all the\ngrass of the field and all the trees of the forest if she would only\ntell him what was the matter, and, to satisfy the desire of his sister\u2019s\nheart, the golden-haired youth set off next morning for the garden of\nthe fairy queen. He went on and on, smoking his chibook and drinking\ncoffee, till he reached the boundaries of the fairy realm. He came to\ndeserts where no caravan had ever gone; he came to mountains where no\nbird could ever fly; he came to valleys where no serpent can ever crawl.\nBut his trust was in Allah, so he went on and on till he came to an\nimmense desert which the eye of man had never seen nor the foot of man\ntrodden. In the midst of it was a beautiful palace, and by the roadside\nsat the Mother of Devils, and the smell of her was as the pestilence in\nthe air all round about her.\n\nThe youth went straight up to the Mother of Devils, hugged her to his\nbreast, kissed her all over, and said: \u201cGood-day, little mother mine! I\nam thine own true lad till death!\u201d and he kissed her hand.\n\n\u201cA good-day to thee also, my little son!\u201d replied the Mother of Devils.\n\u201cIf thou hadst not called me thy dear little mother, if thou hadst not\nembraced me, and if thy innocent mother had not been under the earth, I\nwould have devoured thee at once. But tell me now, my little son,\nwhither away?\u201d\n\nThe poor youth said that he wanted a branch from the garden of the Queen\nof the Peris.\n\n\u201cWho put that word in thy mouth, my little son?\u201d asked the woman in\namazement. \u201cHundreds and hundreds of talismans guard that garden, and\nhundreds of souls have perished there by reason thereof.\u201d\n\nYet the youth did not hold back. \u201cI can but die once,\u201d thought\nhe.--\u201cThou dost but go to salute thy innocent, buried mother,\u201d said the\nold woman; and then she made the youth sit down beside her and taught\nhim the way: \u201cSet out on thy quest at daybreak, and never stop till\nthou dost see right in front of thee a well and a forest. Draw forth\nthine arrows in this forest and catch five to ten birds, but catch them\nalive. Take these birds to the well, and when thou hast recited a prayer\ntwice over, plunge the birds into the well and cry aloud for a key. A\nkey will straightway be cast out of the well, take it to thee, and go on\nthy way. Thou wilt come presently to a large cavern; open the door\nthereof with thy key, and, as soon as thy foot is inside, stretch forth\nthy right hand into the blank darkness, grip fast hold of whatever thy\nhand shall touch, drag the thing quickly forth, and cast the key back\ninto the well again. But look not behind thee all the time, or Allah\nhave mercy on thy soul!\u201d\n\nNext day, when the red dawn was in the sky, the youth went forth on his\nquest, caught the five to ten birds in the forest, got hold of the key,\nopened therewith the door of the cavern, and--oh, Allah!--stretched\nforth his right hand, gripped hold of something, and, without once\nlooking behind him, dragged it all the way to his sister\u2019s hut, and\nnever stopped till he got there. Only then did he cast his eyes upon\nwhat he had in his hand, and it was neither more nor less than a branch\nfrom the garden of the Queen of the Peris. But what a branch it was! It\nwas full of little twigs, and the twigs were full of little leaves, and\nthere was a little bird on every little leaf, and every little bird had\na song of its own. Such music, such melody was there as would have\nbrought even a dead man to life again. The whole hut was filled with\njoy.\n\nNext day the youth again went forth to hunt, and, as he was pursuing the\nbeast of the forest, the Padishah saw him again. He exchanged a word or\ntwo with the youth, and then returned to his palace, but he was now\nsicker than ever, by reason of his love for his son.\n\nThen the old woman strolled off to the hut again, and there she saw the\ndamsel sitting with the magic branch in her hand.\n\n\u201cWell, my girl!\u201d said the old woman, \u201cwhat did I tell thee? But that\u2019s\nnothing at all. If thy brother would only fetch thee the mirror of the\nQueen of the Peris, Allah knows that thou wouldst cast that branch right\naway. Give him no peace till he get it for thee.\u201d\n\nThe witch had no sooner departed than the damsel began screaming and\nwailing so that her brother was at his wit\u2019s end how to comfort her. He\nsaid he would take the whole world on his shoulders to please her, went\nstraight off to the Mother of Devils, and besought her so earnestly that\nshe had not the heart to say him nay.\n\n\u201cThou hast made up thy mind to go under the sod to thy innocent, buried\nmother, I see,\u201d cried she, \u201cfor not by hundreds but by thousands have\nhuman souls perished in this quest of thine.\u201d Then she instructed the\nyouth whither he should go and what he should do, and he set off on his\nway. He took an iron staff in his hand and tied iron sandals to his\nfeet, and he went on and on till he came to two doors, as the Mother of\nDevils told him he would beforehand. One of these doors was open, the\nother was closed. He closed the open door and opened the closed door,\nand there, straight before him, was another door. In front of this door\nwas a lion and a sheep, and there was grass before the lion and flesh\nbefore the sheep. He took up the flesh and laid it before the lion, then\nhe took up the grass and laid it before the sheep, and they let him\nenter unharmed. But now he came to a third door, and in front of it were\ntwo furnaces, and fire burned in the one and ashes smouldered in the\nother. He put out the flaming furnace, stirred up the cinders in the\nsmouldering furnace till they blazed again, and then through the door he\nwent into the garden of the Peris, and from the garden into the Peri\npalace. He snatched up the enchanted mirror, and was hastening away with\nit when a mighty voice cried out against him so that the earth and the\nheavens trembled. \u201cBurning furnace, seize him, seize him!\u201d cried the\nvoice, just as he came up to the furnace.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d answered the first furnace, \u201cfor he has put me out!\u201d But the\nother furnace was grateful to him for kindling it into a blaze again, so\nit let him pass by too.\n\n\u201cLion, lion, tear him to pieces!\u201d cried the mighty voice from the depths\nof the palace, when the youth came up to the two beasts.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d answered the lion, \u201cfor he helped me to a good meal of\nflesh!\u201d--Nor would the sheep hurt him either, because he had given it\nthe grass.--\u201cOpen door! let him not out!\u201d cried the voice from within\nthe palace.--\u201cNay, but I will!\u201d replied the door; \u201cfor had he not opened\nme I should be closed still!\u201d--and so the golden-haired youth was not\nvery long in getting home, to the great joy of his sister. She snatched\nat the mirror and instantly looked into it, and--Allah be praised!--she\nsaw the whole world in it. Then the damsel thought no more of the\nPeribranch, for her eyes were glued to the mirror.\n\nAgain the youth went a-hunting, and again he caught the eye of the\nPadishah. But the sight of the youth this third time so touched the\nfatherly heart of the Padishah that they carried him back to his palace\nhalf fainting. Then the witch guessed only too well how matters stood.\n\nSo she arose and went to the damsel, and so filled her foolish little\nhead with her tales that she persuaded her not to give her brother rest\nday and night till he had brought her the Queen of the Peris herself.\n\u201cThat\u2019ll make him break his hatchet anyhow!\u201d thought the old woman. But\nthe damsel rejoiced beforehand at the thought of having the Queen of the\nPeris also, and in her impatience could scarce wait for her brother to\ncome home.\n\nWhen her brother came home she shed as many tears as if she were a cloud\ndripping rain. In vain her brother tried to prove to her how distant and\nhow dangerous was the way she would fain have him go. \u201cI want the Queen\nof the Peris, and have her I must,\u201d cried the damsel.\n\nSo again the youth set out on his journey, went straight to the Mother\nof Devils, pressed her hand, kissed her lips, pressed her lips and\nkissed her hand, and said: \u201cOh, my mother! help me in this my sore\nneed!\u201d The Mother of Devils was amazed at the valour of the man, and\nnever ceased dissuading him from his purpose, for every human soul that\ngoes on such a quest must needs perish.--\u201cDie I may, little mother!\u201d\ncried the youth, \u201cbut I will not come back without her.\u201d\n\nSo what could the Mother of Devils do but show him the way? \u201cGo the same\nroad,\u201d said she, \u201cthat led thee to the branch, and then go on to where\nthou didst find the mirror. Thou wilt come at last to a large desert,\nand beyond the desert thou wilt see two roads, but look neither to the\nright hand nor yet to the left, but go right on through the sooty\ndarkness betwixt them. When now it begins to grow a little lighter, thou\nwilt see a large cypress wood, and in this cypress wood a large tomb. In\nthis tomb, turned to stone, are all those who ever desired the Queen of\nthe Peris. Stop not there, but go right on to the palace of the Queen of\nthe Peris and call out her name with the full strength of thy lungs.\nWhat will happen to thee after that not even I can tell thee.\u201d\n\nNext day the youth set out on his journey. He prayed by the wayside\nwell, opened all the gates he came to, and, looking neither to the right\nhand nor to the left, went on straight before him through the sooty\ndarkness. All at once it began to grow a little lighter, and a large\ncypress wood appeared right in front of him. The leaves of the trees\nwere of a burning green, and their drooping crowns hid snow-white tombs.\nNay, but they were not tombs, but stones as big as men. Nay, but they\nwere not stones at all, but men who had turned, who had stiffened, into\nstone. There was neither man, nor spirit, nor noise, nor breath of wind,\nand the youth froze with horror to his very marrow. Nevertheless he\nplucked up his courage and went on his way. He looked straight before\nhim all the time, and his eyes were almost blinded by a dazzling light.\nWas it the sun he saw? No, it was the palace of the Queen of the Peris!\nThen he rallied all the strength that was left in him and shouted the\nname of the Queen of the Peris with all his might, and the words had not\nyet died away upon his lips when his whole body up to his knee-cap\nstiffened into stone. Again he shouted with all his might, and he turned\nto stone up to his navel. Then he shouted for the last time with all his\nmight, and stiffened up to his throat first and then up to his head,\ntill he became a tombstone like the rest.\n\nBut now the Queen of the Peris came into her garden, and she had silver\nsandals on her feet and a golden saucer in her hand, and she drew water\nfrom a diamond fountain, and when she watered the stone youth, life and\nmotion came back to him.\n\n\u201cWell, thou youth thou,\u201d said the Queen of the Peris, \u201c\u2018tis not enough,\nthen, that thou hast taken away my Peri branch and my magic mirror, but\nthou must needs, forsooth, venture hither a third time! Thou shalt share\nthe fate of thy innocent buried mother, stone thou shalt become and\nstone shalt thou remain. What brought thee hither?--speak!\u201d\n\n\u201cI came for thee,\u201d replied the youth very courageously.\n\n\u201cWell, as thou hast loved me so exceedingly, no harm shall befall thee,\nand we will go away together.\u201d\n\nThen the youth begged her to have compassion on all the men she had\nturned to stone and give them back their lives again. So the Peri\nreturned to her palace, packed up her baggage, which was small in weight\nbut priceless in value, filled the little golden saucer with water, and\nsprinkled therewith all the stones and the whole multitude of the stones\nbecame men. They all took horse, and as they quitted the Peri realm, the\nearth trembled beneath them and the sky was shaken as if the seven\nworlds and the seven heavens were mingled together, so that the youth\nwould have died of fright if the Queen of the Peris had not been by his\nside. Never once did they look behind them, but galloped on and on till\nthey came to the house of the youth\u2019s sister, and such was their joy and\ngladness at seeing each other again that place could scarce be found for\nthe Queen of the Peris. But now the youth was in no great hurry to go\nhunting as before, for he had changed hearts with the lovely Queen of\nthe Peris, and she was his and he was hers.\n\nNow when the Queen of the Peris had heard the history of the children\nand their parents, and the fate of their innocent mother, she said one\nmorning to the youth: \u201cGo a-hunting in the forest, and thou wilt meet\nthe Padishah. The first thing he will do will be to invite thee to the\npalace, but beware lest thou accept his invitation.\u201d And so indeed it\nturned out. Scarcely had he taken a turn in the wood than the Padishah\nstood before him, and, one word leading to another, he invited the youth\nto his palace, but the youth would not go.\n\nEarly next morning the Peri awoke the children, clapped her hands\ntogether and called her Lala,[9] and immediately a huge negro sprang up\nbefore them. So big was he that one of his lips touched the sky while\nthe other swept the earth. \u201cWhat dost thou command me, my Sultana?\u201d\ncried the Lala.\n\n\u201cFetch me hither my father\u2019s steed!\u201d commanded the Peri.\n\nThe negro vanished like a hurricane, and, a moment afterwards, the steed\nstood before them, and the like of it was not to be found in the wide\nworld.\n\nThe youth leaped upon the horse, and the splendid suite of the Padishah\nwas already waiting for him at the roadside.\n\nBut--O Allah, forgive me!--I have forgotten the best of the story. The\nPeri charged the youth as he quitted her to take heed, while he was in\nthe palace of the Padishah, to the neighing of his horse. At the first\nneighing he was to hasten back.\n\nSo the youth went to meet the Padishah on his diamond-bridled charger,\nand behind him came a gay and gallant retinue. He saluted the people on\nthe right hand and on the left all the way to the palace, and there they\nwelcomed him with a pomp the like of which was never known before. They\nate and drank and made merry till the Padishah could scarce contain\nhimself for joy, but then the steed neighed, the youth arose, and all\ntheir entreaties to him to stay could not turn him from his set purpose.\nHe mounted his horse, invited the Padishah to be his guest on the\nfollowing day, and returned home to the Peri and his own sister.\n\nMeanwhile the Peri dug up the mother of the children, and so put her to\nrights again by her Peri arts that she became just as she was in the\ndays of her first youth. But she spake not a word about the mother to\nthe children, nor a word about the children to the mother. On the\nmorning of the reception of guests she rose up early and commanded that\non the spot where the little hut stood a palace should rise, the like of\nwhich eye hath never seen nor ear heard of, and there were as many\nprecious stones heaped up there as were to be found in the whole\nkingdom. And then the garden that surrounded that palace! There were\nmultitudes of flowers, each one lovelier than the other, and on every\nflower there was a singing bird, and every bird had feathers aglow with\nlight, so that one could only look at it all open-mouthed and cry: \u201cOh!\noh!\u201d And the palace itself was full of domestics, there were black harem\nslaves, and white captive youths, and dancers and singers, and players\nof stringed instruments--more than thou canst count, count thou never so\nmuch, and words cannot tell of the splendour of the retinue which went\nforth to greet the Padishah as a guest.\n\n\u201cThese children are not of mortal birth!\u201d thought the Padishah to\nhimself, when he beheld all these marvels, \u201cor if they _are_ of mortal\nbirth a Peri must have had a hand in the matter.\u201d\n\nThey led the Padishah into the most splendid room of the palace, they\nbrought him coffee and sherbet, and then the music spoke to him, and the\nsinging birds--oh! a man could have listened to them for ever and ever!\nThen rich meats on rare and precious dishes were set before him, and\nthen the dancers and the jugglers diverted him till the evening.\n\nAt eventide the servants came and bowed before the Padishah and said:\n\u201cMy lord! peace be with thee! They await thee in the harem!\u201d So he\nentered the harem, and there he saw before him the golden-haired youth,\nwith a beautiful half-moon shining on his forehead, and his bride, the\nPeri-Queen, and his own consort, the Sultana, who had been buried in\nthe earth, and by her side a golden-haired maiden with a star sparkling\non her forehead. There stood the Padishah as if turned to stone, but his\nconsort ran up to him and kissed the edge of his garment, and the\nPeri-Queen began to tell him the whole of her life and how everything\nhad happened.\n\nThe Padishah was nigh to dying in the fulness of his joy. He could\nscarce believe his eyes, but he pressed his consort to his breast and\nembraced the two beauteous children, and the Queen of the Peris\nlikewise. He forgave the sisters of the Sultana their offences, but the\nold witch was mercilessly destroyed by lingering tortures. But he and\nhis consort and her son and the Queen of the Peris, and his daughter,\nand his daughter\u2019s bridegroom sat down to a great banquet and made\nmerry. Forty days and forty nights they feasted, and the blessing of\nAllah was upon them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HORSE-DEVIL AND THE WITCH\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a Padishah who had three daughters. One day\nthe old father made him ready for a journey, and calling to him his\nthree daughters straightly charged them to feed and water his favourite\nhorse, even though they neglected everything else. He loved the horse so\nmuch that he would not suffer any stranger to come near it.\n\nSo the Padishah went on his way, but when the eldest daughter brought\nthe fodder into the stable the horse would not let her come near him.\nThen the middling daughter brought the forage, and he treated her\nlikewise. Last of all the youngest daughter brought the forage, and when\nthe horse saw her he never budged an inch, but let her feed him and then\nreturn to her sisters. The two elder sisters were content that the\nyoungest should take care of the horse, so they troubled themselves\nabout it no more.\n\nThe Padishah came home, and the first thing he asked was whether they\nhad provided the horse with everything. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t let us come near\nhim,\u201d said the two elder sisters; \u201cit was our youngest sister here who\ntook care of him.\u201d\n\nNo sooner had the Padishah heard this than he gave his youngest daughter\nto the horse to wife, but his two other daughters he gave to the sons of\nhis Chief Mufti and his Grand Vizier, and they celebrated the three\nmarriages at a great banquet, which lasted forty days. Then the youngest\ndaughter turned into the stable, but the two eldest dwelt in a splendid\npalace. In the daytime the youngest sister had only a horse for a\nhusband and a stable for a dwelling; but in the night-time the stable\nbecame a garden of roses, the horse-husband a handsome hero, and they\nlived in a world of their own. Nobody knew of it but they two. They\npassed the day together as best they could, but eventide was the time of\ntheir impatient desires.\n\nOne day the Padishah held a tournament in the palace. Many gallant\nwarriors entered the lists, but none strove so valiantly as the husbands\nof the Sultan\u2019s elder daughters.\n\n\u201cOnly look now!\u201d said the two elder daughters to their sister who dwelt\nin the stable, \u201conly look now! how our husbands overthrow all the other\nwarriors with their lances; our two lords are not so much lords as\nlions! Where is this horse-husband of thine, prythee?\u201d\n\nOn hearing this from his wife, the horse-husband shivered all over,\nturned into a man, threw himself on horseback, told his wife not to\nbetray him on any account, and in an instant appeared within the lists.\nHe overthrew every one with his lance, unhorsed his two brothers-in-law,\nand re-appeared in the stable again as if he had never left it.\n\nThe next day, when the sports began again, the two elder sisters mocked\nas before, but then the unknown hero appeared again, conquered and\nvanished. On the third day the horse-husband said to his wife: \u201cIf ever\nI should come to grief or thou shouldst need my help, take these three\nwisps of hair, burn them, and it will help thee wherever thou art.\u201d With\nthat he hastened to the games again and triumphed over his\nbrothers-in-law. Every one was amazed at his skill, the two elder\nsisters likewise, and again they said to their younger sister: \u201cLook how\nthese heroes excel in prowess! They are very different to thy dirty\nhorse-husband!\u201d\n\nThe girl could not endure standing there with nothing to say for\nherself, so she told her sisters that the handsome hero was no other\nthan her horse-husband--and no sooner had she pointed at him than he\nvanished from before them as if he had never been. Then only did she\ncall to mind her lord\u2019s command to her not to betray her secret, and\naway she hurried off to the stable. But \u2019twas all in vain, neither horse\nnor man came to her, and at midnight there was neither rose nor\nrose-garden.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d wept the girl, \u201cI have betrayed my lord, I have broken my word,\nwhat a crime is mine!\u201d She never closed an eye all that night, but wept\ntill morning. When the red dawn appeared she went to her father the\nPadishah, complained to him that she had lost her horse-husband, and\nbegged that she might go to the ends of the earth to seek him. In vain\nher father tried to keep her back, in vain he pointed out to her that\nher husband was now most probably among devils, and she would never be\nable to find him--turn her from her resolution he could not. What could\nhe do but let her go on her way?\n\nWith a great desire the damsel set out on her quest, she went on and on\ntill her tender body was all aweary, and at last she sank down exhausted\nat the foot of a great mountain. Then she called to mind the three\nhairs, and she took out one and set fire to it--and lo! her lord and\nmaster was in her arms again, and they could not speak for joy.\n\n\u201cDid I not bid thee tell none of my secret?\u201d cried the youth\nsorrowfully; \u201cand now if my hag of a mother see thee she will instantly\ntear thee to pieces. This mountain is our dwelling-place. She will be\nhere immediately, and woe to thee if she see thee!\u201d\n\nThe poor Sultan\u2019s daughter was terribly frightened, and wept worse than\never at the thought of losing her lord again, after all her trouble in\nfinding him. The heart of the devil\u2019s son was touched at her sorrow: he\nstruck her once, changed her into an apple, and put her on the shelf.\nThe hag flew down from the mountain with a terrible racket, and\nscreeched out that she smelt the smell of a man, and her mouth watered\nfor the taste of human flesh. In vain her son denied that there was any\nhuman flesh there, she would not believe him one bit.\n\n\u201cIf thou wilt swear by the egg not to be offended, I\u2019ll show thee what\nI\u2019ve hidden,\u201d said her son. The hag swore, and her son gave the apple a\ntap, and there before them stood the beautiful damsel. \u201cBehold my wife!\u201d\nsaid he to his mother. The old mother said never a word, what was done\ncould not be undone. \u201cI\u2019ll give the bride something to do all the same,\u201d\nthought she.\n\nThey lived a couple of days together in peace and quiet, but the hag was\nonly waiting for her son to leave the house. At last one day the youth\nhad work to do elsewhere, and scarcely had he put his foot out of doors\nwhen the hag said to the damsel: \u201cCome, sweep and sweep not!\u201d and with\nthat she went out and said she should not be back till evening. The\ngirl thought to herself again and again: \u201cWhat am I to do now? What did\nshe mean by \u2018sweep and sweep not\u2019?\u201d Then she thought of the hairs, and\nshe took out and burned the second hair also. Immediately her lord stood\nbefore her and asked her what was the matter, and the girl told him of\nhis mother\u2019s command: \u201cSweep and sweep not!\u201d Then her lord explained to\nher that she was to sweep out the chamber, but not to sweep the\nante-chamber.\n\nThe girl did as she was told, and when the hag came home in the evening\nshe asked the girl whether she had accomplished her task. \u201cYes, little\nmother,\u201d replied the bride, \u201cI have swept and I have not swept.\u201d--\u201cThou\ndaughter of a dog,\u201d cried the old witch, \u201cnot thine own wit but my son\u2019s\nmouth hath told thee this thing.\u201d\n\nThe next morning when the hag got up she gave the damsel vases, and told\nher to fill them with tears. The moment the hag had gone the damsel\nplaced the three vases before her, and wept and wept, but what could her\nfew teardrops do to fill them? Then she took out and burned the third\nhair.\n\nAgain her lord appeared before her, and explained to her that she must\nfill the three vases with water, and then put a pinch of salt in each\nvase. The girl did so, and when the hag came home in the evening and\ndemanded an account of her work, the girl showed her the three vases\nfull of tears. \u201cThou daughter of a dog!\u201d chided the old woman again,\n\u201cthat is not thy work; but I\u2019ll do for thee yet, and for my son too.\u201d\n\nThe next day she devised some other task for her to do; but her son\nguessed that his mother would vex the wench, so he hastened home to his\nbride. There the poor thing was worrying herself about it all alone, for\nthe third hair was now burnt, and she did not know how to set about\ndoing the task laid upon her. \u201cWell, there is now nothing for it but to\nrun away,\u201d said her lord, \u201cfor she won\u2019t rest now till she hath done\nthee a mischief.\u201d And with that he took his wife, and out into the wide\nworld they went.\n\nIn the evening the hag came home, and saw neither her son nor his bride.\n\u201cThey have flown, the dogs!\u201d cried the hag, with a threatening voice,\nand she called to her sister, who was also a witch, to make ready and go\nin pursuit of her son and his bride. So the witch jumped into a pitcher,\nsnatched up a serpent for a whip, and went after them.\n\nThe demon-lover saw his aunt coming, and in an instant changed the girl\ninto a bathing-house, and himself into a bath-man sitting down at the\ngate. The witch leaped from the pitcher, went to the bath-keeper, and\nasked him if he had not seen a young boy and girl pass by that way.\n\n\u201cI have only just warmed up my bath,\u201d said the youth, \u201cthere\u2019s nobody\ninside it; if thou dost not believe me, thou canst go and look for\nthyself.\u201d The witch thought: \u201c\u2018Tis impossible to get a sensible word out\nof a fellow of this sort,\u201d so she jumped into her pitcher, flew back,\nand told her sister that she couldn\u2019t find them. The other hag asked her\nwhether she had exchanged words with any one on the road. \u201cYes,\u201d replied\nthe younger sister, \u201cthere was a bath-house by the roadside, and I asked\nthe owner of it about them; but he was either a fool or deaf, so I took\nno notice of him.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Tis thou who wert the fool,\u201d snarled her elder sister. \u201cDidst thou not\nrecognize in him my son, and in the bath-house my daughter-in-law?\u201d Then\nshe called her second sister, and sent her after the fugitives.\n\nThe devil\u2019s son saw his second aunt flying along in her pitcher. Then he\ngave his wife a tap and turned her into a spring, but he himself sat\ndown beside it, and began to draw water out of it with a pitcher. The\nwitch went up to him, and asked him whether he had seen a girl and a boy\npass by that way.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s drinkable water in this spring,\u201d replied he, with a vacant\nstare, \u201cI am always drawing it.\u201d The witch thought she had to do with a\nfool, turned back, and told her sister that she had not met with them.\nHer sister asked her if she had not come across any one by the way.\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d replied she, \u201ca half-witted fellow was drawing water from\na spring, but I couldn\u2019t get a single sensible word out of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat half-witted fellow was my son, the spring was his wife, and a\npretty wiseacre thou art,\u201d screeched her sister. \u201cI shall have to go\nmyself, I see,\u201d and with that she jumped into her pitcher, snatched up a\nserpent to serve her as a whip, and off she went.\n\nMeanwhile the youth looked back again, and saw his mother coming after\nthem. He gave the girl a tap and changed her into a tree, but he himself\nturned into a serpent, and coiled himself round the tree. The witch\nrecognized them, and drew near to the tree to break it to pieces; but\nwhen she saw the serpent coiled round it, she was afraid to kill her own\nson along with it, so she said to her son: \u201cSon, son! show me, at least,\nthe girl\u2019s little finger, and then I\u2019ll leave you both in peace.\u201d The\nson saw that he could not free himself from her any other way, and that\nshe must have at least a little morsel of the damsel to nibble at. So he\nshowed her one of the girl\u2019s little fingers, and the old hag wrenched\nit off, and returned to her domains with it. Then the youth gave the\ngirl a tap and himself another tap, put on human shape again, and away\nthey went to the girl\u2019s father, the Padishah. The youth, since his\ntalisman had been destroyed, remained a mortal man, but the diabolical\npart of him stayed at home with his witch-mother and her kindred. The\nPadishah rejoiced greatly in his children, gave them a wedding-banquet\nwith a wave of his finger, and they inherited the realm after his\ndeath.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CINDER-YOUTH\n\n\nOnce upon a time that was no time, in the days when the servants of\nAllah were many and the misery of man was great, there lived a poor\nwoman who had three sons and one daughter. The youngest son was\nhalf-witted, and used to roll about all day in the warm ashes.\n\nOne day the two elder brothers went out to plough, and said to their\nmother: \u201cBoil us something, and send our sister out with it into the\nfield.\u201d--Now the three-faced devil had pitched his tent close to this\nfield, and in order that the girl might not come near them he determined\nto persuade her to go all round about instead of straight to them.\n\nThe mother cooked the dinner and the girl went into the field with it,\nbut the devil contrived to make her lose her road, so that she wandered\nfurther and further away from the place where she wanted to go. At last,\nwhen her poor head was quite confused, the devil\u2019s wife appeared before\nher and asked the terrified girl what she meant by trespassing there.\nThen she talked her over and persuaded her to come home with her, that\nshe might hide her from the vengeance of the devil, her husband.\n\nBut the three-faced devil had got home before them, and when they\narrived the old woman told the girl to make haste and get something\nready to eat while her maid-servant stirred up the fire. But scarcely\nhad she begun to get the dish ready than the devil crept stealthily up\nbehind her, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the girl whole, clothes\nand all.\n\nMeanwhile her brothers were waiting in the field for their dinner, but\nneither the damsel nor the victuals appeared. Afternoon came and went\nand evening too, and then the lads went home, and when they heard from\ntheir mother that their sister had gone to seek them early in the\nmorning they suspected what had happened--their little sister must have\nfallen into the hands of the devil. The two elder brothers did not think\ntwice about it, but the elder of them set off at once to seek his\nsister.\n\nHe went on and on, puffing at his chibook, sniffing the perfume of\nflowers and drinking coffee, till he came to an oven by the wayside. By\nthe oven sat an old man, who asked the youth on what errand he was\nbent. The youth told him of his sister\u2019s case, and said he was going in\nsearch of the three-faced devil, and would not be content till he had\nkilled him.--\u201cThou wilt never be able to slay the devil,\u201d said the man,\n\u201ctill thou hast eaten of bread that has been baked in this oven.\u201d--The\nyouth thought this no very difficult matter, took the loaves out of the\noven, but scarcely had he bitten a piece out of one of them than the\noven, the man, and the loaves all disappeared before his eyes, and the\nbit he had taken swelled within him so that he nearly burst.\n\nThe youth hadn\u2019t gone two steps further on when he saw on the highway a\nlarge cauldron, and the cauldron was full of wine. A man was sitting in\nfront of the cauldron, and he asked him the way, and told him the tale\nof the devil. \u201cThou wilt never be able to cope with the devil,\u201d said the\nman, \u201cif thou dost not drink of this wine.\u201d The youth drank, but: \u201cWoe\nbetide my stomach, woe betide my bowels!\u201d for so plagued was he that he\ncould not have stood upright if he had not seen two bridges before him.\nOne of these bridges was of wood and the other was of iron, and beyond\nthe two bridges were two apple-trees, and one bore unripe bitter apples\nand the other sweet ripe ones.\n\nThe three-faced devil was waiting on the road to see which bridge he\nwould choose, the wooden or the iron one, and which apples he would eat,\nthe sour or the sweet ones. The youth went along the iron bridge, lest\nthe wooden one might break down, and plucked the sweet apples, because\nthe green ones were bitter. That was just what the devil wanted him to\ndo, and he at once sent his mother to meet the youth and entice him into\nhis house as he had done his sister, and it was not long before he also\nfound his way into the devil\u2019s belly.\n\nAnd next in order, the middling brother, not wishing to be behind-hand,\nalso went in search of his kinsmen. He also could not eat of the bread\nhis inside also was plagued by the wine, he went across the iron bridge\nand ate of the sweet apples, and so he also found his way into the\ndevil\u2019s belly. Only the youngest brother who lay among the ashes\nremained. His mother besought him not to forsake her in her old age. If\nthe others had gone he at least could remain and comfort her, she said.\nBut the youth would not listen. \u201cI will not rest,\u201d said Cinderer, \u201ctill\nI have found the three lost ones, my two brothers and my sister, and\nslain the devil.\u201d Then he rose from his chimney corner, and no sooner\nhad he shaken the ashes from off him than such a tempest arose that all\nthe labourers at work in the fields left their ploughs where they stood,\nand ran off as far as their eyes could see. Then the youngest son\ngathered together the ploughshares and bade a blacksmith make a lance of\nthem, but a lance of such a kind as would fly into the air and come back\nagain to the hand that hurled it without breaking its iron point. The\nsmith made the lance, and the youth hurled it. Up into the air flew the\nlance, but when it came down again on to the tip of his little finger it\nbroke to pieces. Then the youth shook himself still more violently in\nthe ashes, and again the labourers in the field fled away before the\nterrible tempest which immediately arose, and the youth gathered\ntogether a still greater multitude of ploughshares and took them to the\nsmith. The smith made a second lance, and that also flew up into the air\nand broke to pieces when it came down again. Then the youth shook\nhimself in the ashes a third time, and such a hurricane arose that there\nwas scarce a ploughshare in the whole country-side that was not carried\naway. It was only with great difficulty that the smith could make the\nthird lance, but when that came down on the youth\u2019s finger it did not\nbreak in pieces like the others. \u201cThis will do pretty well,\u201d said the\nyouth, and catching up the lance he went forth into the wide world.\n\nHe went on and on and on till he also came to the oven and the cauldron.\nThe men who guarded the oven and the cauldron stopped him and asked him\nhis business, and on finding out that he was going to kill the devil,\nthey told the youth that he must first eat the bread of the oven and\nthen drink the wine in the cauldron if he could. The son of the cinders\nwished for nothing better. He ate the loaves that were baked in the\noven, drank all the wine, and further on he saw the wooden bridge and\nthe iron bridge, and beyond the bridges the apple-trees.\n\nThe devil had observed the youth from afar, and his courage began to\nooze out of him when he saw the deeds of the son of the ashes. \u201cAny fool\ncan go across the iron bridge,\u201d thought the youth, \u201cI\u2019ll go across the\nwooden one,\u201d and as it was no very great feat to eat the sweet apples he\nate the sour ones.--\u201cThere will be no joking with this one,\u201d said the\ndevil, \u201cI see I must get ready my lance and measure my strength with\nhim.\u201d\n\nThe son of the ashes saw the devil from afar, and full of the knowledge\nof his own valour went straight up to him.\n\n\u201cIf thou doest not homage to me, I\u2019ll swallow thee straight off,\u201d cried\nthe devil.\n\n\u201cAnd if thou doest not homage to me, I\u2019ll knock thee to pieces with my\nlance,\u201d replied the youth.\n\n\u201cOh ho! if we\u2019re so brave as all that,\u201d cried the three-faced monster,\n\u201clet us out with our lances without losing any more time.\u201d\n\nSo the devil out with his lance, whirled it round his head, and aimed it\nwith all his might at the youth, who gave but one little twist with his\nfinger, and crick-crack! the devil\u2019s lance broke all to bits. \u201cNow it\u2019s\nmy turn,\u201d cried the son of the cinders; and he hurled his lance at the\ndevil with such force that the devil\u2019s first soul flew out of his\nnose.--\u201cAt it again once more, if thou art a man,\u201d yelled the devil,\nwith a great effort. \u201cNot I,\u201d cried the youth, \u201cfor my mother only bore\nme once,\u201d whereupon the devil breathed forth his last soul also. Then\nthe youth went on to seek the devil\u2019s wife. Her also he chased down the\nroad after her husband, and when he had cut them both in two, lo and\nbehold! all three of his kinsfolk stood before him, so he turned back\nhome and took them with him. Now his brothers and sister had grown very\nthirsty in the devil\u2019s belly, and when they saw a large well by the\nwayside, they asked their brother Cinder-son to draw them a little\nwater. Then the youths took off their girdles, tied them together, and\nlet down the biggest brother, but he had scarcely descended more than\nhalf-way down when he began to shriek unmercifully: \u201cOh, oh, draw me up,\nI have had enough,\u201d so that they had to pull him up and let the second\nbrother try. And with him it fared the same way. \u201cNow \u2019tis my turn,\u201d\ncried Cinder-son, \u201cbut mind you do not pull me\n\n[Illustration: The Cinder-Youth and the Three Damsels.--p. 91.]\n\nup, however loudly I holloa.\u201d So they let down the youngest brother, and\nhe too began to holloa and bawl, but they paid no heed to it, and let\nhim down till he stood on the dry bottom of the well. A door stood\nbefore him, he opened it, and there were three lovely damsels sitting in\na room together, and each of them shone like the moon when she is only\nfourteen days old. The three damsels were amazed at the sight of the\nyouth. How durst he come into the devil\u2019s cavern? they asked--and they\nbegged and besought him to escape as he valued dear life. But the youth\nwould not budge at any price, till he had got the better of this devil\nalso. The end of the matter was that he slew the devil and released the\nthree damsels, who were Sultan\u2019s daughters, and had been stolen from\ntheir fathers and kept here for the last seven years. The two elder\nprincesses he intended for his two brothers, but the youngest, who was\nalso the loveliest, he chose for himself, and filling the pitcher with\nwater he brought the damsels to the bottom of the well, right below the\nmouth of it.\n\nFirst of all he let them draw up the eldest princess for his eldest\nbrother, then he made them pull up the middling princess for his\nmiddling brother, and then it came to the youngest damsel\u2019s turn. But\nshe desired that the youth should be drawn up at all hazards and herself\nafterwards. \u201cThy brethren,\u201d she explained, \u201cwill be wroth with thee for\nkeeping the loveliest damsel for thyself, and will not draw thee out of\nthe well for sheer jealousy.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll find my way out even then,\u201d answered the youth, and though she\nbegged and besought him till there was no more soul in her, he would not\nlisten to her. Then the damsel drew from her breast a casket and said to\nthe youth: \u201cIf any mischief befall thee, open this casket. Inside it is\na piece of flint, and if thou strike it once a negro efrit will appear\nbefore thee and fulfil all thy desires. If thy brethren leave thee in\nthe well, go to the palace of the devil and stand by the well. Two rams\ncome there every day, a black one and a white one; if thou cling fast to\nthe white one, thou wilt come to the surface of the earth, but if thou\ncling on to the black one thou wilt sink down into the seventh world.\u201d\n\nThen he let them draw up the youngest damsel, and no sooner did his\nbrethren see their brother\u2019s bride and perceive that she was the\nloveliest of all, than jealousy overtook them, and in their wrath they\nleft him in the well and went home with the damsels.\n\nSo what else could the poor youth at the bottom of the well do than go\nback to the devil\u2019s palace, stand by the well, and wait for the two\nrams? Not very long afterwards a white ram came bounding along before\nhim, and after that a black ram, and the youth, instead of catching\nhold of the white ram, seized the black one and immediately perceived\nthat he was at the bottom of the seventh world.... He went on and on, he\nwent for a long time and he went for a short time, he went by day and he\nwent by night, he went up hill and down dale till he could do no more,\nand stopped short by a large tree to take a little rest. But what was\nthat he saw before him? A large serpent was gliding up the trunk of the\ntree and would have devoured all the young birds on the tree if\nCinder-son had let him. But the youth quickly drew forth his lance and\ncut the serpent in two with a single blow. Then, like one who has done\nhis work well, he lay down at the foot of the tree, and inasmuch as he\nwas tired and it was warm he fell asleep at once.\n\nNow while he slept the emerald Anka, who is the mother of the birds and\nthe Padishah of the Peris, passed by that way, and when she saw the\nsleeping youth she fancied him to be her enemy, who was wont to destroy\nher children year by year. She was about to cut him to pieces, when the\nbirds whispered to her not to hurt the youth, because he had killed\ntheir enemy the serpent. It was only then that the Anka perceived the\ntwo halves of the serpent. And now, lest anything should harm the\nsleeping youth, she hopped round and round him, and touched him softly\nand sheltered him with both her wings lest the sun should scorch him,\nand when he awoke from his sleep the wing of the bird was spread over\nhim like a tent. And now the Anka approached him and said she would fain\nreward him for his good deed, and he might make a request of her. Then\nreplied the youth: \u201cI would fain get to the surface of the earth again.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d said the emerald bird, \u201cbut first thou must get forty tons\nof ox-flesh and forty pitchers of water and sit on my back with them, so\nthat when I say \u2018Gik!\u2019 thou mayest give me to eat, and when I say \u2018Gak!\u2019\nthou mayest give me to drink.\u201d\n\nThen the youth bethought him of his casket, took the flint-stone out of\nit, and struck it once, and immediately a black efrit with a mouth as\nbig as the world stood before him and said: \u201cWhat dost thou command, my\nSultan?\u201d--\u201cForty tons of ox-flesh, and forty pitchers of water,\u201d said\nthe youth. In a short time the efrit brought the flesh and the water,\nand the youth packed it all up together and mounted on the wing of the\nbird. Off they went, and whenever the Anka cried \u201cGik!\u201d he gave her\nflesh, and whenever she cried \u201cGak!\u201d he gave her water. They flew from\none layer of worlds to the next, till in a short time they got above the\nsurface of the earth again, and he dismounted from the bird\u2019s back and\nsaid to her: \u201cWait here a while, and in a short time I shall be back.\u201d\n\nThen the youth took out his coffer, struck the flint-stone, and bade the\nblack bounding efrit get him tidings of the three sisters. In a short\ntime the efrit re-appeared with the three damsels, who were preparing a\nbanquet for the brothers. He made them all sit on the bird\u2019s back, took\nwith him again forty tons of ox-flesh and forty pitchers of water, and\naway they all went to the land of the three damsels. Every time the Anka\nsaid \u201cGik!\u201d he gave her flesh to eat, and every time she said \u201cGak!\u201d he\ngave her water to drink. But as the youth now had three with him besides\nhimself, it came to pass that the flesh ran short, so that when the Anka\nsaid \u201cGik!\u201d once more he had nothing to give her. Then the youth drew\nhis knife, cut a piece of flesh out of his thigh, and stuffed it into\nthe bird\u2019s mouth.[10] The Anka perceived that it was human flesh and did\nnot eat it, but kept it in her mouth, and when they had reached the\nrealm of the three damsels, the bird told him that he might now go in\npeace.\n\nBut the poor youth could not move a step because of the smart in his\nleg. \u201cThou go on first,\u201d he said to the bird, \u201cbut I will first rest me\nhere a while.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, but thou art a droll rogue,\u201d quoth the bird, and with that it spit\nout of its mouth the piece of human flesh and put it back in its proper\nplace just as if it had never been cut out.\n\nThe whole city was amazed at the sight of the return of the Sultan\u2019s\ndaughters. The old Padishah could scarce believe his own eyes. He looked\nand looked and then he embraced the first princess; he looked and looked\nand then he kissed the second princess, and when they had told him the\nstory he gave his whole kingdom and his three daughters to Cinder-son.\nThen the youth sent for his mother and his sister, and they all sat down\nto the banquet together. Moreover he found his sister a husband who was\nthe son of the Vizier, and for forty days and forty nights they were\nfull of joyfulness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIECE OF LIVER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old woman who felt she would very much\nlike to have a piece of liver, so she gave a girl two or three pence,\nand bade her buy the liver in the market-place, wash it clean in the\npond, and then bring it home. So the girl went to the market-place,\nbought the liver, and took it to the pond to wash it; and while she was\nwashing it a stork popped down, snatched the liver out of her hand, and\nflew away with it. Then the girl cried: \u201cStork, stork! give me back my\nliver, that I may take it to my mammy, lest my mammy beat me!\u201d--\u201cIf thou\nwilt fetch me a barley-ear instead of it, I\u2019ll give thee back thy\nliver,\u201d said the stork. So the girl went to the straw-stalk, and said:\n\u201cStraw-stalk, straw-stalk! give me a barley-ear, that I may give the\nbarley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that\nI may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d--\u201cIf thou wilt pray Allah for rain,\nthou shalt have a little barley-ear,\u201d said the straw-stalk. But while\nshe was beginning her prayer, saying: \u201cOh, Allah, give me rain, that I\nmay give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a\nbarley-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork\nmay give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy,\u201d while\nshe was praying thus, up came a man to her and said that without a\ncenser no prayers could ever get to heaven, so she must go to the\nbazaar-keeper for a censer.\n\nSo she went to the bazaar-keeper, and cried: \u201cBazaar-keeper,\nbazaar-keeper! give me a censer, that I may burn incense before Allah,\nthat Allah may give me rain, that I may give rain to the straw-stalk,\nthat the straw-stalk may give me a barley-ear, that I may give the\nbarley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that\nI may give my liver to my mammy!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give it thee,\u201d said the bazaar-keeper, \u201cif thou wilt bring me a\nboot from the cobbler.\u201d\n\nSo the girl went to the cobbler, and said to him: \u201cCobbler, cobbler!\ngive me a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the\nbazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense before\nAllah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give rain to the\nstraw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barley-ear, that I may\ngive the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back the\nliver, that I may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d\n\nBut the cobbler said: \u201cIf thou fetch me a hide thou shalt have a boot\nfor it.\u201d\n\nSo the girl went to the tanner, and said: \u201cTanner, tanner! give me a\nhide, that I may give the hide to the cobbler, that the cobbler may give\nme a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the\nbazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense before\nAllah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give the rain to the\nstraw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barley-ear, that I may\ngive the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my\nliver, that I may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou gettest a hide from the ox, thou wilt get a hide fit for making\na boot,\u201d said the tanner.\n\nSo the girl went to the ox, and said to it: \u201cOx, ox! give me a hide,\nthat I may give the hide to the tanner, that the tanner may give me\nboot-leather, that I may give the boot-leather to the cobbler, that the\ncobbler may give me a boot, that I may give the boot to the\nbazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may\nburn incense before Allah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give\nthe rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a\nbarley-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork\nmay give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d\n\nThe ox said: \u201cIf thou get me straw I\u2019ll give thee a hide for it!\u201d\n\nSo the girl went to the farmer, and said to him: \u201cFarmer, farmer! give\nme straw, that I may give the straw to the ox, that the ox may give me a\nhide, that I may give the hide to the tanner, that the tanner may give\nme shoe-leather, that I may give the shoe-leather to the cobbler, that\nthe cobbler may give me a shoe, that I may give the shoe to the\nbazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may\nburn incense before Allah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give\nrain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barley-ear,\nthat I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me\nback my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d\n\nThe farmer said to the girl: \u201cI\u2019ll give thee the straw if thou give me a\nkiss.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d thought the girl to herself, \u201ca kiss is but a little matter if\nit free me from all this bother.\u201d So she went up to the farmer and\nkissed him, and the farmer gave her straw for the kiss. She took the\nstraw to the ox, and the ox gave her a hide for the straw. She took the\nhide to the tanner, and the tanner gave her shoe-leather. She took the\nshoe-leather to the cobbler, and the cobbler gave her a shoe for it. She\ntook the shoe to the bazaar-keeper, and the bazaar-keeper gave her a\ncenser. She lit the censer and cried: \u201cOh, Allah! give me rain, that I\nmay give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a\nbarley-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork\nmay give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy.\u201d Then\nAllah gave her rain, and she gave the rain to the straw-stalk, and the\nstraw-stalk gave her a barley-ear, and she gave the barley-ear to the\nstork, and the stork gave her back her liver, and she gave the liver to\nher mammy, and her mammy cooked the liver and ate it.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC TURBAN, THE MAGIC WHIP, AND THE MAGIC CARPET\n\n\nOnce upon a time that was no time there were two brothers. Their father\nand mother had died and divided all their property between them. The\nelder brother opened a shop, but the younger brother, who was but a\nfeather-brain, idled about and did nothing; so that at last, what with\neating and drinking and gadding abroad, the day came when he had no more\nmoney left. Then he went to his elder brother and begged a copper or two\nof him, and when that all was spent he came to him again, and so he\ncontinued to live upon him.\n\nAt last the elder brother began to grow tired of this waste, but seeing\nthat he could not be quit of his younger brother, he turned all his\npossessions into sequins, and embarked on a ship in order to go into\nanother kingdom. The younger brother, however, had got wind of it, and\nbefore the ship started he managed to creep on board and conceal\nhimself without any one observing him. The elder brother suspected that\nif the younger one heard of his departure he would be sure to follow\nafter, so he took good care not to show himself on deck. But scarcely\nhad they unfurled the sails when the two brothers came face to face, and\nthe elder brother found himself saddled with his younger brother again.\n\nThe elder brother was not a little angry, but what was the use of\nthat!--for the ship did not stop till it came to Egypt. There the elder\nbrother said to the younger brother: \u201cThou stay here, and I will go and\nget two mules that we may go on further.\u201d The youth sat down on the\nshore and waited for his brother, and waited, but waited in vain. \u201cI\nthink I had better look for him,\u201d thought he, and up he got and went\nafter his elder brother.\n\nHe went on and on and on, he went a short distance and he went a long\ndistance, six months was he crossing a field; but once as he looked over\nhis shoulder, he saw that for all his walking he walked no further than\na barley-stalk reaches. Then he strode still more, he strode still\nfurther, he strode for half a year continuously; he kept plucking\nviolets as he went along, and as he went striding, striding, his feet\nstruck upon a hill, and there he saw three youths quarrelling with one\nanother about something. He soon made a fourth, and asked them what they\nwere tussling about.\n\n\u201cWe are the children of one father,\u201d said the youngest of them, \u201cand our\nfather has just died and left us, by way of inheritance, a turban, a\nwhip, and a carpet. Whoever puts the turban on his head is hidden from\nmortal eyes. Whoever extends himself on the carpet and strikes it once\nwith the whip can fly far away, after the manner of birds; and we are\neternally quarrelling among ourselves as to whose shall be the turban,\nwhose the whip, and whose the carpet.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll three of them must belong to one of us,\u201d cried they all. \u201cThey are\nmine, because I am the biggest,\u201d said one.--\u201cThey are mine by right,\nbecause I am the middling-sized brother,\u201d cried the second.--\u201cThey are\nmine, because I am the smallest,\u201d cried the third. From words they\nspeedily came to blows, so that it was as much as the youth could do to\nkeep them apart.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t settle it like that,\u201d said he; \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what we\u2019ll do.\nI\u2019ll make an arrow from this little piece of wood, and shoot it off. You\nrun after it, and he who brings it to me here soonest shall have all\nthree things.\u201d Away flew the dart, and after it pelted the three\nbrothers, helter-skelter; but the wise youth knew a trick worth two of\nthat, for he stuck the turban on his head, sat down on the carpet,\ntapped it once with the whip, and cried: \u201cHipp--hopp! let me be where my\nelder brother is!\u201d and when he awoke a large city lay before him.\n\nHe had scarce taken more than a couple of steps through the street, when\nthe Padishah\u2019s herald came along, and proclaimed to the inhabitants of\nthe town that the Sultan\u2019s daughter disappeared every night from the\npalace. Whoever could find out what became of her should receive the\ndamsel and half the kingdom. \u201cHere am I!\u201d cried the youth, \u201clead me to\nthe Padishah, and if I don\u2019t find out, let them take my head!\u201d\n\nSo they brought the fool into the palace, and in the evening there lay\nthe Sultan\u2019s daughter watching, with her eyes half-closed, all that was\ngoing on. The damsel was only waiting for him to go to sleep, and\npresently she stuck a needle into her heel, took the candle with her,\nlest the youth should awake, and went out by a side door.\n\nThe youth had his turban on his head in a trice, and no sooner had he\npopped out of the same door than he saw a black efrit standing there\nwith a golden buckler on his head, and on the buckler sat the Sultan\u2019s\ndaughter, and they were just on the point of starting off. The lad was\nnot such a fool as to fancy that he could keep up with them by himself,\nso he also leaped on to the buckler, and very nearly upset the pair of\nthem in consequence. The efrit was alarmed, and asked the damsel in\nAllah\u2019s name what she was about, as they were within a hair\u2019s-breadth of\nfalling. \u201cI never moved,\u201d said the damsel; \u201cI am sitting on the buckler\njust as you put me there.\u201d\n\nThe black efrit had scarcely taken a couple of steps, when he felt that\nthe buckler was unusually heavy. The youth\u2019s turban naturally made him\ninvisible, so the efrit turned to the damsel and said: \u201cMy Sultana, thou\nart so heavy to-day that I all but break down beneath thee!\u201d--\u201cDarling\nLala!\u201d replied the girl, \u201cthou art very odd to-night, for I am neither\nbigger nor smaller than I was yesterday.\u201d\n\nShaking his head the black efrit pursued his way, and they went on and\non till they came to a wondrously beautiful garden, where the trees were\nmade of nothing but silver and diamonds. The youth broke off a twig and\nput it in his pocket, when straightway the trees began to sigh and weep\nand say: \u201cThere\u2019s a child of man here who tortures us! there\u2019s a child\nof man here who tortures us!\u201d\n\nThe efrit and the damsel looked at each other. \u201cThey sent a youth in to\nme to-day,\u201d said the damsel, \u201cmaybe his soul is pursuing us.\u201d\n\nThen they went on still further, till they came to another garden, where\nevery tree was sparkling with gold and precious stones. Here too the\nyouth broke off a twig and shoved it into his pocket, and immediately\nthe earth and the sky shook, and the rustling of the trees said:\n\u201cThere\u2019s a child of man here torturing us, there\u2019s a child of man here\ntorturing us,\u201d so that both he and the damsel very nearly fell from the\nbuckler in their fright. Not even the efrit knew what to make of it.\n\nAfter that they came to a bridge, and beyond the bridge was a fairy\npalace, and there an army of slaves awaited the damsel, and with their\nhands straight down by their sides they bowed down before her till their\nforeheads touched the ground. The Sultan\u2019s daughter dismounted from the\nefrit\u2019s head, the youth also leaped down; and when they brought the\nprincess a pair of slippers covered with diamonds and precious stones,\nthe youth snatched one of them away, and put it in his pocket. The girl\nput on one of the slippers, but being unable to find the other, sent for\nanother pair, when, presto! one of these also disappeared. At this the\ndamsel was so annoyed that she walked on without slippers; but the\nyouth, with the turban on his head and the whip and the carpet in his\nhand, followed her everywhere like her shadow. So the damsel went on\nbefore, and he followed her into a room, and there he saw the black\nPeri, one of whose lips touched the sky, while the other lip swept the\nground. He angrily asked the damsel where she had been all the time, and\nwhy she hadn\u2019t come sooner. The damsel told him about the youth who had\narrived the evening before, and about what had happened on the way, but\nthe Peri comforted her by saying that the whole thing was fancy, and she\nwas not to trouble herself about it any more. After that he sat down\nwith the damsel, and ordered a slave to bring them sherbet. A black\nslave brought the noble drink in a lovely diamond cup, but just as he\nwas handing it to the Sultan\u2019s daughter the invisible youth gave the\nhand of the slave such a wrench that he dropped and broke the cup to\npieces. A piece of this also the youth concealed in his pocket.\n\n\u201cNow didn\u2019t I say that something was wrong?\u201d cried the Sultan\u2019s\ndaughter. \u201cI want no sherbet nor anything else, and I think I had better\nget back again as soon as possible.\u201d--\u201cTush! tush!\u201d said the efrit, and\nhe ordered other slaves to bring them something to eat. So they brought\na little table covered with many dishes, and they began to eat together;\nwhereupon the hungry youth also set to work, and the viands disappeared\nas if three were eating instead of two.\n\nAnd the black Peri himself began to be a little impatient, when not only\nthe food but also the forks and spoons began to disappear, and he said\nto his sweetheart, the Sultan\u2019s daughter, that perhaps it would be as\nwell if she did make haste home again. First of all the black efrit\nwanted to kiss the girl, but the youth slipped in between them, pulled\nthem asunder, and one of them fell to the right and the other to the\nleft. They both turned pale, called the Lala with his buckler, the\ndamsel sat upon it, and away they went. But the youth took down a sword\nfrom the wall, bared his arm, and with one blow he chopped off the head\nof the black Peri. No sooner had his head rolled from his shoulders than\nthe heavens roared so terribly, and the earth groaned so horribly, and a\nvoice cried so mightily: \u201cWoe to us, a child of man hath slain our\nking!\u201d that the terrified youth knew not whether he stood on his head or\nhis heels.\n\nHe seized his carpet, sat upon it, gave it one blow with his whip, and\nwhen the Sultan\u2019s daughter returned to the palace, there she found the\nyouth snoring in his room. \u201cOh, thou wretched bald-pate,\u201d cried the\ndamsel viciously, \u201cwhat a night I\u2019ve had of it. So much the worse for\nthee!\u201d Then she took out a needle and pricked the youth in the heel, and\nbecause he never stirred she fancied he was asleep, and lay down to\nsleep herself also.\n\nNext morning when she awoke she bade the youth prepare for death, as his\nlast hour had come. \u201cNay,\u201d replied he, \u201cnot to thee do I owe an account\nof myself; let us both come before the Padishah.\u201d\n\nThen they led him before the father of the damsel, but he said he would\nonly tell them what had happened in the night if they called all the\npeople of the town together. \u201cIn that way I shall find my brother,\nperhaps,\u201d thought he. So the town-crier called all the people together,\nand the youth stood on a high da\u00efs beside the Padishah and the Sultana,\nand began to tell them the whole story, from the efrit\u2019s buckler to the\nPeri king. \u201cBelieve him not, my lord Padishah and father; he lies, my\nlord father and Padishah!\u201d stammered the damsel; whereupon the youth\ndrew from his pocket the diamond twig, the twig of gems, the golden\nslipper, the precious spoons and forks. Then he went on to tell them of\nthe death of the black Peri, when all at once he caught sight of his\nelder brother, whom he had been searching for so long. He had now\nneither eyes nor ears for anything else, but leaping off the da\u00efs, he\nforced his way on and on through the crowd to his brother, till they\nboth came together.\n\nThen the elder brother told _their_ story, while the younger brother\nbegged the Padishah to give his daughter and half the kingdom to his\nelder brother. He was quite content, he said, with the magic turban and\nthe magic whip and carpet to the day of his death, if only he might live\nclose to his elder brother.\n\nBut the Sultan\u2019s daughter rejoiced most of all when she heard of the\ndeath of the Peri king. He had carried her off by force from her room\none day, and so enchanted her with his power that she had been unable to\nset herself free. In her joy she agreed that the youth\u2019s elder brother\nshould be her lord; and they made a great banquet, at which they feasted\nforty days and forty nights with one another. I also was there, and I\nbegged so much pilaw[11] from the cook, and I got so much in the palm of\nmy hand, that I limp to this day.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WIND-DEMON\n\n\nThere was once upon a time an old Padishah who had three sons and three\ndaughters. One day the old man fell ill, and though they called all the\nleeches together to help him, his disease would not take a turn for the\nbetter. \u201cI already belong to Death,\u201d he thought, and calling to him his\nsons and daughters, he thus addressed them: \u201cIf I die, he among you\nshall be Padishah who watches three nights at my tomb. As for my\ndaughters, I give them to him who first comes to woo them.\u201d And with\nthat he died, and was buried as became a Padishah.\n\nNow as the realm could have a Padishah in no other way, the eldest son\nwent to his father\u2019s tomb and sat there for half the night, said his\nprayers upon his carpet, and awaited the dawn. But all at once a\nhorrible din arose in the midst of the darkness, and so frightened was\nhe that he snatched up his slippers and never stopped till he got home.\nThe next night the middling son also went out to the tomb, and he also\nsat there for half the night, but no sooner did he hear the great din\nthan he too caught up his slippers and hurried off homewards. So it now\ncame to the turn of the third and youngest son.\n\nThe third son took his sword, stuck it in his girdle, and went off to\nthe tomb. Sure enough, when he had sat there till midnight, he heard the\nhorrible din, and so horrible was it that the very earth trembled. The\nyouth pulled himself together, went straight towards the spot from\nwhence the noise came loudest, and behold! right in front of him stood a\nhuge dragon. Drawing his sword, the youth fell upon the dragon so\nfuriously that at last the monster had scarcely strength enough left to\nsay: \u201cIf thou art a man, put thy heel upon me and strike me with thy\nsword but once more!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d cried the King\u2019s son, \u201cmy mother only bore me into the world\nonce,\u201d whereupon the dragon yielded up its filthy soul. The King\u2019s son\nwould have cut off the beast\u2019s ears and nose, but he could not see very\nwell in the dark, and began groping about for them, when all at once he\nsaw afar off a little shining light. He went straight towards it, and\nthere in the midst of the brightness he saw an old man. Two globes were\nin his hand, one black and the other white; the black globe he was\nturning round and round, and from the white globe proceeded the light.\n\n\u201cWhat art thou doing, old father?\u201d asked the King\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cAlas! my son,\u201d replied the old man, \u201cmy business is my bane, I hold\nfast the nights and let go the days.\u201d--\u201cAlas! my father,\u201d replied the\nKing\u2019s son, \u201cmy task is even greater than thine.\u201d With that he tied\ntogether the old man\u2019s arms, so that he might not let go the days, and\nwent on still further to seek the light. He went on and on till he came\nto the foot of a castle wall, and forty men were taking counsel together\nbeneath it.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d inquired the King\u2019s son.--\u201cWe should like to go\ninto the castle to steal the treasure,\u201d said the forty men, \u201cbut we\ndon\u2019t know how.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would very soon help you if you only gave me a little light,\u201d said\nthe King\u2019s son. This the robbers readily promised to do, and after that\nhe took a packet of nails, knocked them into the castle wall, row after\nrow, right up to the top, clambered up himself, and then shouted down to\nthem: \u201cNow you come up one by one, just as I have done.\u201d\n\nSo the robbers caught hold of the nails and began to clamber up, one\nafter another, the whole forty of them. But the youth was not idle. He\ndrew his sword, and the moment each one of them reached the top, he\nchopped off his head and pitched his body into the courtyard, and so he\ndid to the whole forty. Then he leaped down into the courtyard himself,\nand there right before him was a beautiful palace; and no sooner had he\nopened the door than a serpent glided past him, and crawled up a column\nclose by the staircase. The youth drew his sword to strike the serpent;\nhe struck and cut the serpent in two, but his sword remained in the\nstone wall, and he forgot to draw it out again. Then he mounted the\nstaircase and went into a room, and there lay a lovely damsel asleep. So\nhe went out again, closed the door very softly behind him, and ascended\nto the second flight, and went into a room there, and before him lay a\nstill lovelier damsel on a bed. This door he also closed, and went up to\nthe third and topmost flight, and opened a door there also, and lo! the\nwhole room was piled up with nothing but steel, and such a splendid\ndamsel lay asleep there that if the King\u2019s son had had a thousand\nhearts, he would have loved her with them all. This door he also closed,\nremounted the castle wall, re-descended on the other side by means of\nthe nails, which he took out as he descended, and so reached the ground\nagain. Then he went straight up to the old man whose arms he had tied\ntogether. \u201cOh, my son!\u201d cried he from afar, \u201cthou hast remained a long\ntime away. Everybody\u2019s side will be aching from so much lying down.\u201d\nThen the youth untied his arms, the old man let the white globes of day\nmove round again, and the youth went up to the dragon, cut off its ears\nand nose, and put them in his knapsack. Then he went back to the palace,\nand when he drew nigh to it he found that they had made his eldest\nbrother Padishah. However, he let it be and said nothing.\n\nNot very long afterwards a lion came to the palace, and went straight up\nto the Padishah. \u201cWhat dost thou want?\u201d asked the Padishah. \u201cI want thy\neldest sister to wife,\u201d replied the lion. \u201cI give not my sister to a\nbrute beast,\u201d said the Padishah, and forthwith they began chasing the\nlion away; but now the King\u2019s son appeared and said: \u201cSuch was not our\nfather\u2019s will, but he said we were to give her to whomsoever asked for\nher.\u201d With that they brought the damsel and gave her to the lion, and he\ntook her and was gone.\n\nThe next day came a tiger, and demanded the middling daughter from the\nPadishah. The two elder brethren would by no means give her up, but\nagain the youngest brother insisted that they should do so, as it was\ntheir father\u2019s wish. So they sent for the damsel and gave her to the\ntiger.\n\nOn the third day a bird alighted in the palace, and said that he must\nhave the youngest of the Sultan\u2019s daughters. The Padishah and the\nsecond brother were again unwilling to agree to it, but the youngest\nbrother stood them out that the bird ought to be allowed to fly back\nwith his sister. Now this bird was the Padishah of the Peris, the\nemerald Anka. But now let us see what happened in that castle of which\nwe have before spoken.\n\nIn this castle there dwelt just about this time a Padishah and his three\ndaughters. Rising one morning and going out, he saw a man walking in the\npalace. He went out into the courtyard, and saw a serpent cut in two on\nthe staircase, and a sword sticking in the stone column, and going on\nstill further, and searching in all directions, he perceived the bodies\nof the forty robbers in his castle moat. \u201cNot an enemy, but only the\nhand of a friend could have done this,\u201d thought he; \u201cand he has saved me\nfrom the robbers and the serpent. The sword is my good friend\u2019s, but\nwhere is the sword\u2019s master?\u201d And he took counsel with his Vizier.\n\n\u201cOh, we\u2019ll soon get to the bottom of that,\u201d said the Vizier. \u201cLet us\nmake a great bath, and invite every one to come and bathe in it for\nnothing. We will watch carefully each single man, and whosoever has a\nsheath without a sword will be the man who has saved us.\u201d And the\nPadishah did so. He made ready a big bath, and the whole realm came and\nbathed in it.\n\nNext day the Vizier said to him: \u201cEvery one has been here to bathe save\nonly the King\u2019s three sons, they still remain behind.\u201d Then the Padishah\nsent word to the King\u2019s three sons to come and bathe, and looking\nclosely at their garments, he perceived that the youngest of the three\nwore a sheath without a sword.\n\nThen the Padishah called the King\u2019s son to him and said: \u201cGreat is the\ngood thou hast done to me, ask me what thou wilt for it!\u201d--\u201cI ask nought\nfrom thee,\u201d replied the King\u2019s son, \u201cbut thy youngest daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! my son, ask me anything but that,\u201d sighed the Padishah. \u201cAsk my\ncrown, my kingdom, and I\u2019ll give them to thee, but my daughter I cannot\ngive thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou givest me thy daughter I will take her,\u201d replied the King\u2019s\nson, \u201cbut nought else will I take from thy hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d groaned the Padishah, \u201cI will give thee my eldest daughter,\nI\u2019ll give thee my second daughter, nay, I\u2019ll give thee the pair of them\nif thou wilt. But my youngest daughter has a deadly enemy, the\nWind-Demon. Because I would not give her to him, I must needs fence her\nroom about with walls of steel, lest any of the devil race draw near to\nher. For the Wind-Demon is such a terrible monster that eye cannot see\nnor dart overtake him; like the tempest he flies, and his coming is like\nthe coming of a whirlwind.\u201d\n\nBut whatever the Padishah might say to turn him from seeking after the\ndamsel fell on deaf ears. He begged and pleaded so hard for the damsel\nthat the Padishah was wearied by his much speaking, and promised him the\ndamsel, nay they held the bridal banquet. The two elder brothers\nreceived the two elder damsels, and returned to their kingdom, but the\nyoungest brother remained behind to guard his wife against the\nWind-Demon.\n\nTime came and went, and the King\u2019s son avoided the light of day for the\nsake of his lovely Sultana. One day, however, the King\u2019s son said to his\nwife: \u201cBehold now, my Sultana, all this time I have never moved from thy\nside, methinks I will go a-hunting, though it only be for a little hour\nor so.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! my King,\u201d replied his wife, \u201cif thou dost depart from me, I know\nthat thou wilt never see me more.\u201d But as he begged her for leave again\nand again, and promised to be back again immediately, his wife\nconsented. Then he took his weapons and went forth into the forest.\n\nNow the Wind-Demon had been awaiting this chance all along. He feared\nthe famous prince, and durst not snatch his wife from his arms; but as\nsoon as ever the King\u2019s son had put his foot out of doors, the\nWind-Demon came in and vanished with the wife of the King\u2019s son.\n\nNot very long afterwards the King\u2019s son came back, and could find his\nwife nowhere. He went to the Padishah to seek her, and came back again,\nfor it was certain that the Demon must have taken her, no other living\nsoul could have got near her. Bitterly did he weep, fiercely did he dash\nhimself against the floor, but then he quickly rose up again, took\nhorse, and galloped away into the wide world, determined to find either\ndeath or his consort.\n\nHe went on for days, he went on for weeks, in his trouble and anguish he\ngave himself no rest. All at once a palace sprang up before him, but it\nseemed to him like a mirage, which baffles the eye that looks upon it.\nIt was the palace of his eldest sister. The damsel was just then looking\nout of the window, and lo! she caught sight of a man wandering there\nwhere never a bird had flown and never a caravan had travelled. Then she\nrecognized him as her brother, and so great was their mutual joy that\nthey could not come to words for hugging and kissing.\n\nTowards evening the damsel said to the King\u2019s son: \u201cThe lion will be\nhere shortly, and although he is very good to me, he is only a brute\nbeast for all that, and may do thee a mischief.\u201d And she took her\nbrother and hid him.\n\n[Illustration: The King\u2019s Son and the Lion.--p. 121.]\n\nIn the evening the lion came home sure enough, and when they had sat\ndown together and begun to talk, the girl asked him what he would do if\nany of her brothers should chance to come there. \u201cIf the eldest were to\ncome,\u201d said the lion, \u201cI would strike him dead with one blow, if the\nsecond came I would slay him also, but if the youngest came, I would let\nhim go to sleep on my paws if he liked.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he has come,\u201d said his wife.\n\n\u201cWhere is he--where is he? Bring him out, let me see him!\u201d cried the\nlion; and when the King\u2019s son appeared, the lion did not know what to do\nwith himself for joy. Then they began to talk, and the lion asked him\nwhy he had come there, and whither he was going. The youth told him what\nhad happened, and said he was going to seek the Wind-Demon.\n\n\u201cI know but the rumour of him,\u201d said the lion; \u201cbut take my word for it,\nthou hadst better have nothing to do with him, for there is none that\ncan cope with the Wind-Demon.\u201d But the King\u2019s son would not listen to\nreason, remained there that night, and next morning mounted his horse\nagain. The lion accompanied him to show him the right way, and then they\nparted, one going to the right and the other to the left.\n\nAgain he went on and on, till he saw another palace, and this was the\npalace of his middling sister. The damsel saw from the window that a\nman was on the road, and no sooner did she recognize him than she rushed\nout to meet him, and led him into the palace. Full of joy, they\nconversed together till the evening, and then the damsel said to the\nyouth: \u201cIn a short time my tiger-husband will be here, I\u2019ll hide thee\nfrom him, lest a mischief befall thee,\u201d and she took her brother and hid\nhim.\n\nIn the evening the tiger came home, and while they talked together his\nwife asked him what he would do if any of her brothers should chance to\nlook in upon them.\n\n\u201cIf the elder were to come,\u201d said the tiger, \u201cI would strike them dead,\nbut if the youngest came, I would go down on my knees before him.\u201d\nWhereupon the damsel called to her youngest brother, the King\u2019s son, to\ncome forth. The tiger was overjoyed to see him, welcomed him as a\nbrother, and asked him whence he came and whither he was going. Then the\nKing\u2019s son told the tiger of all his trouble, and asked him whether he\nknew the Wind-Demon. \u201cOnly by hearsay,\u201d replied the tiger; and then he\ntried to persuade the King\u2019s son not to go, for the danger was great.\nBut the red dawn had no sooner appeared than the King\u2019s son was ready to\nset out again. The tiger showed him the way, and the one went back and\nthe other went forward.\n\nHe pursued his way, and it was endlessly long, but time passes quickly\nin a fairy tale, and at last a dark object stood out against him. \u201cWhat\ncan it be?\u201d thought he, but when he drew nearer he saw that it was a\npalace. It was the abode of his youngest sister. The damsel was just\nthen looking out of the window. \u201cAlas! my brother!\u201d cried she, and very\nnearly fell out of the window for pure joy. Then she led him into the\nhouse. The youth rejoiced that he had found all his sisters so well, but\nthe lack of his wife was still a weight upon his heart.\n\nNow when evening was drawing nigh the girl said to her brother: \u201cMy\nbird-husband will be here anon; conceal thyself from him, for if he see\nthee he will tear thy heart out,\u201d and with that she took her brother and\nhid him.\n\nAnd now there was a great clapping of wings, and the Anka had scarce\nrested a while when his wife asked him what he would do if any of her\nbrothers came to see them.\n\n\u201cAs to the two elder,\u201d said the bird, \u201cI would take them in my mouth,\nfly up to the sky with them, and cast them down from thence; but if the\nyoungest were to come, I would let him sit down on my wings and go to\nsleep there if he liked.\u201d Then the girl called forth her youngest\nbrother.\n\n\u201cAlas! my dear little child,\u201d cried the bird, \u201chow didst thou find thy\nway hither? Wert thou not afraid of the long journey?\u201d\n\nThe youth told what had happened to him, and asked the Anka whether he\ncould help him to get to the Wind-Demon.\n\n\u201cIt is no easy matter,\u201d said the bird; \u201cbut even if thou couldst get to\nhim, I would counsel thee to let it alone and stay rather among us.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d replied the resolute youth; \u201cI will either release my wife or\nperish there!\u201d Then the Anka saw that he could not turn him from his\npurpose, and began to explain to him all about the palace of the\nWind-Demon. \u201cHe is now asleep,\u201d said the Anka, \u201cand thou mayest be able\nto carry off thy wife; but if he should awake and see thee, he will\nwithout doubt grind thee to atoms. Guard against him thou cannot, for\neye cannot see and fire cannot harm him, so look well to thyself!\u201d\n\nSo next day the youth set out on his journey, and when he had gone on\nand on for a long, long time, he saw before him a vast palace that had\nneither door nor chimney, nor length nor breadth. It was the palace of\nthe Wind-Demon. His wife chanced just then to be sitting at the window,\nand when she saw her husband she leaped clean out of the window to him.\nThe King\u2019s son caught his wife in his arms, and there were no bounds to\ntheir joy and their tears, till at last the girl bethought her of the\nterrible demon.\n\n\u201cThis is now the third day that he has slept,\u201d cried she; \u201clet us hasten\naway before the fourth day is spent also.\u201d So they mounted, whipped up\ntheir horses, and were already well on their way when the Wind-Demon\nawoke on the fourth day. Then he went to the girl\u2019s door and bade her\nopen, that he might at least see her face for a brief moment. He waited,\nbut he got no answer. Then, auguring some evil, he beat in the door, and\nlo! the place where the damsel should have lain was cold.\n\n\u201cSo-ho, Prince Mehmed!\u201d cried he, \u201cthou hast come here, eh, and stolen\naway my Sultana? Well, wait a while! go thy way, whip up thy fleet\nsteed! for I\u2019ll catch thee up in the long run.\u201d And with that he sat\ndown at his ease, drank his coffee, smoked his chibook, and then rose up\nand went after them.\n\nMeanwhile the King\u2019s son was galloping off with the girl with all his\nmight, when all at once the girl felt the demon\u2019s breath, and cried out\nin her terror: \u201cAlas, my King, the Wind-Demon is here!\u201d Like a whirlwind\nthe invisible monster was upon them, caught up the youth, tore off his\narms and legs, and smashed his skull and all his bones till there was\nnot a bit of him left.\n\nThe damsel began to weep bitterly. \u201cEven if thou hast killed him,\u201d\nsobbed she, \u201clet me at least gather together his bones and pile them up\nsomewhere, for if thou suffer it, I would fain bury him.\u201d--\u201cI care not\nwhat thou dost with his bones!\u201d cried the Demon.\n\nSo the damsel took the bones of the King\u2019s son, piled them up together,\nkissed the horse between the eyes, placed the bones on his saddle, and\nwhispered in his ear: \u201cTake these bones, my good steed, take them to the\nproper place.\u201d Then the Demon took the girl and led her back to the\npalace, for the power of her beauty was so great that it always kept the\nDemon close to her. Into her presence, indeed, she never suffered the\nmonster to come. At the door of her chamber he had to stop, but he was\nallowed to show himself to her now and then.\n\nMeanwhile the good steed galloped away with the youth\u2019s bones till he\nstopped at the door of the palace of the youngest sister, and then he\nneighed and neighed till the damsel heard him. She rushed out to the\nhorse, and when she perceived the knapsack, and in the knapsack the\nbones of her brother, she began to weep bitterly, and dashed herself\nagainst the ground as if she would have dashed herself to pieces. She\ncould hardly wait for her lord the Anka to come home. At last there was\na sound of mighty wings, and the Padishah of the Birds, the emerald\nAnka, came home, and when he saw the scattered bones of the King\u2019s son\nin the basket, he called together all the birds of the air and asked\nthem, saying: \u201cWhich of you goes to the Garden of Paradise?\u201d\n\n\u201cAn old owl is the only one that goes there,\u201d said the birds, \u201cand he\nhas now grown so old that he has no more strength left for such a\njourney.\u201d\n\nThen the Anka sent a bird to bring the owl on his back. The bird flew\naway, and in a very short time was back again, with the aged owl on his\nback.\n\n\u201cWell, my father,\u201d said the Bird-Padishah, \u201chast thou ever been in the\nGarden of Paradise?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my little son,\u201d croaked the aged owl, \u201ca long, long time ago,\ntwelve years or more, and I haven\u2019t been there since.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if thou hast been there,\u201d said the Anka, \u201cgo again now, and bring\nme from thence a little glass of water.\u201d The old owl kept on saying that\nit was a long, long way for him to go, and that he would never be able\nto hold out the whole way. The Anka would not listen to him, but perched\nhim upon a bird\u2019s back, and the twain flew into the Garden of Paradise,\ndrew a glass of water, and returned to the Anka\u2019s palace.\n\nThen the Anka took the youth\u2019s bones and began to put them together. The\narms, the legs, the head, the thighs, everything he put in its proper\nplace; and when he had sprinkled it all with the water, the youth fell\na-gaping, as if he had been asleep and was just coming to himself again.\nThe youth looked all about him, and asked the Anka where he was, and how\nhe came there.\n\n\u201cDidn\u2019t I say that the Wind-Demon would twist thee round his little\nfinger?\u201d replied the Anka. \u201cHe ground all thy bones and sinews to dust,\nand we have only just now picked them all out of the basket. But now\nthou hadst better leave the matter alone, for if thou gettest once more\ninto the clutches of this demon, I know that we shall never be able to\nput thee together again.\u201d\n\nBut the youth was not content to do this, but said he would go seek his\nconsort a second time.\n\n\u201cWell, if thou art bent on going at any price,\u201d counselled the Anka, \u201cgo\nfirst to thy wife and ask her if she knows the Demon\u2019s talisman. If only\nthou canst get hold of that, even the Wind-Demon will be in thy power.\u201d\n\nSo again the King\u2019s son took horse, again he went right up to the\nDemon\u2019s palace, and as the Demon was dreaming dreams just then, the\nyouth was able to find and converse with his wife. After they had\nrejoiced with a great joy at the sight of each other, the youth told the\nlady to discover the secret of the Demon\u2019s talisman, and win it by\nwheedling words and soft caresses if she could get at it no other way.\nMeanwhile the youth hid himself in the neighbouring mountain, and there\nawaited the good news.\n\nWhen the Wind-Demon awoke from his forty days\u2019 sleep he again presented\nhimself at the damsel\u2019s door. \u201cDepart from before my eyes,\u201d cried the\ngirl. \u201cHere hast thou been doing nothing but sleep these forty days, so\nthat life has been a loathsome thing to me all the while.\u201d\n\nThe Demon rejoiced that he was allowed to be in the room along with the\ndamsel, and in his happiness asked her what he should give her to help\nher to while away the time.\n\n\u201cWhat canst thou give me,\u201d said the girl, \u201cseeing that thou thyself art\nbut wind? Now if at least thou hadst a talisman, that, at any rate,\nwould be something to while away the time with.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! my Sultana,\u201d replied the Demon, \u201cmy talisman is far away, in the\nuttermost ends of the earth, and one cannot fetch it hither in a little\ninstant. If only we had some such brave man as thy Mehmed was, he\nperhaps might be able to go for it.\u201d\n\nThe damsel was now more curious than ever about the talisman, and she\ncoaxed and coaxed till at last she persuaded the Demon to tell her about\nthe talisman, but not till she had granted his request that he might sit\ndown quite close to her. The damsel could not refuse him that happiness,\nso he sat down beside her, and breathed into her ear the secret of the\ntalisman.\n\n\u201cOn the surface of the seventh layer of sea,\u201d began the Demon, \u201cthere is\nan island, on that island an ox is grazing, in the belly of that ox\nthere is a golden cage, and in that cage there is a white dove. That\nlittle dove is my talisman.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can one get to that island?\u201d inquired the Sultana.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell thee,\u201d said the Demon. \u201cOpposite to the palace of the emerald\nAnka is a huge mountain, and on the top of that mountain is a spring.\nEvery morning forty sea-horses come to drink at that spring. If any one\ncan be found to catch one of these horses by the leg (but only while he\nis drinking the water), bridle him, saddle him, and then leap on his\nback, he will be able to go wherever he likes. The sea-horse will say to\nhim: \u2018What dost thou command, my sweet master?\u2019 and will carry him\nwhithersoever he bids him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat good will the talisman be to me if I cannot get near it?\u201d said the\ngirl. With that she drove the Demon from the room, and when the time of\nhis slumber arrived, she hastened with the news to her lord. Then the\nKing\u2019s son made great haste, leaped on his horse, hastened to the palace\nof his youngest sister, and told the matter to the Anka.\n\nEarly next morning the Anka arose, called five birds, and said to them:\n\u201cLead the King\u2019s son to the spring on the mountain beyond, and wait\nthere till the sea-horses come up. Forty steeds will appear by the\nrunning water, and when they begin to drink, seize one of them, bridle\nand saddle it, and put the King\u2019s son on its back.\u201d\n\nSo the birds took the King\u2019s son, carried him up to the mountain close\nby the spring, and as soon as the horses came up, they did to one of\nthem what the Anka had said. The King\u2019s son sat on the horse\u2019s back\nforthwith, and the first thing the good steed said was: \u201cWhat dost thou\ncommand, my sweet master?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is an island on the surface of the seventh ocean,\u201d cried the\nKing\u2019s son, \u201cthere should I like to be!\u201d And the King\u2019s son had flown\naway before you could shut your eyes; and before you could open them\nagain, there he was on the shore of that island.\n\nHe dismounted from his horse, took off the bridle, stuck it in his\npocket, and went off to seek the ox. As he was walking up and down the\nshore a Jew met him, and asked him what had brought him there.\n\n\u201cI have suffered shipwreck,\u201d replied the youth. \u201cMy ship and everything\nI possess have perished, and only with difficulty did I swim ashore.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs for me,\u201d said the Jew, \u201cI am in the service of the Wind-Demon. Thou\nmust know that there is an ox on this island, and I must watch it night\nand day. Wouldst thou like to enter the service? Thou wilt have nothing\nelse to do all day but watch this beast.\u201d\n\nThe King\u2019s son took advantage of the opportunity, and could scarce await\nthe moment when he was to see the ox. At watering-time the Jew brought\nit along, and no sooner did he find himself alone with the beast than he\ncut open its belly, took out the golden cage, and hastened with it to\nthe sea-shore. Then he drew the bridle from his pocket, and when he had\nstruck the sea with it, the steed immediately appeared and cried: \u201cWhat\ndost thou command, sweet master?\u201d--\u201cI desire to be taken to the palace\nof the Wind-Demon,\u201d cried the youth.\n\nShut your eyes, open your eyes--and there they were before the palace.\nThen he took his wife, made her sit down beside him, and when the steed\nsaid: \u201cWhat dost thou command, sweet master?\u201d he bade it fly straight to\nthe emerald Anka.\n\nAway with them flew the steed. It flew right up to the very clouds, and\nas they were approaching the Anka\u2019s palace the Demon awoke from his\nsleep. He saw that his wife had again disappeared, and immediately set\noff in pursuit. Already the Sultana felt the breath of the Demon, and he\nhad all but overtaken them when the steed hastily bade them twist the\nneck of the white dove in the cage. They had barely time to do so, when\nthe Wind died away and the Demon was destroyed.\n\nWith great joy they arrived at the Anka\u2019s palace, let the horse go his\nway, and rested themselves awhile. On the next day they went to their\nsecond brother, and on the third day to their third brother, and it was\nonly then that the King\u2019s son discovered that his lion brother-in-law\nwas the King of the Lions, and his tiger brother-in-law the King of the\nTigers. At last they reached their home which was the domain of the\ndamsel\u2019s. Here they made a great banquet, and rejoiced their hearts for\nforty days and forty nights, after which they arose and went to the\nprince\u2019s own empire. There he showed them the tongue of the dragon and\nits nose, and as he had thus fulfilled the wishes of his father, they\nchose him to be their Padishah; and their lives were full of joy till\nthe day of their death, and their end was a happy one.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROW-PERI\n\n\nOnce upon a time that was no time there was a man who had one son. This\nman used to go out into the forest all day, and catch birds for sale to\nthe first comer. At last, however, the father died and the son was left\nall alone. Now he did not know what had been his fathers profession, but\nwhile he was searching all about the floor he came upon the\nfowling-snare. So he took it, went out into the forest, and set the\nsnare on a tree. At that moment a crow flew down upon the tree, but as\nthe snare was cunningly laid the poor bird was caught. The youth climbed\nup after it, but when he had got hold of the bird, the crow began\nbegging him to let her go, promising to give him in exchange something\nmore beautiful and more precious than herself. The crow begged and\nprayed till at last he let her go free, and again he set the snare in\nthe tree and sat down at the foot of it to wait. Presently another bird\ncame flying up, and flew right into the snare. The youth climbed up the\ntree again to bring it down, but when he saw it he was full of\namazement, for such a beautiful thing he had never seen in the forest\nbefore.\n\nWhile he was still gazing at it and chuckling, the crow again appeared\nto him and said: \u201cTake that bird to the Padishah, and he will buy it\nfrom thee.\u201d So the youth took away the bird, put it in a cage, and\ncarried it to the palace. When the Padishah saw the beautiful little\ncreature he was filled with joy, and gave the youth so much money for it\nthat he did not know what to do with it all. But the bird they placed in\na golden cage, and the Padishah had his joy of it day and night.\n\nNow the Padishah had a favourite who was grievously jealous of the good\nfortune of the youth who had brought the bird, and kept cudgelling his\nbrains how he could get him beneath his feet. At last he hit upon a\nplan, and going in to the Padishah one day he said: \u201cHow happy that bird\nwould be if only he had an ivory palace to dwell in!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the Padishah, \u201cbut whence could I get enough ivory to\nmake him a palace?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe who brought the bird hither,\u201d said the favourite, \u201cwill certainly be\nable to find the ivory.\u201d\n\nSo the Padishah sent for the little fowler, and bade him make an ivory\npalace for the bird there and then. \u201cI know thou canst get the ivory,\u201d\nsaid the Padishah.\n\n\u201cAlas, my lord Padishah!\u201d lamented the youth, \u201cwhence am I to get all\nthis ivory from?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is thy business,\u201d replied the Padishah. \u201cThou mayest search for it\nfor forty days, but if it is not here by that time thy head shall be\nwhere now thy feet are.\u201d\n\nThe youth was sore troubled, and while he was still pondering in his\nmind which road he should take, the crow came flying up to him, and\nasked him what he was grieving about so much. Then the youth told her\nwhat a great trouble that one little bird had brought down upon his\nhead.\n\n\u201cWhy this is nothing at all to fret about,\u201d said the crow; \u201cbut go to\nthe Padishah, and ask him for forty wagon-loads of wine!\u201d So the youth\nreturned to the palace, got all that quantity of wine, and as he was\ncoming back with the cars, the crow flew up and said: \u201cHard by is a\nforest, on the border of which are forty large trenches, and as many\nelephants as there are in the wide world come to drink out of these\ntrenches. Go now and fill them with wine instead of water. The elephants\nwill thus get drunk and tumble down, and thou wilt be able to pull out\ntheir teeth and take them to the Padishah.\u201d\n\nThe youth did as the bird said, crammed his cars full of elephants\u2019\ntusks instead of wine, and returned with them to the palace. The\nPadishah rejoiced greatly at the sight of all the ivory, had the palace\nbuilt, rewarded the little fowler with rich gifts, and sent him home.\n\nSo there was the sparkling bird in his ivory palace, and right merrily\ndid he hop about from perch to perch, but he could never be got to sing.\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the evil counsellor, \u201cif only his master were here he would\nsing of his own accord.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho knows who his master is, or where he is to be found?\u201d asked the\nPadishah sadly.\n\n\u201cHe who fetched the elephants\u2019 tusks could fetch the bird\u2019s master\nalso,\u201d replied the evil counsellor.\n\nSo the Padishah sent for the little fowler once more, and commanded him\nto bring the bird\u2019s master before him.\n\n\u201cHow can I tell who his master is, when I caught him by chance in the\nforest?\u201d asked the fowler.\n\n\u201cThat is thy look-out,\u201d said the Padishah; \u201cbut if thou find him not I\nwill slay thee. I give thee forty days for thy quest, and let that\nsuffice thee.\u201d\n\nSo the youth went home, and sobbed aloud in his despair, when lo! the\ncrow came flying up and asked him what he was crying for.\n\n\u201cWhy should I not cry?\u201d said the poor youth, and with that he began to\ntell the crow of his new trouble.--\u201cNay, but \u2019tis a shame to weep for\nsuch a trifle,\u201d said the crow. \u201cGo quickly now to the King and ask him\nfor a large ship, but it must be large enough to hold forty\nmaidservants, a beautiful garden also, and a bath-house.\u201d So the youth\nreturned to the King and told him what he wanted for his journey.\n\nThe ship was prepared as he had desired it, the youth embarked, and was\njust thinking whether he should go to the left or the right, when the\ncrow came flying up, and said to him: \u201cSteer thy ship always to the\nright, and go straight on until thou perceive a huge mountain. At the\nfoot of this mountain dwell forty Peris, and when they perceive thy ship\nthey will feel a strong desire to look at everything on board of it. But\nthou must allow only their Queen to come on board, for she is the owner\nof the bird, and while thou art showing her the ship, set sail and never\nstop till thou reach home.\u201d\n\nSo the youth went on board the ship, steered steadily to the right, and\nnever stopped once till he came to the mountain. There the forty Peris\nwere walking on the sea-shore, and when they saw the ship they all came\nrushing up that they might examine the beautiful thing. The Queen of the\nPeris asked the little fowler whether he would not show her the ship,\nespecially the inside of it, and he took her off in a little skiff and\nbrought her to the vessel.\n\nThe Peri was monstrously delighted with the beautiful ship, walked in\nthe garden with the damsels on board the ship, and when she saw the\nbath-room she said to the waiting-maids: \u201cIf I have come so far, I may\nas well have a bath into the bargain.\u201d With that she stepped into the\nbath-room, and while she was bathing the ship went off.\n\nThey had gone a good distance across the sea before the Peri had\nfinished her bathing. The Peri made haste, for it was now growing late,\nbut when she stepped upon the deck she saw nothing but the sea around\nher. At this she fell a-weeping bitterly. What would become of her? she\nsaid; whither was she going? into whose hands was she about to fall? But\nthe youth comforted her with the assurance that she was going to a\nKing\u2019s palace, and would be among good people.\n\nNot very long afterwards they arrived in the city, and sent word to the\nKing that the ship had come back. Then he brought the Peri to the\npalace, and as she passed by the ivory palace of the bird, it began to\nsing so beautifully that all who heard it were beside themselves for\njoy. The Peri was a little comforted when she heard it, but the King was\nfilled with rapture, and he loved the beautiful Peri so fondly that he\ncould not be a single moment without her. The wedding-banquet quickly\nfollowed, and with the beauteous Peri on his right hand, and the\nsparkling bird on his left, there was not a happier man in the world\nthan that Padishah. But the poison of envy devoured the soul of the evil\ncounsellor.\n\nOne day, however, the Sultana suddenly fell ill, and took to her bed.\nEvery remedy was tried in vain, but the sages said that nothing could\ncure her but the drug which she had left behind her in her own fairy\npalace. Then, by the advice of the evil counsellor, the young fowler was\nagain sent for to the palace, and commanded to go and seek for the drug.\n\nSo the good youth embarked on his ship again, and was just about to sail\nwhen the crow came to him and asked him whither he was going. The youth\ntold her that the Sultana was ill, and he had been sent to fetch the\ndrug from the fairy palace. \u201cWell then, go!\u201d said the crow, \u201cand thou\nwilt find the palace behind a mountain. Two lions stand in the gates,\nbut take this feather and touch their mouths with it, and they will not\nlift so much as a claw against thee.\u201d\n\nThe youth took the feather, arrived in front of the mountain,\ndisembarked, and quickly beheld the palace. He went straight up to the\ngates, and there stood the two lions. He took out his feather, and no\nsooner had he touched their mouths than they lay down one on each side\nand let him go into the palace. The Peris about the palace also saw the\nyouth, and immediately guessed that their Queen was ill. So they gave\nhim the drug, and immediately he took ship again, and returned to the\npalace of the Padishah. But the moment he entered the Peri\u2019s chamber\nwith the drug in his hand, the crow alighted on his shoulder, and thus\nthey went together to the sick Sultana\u2019s bed.\n\nThe Sultana was already in the throes of death, but no sooner had she\ntasted of the healing drug than she seemed to return to life again at a\nsingle bound. She opened her eyes, gazed upon the little fowler, and\nperceiving the crow upon his shoulder thus addressed her: \u201cOh, thou\nsooty slave! art thou not sorry for all that this good youth hath\nsuffered for my sake?\u201d Then the Sultana told her lord that this same\ncrow was her serving-maid, whom, for negligence in her service, she had\nchanged into a crow. \u201cNevertheless,\u201d she added, \u201cI now forgive her, for\nI see that her intentions towards me were good.\u201d\n\nAt these words the crow trembled all over, and immediately a damsel so\nlovely stood before the young fowler that there was really very little\ndifference between her and the Queen of the Peris. At the petition of\nthe Sultana, the Sultan married the youth to the Crow-Peri, the\nevil-minded counsellor was banished, and the fowler became Vizier in his\nstead. And their happiness lasted till death.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FORTY PRINCES AND THE SEVEN-HEADED DRAGON\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a Padishah, and this Padishah had forty sons.\nAll day long they disported themselves in the forest, snaring birds and\nhunting beasts, but when the youngest of them was fourteen years old\ntheir father wished to marry them. So he sent for them all and told them\nhis desire. \u201cWe will marry,\u201d said the forty brothers, \u201cbut only when we\nfind forty sisters who are the daughters of the same father and the same\nmother.\u201d Then the Padishah searched the whole realm through to find\nforty such sisters, but though he found families of thirty-nine sisters,\nfamilies of forty sisters he could never find.\n\n\u201cLet the fortieth of you take another wife,\u201d said the Padishah to his\nsons. But the forty brothers would not agree thereto, and they begged\ntheir father to allow them to go and search if haply they might find\nwhat they wanted in another empire. What could the Padishah do? He could\nnot refuse them their request, so he gave them his permission. But\nbefore they departed he summoned them into his presence, and this is\nwhat their father the Padishah said to them: \u201cI have three things to say\nto you, which bear ye well in mind. When ye come in your journey to a\nlarge spring, take heed not to pass the night near it. Beyond the spring\nis a caravanserai; there also ye must not abide. Beyond the caravanserai\nis a vast desert; and there also ye must not take a moment\u2019s rest.\u201d The\nsons promised their father that they would keep his words, and with\nbaggage light of weight but exceedingly precious, they took horse and\nset out on their journey.\n\nThey went on and on, they smoked their chibooks and drank forty cups of\ncoffee, and when evening descended the large spring was right before\nthem. \u201cVerily,\u201d began the elder brethren, \u201cwe will not go another step\nfurther. We are weary, and the night is upon us, and what need forty men\nfear?\u201d And with that they dismounted from their horses, ate their\nsuppers, and laid them down to rest. Only the youngest brother, who was\nfourteen years of age, remained awake.\n\nIt might have been near midnight when the youth heard a strange noise.\nHe caught up his arms, and turning in the direction of the sound saw\nbefore him a seven-headed dragon. They rushed towards each other, and\nthrice the dragon fell upon the prince, but could do him no harm. \u201cWell,\nnow it is my turn,\u201d cried the youth; \u201cwilt thou be converted to the true\nfaith?\u201d and with these words he struck the monster such a blow that six\nof his seven heads came flying down.\n\n\u201cStrike me once more,\u201d groaned the dragon.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d replied the youth, \u201cI myself only came into the world once.\u201d\nImmediately the dragon fell to pieces, but his one remaining head began\nto roll and roll and roll till it stood on the brink of the well.\n\u201cWhoever can take my soul out of this well,\u201d it said, \u201cshall have my\ntreasure also,\u201d and with these words the head bounded into the well.\n\nThe youth took a rope, fastened one end of it to a rock, and seizing the\nother end himself, lowered himself into the well. At the bottom of the\nwell he found an iron door. He opened it, passed through, and there\nright before him stood a palace compared with which his father\u2019s palace\nwas a hovel. Into this palace he went, and in it were forty rooms, and\nin each room was a damsel sitting by her embroidery frame with enormous\ntreasures behind her. \u201cArt thou a man or a spirit?\u201d cried the terrified\ndamsels.--\u201cA man am I, and the son of a man,\u201d replied the prince. \u201cI\nhave just slain a seven-headed dragon, and have followed its rolling\nhead hither.\u201d\n\nOh, how the forty damsels rejoiced at hearing these words. They embraced\nthe youth, and begged and prayed him not to leave them there. They were\nthe children of one father and one mother they said. The dragon had\nkilled their parents and carried them off, and they had nobody to look\nto in the whole wide world.\n\n\u201cWe also are forty,\u201d said the youth, \u201cand we are seeking forty damsels.\u201d\nThen he told them that he would first of all ascend to his brethren, and\nthen he would come for them again. So he ascended out of the well, went\nto the spring, lay down beside it and fell asleep.\n\nEarly in the morning the forty brothers arose and laughed at their\nfather for trying to frighten them with the well. Again they set out on\ntheir way, and went on and on till evening overtook them, when they\nperceived a caravanserai before them. \u201cNot a step further will we go,\u201d\nsaid the elder brothers. The youngest brother indeed insisted that it\nwould be well to remember their father\u2019s words, for his speech could\nsurely not have been in vain. But they laughed at their youngest\nbrother, ate and drank, said their prayers, and lay down to sleep. Only\nthe youngest brother remained wide awake.\n\nAbout midnight he again heard a noise. The youth snatched up his arms,\nand again he saw before him a seven-headed dragon, but much larger than\nthe former one. The dragon rushed at him first of all, but could not\novercome him, then the youth dealt him one blow and off went six of the\ndragon\u2019s heads. Then the dragon wished him to take one more blow but he\nwould not; the head rolled into a well, the youth went after it, and\ncame upon a palace larger than the former one, and with ever so much\nmore treasures and precious things in it. He marked the well so that he\nshould know it again, returned to his brothers, and wearied out with his\ngreat combat slept so soundly that his brothers had to wake him up with\nblows next morning.\n\nAgain they arose, took horse, went up hill and down dale, and just as\nthe sun was setting, behold! a vast desert stood before them. They fell\nto eating straightway, drank their fill also, and were just going to lie\ndown to sleep when all at once such a roaring, such a bellowing arose\nthat the very mountains fell down from their places.\n\nThe princes were horribly afraid, especially when they saw coming\nagainst them a gigantic seven-headed dragon. He vomited forth venomous\nfire in his wrath, and roared furiously: \u201cWho killed my two brothers?\nHither with him! I\u2019ll try conclusions with him also!\u201d\n\nThe youngest brother saw that his brethren were more dead than alive\nfrom fear, so he gave them the keys of the two wells, in one of which\nwas the vast heap of treasure, and in the other the forty damsels. Let\nthem take everything home, he said; as for himself he must first slay\nthe dragon and then he would follow after them. The thirty-nine brothers\nlost no time in mounting their horses and galloping off. They drew the\ntreasure out of one well and the forty damsels out of the other, and so\nreturned home to their father. But now we will see what happened to the\nyoungest brother.\n\nHe fought the dragon and the dragon fought him, but neither could get\nthe better of the other. The dragon perceived that it was vain to try\nand vanquish the youth, so he said to him: \u201cIf thou wilt go to the\nEmpire of Chin-i-Machin[12] and fetch me thence the Padishah\u2019s daughter,\nI will not worry the life out of thee.\u201d To this the prince readily\nagreed, for he could not have sustained the conflict much longer.\n\nThen Champalak, for that was the dragon\u2019s name, gave the prince a bridle\nand said to him: \u201cA good steed comes hither to feed every day, seize\nhim, put this bridle in his mouth, and bid him take thee to the Empire\nof Chin-i-Machin!\u201d So the youth took the bridle and waited for the good\ncharger. Presently a golden-maned charger came flying through the air,\nand the moment the prince had put the bridle in its mouth, the charger\nsaid: \u201cWhat dost thou command, little Sultan?\u201d and before you could wink\nyour eyes, the Empire of Chin-i-Machin stood before him. Then he\ndismounted from his horse, took off the bridle, and went into the town.\nThere he entered into an old woman\u2019s hut and asked her whether she\nreceived guests. \u201cWillingly,\u201d answered the old woman. Then she made\nready a place for him, and while he was sipping his coffee he asked her\nall about the talk of the town. \u201cWell,\u201d said the old woman, \u201ca\nseven-headed dragon is very much in love with our Sultan\u2019s daughter. A\nwar has been raging between them on that account these many years, and\nthe monster presses us so hardly that not even a bird can fly into our\nrealm.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen where is the Sultan\u2019s daughter?\u201d asked the youth.--\u201cIn a little\npalace in the Padishah\u2019s garden,\u201d replied the old woman, \u201cand the poor\nthing dare not put her foot outside it.\u201d\n\nThe next day the youth went to the Padishah\u2019s garden, and asked the\ngardener to take him as a servant, and he begged and prayed till the\ngardener had not the heart to refuse him. \u201cVery well, I will take thee,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cand thou wilt have nought to do but water the flowers of the\ngarden.\u201d\n\nNow the Sultan\u2019s daughter saw the youth, called him to her window, and\nasked him how he had managed to reach that realm. Then the youth told\nher that his father was a Padishah, that he had fought with the dragon\nChampalak on his travels, and had promised to bring him the Sultan\u2019s\ndaughter. \u201cYet fear thou nothing,\u201d added the youth, \u201cmy love is stronger\nthan the love of the serpent, and if thou wilt only have the courage to\ncome with me, trust me to find a way of disposing of him.\u201d\n\nThe damsel was so much in love with the prince, and so eager to escape\nfrom her captivity, that she consented to trust herself to him, and one\nnight they escaped from her palace and went straight towards the desert\nwhere dwelt the dragon Champalak. They agreed on the way that the girl\nshould find out what the dragon\u2019s talisman was, that they might destroy\nhim that way if they could do it no other.\n\nImagine the joy of Champalak when he perceived the princess! \u201cWhat joy,\nwhat rapture, that thou hast come!\u201d cried Champalak; but fondle her and\ncaress her as he might, the damsel did nothing but weep. Days passed by,\nweeks passed by, and yet the tears never left the damsel\u2019s eyes. \u201cTell\nme at least what thy talisman is,\u201d said the damsel to him one day, \u201cif\nthou wouldst see me happy and not wretched with thee all thy days.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, my soul!\u201d said the dragon, \u201cmy talisman is guarded in a place\nwhither it is impossible ever to come. It is in a large palace in a\nneighbouring realm, and though one may venture thither for it, no one\nhas ever been able to get back again.\u201d\n\nThe prince needed no more, that was quite good enough for him. He took\nhis bridle, went with it to the sea-shore, and summoned his golden-maned\nsteed. \u201cWhat dost thou command me, little Sultan?\u201d said the steed. \u201cI\ndesire thee to convey me to the neighbouring realm, to the palace of the\ntalisman of the dragon Champalak,\u201d cried the youth--and in no more time\nthan it takes to wink an eye, the palace stood before him.\n\nThen the steed said to the youth: \u201cWhen we reach the palace thou wilt\ntie the bridle to two iron gates, and when I neigh once and strike my\niron hoofs together, a door will open. In this open door thou wilt see a\nlion\u2019s throat, and if thou canst not kill that lion at one stroke,\nescape, or thou art a dead man.\u201d With that they went up to the palace,\nhe tied the horse to the two iron gates by his bridle, and when he\nneighed the door flew open. The youth struck with all his might at the\ngaping throat of the lion in the doorway and split it right in two. Then\nhe cut open the lion\u2019s belly, and drew out of it a little gold cage with\nthree doves in it, so beautiful that the like of them is not to be\nfound in the wide world. He took one of them and began softly stroking\nand caressing it, when all at once--pr-r-r-r!--away it flew out of his\nhand. The steed galloped swiftly after it, and if he had not caught it\nand wrung its neck it would have gone hard with the good youth.\n\nThen he mounted his steed again, and in the twinkling of an eye he stood\nonce more before Champalak\u2019s palace. In the gateway of the palace he\nkilled the second dove, so that when the youth entered the dragon\u2019s\nroom, there the monster lay quite helpless, and there was no more spirit\nin him at all. When he saw the dove in the youth\u2019s hand he implored him\nto let him stroke it for the last time before he died. The youth\u2019s heart\nfelt for him, and he was just about to hand the bird to him when the\nprincess rushed out, snatched the dove from his hand, and killed it,\nwhereupon the dragon expired before their very eyes. \u201c\u2018Twas well for\nthee,\u201d said the steed, \u201cthat thou didst not give him the dove, for if he\nhad got it, fresh life would have flowed into him.\u201d And with that the\nsteed disappeared, bridle and all.\n\nThen they got together the dragon\u2019s treasures, and went with them to the\nEmpire of Chin-i-Machin. The Padishah was sick for grief at the loss of\nthe damsel, and after searching for her in all parts of the kingdom in\nvain, was persuaded that she had fallen into the hands of the dragon.\nAnd lo! there she stood before him now, hand in hand with the King\u2019s\nson. Then there was such a marriage-feast in that city that it seemed as\nif there was no end to it. After the marriage they set out on their\njourney again, and travelled with a great escort of soldiers to the\nprince\u2019s father. There they had long held the King\u2019s son to be dead, and\nwould not believe that it was he even now till he had told them the tale\nof the three seven-headed dragons and the forty damsels.\n\nThe fortieth damsel was waiting patiently for him there, and the prince\nsaid to his wife: \u201cBehold now my second bride!\u201d--\u201cThou didst save my\nlife from the dragon,\u201d replied the Princess of Chin-i-Machin, \u201cI\ntherefore give her to thee, do as thou wilt with her!\u201d So they made a\nmarriage-feast for the second bride also, and they spent half their days\nin the Empire of the prince\u2019s father, and the other half in the Empire\nof Chin-i-Machin, and their lives flowed away in happiness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORLD\u2019S MOST BEAUTEOUS DAMSEL\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a Padishah who had an only son. His father\nguarded him as the apple of his eye, and there was not a desire of his\nheart that was not instantly gratified.\n\nOne night a dervish appeared to the King\u2019s son in a dream, and showed\nhim the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel, and there he drained with her the\ncup of love. After that the prince became another man. He could neither\neat nor drink. Sleep brought him neither pleasure nor refreshment, and\nhe all at once grew sallow and withered. They sent for doctor after\ndoctor, they sent for wizard after wizard, but they could not tell the\nnature of the malady or find a cure for it.\n\nThen the sick prince said to his father: \u201cMy lord Padishah and father,\nno leech, no wise man can help me, wherefore weary them in vain? The\nWorld\u2019s most beauteous Damsel is the cause of my complaint, and she will\nbe either the life or the death of me.\u201d\n\nThe Padishah was frightened at the words of his son, and his chief care\nwas to drive the damsel out of the lad\u2019s head. \u201c\u2018Tis dangerous to even\nthink of such a thing,\u201d said he, \u201cfor her love will be thy death.\u201d But\nhis son continued to pine away daily, and life had no joy for him. Again\nand again the father begged his son to tell him his heart\u2019s desire and\nit should be instantly fulfilled, and the eternal reply of the son was:\n\u201cLet me seek the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel.\u201d Then the Padishah\nthought to himself: \u201cIf I do not let him go he will only perish, and he\ncannot therefore be worse off if he goes.\u201d Then said he: \u201cGo, my son,\nafter thy love, and may the righteous Allah be merciful to thee.\u201d\n\nSo the next day the prince set out on his journey. He went up hill and\ndown dale, he crossed vast deserts, he traversed rugged wildernesses in\nsearch of his beloved, the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel. On and on he\nwent, till he came at last to the sea-shore, and there he saw a poor\nlittle fish writhing in the sand, and the fish besought him to throw it\nback into the sea again. The youth had compassion upon the fish, and\nthrew it back into the sea again. Then the little fish gave him three\nscales, and said to him: \u201cIf ever thou dost get into any trouble, burn\nthese scales.\u201d\n\nAgain the youth went on his way till he came to a vast desert, and\nthere on the ground in front of him he saw a lame ant. The little\ncreature told him that he was going to a wedding, but could not overtake\nhis comrades because they hastened so quickly. Then the youth took up\nthe ant and carried him to his comrades. As they parted the ant gave him\na little piece of its wing and said: \u201cIf ever thou shouldst get into any\ntrouble, burn this bit of wing.\u201d\n\nAgain the youth followed his road, full of weary woefulness, and\nreaching the borders of a large forest he there saw a little bird\nstruggling with a large serpent. The little bird asked help of the\nyouth, and with one blow he cut the serpent in two. The bird then gave\nhim three feathers. \u201cIf ever thou shouldst get into trouble,\u201d it said,\n\u201cburn these little feathers.\u201d\n\nAgain he took up his pilgrim\u2019s staff and went beyond the mountains,\nbeyond the sea, till he came to a large city. It was the realm of the\nfather of the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel. He went straight into the\npalace to the Padishah, and begged the hand of his daughter in the name\nof Allah. \u201cNay,\u201d said the Padishah, \u201cthou must first of all accomplish\nthree tasks for me. Only after that canst thou make known thy wishes to\nmy daughter.\u201d\n\nWith that he took a ring, cast it into the sea, and said to the King\u2019s\nson: \u201cIf thou canst not find it for me in three days, thou art a dead\nman.\u201d Then the King\u2019s son fell a-thinking till he bethought him of the\nthree scales, and he had no sooner burnt them than the little fish stood\nbefore him and said: \u201cWhat dost thou command, O my Sultan?\u201d--\u201cThe ring\nof the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel hath been cast into the sea, and I\nwant it back again,\u201d said the prince. Then the fish sought for the ring\nbut couldn\u2019t find it; it dived down a second time and still it couldn\u2019t\nfind it; a third time it descended right down into the seventh ocean,\ndrew up a fish, cut it open, and there was the ring. So the youth gave\nthe ring to the Padishah, and the Padishah gave it to his daughter.\n\nNow there was a cave near the palace full of gravel and grain. \u201cMy\nsecond task,\u201d said the Padishah, \u201cis that thou dost separate the grain\nfrom the gravel.\u201d Then the youth entered the cave, took out the ant\u2019s\nwing and burned it, whereupon the whole cave was swarming with ants, and\nthey set to work upon the grain in hot haste. The day was now nearly\nover, and the same evening the youth sent word to the Padishah that the\nsecond task also was accomplished.\n\n\u201cThe third task still remains,\u201d said the Padishah, \u201cand then thou mayest\nhave my daughter.\u201d With that he sent for a maid-servant, had her head\ncut off straightway, and then said to the youth: \u201cThus shall be done to\nthy head also if thou restore not this damsel to life again.\u201d The youth\nquitted the palace in deep thought, and at last he bethought him that\nthe bird\u2019s feathers might help him. So he took them out and burned them,\nand lo! the bird stood before him ere yet his lips had commanded it to\nappear. And the youth complained bitterly to the bird of the task that\nwas set him.\n\nNow the bird had friends among the Peris, and, flying up into the air,\nin no very long time was back again with a cruse of water in its beak.\n\u201cI have brought thee heavenly water which can give life even to the\ndead,\u201d said the bird. So the prince entered the palace, and no sooner\nhad he sprinkled the damsel with the water than she sprang up as if she\nhad never been dead at all.\n\nNow the rumour of all these things reached the ears of the World\u2019s most\nbeauteous Damsel, and she ordered the prince to be brought before her.\nThe damsel dwelt in a little marble palace, and before the palace was a\ngolden basin which was fed by the water of four streams. The courtyard\nof this palace also was a vast garden wherein were many great trees and\nfragrant flowers and singing-birds, and to the youth it seemed like the\ngate of Paradise.\n\nSuddenly the door of the palace was opened, and the garden was so\nflooded with light that the eyes of\n\n[Illustration: The World\u2019s most Beauteous Damsel.--p. 159.]\n\nthe youth were dazzled even to blindness. It was the World\u2019s most\nbeauteous Damsel who had appeared in the door of the palace, and the\ngreat light was the rosiness of her two radiant cheeks. She approached\nthe prince and spoke to him, but scarcely did the youth perceive her\nthan he fainted away before her eyes. When he came to himself again they\nbrought him into the damsel\u2019s palace, and there he rejoiced exceedingly\nin the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel, for her face was as the face of a\nHouri, and her presence was as a vision of Peris.\n\n\u201cOh, prince!\u201d began the damsel, \u201cthou that art the son of Shah Suleiman,\ncanst aid me in my deep distress. In the vast garden of the Demon of\nAutumn there is a bunch of singing-pomegranates: if thou canst get them\nfor me I will be thine for ever and ever.\u201d\n\nThen the youth gave her his hand upon it, the hand of loyal friendship,\nand departed far far away. He went on and on without stopping, he went\non, and for months and months he crossed deserts where man had never\ntrod, and mountains over which there was no path. \u201cOh, my Creator,\u201d he\nsighed, \u201cwilt thou not show me the right way?\u201d and he rose up again each\nmorning from the place where he had sunk down exhausted the night\nbefore, and so he went on and on from day to day till the path led him\nright down to the roots of the mountains. There it seemed to him as if\nit were the Day of Judgment. Such a noise, such a hubbub, such a\nhurly-burly of sounds arose that all the hills and rocks around him\ntrembled. The youth knew not whether it was friend or foe, man or\nspirit, and as he went on further, trembling with fear, the noise grew\nlouder and the dust rose up round about him like smoke. He knew not\nwhere he was going, but he might have known from what he heard that the\nsmaller garden of the Demon of Autumn was now but a six-months\u2019 journey\noff, and all this great hubbub and clamour was the talisman of the gate\nof the garden.\n\nAnd now he drew still nearer and could see the gate of the smaller\ngarden, and could hear the roaring of the talismans in the gate, and\ncould perceive the guardian of the gate also. Then he went up to him and\ntold him of his trouble. \u201cBut art thou not afraid of this great\ncommotion?\u201d asked the guardian of the gate. \u201cIs it not because of thee\nthat all the talismans are so impatient? even I am afraid thereat!\u201d\n\nBut the youth did nothing but inquire continually about the cluster of\nsinging-pomegranates.\n\n\u201c\u2018Tis a hard task to reach that,\u201d said the guardian, \u201cyet if thou art\nnot afraid, perhaps thou mayest get it after all. Three-months\u2019 journey\nfrom hence thou wilt come to such another place of talismans, there\nalso there is a garden, and the guardian of that garden is my own\nmother. But whatever thou dost, take care not to draw nigh to her, nor\nlet her draw nigh to thee. Give her my salaams, but tell her nothing of\nthy trouble unless she ask thee.\u201d\n\nSo the youth went on towards the second garden, and after a\nthree-months\u2019 journey such a monstrous din and racket arose around him\nas to make the former noise seem nothing. This was the greater garden of\nthe Demon of Autumn, and the great din proceeded from the talismans of\nthe garden. The youth lay down beside a rock, and when he had waited a\nlittle he saw something like a man approaching him, but as it came\nnearer he perceived that it was an old woman, a little beldame of thrice\nthirty winters. The hairs of her head were as white as snow, red circles\nwere round her eyes, her eyebrows were like pointed darts, the fire of\nhell was in her eyes, her nails were two ells long, her teeth were like\nfaggots, her two lips had only one jaw, she shuffled along leaning on a\nstick, drew in her breath through her nose, and coughed and sneezed at\nevery step she took. \u201cOh-oh! oh-oh!\u201d she groaned, shuffling painfully\nalong in her large slippers, till it seemed as if she would never be\nable to reach the new-comer. This was the mother of the guardian of the\nlesser garden, and she herself was the guardian of the larger one.\n\nAt last she got up to the youth, and asked him what he was doing in\nthose parts? The prince gave her the compliments of her son. \u201cAh, the\nvagabond!\u201d said the old woman, \u201cwhere didst thou meet with him? That\nwicked lad of mine knew that I would have compassion on thee, so he sent\nthee hither. Very well, let us make an end of thee.\u201d And with that she\nseized hold of him, and cried: \u201cHi, Earless!\u201d and something came running\nup to him, and before he knew where he was, the youth found himself\nseated on its back. He looked down upon it and saw beneath him a\ncreature like a shrunken huddled toad, that had neither eyes nor ears.\nThis was Earless, and away it went with him. When he first saw it, it\nwas as small as a worm, but the moment he was on its back it took such\nleaps that every three of them covered as much space as a vast ocean.\nSuddenly Earless stopped short and said to him: \u201cWhatever thou mayest\nsee, whatever thou mayest hear, take care not to speak, or it will be\nall up with thee,\u201d and with that it vanished.\n\nThere in the rippling water in front of the prince, like a dream-shape,\nlay a large garden. This garden had neither beginning nor end, and\nwithin it were such trees and flowers and sweet fruit as the eye of man\nhath never seen. Whithersoever one turned nothing was to be heard but\nthe rustling of soft wings and the songs of nightingales, so that the\nwhole atmosphere of that garden seemed to be an eternal song. The youth\nlooked all about him, his reason died away within him, he entered the\ngarden. But then he heard quite near to him such a woeful wailing that\nhis heart was like to break, and the thought of the cluster of\npomegranates occurred to his mind. His eyes sought for them in every\ndirection but in vain, till he came to the centre of the garden, where\nwas a fountain and a little palace made of flowers, and the pomegranates\nhung down from the flowery palace like so many shining lamps. The youth\nplucked a branch, but no sooner had he done so than there was a horrible\ncry, and a warning voice exclaimed--\n\n \u201cA son of man of us hath ta\u2019en,\n We by a son of man are slain!\u201d\n\nThe youth scarce had time to escape from the garden. \u201cHasten! fly!\u201d\ncried Earless, who was waiting again at the gate. The youth jumped on\nits back, and in a couple of leaps they were beyond the ocean. Then only\ndid the youth think of looking at the cluster of pomegranates. There\nwere fifty pomegranates on it, and each one had a different voice, and\neach voice had a different song--it was just as if all the music in the\nwide world was gathered together in one place. By this time they had\nreached the old grandmother, the old old beldame of thrice thirty\nwinters.\n\n\u201cGuard well thy pomegranate cluster,\u201d said the old woman, \u201cnever leave\nit out of thy sight. If on the first night of thy wedding thou and thy\nbride are able to listen to their music all night without going to sleep\nonce, these pomegranates will love thee, and after that thou wilt have\nnothing more to fear, for they will deliver thee from every ill.\u201d Then\nthey went from the old mother to the son; he also bade them take to\nheart his mother\u2019s words, and then the youth went on his way to his\nsole-beloved, the World\u2019s most beauteous Damsel.\n\nThe girl was awaiting him with the greatest impatience, for she also\ndearly loved the prince, and her days were passed in anxiety lest some\nmischief should befall the youth. All at once she heard the sound of\nmusic, the fifty pomegranates were singing fifty different songs with\nfifty different voices, and she opened her heart to the beautiful music.\nThe damsel rushed forth to meet the youth, and at their joyous embrace\nthe pomegranates rang out with a melody so sweet that the like of it is\nnot to be found in this world, but only in Allah\u2019s world beyond the\ngrave. Forty days and forty nights did the wedding-feast last, and on\nthe fortieth day the King\u2019s son went in unto his bride, and they lay\ndown and listened to the pomegranates. Then when the day was born again\nthey arose, and the pomegranate cluster rejoiced again in their love,\nand so they went on their way to the prince\u2019s own kingdom. There all the\nfeasting began again, and in his joy the old Padishah resigned his\nkingdom to his son, the Padishah of the cluster of Pomegranates.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PADISHAH OF THE FORTY PERIS\n\n\nIn the old, old time, in the age of fairy tales, there was once the\ndaughter of a Padishah who was as fair as the full moon, as slim as a\ncypress-tree, with eyes like coals, and hair like the night, and her\neyebrows were like bows, and her eyeballs like the darts of archers. In\nthe palace of the Padishah was a garden, and in the midst of the garden\na fountain of water, and there the maid sat the livelong day sewing and\nstitching.\n\nOne day she put her ring upon her sewing-table, but scarcely had she\nlaid it down when there came a little dove and took up the ring and flew\naway with it. Now the little dove was so lovely that the damsel at once\nfell in love with it. The next day the damsel took off her bracelet, and\nimmediately the dove was there and flew off with that too. Then the\ndamsel was so consumed with love that she neither ate nor drank, and\ncould scarce tarry till the next day for the dove to come forth again.\nAnd on the third day she brought her sewing-table, put upon it her lace\nhandkerchief, and placed herself close beside it. She waited for the\ndove, and waited and waited, and lo! all at once there he was right\nbefore her, and he caught up the handkerchief and away he flew. Then the\ndamsel had scarce strength enough to rise up; weeping bitterly she went\ninto the palace, and there she threw herself on the ground in a passion\nof grief.\n\nHer old waiting-woman came running towards her: \u201cO Sultana!\u201d cried she,\n\u201cwherefore dost thou weep so sorely?--what ails thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sick, my heart is sick!\u201d replied the daughter of the Sultan, and\nwith that she fell a-weeping and a-wailing worse than ever.\n\nThe old waiting-woman feared to tell of this new thing, for the damsel\nwas the only daughter of the Padishah, but when she perceived how pale\nthe damsel was growing, and how she wept and sobbed, the waiting-woman\ntook her courage in both hands, went to the Padishah, and told him of\nhis daughter\u2019s woe. Then the Padishah was afraid, and went to see his\ndaughter, and after him came many wise men and many cunning leeches, but\nnot one of them could cure her sickness.\n\nBut on the next day the Padishah\u2019s Vizier said to him: \u201cThe wise men\nand the leeches cannot help the damsel, the only medicine that can cure\nher lies hidden elsewhere.\u201d Then he advised the Padishah to make a great\nbath, the water whereof should cure all sick people, but whoever bathed\ntherein was to be made to tell the story of his life. So the Padishah\ncaused the bath to be made, and proclaimed throughout the city that the\nwater of this bath would give back his hair to the bald, and his hearing\nto the deaf, and his sight to the blind, and the use of his legs to the\nlame. Then all the people flocked in crowds to have a bath for nothing,\nand each one of them had to tell the story of his life and his ailment\nbefore he returned home again.\n\nNow in that same city dwelt the bald-headed son of a bed-ridden mother,\nand the fame of the wonder-working bath reached their ears also. \u201cLet us\ngo too,\u201d said the son; \u201cperchance the pair of us shall be cured.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I go when I can\u2019t stand on my legs?\u201d groaned the old\nwoman.--\u201cOh, we shall be able to manage that,\u201d replied bald-pate, and\ntaking his mother on his shoulders he set out for the bath.\n\nThey went on and on and on, through the level plains by the flowing\nriver, till at last the son was tired and put his mother down upon the\nground. At that same instant a cock lighted down beside them with a big\npitcher of water on its back, and hastened off with it. Then the young\nman became very curious to know why and whither this cock was carrying\nwater; so after the bird he went. The cock went on till it came to a\ngreat castle, and at the foot of this castle was a little hole through\nwhich water was gurgling. Still the youth followed the cock, squeezed\nhimself with the utmost difficulty through the hole, and no sooner had\nhe begun to look about him than he saw before him a palace so\nmagnificent that his eyes and mouth stood wide open with astonishment.\nNo other human being had ever stood in the path that led up to this\npalace. All over it he went, through all the rooms, from vestibule to\nattic, admiring their splendour without ceasing, till weariness overcame\nhim. \u201cIf only I could find a living being here!\u201d said he to himself, and\nwith that he hid himself in a large armoury, from whence he could easily\npounce out upon any one who came.\n\nHe had not waited very long when three doves flew on to the window-sill,\nand after shivering there a little while turned into three damsels, all\nso beautiful that the young man did not know which to look at first.\n\n\u201cAlas, alas!\u201d cried the three damsels, \u201cwe are late, we are late! Our\nPadishah will be here presently, and nothing is ready!\u201d Then one seized\na broom and brushed everything clean, the second spread the table, and\nthe third fetched all manner of meats. Then they all three began to\nshiver once more, and three doves flew out of the window.\n\nMeanwhile the bald-pate had grown very hungry, and he thought to\nhimself: \u201cNobody sees me, why should I not take a morsel or two from\nthat table?\u201d So he stretched his hand out from his hiding-place, and was\njust about to touch the food with it when he got such a blow on the\nfingers that the place swelled up. He stretched out the other hand, and\ngot a still greater blow on that. The youth was very frightened at this,\nand he had scarcely drawn back his hand when a white dove flew into the\nroom. It fell a-shivering and immediately turned into a beautiful youth.\n\nAnd now he went to a cupboard, opened it, and took out a ring, a\nbracelet, and a lace handkerchief. \u201cOh, lucky ring that thou art!\u201d cried\nhe, \u201cto be allowed to sit on a beautiful finger; and oh, lucky bracelet,\nto be allowed to lie on a beautiful arm.\u201d Then the beautiful youth fell\na-sobbing, and dried his tears one by one on the lace handkerchief. Then\nhe put them into the cupboard again, tasted one or two of the dishes,\nand laid him down to sleep.\n\nIt was as much as the bald-pate could do to await the dawn of the day.\nBut then the beautiful youth arose, shivered, and flew away as a white\ndove. Bald-pate too came out of his hiding-place, went down into the\ncourtyard, and crept once more through the hole at the foot of the\ntower.\n\nOutside he found his poor old mother weeping all alone, but the youth\npacified her with the assurance that their troubles were nearly at an\nend, took her on his back again, and went to the bath. There they\nbathed, and immediately the old woman was able to stand on her legs, and\nthe bald-pate got his hair back again. Then they began to tell their\nstories, and when the Sultan\u2019s daughter heard what the youth had seen\nand heard at midnight, it was as though a stream of fresh health\ninstantly poured into her. She rose from her bed and promised the youth\na great treasure if he would bring her to that tower. So the youth went\nwith the princess, showed her the walls of the palace, helped her\nthrough the little hole, brought her into the chamber of the doves, and\npointed out to her the armoury where he had been able to hide himself.\nAfter that the youth returned home with great treasure and perfect\nhealth, and lived all his days with his old mother.\n\nAt eventide the three doves flew into the room. They scoured and\ncleaned, brought the meats for the table, and flew away again. Soon\nafterwards the white dove came flying in, and how did that damsel feel\nwhen she saw her darling little dove once more? But when the dove had\nturned into a youth again, and stood there like a glorious full moon,\nthe damsel scarcely knew where she was, but gazed continuously on his\ndazzling face.\n\nThen the youth went to the cupboard, opened it, and took out the ring,\nthe bracelet, and the lace handkerchief that belonged to the daughter of\nthe Sultan. \u201cOh, thou ring! how happy shouldst thou be to sit on a\nbeauteous finger! Oh, thou bracelet! how happy thou shouldst be to lie\non a beauteous arm!\u201d he cried. Then he took the lace handkerchief and\ndried his tears, and at the sight thereof the heart of the damsel was\nnigh to breaking. Then she tapped with her fingers on the door of the\narmoury. The youth approached it, opened the door, and there stood his\nheart\u2019s darling. Then the joy of the youth was so great that it was\nalmost woe.\n\nHe asked the damsel how she had come thither to the palace of the Peris.\nThen she told him of her journey, and how sick for love she had been.\n\nThen the youth told her that he also was the son of a mortal mother, but\nwhen he was only three days old the Peris had stolen him, and carried\nhim to this palace and made him their Padishah. He was with them the\nwhole day, and had only two hours to himself in the twenty-four. The\ndamsel, he said, might stay with him, and walk about here the whole day,\nbut towards evening she must hide herself; for if the forty Peris came\nand saw her with him they would not leave her alive. To-morrow, he said,\nhe would show her his mother\u2019s palace, where they would live in peace,\nand he would be with her for two hours out of the twenty-four.\n\nSo the next day the Padishah of the Peris took the damsel and showed her\nhis mother\u2019s palace. \u201cWhen thou goest there,\u201d said the Padishah, \u201cbid\nthem have compassion on thee, and receive thee in memory of Bahtiyar\nBey, and when my mother hears my name she will not refuse thy request.\u201d\n\nSo the damsel went up to the house and knocked at the door. An old woman\ncame and opened it, and when she saw the damsel and heard her son\u2019s\nname, she burst into tears and took her in. There the damsel stayed a\nlong time, and every day the little bird came to visit her, until a son\nwas born to the daughter of the Sultan. But the old woman never knew\nthat her son came to the house, nor that the damsel had been brought to\nbed.\n\nOne day the little bird came, flew upon the window-sill, and said: \u201cOh,\nmy Sultana, what is my little seedling doing?\u201d--\u201cNo harm hath happened\nto our little seedling,\u201d replied she, \u201cbut he awaits the coming of\nBahtiyar.\u201d--\u201cOh! if only my mother knew,\u201d sighed the youth, \u201cshe would\nopen her best room.\u201d With that he flew into the room, turned into a man,\nand fondled in his arms his wife and his little child. But when two\nhours had passed he shivered a little, and a little dove flew out of the\nwindow.\n\nBut the mother had heard her son\u2019s speech, and could scarce contain\nherself for joy. She hastened to her daughter-in-law, fondled and\ncaressed her, led her into her most beautiful room, and put everything\nin order against her son\u2019s arrival. She knew that the forty Peris had\nrobbed her of him, and she took counsel with herself how she might steal\nhim back again.\n\n\u201cWhen my son comes to-morrow,\u201d said the old woman, \u201ccontrive so that he\nstays beyond his time, and leave the rest to me.\u201d\n\nThe next day the bird flew into the window, and lo! the damsel was\nnowhere to be seen in the room. Then he flew into the more beautiful\nroom, and cried, \u201cOh! my Sultana, what is our little seedling\ndoing?\u201d--And the damsel replied: \u201cNo harm hath befallen our little\nseedling, but he awaits the coming of Bahtiyar.\u201d Then the bird flew into\nthe room and changed into a man, and was so taken up with talking to his\nwife, so filled with the joy of playing with his child and seeing it\nplay, that he took no count of time at all.\n\nBut what was the old woman doing all this time?\n\n[Illustration: The Padishah of the Peris.--p. 174.]\n\nThere was a large cypress-tree in front of the house, and there the\nforty doves were sometimes wont to alight. The old woman went and hung\nthis tree full of venomous needles. Towards evening, when the Padishah\u2019s\ntwo hours had run out, the doves who were the forty Peris came to seek\ntheir Padishah, and alighted on the cypress-tree, but scarcely had their\nfeet touched the needles than they fell down to the ground poisoned.\n\nMeanwhile, however, the youth suddenly remembered the time, and great\nwas his terror when he came out of the palace so late. He looked to the\nright of him and he looked to the left, and when he looked towards the\ncypress-tree there were the forty doves. And now his joy was as great as\nhis terror had been before. First he fell upon the neck of his consort,\nand then he ran to his mother and embraced her, so great was his joy\nthat he had escaped from the hands of the Peris.\n\nThereupon they made them such a banquet that even after forty days they\nhad not got to the end of it. So they had their hearts\u2019 desires, and ate\nand drank and rejoiced with a great joy. May we too get the desires of\nour hearts, with good eating and drinking to comfort us!\n\n\n\n\nTHE SERPENT-PERI AND THE MAGIC MIRROR\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a poor wood-cutter who had an only son. One\nday this poor man fell sick and said to his son: \u201cIf I should die follow\nthou my handicraft, and go every day into the wood. Thou mayest cut down\nwhatever trees thou dost find there, but at the edge of the wood is a\ncypress-tree, that thou must leave standing.\u201d Two days afterwards the\nman died and was buried.\n\nBut the son went into the wood and cut down the trees, only the\ncypress-tree he left alone. One day the youth stood close to this tree\nand thought to himself: \u201cWhat can be the matter with this tree, seeing\nthat I am not allowed to lay a hand upon it?\u201d So he looked at it, and\nconsidered it curiously, till at last he took his axe and went with evil\nintent towards the tree. But he had scarcely lifted his foot when the\ncypress-tree drew away from him. The wood-cutter mounted his ass and\npursued the tree but could not overtake it, and in the meantime eventide\ncame upon them. Then he dismounted from his ass and tied it to a tree,\nbut he himself climbed to the top of the tree to await the dawn.\n\nNext morning, when the sky grew red, he descended from the tree, and\nthere at the foot of it lay only the bones of his ass. \u201cNever mind, I\u2019ll\ngo on foot,\u201d said the wood-cutter, and he continued his pursuit of the\ncypress, the tree going on before and he following after. All that day\nhe pursued but could not come up with it. The third day also he\nshouldered his axe and pursued the tree, when he suddenly came upon an\nelephant and a serpent fighting with each other. Believe the truth or\nnot as you will, but the truth is this, that the serpent was swallowing\nthe elephant; but the elephant\u2019s great tusk stuck in the serpent\u2019s\nthroat, and both beasts, seeing the youth staring at them, begged him to\nhelp them.\n\nWhat didn\u2019t the elephant promise him if only he would slay the serpent!\n\u201cNay, but all I would have thee do,\u201d said the serpent, \u201cis to break his\ntusk off; the work is lighter, and the reward will be greater.\u201d At these\nwords the youth seized his axe and chopped the elephant\u2019s tusk right\noff. The serpent then swallowed the elephant, thanked the youth, and\npromised to keep his word and give him his reward.\n\nWhile they were on the road the serpent stopped at a spring and said to\nthe youth: \u201cWait while I bathe in this water, and whatever may happen,\nfear not!\u201d With that the serpent plunged into the water, and immediately\nthere arose such a terrible storm, such a tempest, such a hurricane,\nwith lightning-flash upon lightning-flash, and thunder-bolt upon\nthunder-bolt, that the Day of Judgment could not well be worse.\nPresently the serpent came out of the bath, and then all was quiet\nagain.\n\nThey went a long way, and they went a little way, they took coffee, they\nsmoked their chibooks, they gathered violets on the road, till at last\nthey drew near to a house, and then the serpent said: \u201cIn a short time\nwe shall arrive at my mother\u2019s house. When she opens the door, say thou\nart my kinsman, and she will invite thee into the house. She will offer\nthee coffee but do not drink it, she will offer thee meat but do not eat\nit; but there\u2019s a little bit of a mirror hanging up in the corner of the\ndoor, ask my mother for that!\u201d\n\nSo they came to the house, and no sooner had the Peri knocked at the\ndoor than his mother came and opened it. \u201cCome, my brother!\u201d said the\nserpent to the youth behind him.--\u201cWho is thy brother?\u201d asked his\nmother.--\u201cHe who hath saved my life,\u201d replied her son, and with that he\ntold her the whole story. So they went into the house, and the woman\nbrought the youth coffee and a chibook, but he would not take them. \u201cMy\njourney is a hasty one,\u201d said he, \u201cI cannot remain very long.\u201d\n\n\u201cRest awhile at least,\u201d said the woman, \u201cwe cannot let our guests depart\nwithout anything.\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing do I want, but if thou wilt give me that bit of mirror in the\ncorner of the door I will take it,\u201d said the youth. The woman did not\nwant to give it, but the youth insisted that perhaps his life might\ndepend upon that very piece of mirror, so at last she gave it to him,\nthough very unwillingly.\n\nSo the youth went on his way with the bit of mirror, and as he looked\ninto it he turned over in his mind what use he should make of it. As he\nwas still turning it over and looking at it, suddenly there stood before\nhim a negro efrit, one of whose lips touched the heavens, and the other\nlip the earth. The poor youth was so frightened, that if the negro had\nnot said: \u201cWhat are thy commands, my Sultan?\u201d he would have run away for\never and ever. As it was, it was as much as he could do to ask for\nsomething to eat, and immediately there stood before him a rich and rare\nbanquet, the like of which he had never seen at his father\u2019s, the\nwood-cutter\u2019s.\n\nThen the youth felt very curious about the mirror, and looked into it\nagain, and immediately the black efrit stood before him again and said:\n\u201cWhat dost thou command, my Sultan?\u201d Nothing would occur to his mind at\nfirst, but at last his lips murmured the word \u201cPalace,\u201d and immediately\nthere stood before him a palace so beautiful that the Padishah himself\ncould not have a finer one. \u201cOpen!\u201d cried the youth, and immediately the\ngates of the palace flew open before him.\n\nThe youth rejoiced greatly in his bit of mirror, and his one thought was\nwhat he should ask it to get him next. The beautiful Sultana-damsel, the\nPadishah\u2019s daughter, occurred to his mind, and the next moment his eye\nsought his mirror and he desired from the big-lipped negro efrit a\npalace in which the world-renowned daughter of the Padishah should be\nsitting beside him, and he had scarce time to look around him when he\nfound himself sitting in the palace with the Sultan\u2019s daughter by his\nside. Then they kissed and embraced each other, and lived a whole world\nof joy.\n\nMeanwhile the Sultan learnt that his daughter had disappeared from her\nown palace. He searched for her the whole realm through, he sent heralds\nin every direction, but in vain were all his labours, the girl could not\nbe discovered. At last an old woman came to the Padishah and told him to\nmake a large casket, line it well with zinc, put her inside it, and cast\nit into the sea. She would find the daughter of the Sultan, she said,\nfor if she was not here, she must be beyond the sea. So they made ready\nthe great casket, put the old woman inside it, put food for nine days\nbeside her, and cast it into the sea. The casket was tossed from wave to\nwave, till at last it came to that city where the Sultan\u2019s daughter\ndwelt with the youth.\n\nNow the fishermen were just then on the shore, and saw the huge casket\nfloating in the sea. They drew it ashore with ropes and hooks, and when\nthey opened it an old woman crept out of it. They asked her how she had\ngot inside it.\n\n\u201cOh, that my enemy might lose the sight of his little eye that is so\ndear to him!\u201d lamented the old woman; \u201cI have not deserved this of him!\u201d\nand with that she fell a-weeping and wailing till the men believed every\nword she said. \u201cWhere is the Bey of your city?\u201d cried she; \u201cperhaps he\nwill have compassion upon me and receive me into his house,\u201d she said to\nthe men. Then they showed her the palace, and exhorted her to go\nthither, as perhaps she might get an alms.\n\nSo the old woman went to the palace, and when she knocked at the door,\nthe Sultan\u2019s daughter came down to see who it was. The old woman\nimmediately recognized the damsel, and begged her (for the damsel knew\nnot the old woman) to take her into her service. \u201cMy lord comes home\nto-night, I will ask him,\u201d replied the damsel; \u201cmeanwhile rest in this\ncorner!\u201d And the damsel\u2019s lord allowed her to receive the old woman into\nthe house, and the next day she waited upon them.\n\nThere the old woman was for one day and for two days, for a week, for\ntwo weeks, and there was no cook to cook the food, and no servant to\nkeep the place clean, and yet every day there was a costly banquet and\neverything was as clean as clean could be. Then the old woman went to\nthe damsel and asked her whether she did not feel dull at being alone\nall day. \u201cIf I were allowed to help thee pass the time away,\u201d added she,\n\u201cperhaps it might be better.\u201d--\u201cI must first ask my lord,\u201d replied the\ndamsel. The youth did not mind the old woman helping his wife to pass\naway the time, and so she went up to the rooms of the damsel and stayed\nwith her for days together.\n\nOne day the old woman asked the damsel whence came all the rare meats,\nand who did the service of the house. But the damsel knew not of the\npiece of mirror, so she could tell the old woman nothing. \u201cFind out from\nthy lord,\u201d said the old woman, and scarcely had the youth come home,\nscarce had he had time to eat, than she wheedled him so that he showed\nher the mirror.\n\nThat was all the old woman wanted. A couple of days she let go by, but\non the third and the fourth days she bade the damsel beg her lord for\nthe piece of mirror so that she might amuse herself therewith, and make\nthe time pass more easily. And indeed she had only to ask her lord for\nit, for he, not suspecting her falseness, gave it to her. And in the\nmeantime the old woman was not asleep. She knew where the damsel had put\nthe mirror, stole it, and when she looked into it the negro efrit\nappeared. \u201cWhat is thy command?\u201d inquired he of the old woman. \u201cTake me\nwith this damsel to her father\u2019s palace,\u201d was her first command. Her\nsecond command made of the youth\u2019s palace a heap of ashes, so that when\nthe young wood-cutter returned home he found nought but the cat meeowing\namong the ashes. There was also a small piece of meat there; the\nSultan\u2019s daughter had thrown it down for the cat.\n\nThe youth took up the fragment of meat and set out to seek his consort.\nFind her he would, though he roamed the whole world over. He went on and\non, he searched and searched till he came to the city where his wife\nlived. He went up to the palace, and there he begged the cook to take\nhim into the kitchen as a servant out of pure compassion. In a couple of\ndays he had learnt from his fellow-servants in the kitchen that the\nSultan\u2019s daughter had returned home.\n\nOne day the cook fell sick and there was no heart in him to attend to\nthe cooking. The youth, seeing this, bade him rest, and said he would\ncook the food in his stead. The cook agreed, and told him what to cook,\nand how to season it. So the youth set to work, roasting and stewing,\nand when he sent up the dishes, he also sent up the scrap of food that\nhe had found on the ashes, and put it on the damsel\u2019s plate. Scarcely\nhad the damsel cast eyes on this little scrap than she knew within\nherself that her lord was near her. So she called the cook and asked\nwhom he had with him in the kitchen. At first he denied that he had any\none, but at last he confessed that he had taken a poor lad in to assist\nhim.\n\nThen the damsel went to her father and said to him that there was a\nyoung lad in the kitchen who prepared coffee so well that she should\nlike some coffee from his hands. So the lad was ordered up, and from\nthenceforth he prepared the coffee and took it to the Sultan\u2019s daughter.\nSo they came together again, and she told her lord how the matter had\ngone. Then they took counsel how they should await their turn and get\nthe mirror back again.\n\nScarcely had the youth gone in to the damsel than the old woman\nappeared. Although she had not seen him for long, she recognized him,\nand, looking into the mirror, caused the poor lad to be sent back again\nto the ashes of his old palace. There he found the cat still squatting.\nWhen she felt hungry she caught mice, and such ravages did she make upon\nthem that at last the Padishah of the mice had scarce a soldier left.\n\nVery wroth was the poor Padishah, but he durst not tackle the cat. One\nday, however, he observed the youth, went up to him, and begged his\nassistance in his dire distress, for if he waited till the morrow his\nwhole realm would be ruined.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll help thee,\u201d said the youth, \u201cthough, indeed, I have enough\ntroubles of my own to carry already.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is thy trouble?\u201d asked the Padishah of the mice. The youth told\nhim about the history of the piece of looking-glass, and how it had been\nstolen from him, and into whose hands it had fallen.\n\n\u201cThen I can help thee,\u201d cried the Padishah, whereupon he called together\nall the mice in the world. And he asked which of them had access to this\npalace, and which knew of such-and-such an old woman, and the piece of\nlooking-glass. At these words a lame mouse hobbled forth, kissed the\nground at the feet of the Padishah, and said that it was his wont to\nsteal food from the old woman\u2019s box. He had seen through the keyhole how\nshe took out a little bit of looking-glass every evening and hid it\nunder a cushion.\n\nThen the Padishah commanded him to go and steal this bit of mirror. The\nmouse, however, begged that he might have two comrades, sat on the back\nof one of them, and so went on to the old woman. It was evening when\nthey arrived there, and the old woman was just eating her supper. \u201cWe\nhave come at the right time,\u201d said the lame mouse, \u201cwe shall get\nsomething to eat.\u201d And with that they scampered into the room, satisfied\ntheir hunger, and waited for the night. They arranged between them what\nthey should do, and when the old woman lay down they waited till she was\nasleep. Scarcely had she fallen asleep than the lame mouse leaped into\nher bed, made for her face, and began tickling her nose with the end of\nits tail.\n\n\u201cP-chi! p-chi!\u201d the old woman sneezed, so that her head nearly leaped\nfrom her shoulders. \u201cP-chi! p-chi!\u201d she sneezed again, and meanwhile the\ntwo other little mice rushed out, picked up the piece of looking-glass\nfrom underneath the cushion, took the lame mouse on their backs, and\nhurried home again.\n\nThe youth rejoiced greatly at the sight of the mirror, then he took the\ncat with him so that it should do no more harm to the mice, and went\ninto other parts. There he took out the bit of mirror, looked into it,\nand lo! the black efrit stood before him and said: \u201cWhat is thy command,\nmy Sultan?\u201d\n\nThe youth asked for a raiment of cloth of gold and a whole army of\nsoldiers, and before he had time to look round, in front of him stood\ncostly raiment, and he put it on; and a beautiful horse, and he sat on\nits back; and a large army which marched behind him into the city. When\nhe arrived there he stood before the palace, and surrounded it with his\nsoldiers. Oh, how terrified the Padishah was at the sight of that vast\narmy!\n\nThe youth went into the palace, and demanded the damsel from her father.\nIn his terror the Padishah gave him not only his daughter but his realm.\nThe old woman was given into the hands of the big-lipped efrit, but the\nbride and bridegroom lived happily in the midst of their glorious\nkingdom. And close beside them stood the magic mirror that made all\ntheir woes to vanish.\n\n\n\n\nSTONE-PATIENCE AND KNIFE-PATIENCE\n\n\nThere was once a poor woman who had one daughter, and this poor woman\nused to go out and wash linen, while her daughter remained at home at\nher working-table. One day she was sitting by the window as was her\nwont, when a little bird flew on to the sewing-table and said to the\ndamsel: \u201cOh, little damsel, poor little damsel! death is thy\nKismet!\u201d[13] whereupon it flew away again. From that hour the damsel\u2019s\npeace of mind was gone, and in the evening she told her mother what the\nbird had said to her. \u201cClose the door and the window,\u201d said her mother,\n\u201cand sit at thy work as usual.\u201d\n\nSo the next morning she closed the door and the window and sat her down\nat her work. But all at once there came a \u201cWhirr-r-r-r!\u201d and there was\nthe little bird again on the work-table. \u201cOh, little damsel, poor little\ndamsel! death is thy Kismet,\u201d and with that it flew away again. The\ndamsel was more and more terrified than ever at these words, but her\nmother comforted her again: \u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said she, \u201cclose fast the door\nand the window, and get into the cupboard. There light a candle, and go\non with thy work!\u201d\n\nScarcely had her mother departed with the dawn than the girl closed up\neverything, lit a candle, and locked herself in the cupboard with her\nwork-table. But scarcely had she stitched two stitches when the bird\nstood before her again, and said: \u201cOh, little damsel, poor little\ndamsel! death is thy Kismet!\u201d and whirr-r-r-r! it flew away again. The\ndamsel was in such distress that she scarce knew where she was. She\nthrew her work aside, and began tormenting herself as to what this\nsaying might mean. Her mother, too, could not get to the bottom of the\nmatter, so she remained at home the next day, that she also might see\nthe bird, but the bird did not come again.\n\nSo their sorrow was perpetual, and all the joy of their life was gone.\nThey never stirred from the house but watched and waited continually, if\nperchance the bird might come again. One day the damsels of their\nneighbour came to them and asked the woman to let her daughter go with\nthem. \u201cIf she went for a little outing,\u201d said they, \u201cshe might forget\nher trouble.\u201d The woman did not like to let her go, but they promised\nto take great care of her and not to lose sight of her, so at last she\nlet her go.\n\nSo the damsels went into the fields and danced and diverted themselves\ntill the day was on the decline. On the way home they sat down by a well\nand began to drink out of it. The poor woman\u2019s daughter also went to\ndrink of the water, when lo! a wall rose up between her and the other\ndamsels, but such a wall as never the eye of man yet beheld. A voice\ncould not get beyond it, it was so high, and a man could not get through\nit, it was so hard. Oh, how terrified was the poor woman\u2019s daughter, and\nwhat weeping and wailing and despair there was among her comrades. What\nwould become of the poor girl, and what would become of her poor mother!\n\n\u201cI will not tell,\u201d said one of them, \u201cfor she will not believe\nus!\u201d--\u201cBut what shall we say to her mother,\u201d cried another, \u201cnow that\nshe has disappeared from before our eyes?\u201d--\u201cIt is thy fault, it is thy\nfault!\u201d \u201cTwas thou that asked her!\u201d \u201cNo, \u2019twas thou.\u201d So they fell to\nblaming each other, looking all the time at the great wall.\n\nMeanwhile the mother was awaiting her daughter. She stood at the door of\nthe house and watched the damsels coming. The damsels came weeping sore,\nand scarce dared to tell the poor woman what had befallen her daughter.\nThe woman rushed to the\n\n[Illustration: The Poor Woman and the Three Damsels.--p. 190.]\n\ngreat wall, her daughter was inside it and she herself was outside, and\nso they wept and wailed so long as either of them had a tear to flow.\n\nIn the midst of this great weeping the damsel fell asleep, and when she\nwoke up next morning she saw a great door beside the wall. \u201cHappen to me\nwhat may, if I am to perish, let me perish, but open this door I\nwill!\u201d--so she opened it. Beyond the door was a beautiful palace, the\nlike of which is not to be seen even in dreams. This palace had a vast\nhall, and on the wall of this hall hung forty keys. The damsel took the\nkeys and began opening the doors of all the rooms around her, and the\nfirst set of rooms was full of silver, and the second set full of gold,\nand the third set full of diamonds, and the fourth set full of\nemeralds--in a word, each set of rooms was full of stones more precious\nthan the precious things of the rooms before it, so that the eyes of the\ndamsel were almost blinded by their splendour.\n\nShe entered the fortieth room, and there, extended on the floor, was a\nbeautiful Bey, with a fan of pearls beside him, and on his breast a\npiece of paper with these words written on it: \u201cWhoever fans me for\nforty days and prays all that time by my side will find her Kismet!\u201d\nThen the damsel thought of the little bird. So it was by the side of\nthis sleeper that she was to meet her fate! So she made her ablutions,\nand, taking the fan in her hand, she sat down beside the Bey. Day and\nnight she kept on fanning him, praying continually till the fortieth day\nwas at hand. And on the morning of the last day she peeped out of the\nwindow and beheld a negro girl in front of the palace. Then she thought\nshe would call this girl for a moment and ask her to pray beside the\nBey, while she herself made her ablutions and took a little repose. So\nshe called the negro girl and set her beside the Bey, that she might\npray beside him and fan his face. But the damsel hastened away and made\nher ablutions and adorned herself, so that the Bey, when he awoke, might\nsee his life\u2019s Kismet at her best and rejoice at the sight.\n\nMeanwhile the black girl read the piece of paper, and while the white\ndamsel tarried the youth awoke. He looked about him, and scarcely did he\nsee the black girl than he embraced her and called her his wife. The\npoor white damsel could scarce believe her own eyes when she entered the\nroom; but the black girl, who was jealous of her, said to the Bey: \u201cI, a\nSultan\u2019s daughter, am not ashamed to go about just as I am, and this\nchit of a serving-maid dares to appear before me arrayed so finely!\u201d\nThen she chased her out of the room, and sent her to the kitchen to\nfinish her work and boil and fry. The Bey was surprised, but he would\nnot say a word, for the negro girl was his bride, while the other\ndamsel was only a kitchen-wench.\n\nNow the Feast of Bairam fell about this time, and as is the custom at\nsuch times, the Bey would fain have given gifts to them of his\nhousehold. So he went to the negress and asked her what she would like\non the Feast of Bairam. And the negress asked for a garment that never a\nneedle had sewn and never scissors had cut. Then he went down into the\nkitchen and asked the damsel what she would like. \u201cThe stone-of-patience\nhas a yellow colour, and the knife-of-patience has a brown handle, bring\nthem both to me,\u201d said the damsel. So the Bey went on his way, and got\nthe negress her garment, but the stone-of-patience and the\nknife-of-patience he could find nowhere. What was he to do?--he could\nnot return home without the gifts. So he got on board his ship.\n\nThe ship had only got half-way when suddenly it stopped short, and could\nneither go backwards nor forwards. The captain was terrified, and told\nhis passengers that there was some one on board who had not kept his\nword, and that was why they could not get on. Then the Bey came forward,\nand said that he it was who had not kept his word. So they put the Bey\nashore, that he might keep his promise and then return back to the ship.\nThen the Bey walked along the sea-shore, and from the sea-shore he came\nto a great valley, and he went wandering on and on till he stood beside\na large spring. And he had scarce trodden on the stones around it when\nsuddenly a huge negro stood before him and asked him what he wanted.\n\n\u201cThe stone-of-patience is of a yellow colour and the knife-of-patience\nhas a brown sheath, bring them both to me!\u201d said the Bey to the negro.\nAnd the next moment both the stone and the knife were in his hand, and\nhe came back to the ship, went on board, and returned home. He gave the\ngarment to his wife, but the stone and the knife he put in the kitchen.\nBut the Bey was curious to know what the damsel would do with them, so\none evening he crept down into the kitchen and watched her.\n\nWhen night approached she took the knife in her hand and placed the\nstone in front of her and began telling them her story. She told them\nwhat the little bird had thrice told her, and in what great terror both\nher mother and herself had fallen.\n\nAnd while she was looking at the stone it suddenly began to swell, and\nits yellow hue hissed and bubbled as if there were life in it.\n\nThen the damsel went on to say how she had wandered into the palace of\nthe Bey, how she had prayed forty days beside him, and how she had\nentrusted the negress with the praying while she went to wash and dress\nherself.\n\nAnd the yellow stone swelled again, and hissed and foamed as if it were\nabout to burst.\n\nThen the damsel told how the negress had deceived her, how instead of\nher the Bey had taken the negress to wife.\n\nAnd all this time the yellow stone went on swelling and hissing and\nfoaming as if there were a real living heart inside it, till suddenly it\nburst and turned to ashes.\n\nThen the damsel took the little knife by the handle and said: \u201cOh, thou\nyellow patience-stone, thou wert but a stone, and yet thou couldst not\nendure that I, a tender little damsel, a poor little damsel, should thus\nbe thrust out.\u201d And with that she would have buried the knife in her\nbreast, but the Bey rushed forward and snatched away the knife.\n\n\u201cThou art my real true Kismet,\u201d cried the youth, as he took her into the\nupper chamber in the place of the negress. But the treacherous negress\nthey slew, and they sent for the damsel\u2019s mother and all lived together\nwith great joy.\n\nAnd the little bird came sometimes and perched in the window of the\npalace, and sang his joyful lay. And this is what he sang: \u201cOh, little\ndamsel, happy little damsel, that hast found thy Kismet!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE GHOST OF THE SPRING AND THE SHREW\n\n\nOnce upon a time which was no time if it was a time, in the days when my\nmother was my mother and I was my mother\u2019s daughter, when my mother was\nmy daughter and I was my mother\u2019s mother, in those days, I say, it\nhappened that we once went along the road, and we went on and on and on.\nWe went for a little way and we went for a long way, we went over\nmountains and over valleys, we went for a month continually, and when we\nlooked behind us we hadn\u2019t gone a step. So we set out again, and we went\non and on and on till we came to the garden of the Chin-i-Machin\nPasha.[14] We went in, and there was a miller grinding grain, and a cat\nwas by his side. And the cat had woe in its eye, and the cat had woe on\nits nose, and the cat had woe in its mouth, and the cat had woe in its\nfore paw, and the cat had woe in its hind paw, and the cat had woe in\nits throat, and the cat had woe in its ear, and the cat had woe in its\nface, and the cat had woe in its fur, and the cat had woe in its tail.\n\nHard by this realm lived a poor wood-cutter, who had nothing in the\nworld but his poverty and a horrid shrew of a wife. What little money\nthe poor man made his wife always took away, so that he had not a single\n_para_[15] left. If his supper was oversalted--and so it was many a\ntime--and her lord chanced to say to her: \u201cMother, thou hast put too\nmuch salt in the food,\u201d so venomous was she that next day she would cook\nthe supper without one single grain of salt, so that there was no savour\nin it. But if he dared to say: \u201cThere is no savour in the food, mother!\u201d\nshe would put so much salt in it next day that her husband could not eat\nthereof at all.\n\nNow what was it that befell this poor man one day? This is what befell.\nHe put by a couple of pence from his earnings to buy a rope to hang\nhimself withal. But his wife found them in her husband\u2019s pocket: \u201cHo,\nho!\u201d she cried, \u201cso thou dost hide thy money in corners to give it to\nthy comrades, eh?\u201d In vain the poor man swore by his head that it was\nnot so, his wife would not believe him. \u201cMy dear,\u201d said her husband, \u201cI\nwanted to buy me a rope with the money.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hang thyself with, eh?\u201d inquired his affectionate spouse.\n\n\u201cWell, thou knowest what a hideous racket thou dost make sometimes,\u201d\nreplied her husband, meaning to pacify her.\n\n\u201cWhat I have done hitherto is little enough for a blockhead like thee,\u201d\nshe replied, and with that she gave her husband such a blow that it\nseemed to him as if the red dawn was flashing before him.\n\nThe next morning the wood-cutter rose early, saddled his ass, and went\ntowards the mountains. All that he said to his wife before starting was\nto beg her not to follow him into the forest. This was quite enough for\nthe wife. Immediately he was gone she saddled her ass, and after her\nhusband she went without more ado. \u201cWho knows,\u201d murmured she to herself,\n\u201cwhat he may not be up to in the mountains, if I am not there to look\nafter him!\u201d\n\nThe man saw that his wife was coming after him, but he made as if he did\nnot see, never spoke a word, and as soon as he got to the foot of the\nmountain he set about wood-cutting. His wife, however, for she was a\nrestless soul, went up and down and all about the mountain, poked her\nnose into everything, till at last her attention was fixed by a deserted\nwell, and she made straight for it.\n\nThen her husband cried to her: \u201cTake care, there\u2019s a well right before\nthee!\u201d\n\nThe only effect this warning had upon the wife was to make her draw\nstill nearer. Again he cried to her: \u201cDost thou not hear me speak to\nthee? Go not further on, for there\u2019s a well in front of thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do I care what he says?\u201d thought she. Then she took another step\nforward, but before she could take another the earth gave way beneath\nher, and into the well she plumped. As for the husband, he was thinking\nof something else, for he always minded his own business, so, his work\nover, he took his ass and never stopped till he got home.\n\nThe next day, at dawn, he again arose, saddled the ass, and went to the\nmountains, when the thought of his wife suddenly came into his mind.\n\u201cI\u2019ll see what has become of the poor woman!\u201d said he. So he went to the\nopening of the well and looked into it, but nothing was to be seen or\nheard of his wife. His heart was sore, for anyhow was she not his wife?\nand he began to think whether he could get her out of the well. So he\ntook a rope, let it down into the well, and cried into the great depth\nthereof: \u201cCatch hold of the rope, mother, and I\u2019ll draw thee up!\u201d\n\nPresently the man felt that the rope had become very heavy. He pulled\naway at it with all his might, he tugged and tugged--what creature of\nAllah\u2019s could it be that he was pulling out of the well? And lo! it was\nnone other than a hideous ghost! The poor wood-cutter was sore afraid.\n\n\u201cRise up, poor man, and fear not,\u201d said the ghost. \u201cThe mighty Allah\nrather bless thee for thy deed. Thou hast saved me from so great a\ndanger, that to the very day of judgment I will not forget thy good\ndeed.\u201d\n\nThen the poor man began to wonder what this great danger might be.\n\n\u201cHow many many years I lived peaceably in this well I know not,\u201d\ncontinued the ghost, \u201cbut up to this very day I knew no trouble. But\nyesterday--whence she came I know not--an old woman suddenly plumped\ndown on my shoulders, and caught me so tightly by both my ears, that I\ncould not get loose from her for a moment. By a thousand good fortunes\nthou didst come to the spot, let down thy rope, and call to her to seize\nhold of it. For in trying to get hold of it she let me go, and I at once\nseized the rope myself, and, the merciful Allah be praised for it, here\nI am on dry land again. Good awaits thee for thy good deed; list now to\nwhat I say to thee!\u201d\n\nWith that the ghost drew forth three wooden tablets, gave them to the\nwood-cutter, and said to him: \u201cI now go to take possession of the\ndaughter of the Sultan. Up to this day the princess has been hale and\nwell, but now she will have leeches and wise men without number, but all\nin vain, not one of them will be able to cure her. Thou also wilt hear\nof the matter, thou wilt hasten to the Padishah, moisten these three\nwooden tablets with water, lay them on the face of the damsel, and I\nwill come out of her, and a rich reward will be thine.\u201d\n\nWith that the wood-cutter took the three tablets, put them in his\npocket, and the ghost went to the right and he went to the left, and\nneither of them thought any more of the old woman in the well. But let\nus first follow the ghost.\n\nScarcely had this son of a devil quitted the wood-cutter than he stood\nin the Serai of the Padishah, and entered into the poor daughter of the\nSultan. The poor girl immediately fell to the ground in great pain. \u201cO\nmy head! O my head!\u201d she cried continually. They sent word to the\nPadishah, and he, hastening thither, found his daughter lying on the\nground and groaning. Straightway he sent for leeches, wise men, drugs,\nand incense, but none of them assuaged her pain. They sent for them a\nsecond time, they sent for them a third time, but all their labour was\nin vain. At last they had ten doctors and ten wise men trying what they\ncould do, and all the time the poor girl kept moaning: \u201cMy head, my\nhead!\u201d\n\n\u201cO my sweet child,\u201d groaned the Padishah, \u201cif thy head aches, believe me\nmy head, and my heart also, ache a thousand times as much to hear thee.\nWhat shall I do for thee? I know what I will do. I will go call the\nastrologers, perchance they will know more than I do.\u201d And with that he\ncalled together all the most famous astrologers in his kingdom. One of\nthem had one plan, another had another, but not one of them could cure\nthe complaint of the poor damsel.\n\nBut now let us see what became of the poor wood-cutter.\n\nHe lived on in the world without his wife, and gradually he forgot all\nabout her, and about the ghost and the three wooden tablets, and the\nghost\u2019s advice and promise. But one day, when he had no thought at all\nof these things, a herald from the city of the Padishah came to where he\nwas with a firman[16] in his hand, and read this out of it in a loud\nvoice: \u201cThe damsel, the Sultan\u2019s daughter, is very sick. The leeches,\nthe wise men, the astrologers, all have seen her, and not one of them\ncan cure her complaint. Whoever is a master of mysteries, let him come\nforward and doctor her. If he be a Mussulman, and cure her, the Sultan\u2019s\ndaughter now and my realm after my death shall be his reward; and if he\nbe a Giaour[17] and cure her, all the treasures in my realm shall be\nhis.\u201d\n\nThe wood-cutter needed no more to remind him of the ghost, the three\ntablets, and his wife. He arose and went up to the herald. \u201cBy the mercy\nof Allah I will cure the Sultan\u2019s daughter, if she be still alive,\u201d said\nhe. At these words the servant of the Padishah caught hold of the\nwood-cutter, and led him into the Serai.\n\nWord was sent at once of his arrival to the Padishah, and in an instant\neverything was made ready for him to enter the sick chamber. There\nbefore him lay the poor damsel, and all she did was to cry continually:\n\u201cMy head, my head!\u201d The wood-cutter brought forth the wooden tablets,\nmoistened them, and scarcely had he spread them on the Sultan\u2019s daughter\nthan immediately she became as well again as if she had never been ill.\nAt this there was great joy and gladness in the Serai, and they gave the\ndaughter of the Sultan to the wood-cutter; so the poor man became the\nson-in-law of the Padishah.\n\nNow this Padishah had a brother who was also a Padishah, and his kingdom\nwas the neighbouring kingdom. He also had a daughter, and it occurred to\nthe ghost of the well to possess her likewise.\n\nSo she also began to be tormented in the same way, and nobody could find\na cure for her complaint. They searched and searched for assistance high\nand low, till at last they heard how the daughter of the neighbouring\nPadishah had been cured of a like sickness. So that other Padishah sent\nmany men into the neighbouring kingdom, and begged the first Padishah,\nfor the love of Allah, to send thither his son-in-law to cure the other\ndamsel also. If he cured her he was to have the damsel for his second\nwife.\n\nSo the Padishah sent his son-in-law that he might cure the\ndamsel--\u2019twould be nothing to such a master of mysteries as he, they\nsaid. All that he could say was in vain, the poor fellow had to set out,\nand as soon as he arrived they led him at once into the sick-chamber.\nBut now the ghost of the well had a word to say in the matter.\n\nFor that evil spirit was furious with his poor comrade. \u201cThou didst a\ngood deed to me, it is true,\u201d began the ghost, \u201cbut thou canst not say\nthat I remained thy debtor. I left for thy sake the beautiful daughter\nof the Sultan, and I chose out another for myself, and thou wouldst now\ntake her from me also? Well, wait a while, and thou shalt see that for\nthis deed of thine I will take them _both_ away from thee.\u201d\n\nAt this the poor man was sore troubled.\n\n\u201cI did not come hither for the damsel,\u201d said he, \u201cshe is thy property,\nand, if such be thy desire, thou mayest take mine away also.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen what\u2019s thy errand here?\u201d roared the ghost.\n\n\u201cAlas! \u2019tis my wife, the old woman of the well,\u201d sighed the former\nwood-cutter, \u201cand I only left her in the well that I might be rid of\nher.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the ghost was terribly frightened, and it was with a\nsmall voice that he now inquired whether by chance she had come to light\nagain.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed, she\u2019s outside,\u201d sighed the man, \u201cwherever I may go I am\nsaddled with her. I haven\u2019t the heart to free myself from her. Hark!\nshe\u2019s at the door now, she\u2019ll be in the room in a moment.\u201d\n\nThe ghost needed no more. Forthwith he left the daughter of the Sultan,\nand the Serai, and the whole city, and the whole kingdom, so that not\neven the rumour of him remained. And not a child of man has ever seen\nhim since.\n\nBut the daughter of the Sultan recovered instantly, and they gave her to\nthe former wood-cutter, and he took her home as his second wife.\n\n\n\n\nROUMANIAN FAIRY TALES\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE HALF-MAN-RIDING-ON-THE-WORSE-HALF-OF-A-LAME-HORSE\n\n\nOnce upon a time, long long ago, in the days when poplars bore pears and\nrushes violets, when bears could switch themselves with their tails like\ncows, and wolves and lambs kissed and cuddled each other, there lived an\nEmperor whose hair was already white, and who yet had never a son to\nbless himself with. The poor Emperor would have given anything to have\nhad a little son of his own like other men, but all his wishes were in\nvain.\n\nAt last, when he was quite an old old man, Fortune took pity on him\nalso, and a darling of a boy was born to him, the like of which the\nworld had never seen before. The Emperor gave him the name of Aleodor,\nand gathered east and west, north and south, together to rejoice in his\njoy at the child\u2019s christening. The revels lasted three days and three\nnights, and all the guests who made merry there with the Emperor could\nthink of nothing else for the rest of their lives.\n\nBut the lad grew up as strong as an oak and as lovely as a rose, while\nhis father the Emperor drew nearer every day to the edge of the grave,\nand when the hour of his death arrived he took the child on his knees\nand said to him:\n\n\u201cMy darling son, behold the Lord calls me. The moment is at hand when I\nam to share the common lot of man. I foresee that thou wilt become a\ngreat man, and though I be dead my bones will rejoice in the tomb at thy\nnoble deeds. As to the administration of this realm I need tell thee\nnought, for thou, with thy wisdom, wilt know how it behoves a king to\nrule. One thing there is, nevertheless, that I must tell thee. Dost thou\nsee that mountain over yonder? Beware of ever setting thy foot upon it,\nfor \u2019twill be to thy hurt and harm. That mountain belongs to the\n\u2018Half-man-riding-on-the-worse-half-of-a-lame-horse,\u2019 and whosoever\nventures upon that mountain cannot escape unscathed.\u201d\n\nHe had no sooner said these words than his throat rattled thrice, and he\ngave up the ghost. He departed to his place like every other human soul\nthat is born into the world, though there was never Emperor like him\nsince the world began. Those of his household bewailed him, his great\nnobles bewailed\n\n[Illustration: The Emperor and the Young Aleodor.--p. 210.]\n\nhim, his people bewailed him also, and then they had to bury him.\n\nAleodor, from the moment that he ascended the throne of his father,\nruled the land wisely like a mature statesman, though in age he was but\na child. All the world delighted in his sway, and men thanked Heaven for\nallowing them to live in the days of such a prince.\n\nAll the time that was not taken up by affairs of State, Aleodor spent in\nthe chase. But he always bore in mind the precepts of his father, and\ntook care not to exceed the bounds which had been set him.\n\nOne day, however--how it came about I know not--but anyhow he fell into\na brown study, and never noticed that he had overstepped the domains of\nthe Half-man till, after taking a dozen steps or so onwards, he found\nhimself face to face with the monster. That he was trespassing on the\ngrounds of this stunted and terrible creature did not trouble him\nover-much, it was the thought that he had transgressed the dying command\nof his dear father that grieved him.\n\n\u201cHo, ho!\u201d cried the hideous monster, \u201cdost thou not know that every\nscoundrel who oversteps my bounds becomes my property?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Aleodor, \u201cbut I must tell thee that it was through want\nof thought and without wishing it that I have trodden on thy ground.\nAgainst thee I have no evil design at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know better than that,\u201d replied the monster; \u201cbut I see that, like\nall cowards, thou dost think it best to make excuses.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, so sure as God preserves me, I am no coward. I have told thee the\nsimple truth; but if thou wouldst fight, I am ready. Choose thy weapons!\nShall we slash with sabres, or slog with clubs, or wrestle together?\u201d\n\n\u201cNeither the one nor the other,\u201d replied the monster. \u201cOne way only\ncanst thou escape thy just punishment--thou must fetch me the daughter\nof the Green Emperor!\u201d\n\nAleodor would very much have liked to have got out of the difficulty\nsome other way, as affairs of State would not allow him to take so long\na journey, a journey on which he could find no guide to direct him; but\nwhat did the monster know of all that? Aleodor felt that if he would\navoid the shame of being thought a robber and a trampler on the rights\nof others, he must indeed find the daughter of the Green Emperor.\nBesides, he wanted to escape with a whole skin if he could; so at last\nhe promised that he would do the service required of him.\n\nNow the Half-man-riding-on-the-worse-half-of-a-lame-horse knew very well\nthat, as a man of honour, Aleodor would never depart from his plighted\nword, so he said to him: \u201cGo now, in God\u2019s name, and may good luck\nattend thee!\u201d\n\nSo Aleodor departed. He went on and on, thinking over and over again how\nhe was to accomplish his task, and so keep his word, when he came to the\nmargin of a pond, and there he saw a pike dashing its life out on the\nshore. He immediately went up to it to satisfy his hunger with it, when\nthe pike said to him: \u201cSlay me not, Boy-Beautiful![18] but cast me\nrather back into the water again, and then I will do thee good whenever\nthou dost think of me.\u201d\n\nAleodor listened to the pike, and threw it back into the water again.\nThen the pike said to him again: \u201cTake this scale, and whenever thou\ndost look at it and think of me I will be with thee.\u201d\n\nThen the youth went on further and marvelled greatly at such a strange\nencounter.\n\nPresently he fell in with a crow that had one wing broken. He would have\nkilled the crow and eaten it, but the crow said to him: \u201cBoy-Beautiful,\nBoy-Beautiful! why wilt thou burden thy soul on my account? Far better\nwere it if thou didst bind up my wing, and much good will I requite thee\nwith for thy kindness.\u201d\n\nAleodor listened, for his heart was as kind as his hand was cunning; and\nhe bound up the crow\u2019s wing. When he made ready to go on again, the crow\nsaid to him: \u201cTake this feather, thou gallant youth! and whenever thou\ndost look at it and think of me, I will be with thee.\u201d\n\nThen Aleodor took the feather and went on his way. He hadn\u2019t gone a\nhundred paces further when he stumbled upon an ant. He would have\ntrodden upon it, when the ant said to him: \u201cSpare my life, O Emperor\nAleodor, and I\u2019ll deliver thee also from death! Take this little bit of\nmembrane from my wing, and whenever thou dost think of me, I\u2019ll be with\nthee.\u201d\n\nWhen Aleodor heard these words, and how the ant called him by his name,\nhe raised his foot again and let the ant go where it would. He also went\non his way, and after journeying for I know not how many days he came at\nlast to the palace of the Green Emperor. There he knocked at the door,\nand stood waiting for some one to come out and ask him what he wanted.\n\nHe stood there one day, he stood there two days, but as for any one\ncoming out to ask him what he wanted, there was no sign of it. When the\nthird day dawned, however, the Green Emperor called to his servants and\ngave them a talking to that they were likely to remember. \u201cHow comes\nit,\u201d said he, \u201cthat a man should be standing at my gates three days\nwithout any one going out to ask him what he wants? Is this what I pay\nyou wages for?\u201d\n\nThe servants of the Green Emperor looked up, and they looked down, but\nthey had not one word to say for themselves. At last they went and\ncalled Aleodor and led him before the Emperor.\n\n\u201cWhat dost thou want, my son?\u201d inquired the Emperor; \u201cand wherefore art\nthou waiting at the gates of my court?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come, great Emperor, to seek thy daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood, my son. But, first of all, we must make a compact together, for\nsuch is the custom of my court. Thou must hide thyself wheresoever thou\nwilt three times running. If my daughter finds thee all three times, thy\nhead shall be struck off and stuck on a stake, the only one out of a\nhundred that has not a suitor\u2019s head upon it. But if she does not find\nthee thrice, thou shalt have her from me with all imperial courtesy.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy hope, great Emperor, is in the Lord, Who will not allow me to\nperish. We will put something else on this stake of thine, but not the\nhead of a man. Let us make the compact.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou dost agree?\u201d\n\n\u201cI agree.\u201d\n\nSo they made them a compact, and the deeds were drawn out and signed and\nsealed.\n\nThen the daughter of the Emperor met him next day, and it was arranged\nthat he should hide himself as best he could. But now he was in an agony\nthat tortured him worse than death, for he bethought him again and again\nwhere and how he could best hide himself, for nothing less than his head\nwas at stake. And as he kept walking about, and brooding and pondering,\nhe remembered the pike. Then he took out the fish\u2019s scale, looked at it,\nand thought of the fish\u2019s master, and immediately, oh wonderful!--the\npike stood before him and said: \u201cWhat dost thou want of me,\nBoy-Beautiful?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do I want? Thou mayest well ask that! Look what has happened to\nme! Canst thou not tell me what to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is thy business no longer. Leave it to me!\u201d\n\nAnd immediately striking Aleodor with his tail, he turned him into a\nlittle shell-fish, and hid him among the other little shell-fish at the\nbottom of the sea.\n\nWhen the damsel appeared, she put on her eye-glass and looked for him in\nevery direction, but could see him nowhere. Her other wooers had hidden\nthemselves in caves, or behind houses, or under haycocks and haystacks,\nor in some hole or corner, but Aleodor hid himself in such a way that\nthe damsel began to fear that she would be vanquished. Then it occurred\nto her to turn her eye-glass towards the sea, and she saw him beneath a\nheap of mussels. But you must know that her eye-glass was a magic\neye-glass.\n\n\u201cI see thee, thou rascal,\u201d cried she, \u201chow thou hast bothered me, to be\nsure! From being a man thou hast made thyself a mussel, and hidden\nthyself at the bottom of the sea.\u201d\n\nThis he couldn\u2019t deny, so of course he had to come up again.\n\nBut she said to the Emperor: \u201cMethinks, dear father, this youth will\nsuit me. He is nice and comely. Even if I find him all three times let\nme have him, for he is not stupid like the others. Why, thou canst see\nfrom his figure even how different he is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe shall see,\u201d replied the Emperor.\n\nOn the second day Aleodor bethought him of the crow, and immediately the\ncrow stood before him, and said to him: \u201cWhat dost thou want, my\nmaster?\u201d\n\n\u201cLook now, senseless one! what has happened to me. Canst thou not show\nme a way out of it?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us try!\u201d and with that it struck him with its wing and turned him\ninto a young crow, and placed him in the midst of a flock of crows that\nwere flying high in the air in the teeth of a fierce tempest.\n\nThen the damsel came again with her eye-glass and searched for him in\nevery direction. He was nowhere to be found. She looked for him on the\nearth, but he was not there. She looked for him in the rivers and in the\nsea, but he was not there. The damsel grew pensive. She searched and\nsearched till mid-day, when it occurred to her to look upwards also. And\nperceiving him in the glory of the sky in the midst of a swarm of crows,\nshe pointed him out with her finger and cried: \u201cLook! look! Rogue that\nthou art! Come down from there, O man, that hast made thyself into a bit\nof a bird! Nothing in the fields of heaven can escape my eye!\u201d\n\nThen he came down, for what else could he do? Even the Emperor himself\nnow began to be amazed at the skill and cunning of Aleodor, and lent an\near to the prayers of his daughter. Inasmuch, however, as the compact\ndeclared that Aleodor was to hide three times, the Emperor said to his\ndaughter: \u201cWait once more, for I am curious to see what place he will\nfind to hide himself in next.\u201d\n\nThe third day, early in the morning, he thought of the ant,\nand--whisk!--the ant was by his side. When she had found out what he\nwanted she said to him: \u201cLeave it to me, and if she find thee I am here\nto help thee.\u201d\n\nSo the ant turned him into a flower-seed, and hid him in the very skirts\nof the damsel without her perceiving it.\n\nThen the Emperor\u2019s daughter rose up, took her eye-glass, and sought for\nhim all day long, but look where she would she could not find him. She\nplagued herself almost to death in her search, for she felt that he was\nclose at hand, though see him she could not. She looked through her\neye-glass on the ground, and in the sea, and up in the sky, but she\ncould see him nowhere, and towards evening, tired out by so much\nsearching, she exclaimed: \u201cShow thyself then, this once! I feel that\nthou art close at hand, and yet I cannot see thee. Thou hast conquered,\nand I am thine.\u201d\n\nThen when he heard her say that he had conquered, he slipped slowly down\nfrom her skirts and revealed himself. The Emperor had now nothing more\nto say, so he gave the youth his daughter, and when they departed, he\nescorted them to the boundaries of his empire with great pomp and\nceremony.\n\nWhile they were on the road they stopped at a place to rest, and after\nthey had refreshed themselves somewhat with food, he laid his head in\nher lap and fell asleep. The daughter of the Emperor could not forbear\nfrom looking at him, and her eyes filled with tears as they feasted on\nhis comeliness and beauty. Then her heart grew soft within her, and she\ncould not help kissing him. But Aleodor, when he awoke, gave her a\nbuffet with the palm of his hand that awoke the echoes.\n\n\u201cNay but, my dear Aleodor!\u201d cried she, \u201cthou hast indeed a heavy hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have slapped thee,\u201d said he, \u201cfor the deed thou hast done, for I have\nnot taken thee for myself, but for him who bade me seek thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood, my brother! but why didst thou not tell me so at home? for then I\nalso would have known what to do. But let be now, for all that is past.\u201d\n\nThen they set out again till they came alive and well to the\nHalf-man-riding-on-the-worse-half-of-a-lame-horse.\n\n\u201cLo, now! I have done my service,\u201d said Aleodor, and with that he would\nhave departed. But when the girl beheld the monster, she shivered with\ndisgust, and would not stay with him for a single moment. The hideous\ncripple drew near to the maiden, and began to caress her with honeyed\nwords, that so she might go with him willingly. But the girl said to\nhim: \u201cDepart from me, Satan, and go to thy mother Hell, who hath cast\nthee upon the face of the earth!\u201d Then the half-monster half-man was\nnear to melting for the love he had for the damsel, and, writhing away\non his belly, he fetched his mother that she might help to persuade the\nmaid to be his wife. But meanwhile the damsel had dug a little trench\nall round her, and stood rooted to the spot with her eyes fixed on the\nground. The hideous satanic skeleton of a monster could not get at her.\n\n\u201cDepart from the face of the earth, thou abomination!\u201d cried she; \u201cthe\nworld is well rid of such a pestilential monster as thou art!\u201d\n\nStill he strove and strove to get at her, but finding at last he could\nnot reach her, he burst with rage and fury that a mere woman should have\nso covered him with shame and reproach.\n\nThen Aleodor added the domain of the\nHalf-man-riding-on-the-worse-half-of-a-lame-horse to his own\npossessions, took the daughter of the Green Emperor to wife, and\nreturned to his own empire. And when his people saw him coming back in\nthe company of a smiling spouse as beautiful as the stars of heaven,\nthey welcomed him with great joy, and, mounting once more his imperial\nthrone, he ruled his people in peace and plenty till the day of his\ndeath.\n\nAnd now I\u2019ll mount my horse again, and say an \u201cOur Father\u201d before I go.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED HOG\n\n\nOnce upon a time, a long long time ago, when fleas were shod with ninety\nand nine pieces of iron, and flew up into the blue sky to fetch us down\nfairy-tales, there lived an Emperor who had three daughters. One day,\nwhen he was going to battle, he called these daughters to him and said\nto them:\n\n\u201cLook now, my darlings! Needs must that I go to the wars. My foe is\nadvancing against me with a huge host. \u2019Tis with great bitterness of\nheart that I part from you. In my absence, take care that you have your\nwits about you, behave well, and look after the affairs of the\nhousehold. You have my leave to walk in the garden and enter all the\nrooms of my house, only in the chamber at the bottom of the corridor on\nthe right-hand side you must not enter, or it will not be well with\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cDepart in peace, papa!\u201d cried they. \u201cNever yet have we disobeyed the\nwords of thy commands. Go without any fear of us, and God give thee\nvictory over all thine enemies!\u201d\n\nSo when he was quite ready to depart, the Emperor gave them the keys of\nall his chambers; but once more he put them in mind of his command, and\nthen he bade them good-bye and departed.\n\nThe daughters of the Emperor kissed his hand with tears in their eyes,\nand wished him victory once more, and then the eldest of the three\ndaughters received the keys from the hands of the Emperor.\n\nWhen the daughters of the Emperor found themselves all alone they knew\nnot what to do with themselves, the time hung so heavily. At last they\nagreed to work a part of the day, and to read another part of the day,\nand spend the rest of the day walking in the garden. This they did, and\nthings went well with them.\n\nBut the Deceiver of mankind was vexed at the tranquillity of the\nmaidens, so he must needs twist his tail in their affairs.\n\n\u201cMy sisters,\u201d said the eldest of the three damsels one day, \u201cwhy do we\nspend the live-long day in sewing and knitting and reading? I am sick\nand tired of it all. It is ever so many days now since we were left to\nourselves, and there\u2019s not a corner of the garden that we have not\nwalked in over and over again. We have also been through all the rooms\nof our father\u2019s palace, and looked at all the ornaments there till we\nknow them by heart. Let us now enter into that chamber which our father\ntold us not to enter.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me, dear sister!\u201d said the youngest damsel. \u201cI wonder that thou\nshouldst persuade us to tread underfoot the precepts of our father. When\nour father told us not to enter there, he must needs have known what he\nwas saying, and why he told us so to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cDost thou fancy, silly, that there\u2019s some evil serpent there that will\neat us, or some other foul beast perhaps?\u201d cried the middle sister.\n\u201cBesides, how is papa to know whether we were there or not?\u201d\n\nTalking and arguing thus, they had reached the door of the chamber, and\nthe eldest sister, who was the guardian of the keys, popped the key into\nthe key-hole, and turning it round--crack-rack!--the door flew wide\nopen.\n\nThe damsels entered.\n\nWhat do you think they saw there? The room was bare of furniture, but in\nthe middle of it stood a large table covered with a beautiful cloth, and\non the top of it was a wide-open book.\n\nThe girls, all full of impatience, wanted to find out what was written\nin this book, and the eldest went up to it and read these words: \u201cThe\neldest daughter of the Emperor will marry a son of the Emperor of the\nEast.\u201d\n\nThen the second daughter went up to the book, and turning over the leaf,\nread these words: \u201cThe second daughter of the Emperor will marry a son\nof the Emperor of the West.\u201d\n\nThe girls laughed and made merry at these words, and giggled and joked\namong themselves. But the youngest daughter would not go up to the book.\n\nBut the elder ones would not leave her in peace, but dragged her up to\nthe long table, and then, though very unwillingly, she turned over the\nleaf and read these words--\n\n\u201cThe youngest daughter of the Emperor will have a pig for her spouse.\u201d\n\nA thunderbolt falling from the sky could not have hurt her more than the\nreading of these words. She was like to have died of horror, and if her\nsisters had not held her she would have dashed her head to pieces\nagainst the ground.\n\nWhen she had come to herself again, her sisters began to try to comfort\nher. \u201cHow canst thou believe all that nonsense?\u201d said they. \u201cWhen didst\nthou ever hear of the daughter of an Emperor marrying a pig?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a baby thou art!\u201d added the eldest, \u201cas if papa hadn\u2019t armies\nenough to save thee, even if so loathsome a monster as that _did_ come\nand try and make thee his wife!\u201d\n\nThe youngest daughter of the Emperor would very much have liked to\nbelieve what her sisters said, but her heart would not allow it. She\nthought continually of the book which promised her sisters such handsome\nbridegrooms, while it foretold that that should happen to her which had\nnever yet happened since the world began. Then she reflected how she had\ntransgressed the commands of her father, and her heart smote her. She\nbegan to grow thin, and ere a few days had passed she had so changed\nthat none could recognize her. She became sad and sallow, instead of\nrosy and rollicking, and could take part in nothing at all. She ceased\nto play with her sisters in the garden; she ceased to cull posies and\nmake garlands of them for her head, and when her sisters sang over their\ndistaffs and embroideries her voice was dumb.\n\nMeanwhile the Emperor, the father of these girls, succeeded beyond even\nthe wishes of his dearest friends, and vanquished and dispersed his\nenemies. As his thoughts were continually with his daughters, he did\nwhat he had to do quickly and returned home. Crowds and crowds of people\nturned out to meet him with fifes and drums and trumpets, and great was\ntheir joy at the sight of their victorious Emperor.\n\nWhen he reached his capital, before going home, he gave thanks to God\nfor aiding him against the enemies who had tried to do him evil. Then he\nwent to his own house, and his daughters came out to meet him. His joy\nwas great when he saw how well they were, for his youngest daughter did\nher best to appear as gay and happy as the others.\n\nBut it was not very long before the Emperor observed that, little by\nlittle, his youngest daughter was growing sadder and thinner. \u201cWhat if\nshe has broken my commands?\u201d thought he, and as it were a red-hot iron\npierced his soul. Then he called his daughters to him, and bade them\nspeak the truth. They confessed, but they did not say which of them had\nfirst persuaded them.\n\nWhen the Emperor heard this he was filled with bitterness, and from\nhenceforth sadness took possession of him. But he held his tongue, and\ndid but make all the more of his youngest daughter because he was about\nto lose her. What\u2019s done is done, and he knew that thousands and\nthousands of words can\u2019t make one farthing.\n\nTime went on, and he had almost come to forget the circumstance, when\none day there appeared at the Emperor\u2019s court the son of the Emperor of\nthe East, who sought the hand of his eldest daughter. The Emperor gave\nher to him with joy. They had a splendid wedding, and after three days\nhe conducted them with great pomp to the frontier. A little while\nafterwards the same thing happened to the second daughter, for the son\nof the Emperor of the West came and sought her in marriage likewise.\n\nAccordingly as she saw what had been written in the book gradually\nfulfilled, the youngest daughter of the Emperor grew sadder and sadder.\nShe no longer enjoyed her food; she would not go out walking; she even\nlost all pleasure in raiment; she preferred to die rather than become\nthe laughing-stock of the whole world. But the Emperor did not give her\nthe opportunity of doing anything foolish, but took care to divert her\nwith all manner of pleasant stories.\n\nTime went on, and lo!--oh, wonderful!--one day a large hog entered the\nroyal palace and said: \u201cHail, O Emperor! May thy days be as rosy and as\njoyous as sunrise on a cloudless day!\u201d\n\n\u201cGood and fair is thy greeting, my son!\u201d replied the Emperor; \u201cbut what\nill wind hath blown thee hither, I should like to know?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come as a wooer,\u201d replied the hog.\n\nThe Emperor marvelled greatly at hearing such a pretty speech in the\nmouth of a hog, and immediately felt within himself that all was not\nright here. He would have put the hog off with some excuse if he could,\nto save his daughter, but when he heard the court and all the ways\nleading to it full of the grunts of the hogs who had accompanied the\nwooer, he had nothing to say for himself, and promised the hog that he\nwould do what it asked. But the hog was not content with his bare\npromise, but insisted that the wedding should take place within a week.\nOnly when it had obtained the Emperor\u2019s word that it should be so did it\ngo away.\n\nThe Emperor told his daughter that she must submit to her fate, as it\nwas clearly the will of God. Then he added: \u201cMy daughter, the speech and\nsensible bearing of this hog belong to no brute beast with which I am\nacquainted. I\u2019ll wager my head upon it that he was never _born_ a hog.\nThere must be a touch of sorcery here, or some other devilry. If thou\nart obedient, thou wilt not depart from thy given word, for God will not\nallow thee to be tormented for long.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou dost think it good, dear father,\u201d replied the girl, \u201cI will\nobey thee, and put my trust in God. Let Him do what He will with me. It\nmust be so, I have no other way to turn.\u201d\n\nIn the meantime the wedding-day arrived. The marriage was celebrated in\nsecret. Then the hog got into one of the imperial carriages with his\nbride, and so they set off homewards.\n\nOn the journey they had to pass by a large marsh. The hog ordered the\ncarriage to stop, got down, and wallowed about in the mire till he was\npretty nearly one with it. Then he got into the carriage again, and told\nhis bride to kiss him. Poor girl, what could she do? She took out her\ncambric pocket-handkerchief, wiped his snout a little, and then kissed\nhim. \u201cI am but obeying my father\u2019s commands,\u201d thought she.\n\nAt last they reached the hog\u2019s house, which was in the midst of a dense\nforest. It was now evening, and when they had rested a little from the\nfatigues of the road they supped together and lay down to rest. In the\nnight the daughter of the Emperor perceived that her husband was a man\nand not a hog, and she marvelled greatly. Then she called to mind the\nwords of her father, and hope once more arose in her breast.\n\nEvery evening the hog shook off his hog-skin, and every morning before\nshe awoke he put it on again.\n\nOne night passed, two nights passed, a great many nights passed, and the\ndamsel could not make out how it was that her husband was a man at night\nand a hog in the daytime. For he was under a spell; an enchanter had\ndone him this mischief.\n\nGradually she began to love him, especially when she felt that she was\nabout to become a mother, but what grieved her most was that she was\nall alone, with none at hand to aid her in her hour of need.\n\nOne day, however, she saw an old long-nosed witch pass by that way. Now\nas she had seen no human creature for a long time, she was full of joy,\nand called to her, and they had a long talk together.\n\n\u201cTell me now, old woman,\u201d cried she, \u201cthe meaning of this marvel. In the\ndaytime my husband is a hog, but when he sleeps beside me at night he is\na man. Explain this marvel to me!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell thee that later on, but in the meanwhile shall I give thee\nsome medicines that will put an end to the spell that holds him?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, do, little mother, and I\u2019ll pay thee for them whatever thou wilt,\nfor I hate to see him as he is now.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, then. Take this bit of rope, my little chicken, but let him\nnot know anything about it, or it will lose its effect. Now when he is\nasleep, rise up, and going to him very very softly, tie his left leg as\nhard as thou canst, and thou wilt see, dear heart, that on the morrow\nhe\u2019ll remain a man. Money I do not want. I shall be more than repaid if\nI release him from this scourge. My very heart-strings are bursting with\ncompassion for thy lord, my rose-bud, and I grieve, oh how bitterly I\ngrieve, that I did not come this way before, so as to help thee\nsooner.\u201d\n\nWhen the old hag had departed, the daughter of the Emperor took care to\ncarefully conceal the piece of rope, but in the middle of the night she\nsoftly arose so that he shouldn\u2019t hear her, and holding her very breath,\ntied the string round her husband\u2019s left leg, but when she tied the\nknot--r-rch!--the string broke, for it was rotten, and instantly her\nhusband started up.\n\n\u201cUnhappy woman!\u201d cried he, \u201cwhat hast thou done? But three days more and\nI should have been free of this vile spell, but now who knows how long I\nmay have to carry this vile bestial skin! And know, moreover, that thy\nhand can never touch me again till thou hast worn out three pairs of\niron sandals, and worn down three staves of steel, seeking me all over\nthe wide world, for now I must depart.\u201d\n\nAnd with these words he disappeared.\n\nThe poor daughter of the Emperor, when she found herself all alone,\nbegan to cry and sob as if her heart would break. She cursed the vile\nwitch with fire and sword, but all in vain, and when at last she saw\nthat all her cursing and moaning did no good, she got up and went\nwhithersoever the mercy of God and the desire of her husband might lead\nher.\n\nAt the first city she arrived at she bade them make her three pairs of\niron sandals and three staves of steel, made provision for her journey,\nand set off to seek her husband.\n\nShe went on and on, past nine kingdoms and nine seas, she passed through\nvast forests where the treestumps were like barrels, she got black and\nblue from stumbling over the trunks of fallen trees, yet often as she\nfell, she always got up again and resumed her way; the branches of the\ntrees struck her in the face, the briars tore her hands, yet on and on\nshe went without so much as looking back once. At last, weary with her\njourney and her burden, bowed down with grief and yet with hope in her\nheart, she came to a little house. And who should be living there but\nthe Holy Moon.\n\nThe damsel knocked at the door and begged them to let her come in and\nrest a little, especially as she was about to become a mother.\n\nThe mother of the Holy Moon had compassion on her and her afflictions,\nso she let her come inside and took good care of her. Then she asked\nher: \u201cHow is it that thou, a creature of another race, hast managed to\ncome so far as this?\u201d\n\nThen the poor daughter of the Emperor told her everything that had\nhappened to her, and wound up by saying: \u201cI praise and thank God first\nof all for directing my footsteps even to this place, and I thank Him in\nthe second place because He allows not my child to perish at the hour\nof its birth. And now I beg thee to tell me whether thy daughter, the\nHoly Moon, hath seen my husband anywhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I cannot tell thee, my dear,\u201d replied the mother of the Holy Moon;\n\u201cbut if thou dost go on thy way towards the east till thou comest to the\nhouse of the Holy Sun, maybe he will be able to tell thee somewhat.\u201d\n\nThen she gave her a roast fowl to eat, and told her to be very careful\nnot to lose one of the bones, as they would be very useful to her.\n\nThe daughter of the Emperor thanked the mother of the Moon for her\nhospitality and kind words, and after throwing away the pair of iron\nsandals which she had worn out, she put on another pair, placed the\nfowl\u2019s bones in her bosom, took her child on her arm, and a second staff\nof steel in her hand, and took to the road again.\n\nShe went on and on through nothing but plains of sand, and the way was\nso bad that she glided one step backwards for every two steps she went\nforwards. On and on she struggled till at last she left these plains\nbehind her; and now she got amongst high mountains, steep and rugged,\nand crawled from rock to rock and from crag to crag. Whenever she came\nto a little plot of level ground she stopped and rested a little, and\nreflected that now she was a little nearer her husband than she was\nbefore, and then she went on her way again. The sides of the mountains\nwere of hard-pointed flints, which bruised and cut her feet, knees, and\nsides till they were covered with blood; for you must know that these\nmountains were so high that they reached beyond the clouds. There were\nprecipices in the way too that she could only pass by going down on her\nhands and knees and guiding herself with her staff.\n\nAt last, quite overcome by fatigue, she came to a palace.\n\nHere lived the Sun.\n\nShe knocked at the door and begged them to take her in.\n\nThe mother of the Sun received her, and was amazed to see a creature of\nanother race in those regions, and full of compassion when she heard\nwhat had befallen her. Then, when she had promised to ask her son about\nthe damsel\u2019s husband, she hid her in the cellar, that the Sun might not\nperceive her when he came home in the evening, for he always came back\nin a bad temper.\n\nNext day the daughter of the Emperor was afraid she would be found out,\nas the Sun said he smelt a creature from another world. But his mother\nsoothed him with soft words, and told him that it was pears that he\nsmelt. The daughter of the Emperor took courage when she saw how well\nshe was treated, and said:\n\n\u201cTell me now, how can the Sun be ever vexed, seeing that he is so\nbeauteous, and doeth so much good to mortals?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell thee,\u201d replied the mother of the Sun. \u201cIn the morning he\nstands in the gate of Heaven, and then he is merry, so merry, and smiles\nupon the whole world. But at mid-day he is full of disgust, inasmuch as\nhe sees all the follies of men, and so his wrath burns and he gets\nhotter and hotter; while in the evening he is vexed and sorrowful\nbecause he stands in the gate of Hades, for that is the usual way by\nwhich he comes home.\u201d\n\nShe told her besides that she had asked about her husband, and her son\nhad replied that he knew not anything about him, as he was living in the\nmidst of a vast and dense forest, so that his beams could not pierce\nthrough the thick foliage; the only thing to do was to go and ask the\nWind about it. Then she also gave her a roast fowl, and told her to take\ngreat care of the bones.\n\nSo the daughter of the Emperor pitched away the second pair of iron\nsandals that she had worn out, tied up the bones, took her child on her\narm and a third staff in her hand, and went after the Wind.\n\nOn this journey she met with hardships greater than any before, for she\ncame upon mountains of flintstones, one after another, through which\ndarted flames of fire, forests untrodden by man, and fields of ice dark\nwith snow-storms. More than once the poor creature was on the point of\nfalling, but with perseverance and the help of God she overcame even\nthese great hardships, and at last she reached a ravine between two\nmountains, large enough to hold seven cities.\n\nThis was the abode of the Wind.\n\nThere was a gate in the wall which surrounded it. She knocked and\nimplored them to let her in. The mother of the Wind had compassion on\nher, and let her in and invited her to rest. \u201cIf she had hidden from the\nSun,\u201d she said, \u201csurely the Wind would not find her out.\u201d\n\nThe next day the mother of the Wind told her that her husband was living\nin a huge dense wood, which the axe of man had never yet reached, and\nthere he had made him a sort of house by piling up the trunks of trees\none on the top of another, and plaiting them together with withy bands,\nwhere he lived all alone for fear of wicked men. Then, after she had\ngiven her a roast fowl and told her to take good care of the bones, the\nmother of the Wind counselled her to follow the road that led straight\nto the sky, and let the stars of heaven be her guides. She said she\nwould, and after thanking her with tears of joy for her hospitality and\nfor her glad tidings, she went on her way.\n\nThe poor woman turned night into day. She stopped neither to eat nor to\nrest, so fiercely did the desire to find her husband burn within her.\nShe went on and on till she quite wore out the third pair of sandals.\nShe threw them away, and began to walk with bare feet. She cared not for\nthe hard clumps of earth, she took no heed of the thorns that entered\ninto her feet, nor of the pain she suffered when she stumbled over the\nhard stones. At last she came to a green and beauteous meadow on the\nmargin of a forest, and her heart rejoiced within her when she felt the\nsoft grass and saw the sweet flowers. She stopped and rested a little.\nBut when she saw the birds in couples and couples on the branches of the\ntrees, a burning desire for her own husband came upon her, and she began\nto weep bitterly, and with her child on her arm, and her bundle of bones\nin her girdle, she went on her way. She entered the forest. She did not\nonce look at the soft green turf which soothed her feet, she listened\nnot to the birds that chirped enough to deafen her, she regarded not the\nflowers that peeped out from among the bushes, but groped her way step\nby step into the depths of the forest. For from the tokens given her by\nthe mother of the Wind she perceived that this must be the forest in\nwhich her husband was staying.\n\nThree days and three nights she roamed through the forest, and could see\nno one. So worn was she now with fatigue that she fell to the ground,\nand there she lay for a day and a night without moving, nor did she eat\nand drink.\n\nAt last she rallied all her remaining strength, rose up, and tottering\nalong, tried to support herself on her staff; but it could help her no\nmore, for that also was quite worn down so that it was now no good to\nher. Still trusting in God, she went on as best she could. She hadn\u2019t\ntaken ten steps forward when she saw in a cleft of the rock just such a\nsort of house as the mother of the Wind had told her of. She went\ntowards it, and just managed to get up to it and no more. It was a house\nthat had neither window nor door, but there was an opening in the roof.\nShe looked around her, but there was no sign of a ladder.\n\nWhat was she to do to get inside it?\n\nShe thought and thought again. She tried to climb up it, but in vain.\nSuddenly she thought of the bones which she had been carrying all this\nway. \u201cIf only I could find out,\u201d said she, \u201chow these bones are to\nassist me!\u201d She took them out of the bundle, looked at them, reflected a\nlittle, and then put one atop the other, and--oh, wonderful!--they\njoined on to each other as if they had been glued. Then she joined\nanother on to the first two and then another till she made out of them\ntwo long bars. Then she put a little bone across the two bars, and it\nstuck fast like the rung of a ladder. She mounted on it, and placed\nanother little bone across a bit higher, and then she mounted on that\nalso, and so she ascended from rung to rung, placing the small bones\nacross as she went along, till she got quite near the top; but then she\nsaw that there was a wide gap between the last rung of her ladder and\nthe door in the roof of the house, and she now had no more bones to make\nthe last rung. She must have lost it on the way. What was she to do now?\nShe bethought her for a while, and then she cut off a finger and placed\nthat between the bars. Sure enough it joined on to and formed the last\nrung, and mounting on it she entered the door of the house with her\nchild in her arms. There she rested for awhile, gave her child to suck,\nand sat down herself on the threshold.\n\nWhen her husband came he was so amazed at what he saw that he could\nscarce believe his eyes, and there he stood looking at the ladder of\nbones, the last rung of which was a severed human finger. Fear came upon\nhim lest there should be some evil enchantment about the thing, and he\nwould have turned his back upon the house if God had not put it into his\nmind to enter. So turning himself into a dove, and flying up into the\nair without once touching the ladder, lest evil spells should lay hold\nof him, he entered the house in full flight, and there he beheld his\nwife nursing a child; and instantly he was full of tenderness and\ncompassion towards her, for he bethought him of how much she must have\nsuffered and endured before she could have found her way to him. Nay, he\ncould scarce recognize her, so changed was she by her hardships and\nsufferings.\n\nBut the daughter of the Emperor, when she saw him, sprang from her seat,\nand her heart failed her for fright, for she did not know him. Then he\nmade himself known to her, and she regretted no longer all she had gone\nthrough to find him, nay, she forgot it altogether, for he was as tall\nand straight as a lordly pine.\n\nThen they began talking together. She told him all that had befallen\nher, and he wept for pity. Then he also spoke, and told her his story.\n\n\u201cI am the son of an Emperor,\u201d said he. \u201cIn the war which my father waged\nwith the dragons, our neighbours (and evil neighbours they were, ever\nravaging his domains), I slew the smallest of the dragons. Now his\nmother knew that thou wert my destined bride, so she laid the curse of\nher spells upon me, and constrained me to wear the skin of an unclean\nbeast, with the design of preventing me from having thee. Yet God aided\nme, and I won thee nevertheless. That old woman who gave thee the cord\nto tie my legs with was the dragon\u2019s mother, and when I had but three\ndays more to bear the spell, I was forced, by thy folly, to go about in\npigskin three years longer. But now since thou hast suffered for me and\nI have suffered for thee, let us praise God and return to our parents.\nWithout thee I should have resigned myself to living the life of a\nhermit, and so I chose this desert for my habitation, and built me this\nhouse so that no child of man should get at me.\u201d\n\nThen they embraced each other full of joy, and promised to forget all\ntheir past sorrows.\n\nThe next day they rose early and went back first of all to the Emperor\nhis father. When it was known that he and his consort had arrived, all\nthe world wept with joy; but his father and mother embraced them\ntightly, and the public rejoicings lasted three days and three nights.\n\nThen he went on to the Emperor the father of his wife, and he was like\nto have gone out of his mind for joy when he saw them. When he had heard\nall their adventures he said to his daughter: \u201cDid I not tell thee not\nto believe that he who sought thy hand was ever born a hog? Thou hast\ndone well, my daughter, to listen to my words.\u201d\n\nAnd being an old man, and having no heirs, he descended from his throne\nand put them upon it in his stead. Then they reigned in peace, and if\nthey are not dead they are living still.\n\nAnd now I\u2019ll mount my horse again and say an \u201cOur Father\u201d before I go.\n\n\n\n\nBOY-BEAUTIFUL, THE GOLDEN APPLES, AND THE WERE-WOLF\n\n\nOnce upon a time, a long while ago, when the very flies wrote upon the\nwalls more beautifully than the mind can picture, there lived an Emperor\nand an Empress who had three sons, and a very beautiful garden alongside\ntheir palace. At the bottom of this garden there grew an apple-tree,\nentirely of gold from the top to the bottom. The Emperor was wild with\njoy at the thought that he had in his garden an apple-tree, the like of\nwhich was not to be found in the wide world. He used to stand in front\nof it, and poke his nose into every part of it, and look at it again and\nagain, till his eyes nearly started out of his head. One day he saw this\ntree bud, blossom, and form its fruit, which began to ripen before him.\nThe Emperor twisted his moustache, and his mouth watered at the thought\nthat the next day he would have a golden apple or two on his table, an\nunheard-of thing up to that moment since the world began.\n\nDay had scarcely begun to dawn next morning, when the Emperor was\nalready in the garden to feast his eyes to the full on the golden\napples; but he almost went out of his mind when, instead of the ripened\ngolden apples, he saw that the tree was budding anew, but of apples\nthere was no sign. While he stood there he saw the tree blossom, the\nblossoms fall off, and the young fruit again appear.\n\nAt this sight his heart came back to him again, and he joyfully awaited\nthe morrow, but on the morrow also the apples had gone--goodness knows\nwhere! The Emperor was very wroth. He commanded that the tree should be\nstrictly guarded, and the thief seized; but, alas! where were they to\nfind him?\n\nThe tree blossomed every day, put forth flowers, formed its fruit, and\ntowards evening the fruit began to ripen. But in the middle of the night\nsomebody always came and took away the fruit, without the Emperor\u2019s\nwatchers being aware of it. It was just as if it were done on purpose.\nEvery night, sure enough, somebody came and took the apples, as if to\nmock at the Emperor and all his guards! So though this Emperor had the\ngolden apple-tree in his garden, he not only never could have a golden\napple on his table, but never even saw it ripen. At last the poor\nEmperor took it so to heart that he said he would give up his throne to\nwhosoever would catch and bind the thief.\n\nThen the sons of the Emperor came to him, and asked him to let them\nwatch also. Great was the joy of the Emperor when he heard from the\nmouth of his eldest son the vow he made to lay hands upon the thief. So\nthe Emperor gave him leave, and he set to work. The eldest son watched\nthe first night, but he suffered the same disgrace that the other\nwatchers had suffered before him.\n\nOn the second night the second son watched, but he was no cleverer than\nhis brother, and returned to his father with his nose to the earth.\n\nBoth the brothers said that up to midnight they had watched well enough,\nbut after that they could not keep their feet for weariness, but fell\ndown in a deep sleep, and recollected nothing else.\n\nThe youngest son listened to all this in silence, but when his big\nbrothers had told their story, he begged his father to let _him_ watch\ntoo. Now, sad as his father was at being unable to find a valiant\nwarrior to catch the thief, yet he burst out laughing when he heard the\nrequest of his youngest son. Nevertheless, he yielded at last, though\nonly after much pressing, and now the youngest son set about guarding\nthe tree.\n\nWhen the evening had come, he took his bow, and his quiver full of\narrows, and his sword, and went down into the garden. Here he chose out\na lonely place, quite away from wall and tree, or any other place that\nhe might have been able to lean against, and stood on the trunk of a\nfelled tree, so that if he chanced to doze off, it might slip from under\nhim and awake him. This he did, and when he had fallen two or three\ntimes, sleep forsook him, and weariness ceased to torment him.\n\nJust as it was drawing nigh to dawn, at the hour when sleep is sweetest,\nhe heard a fluttering in the air, as if a swarm of birds was\napproaching. He pricked up his ears, and heard something or other\npecking away at the golden apples. He pulled an arrow from his quiver,\nplaced it on his bow, and drew it with all his might--but nothing\nstirred. He drew his bow again--still there was nothing. When he had\ndrawn it once more, he heard again the fluttering of wings, and was\nconscious that a flock of birds was flying away. He drew near to the\ngolden apples, and perceived that the thief had not had time to take all\nof them. He had taken one here, and one there, but most of them still\nremained. As now he stood there he fancied he saw something shining on\nthe ground. He stooped down and picked up the shining thing, and, lo and\nbehold! it was two feathers entirely of gold.[19]\n\nWhen it was day he plucked the apples, placed them on a golden salver,\nand with the golden feathers in his hat, went to find his father. The\nEmperor, when he saw the apples, very nearly went out of his mind for\njoy; but he controlled himself, and proclaimed throughout the city that\nhis youngest son had succeeded in saving the apples, and that the thief\nwas discovered to be a flock of birds.\n\nBoy-Beautiful now asked his father to let him go and search out the\nthief; but his father would hear of nothing but the long-desired apples,\nwhich he was never tired of feasting his eyes upon.\n\nBut the youngest son of the Emperor was not to be put off, and\nimportuned his father till at last the Emperor, in order to get rid of\nhim, gave him leave to go and seek the thief. So he got ready, and when\nhe was about to depart, he took the golden feathers out of his cap, and\ngave them to his mother, the Empress, to keep for him till he returned.\nHe took raiment and money for his journey, fastened his quiverful of\narrows to his back, and his sword on his right hip, and with his bow in\none hand and the reins in the other, and accompanied by a faithful\nservant, set off on his way. He went on and on, along roads more and\nmore remote, till at last he came to a desert. Here he dismounted, and\ntaking counsel with his faithful servant, hit upon a road that led to\nthe east. They went on a good bit further, till they came to a vast and\ndense wood. Through this tangle of a wood they had to grope their way\n(and it was as much as they could do to do that), and presently they\nsaw, a long way off, a great and terrible wolf, with a head of steel.\nThey immediately prepared to defend themselves, and when they were\nwithin bow-shot of the wolf, Boy-Beautiful put his bow to his eye.\n\nThe wolf seeing this, cried: \u201cStay thy hand, Boy-Beautiful, and slay me\nnot, and it will be well for thee one day!\u201d Boy-Beautiful listened to\nhim, and let his bow fall, and the wolf drawing nigh, asked them where\nthey were going, and what they were doing in that wood, untrodden by the\nfoot of man. Then Boy-Beautiful told him the whole story of the golden\napples in his father\u2019s garden, and said they were seeking after the\nthief.\n\nThe wolf told him that the thief was the Emperor of the Birds, who,\nwhenever he set out to steal apples, took with him in his train all the\nbirds of swiftest flight, that so they might strip the orchards more\nrapidly, and that these birds were to be found in the city on the\nconfines of this wood. He also told them that the whole household of the\nEmperor of the Birds lived by the robbing of gardens and orchards; and\nhe showed them the nearest and easiest way to the city. Then giving\nthem a little apple most lovely to look upon, he said to them: \u201cAccept\nthis apple, Boy-Beautiful! Whenever thou shouldst have need of me, look\nat it and think of me, and immediately I\u2019ll be with thee!\u201d\n\nBoy-Beautiful took the apple, and concealed it in his bosom, and bidding\nthe wolf good-day, struggled onwards with his faithful servant through\nthe thickets of the forest, till he came to the city where the\nrobber-bird dwelt. All through the city he went, asking where it was,\nand they told him that the Emperor of that realm had it in a gold cage\nin his garden.\n\nThat was all he wanted to know. He took a turn round the court of the\nEmperor, and noted in his mind all the ramparts which surrounded the\ncourt. When it was evening, he came thither with his faithful servant,\nand hid himself in a corner, waiting till all the dwellers in the palace\nhad gone to rest. Then the faithful servant gave him a leg-up, and\nBoy-Beautiful, mounting on his back, scaled the wall, and leaped down\ninto the garden. But the moment he put his hand on the cage, the Emperor\nof the Birds chirped, and before you could say boo! he was surrounded by\na flock of birds, from the smallest to the greatest, all chirping in\ntheir own tongues. They made such a noise that they awoke all the\nservants of the Emperor. They rushed into the garden, and there they\nfound Boy-Beautiful, with the cage in his hand, and all the birds\ndarting at him, and he defending himself as best he could. The servants\nlaid their hands upon him, and led him to the Emperor, who had also got\nup to see what was the matter.\n\n\u201cI am sorry to see thee thus, Boy-Beautiful,\u201d cried the Emperor, for he\nknew him. \u201cIf thou hadst come to me with good words, or with entreaties,\nand asked me for the bird, I might, perhaps, have been persuaded to give\nit to thee of my own good-will and pleasure; but as thou hast been taken\nhand-in-sack, as they say, the reward of thy deed according to our laws\nis death, and thy name will be covered with dishonour.\u201d\n\n\u201cIllustrious Emperor,\u201d replied Boy-Beautiful, \u201cthese same birds have\nstolen the golden apples from the apple-tree of my father\u2019s garden, and\ntherefore have I come all this way to lay hands on the thief.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat thou dost say may be true, Boy-Beautiful, but I have no power to\nalter the laws of this land. Only a signal service rendered to our\nempire can save thee from a shameful death.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay what that service is, and I will venture it.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen then! If thou dost succeed in bringing me the saddle-horse in\nthe court of the Emperor my neighbour, thou wilt depart with thy face\nunblackened, and thou shalt take the bird in its cage along with thee.\u201d\n\nBoy-Beautiful agreed to these conditions, and that same day he departed\nwith his faithful servant.\n\nOn reaching the court of the neighbouring Emperor he took note of the\nhorse and of all the environs of the court. Then as evening drew near,\nhe hid with his faithful servant in a corner of the court which seemed\nto him to be a safe ambuscade. He saw the horse walked out between two\nservants, and he marvelled at its beauty. It was white, its bridle was\nof gold set with gems inestimable, and it shone like the sun.\n\nIn the middle of the night, when sleep is most sweet, Boy-Beautiful bade\nhis faithful servant stoop down, leaped on to his back, and from thence\non to the wall, and leaped down into the Emperor\u2019s courtyard. He groped\nhis way along on the tips of his toes till he came to the stable, and\nopening the door, put his hand on the bridle and drew the horse after\nhim. When the horse got to the door of the stable and sniffed the keen\nair, it sneezed once with a mighty sneeze that awoke the whole court. In\nan instant they all rushed out, laid hands on Boy-Beautiful, and led him\nbefore the Emperor, who had also been aroused, and who when he saw\nBoy-Beautiful knew him at once. He reproached him for the cowardly deed\nhe had nearly accomplished, and told him that the laws of the land\ndecreed death to all thieves, and\n\n[Illustration: Boy-Beautiful and his Faithful Servant.--p. 252.]\n\nthat he had no power against those laws. Then Boy-Beautiful told him of\nthe theft of the golden apples by the birds, and of what the\nneighbouring Emperor had told him to do. Then said the Emperor: \u201cIf,\nBoy-Beautiful, thou canst bring me the divine Craiessa,[20] thou mayest\nperhaps escape death, and thy name shall remain untarnished.\u201d\nBoy-Beautiful risked the adventure, and accompanied by his faithful\nservant set off on his quest. While he was on the road, the thought of\nthe little apple occurred to him. He took it from his bosom, looked at\nit, and thought of the wolf, and before he could wipe his eyes the wolf\nwas there.\n\n\u201cWhat dost thou desire, Boy-Beautiful?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cWhat do I desire, indeed!--look here, look here, look here, what has\nhappened to me! Whatever am I to do to get out of this mess with a good\nconscience?\u201d\n\n\u201cRely upon me, for I see I must finish this business for thee.\u201d So they\nall three went on together to seek the divine Craiessa.\n\nWhen they drew nigh to the land of the divine Craiessa they halted in\nthe midst of a vast forest, where they could see the Craiessa\u2019s dazzling\npalace, and it was agreed that Boy-Beautiful and his servant should\nawait the return of the wolf by the trunk of a large tree. The proud\npalace of the divine Craiessa was so grand and beautiful, and the style\nand arrangement thereof so goodly, that the wolf could scarce take his\neyes therefrom. But when he came up to the palace he did what he could,\nand crept furtively into the garden.\n\nAnd what do you think he saw there? Not a single fruit-tree was any\nlonger green. The stems, branches, and twigs stood there as if some one\nhad stripped them naked. The fallen leaves had turned the ground into a\ncrackling carpet. Only a single rose-bush was still covered with leaves\nand full of buds, some wide open and some half closed. To reach this\nrose-bush the wolf had to tread very gingerly on the tips of his toes,\nso as not to make the carpet of dry leaves crackle beneath him; and so\nhe hid himself behind this leafy bush. As now he stood there on the\nwatch, the door of the dazzling palace was opened, and forth came the\ndivine Craiessa, attended by four-and-twenty of her slaves, to take a\nwalk in the garden.\n\nWhen the wolf beheld her he was very near forgetting what he came for\nand coming out of his lair, though he restrained himself; for she was so\nlovely that the like of her never had been and never will be seen on the\nface of the whole earth. Her hair was of nothing less than pure gold,\nand reached from top to toe. Her long and silken eyelashes seemed\nalmost to put out her eyes. When she looked at you with those large\nsloe-black eyes of hers, you felt sick with love. She had those\nbeautifully-arched eyebrows which look as if they had been traced with\ncompasses, and her skin was whiter than the froth of milk fresh from the\nudder.\n\nAfter taking two or three turns round the garden with her slaves behind\nher, she came to the rose-bush and plucked one or two flowers, whereupon\nthe wolf who was concealed in the bush darted out, took her in his front\npaws, and sped down the road. Her servants scattered like a bevy of\nyoung partridges, and in an instant the wolf was there, and put her, all\nsenseless as she was, in the arms of Boy-Beautiful. When he saw her he\nchanged colour, but the wolf reminded him that he was a warrior and he\ncame to himself again. Many Emperors had tried to steal her, but they\nhad all been repulsed.\n\nBoy-Beautiful had compassion upon her, and he now made up his mind that\nnobody else should have her.\n\nWhen the divine Craiessa awoke from her swoon and found herself in the\narms of Boy-Beautiful, she said: \u201cIf _thou_ art the wolf that hath\nstolen me away, I\u2019ll be thine.\u201d Boy-Beautiful replied: \u201cMine thou shalt\nbe till death do us part.\u201d\n\nSo they made a compact of it, and they told each other their stories.\n\nWhen the wolf saw the tenderness that had grown up between them he said:\n\u201cLeave everything to me, and your desires shall be fulfilled!\u201d Then they\nset out to return from whence they had just come, and, while they were\non the road, the wolf turned three somersaults and made himself exactly\nlike the divine Craiessa, for you must know that this wolf was a\nmagician.\n\nThen they arranged among themselves that the faithful servant of\nBoy-Beautiful should stand by the trunk of a great tree in the forest\ntill Boy-Beautiful returned with the steed. So on reaching the court of\nthe Emperor who had the steed, Boy-Beautiful gave him the made-up divine\nCraiessa, and when the Emperor saw her his heart died away within him,\nand he felt a love for her which told in words would be foolishness.\n\n\u201cThy merits, Boy-Beautiful,\u201d said the Emperor, \u201chave saved thee this\ntime also from a shameful death, and now I\u2019ll pay thee for this by\ngiving thee the steed.\u201d Then Boy-Beautiful put his hand on the steed and\nleaped into the jewelled saddle, and, reaching the tree, placed the\ndivine Craiessa in front of him and galloped across the boundaries of\nthat empire.\n\nAnd now the Emperor called together all his counsellors and went to the\ncathedral to be married to the divine Craiessa. When they got to the\ndoor of the cathedral, the pretended Craiessa turned a somersault three\ntimes and became a wolf again, which, gnashing its teeth, rushed\nstraight at the Emperor\u2019s retinue, who were stupefied with terror when\nthey saw it. On coming to themselves a little, they gave chase with\nhue-and-cry: but the wolf, take my word for it! took such long strides\nthat not one of them could come near him, and joining Boy-Beautiful and\nhis friends went along with them. When they drew nigh to the court of\nthe Emperor with the bird, they played him the same trick they had\nplayed on the Emperor with the horse. The wolf changed himself into the\nhorse, and was given to the Emperor, who could not contain himself for\njoy at the sight of it.\n\nAfter entertaining Boy-Beautiful with great honour, the Emperor said to\nhim: \u201cBoy-Beautiful, thou hast escaped a shameful death. I will keep my\nimperial word and my blessing shall always follow thee.\u201d Then he\ncommanded them to give him the bird in the golden cage, and\nBoy-Beautiful took it, wished him good-day, and departed. Arriving in\nthe wood where he had left the divine Craiessa, his horse, and his\nfaithful servant, he set off with them for the court of his father.\n\nBut the Emperor who had received the horse commanded that his whole host\nand all the grandees of his empire should assemble in the plain to see\nhim mount his richly-caparisoned goodly steed. And when the soldiers\nsaw him they all cried: \u201cLong live the Emperor who hath won such a\ngoodly steed, and long live the steed that doth the Emperor so much\nhonour!\u201d\n\nAnd, indeed, there was the Emperor mounting on the back of the horse,\nbut no sooner did it put its foot to the ground than it flew right away.\nThey all set off in pursuit, but there was never the slightest chance of\nany of them catching it, for it left them far behind from the first.\nWhen it had got a good way ahead the pretended horse threw the Emperor\nto the ground, turned head over heels three times and became a wolf, and\nset off again in full flight, and ran and ran till it overtook\nBoy-Beautiful. Then said the wolf to him: \u201cI have now fulfilled all thy\ndemands. Look to thyself better in future, and strive not after things\nbeyond thy power, or it will not go well with thee.\u201d Then their roads\nparted, and each of them went his own way.\n\nWhen he arrived at the empire of his father the old Emperor came out to\nmeet his youngest son with small and great as he had agreed. Great was\nthe public joy when they saw him with a consort the like of whom is no\nlonger to be found on the face of the earth, and with a steed the\nexcellence whereof lives only in the tales of the aged. When he got\nhome Boy-Beautiful ordered a splendid stable to be made for his good\nsteed, and put the bird-cage in the terrace of the garden. Then his\nfather prepared for the wedding, and after not many days Boy-Beautiful\nand the divine Craiessa were married; the tables were spread for good\nand bad, and they made merry for three days and three nights. After that\nthey lived in perfect happiness, for Boy-Beautiful had now nothing more\nto desire. And they are living to this day, if they have not died in the\nmeantime.\n\nAnd now I\u2019ll mount my steed again and say an \u201cOur Father\u201d before I go.\n\n\n\n\nYOUTH WITHOUT AGE, AND LIFE WITHOUT DEATH\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a great Emperor and an Empress; both were\nyoung and beautiful, and as they would fain have been blessed with\noffspring they went to all the wise men and all the wise women and bade\nthem read the stars to see if they would have children or not; but all\nin vain. At last the Emperor heard that in a certain village, hard by,\ndwelt a wiser old man than all the rest; so he sent and commanded him to\nappear at court. But the wise old man sent the messengers back with the\nanswer that those who needed him must come to him. So the Emperor and\nthe Empress set out, with their lords and their ladies, and their\nservants and their soldiers, and came to the house of the wise old man.\nAnd when the old man saw them coming from afar he went out to meet them.\n\n\u201cWelcome,\u201d cried he; \u201cbut I tell thee, oh Emperor! that the wish of thy\nheart will only work thee woe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI came not hither to take counsel of thee,\u201d replied the Emperor; \u201cbut\nto know if thou hast herbs by eating whereof we may get us children.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch herbs have I,\u201d replied the old man; \u201cbut ye will have but one\nchild, and him ye will not be able to keep, though he be never so nice\nand charming.\u201d\n\nSo when the Emperor and the Empress had gotten the wondrous herbs, they\nreturned joyfully back to their palace, and a few days afterwards the\nEmpress felt that she was a mother. But ere the hour of her child\u2019s\nbirth came the child began to scream so loudly that all the enchantments\nof the magicians could not make him silent. Then the Emperor began to\npromise him everything in the wide world, but even this would not quiet\nhim.\n\n\u201cBe silent, my heart\u2019s darling,\u201d said he, \u201cand I will give thee all the\nkingdoms east of the sun and west of the moon! Be silent, my son, and I\nwill give thee a consort more lovely than the Fairy Queen herself.\u201d Then\nat last, when he perceived that the child still kept on screaming, he\nsaid: \u201cSilence, my son, and I will give thee Youth without Age, and Life\nwithout Death.\u201d\n\nThen the child ceased to cry and came into the world, and all the\ncourtiers beat the drums and blew the trumpets, and there was great joy\nin the whole realm for many days.\n\nThe older the child grew the more pensive and melancholy he became. He\nwent to school and to the wise men, and there was no learning and wisdom\nthat he did not make his own, so that the Emperor, his father, died and\ncame to life again for sheer joy. And the whole realm was proud that it\nwas going to have so wise and goodly an Emperor, and all men looked up\nto him as to a second Solomon. But one day, when the child had already\ncompleted his fifteenth year, and the Emperor and all his lords and\ngreat men were at table diverting themselves, the fair young prince\narose and said: \u201cFather, the time has now come when thou must give me\nwhat thou didst promise me at my birth!\u201d\n\nAt these words the Emperor was sorely troubled. \u201cNay but, my son,\u201d said\nhe, \u201chow can I give thee a thing which the world has never heard of? If\nI did promise it to thee, it was but to make thee quiet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, oh my father, if thou canst not give it me, I must needs go forth\ninto the world, and seek until I find that fair thing for which I was\nborn.\u201d\n\nThen the Emperor and his nobles all fell down on their knees, and\nbesought him not to leave the empire. \u201cFor,\u201d said the nobles, \u201cthy\nfather is now growing old, and we would place thee on the throne, and\ngive thee to wife the most beautiful Empress under the sun.\u201d But they\nwere unable to turn him from his purpose, for he was as steadfast as a\nrock, so at last his father gave him leave to go forth into the wide\nworld to find what he sought.\n\nThen Boy Beautiful went into his father\u2019s stables, where were the most\nbeautiful chargers in the whole empire, that he might choose one from\namong them; but no sooner had he laid his hand on one of them than it\nfell to the ground trembling, and so it was with all the other stately\nchargers. At last, just as he was about to leave the stable in despair,\nhe cast his eye over it once more, and there in one corner he beheld a\npoor knacker, all weak, spavined, and covered with boils and sores. Up\nto it he went, and laid his hand upon its tail, and then the horse\nturned its head and said to him: \u201cWhat are thy commands, my master? God\nbe praised who hath had mercy upon me and sent a warrior to lay his hand\nover me!\u201d\n\nThen the horse shook itself and became straight in the legs again, and\nBoy Beautiful asked him what he should do next.\n\n\u201cIn order that thou mayest attain thy heart\u2019s desire,\u201d said the horse,\n\u201cask thy father for the sword and lance, the bow, quiver, and armour\nwhich he himself wore when he was a youth; but thou must comb and curry\nme with thine own hand six weeks, and give me barley to eat cooked in\nmilk.\u201d\n\nSo the Emperor called the steward of his household, and ordered him to\nopen all the coffers and wardrobes that his son might choose what he\nwould, and Boy Beautiful, after searching for three days and three\nnights, found at last at the bottom of an old armoury, the arms and\narmour which his father had worn as a youth, but very rusty were these\nancient weapons. But he set to work with his own hands to polish them up\nand rub off the rust, and at the end of six weeks they shone like\nmirrors. He also cherished the steed as he had been told. Grievous was\nthe labour, but it came to an end at last.\n\nWhen the good steed heard that Boy Beautiful had cleansed and polished\nhis armour, he shook himself once more, and all his boils and sores fell\nfrom off him. There he now stood a stout horse, and strong, and with\nfour large wings growing out of his body. Then said Boy Beautiful: \u201cWe\ngo hence in three days!\u201d--\u201cLong life to thee, my master!\u201d replied the\nsteed; \u201cI will go wherever thou dost command.\u201d\n\nWhen the third day came the Emperor and all his court were full of\ngrief. Boy Beautiful, attired as became a hero, with his sword in his\nhand, bounded on to his horse, took leave of the Emperor and the\nEmpress, of all the great nobles and all the little nobles, of all the\nwarriors and all the courtiers. With tears in their eyes they besought\nhim not to depart on this quest; but he, giving spurs to his horse,\ndeparted like a whirlwind, and after him went sumpter horses with money\nand provisions, and some hundreds of chosen warriors whom the Emperor\nhad ordered to accompany him on his journey.\n\nBut when he had searched a wilderness on the confines of his father\u2019s\nrealm, Boy Beautiful took leave of the warriors, and sent them back to\nhis father, taking of the provisions only so much as his good steed\ncould carry. Then he pursued his way towards sunrise, and went on and on\nfor three days and three nights till he came to an immense plain covered\nwith the bones of many dead men. Here they stopped to rest, and the\nhorse said to him: \u201cKnow, my master, that we are now in the domains of\nthe witch Gheonoea, who is so evil a being that none can set a foot on\nher domains and live. Once she was a woman like other women, but the\ncurse of her parents, whom she would never obey, fell like a withering\nblast upon her, and she became what she now is. At this moment she is\nwith her children in the forest, but she will come speedily to seek and\ndestroy thee. Great and terrible is she, yet fear not, but make ready\nthy bow and arrows, thy sword and lance, that thou mayest make use of\nthem when the time comes.\u201d--Then they rested, and while one slept the\nother watched.\n\nWhen the day dawned they prepared to traverse the forest; Boy Beautiful\nbridled and saddled his horse, drew the reins tighter than at other\ntimes, and set out. At that moment they heard a terrible racket. Then\nthe horse said: \u201cBeware, my master, Gheonoea is approaching.\u201d The trees\nof the forest fell to this side and to that as the witch drew nigh like\nthe tempest, but Boy Beautiful struck off one of her feet with an arrow\nfrom his bow, and he was about to shoot a second time when she cried:\n\u201cStay thy hand, Boy Beautiful, for I\u2019ll do thee no harm!\u201d And seeing he\ndid not believe her, she gave him a promise written in her blood.\n\n\u201cLook well to thy horse, Boy Beautiful,\u201d said she, \u201cfor he is a greater\nmagician than I. But for him I should have roasted thee, but now thou\nmust dine at my table. Know too that no mortal hath yet succeeded in\nreaching this spot, though some have got so far as the plain where thou\ndidst see all the bones.\u201d\n\nThen Gheonoea hospitably entertained Boy Beautiful as men entertain\ntravellers, but now and then, as they conversed together, Gheonoea\ngroaned with pain, but as soon as Boy Beautiful threw her her foot which\nhe had shot off, she put it in its place and immediately it grew fast on\nto her leg again. Then, in her joy, Gheonoea feasted him for three days\nand begged him to take for his consort one of her three daughters, who\nwere divinely beautiful, but he would not. Then he asked her concerning\nhis quest. \u201cWith such valour and such a good steed as thine,\u201d she\nanswered, \u201cthou must needs succeed.\u201d\n\nSo after the three days were over they went on their way again. Boy\nBeautiful went on and on, and the way was very long, but when they had\npassed the boundaries of Gheonoea they came to a beauteous meadow-land,\nbut on one side the grass was fresh and bright and full of flowers, and\non the other side it was burnt to cinders. Then Boy Beautiful asked the\nhorse the meaning of the singed grass, and this is what the horse\nreplied: \u201cWe are now in the territories of Scorpia, the sister of\nGheonoea. Yet so evil-minded are these two sisters that they cannot live\ntogether in one place. The curse of their parents has blasted them, and\nthey have become witches as thou dost see; their hatred of each other is\ngreat, and each of them is ever striving to wrest a bit of land from the\ndominions of the other. And when Scorpia is angry she vomits forth fire\nand flame, and so when she comes to her sister\u2019s boundaries the grass of\nthe border withers up before her. She is even more dreadful than her\nsister, and has, besides, three heads; but be of good cheer, my master,\nand to-morrow morning be ready to meet her.\u201d\n\nAt dawn, next day, they were preparing to depart when they heard a\nroaring and a crashing noise, the like of which man has never heard\nsince the world began.\n\n\u201cBe ready, my master, for now Scorpia is approaching,\u201d cried the\nfaithful steed.\n\nAnd indeed, Scorpia it was. With jaws reaching from earth to heaven, and\nspitting forth fire as she approached, Scorpia drew near, and the noise\nof her coming was like the roar of a whirlwind. But the good steed rose\ninto the air like a dart, and Boy Beautiful shot an arrow which struck\noff one of the witch\u2019s three heads. He was about to lay another arrow on\nhis bow, when Scorpia begged him to forgive her and she would do him no\nharm, and by way of assurance she gave him a promise written in her\nblood.\n\nThen she feasted him as her sister had done before, and he gave her back\nher severed head, which she stuck in its place again, and then, after\nthree days, Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed took to the road again.\n\nWhen they had crossed Scorpia\u2019s borders they went on and on without\nstopping till they came to a vast meadow covered with nothing but\nflowers, where Spring reigned eternally. Every flower was wondrously\nbeautiful and full of a fragrance that comforted the soul, and a light\nzephyr ran continually over the flowery billows. Here then they sat\nthem down to rest, and the good steed said:\n\n\u201cHitherto, oh my master! we have prospered, but now a great danger\nawaits us, which if by the help of the Lord God we overcome, then shall\nwe be heroes indeed. Not far from here stands the palace of Youth\nwithout Age, and Life without Death, but it is surrounded by a high and\ndeep forest, and in this forest are all the savage monsters of the wide\nworld. Day and night they guard it, and if a man can count the grains of\nsand on the sea-shore, then also can he count the number of these\nmonsters. We cannot fight them, they would tear us to pieces before we\nwere half-way through the forest, so we must try if we can leap clean\nover it without touching it.\u201d\n\nSo they rested them two days to gather strength, and then the steed drew\na long breath and said to Boy Beautiful: \u201cDraw my saddle-girths as\ntightly as thou art able, and when thou hast mounted me, hold on fast\nwith all thy might to my mane, and press thy feet on my neck instead of\non my flanks, that thou mayest not hinder me.\u201d\n\nBoy Beautiful arose and did as his steed told him, and the next moment\nthey were close up to the forest.\n\n\u201cNow is the time, my master,\u201d cried the good steed. \u201cThe wild monsters\nare now being fed, and are gathered together in one place. Now let us\nspring over!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am with thee, and the Lord have mercy upon us both,\u201d replied Boy\nBeautiful.\n\nThen up in the air they flew, and before them lay the palace, and so\ngloriously bright was it that a man could sooner look into the face of\nthe midday sun than upon the glory of the Palace of Youth without Age,\nand Life without Death. Right over the forest they flew, and just as\nthey were about to descend at the foot of the palace-staircase, the\nsteed with the tip of his hind leg touched lightly, oh, ever so lightly!\na twig on the topmost summit of the tallest tree of the forest.\nInstantly the whole forest was alive and alert, and the monsters began\nto howl so awfully that, brave as he was, the hair of Boy Beautiful\nstood up on his head. Hastily they descended, but had not the mistress\nof the palace been outside there in order to feed her kittens (for so\nshe called the monsters), Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed would\nhave been torn to pieces. But the mistress of the monsters, for pure joy\nat the sight of a human being, held the monsters back and sent them back\nto their places. Fair, tall, and of goodly stature was the Fairy of the\nPalace, and Boy Beautiful felt his heart die away within him as he\nbeheld her. But she was full of compassion at the sight of him, and\nsaid: \u201cWelcome, Boy Beautiful! What dost thou seek?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe seek Youth without Age, and Life without Death,\u201d he replied.\n\nThen he dismounted from his steed and entered the palace, and there he\nmet two other fair dames of equal beauty; these were the elder sisters\nof the Fairy of the Palace. They regaled Boy Beautiful with a banquet\nserved on gold plate, and the good steed had leave to graze where he\nwould, and the Fairy made him known to all her monsters, that so he\nmight wander through the woods in peace. Then the fair dames begged Boy\nBeautiful to abide with them always, and Boy Beautiful did not wait to\nbe asked twice, for to stay with the Fairy of the Palace was his darling\ndesire.\n\nThen he told them his story, and of all the dangers he had passed\nthrough to get there, and so the Fairy of the Palace became his bride,\nand she gave him leave to roam at will throughout her domains.\n\u201cNevertheless,\u201d said she, \u201cthere is one valley thou must not enter or it\nwill work thee woe, and the name of that valley is the Vale of\nComplaint.\u201d\n\nThere then Boy Beautiful abode, and he took no count of time, for though\nmany days passed away, he was yet as young and strong as when he first\ncame there. He went through leagues of forest without once feeling\nweary. He rejoiced in the golden palace, and lived in peace and\ntranquillity with his bride and her sisters. Oftentimes too he went\na-hunting.\n\nOne day he was pursuing a hare, and shot an arrow after it and then\nanother, but neither of them hit the hare. Never before had Boy\nBeautiful missed his prey, and his heart was vexed within him. He\npursued the hare still more hotly, and sent another arrow after her.\nThis time he did bring her down, but in his haste the unhappy man had\nnot perceived that in following the hare he had passed through the Vale\nof Complaint!\n\nHe took up the hare and returned homewards, but while he was still on\nthe way a strange yearning after his father and his mother came over\nhim. He durst not tell his bride of it, but she and her sisters\nimmediately guessed the cause of his heaviness.\n\n\u201cWretched man!\u201d they cried, \u201cthou hast passed through the Vale of\nComplaint!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have done so, darling, without meaning it,\u201d he replied; \u201cbut now I am\nperishing with longing for my father and mother. Yet need I desert thee\nfor that? I have now been many days with thee, and am as hale and well\nas ever. Suffer me then to go and see my parents but once, and then will\nI return to thee to part no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cForsake us not, oh beloved!\u201d cried his bride and her sisters. \u201cHundreds\nof years have passed away since thy parents were alive; and thou also,\nif thou dost leave us, wilt never return more. Abide with us, or, an\nevil omen tells us, thou wilt perish!\u201d\n\nBut the supplications of the three ladies and his faithful steed\nlikewise could not prevail against the gnawing longing to see his\nparents which consumed him.\n\nAt last the horse said to him: \u201cIf thou wilt not listen to me, my\nmaster, then \u2019tis thine own fault alone if evil befall thee. Yet I will\npromise to bring thee back on one condition.\u201d\n\n\u201cI consent whatever it may be,\u201d said Boy Beautiful; \u201cspeak, and I will\nlisten gratefully.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will bring thee back to thy father\u2019s palace, but if thou dismount but\nfor a moment, I shall return without thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d replied Boy Beautiful.\n\nSo they made them ready for their journey, and Boy Beautiful embraced\nhis bride and departed, but the ladies stood there looking after him,\nand their eyes were filled with tears.\n\nAnd now Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed came to the place where the\ndomains of Scorpia had been, but the forests had become fields of corn,\nand cities stood thickly on what had once been desolate places. Boy\nBeautiful asked all whom he met concerning Scorpia and her habitations,\nbut they only answered that these were but idle fables which their\ngrandfathers had heard from their great-grandfathers.\n\n\u201cBut how is that possible?\u201d replied Boy Beautiful; \u201c\u2018twas but the other\nday that I passed by----\u201d and he told them all he knew. Then they\nlaughed at him as at one who raves or talks in his sleep; but he rode\naway wrathfully without noticing that his beard and the hair of his head\nhad grown white.\n\nWhen he came to the domain of Gheonoea he put the same questions and\nreceived the same answers. He could not understand how the whole region\ncould have utterly changed in a few days, and again he rode away, full\nof anger, with a white beard that now reached down to his girdle and\nwith legs that began to tremble beneath him.\n\nAt length he came to the empire of his father. Here there were new men\nand new dwellings, and the old ones had so altered that he scarce knew\nthem.\n\nSo he came to the palace where he had first seen the light of day. As he\ndismounted the horse kissed his hand and said: \u201cFare thee well, my\nmaster! I return from whence I came. But if thou also wouldst return,\nmount again and we\u2019ll be off instantly.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d he replied, \u201cfare thee well, I also will return soon.\u201d\n\nThen the horse flew away like a dart.\n\nBut when Boy Beautiful beheld the palace all in ruins and overgrown\nwith evil weeds, he sighed deeply, and with tears in his eyes he sought\nto recall the glories of that fallen palace. Round about the place he\nwent, not once nor twice: he searched in every room, in every corner for\nsome vestige of the past; he searched the stable in which he had found\nhis steed, and then he went down into the cellar, the entrance to which\nwas choked up by fallen rubbish.\n\nHere and there and everywhere he searched about, and now his long white\nbeard reached below his knee, and his eyelids were so heavy that he had\nto raise them on high with his hands, and he found he could scarce\ntotter along. All he found there was a huge old coffer which he opened,\nbut inside it there was nothing. Yet he lifted up the cover, and then a\nvoice spoke to him out of the depths of the coffer and said: \u201cWelcome,\nfor hadst thou kept me waiting much longer, I also would have perished.\u201d\n\nThen his Death, who was already shrivelled up like a withered leaf at\nthe bottom of the coffer, rose up and laid his hand upon him, and Boy\nBeautiful instantly fell dead to the ground and crumbled into dust. But\nhad he remained away but a little time longer his Death would have died,\nand he himself would have been living now. And so I mount my nag and\nutter an \u201cOur Father\u201d ere I go.\n\n THE END\n\n RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,\n LONDON & BUNGAY.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] He has described his experience in the picturesque and popular\n_Anat\u00f3liai K\u00e9pek_ (\u201cAnatolian Pictures\u201d) published at Pest in 1891.\n\n[2] Emperor.\n\n[3] Fairy.\n\n[4] \u201cPeace be unto you.\u201d\n\n[5] \u201cUnto you be peace.\u201d\n\n[6] Farthings.\n\n[7] Roasted pepper.\n\n[8] _Lit._ the place of the mill was cold one morning.\n\n[9] Counsellor.\n\n[10] The same incident occurs in the Cossack fairy-tale of the Bird\nZhar and the Russian fairy-tale of the Bird Mogol.\n\n[11] Boiled rice, with flesh added and scalded butter.\n\n[12] Turkish for the Chinese Empire.\n\n[13] Fate.\n\n[14] Emperor of China.\n\n[15] Farthing.\n\n[16] An Imperial rescript.\n\n[17] An unbeliever.\n\n[18] _Fet frumos\u016d_, the favourite name for all young heroes in\nRoumanian fairy-tales.\n\n[19] Compare the incident of the Bird Zhar in my _Russian Fairy Tales_.\n\n[20] Queen.","title":"Turkish fairy tales and folk tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":65149}