{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_67191/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_67191","id":"gutenberg_67191","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67191","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Fairy tales -- Serbia"],"text":"SERBIAN FAIRY TALES\n\n                      TRANSLATED FROM THE SERBIAN\n                                   BY\n                      MADAME ELODIE L. MIJATOVICH\n\n\n                             ILLUSTRATED BY\n                             SIDNEY STANLEY\n\n\n                                NEW YORK\n                        ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO.\n                                  1918\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                    PAGE\n    THE BEAR\u2019S SON                                     1\n    THE GOLDEN APPLE-TREE AND THE NINE PEAHENS         9\n    PAPALLUGA; OR, THE GOLDEN SLIPPER                 25\n    SATAN\u2019S JUGGLINGS AND GOD\u2019S MIGHT                 32\n    GOOD DEEDS ARE NEVER LOST                         36\n    THE WICKED STEPMOTHER                             46\n    BIRD GIRL                                         52\n    SIR PEPPERCORN                                    55\n    BASH-CHALEK; OR TRUE STEEL                        77\n    THE BITER BIT                                    104\n    THE TRADE THAT NO ONE KNOWS                      119\n    THE THREE SUITORS                                134\n    THE GOLDEN-HAIRED TWINS                          141\n    THE DREAM OF THE KING\u2019S SON                      150\n    THE THREE BROTHERS                               158\n    THE SHEPHERD AND THE KING\u2019S DAUGHTER             190\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nIN COLOUR\n\n    \u201cFished out a small box\u201d (see page 146)             Frontispiece\n    \u201cOn the grave stood a large box of valuable clothes\n      of different kinds\u201d                            To face page 28\n    \u201cThe old witch spat on the fire\u201d                              34\n    \u201cHe noticed an old man on the shore\u201d                          42\n    \u201cThere appeared a great alligator with three heads\u201d           82\n    \u201cThe giant brought out a tray on which stood a sparrow,\n      a turtle-dove, and a quail\u201d                                112\n    \u201cThe old man on his great goat\u201d                              154\n    \u201cHe drove the cow to the hut where he had passed the night\u201d  194\n\n\nIN BLACK AND WHITE\n\n    \u201cTied up the iron into a bundle, which he hung at the end\n      of his staff\u201d                                                4\n    \u201cAt length she came to a fine large house\u201d                    46\n    \u201cOn the summit of that hill there is an old woman who ...\n      holds a bird in her bosom\u201d                                  52\n    \u201cThey pulled him up as they had promised\u201d                     66\n    \u201cThe King\u2019s son drew his sword and cut his head off\u201d          86\n    \u201cThe giants asked the young man if he had been in the\n      first room\u201d                                                 124\n    \u201cShe saw an old man with a thick grey beard and long\n      white hair\u201d                                                 138\n    \u201cThree winged horses came into the field\u201d                     164\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR\u2019S SON\n\n\nOnce upon a time a bear married a woman, and they had one son. When the\nboy was yet a little fellow he begged very hard to be allowed to leave\nthe bear\u2019s cave, and to go out into the world to see what was in it.\nHis father, the Bear, however, would not consent to this, saying, \u201cYou\nare too young yet, and not strong enough. In the world there are\nmultitudes of wicked beasts called men, who will kill you.\u201d So the boy\nwas quieted for a while, and remained in the cave.\n\nBut, after some time, the boy prayed so earnestly that the Bear, his\nfather, would let him go into the world, that the Bear brought him into\nthe wood, and showed him a beech-tree, saying, \u201cIf you can pull up that\nbeech by the roots, I will let you go; but if you cannot, then this is\na proof that you are still too weak, and must remain with me.\u201d The boy\ntried to pull up the tree, but, after long trying, had to give it up,\nand go home again to the cave.\n\nAgain some time passed, and he then begged again to be allowed to go\ninto the world, and his father told him, as before, if he could pull up\nthe beech-tree he might go out into the world. This time the boy pulled\nup the tree, so the Bear consented to let him go, first, however,\nmaking him cut away the branches from the beech, so that he might use\nthe trunk for a club. The boy now started on his journey, carrying the\ntrunk of the beech over his shoulder.\n\nOne day as the Bear\u2019s son was journeying he came to a field, where he\nfound hundreds of ploughmen working for their master. He asked them to\ngive him something to eat, and they told him to wait a bit till their\ndinner was brought them, when he should have some\u2014for, they said,\n\u201cWhere so many are dining one mouth more or less matters but little.\u201d\nWhilst they were speaking there came carts, horses, mules, and asses,\nall carrying the dinner. But when the meats were spread out the Bear\u2019s\nson declared he could eat all that up himself. The workmen wondered\ngreatly at his words, not believing it possible that one man could\nconsume as great a quantity of victuals as would satisfy several\nhundred men. This, however, the Bear\u2019s son persisted in affirming he\ncould do, and offered to bet with them that he would do this. He\nproposed that the stakes should be all the iron of their ploughshares\nand other agricultural implements. To this they assented. No sooner had\nthey made the wager than he fell upon the provisions, and in a short\ntime consumed the whole. Not a fragment was left. Hereupon the\nlabourers, in accordance with their wager, gave him all the iron which\nthey possessed.\n\nWhen the Bear\u2019s son had collected all the iron, he tore up a young\nbirch-tree, twisted it into a band and tied up the iron into a bundle,\nwhich he hung at the end of his staff, and, throwing it across his\nshoulder, trudged off from the astonished and affrighted labourers.\n\nGoing on a short distance, he arrived at a forge in which a smith was\nemployed making a ploughshare. This man he requested to make him a mace\nwith the iron which he was carrying. This the smith undertook to do;\nbut, putting aside half the iron, he made of the rest a small,\ncoarsely-finished mace.\n\nThe Bear\u2019s son saw at a glance that he had been cheated by the smith.\nMoreover, he was disgusted at the roughness of the workmanship. He\nhowever took it, and declared his intention of testing it. Then,\nfastening it to the end of his club and throwing it into the air high\nabove the clouds, he stood still and allowed it to fall on his\nshoulder. It had no sooner struck him than the mace shivered into\nfragments, some of which fell on and destroyed the forge. Taking up his\nstaff, the Bear\u2019s son reproached the smith for his dishonesty, and\nkilled him on the spot.\n\nHaving collected the whole of the iron, the Bear\u2019s son went to another\nsmithy, and desired the smith whom he found there to make him a mace,\nsaying to him, \u201cPlease play no tricks on me. I bring you these\nfragments of iron for you to use in making a mace. Beware that you do\nnot attempt to cheat me as I was cheated before!\u201d As the smith had\nheard what had happened to the other one, he collected his workpeople,\nthrew all the iron on his fire, and welded the whole together and made\na large mace of perfect workmanship.\n\nWhen it was fastened on the head of his club the Bear\u2019s son, to prove\nit, threw it up high, and caught it on his back. This time the mace did\nnot break, but rebounded. Then the Bear\u2019s son got up and said: \u201cThis\nwork is well done!\u201d and, putting it on his shoulder, walked away. A\nlittle farther on he came to a field wherein a man was ploughing with\ntwo oxen, and he went up to him and asked for something to eat. The man\nsaid, \u201cI expect every moment my daughter to come with my dinner, then\nwe shall see what God has given us!\u201d The Bear\u2019s son told him how he had\neaten up all the dinner prepared for many hundreds of ploughmen, and\nasked, \u201cFrom a dinner prepared for one person how much can come to me\nor to you?\u201d Meanwhile the girl brought the dinner. The moment she put\nit down, the Bear\u2019s son stretched out his hand to begin to eat, but the\nman stopped him. \u201cNo\u201d said he, \u201cyou must first say grace, as I do!\u201d The\nBear\u2019s son, hungry as he was, obeyed, and, having said grace, they both\nbegan to eat. The Bear\u2019s son, looking at the girl who brought the\ndinner (she was a tall, strong, beautiful girl), became very fond of\nher, and said to the father, \u201cWill you give me your daughter for a\nwife?\u201d The man answered, \u201cI would give her to you very gladly, but I\nhave promised her already to the Moustached.\u201d The Bear\u2019s son exclaimed,\n\u201cWhat do I care for Moustachio? I have my mace for him!\u201d But the man\nanswered, \u201cHush! hush! Moustachio is also somebody! You will see him\nhere soon.\u201d Shortly after a noise was heard afar off, and lo! behind a\nhill a moustache showed itself, and in it were three hundred and\nsixty-five birds\u2019 nests. Shortly after appeared the other moustache,\nand then came Moustachio himself. Having reached them, he lay down on\nthe ground immediately to rest. He put his head on the girl\u2019s knee, and\ntold her to scratch his head a little. The girl obeyed him, and the\nBear\u2019s son, getting up, struck him with his club over the head.\nWhereupon Moustachio, pointing to the place with his finger, said,\n\u201cSomething bit me here.\u201d The Bear\u2019s son struck him with his mace on\nanother spot, and Moustachio again pointed to the place, saying to the\ngirl, \u201cSomething has bitten me here!\u201d When he was struck a third time\nhe said to the girl angrily, \u201cLook you! something bites me here!\u201d Then\nthe girl said, \u201cNothing has bitten you; a man struck you.\u201d\n\nWhen Moustachio heard that he jumped up, but the Bear\u2019s son had thrown\naway his mace and run away. Moustachio pursued him, and though the\nBear\u2019s son was lighter than he, and had gained the start of him a\nconsiderable distance, he would not give up pursuing him.\n\nAt length the Bear\u2019s son, in the course of his flight, came to a wide\nriver, and found, near it, some men threshing corn. \u201cHelp me, my\nbrothers, help\u2014for God\u2019s sake!\u201d he cried; \u201cHelp! Moustachio is pursuing\nme! What shall I do? How can I get across the river?\u201d One of the men\nstretched out his shovel, saying, \u201cHere, sit down on it, and I will\nthrow you over the river.\u201d The Bear\u2019s son sat on the shovel, and the\nman threw him over the water to the other shore. Soon after, Moustachio\ncame up, and asked, \u201cHas any one passed here?\u201d The threshers replied\nthat a man had passed. Moustachio demanded, \u201cHow did he cross the\nriver?\u201d They answered, \u201cHe sprang over.\u201d Then Moustachio went back a\nlittle to take a start, and with a hop he sprang to the other side, and\ncontinued to pursue the Bear\u2019s son. Meanwhile this last, running\nhastily up a hill, got very tired. At the top of the hill he found a\nman sowing, and the sack with seeds was hanging on his neck. After\nevery handful of seed sown in the ground, the man put a handful in his\nmouth and ate them. The Bear\u2019s son shouted to him, \u201cHelp, brother,\nhelp!\u2014for God\u2019s sake! Moustachio is following me, and will soon catch\nme! Hide me somewhere!\u201d Then the man said, \u201cIndeed, it is no joke to\nhave Moustachio pursuing you. But I have nowhere to hide you, unless in\nthis sack among the seeds.\u201d So he put him in the sack. When Moustachio\ncame up to the sower he asked him if he had seen the Bear\u2019s son\nanywhere. The man replied, \u201cYes, he passed by long ago, and God knows\nwhere he has got to before this!\u201d\n\nThen Moustachio went back again. By-and-by the sower forgot that Bear\u2019s\nson was in the sack, and he took him out with a handful of seeds, and\nput him in his mouth. Then Bear\u2019s son was afraid of being swallowed, so\nhe looked round the mouth quickly, and, seeing a hollow tooth, hid\nhimself in it.\n\nWhen the sower returned home in the evening, he called to his\nsisters-in-law, \u201cChildren, give me my toothpick! There is something in\nmy broken tooth.\u201d The sisters-in-law brought him two iron picks, and,\nstanding one on each side, they poked about with the two picks in his\ntooth till the Bear\u2019s son jumped out. Then the man remembered him, and\nsaid, \u201cWhat bad luck you have! I had nearly swallowed you.\u201d\n\nAfter they had taken supper they talked about many different things,\ntill at last the Bear\u2019s son asked what had happened to break that one\ntooth, whilst the others were all strong and healthy. Then the man told\nhim in these words: \u201cOnce upon a time ten of us started with thirty\nhorses to the sea-shore to buy some salt. We found a girl in a field\nwatching sheep, and she asked us where we were going. We said we were\ngoing to the sea-shore to buy salt. She said, \u2018Why go so far? I have in\nthe bag in my hand here some salt which remained over after feeding the\nsheep. I think it will be enough for you.\u2019 So we settled about the\nprice, and then she took the salt from her bag, whilst we took the\nsacks from the thirty horses, and we weighed the salt and filled the\nsacks with it till all the thirty sacks were full. We then paid the\ngirl, and returned home. It was a very fine autumn day, but as we were\ncrossing a high mountain, the sky became very cloudy and it began to\nsnow, and there was a cold north wind, so that we could not see our\npath, and wandered about here and there. At last, by good luck, one of\nus shouted, \u2018Here, brothers! Here is a dry place!\u2019 So we went in one\nafter the other till we were all, with the thirty horses, under\nshelter. Then we took the sacks from the horses, made a good fire, and\npassed the night there as if it were a house. Next morning, just think\nwhat we saw! We were all in one man\u2019s head, which lay in the midst of\nsome vineyards; and whilst we were yet wondering and loading our\nhorses, the keeper of the vineyards came and picked the head up. He put\nit in a sling and, slinging it about several times, threw it over his\nhead, and cast it far away over the vines to frighten the starlings\naway from his grapes. So we rolled down a hill, and it was then that I\nbroke my tooth.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN APPLE-TREE AND THE NINE PEAHENS\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king who had three sons. Now, before the\nking\u2019s palace grew a golden apple-tree, which in one and the same night\nblossomed, bore fruit, and lost all its fruit, though no one could tell\nwho took the apples. One day the king, speaking to his eldest son,\nsaid, \u201cI should like to know who takes the fruit from our apple-tree.\u201d\nAnd the son said, \u201cI will keep guard to-night, and will see who gathers\nthe apples.\u201d So when the evening came he went and laid himself down\nunder the apple-tree upon the ground to watch. Just as the apples\nripened, however, he fell asleep, and when he awoke in the morning\nthere was not a single one left on the tree. Whereupon he went and told\nhis father what had happened. Then the second son offered to keep watch\nby the tree, but he had no better success than his eldest brother.\n\nSo the turn came to the king\u2019s youngest son to keep guard. He made his\npreparations, brought his bed under the tree, and immediately went to\nsleep. Before midnight he awoke and looked up at the tree, and saw how\nthe apples ripened, and how the whole palace was lit up by their\nshining. At that minute nine peahens flew towards the tree, and eight\nof them settled on its branches, but the ninth alighted near him and\nturned instantly into a beautiful girl\u2014so beautiful, indeed, that the\nwhole kingdom could not produce one who could in any way compare with\nher. She stayed, conversing kindly with him, till after midnight, then,\nthanking him for the golden apples, she prepared to depart; but, as he\nbegged she would leave him one, she gave him two, one for himself and\none for the king, his father. Then the girl turned again into a peahen,\nand flew away with the other eight. Next morning, the king\u2019s son took\nthe two apples to his father, and the king was much pleased, and\npraised his son. When the evening came, the king\u2019s youngest son took\nhis place again under the apple-tree to keep guard over it. He again\nconversed as he had done the night before with the beautiful girl, and\nbrought to his father, the next morning, two apples as before. But,\nafter he had succeeded so well several nights, his two elder brothers\ngrew envious because he had been able to do what they could not. At\nlength they found an old woman, who promised to discover how the\nyoungest brother had succeeded in saving the two apples. So, as the\nevening came, the old woman stole softly under the bed which stood\nunder the apple-tree and hid herself. And after a while came also the\nking\u2019s son, and laid himself down as usual to sleep. When it was near\nmidnight the nine peahens flew up as before, and eight of them settled\non the branches and the ninth stood by his bed, and turned into a most\nbeautiful girl.\n\nThen the old woman slowly took hold of one of the girl\u2019s curls and cut\nit off, and the girl immediately rose up, changed again into a peahen\nand flew away, and the other peahens followed her, and so they all\ndisappeared. Then the king\u2019s son jumped up, and cried out, \u201cWhat is\nthat?\u201d and, looking under the bed, he saw the old woman, and drew her\nout. Next morning he ordered her to be tied to a horse\u2019s tail, and so\ntorn to pieces. But the peahens never came back, so the king\u2019s son was\nvery sad for a long time, and wept at his loss. At length he resolved\nto go and look after his peahen, and never to come back again unless he\nshould find her. When he told the king, his father, of his intention,\nthe king begged him not to go away, and said that he would find him\nanother beautiful girl, and that he might choose out of the whole\nkingdom.\n\nBut all the king\u2019s persuasions were useless. His son went into the\nworld to search everywhere for his peahen, taking only one servant to\nserve him. After many travels he came one day to a lake. Now by the\nlake stood a large and beautiful palace. In the palace lived an old\nwoman as queen, and with the queen lived a girl, her daughter. He said\nto the old woman, \u201cFor heaven\u2019s sake, grandmother, do you know anything\nabout nine golden peahens?\u201d and the old woman answered, \u201cOh, my son, I\nknow all about them; they come every mid-day to bathe in the lake. But\nwhat do you want with them? Let them be, think nothing about them. Here\nis my daughter. Such a beautiful girl! and such an heiress! All my\nwealth will remain to you if you marry her.\u201d But he, burning with\ndesire to see the peahens, would not listen to what the old woman spoke\nabout her daughter.\n\nNext morning, when day dawned, the prince prepared to go down to the\nlake to wait for the peahens. Then the old queen bribed the servant and\ngave him a little pair of bellows, and said, \u201cDo you see these bellows?\nWhen you come to the lake you must blow secretly with them behind his\nneck, and then he will fall asleep, and not be able to speak to the\npeahens.\u201d The mischievous servant did as the old woman told him; when\nhe went with his master down to the lake, he took occasion to blow with\nthe bellows behind his neck, and the poor prince fell asleep just as\nthough he were dead. Shortly after the nine peahens came flying, and\neight of them alighted by the lake, but the ninth flew towards him, as\nhe sat on horseback, and caressed him, and tried to awaken him. \u201cAwake,\nmy darling! Awake, my heart! Awake, my soul!\u201d But for all that he knew\nnothing, just as if he were dead. After they had bathed, all the\npeahens flew away together, and after they were gone the prince woke up\nand said to his servant, \u201cWhat has happened? Did they not come?\u201d The\nservant told him they had been there, and that eight of them had\nbathed, but the ninth had sat by him on his horse, and caressed and\ntried to awaken him. Then the king\u2019s son was so angry that he almost\nkilled himself in his rage. Next morning he went down again to the\nshore to wait for the peahens, and rode about a long time till the\nservant again found an opportunity of blowing with the bellows behind\nhis neck, so that he again fell asleep as though dead. Hardly had he\nfallen asleep when the nine peahens came flying, and eight of them\nalighted by the water, but the ninth settled down by the side of his\nhorse and caressed him, and cried out to awaken him, \u201cArise, my\ndarling! Arise, my heart! Arise, my soul.\u201d\n\nBut it was of no use; the prince slept on as if he were dead. Then she\nsaid to the servant, \u201cTell your master to-morrow he can see us here\nagain, but never more.\u201d With these words the peahens flew away.\nImmediately after the king\u2019s son woke up, and asked his servant, \u201cHave\nthey not been here?\u201d And the man answered, \u201cYes, they have been, and\nsay that you can see them again to-morrow, at this place, but after\nthat they will not return again.\u201d When the unhappy prince heard that he\nknew not what to do with himself, and in his great trouble and misery\ntore the hair from his head.\n\nThe third day he went down again to the shore, but, fearing to fall\nasleep, instead of riding slowly, galloped along the shore. His\nservant, however, found an opportunity of blowing with the bellows\nbehind his neck, and again the prince fell asleep. A moment after came\nthe nine peahens, and the eight alighted on the lake and the ninth by\nhim, on his horse, and sought to awaken him, caressing him. \u201cArise, my\ndarling! Arise, my heart! Arise, my soul!\u201d But it was of no use, he\nslept on as if dead. Then the peahen said to the servant, \u201cWhen your\nmaster awakens, tell him he ought to strike off the head of the nail\nfrom the lower part, and then he will find me.\u201d Thereupon all the\npeahens fled away. Immediately the king\u2019s son awoke, and said to his\nservant, \u201cHave they been here?\u201d And the servant answered, \u201cThey have\nbeen, and the one which alighted on your horse ordered me to tell you\nto strike off the head of the nail from the lower part, and then you\nwill find her.\u201d When the prince heard that he drew his sword and cut\noff his servant\u2019s head.\n\nAfter that he travelled alone about the world, and, after long\ntravelling, came to a mountain and remained all night there with a\nhermit, whom he asked if he knew anything about nine golden peahens.\nThe hermit said, \u201cEh, my son, you are lucky; God has led you in the\nright path. From this place it is only half a day\u2019s walk. But you must\ngo straight on, then you will come to a large gate, which you must pass\nthrough; and, after that, you must keep always to the right hand, and\nso you will come to the peahens\u2019 city, and there find their palace.\u201d So\nnext morning the king\u2019s son arose, and prepared to go. He thanked the\nhermit, and went as he had told him. After a while he came to the great\ngate, and, having passed it, turned to the right, so that at mid-day he\nsaw the city, and beholding how white it shone, rejoiced very much.\nWhen he came into the city he found the palace where lived the nine\ngolden peahens. But at the gate he was stopped by the guard, who\ndemanded who he was, and whence he came. After he had answered these\nquestions, the guards went to announce him to the queen. When the queen\nheard who he was, she came running out to the gate and took him by the\nhand to lead him into the palace. She was a young and beautiful maiden,\nand so there was a great rejoicing when, after a few days, he married\nher and remained there with her.\n\nOne day, some time after their marriage, the queen went out to walk,\nand the king\u2019s son remained in the palace. Before going out, however,\nthe queen gave him the keys of twelve cellars, telling him, \u201cYou may go\ndown into all the cellars except the twelfth\u2014that you must on no\naccount open, or it will cost you your head.\u201d She then went away. The\nking\u2019s son, whilst remaining in the palace, began to wonder what there\ncould be in the twelfth cellar, and soon commenced opening one cellar\nafter the other. When he came to the twelfth he would not at first open\nit, but again began to wonder very much why he was forbidden to go into\nit. \u201cWhat can be in this cellar?\u201d he exclaimed to himself. At last he\nopened it. In the middle of the cellar lay a big barrel with an open\nbunghole, but bound fast round with three iron hoops. Out of the barrel\ncame a voice, saying, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, my brother\u2014I am dying with\nthirst\u2014please give me a cup of water.\u201d Then the king\u2019s son took a cup\nand filled it with water, and emptied it into the barrel. Immediately\nhe had done so one of the hoops burst asunder. Again came the voice\nfrom the barrel, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, my brother\u2014I am dying of\nthirst\u2014please give me a cup of water.\u201d The king\u2019s son again took the\ncup and filled it, and poured the water into the barrel, and the third\nhoop burst. Then the barrel fell to pieces, and a dragon flew out of\nthe cellar, and caught the queen on the road and carried her away.\n\nThen the servant, who went out with the queen, came back quickly, and\ntold the king\u2019s son what had happened, and the poor prince knew not\nwhat to do with himself, so desperate was he, and full of\nself-reproaches. At length, however, he resolved to set out and travel\nthrough the world in search of her. After long journeying, one day he\ncame to a lake, and near it, in a little hole, he saw a little fish\njumping about. When the fish saw the king\u2019s son, she began to beg\npitifully, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake be my brother, and throw me into the water.\nSome day I may be of use to you, so take now a little scale from me,\nand when you need me, rub it gently.\u201d Then the king\u2019s son lifted the\nlittle fish from the hole and threw her into the water, after he had\ntaken one small scale, which he wrapped up carefully in a handkerchief.\nSome time afterwards, as he travelled about the world, he came upon a\nfox caught in an iron trap. When the fox saw the prince he spoke: \u201cIn\nGod\u2019s name be a brother to me and help me to get out of this trap. One\nday you will need me, so take just one hair from my tail, and when you\nwant me, rub it gently.\u201d Then the king\u2019s son took a hair from the tail\nof the fox and set him free.\n\nAgain, as he crossed a mountain, he found a wolf fast in a trap; and\nwhen the wolf saw him it spoke: \u201cBe a brother to me; in God\u2019s name set\nme free, and one day I will help you. Only take a hair from me, and\nwhen you need me, rub it gently.\u201d So he took a hair and set the wolf\nfree. After that the king\u2019s son travelled about a very long time, till\none day he met a man, to whom he said, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, brother, have\nyou ever heard anyone say where is the palace of the dragon king?\u201d The\nman gave him very particular directions which way to take, and in what\nlength of time he could get there. Then the king\u2019s son thanked him and\ncontinued his journey until he came to the city where the dragon lived.\nWhen there, he went into the palace and found therein his wife, and\nboth of them were exceedingly pleased to meet each other, and began to\ntake counsel how they could escape. They resolved to run away, and\nprepared hastily for the journey. When all was ready they mounted on\nhorseback and galloped away. As soon as they were gone the dragon came\nhome, also on horseback, and, entering his palace, found that the queen\nhad gone away. Then he said to his horse, \u201cWhat shall we do now? Shall\nwe eat and drink, or go at once after them?\u201d The horse answered, \u201cLet\nus eat and drink first, we shall anyway catch them; do not be anxious.\u201d\n\nAfter the dragon had dined he mounted his horse, and in a few moments\ncame up with the runaways. Then he took the queen from the king\u2019s son\nand said to him, \u201cGo now, in God\u2019s name! This time I forgive you,\nbecause you gave me water in the cellar; but if your life is dear to\nyou do not come back here any more.\u201d The unhappy young prince went on\nhis way a little, but could not long resist, so he came back next day\nto the dragon\u2019s palace and found the queen sitting alone and weeping.\nThen they began again to consult how they could get away. And the\nprince said, \u201cWhen the dragon comes, ask him where he got that horse,\nand then you will tell me so that I can look for such another one;\nperhaps in this way we can escape.\u201d He then went away, lest the dragon\nshould come and find him with the queen.\n\nBy-and-by the dragon came home, and the queen began to pet him, and\nspeak lovingly to him about many things, till at last she said, \u201cAh,\nwhat a fine horse you have! where did you get such a splendid horse?\u201d\nAnd he answered, \u201cEh, where I got it everyone cannot get one! In such\nand such a mountain lives an old woman who has twelve horses in her\nstable, and no one can say which is the finest, they are all so\nbeautiful. But in one corner of the stable stands a horse which looks\nas if he were leprous, but, in truth, he is the very best horse in the\nwhole world. He is the brother of my horse, and whoever gets him may\nride to the sky. But whoever wishes to get a horse from that old woman\nmust serve her three days and three nights. She has a mare with a foal,\nand whoever during three nights guards and keeps for her this mare and\nthis foal, has a right to claim the best horse from the old woman\u2019s\nstable. But whoever engages to keep watch over the mare and does not,\nmust lose his head.\u201d\n\nNext day, when the dragon went out, the king\u2019s son came, and the queen\ntold him all she had learned from the dragon. Then the king\u2019s son went\naway to the mountain and found the old woman, and entered her house\ngreeting: \u201cGod help you, grandmother!\u201d And she answered, \u201cGod help you,\ntoo, my son! what do you wish?\u201d \u201cI should like to serve you,\u201d said the\nking\u2019s son. Then the old woman said, \u201cWell, my son, if you keep my mare\nsafe for three days and three nights I will give you the best horse,\nand you can choose him yourself; but if you do not keep the mare safe\nyou shall lose your head.\u201d\n\nThen she led him into the courtyard, where all around stakes were\nranged. Each of them had on it a man\u2019s head, except one stake, which\nhad no head on it, and shouted incessantly, \u201cOh, grandmother, give me a\nhead.\u201d The old woman showed all this to the prince, and said, \u201cLook\nhere, all these were heads of those who tried to keep my mare, and they\nhave lost their heads for their pains.\u201d\n\nBut the prince was not a bit afraid, so he stayed to serve the old\nwoman. When the evening came he mounted the mare and rode her into the\nfield, and the foal followed. He sat still on her back, having made up\nhis mind not to dismount, that he might be sure of her. But before\nmidnight he slumbered a little, and when he awoke he found himself\nsitting on a rail and holding the bridle in his hand. Then he was\ngreatly alarmed, and went instantly to look about to find the mare, and\nwhilst looking for her he came to a piece of water. When he saw the\nwater he remembered the little fish, and took the scale from the\nhandkerchief and rubbed it a little. Then immediately the little fish\nappeared and said, \u201cWhat is the matter, my half-brother?\u201d And he\nreplied, \u201cThe mare of the old woman ran away whilst under my charge,\nand now I do not know where she is.\u201d And the fish answered, \u201cHere she\nis, turned to a fish, and the foal to a smaller one. But strike once\nupon the water with the bridle and cry out \u2018Heigh! mare of the old\nwoman!\u2019\u201d The prince did as he was told, and immediately the mare came,\nwith the foal, out of the water to the shore. Then he put on her the\nbridle and mounted and rode away to the old woman\u2019s house and the foal\nfollowed. When he got there the old woman gave him his breakfast; she,\nhowever, took the mare into the stable and beat her with a poker,\nsaying, \u201cWhy did you not go down among the fishes, you cursed mare?\u201d\nAnd the mare answered, \u201cI have been down to the fishes, but the fish\nare his friends, and they told him about me.\u201d Then the old woman said,\n\u201cThen go among the foxes.\u201d\n\nWhen evening came the king\u2019s son mounted the mare and rode to the\nfield, and the foal followed the mare. Again he sat on the mare\u2019s back\nuntil near midnight, when he fell asleep as before. When he awoke, he\nfound himself riding on the rail and holding the bridle in his hand. So\nhe was much frightened, and went to look after the mare. As he went he\nremembered the words the old woman had said to the mare, and he took\nfrom the handkerchief the fox\u2019s hair and rubbed it a little between his\nfingers. All at once the fox stood before him and asked, \u201cWhat is the\nmatter, half-brother?\u201d And he said, \u201cThe old woman\u2019s mare has run away,\nand I do not know where she can be.\u201d Then the fox answered, \u201cHere she\nis with us; she has turned into a fox, and the foal into a cub; but\nstrike once with the bridle on the earth and cry out, \u2018Heigh! you old\nwoman\u2019s mare!\u2019\u201d So the king\u2019s son struck with the bridle on the earth\nand cried \u201cHeigh! you old woman\u2019s mare!\u201d and the mare came and stood,\nwith her foal, near him. He put on the bridle, and mounted and rode off\nhome, and the foal followed the mare. When he arrived the old woman\ngave him his breakfast, but took the mare into the stable and beat her\nwith the poker, crying, \u201cTo the foxes, cursed one! to the foxes!\u201d And\nthe mare answered, \u201cI have been with the foxes, but they are his\nfriends, and told him I was there!\u201d Then the old woman cried, \u201cIf that\nis so, you must go among the wolves.\u201d\n\nWhen it grew dark again the king\u2019s son mounted the mare and rode out to\nthe field, and the foal galloped by the side of the mare. Again he sat\nstill on the mare\u2019s back till about midnight, when he grew very sleepy\nand fell into a slumber, as on the former evenings, and when he awoke\nhe found himself riding on the rail, holding the bridle in his hand,\njust as before. Then, as before, he went in a hurry to look after the\nmare. As he went he remembered the words the old woman had said to the\nmare, and took the wolf\u2019s hair from the handkerchief and rubbed it a\nlittle. Then the wolf came up to him and asked, \u201cWhat is the matter,\nhalf-brother?\u201d And he answered, \u201cThe old woman\u2019s mare has run away, and\nI cannot tell where she is.\u201d The wolf said, \u201cHere she is with us; she\nhas turned herself into a wolf, and the foal into a wolf\u2019s cub. Strike\nonce with the bridle on the earth and cry out, \u2018Heigh! old woman\u2019s\nmare!\u2019\u201d And the king\u2019s son did so, and instantly the mare came again\nand stood with the foal beside him. So he bridled her, and galloped\nhome, and the foal followed. When he arrived the old woman gave him his\nbreakfast, but she led the mare into the stable and beat her with the\npoker, crying, \u201cTo the wolves, I said, miserable one.\u201d Then the mare\nanswered, \u201cI have been to the wolves; but they are his friends, and\ntold him all about me.\u201d Then the old woman came out of the stable, and\nthe king\u2019s son said to her, \u201cEh, grandmother, I have served you\nhonestly; now give me what you promised me.\u201d And the old woman\nanswered, \u201cMy son, what is promised must be fulfilled. So look here:\nhere are the twelve horses; choose which you like.\u201d And the prince\nsaid, \u201cWhy should I be too particular? Give me only that leprous horse\nin the corner; fine horses are not fitting for me.\u201d But the old woman\ntried to persuade him to choose another horse, saying, \u201cHow can you be\nso foolish as to choose that leprous thing whilst there are such very\nfine horses here?\u201d But he remained firm by his first choice, and said\nto the old woman, \u201cYou ought to give me which I choose, for so you\npromised.\u201d So, when the old woman found she could not make him change\nhis mind, she gave him the scabby horse, and he took leave of her, and\nwent away, leading the horse by the halter.\n\nWhen he came to a forest he curried and rubbed down the horse, when it\nshone as bright as gold. He then mounted, and the horse flew as quickly\nas a bird, and in a few seconds brought him to the dragon\u2019s palace. The\nking\u2019s son went in and said to the queen, \u201cGet ready as soon as\npossible.\u201d She was soon ready, when they both mounted the horse, and\nbegan their journey home. Soon after the dragon came home, and when he\nsaw the queen had disappeared, said to his horse, \u201cWhat shall we do?\nShall we eat and drink first, or shall we pursue them at once?\u201d The\nhorse answered, \u201cWhether we eat and drink or not it is all one, we\nshall never reach them.\u201d\n\nWhen the dragon heard that he got quickly on his horse and galloped\nafter them. When they saw the dragon following them they pushed on\nquicker, but their horse said, \u201cDo not be afraid; there is no need to\nrun away.\u201d In a very few moments the dragon came very near to them, and\nhis horse said to their horse, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, my brother, wait a\nmoment! I shall kill myself running after you.\u201d Their horse answered,\n\u201cWhy are you so stupid as to carry that monster. Fling your heels up\nand throw him off, and come along with me.\u201d When the dragon\u2019s horse\nheard that he shook his head angrily and flung his feet high in the\nair, so that the dragon fell off and brake in pieces and his horse came\nup to them. Then the queen mounted him and returned with the king\u2019s son\nhappily to her kingdom, where they reigned together in great prosperity\nuntil the day of their death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPAPALLUGA; [1] OR, THE GOLDEN SLIPPER\n\n\nAs some village girls were spinning whilst they tended the cattle\ngrazing in the neighbourhood of a ravine, an old man with a long white\nbeard\u2014so long a beard that it reached to his girdle\u2014approached them,\nand said, \u201cGirls, girls, take care of that ravine. If one of you should\ndrop her spindle down the cliff, her mother will be turned into a cow\nthat very moment.\u201d\n\nHaving warned them thus, the old man went away again. The girls,\nwondering very much at what he had told them, came nearer and nearer to\nthe ravine, and leant over to look in; whilst doing so one of the\ngirls\u2014and she the most beautiful of them all\u2014let her spindle fall from\nher hand, and it fell to the bottom of the ravine.\n\nWhen she went home in the evening she found her mother, changed into a\ncow, standing before the house; and from that time forth she had to\ndrive this cow to the pasture with the other cattle.\n\nIn a little time the father of the girl married a widow, who brought\nwith her into the house her own daughter. The stepmother immediately\nbegan to hate the stepdaughter, because the girl was incomparably more\nbeautiful than her own daughter. She forbade her to wash herself, to\ncomb her hair, or to change her clothes, and sought by every possible\nway to torment and scold her. One day she gave her a bag full of hemp,\nand said, \u201cIf you do not spin all this well and wind it, you need not\nreturn home, for if you do I shall kill you.\u201d\n\nThe poor girl walked behind the cattle and spun as fast as possible;\nbut at mid-day, seeing how very little she had been able to spin, she\nbegan to weep. When the cow, her mother, saw her weeping she asked her\nwhat was the matter, and the girl told her all about it. Then the cow\nconsoled her, and told her not to be anxious. \u201cI will take the hemp in\nmy mouth and chew it,\u201d she said, \u201cand it will come out of my ear as\nthread, so that you can draw it out and wind it at once upon the\nstick\u201d; and so it happened. The cow began to chew the hemp and the girl\ndrew the thread from her ear and wound it, so that very soon they had\nquite finished the task.\n\nWhen the girl went home in the evening, and took all the hemp, worked\nup, to her stepmother, she was greatly astonished, and next morning\ngave her yet more hemp to spin and wind. When at night she brought that\nhome ready the stepmother thought she must be helped by some other\ngirls, her friends; therefore the third day she gave her much more hemp\nthan before. But when the girl had gone with the cow to the pasture,\nthe woman sent her own daughter after her to find out who was helping\nher. This girl went quietly towards her stepsister so as not to be\nheard, and saw the cow chewing the hemp and the girl drawing the thread\nfrom her ear and winding it, so she hastened home and told all to her\nmother. Then the stepmother urged the husband to kill the cow. At first\nhe resisted; but, seeing his wife would give him no peace, he at last\nconsented to do as she wished, and fixed the day on which he would kill\nit. As soon as the stepdaughter heard this she began to weep, and when\nthe cow asked her why she wept she told her all about it. But the cow\nsaid, \u201cBe quiet; do not cry. Only when they kill me take care not to\neat any of the meat, and be sure to gather all my bones and bury them\nbehind the house, and whenever you need anything come to my grave and\nyou will find help.\u201d So when they killed the cow the girl refused to\neat any of the flesh, saying she was not hungry, and afterwards\ncarefully gathered all the bones and buried them behind the house, on\nthe spot the cow had told her.\n\nThe real name of this girl was Mary, but as she had worked so much in\nthe house, carrying water, cooking, washing dishes, sweeping the house,\nand doing all sorts of housework, and had very much to do about the\nfire and cinders, her stepmother and half-sister called her \u201cPapalluga\u201d\n(Cinderella).\n\nOne day the stepmother got ready to go with her own daughter to church,\nbut before she went she spread over the house a basketful of millet,\nand said to her stepdaughter, \u201cYou Papalluga! If you do not gather up\nall this millet and get the dinner ready before we come back from\nchurch, I will kill you.\u201d\n\nWhen they had gone to church the poor girl began to weep, saying to\nherself: \u201cIt is easy to see after the dinner; I shall soon have that\nready; but who can gather up all this quantity of millet!\u201d At that\nmoment she remembered what the cow had told her, that in case of need\nshe should go to her grave and would there find help, so she ran\nquickly to the spot, and what do you think she saw there? On the grave\nstood a large box full of valuable clothes of different kinds, and on\nthe top of the box sat two white doves, who said, \u201cMary, take out of\nthis box the clothes which you like best and put them on, and then go\nto church; meanwhile we will pick up the millet seeds and put\neverything in order.\u201d The girl was greatly pleased, and took the first\nclothes which came to hand. These were all of silk, and, having put\nthem on, she went away to church. In the church everyone, men and\nwomen, wondered much at her beauty and her splendid clothes, but no one\nknew who she was or whence she came. The king\u2019s son, who happened to be\nthere, looked at her all the time and admired her greatly. Before the\nservice was ended she stood up and quietly left the church. She then\nran away home, and as soon as she got there took off her fine clothes\nand again laid them in the box, which instantly shut itself and\ndisappeared.\n\nThen she hurried to the hearth and found the dinner quite ready, all\nthe millet gathered up, and everything in very good order. Soon after\nthe stepmother came back with her daughter from the church, and was\nextremely surprised to find all the millet picked up and everything so\nwell arranged.\n\nNext Sunday the stepmother and her daughter again dressed themselves to\ngo to church, and, before she went away, the stepmother threw much more\nmillet about the floor, and said to her stepdaughter, \u201cIf you do not\ngather up all this millet, prepare the dinner, and get everything into\nthe best order, I shall kill you.\u201d When they were gone the girl\ninstantly ran to her mother\u2019s grave, and there found the box open as\nbefore, with the two doves sitting on its lid. The doves said to her,\n\u201cDress yourself, Mary, and go to church; we will pick up all the millet\nand arrange everything.\u201d Then she took from the box silver clothes,\nand, having dressed herself, went to church. In the church everyone, as\nbefore, admired her very much, and the king\u2019s son never moved his eyes\nfrom her. Just before the end of the service the girl again got up very\nquietly and stole through the crowd. When she got out of church she ran\naway very quickly, took off the clothes, laid them in the box, and went\ninto the kitchen. When the stepmother and her daughter came home they\nwere more surprised than before; the millet was gathered up, dinner was\nready, and everything in the very best order. They wondered very much\nhow it was all done.\n\nOn the third Sunday the stepmother dressed herself to go with her\ndaughter to church, and again scattered millet about on the ground, but\nthis time far more than on the other Sundays. Before she went out she\nsaid to her stepdaughter, \u201cIf you do not gather up all this millet,\nprepare the dinner, and have everything in order when I come from\nchurch, I will kill you.\u201d The instant they were gone the girl ran to\nher mother\u2019s grave and found the box open with the two white doves\nsitting on the lid. The doves told her to dress herself and go to\nchurch and to have no care about the millet or dinner.\n\nThis time she took clothes all of real gold out of the box, and, having\nput them on, went away to the church. In the church all the people\nlooked at her and admired her exceedingly. Now the king\u2019s son had\nresolved not to let her slip away as before, but to watch where she\nwent. So, when the service was nearly ended, and she stood up to leave\nthe church, the king\u2019s son followed her, but was not able to reach her.\nIn pushing through the crowd, however, Mary somehow in her hurry lost\nthe slipper from her right foot and had no time to look for it. This\nslipper the king\u2019s son found, and took care of it. When the girl got\nhome she took off the golden clothes and laid them in the box, and went\nimmediately to the fire in the kitchen.\n\nThe king\u2019s son, having determined to find the maiden, went all over the\nkingdom, and tried the slipper on every girl, but in some cases it was\ntoo long, in others too short, and, in fact, it did not fit any of\nthem. As he was thus going about from one house to the other, the\nking\u2019s son came at last to the house of the girl\u2019s father, and the\nstepmother, seeing the king\u2019s son coming, hid her stepdaughter in a\nwash-trough before the house. When the king\u2019s son came in with the\nslipper and asked if there were any girl in the house, the woman\nanswered, \u201cYes,\u201d and brought out her own daughter. But when the slipper\nwas tried it was found it would not go even over the girl\u2019s toes. Then\nthe king\u2019s son asked if no other girl was there, and the stepmother\nsaid, \u201cNo, there is no other in the house.\u201d At that moment the cock\nsprung upon the wash-trough and crowed out \u201cCock-a-doodle-do!\u2014here she\nis under the wash-trough!\u201d\n\nThe stepmother shouted \u201cGo away! may the eagle fly away with you!\u201d But\nthe king\u2019s son, hearing that, hurried to the wash-trough, and lifted it\nup, and what did he see there! The same girl who had been in the\nchurch, in the same golden clothes in which she had appeared the third\ntime there, but lying under the trough, and with only one slipper on.\nWhen the king\u2019s son saw her he nearly lost his senses for the moment,\nhe was so very glad. Then he quickly tried to place the slipper he\ncarried on her right foot, and it fitted her exactly, besides perfectly\nmatching with the other slipper on her left foot. Then he took her away\nwith him to his palace and married her.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSATAN\u2019S JUGGLINGS AND GOD\u2019S MIGHT\n\n\nOne morning the son of the king went out to hunt. Whilst walking\nthrough the snow he cut himself a little, and the drops of blood fell\non the snow. When he saw how pretty the red blood looked on the white\nsnow he thought, \u201cOh, if I could only marry a girl as white as snow and\nas rosy red as this blood!\u201d Whilst he was thus thinking he met an old\nwoman, and asked her if there were such maidens anywhere to be found.\nThe old woman told him that on the mountain he saw before him he would\nfind a house without doors, and the only entrance and outlet of this\nhouse was a single window. And, she added, \u201cIn that house, my son,\nthere is living a girl such as you desire; but of the young men who\nhave gone to ask her to be their wife none have returned.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may all be as you say,\u201d answered the prince, \u201cI will go,\nnevertheless! Only tell me the way that I must take to get to the\nhouse.\u201d When the old woman heard this resolve she was sorry for the\nyoung man, and, taking a piece of bread from her pouch, she gave it to\nhim, saying, \u201cTake this bread and keep it safe as the apple of your\neye.\u201d The prince took the bread, and continued his journey. Very soon\nafterwards he met another old woman, and she asked him where he was\ngoing. He told her he was going to demand the girl who lived in the\ndoorless house on the mountain. Then the old woman tried to dissuade\nhim, telling him just the same things as the former one had done. He\nsaid, however, \u201cThat may be quite true, nevertheless I will go, even if\nI never return.\u201d Then the old woman gave to the prince a little nut,\nsaying, \u201cKeep this nut always by you; it may help you some time or\nother.\u201d\n\nThe prince took the nut and went on his way till he came to where an\nold woman was sitting by the roadside. She asked him, \u201cWhere are you\ngoing?\u201d Then he told her he was going to demand the girl who lived in\nthe house on the mountain before him. Upon this the old woman wept, and\nprayed him to give up all thoughts of the girl, and she gave him the\nvery same warnings as the other old women had done. All this, however,\nwas of no use, the prince was resolved to go on, so the old woman gave\nhim a walnut, saying, \u201cTake this walnut, and keep it carefully until\nyou want it.\u201d\n\nHe wondered at these presents, and asked her to tell him why the first\nold woman had given him a piece of bread, the second a nut, and she\nherself now a walnut. The old woman answered, \u201cThe bread is to throw to\nthe beasts before the house, that they may not eat you; and, when you\nfind yourself in the greatest danger, ask counsel, first from the nut,\nand then from the walnut.\u201d\n\nThen the king\u2019s son continued his wandering, till he came at last to a\nthick forest, in the midst of which he saw a house with only a single\nwindow. When he came near it he was attacked by a multitude of beasts\nof all kinds, and, following the advice of the old woman, he threw the\nbit of bread towards them. Then the beasts came and smelt at the bread\none after the other, and, upon doing so, each drew his tail between his\nlegs and lay down quietly.\n\nThe house had no door, and but one window, which was very high above\nthe ground, so high that do what he could he was not able to reach it.\nSuddenly he saw a woman letting down her golden hair, so he rushed and\ncaught hold of it, and she drew him up thereby into the house. Then he\nsaw that the woman was she for whose sake he had come to this place.\nThe prince and the girl were equally pleased to see each other, and she\nsaid, \u201cThank God that my mother happened to be from home. She is gone\ninto the forest to gather the plants by the aid of which she transforms\ninto beasts all the young men who venture here to ask me to be their\nwife. Those are the beasts who would have killed you, if God had not\nhelped you. But let us fly away from this place.\u201d So they fled away\nthrough the forest as quickly as they could. As they happened to look\nback, however, they saw that the girl\u2019s mother was pursuing them, and\nthey became frightened. The old woman was already very near them before\nthe prince remembered his nut. He took it out quickly and asked, \u201cFor\nGod\u2019s sake! tell me what we must do now!\u201d The nut replied, \u201cOpen me.\u201d\nThe prince opened it, and from the little nut flowed out a large river,\nwhich stopped the way, so that for a time the girl\u2019s mother could not\npass. However, she touched the waters with her staff, and they\nimmediately divided and left her a dry path, so that she could run on\nquickly after the prince and the girl.\n\nWhen the prince saw she would soon come up with them he took out the\nwalnut and asked, \u201cTell me, what must we do now?\u201d And the walnut\nreplied, \u201cBreak me.\u201d The king\u2019s son broke the walnut, and a great fire\nflamed out from it\u2014so great a fire that the whole forest barely escaped\nbeing consumed by it. But the girl\u2019s mother spat on the fire, and it\nextinguished itself in a moment. Then the king\u2019s son saw that these\nwere nothing but the jugglings of the devil, so he turned eastward,\nmade the sign of the cross, and called on the mighty God to help him.\nThen it suddenly thundered and lightened, and from heaven flashed a\nthunderbolt which struck the mother of the girl, and she fell dead upon\nthe ground.\n\nThus at length the king\u2019s son arrived safely at home, and when the girl\nhad been made a Christian, he married her.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGOOD DEEDS ARE NEVER LOST\n\n\nIn days gone by there lived a married couple who had one only son. When\nhe grew up they made him learn something which would be of use to him\nin afterlife. He was a kind, quiet boy, and feared God greatly. After\nhis schooling was finished his father gave him a ship, freighted with\nvarious sorts of merchandise, so that he might go and trade about the\nworld, and grow rich, and become a help to his parents in their old\nage. The son put to sea, and one day the ship he was in met with a\nTurkish vessel in which he heard great weeping and wailing. So he\ndemanded of the Turkish sailors, \u201cPray tell me why there is so much\nwailing on board your ship?\u201d and they answered, \u201cWe are carrying slaves\nwhich we have captured in different countries, and those who are\nchained are weeping.\u201d\n\nThen he said, \u201cPlease, brothers, ask your captain if he would give me\nthe slaves for ready cash.\u201d\n\nThe captain gladly agreed to the proposal, and after much bargaining\nthe young man gave to the captain his vessel full of merchandise, and\nreceived in exchange the ship full of slaves.\n\nThen he called the slaves before him, and demanded of each whence he\ncame, and told them all they were free to return to their own\ncountries. At last he came to an old woman who held close to her side a\nvery beautiful girl, and he asked them from what country they came. The\nold woman told him, weeping, that they came from a very distant land,\nsaying, \u201cThis young girl is the only daughter of the king, and I am her\nnurse, and have taken care of her from her childhood. One day,\nunhappily, she went to walk in a garden far away from the palace, and\nthese wicked Turks saw her and caught her. Luckily I happened to be\nnear, and, hearing her scream, ran to her help, and so the Turks caught\nme too, and brought us both on board of this ship.\u201d Then the old woman\nand the beautiful girl, being so far from their own country, and having\nno means of getting there, begged him that he would take them with him.\nSo he married the girl, took her with him, and returned home.\n\nWhen he arrived his father asked him about his ship and merchandise,\nand he told him what had happened, how he had given his vessel with its\ncargo, and had bought the slaves and set them free. \u201cThis girl,\u201d\ncontinued he, \u201cis a king\u2019s daughter, and the old woman her nurse; as\nthey could not get back to their country, they prayed to remain with\nme, so I married the girl.\u201d\n\nThereupon the father was very angry, and said, \u201cMy foolish son! what\nhave you done? Why have you made away with my property without cause\nand of your own will?\u201d and he drove him out of the house.\n\nThen the son lived with his wife and her old nurse a long time in the\nsame village, trying always, through the good offices of his mother and\nother friends, to obtain his father\u2019s forgiveness, and begging him to\nlet him have a second ship full of merchandise, promised to be wiser in\nfuture. After some time the father took pity on him, and received him\nagain into his house, with his wife and her old nurse. Shortly after he\nfitted him out another ship, larger than the first one, and filled with\nmore valuable merchandise. In this he sailed, leaving his wife and her\nnurse in the house of his parents. He came one day to a city where he\nfound the soldiers very busy carrying some unlucky villagers away to\nprison. So he asked them, \u201cWhy are you doing this, my brethren? Why are\nyou driving these poor people to prison?\u201d and the soldiers answered:\n\n\u201cThey have not paid the king\u2019s taxes, that is why we take them to\nprison.\u201d\n\nThen he went to the magistrate and asked, \u201cPlease tell me how much\nthese poor prisoners owe?\u201d\n\nWhen the magistrate told him he sold his goods and ship, and paid the\ndebts of all the prisoners, and returned home without anything. Falling\nat the feet of his father, he told him what he had done, and begged him\nto forgive him. But the father was exceedingly angry, more so than\nbefore, and drove him away from his presence. What could the unhappy\nson do in this great strait? How could he go begging, he whose parents\nwere so rich? After some time his friends again prevailed upon the\nfather to receive him back, because, they urged, so much suffering had\nmade him wiser. At last the father yielded, took him again into his\nhouse and prepared a ship for him finer and richer than the two former\nones. Then the son had the portrait of his wife painted on the helm,\nand that of the old nurse on the stern, and, after taking leave of his\nfather and mother and wife, he sailed away the third time.\n\nAfter sailing for some days he came near a large city, in which there\nlived a king, and, dropping anchor, he fired a salute to the city. All\nthe citizens wondered, as did also their king, and no one could say who\nthe captain of the strange ship might be. In the afternoon the king\nsent one of his ministers to ask who he was, and why he came; and the\nminister brought a message that the king himself would come at nine\no\u2019clock the next morning to see the ship. When the minister came he saw\non the helm the portrait of the king\u2019s daughter, and on the stern that\nof her old nurse, and in his surprise and joy dared not believe his own\neyes. For the princess had been promised to him in marriage while she\nwas yet a child, and long before she was captured by the Turks.\n\nBut the minister did not tell anyone what he had seen.\n\nNext morning, at nine o\u2019clock, the king came with his ministers on\nboard the ship, and asked the captain who he was, and whence he came.\n\nWhilst walking about the vessel he saw there the portrait of the girl\non the helm and that of the old woman on the stern, and recognised the\nfeatures of his own daughter and her old nurse who had been captured by\nthe Turks. But his joy was so great he dared not believe his eyes, so\nhe invited the captain to come that afternoon to his palace to relate\nhis adventures, hoping thus to find out if his hopes were well founded.\n\nIn the afternoon, in obedience to the king\u2019s wish, he went to the\npalace, and the king at once began to inquire why the figure of the\ngirl was painted on the helm and that of the old woman on the stern.\nThe captain guessed at once that this king must be his wife\u2019s father,\nso he told him everything that had happened\u2014how he had met the Turkish\nship filled with slaves, and had ransomed them and set them free. \u201cThis\ngirl, alone,\u201d he continued, \u201cwith her old nurse, had nowhere to go, as\nher country was so far off, so they asked to remain with me, and I\nmarried the girl.\u201d\n\nWhen the king heard this he exclaimed, \u201cThat girl is my only child, and\nthe accursed Turks took her and her old nurse. You, since you are her\nhusband, will be the heir to my crown. But go\u2014go at once to your home\nand bring me your wife that I may see her\u2014my only daughter, before I\ndie. Bring your father, your mother, bring all your family. Let your\nproperty be all sold in that country, and come all of you here. Your\nfather shall be my brother, and your mother my sister, as you are my\nson and the heir to my crown. We will all live together here in one\npalace.\u201d Then he called the queen, and all his ministers, and told them\nall about his daughter. And there was great rejoicing and festivity in\nthe whole court.\n\nAfter this the king gave his son-in-law his own large ship to bring\nback the princess and the whole family. So the captain left his own\nship there, but he asked the king to send one of his ministers with\nhim, \u201cLest they should not believe me,\u201d he said; and the king gave him\nas a companion for his voyage the same minister to whom he had formerly\npromised the princess in marriage. They arrived safely in port, and the\ncaptain\u2019s father was surprised to see his son return so soon, and with\nsuch a splendid vessel.\n\nThen he told all that had happened, and his mother and wife, and\nespecially the old nurse, rejoiced greatly when they heard the good\nnews. As the king\u2019s minister was there to witness the truth of this\nstrange news, no one could doubt it. So the father and mother consented\nto sell all their property and go to live in the king\u2019s palace.\n\nBut the minister resolved to kill this new heir to the king and husband\nof the princess who had been promised to him for wife; so, when they\nhad sailed a long distance, he called him on deck to confer with him.\nThe captain had a quiet conscience, and did not suspect any evil, so he\ncame up at once, and the minister caught him quickly and threw him\noverboard.\n\nThe ship was sailing fast, and it was rather dark, so the captain could\nnot overtake her, but was left behind in the deep waters. The minister,\nhowever, went quietly to sleep.\n\nFortunately the waves carried the king\u2019s young heir to a rock near the\nshore; it was, however, a desert country, and no one was near to help\nhim. Those he had left on board the ship, seeing next morning that he\nhad disappeared, began to weep and wail, thinking he had fallen\noverboard in the night and been drowned. His wife especially lamented\nhim, because they had loved each other very much. When the ship arrived\nat the king\u2019s city, bringing news of the disaster, the king was\ntroubled, and the whole court mourned greatly. The king kept the\nparents and family of the young man by him as he had engaged to do, but\nthey could not console themselves for their great loss.\n\nMeanwhile, the king\u2019s unhappy son-in-law sat on the rock, and lived on\nthe moss which grew there, and was scorched by the hot sun, from which\nhe had no shelter; his garments were soiled and torn, and no one would\nhave recognised him. Still not a living soul was to be seen anywhere to\nhelp him. At last, after fifteen days and fifteen nights, he noticed an\nold man on the shore, leaning on a staff, and engaged in fishing. Then\nthe king\u2019s heir shouted to the old man, and begged him to help him off\nthe rock. The old fisherman consented\u2014\n\n\u201cIf you will pay me for it,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cHow can I pay you when, as you see, I have nothing, and even my\nclothes are only rags?\u201d answered the young man sadly.\n\n\u201cOh, that matters nothing,\u201d exclaimed the old man; \u201cI have here pen and\npaper, so, if you know how to use them, write a promise to give me half\nof everything you may ever possess, and then sign the paper.\u201d\n\nTo that the young man gladly consented; so the old man walked through\nthe water to him, and he signed the paper, and then the old man took\nhim over to the shore. After that he journeyed from village to village,\nbarefoot, hungry, and sorrowful, and begged some garments to cover him.\n\nAfter thirty days\u2019 wandering his good luck led him to the city of the\nking, and he went and sat at the door of the palace, wearing on his\nfinger his wedding-ring, on which were his own name and the name of his\nwife. At eventide the king\u2019s servants took him into the courtyard, and\ngave him to eat what remained of their supper. Next morning he took his\nstand by the garden-door, but the gardener came and drove him away,\nsaying that the king and his family were soon coming that way. So he\nmoved away a little, and sat down near a corner of the garden, and\nshortly afterwards he saw the king walking with his mother, his father\nleading the queen, and his wife walking with the minister, his great\nenemy. He did not yet desire to show himself to them, but as they\npassed near him and gave him alms, his wife saw the wedding-ring on a\nfinger of the hand which he held out to take the money. Still she could\nnot think the beggar could be her husband, so she said:\n\n\u201cLet me see the ring you have on your finger.\u201d\n\nThe minister, who was walking by her, was a little frightened, and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cGo on, how can you speak to that ragged beggar?\u201d\n\nBut she would not hear him. She took the ring, and read thereon her own\nand her husband\u2019s names. Her heart was greatly troubled by the sight of\nthe ring, but she controlled her feelings and said nothing. As soon as\nthey returned to the palace she told the king, her father, that she had\nrecognised her husband\u2019s ring on the hand of the beggar who sat by the\nside of the garden. \u201cSo please send for him,\u201d said she, \u201cthat we may\nfind out how the ring came into his hands.\u201d\n\nThen the king sent his servants to find the beggar, and they brought\nhim to the palace. And the king asked him whence he came, and how he\ngot that ring. Then he could no longer restrain himself, but told them\nhow he had been thrown overboard by the treacherous minister, and spent\nfifteen days and nights on the naked rock, and how he had been saved.\n\n\u201cYou see now how God and my right-dealing have brought me back to my\nparents and my wife.\u201d\n\nWhen they heard that they could hardly speak, so rejoiced were they.\nThen the king summoned the father and mother, and related what had\nhappened to their son.\n\nThe servants quickly brought him fine new garments, and bathed and\nclothed him. Then for many days there were great rejoicings, not only\nin the palace, but also in all the city, and he was crowned as king.\nThe minister was seized by the king\u2019s order, and given up to the king\u2019s\nson-in-law, that he might punish him after his own will. But the young\nking would not permit him to be put to death, but forgave him, on\ncondition that he left the kingdom instantly.\n\nA few days after the old man who had saved the young king came,\nbringing with him his written promise. The young king took the paper\nand, reading it, said:\n\n\u201cMy old man, sit down. To-day I am king, but if I were a beggar I would\nfulfil my word, and acknowledge my signature. Therefore we will divide\nall that I have.\u201d\n\nSo he took out the book and began to divide the cities.\n\n\u201cThis is for me\u2014that is for you.\u201d So saying, he wrote all on a chart,\ntill all was divided between them, from the greatest city to the\npoorest barrack.\n\nThe old man accepted his half, but immediately made a present of it\nagain to the young king, saying:\n\n\u201cTake it. I am not an old man, but an angel from God. I was sent by God\nto save thee, for the sake of thy good deeds. Now reign and be happy,\nand may thy prosperity last long.\u201d\n\nThe angel disappeared, and the king reigned there in great happiness.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WICKED STEPMOTHER\n\n\nThere was once on a time a stepmother who hated her stepdaughter\nexceedingly, because she was more beautiful than her own daughter whom\nshe had brought with her into the house. By-and-by the father learned\nalso to hate his own child; he scolded her, and beat her, in order to\nplease his wife. One day his wife said to him, \u201cLet us send your\ndaughter away. Let her look out for herself in the world.\u201d Upon this\nthe man asked, \u201cWhere can we send her? Where can the poor girl go\nalone?\u201d To this the wife answered, \u201cIf you will not do this, husband, I\nwill no longer live with you. You had better take her to-morrow out of\nthe house. You can lead her into the forest, and then steal away from\nher and hurry home.\u201d She repeated this so often that at length he\nconsented, but said, \u201cAt least prepare the girl something for her\njourney, that she may not die the first day of hunger.\u201d\n\nThe stepmother thereupon made a cake, and, the next morning early, the\nfather led the girl far away into the very heart of the forest, and\nthere left her and went back home.\n\nThe poor girl, thus left alone, wandered all day about the wood seeking\nfor a path, but could find no way out of it. When it grew dark she got\nup into a tree to pass the night, fearing lest some wild beasts would\neat her if she remained on the ground. And, indeed, all night long the\nwolves were howling under the tree, so that the poor girl trembled so\nmuch that she could hardly keep herself from falling. When day dawned\nshe descended from the tree and walked on again, hoping to find some\nway out of the forest. But the wood grew thicker and thicker, and\nseemed to have no end. In the evening, whilst she was looking for a\ntree in which she might remain safely over the night, all at once she\nsaw something shining in the forest. So she went on, hoping to find\nsome shelter, and at length came to a fine large house. The gates were\nopen, so she went in, and walked through a great many rooms, each one\nmore beautiful than the other. On a table in one room she found a\ncandle burning. She thought this must be the house of some robbers; but\nshe was not afraid, for she reasoned with herself, \u201cRich men have\nreason to fear robbers, but I have none\u2014I will tell them that I will\nserve them gladly for a piece of bread.\u201d\n\nShe then took the cake from her bag, said grace, and began to eat. Just\nas she had begun to eat a cock came into the room, and sprang upon the\ntable to reach the cake, so the girl crumbled some of it for him. Then\na little dog came in and jumped quite friendly upon her, so she broke a\npiece from her cake for the little dog, and took him on her knee, and\npetted and fed him. After that came in a cat also, and the girl fed her\ntoo.\n\nAt length the girl heard a loud noise as if some great beast was\ncoming, and was greatly frightened when a lion came into the room. But\nthe lion moved his tail in such a friendly way, and looked so very\nkindly, that she took heart, and offered him a piece of her cake. The\nlion took it and began to lick her hand, and the girl had no longer any\nfear of him, so she stroked him gently and fed him with the rest of the\ncake. Suddenly she heard a great noise of weapons, and almost swooned\nas a creature in a bear-skin entered the room. The cock, the dog, the\ncat, and the lion all ran to it, and jumped about it affectionately,\nshowing in all possible ways their great joy. The poor girl thought it\na very strange beast, and expected it would jump upon her and kill her.\nBut the fearful thing threw the bear-skin from its head and shoulders,\nand all the room shone and glittered with its golden garments. The poor\ngirl almost lost her senses when she saw before her a handsome man,\nbeautifully dressed. But he came up to her and said, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid,\nmy dear! I am not a bad man, I am the son of the king, and when I wish\nto hunt I come here and use this bear-skin as a disguise lest the\npeople should recognize me. Those who see me believe that I am a ghost,\nand run away from me. No one dares to come into this house, knowing\nthat I often come here. You are the only person who has ventured in.\nHow did you know that I am not a ghost?\u201d\n\nThen she told him she had never heard of him nor of the house, but that\nher stepmother had driven her away from home, and she told him all that\nhad happened to her. When he heard this he was very sorry, and said,\n\u201cYour stepmother hated you, but God has been kind to you. I will marry\nyou if you are willing to be my wife\u2014will you consent?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d she\nreplied.\n\nNext day he took her to his father\u2019s palace and married her. After some\ntime she begged to be allowed to go to see her father. So her husband\nallowed her to go, and she dressed herself all in gold and went to her\nfather\u2019s house. The father happened to be away from home, and the\nstepmother, seeing her coming, was afraid lest she had come to revenge\nherself. So she hurried to meet her and said, \u201cYou see that it was I\nwho sent you on the road to happiness.\u201d The stepdaughter kissed her and\nembraced her stepsister. Then the girl said she was very sorry that she\nhad not found her father at home, and, on her going away, she gave\nplenty of money to her stepmother. When, however, she had gone away the\nstepmother shook her fist after her and cried, \u201cWait a little, you\nshall not be the only one so dressed out; to-morrow I will send my own\ndaughter after you the same way.\u201d\n\nWhen her husband came home at night she told him all that had happened,\nand said, \u201cWhat do you think, husband? would it not be a good thing to\nsend my girl also into the wood to try her fortune; for your girl, whom\nwe sent there, never came back until now, and now she has come\nglittering in gold?\u201d\n\nThe man sighed and agreed to the proposal. Next day the stepmother\nprepared for her daughter plenty of cakes and roasted meats, and then\nsent her with the father into the forest. The man led her deep into the\nforest, as he had done his own daughter, and there left her. Finding\nthe father did not return, she began to seek a way to get home, and\nsoon came in sight of the house in the forest. She entered it, and\nseeing no one, fastened the door inside. Then she took out of her bag\nthe baked meats and cakes and began to eat. Whilst she was eating the\ncock, the dog, and the cat came in suddenly, and began to play about\nher affectionately, hoping she would give them something; but she\nbecame quite angry, and exclaimed, \u201cThe devil take you! I have hardly\nenough for myself; do you think I will give any to you?\u201d Then she began\nto beat them, whereat the dog howled, and the lion, hearing it, rushed\nin furiously, caught the girl and killed her.\n\nNext day the king\u2019s son came with his wife to hunt. She immediately\nrecognised her sister\u2019s dress, and gathered together the fragments of\nthe body, which she took to her stepmother. She found her father at\nhome this time, and he was greatly pleased to hear that his daughter\nwas married to the king\u2019s son. When, however, he heard what had\nhappened to the daughter of his wife, he was very sorry, but said, \u201cHer\nmother has deserved this from the hand of God, because she hated you\nwithout a cause. There she is at the well. I will go and tell her.\u201d\n\nWhen the stepmother heard what had happened to her daughter, she said\nto her husband, \u201cI cannot bear your daughter. I cannot bear to look at\nher. Let us kill her and her husband. If you will not consent, I will\njump down into this well.\u201d \u201cI cannot kill my own child,\u201d returned he.\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d cried she, \u201cif you will not kill her, I cannot endure\nher,\u201d and so she jumped down into the well.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBIRD GIRL\n\n\nOnce upon a time lived a king, who had only one son; and when this son\ngrew up, his father sent him to travel about the world, in order that\nhe might find a maiden who would make him a suitable wife.\n\nThe king\u2019s son started on his journey, and travelled through the whole\nworld without finding anywhere a maiden whom he loved well enough to\nmarry. Seeing then that he had taken so much trouble, and had spent so\nmuch time and money, and all to no purpose, he resolved to kill\nhimself. With this intention he climbed to the top of a high mountain,\nthat he might throw himself from its summit; for he wished that even\nhis bones might never be found. Having arrived at the top of the\nmountain, he saw a sharp rock jutting out from one side of it, and was\nclimbing up to throw himself from it, when he heard a voice behind him\ncalling, \u201cStop! stop! O, man! Stop for the sake of three hundred and\nsixty-five which are in the year!\u201d He looked back, and seeing no one,\nasked, \u201cWho are you that speak to me? Let me see you. When you know how\nmiserable I am, you will not prevent my killing myself.\u201d\n\nHe had scarcely said these words when there appeared to him an old man,\nwith hair as white as wool, who said, \u201cI know all about you. But\nlisten! Do you see that high hill?\u201d \u201cYes, I do,\u201d said the prince. \u201cAnd\ndo you see the multitude of marble blocks which are on it?\u201d said the\nold man. \u201cYes, I do,\u201d rejoined the prince. \u201cWell, then,\u201d continued the\nold man, \u201con the summit of that hill there is an old woman with golden\nhair, who sits night and day on that very spot, and holds a bird in her\nbosom. Whoever can get this bird into his hands will be the happiest\nman in the world. But be careful. If you are willing to try to get the\nbird, you must take the old woman by her hair before she sees you. If\nshe sees you before you catch her by her hair, you will be changed into\na stone on the spot. Thus it happened to all those young men you see\nstanding there, as if they were blocks of marble.\u201d\n\nWhen the king\u2019s son heard this he thought, \u201cIt is all one to me whether\nI die here or there. If I succeed, so much the better for me; if I\nfail, I can but die as I had resolved.\u201d So he went up the hill. When he\narrived near the old woman he walked very cautiously towards her,\nhoping to reach her unseen; for, luckily, the old woman was lying with\nher back towards him, sunning herself, and playing with the bird.\n\nWhen near enough he sprang suddenly and caught her by the hair. Then\nthe old woman cried out, so that the whole hill shook as with a great\nearthquake; but the king\u2019s son held fast by her hair, and when she\nfound that she could not escape she said, \u201cWhat do you desire from me?\u201d\nHe replied, \u201cThat you should give me the bird in your bosom, and that\nyou call back to life all these Christian souls.\u201d The old woman\nconsented, and gave him the bird. Then from her mouth she breathed a\nblue wind towards the men of stone, and immediately they again became\nalive. The king\u2019s son, having the bird in his hands, was so rejoiced\nthat he began to kiss it; and as he kissed it the bird was transformed\ninto a most beautiful maiden.\n\nThis girl the enchantress had turned into a bird, in order that she\nmight allure the young men to her. The girl pleased the king\u2019s son\nexceedingly, and he took her with him, and prepared to return home. As\nhe was going down the hill the girl gave him a stick, and told him the\nstick would do everything that he desired of it. So the king\u2019s son\nstruck with it once upon the rock, and in a moment there came out a\nmass of golden coin, of which they took plenty for use on their\njourney.\n\nAs they were travelling they came to a great river, and could find no\nplace by which they could pass over; so the king\u2019s son touched the\nsurface of the river with his stick, and the water divided, so that a\ndry path lay before them, and they were able to cross over the river\ndryshod. A little farther they came to a herd of wolves, and the wolves\nattacked them, and seemed about to tear them to pieces; but the prince\nstruck at them with his stick, and one by one the wolves were turned\ninto ants. Thus, at length, the king\u2019s son reached home safely with his\nbeloved, and they were shortly after married, and lived long and\nhappily together.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSIR PEPPERCORN\n\n\nThree brothers once upon a time went out into the neighbouring forest\nto choose some trees fit for building. Before going, however, they told\ntheir mother not to forget to send their sister into the wood after\nthem with their dinners. The mother sent the girl as she had been told\nto do; but as the girl was on her way a giant met her in the wood, and\ncarried her off to a cave, where he lived.\n\nAll day long the brothers waited, expecting their sister, and wondering\nwhy their mother had forgotten to send them food. At length, after\nremaining two days in the forest, and becoming anxious and angry at the\ndelay, they went home. When they arrived there they asked their mother\nwhy she had not sent their sister with their food, as she had promised\nto do; she replied that she had sent the girl three days ago, and had\nbeen wondering greatly why she had not come back.\n\nWhen the three brothers heard this they were exceedingly troubled, and\nthe eldest said, \u201cI will go back into the forest and look for my\nsister.\u201d Accordingly he went. After wandering about some time he came\nto a shepherdess, who was minding a flock of sheep. He asked her\nanxiously if she had seen his sister in the wood, or whether she could\ntell him anything about her. The shepherdess replied that she had\nindeed seen a girl carrying food, but a giant had met her and carried\nher off to his cave. Then the young man asked her to tell him the way\nto the giant\u2019s cave, which she did. The cave was hidden in a deep\nravine. The brother at once went down, and called aloud on his sister\nby name. In a short time the girl came to the mouth of the cave, and,\nseeing her eldest brother, invited him to come in. This he did, and was\nexceedingly surprised to see that the seeming cave was in reality a\nmagnificent palace. Whilst he stood there talking to his sister and\ninquiring how she liked her new home, he heard a loud whirring in the\nair overhead, and, immediately afterwards, saw a heavy mace fall on the\nground just in front of the cave. Greatly terrified and astonished, he\nasked his sister what this meant, and she told him not to be afraid,\nfor it was only the way the giant let her know of his return three\nhours before he came, that she might begin to prepare his supper.\n\nWhen it grew dark the giant came home, and was at once aware that a\nstranger was in his place. In reply to his angry questions, his wife\ntold him it was \u201conly her brother, who had come to visit them.\u201d When\nthe giant heard this he went to the mouth of the cave, and, calling a\nshepherd, ordered him to kill the largest sheep in his flock and roast\nit.\n\nWhen the meat was ready the giant called his brother-in-law and said,\nas he cut the sheep in two equal parts, \u201cMy dear brother-in-law, listen\nwell to what I say; if you eat your half of the meat sooner than I eat\nmine, I will give you leave to kill me; but if I eat my half quicker\nthan you eat yours, I shall certainly kill you.\u201d\n\nThereupon the poor brother-in-law began to shake all over with fright;\nand, fearing the worst, tried to eat as fast as he could. But he had\nhardly swallowed three mouthfuls before the giant finished his share of\nthe sheep, and killed him, according to his threat.\n\nFor some time the other two brothers and their old mother waited\nimpatiently to see if the elder brother would come back. At last,\nhearing nothing either of the brother or of the sister, the second son\nsaid, \u201cI will go and look after them.\u201d So he went into the same forest\nwhere his brother had gone, and, meeting there the same shepherdess\nminding her sheep, he inquired if she had seen his brother or sister.\nThe shepherdess answered him as she had answered the elder brother, and\nhe, too, asked the way to the giant\u2019s cave, and, on being told, went\ndown the ravine until he reached the place. There he called on his\nsister by name, and she came out and invited him to enter the cave.\nThis he did, and shared the fate of his brother; for, being unable to\neat his part of the sheep as quickly as the giant ate his, he also was\nkilled.\n\nNot long after the third brother went forth the same road, to look\nafter his two elder brothers and sister, and having found the giant\u2019s\ncave, was likewise invited to eat half a sheep, or be put to death. He,\nhowever, failed like his brothers had done before him, and, being\nunable to eat his part of the sheep as quickly as the giant ate his, he\nwas also killed.\n\nNow the parents, being alone in their house, prayed that God would give\nthem another son, even were he no bigger than a peppercorn. As they\nprayed so it came to pass, and not very long after a little boy was\nborn to them, who was so extremely small that they christened him\n\u201cPeppercorn.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy was old enough he went out to play with other boys; and\none day, in a quarrel, one of these said to him, \u201cMay you share the\nfate of your elder brothers.\u201d Hearing this, Peppercorn ran off home at\nonce, and asked his mother what these words meant. So the mother was\nforced to tell him how his three brothers had gone into the forest to\nlook after their lost sister, and had never come back again. As soon as\nhe heard this, Peppercorn began to search the house for pieces of old\niron, and, having found some scraps, carried them off in the evening to\na blacksmith, that with them he might make him a mace. Next morning\nPeppercorn went to the smith to ask for his mace, which the man gave\nhim, saying at the same time, \u201cNow pay me for making it.\u201d To this\nPeppercorn replied, \u201cFirst let me see if it is strong enough\u201d; and he\nthrew it up in the air and held his head so that the mace might fall\nupon it. As soon as the mace struck his head, it broke into pieces; and\nPeppercorn, seeing how badly it was made, fell into a passion and\nkilled the smith. Then he gathered up the pieces of iron and went off\nto look for a better workman. He soon found another blacksmith who was\nwilling to make him a mace, but demanded a ducat for the work.\nPeppercorn said he would willingly pay the ducat if the smith made him\na really strong, serviceable mace. So next morning he went to ask if it\nwas ready, and the smith said \u201cYes; but you must first pay me the\nducat, and then I will give it you.\u201d Peppercorn, however, answered,\n\u201cThe ducat is ready in my pocket, but I must first see if the mace is\ngood before I pay for it.\u201d Thereupon he caught it, flung it up in the\nair, and held his head under it as it fell. As soon as the mace struck\nhis head it broke into pieces; and he, again falling into a great\npassion, killed this smith also.\n\nGathering up the pieces of iron, he now carried them to a third smith,\nwho undertook to make him a good strong mace, and demanded a ducat for\ndoing so. Next morning Peppercorn went for the mace and, after trying\nit three times, each time throwing it up higher in the air and letting\nit fall on his head, where it raised great bumps, he owned that he was\nsatisfied with it, and accordingly paid the smith the ducat as he had\npromised.\n\nHaving now a good strong mace, Peppercorn started off at once for the\nforest, in which his three elder brothers and his sister had been lost.\nAfter wandering about for some time, he came to the place where the\nshepherdess sat watching her sheep, and, in reply to his questions, she\ntold him that she had seen his three brothers go down the ravine in\nsearch of their sister, but had never seen them come up again.\n\nNotwithstanding this, Peppercorn went resolutely down the ravine,\ncalling aloud upon his sister by name. When she heard this she was\nexceedingly surprised, and said to herself, \u201cWho can this be calling me\nby name, now that all my brothers are killed? I have no other relations\nto come and look for me.\u201d Then she went to the entrance of the cave and\ncalled out, \u201cWho is it that calls me; I have no longer any brothers?\u201d\n\nPeppercorn said to her, \u201cI am your brother who was born after you left\nhome, and my name is Peppercorn.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this, his sister led him into the palace, but he had hardly\nhad time to say a few words to her before a loud whirring was heard in\nthe air, and the giant\u2019s mace fell to the ground. For a moment\nPeppercorn was terrified at this, but he recovered himself quickly,\nand, pulling the mace out of the ground, flung it back to the giant,\nwho, in astonishment, said to himself, \u201cWho is this who throws my mace\nback to me? Methinks I have at last found someone able to fight with\nme.\u201d\n\nWhen the giant came home he immediately asked his wife who had been in\nthe cave, and she answered him, \u201cIt is my youngest brother.\u201d Thereupon\nthe giant ordered the shepherd to bring the largest sheep in his flock.\nWhen this was brought the giant killed it himself, and, whilst\npreparing it for roasting, said to Peppercorn, \u201cWill you turn the meat,\nor will you take care of the fire?\u201d Peppercorn said he would rather\ngather wood and make the fire; so he went out and tumbled down some\nlarge trees with his mace. These he carried to the mouth of the cave,\nand made a large fire ready for the meat.\n\nWhen the sheep was roasted the giant cut it in two parts, and gave one\nhalf to Peppercorn, saying, \u201cTake this half, and if you eat it before I\neat my half you are free to kill me; but if you don\u2019t, I shall surely\nkill you.\u201d So Peppercorn and the giant began to eat as fast as they\ncould, swallowing down large pieces of meat, and, in their haste,\nalmost choking themselves. At last Peppercorn, by trickery, managed to\nget rid of his share of the sheep, and, according to the arrangement,\nkilled the giant. This done, with the help of his sister, he collected\nall the treasures the giant had heaped up in his palace, and, taking\nthem with him, returned home with his sister, to the great joy of their\nparents.\n\nPeppercorn remained some time after this with his father, mother, and\nsister, and they lived very merrily on the treasures he had brought\nfrom the giant\u2019s cave. At length, however, he saw that the riches were\ncoming to an end, so he resolved to go into the world to seek his\nfortune.\n\nAfter travelling about a good while he came one day to a large city,\nwhere he saw a great crowd gathered about a man who held an iron pike\nin his hand, and every now and then squeezed drops of water out of the\niron. Whilst the people watched, wondering and admiring his great\nstrength, Peppercorn went up and asked him, \u201cDo you think there is any\nman in the world stronger than yourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is only one man alive who is stronger than myself, and that one\nis a certain person called Peppercorn,\u201d answered he. \u201cPeppercorn can\nreceive a mace on his head without being hurt.\u201d\n\nThereupon Peppercorn told the man who he was, and proposed to him that\nthey should travel about the world together.\n\n\u201cThat will I right gladly,\u201d said the Pikeman. \u201cHow can I help being\nglad to go with a trusty fellow like you!\u201d\n\nTravelling together they came one day to a certain city, and, finding a\nconcourse of people assembled, they went to see what was the matter.\nThey found a man sitting on the bank of a river turning the wheels of\nnine mills with his little finger. So they said to him, \u201cIs there\nanyone stronger than you in the world?\u201d\n\nAnd he answered them, \u201cThere are only two men stronger than I am\u2014a\ncertain person named Peppercorn and a certain Pikeman.\u201d Hearing this,\nPeppercorn and the Pikeman told him who they were, and proposed that he\nshould join them in their travels about the world.\n\nThe Mill-turner very gladly accepted the offer, and so all three\ncontinued their journey together.\n\nAfter travelling some time they came to a city where they found all the\npeople greatly excited because some one had stolen the three daughters\nof the king, and, notwithstanding the immense rewards his majesty had\noffered, no one had as yet dared to go out to look for the princesses.\nAs soon as Peppercorn and his two comrades heard this they went to the\nking and offered to search for his three daughters. But in order to\naccomplish the task they demanded that the king should give them a\nhundred thousand loads of wood. The king gave them what they wanted,\nand they made a fence all around the city with the timber. This done\nthey began to watch.\n\nThe first morning they prepared a whole ox for their dinners, and\ndiscussed the question which of the three should stay behind to mind\nthe meat whilst the other two watched the fence. The Pikeman said, \u201cI\nthink I will stay here and take care of the meat, and I will have\ndinner ready for you when you come back from looking after the fence.\u201d\nSo it was thus settled. Just, however, as the Pikeman thought the ox\nwas well roasted he was frightened by the sudden approach of a man with\na forehead a yard high and a beard a span long. This man said to the\nPikeman, \u201cGood morning!\u201d but the latter ran away instead of answering,\nhe was so shocked by the strange appearance of the man.\n\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard was quite content at this, and,\nsitting down, soon finished the whole ox. When he had ended his dinner\nhe got up and went away.\n\nShortly afterwards Sir Peppercorn and the Mill-turner came for their\ndinners, and, being very hungry, shouted from afar to the Pikeman, \u201cLet\nus dine at once!\u201d But the Pikeman, keeping himself hidden among the\nbushes, called out to them, \u201cThere is nothing left for us to eat! A\nlittle while ago Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard came up and ate\nup the whole ox to the very last morsel! I was afraid of him, and so I\ndid not say one word against it.\u201d\n\nPeppercorn and the Mill-turner reproached their companion bitterly for\nallowing all their dinner to be stolen without once trying to prevent\nit, and the Mill-turner said scornfully, \u201cWell, I will stop to-morrow\nand look after the meat, and Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard may\ncome if he likes!\u201d\n\nSo the next day the Mill-turner stayed to roast the ox, and his two\ncomrades went to look after the fence they had built round about the\ncity.\n\nJust before dinner-time Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard came out\nof the forest and walked straight up to the ox, and stretched his hands\nout greedily to grasp it. The Mill-turner was so frightened by his\nstrange appearance that he ran off as hard as he could to look for a\nplace to hide in.\n\nBy-and-by Peppercorn and the Pikeman came for their dinners and asked\nangrily where the meat was. Whereupon the Mill-turner answered, \u201cThere\nis no meat! It has all been eaten by that horrible\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, and his looks frightened me so\nthat I dared not say a single word to him.\u201d\n\nIt was no use complaining, so Peppercorn only said, \u201cTo-morrow I will\nstay to mind the ox, and you two shall go and look after the fence. I\nwill see if we are to remain the third day without dinner.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the Pikeman and the Mill-turner went to see if all was\nright round about the city, and Peppercorn remained to roast the ox.\nExactly as on the two former days, just before dinner was ready,\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard made his appearance, and went up\nto seize the meat. But Peppercorn pushed him roughly back, saying, \u201cTwo\ndays I have been dinnerless on your account, but the third day I will\nnot be so, as long as my head stands on my shoulders!\u201d\n\nMuch astonished at his boldness, Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard\nexclaimed, \u201cTake care you don\u2019t begin to quarrel with me. There is no\none in all the world who can conquer me, except a fellow called\nPeppercorn!\u201d\n\nPeppercorn was very pleased to hear this, and, without more hesitation,\nsprang at once on Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, and, after\nsome struggling, pulled him down to the earth and bound him. This done,\nhe tied him fast to a tall pine-tree. Now the Pikeman and Mill-turner\ncame up and were exceedingly glad to find their dinners safe. Just as\nthey were in the middle of their dinners, however,\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, with a sudden jerk, pulled up\nthe pine-tree by the roots and ran off with tree and all, making\nfurrows in the earth with it just as if three ploughs had been passing\nover the ground.\n\nSeeing him run off, the Pikeman and Mill-turner jumped up quickly and\nran after him, but Peppercorn called them back and told them to finish\ntheir dinners first, for there would be plenty of time to catch him\nafter they had dined! So they all three went on eating, and when they\nhad done they followed the furrows which\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard had made in the ground. After a\nwhile they came to a deep dark hole in the earth, and when they had\nexamined it all round and tried in vain on account of the darkness to\nlook down into it, they returned to the king and asked him to give them\na thousand miles of strong rope so that they could go down into the\npit.\n\nThe king at once ordered his servants to give them what they required,\nand when they had got the great cable they went back to the hole. On\nthe way, as they were going, they discussed which of the three should\nventure down first, and it was at last settled that the Pikeman should\nbe let down. However, he made them solemnly promise him that they\nshould pull him up again the instant he shook the rope.\n\nHe had been let down but a very little way before he shook the rope,\nand so they pulled him up as they had promised.\n\nThen the Mill-turner said, \u201cLet me go down.\u201d And so the other two\nlowered him, but in a moment or two he shook the rope violently; and so\nhe, too, was pulled up.\n\nNow Peppercorn grew angry, and exclaimed, \u201cI did not think you were\nsuch cowards as to be afraid of a dark hole! Now let me down!\u201d So they\nlet him down and down until his foot touched solid ground. Finding that\nhe had reached the bottom, he looked round him, and saw that he stood\njust in the very middle of a most beautiful green plain\u2014a plain so\nbeautiful that it was a real pleasure to look on it.\n\nAt one end of the plain stood a large handsome palace, and Peppercorn\nwent nearer to look at it. There, in the gardens, walking, he met two\nyoung girls, and asked them if they were not the daughters of the king.\nWhen they said that they were, he inquired what had become of the other\nsister; and the princesses told him that their youngest sister was in\nthe palace very busy binding up the wounds that\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard had lately received from a\ncertain knight called Peppercorn.\n\nThen Peppercorn told them who he was, and that he had come down on\npurpose to release them, and to take them back to the king, their\nfather. On hearing this good news, the two princesses rejoiced greatly,\nand told Peppercorn where he would find\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard and their youngest sister. But\nthey warned him not to rush in on the giant, but rather to go softly,\nand first try to get hold of the sabre which hung on the wall over his\nbed, for this sabre possessed the wonderful power of killing a man when\nhe was a whole day\u2019s journey from it.\n\nPeppercorn took care to do as the princesses had told him. He stole\nvery quietly into the room where Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard\nwas lying, and when he was near the bed he sprang up suddenly and\nseized the sword. The moment the wounded giant saw his sabre in the\nhands of Peppercorn he jumped up quickly and ran out of the palace.\nPeppercorn followed him some time before he remembered what the two\nprincesses had told him of the wonderful properties of the sword, but\nas soon as he recollected this he made a sharp cut with it in the air,\nas if he were cutting off a man\u2019s head, and the moment he did so\nYard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard fell down dead.\n\nThen Peppercorn went back to the palace, and, taking with him the three\nprincesses, prepared to return to the upper world.\n\nWhen he came to the place where the rope was hanging he took a large\nbasket, and, placing the eldest princess in it, fastened it to the\nrope, then, giving her a note, in which he said that he sent her for\nthe Pikeman, he made the signal agreed upon for the rope to be drawn\nup. So his comrades pulled up the rope, and when it came down again\nwith the empty basket, Peppercorn sent up the second princess, after\ngiving her a paper, in which he had written, \u201cThis one is for the\nMill-turner.\u201d\n\nWhen the rope descended the third time he sent up the youngest\nprincess, who was by far the most beautiful of the three. He gave her a\npaper which said that this one he meant to keep for himself. Just as\nthe Pikeman and the Mill-turner began to pull up the rope the princess\ngave Peppercorn a little box, saying, \u201cOpen it when you have need of\nanything!\u201d\n\nNow, when the Pikeman and Mill-turner drew up the youngest princess,\nand saw how very beautiful she was, they determined to leave Peppercorn\ndown in the pit, and go back without delay to the king\u2019s palace, and\nthere see which of them could get the youngest princess for his wife.\n\nPeppercorn waited patiently some time for the rope to be let down that\nhe might be drawn up, but no rope appeared. At last he was obliged to\nown to himself that his two comrades had deceived and deserted him,\nand, seeing how useless it was to remain standing still any longer, he\nwalked off without knowing where the road would take him. Walking on,\nafter a long time, he came to the shore of a large lake, and heard a\ngreat noise of crying and shouting. Very soon a multitude of people,\nlooking like a wedding party, made their appearance. After placing a\nyoung girl in bridal attire on the shore of the lake, the people left\nher there alone and went away.\n\nPeppercorn, seeing the girl left by herself, and noticing how sad she\nlooked, went up to her, and asked her why her friends had left her\nthere, and why she was so sad? The girl answered, \u201cIn this lake is a\ndragon who, every year, swallows up a young girl. It is now my turn;\nand our people have brought me as a bride to the dragon, and left me to\nbe swallowed up.\u201d\n\nPeppercorn, on hearing this, asked her to let him rest near her a\nlittle, because he was very tired, but she answered, \u201cYou had far\nbetter fly away, my good knight; if it is necessary that I should die,\nit is not needful that you should die also.\u201d\n\nBut Peppercorn said to her, \u201cDon\u2019t trouble yourself about me, only let\nme rest near you a little, for I am very tired. It will be time enough\nfor me to run away when the dragon comes.\u201d Having said this he sat down\nnear the girl, and in a little while fell asleep. He had not slept long\nbefore the surface of the lake became agitated, and the water rose up\nin large waves; presently the dragon lifted its head, and swam straight\nto the shore where the girl sat, evidently intending to swallow her at\nonce. The maiden cried bitterly, and a tear falling on Peppercorn\u2019s\nface, awakened him. He sprang up quickly, grasped his sword, and,\nsmiting fiercely, with one stroke, cut off the dragon\u2019s head.\n\nThen he took the girl by the hand, and led her back to the city, where\nhe found that she was the only daughter of the king of that country.\nThe king was overjoyed at hearing that the dragon was killed, and also\nat seeing his daughter brought back to him safe and sound. So he\ninsisted that Peppercorn should marry the princess, which he did, and\nthey all lived together very happily for a long time.\n\nAfter a while, however, Peppercorn began to long greatly for the other\nworld, and grew sadder and sadder every day. When his wife noticed this\nchange in his appearance she asked him very often what ailed him, but\nhe would not tell her for a long time, because he did not wish to\ntrouble her. At last, however, he could keep his secret no longer, and\nconfessed to the princess how much he longed to go back to the upper\nworld. Though she was very sorry to hear this, she promised him that\nshe herself would beg the king to let him go, since he so greatly\nwished it. This she did; and when the king objected, not wishing to\nlose so good a son-in-law, the princess said, \u201cLet him go; he has saved\nmy life, and why should we keep him against his will? My three sons\nwill still remain to comfort us!\u201d\n\nThen the king consented, saying, \u201cVery well; let it be as he wishes,\nsince you have nothing to say against it. Tell your benefactor to go to\nthe lake-shore, and to say to the giant-bird he will find there, that\nthe king sends her his greetings, and desires her to take the bearer of\nthem up to the other world.\u201d\n\nThe princess returned to her husband and told him what her father had\nsaid, and then began to prepare some provisions for the journey. When\nthese were ready, and the king had sent the letter for the bird,\nPeppercorn took a kind leave of his wife, and went down to the\nlake-shore, where he soon found the nest of the giant-bird and her\nlittle ones in it, though she herself was not there. So he sat down to\nwait under the tree where the nest was. As he sat there, he heard the\nlittle birds chirping very restlessly and anxiously. Then he saw that\nthe lake was beginning to throw up high waves, and soon a monster came\nout of the water and made straight for the nest to swallow the young\nbirds.\n\nPeppercorn, however, did not stop long to think about the matter, but\nquickly drew his wonderful sword and killed the monster. It happened\nthat the giant-bird was just coming back, and when she saw Peppercorn\nunder the tree, she shrieked as she ran up to kill him, \u201cNow I have\ncaught you\u2014you who have been killing all my little ones for so many\nyears! Now you shall pay me for it, for I will kill you!\u201d But the\nlittle birds from their nest high in the tree, cried out to her, \u201cDon\u2019t\ndo him any harm! he has saved us from being swallowed by a monster who\ncame out of the lake to kill us.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile, Peppercorn went to her, and presented the king\u2019s letter. The\ngiant-bird read it through carefully, and then said to him, \u201cGo home\nand kill twelve sheep. Fill their skins with water, and bring them\nhere, together with the flesh of the sheep.\u201d\n\nPeppercorn went back to the king, who at once ordered that he should be\nsupplied with the flesh of twelve sheep, as well as with twelve\nsheep-skins full of fresh water. With this provision Peppercorn\nreturned to the shore of the lake.\n\nThen the giant-bird placed the twelve skins full of water under her\nleft wing, and the flesh of the twelve sheep under her right, and took\nPeppercorn on her back. This done, she told him that he must watch well\nher movements, and when she turned her beak to the left side, he must\ngive her water, and when she turned it to the right he must give her\nmeat. After impressing these directions upon Peppercorn, the giant-bird\nrose with her triple load in the air, and flew straight up towards the\nother world. As she flew she turned, from time to time, her beak, now\nto the left and then to the right, and Peppercorn gave her water or\nmeat, as she had directed him to do. At last, however, all the meat\ndisappeared. So, when the giant-bird turned her beak once more to the\nright, Sir Peppercorn, having no more meat to give her, and fearing\nsome evil might happen if he did not satisfy her, took out his knife,\nand, cutting a piece of flesh from the sole of his right foot, gave it\nto her.\n\nBut the bird knew by the taste that he had cut it from his own foot, so\nshe did not swallow it, but hid it under her tongue, and held it there\nuntil she reached the other world.\n\nThen she set Peppercorn down on the earth and told him to walk, and\nwhen he tried to do so he was forced to limp, because of the loss of\npart of his foot. When the giant-bird noticed this, she asked him, \u201cWhy\ndo you limp so?\u201d To this Peppercorn answered, \u201cOh, it is nothing! Do\nnot trouble yourself about it!\u201d But the bird told him to lift his right\nfoot, and when he did so, she took the piece of flesh she had kept\nhidden under her tongue, and laid it on the place where he had cut it\nfrom. Then she tapped it two or three times with her beak to make it\ngrow to the rest of the foot.\n\nPeppercorn walked on some time before he remembered the little box\nwhich the youngest of the three daughters of the king had given him.\nNow, however, he opened it, and a bee and a fly flew out and asked him\nwhat he desired. He said, \u201cI want a good horse to carry me to the\nking\u2019s residence, and a decent suit of clothes to wear.\u201d Next moment a\nsuit of good clothes lay before him, and a handsome horse stood ready\nsaddled for him to mount. Then he took the clothes, and, mounting the\nhorse, rode off to the city where the king dwelt. Before entering the\ncity, however, he opened his little box, and said to the fly and the\nbee, \u201cI do not want the horse any more at present.\u201d Accordingly they\ntook it with them into their little box.\n\nPeppercorn went to live in the house of an old woman in the city. Next\nmorning he heard the public crier shouting in the street, \u201cIs there\nanyone bold enough to fight with the mighty Pikeman, the king\u2019s\nson-in-law?\u201d\n\nPeppercorn was very pleased to hear this challenge, and, opening his\nbox without delay, told the bee and fly, who flew out to receive his\norders, that he wanted at once a fine suit of clothes and a strong\ncharger, so that he might go to fight with the Pikeman. The bee and fly\ninstantly gave him what he required, and he dressed himself and rode\noff to the field, where he found the Pikeman proudly awaiting anyone\nwho might presume to accept his challenge.\n\nSo Peppercorn and the Pikeman fought, and before very long the first\nson-in-law of the king was slain. Then Peppercorn returned home\nquickly, and opening his box, bade the bee and fly take away the horse\nand the fine clothes.\n\nThe king sought everywhere for the stranger who had killed his\nson-in-law, but no one knew anything about him. So, after some days,\nthe city crier went round again, proclaiming that the Mill-turner, the\nsecond son-in-law of the king, would fight anyone who dared to meet\nhim.\n\nPeppercorn again let out his bee and his fly, and asked for a finer\nhorse and handsomer clothes than the last. So they brought him a very\ngorgeous suit, and a most beautiful coal-black charger, and with these\nhe went on the field to meet the Mill-turner. They fought, but\nPeppercorn soon killed the king\u2019s second son-in-law, and again went to\nhis lodgings, where he ordered the bee and fly to take the horse and\nclothes with them into their little box.\n\nNow, not only the king, but all his people were very much puzzled as to\nwho the powerful knight could be who had killed the two valiant\nsons-in-law of the king. So a strict search was made, and he was sought\neverywhere. But no one could tell anything about him; while such horses\nas he rode and such clothes as he wore were not to be found in the\nwhole kingdom.\n\nSome time had passed since the king\u2019s sons-in-law had been killed, and\npeople had begun to be a little quieter and had given up all hope of\nfinding out who the stranger knight might be. Then Peppercorn wrote a\nletter to the king\u2019s youngest daughter, and sent it to her by the old\nwoman in whose house he lived. In the letter he told the princess\neverything that had happened to him since he had sent her up in the\nbasket to his false comrades, and told her also that he himself had\nslain both of the traitors in fair fight.\n\nThe young princess, as soon as she had read the letter, quickly ran to\nher father and begged him to pardon Peppercorn. The king saw he could\nnot justly deny her this favour, since the two men who had been killed\nhad deceived and deserted their friend, without whose superior courage\nthey would never have been themselves his sons-in-law, seeing that all\nthe three princesses, but for Peppercorn, must have remained in the\nother world where Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard had carried\nthem.\n\nSo, after thinking all this over in his mind, the king told his\ndaughter that he willingly forgave Peppercorn, and that she might\ninvite him to the palace. This the princess did at once, and very soon\nafter, Peppercorn made his appearance before the king in splendid\nattire and was received very kindly.\n\nNot long afterwards, the marriage of Peppercorn with the beautiful\nprincess, the king\u2019s youngest daughter, was celebrated with great\nrejoicings, and the king built them a fine house near his palace to\nlive in.\n\nThere Peppercorn and his princess lived long and happily, and he never\nhad any wish to wander again about the world.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBASH-CHALEK; OR, TRUE STEEL\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king who had three sons and three\ndaughters. At length old age overtook him, and the hour came for him to\ndie. While dying he called to him his three sons and three daughters,\nand told his sons to let their sisters marry the very first men who\ncame to ask them in marriage. \u201cDo this or dread my curse!\u201d said he, and\nsoon after expired.\n\nSome time after his death there came one night a great knocking at the\ngate; the whole palace shook, and outside was heard a great noise of\nsqueaking, singing, and shouting, whilst lightnings played round the\nwhole court of the palace. The people in the palace were very much\nfrightened, so that they shook for fear, when all at once someone\nshouted from the outside, \u201cO princes! open the door!\u201d Thereupon the\nking\u2019s eldest son said, \u201cDo not open!\u201d The second son added, \u201cDo not\nopen, for anything in the world!\u201d But the youngest son said, \u201cI will\nopen the door!\u201d and he jumped up and opened it.\n\nThe moment he had opened the door something came in, but the brother\ncould see nothing except a bright light in one part of the room; out of\nthis light came these words: \u201cI have come to demand your eldest sister\nfor wife, and I shall take her away this moment, without any delay; for\nI wait for nothing, neither will I come a second time to ask for her!\nTherefore answer me quickly\u2014will you give her or not?\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother said, \u201cI will not give her. How can I give her when\nI cannot see you, and do not know who you are, nor whence you come? You\ncome to-night for the first time, and wish to take her away instantly!\nShould I not know where I can visit my sister sometimes?\u201d\n\nThe second said, \u201cI will not give my sister to-night to be taken away!\u201d\n\nBut the youngest said, \u201cI will give her if you will not. Have you\nforgotten what our father commanded us?\u201d and, with these words, taking\nhis sister by the hand, he gave her away, saying, \u201cMay she be to you a\nhappy and honest wife!\u201d\n\nAs the sister passed over the threshold everyone in the palace fell to\nthe ground from fear, so vivid was the lightning and loud the claps of\nthunder. The heavens seemed to be on fire and the whole sky rumbled, so\nthat the whole palace shook as if about to fall. All this however\npassed over, and soon after the day dawned; when it grew light enough,\nthe brothers went to see if any trace was left of the mighty power to\nwhom they had given their sister, so that they might be able to trace\nthe road by which it had gone. There was, however, nothing which they\ncould either see or hear.\n\nThe second night, about the same time, there was heard again round the\nwhole palace a great noise, as if an army was whistling and hissing,\nand at length someone at the door cried out, \u201cOpen the door, O\nprinces!\u201d They were afraid to disobey, and opened the door, and some\ndreadful power began to speak, \u201cGive here the girl, your second sister!\nI am come to demand her!\u201d The eldest brother answered, \u201cI will not give\nher away!\u201d The second brother said, \u201cI will not give you my sister!\u201d\nBut the youngest said, \u201cI will give her! Have you forgotten what our\nfather told us to do?\u201d So he took his sister by the hand and gave her\nover, saying, \u201cTake her! may she be honest and bring you happiness!\u201d\nThen the unseen noises departed with the girl. Next day, as soon as it\ndawned, all three brothers walked round the palace, and for some\ndistance beyond, looking everywhere for some trace where the power had\ngone, but nothing could be seen or heard.\n\nThe third night, at the same hour as before, again the palace rocked\nfrom its very foundations, and there was a mighty uproar outside. Then\na voice shouted, \u201cOpen the door!\u201d The sons of the king arose and opened\nthe door, and a great power passed by them and said, \u201cI am come to\ndemand your youngest sister!\u201d The eldest and the second son shouted,\n\u201cNo! we will not give our sister this third night! At any rate, we will\nknow before our youngest sister goes away from our house to whom we are\ngiving her, and where she is going, so that we can come to visit her\nwhenever we wish to do so!\u201d Thereupon the youngest brother said, \u201cThen\nI will give her! Have you forgotten what our father on his death-bed\nrecommended us? It is not so very long ago!\u201d Then he took the girl by\nthe hand and said, \u201cHere she is! Take her! and may she bring you\nhappiness and be happy herself!\u201d Then instantly the power went away\nwith a great noise. When the day dawned the brothers were very anxious\nabout the fate of their sister, but could find no trace of the way in\nwhich she had gone.\n\nSome time after the brothers, speaking together, said, \u201cIt is really\nvery wonderful what has happened to our sisters! We have no news\u2014no\ntrace of them! We do not know where they are gone, nor whom they have\nmarried!\u201d At last they said to each other, \u201cLet us go and try to find\nour sisters!\u201d So they prepared immediately for their journey, took\nmoney for their travelling expenses, and went away in search of their\nthree sisters.\n\nThey had travelled some time when they lost their way in a forest, and\nwandered about a whole day. When it grew dark they thought they would\nstop for the night at some place where they could find water. So,\nhaving come to a lake, they decided to sleep near it, and sat down to\ntake some supper. When the time for sleep came the eldest brother said,\n\u201cI will keep watch while you sleep!\u201d and so the two younger brothers\nwent to sleep and the eldest watched. In the middle of the night the\nlake began to be greatly agitated, and the brother who was watching\ngrew quite frightened, especially when he saw something was coming\ntowards him from the middle of the lake. When it came near he saw that\nit was a terrific alligator with two ears, and it ran at him; but he\ndrew his knife and struck it, and cut off its head. When he had done\nthis he cut off the ears also, and put them in his pocket, the body and\nthe head, however, he threw back into the lake. Meanwhile the day began\nto dawn, but the two brothers slept on and knew nothing of what their\neldest brother had done. At length he awakened them, but told them\nnothing, so they went on their travels together. When the next day was\nclosing, and it began again to grow dark, they took counsel with each\nother where they should rest for the night, and where they should find\nwater. They felt also afraid, because they were approaching some\ndangerous mountains.\n\nComing to a small lake they resolved to rest there that night; and\nhaving made a fire they placed their things near it, and prepared to\nsleep. Then the second brother said, \u201cThis night I will keep guard\nwhilst you sleep!\u201d So the two others fell asleep, and the second\nbrother remained watching.\n\nAll at once the lake began to move, and lo! an alligator, with two\nheads, came running to swallow up the three. But the brother who\nwatched grasped his knife, felled the alligator to the ground with one\nblow, and cut off both the heads. Having done this he cut off the two\npairs of ears, put them in his pocket, and threw the body into the\nwater, and the two heads after it. The other brothers, however, knew\nnothing about the danger which they had escaped, and continued to sleep\nvery soundly till the morning dawned.\n\nThen the second brother awoke them, saying, \u201cArise, my brothers! It is\nday!\u201d and they instantly jumped up, and prepared to continue their\njourney. But they knew not in what country they now were, and as they\nhad eaten up nearly all their food, they feared greatly lest they\nshould die of hunger in that unknown land. So they prayed God to give\nthem sight of some city or village or, at least, that they might meet\nsomeone to guide them, for they had already been wandering three days\nup and down in a wilderness, and could see no end to it. Pretty early\nin the morning they came to a large lake and resolved to go no further,\nbut remain there all the day, and also to spend the night there. \u201cFor\nif we go on,\u201d said they, \u201cwe are not sure that we shall find any more\nwater near which we can rest.\u201d So they remained there.\n\nWhen evening came they made a great fire, took their frugal supper, and\nprepared to sleep. Then the youngest brother said, \u201cThis night I will\nkeep guard whilst you sleep\u201d; and so the other two went to sleep, and\nthe youngest brother kept awake, looking sharply about him, his eyes\nbeing turned often towards the lake. Part of the night had already\npassed, when suddenly the whole lake began to move; the waves dashed\nover the fire and half quenched it. Then he drew his sword and placed\nhimself near the fire, as there appeared a great alligator with three\nheads, which rushed upon the brothers as if about to swallow them all\nthree.\n\nBut the youngest brother had a brave heart, and would not awaken his\nbrothers, so he met the alligator, and gave him three blows in\nsuccession, and at each blow he cut off one of the three heads. Then he\ncut off the six ears and put them in his pocket, and threw the body and\nthe three heads into the lake. Whilst he was thus busy the fire had\nquite gone out, so he\u2014having nothing there with which he could light\nthe fire, and not wishing to awaken his brothers from their deep\nslumbers\u2014stepped a little way into the forest, with the hope of seeing\nsomething with which he might rekindle the fire.\n\nThere was, however, no trace of any fire anywhere. At last, in his\nsearch, he climbed up a very high tree, and, having reached the top,\nlooked about on all sides. After much looking he thought he saw the\nglare of a fire not very far off. So he came down from the tree and\nwent in the direction in which he had seen the fire, in order to get\nsome brand with which he might again light the fire. He walked very far\non this errand, and though the glare seemed always near him, it was a\nvery long time before he reached it. Suddenly, however, he came upon a\ncave, and in the cave a great fire was burning. Round it sat nine\ngiants, and two men were being roasted, one on each side of the fire.\nBesides that, there stood upon the fire a great kettle full of the\nlimbs of men ready to be cooked. When the king\u2019s son saw that, he was\nterrified and would gladly have gone back, but it was no longer\npossible.\n\nThen he shouted as loud and cheerfully as he could, \u201cGood evening, my\ndear comrades! I have been a very long time in search of you!\u201d\n\nThey received him well, saying, \u201cWelcome! if thou art of our company!\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI shall remain yours for ever, and would give my life for\nyour sake!\u201d\n\n\u201cEh!\u201d said they, \u201cif you intend to be one of us, you know, you must\nalso eat man\u2019s flesh, and go out with us in search of prey?\u201d\n\nThe king\u2019s son answered, \u201cCertainly; I shall do everything that you\ndo!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen come and sit with us!\u201d cried the giants; and the whole company,\nsitting round the fire, took meat out of the kettle and began to eat.\nThe king\u2019s son pretended to eat, also, but instead of eating he always\nthrew the meat behind him, and thus deceived them.\n\nWhen they had eaten up the whole of the roasted meat the giants got up\nand said, \u201cLet us now go to hunt, that we may have meat for to-morrow.\u201d\nSo they went away, all nine of them, the king\u2019s son making the tenth.\n\u201cCome along!\u201d they said to him, \u201cthere is a city near in which a great\nking lives. We have been supplying ourselves with food from that city a\ngreat many years.\u201d As they came near the city they pulled two tall\npine-trees up by the roots, and carried them along with them. Having\ncome to the city wall, they reared one pine-tree up against it, and\nsaid to the king\u2019s son, \u201cGo up, now, to the top of the wall, so that we\nmay be able to give you the other pine-tree, which you must take by the\ntop and throw down into the city. Take care, however,\u201d they said, \u201cto\nkeep the top of the tree in your hands, so that we can go down the stem\nof it into the city.\u201d Thereupon the king\u2019s son climbed up on the wall\nand then cried out to them, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do; I am not\nacquainted with this place, and I don\u2019t understand how to throw the\ntree over the wall; please one of you come up and show me what I must\ndo.\u201d Then one of the giants climbed up the tree placed against the\nwall, caught the top of the other pine-tree, and threw it over the\nwall, keeping the top all the time safe in his hand. Whilst he was thus\nstanding, the king\u2019s son drew his sword, struck him on the neck, and\ncut his head off, so that the giant fell down into the city.\n\nThen he called to the other eight giants, \u201cYour brother is in the city;\ncome, one after the other, so that I can let you also down into the\ncity!\u201d And the giants, not knowing what had happened to the first one,\nclimbed up one after the other, and thus the king\u2019s son cut off their\nheads till he had killed all the nine.\n\nAfter that, he himself slowly descended the pine-tree and went into the\ncity, walking through all the streets, but there was not one living\ncreature to be seen. The city seemed quite deserted. Then he said to\nhimself, \u201cSurely those giants have made this great devastation and\ncarried all the people away.\u201d\n\nAfter walking about a very long time, he came to a tall tower, and,\nlooking up, he saw a light in one of the rooms. So he opened the door,\nand went up the steps, into the room. And what a beautiful room it was\nin which he had entered! It was decorated with gold and silk and\nvelvet, and there was no one there except a girl lying on a couch\nsleeping. As soon as the king\u2019s son entered, his eyes fell upon the\ngirl, who was exceedingly beautiful. Just then he saw a large serpent\ncoming down the wall, and it had stretched out its head and was ready\nto strike the girl on the forehead, between the eyes. So he drew his\ndagger very quickly, and nailed the snake\u2019s head to the wall,\nexclaiming, \u201cGod grant that my dagger may not be taken out of the wall\nby any hand but my own!\u201d and thereupon he hurried away, and passed over\nthe city wall, climbing up and going down the pine-trees. When he got\nback to the cavern where the giants had been, he plucked a brand from\nthe fire, and ran away very quickly to the spot where he had left his\nbrothers, and found them still sleeping.\n\nHe soon lighted the fire again, and meanwhile the sun having arisen he\nawoke his brothers, and they arose and all three continued their\njourney. The same day they came to the road leading to the city. In\nthat city lived a mighty king, who used to walk about the streets every\nmorning, weeping over the great destruction of his people by the\ngiants. The king feared greatly that one day his own daughter might\nalso be eaten up by one of them. That morning he rose very early, and\nwent to look about the city; the streets were all empty, because most\nof the people of the city had been eaten up by the giants. Walking\nabout, at last he observed a tall pine-tree, pulled up quite by the\nroots, and leaning against the city wall. He drew near, and saw a great\nwonder. Nine giants, the frightful enemies of his people, were lying\nthere with their heads off. When the king saw that he rejoiced\nexceedingly, and all the people who were left, gathered round and\npraised God, and prayed for good health and good luck to those who had\nkilled the giants. At that moment a servant came running, to tell the\nking that a serpent had very nearly killed his daughter. So the king\nhurried back to the palace, and went quickly to the room wherein his\ndaughter was, and there he saw the snake pinned to the wall, with a\ndagger through its head. He tried to draw the knife out, but he was not\nable to do so.\n\nThen the king sent a proclamation to all the corners of the kingdom,\nannouncing that whoever had killed the nine giants and nailed the snake\nto the wall, should come to the king, who would make him great presents\nand give him his daughter for a wife. This was proclaimed throughout\nthe whole kingdom. The king ordered, moreover, that large inns should\nbe built on all the principal roads, and that every traveller who\npassed by should be asked if he had ever heard of the man who had\nkilled the nine giants, and any traveller who knew anything about the\nmatter should come and tell what he knew to the king, when he should be\nwell rewarded.\n\nAfter some time the three brothers, travelling in search of their\nsisters, came one night to sleep at one of those inns. After supper the\nmaster of the inn came in to speak to them, and, after boasting very\nmuch what great things he had himself done, he asked them if they\nthemselves had ever done any great thing?\n\nThen the eldest brother began to speak, and said, \u201cAfter I started with\nmy brothers on this journey, one night we stopped to sleep by a lake in\nthe midst of a great forest; whilst my two brothers slept I watched,\nand, suddenly, an alligator came out of the lake to swallow us, but I\ntook my knife and cut off its head; if you don\u2019t believe me, see! here\nare the two ears from his head!\u201d And he took the ears from his pocket\nand threw them on the table.\n\nWhen the second brother heard that, he said, \u201cI kept guard the second\nnight, and I killed an alligator with two heads; if you do not believe\nme, look! here are its four ears!\u201d and he took the ears out of his\npocket and showed them.\n\nBut the youngest brother kept silence. The master of the inn began then\nto speak to him, saying, \u201cWell, my boy, your brothers are brave men;\nlet us hear if you have not done some bold deed.\u201d\n\nThen the youngest brother began, \u201cI have also done something, though it\nmay not be a great thing. When we stayed to rest the third night in the\ngreat wilderness on the shore of the lake, my brothers lay down to\nsleep, for it was my turn to keep guard. In the middle of the night the\nwater stirred mightily, and a three-headed alligator came out and\nwished to swallow us, but I drew my sword and cut off all the three\nheads; if you do not believe, see! here are the six ears of the\nalligator!\u201d The brothers themselves were greatly surprised, and he\ncontinued: \u201cMeanwhile the fire had gone out, and I went in search of\nfire. Wandering about the mountain I met nine giants in one cave\u201d; and\nso he went on, telling all that had happened and what he had done.\n\nWhen the innkeeper heard that he hurried off and told everything to the\nking. The king gave him plenty of money, and sent some of his men to\nbring the three brothers to him. When they came to the king, he asked\nthe youngest, \u201cHave you really done all these wonders in this\ncity\u2014killed the giants and saved my daughter from death?\u201d \u201cYes, your\nmajesty,\u201d answered the king\u2019s son. Then the king gave him his daughter\nto wife, and allowed him to take the first place after him in the\nkingdom. After that he said to the two elder brothers, \u201cIf you like I\nwill also find wives for you two and build palaces for you.\u201d But they\nthanked him, saying they were already married, and so told him how they\nhad left home to search for their sisters. When the king heard that, he\nkept by him only the youngest brother, his son-in-law, and gave the\nother two each a mule loaded with sacks full of money; and so the two\nelder brothers went back to their kingdom. All the time, however, the\nyoungest brother was thinking of his three sisters, and many a time he\nwished to go in search of them again, though he was also sorry to leave\nhis wife. The king would never consent to his going, so the prince\nwasted away slowly without speaking about his grief.\n\nOne day the king went out hunting, and said to his son-in-law, \u201cRemain\nhere in the palace, and take these nine keys, and keep them carefully.\nIf you wish, however,\u201d added he, \u201cyou can open three or four rooms,\nwherein you will see plenty of gold and silver, and other precious\nthings. Indeed, if you much wish to do so, you can open eight of the\nrooms, but let nothing in the world tempt you to open the ninth. If you\nopen that, woe to you!\u201d\n\nThe king went away, leaving his son-in-law in the palace, who\nimmediately began to open one room after another, till he had opened\nthe whole eight, and he saw in all masses of all sorts of precious\nthings. When he stood before the door of the ninth room, he said to\nhimself, \u201cI have passed luckily through all kinds of adventures, and\nnow I must not dare to open this door!\u201d thereupon he opened it. And\nwhat did he see? In the room was a man, whose legs were bound in iron\nup to the knees, and his arms to the elbows; in the four corners of the\nchamber there were four columns, and from each an iron chain, and all\nthe chains met in a ring round the man\u2019s neck. So fast was he bound\nthat he could not move at all any way. In the front of him was a\nreservoir, and from it water was streaming through a golden pipe into a\ngolden basin, just before him. Near him stood, also, a golden mug, all\ncovered with precious stones. The man looked at the water and longed to\ndrink, but he could not move to reach the cup. When the king\u2019s son saw\nthat, he was greatly surprised, and stepped back; but the man cried,\n\u201cCome in, I conjure you in the name of the living God!\u201d Then the prince\nagain approached, and the man said, \u201cDo a good deed for the sake of the\nlife hereafter. Give me a cup of water to drink, and be assured you\nwill receive, as a recompense from me, another life.\u201d The king\u2019s son\nthought, \u201cIt is well, after all, to have two lives,\u201d so he took the mug\nand filled it, and gave it to the man, who emptied it at once. Then the\nprince asked him, \u201cNow tell me, what is your name?\u201d And the man\nanswered, \u201cMy name is True Steel.\u201d The king\u2019s son moved to go away, but\nthe man begged again, \u201cGive me yet one cup of water, and I will give\nyou in addition a second life.\u201d The prince said to himself, \u201cOne life\nis mine already, and he offers to give me another\u2014that is, indeed,\nwonderful!\u201d So he took the mug and gave it to him, and the man drank it\nup. The prince began already to fasten the door, while the man called\nto him, \u201cOh, my brave one, come back a moment! You have done two good\ndeeds, do yet a third one and I will give you a third life. Take the\nmug, fill it with water, and pour the water on my head, and for that I\nwill give you a third life.\u201d When the king\u2019s son heard that, he turned,\nfilled the beaker with water, and poured it over the man\u2019s head. The\nmoment the water met his head all the fastenings around the man\u2019s neck\nbroke, all the iron chains burst asunder. True Steel jumped up like\nlightning, spread his wings, and started to fly, taking with him the\nking\u2019s daughter, the wife of his deliverer, with whom he disappeared.\nWhat was to be done now? The prince was afraid of the king\u2019s anger.\n\nWhen the king returned from the chase, his son-in-law told him all that\nhad happened, and the king was very sorry and said to him, \u201cWhy did you\ndo this? I told you not to open the ninth room!\u201d The king\u2019s son\nanswered, \u201cDon\u2019t be angry with me! I will go and find True Steel and\nbring my wife back!\u201d Then the king attempted to persuade him not to go\naway: \u201cDo not go, for anything in the world!\u201d he said; \u201cyou do not know\nTrue Steel. It cost me very many soldiers and much money to catch him!\nBetter remain here, and I will find you some other maiden for a wife;\ndo not fear, for I love you as my own son, notwithstanding all that has\nhappened!\u201d The prince, however, would not hear of remaining there, so\ntaking some money for his journey he saddled and bridled his horse, and\nstarted on his travels in search of True Steel.\n\nAfter travelling a long time, he one day entered a strange city, and,\nas he was looking about, a girl called to him from a kiosk, \u201cO son of\nthe king, dismount from your horse and come into the forecourt.\u201d When\nhe entered the courtyard the girl met him, and on looking at her he\nrecognised his eldest sister. They greeted each other, and the sister\nsaid to him, \u201cCome, my brother\u2014come with me into the kiosk.\u201d\n\nWhen they came into the kiosk, he asked her who her husband was, and\nshe answered, \u201cI am married to the King of Dragons, who is also a\ndragon. I must hide you well, my dear brother, for my husband has often\nsaid that he would kill his brothers-in-law if he could only meet them.\nI will try him first, and if he will promise not to injure you, I will\ntell him you are here.\u201d So she hid her brother and his horse as well as\nshe could. At night, supper was prepared in readiness for her husband,\nand at last he came. When he came flying into the courtyard, the whole\npalace shone. The moment he came in, he called his wife and said,\n\u201cWife, there is a smell of human bones here! Tell me directly what it\nis!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no one here!\u201d said she. But he exclaimed, \u201cThat is not true!\u201d\n\nThen his wife said, \u201cMy dear, will you answer me truly what I am going\nto ask you? Would you do any harm to my brothers, if one of them came\nhere to see me?\u201d And the dragon answered, \u201cYour eldest and your second\nbrother I would kill and roast, but I would do no harm to the\nyoungest.\u201d Then his wife said, \u201cWell, then, I will tell you that my\nyoungest brother, and your brother-in-law, is here.\u201d When the Dragon\nKing heard that he said, \u201cLet him come to me!\u201d So the sister led the\nbrother before the king, her husband, and he embraced him. They kissed\neach other, and the king exclaimed: \u201cWelcome, brother-in-law!\u201d \u201cI hope\nI find you well?\u201d returned the prince courteously, and he told the\nDragon King all his adventures from the beginning to the end.\n\nThen the Dragon King cried out, \u201cAnd where are you going, my poor\nfellow? The day before yesterday True Steel passed here carrying away\nyour wife. I assailed him with seven thousand dragons, yet could do him\nno harm. Leave the devil in peace; I will give you as much money as you\nlike and then you may go home quietly.\u201d But the king\u2019s son would not\nhear of going back, and proposed next morning to continue his journey.\nWhen the Dragon King saw that he could not change his intention, he\ntook one of his feathers, and gave it into his hand, saying, \u201cRemember\nwhat I now say to you. Here you have one of my feathers, and if you\nfind True Steel and are greatly pressed, burn this feather, and I will\ncome in an instant to your help with all my forces.\u201d The king\u2019s son\ntook the feather and continued his journey.\n\nAfter long travelling about the world he arrived at a great city, and,\nas he rode through the streets, a girl called to him from a kiosk:\n\u201cHere, son of the king! Dismount and come into the courtyard!\u201d The\nprince led his horse into the yard, and behold! the second sister came\nto meet him. They embraced and kissed each other, and the sister led\nthe brother up into the kiosk, and had his horse taken to a stable.\nWhen they were in the kiosk, the sister asked her brother how he came\nthere, and he told her all his adventures. He then asked her who her\nhusband was. \u201cI am married to the King of the Falcons,\u201d she said, \u201cand\nhe will come home to-night, so I must hide you somewhere, for he often\nthreatens my brothers.\u201d\n\nShortly after she had concealed her brother, the Falcon King came home.\nAs soon as he alighted all the house shook. Immediately his supper was\nset before him, but he said to his wife, \u201cThere are human bones\nsomewhere!\u201d The wife answered, \u201cNo, my husband, there is nothing.\u201d\nAfter long talking, however, she asked him, \u201cWould you harm my brothers\nif they came to see me?\u201d The Falcon King answered, \u201cThe eldest brother\nand the second I would delight in torturing, but to the youngest I\nwould do no harm.\u201d So she told him about her brother. Then he ordered\nthat they should bring him immediately; and when he saw him he rose up\nand they embraced and kissed each other. \u201cWelcome, brother-in-law!\u201d\nsaid the King of Falcons. \u201cI hope you are happy, brother?\u201d returned the\nprince, and then they sat down to sup together. After supper, the\nFalcon King asked his brother-in-law where he was travelling. He\nreplied that he was going in search of True Steel, and told the king\nall that had happened.\n\nOn hearing this the Falcon King began to advise him to go no farther.\n\u201cIt is no use going on,\u201d said he. \u201cI will tell you something of True\nSteel. The day he stole your wife, I assaulted him with four thousand\nfalcons. We had a terrible battle with him, blood was shed till it\nreached the knees, but yet we could do him no harm! Do you think now\nthat you alone could do anything with him? I advise you to return home.\nHere is my treasure: take with you as much as you like.\u201d But the king\u2019s\nson answered, \u201cI thank you for all your kindness, but I cannot return.\nI shall go at all events in search of True Steel!\u201d For he thought to\nhimself, \u201cWhy should I not go, seeing I have three lives?\u201d When the\nFalcon King saw that he could not persuade him to go back, he took a\nlittle feather and gave it him, saying, \u201cTake this feather, and when\nyou find yourself in great need, burn it and I will instantly come with\nall my powers to help you!\u201d So the king\u2019s son took the feather and\ncontinued his journey, hoping to find True Steel.\n\nAfter travelling for a long time about the world he came to a third\ncity. As he entered, a girl called to him from a kiosk, \u201cDismount, and\ncome into the courtyard.\u201d The king\u2019s son went into the yard, and was\nsurprised to find his youngest sister, who came to meet him. When they\nhad embraced and kissed each other, the sister led her brother to the\nkiosk and sent his horse to the stables. The brother asked her, \u201cDear\nsister, whom have you married? What is your husband?\u201d She answered, \u201cMy\nhusband is the King of Eagles.\u201d\n\nWhen the Eagle King returned home in the evening his wife received him,\nbut he exclaimed immediately, \u201cWhat man has come into my palace? Tell\nme the truth instantly!\u201d She answered, \u201cNo one is here\u201d; and they began\ntheir supper. By-and-by the wife said, \u201cTell me truly: would you do any\nharm to my brothers if they came here?\u201d The Eagle King answered, \u201cThe\neldest and second brother I would kill, but to the youngest I would do\nno harm! I would help him whenever I could!\u201d Then the wife said, \u201cMy\nyoungest brother, and your brother-in-law, is here; he came to see me.\u201d\nThe Eagle King ordered that they should bring the prince instantly,\nreceived him standing, kissed him, and said, \u201cWelcome, brother-in-law!\u201d\nand the king\u2019s son answered, \u201cI hope you are well?\u201d They then sat down\nto their supper. During the repast they conversed about many things,\nand at last the prince told the king he was travelling in search of\nTrue Steel. When the Eagle King heard that, he tried to dissuade him\nfrom going on, adding, \u201cLeave the devil in peace, my brother-in-law;\ngive up that journey and stay with me! I will do everything to satisfy\nyou!\u201d The king\u2019s son, however, would not hear of remaining, but next\nday, as soon as it was dawn, prepared to set out in search of True\nSteel. Then the Eagle King, seeing that he could not persuade him to\ngive up his journey, plucked out one of his feathers and gave it him,\nsaying, \u201cIf you find yourself in great danger, my brother, make a fire\nand burn this feather; I will then come to your help immediately with\nall my eagles.\u201d So the prince took the feather and went away.\n\nAfter travelling for a very long time about the world, roaming from one\ncity to another, and always going farther and farther from his home, he\nfound his wife in a cavern.\n\nWhen the wife saw him she was greatly astonished, and cried, \u201cIn God\u2019s\nname, my husband, how did you come here?\u201d He told her how it all\nhappened, and then added, \u201cNow let us fly!\u201d \u201cHow can we fly,\u201d she\nasked, \u201cwhen True Steel will reach us instantly? and when he does he\nwill kill you, and carry me back.\u201d But the prince, knowing he had three\nother lives to live, persuaded his wife to flee, and so they did. As\nsoon, however, as they started, True Steel heard it, and followed\nimmediately. When he reached them, he shouted to the king\u2019s son, \u201cSo,\nprince, you have stolen your wife!\u201d Then, after taking the wife back,\nhe added, \u201cNow, I forgive you this life, because I recollect that I\npromised to give you three lives; but go away directly, and never come\nhere again after your wife, else you will be lost!\u201d Thus saying, he\ncarried the wife away, and the prince remained alone on the spot, not\nknowing what to do.\n\nAt length the prince resolved to go back to his wife. When he came near\nthe cave he found an opportunity when True Steel was absent, and took\nhis wife again and tried to escape with her.\n\nBut True Steel learned their flight directly, and ran after them. When\nhe reached them, he fixed an arrow to his bow, and cried to the king\u2019s\nson, \u201cDo you prefer to die by the arrow or by the sword?\u201d The king\u2019s\nson asked pardon, and True Steel said, \u201cI pardon you also the second\nlife; but I warn you! never come here again after your wife, for I will\nnot pardon you any more! I shall kill you on the spot!\u201d Saying that, he\ncarried the wife back to the cave, and the prince remained, thinking\nall the time how he could save her.\n\nAt last he said to himself, \u201cWhy should I fear True Steel, when I have\nyet two lives? One of which he has made me a present, and one which is\nmy own?\u201d So he decided to return again to the cave next morning, when\nTrue Steel was absent. He saw his wife, and said to her, \u201cLet us fly!\u201d\nShe objected, saying, \u201cIt is of no use to fly, when True Steel would\ncertainly overtake us.\u201d However, her husband forced her to go with him,\nand they went away. True Steel, however, overtook them quickly, and\nshouted, \u201cWait a bit! This time I will not pardon you!\u201d The prince\nbecame afraid, and begged him to pardon him also this time, and True\nSteel said to him, \u201cYou know I promised to give you three lives, so now\nI give you this one, but it is the third and last. Now you have only\none life, so go home, and do not risk losing the one life God gave\nyou!\u201d\n\nThen the prince, seeing he could do nothing against this great power,\nturned back, reflecting, however, all the time, as to the best way of\ngetting his wife back from True Steel.\n\nAt last, he remembered what his brothers-in-law had said to him when\nthey gave him their feathers. Then he said to himself, \u201cI will try this\nfourth time to get my wife back; if I come to trouble, I will burn the\nfeathers, and see if my brothers-in-law will come to help me.\u201d\n\nHereupon he went back once more towards the cavern wherein his wife was\nkept, and, as he saw from a distance that True Steel was just leaving\nthe cave, he went near and showed himself to his wife. She was\nsurprised and terrified, and exclaimed, \u201cAre you so tired of your life\nthat you come back again to me?\u201d Then he told her about his\nbrothers-in-law, and how each of them had given him one of their\nfeathers, and had promised to come to help him whenever he needed their\nassistance. \u201cTherefore,\u201d added he, \u201cI am come once more to take you\naway; let us start at once.\u201d\n\nThis they did. The same moment, however, True Steel heard of it, and\nshouted from afar, \u201cStop, prince! You cannot run away!\u201d And then the\nking\u2019s son, seeing True Steel so near him, quickly took out a flint and\ntinder-box, struck some sparks, and burned all three feathers. Whilst\nhe was doing this, however, True Steel reached him, and, with his\nsword, cut the prince in two parts. That moment came the King of\nDragons, rushing with his whole army of dragons, the King of Falcons,\nwith all his falcons, and the King of Eagles, with his mighty host of\neagles, and they all attacked True Steel. Torrents of blood were shed,\nbut after all True Steel caught up the woman and fled away.\n\nThen the three kings gave all their attention to their brother-in-law,\nand determined to bring him back to life. Thereupon they asked three of\nthe most active dragons which of them could bring them, in the shortest\ntime, some water from the river Jordan.\n\nOne said, \u201cI could bring it in half an hour.\u201d The second said, \u201cI can\ngo and return in ten minutes.\u201d The third dragon said, \u201cI can bring it\nin nine seconds.\u201d Then the three kings said to the last one, \u201cGo,\ndragon; and make haste!\u201d Then this dragon exhibited all his fiery\nmight, and in nine seconds, as he had promised, he came back with water\nfrom the Jordan.\n\nThe kings took the water and poured it on the places where the prince\nwas wounded, and, as they did so, the wound closed up, the body joined\ntogether, and the king\u2019s son sprang up alive.\n\nThen the three kings counselled him: \u201cNow that you are saved from\ndeath, go home!\u201d But the prince answered, he would at all events yet\nonce more try to get his wife back. The kings, his brothers-in-law,\nagain spoke, \u201cDo not try again! Indeed, you will be lost if you go, for\nnow you have only one life which God gave you!\u201d\n\nThe king\u2019s son, however, would not listen to their advice. So the kings\ntold him, \u201cWell, then, if you are still determined to go, at least do\nnot take your wife away immediately, but tell her to ask True Steel\nwhere his strength lies, and then come and tell us, in order that we\nmay help you to conquer him!\u201d\n\nSo the prince went secretly and saw his wife, and told her how she\ncould persuade True Steel to tell her where his strength was. He then\nleft her and went away.\n\nWhen True Steel came home, the wife of the king\u2019s son asked him, \u201cTell\nme, now, where is your great strength?\u201d He answered, \u201cMy wife, my\nstrength is in my sword!\u201d Then she began to pray, and turned to his\nsword. When True Steel saw that, he burst out laughing, and said, \u201cO\nfoolish woman! my strength is not in my sword, but in my bow and\narrows!\u201d Then she turned towards the bow and arrows and prayed.\n\nThen True Steel said, \u201cI see, my wife, you have a clever teacher who\nhas taught you to find out where my strength lies! I could almost say\nthat your husband is living, and it is he who teaches you!\u201d\n\nBut she assured him that no one taught her, for she had no longer\nanyone to do so.\n\nAfter some days her husband came, and when she told him she could not\nlearn anything from True Steel, he said, \u201cTry again!\u201d and went away.\n\nWhen True Steel came home she began again to ask him the secret of his\nstrength. Then he answered her, \u201cSince you think so much of my\nstrength, I will tell you truly where it is.\u201d And he continued, \u201cFar\naway from this place there is a very high mountain; in the mountain\nthere is a fox; in the fox there is a heart; in the heart there is a\nbird, and in this bird is my strength. It is no easy task, however, to\ncatch that fox, for she can transform herself into a multitude of\ncreatures.\u201d\n\nNext day, as soon as True Steel left the cave, the king\u2019s son came to\nhis wife, and she told him all she had learned. Then the prince hurried\naway to his brothers-in-law, who waited, all three impatient to see\nhim, and to hear where was the strength of True Steel. When they heard,\nall three went away at once with the prince to find the mountain.\nHaving got there, they set the eagles to chase the fox, but the fox ran\nto a lake, which was in the midst of the mountain, and changed herself\ninto a six-winged golden bird. Then the falcons pursued her, and drove\nher out of the lake, and she flew into the clouds, but there the\ndragons hurried after her. So she changed herself again into a fox, and\nbegan to run along the earth, but the rest of the eagles stopped her,\nsurrounded, and caught her.\n\nThe three kings then ordered the fox to be killed, and her heart to be\ntaken out. A great fire was made and the bird was taken out of the\nheart and burnt. That very moment True Steel fell down dead, and the\nprince took his wife and returned home with her.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BITER BIT\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old man who, whenever he heard anyone\ncomplain how many sons he had to care for, always laughed and said, \u201cI\nwish that it would please God to give me a hundred sons!\u201d\n\nThis he said in jest; as time, however, went on he had, in reality,\nneither more nor less than a hundred sons.\n\nHe had trouble enough to find different trades for his sons, but when\nthey were once all started in life they worked diligently and gained\nplenty of money. Now, however, came a fresh difficulty. One day the\neldest son came in to his father and said, \u201cMy dear father, I think it\nis quite time that I should marry.\u201d\n\nHardly had he said these words before the second son came in, saying,\n\u201cDear father, I think it is already time that you were looking out for\na wife for me.\u201d\n\nA moment later came in the third son, asking, \u201cDear father, don\u2019t you\nthink it is high time that you should find me a wife?\u201d In like manner\ncame the fourth and fifth, until the whole hundred had made a similar\nrequest. All of them wished to marry, and desired their father to find\nwives for them as soon as he could.\n\nThe old man was not a little troubled at these requests; he said,\nhowever, to his sons, \u201cVery well, my sons, I have nothing to say\nagainst your marrying; there is, however, I foresee, one great\ndifficulty in the way. There are one hundred of you asking for wives,\nand I hardly think we can find one hundred marriageable girls in all\nthe fifteen villages which are in our neighbourhood.\u201d\n\nTo this the sons, however, answered, \u201cDon\u2019t be anxious about that, but\nmount your horse and take in your sack sufficient engagement-cakes. You\nmust take, also, a stick in your hand so that you can cut a notch in it\nfor every girl you see. It does not signify whether she be handsome or\nugly, or lame or blind, just cut a notch in your stick for every one\nyou meet with.\u201d\n\nThe old man said, \u201cVery wisely spoken, my sons! I will do exactly as\nyou tell me.\u201d\n\nAccordingly he mounted his horse, took a sack full of cakes on his\nshoulder and a long stick in his hand, and started off at once to beat\nup the neighbourhood for girls to marry his sons.\n\nThe old man had travelled from village to village during a whole month,\nand whenever he had seen a girl he cut a notch in his stick. But he was\ngetting pretty well tired, and he began to count how many notches he\nhad already made. When he had counted them carefully over and over\nagain, to be certain that he had counted all, he could only make out\nseventy-four so that still twenty-six were wanting to complete the\nnumber required. He was, however, so weary with his month\u2019s ride, that\nhe determined to return home. As he rode along, he saw a priest driving\noxen yoked to a plough, and seemingly very deep in anxious thought\nabout something. Now the old man wondered a little to see the priest\nploughing his own corn-fields without even a boy to help him, he\ntherefore shouted to ask him why he drove his oxen himself. The priest,\nhowever, did not even turn his head to see who called to him, so intent\nwas he in urging on his oxen and in guiding his plough.\n\nThe old man thought he had not spoken loud enough, so he shouted out\nagain as loud as he could, \u201cStop your oxen a little, and tell me why\nyou are ploughing yourself without even a lad to help you, and this,\ntoo, on a holy-day?\u201d\n\nNow the priest\u2014who was in a perspiration with his hard work\u2014answered\ntestily, \u201cI conjure you by your old age, leave me in peace! I cannot\ntell you my ill-luck.\u201d\n\nAt this answer, however, the old man was only the more curious, and\npersisted all the more earnestly in asking questions to find out why\nthe priest ploughed on a Saint\u2019s day. At last the priest, tired with\nhis importunity, sighed deeply and said, \u201cWell, if you will know: I am\nthe only man in my household, and God has blessed me with a hundred\ndaughters!\u201d\n\nThe old man was overjoyed at hearing this, and exclaimed cheerfully,\n\u201cThat\u2019s very good! It is just what I want, for I have a hundred sons,\nand so, as you have a hundred daughters, we can be friends!\u201d\n\nThe moment the priest heard this he became pleasant and talkative, and\ninvited the old man to pass the night in his house. Then, leaving his\nplough in the field, he drove the oxen back to the village. Just before\nreaching his house, however, he said to the old man, \u201cGo yourself into\nthe house whilst I tie up my oxen.\u201d\n\nNo sooner, however, had the old man entered the yard than the wife of\nthe priest rushed at him with a big stick, crying out, \u201cWe have not\nbread enough for our hundred daughters, and we want neither beggars nor\nvisitors,\u201d and with these words she drove him away.\n\nShortly afterwards the priest came out of the barn, and, finding the\nold man sitting on the road before the gate, asked him why he had not\ngone into the house as he had told him to do. Whereupon the old man\nreplied, \u201cI went in, but your wife drove me away!\u201d\n\nThen the priest said, \u201cOnly wait here a moment till I come back to\nfetch you.\u201d He then went quickly into his house and scolded his wife\nright well, saying, \u201cWhat have you done? What a fine chance you have\nspoiled! The man who came in was going to be our friend, for he has a\nhundred sons who would gladly have married our hundred daughters!\u201d\n\nWhen the wife heard this she changed her dress hastily, and arranged\nher hair and head-dress in a different fashion. Then she smiled very\nsweetly, and welcomed with the greatest possible politeness the old\nman, when her husband led him into the house. In fact, she pretended\nthat she knew nothing at all of anyone having been driven away from\ntheir door. And as the old man wanted much to find wives for his sons,\nhe also pretended that he did not know that the smiling house-mistress\nand the woman who drove him away with a stick were one and the\nself-same person.\n\nSo the old man passed the night in the house, and next morning asked\nthe priest formally to give him his hundred daughters for wives for his\nhundred sons. Thereupon the priest answered that he was quite willing,\nand had already spoken to his daughters about the matter, and that\nthey, too, were all quite willing. Then the old man took out his\n\u201cengagement-cakes,\u201d and put them on the table beside him, and gave each\nof the girls a piece of money to mark them. Then each of the engaged\ngirls sent a small present by him to that one of his sons to whom she\nwas thus betrothed. These gifts the old man put in the bag wherein he\nhad carried the \u201cengagement-cakes.\u201d He then mounted his horse, and rode\noff merrily homewards.\n\nThere were great rejoicings in his household when he told how\nsuccessful he had been in his search, and that he really had found a\nhundred girls ready and willing to be married; and these hundred, too,\na priest\u2019s daughters.\n\nThe sons insisted that they should begin to make the wedding\npreparations without delay and commenced at once to invite the guests\nwho were to form part of the wedding procession to go to the priest\u2019s\nhouse and bring home the brides.\n\nHere, however, another difficulty occurred. The old father must find\ntwo hundred brideleaders (two for each bride) one hundred kooms (first\nwitnesses); one hundred starisvats (second witnesses); one hundred\nchaious (running footmen who go before the processions) and three\nhundred vojvodes (standard-bearers); and, besides these, a respectable\nnumber of other guests.\n\nTo find all these persons the father had to hunt throughout the\nneighbourhood for three years; at last, however, they were all found,\nand a day was appointed when they were to meet at his house and go\nthence in procession to the house of the priest.\n\nOn the appointed day all the invited guests gathered at the old man\u2019s\nhouse. With great noise and confusion, after a fair amount of feasting,\nthe wedding procession was formed properly, and set out for the house\nof the priest, where the hundred brides were already prepared for their\ndeparture for their new home.\n\nSo great was the confusion, indeed, that the old man quite forgot to\ntake with him one of the hundred sons, and never missed him in the\ngreeting and talking and drinking he was obliged, as father of the\nbridegrooms, to go through. Now the young man had worked so long and so\nhard in preparing for the wedding-day that he never woke up till long\nafter the procession had started and everyone had had, like his father,\ntoo much to do and too many things to think of to miss him.\n\nThe wedding procession arrived in good order at the priest\u2019s house,\nwhere a feast was already spread out for them. Having done honour to\nthe various good things, and having gone through all the ceremonies\nusual on such occasions, the hundred brides were given over to their\n\u201cleaders,\u201d and the procession started on its return to the old man\u2019s\nhouse. But, as they did not set off until pretty late in the afternoon,\nit was decided that the night should be spent somewhere on the road.\nWhen they came, therefore, to a certain river named \u201cLuckless,\u201d as it\nwas already dark, some of the men proposed that the party should pass\nthe night by the side of the water without crossing over. However, some\nothers of the chief of the party so warmly advised the crossing the\nriver and encamping on the other bank, that this course was at length,\nafter a very lively discussion, determined on; accordingly the\nprocession began to move over the bridge.\n\nJust, however, as the wedding party were half-way across the bridge its\ntwo sides began to draw nearer each other, and pressed the people so\nclose together that they had hardly room to breathe\u2014much less could\nthey move forwards or backwards.\n\nThey were kept for some time in this position, some shouting and\nscolding, others quiet because frightened, until at length a black\ngiant appeared, and shouted to them in a terribly loud voice, \u201cWho are\nyou all? Where do you come from? Where are you going?\u201d\n\nSome of the bolder among them answered, \u201cWe are going to our old\nfriend\u2019s house, taking home the hundred brides for his hundred sons;\nbut unluckily we ventured on this bridge after nightfall, and it has\npressed us so tightly together that we cannot move one way or the\nother.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd where is your old friend?\u201d inquired the black giant.\n\nNow all the wedding guests turned their eyes towards the old man.\nThereupon he turned towards the giant, who instantly said to him,\n\u201cListen, old man! Will you give me what you have forgotten at home, if\nI let your friends pass over the bridge?\u201d\n\nThe old man considered some time what it might be that he had forgotten\nat home, but at last, not being able to recollect anything in\nparticular that he had left, and hearing on all sides the groans and\nmoans of his guests, he replied, \u201cWell, I will give it you, if you will\nonly let the procession pass over.\u201d\n\nThen the black giant said to the party, \u201cYou all hear what he has\npromised, and are all my witnesses to the bargain. In three days I\nshall come to fetch what I have bargained for.\u201d\n\nHaving said this, the black giant widened the bridge and the whole\nprocession passed on to the other bank in safety. The people, however,\nno longer wished to spend the night on the way, so they moved on as\nfast as they could, and early in the morning reached the old man\u2019s\nhouse.\n\nAs everybody talked of the strange adventure they had met with, the\neldest son, who had been left at home, soon began to understand how the\nmatter stood, and went to his father saying, \u201cO my father! you have\nsold me to the black giant!\u201d\n\nThen the old man was very sorry, and troubled; but his friends\ncomforted him, saying, \u201cDon\u2019t be frightened! nothing will come of it.\u201d\n\nThe marriage ceremonies were celebrated with great rejoicings. Just,\nhowever, as the festivities were at their height, on the third day, the\nblack giant appeared at the gate and shouted, \u201cNow, give me at once\nwhat you have promised.\u201d\n\nThe old man, trembling all over, went forward and asked him, \u201cWhat do\nyou want?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing but what you have promised me!\u201d returned the black giant.\n\nAs he could not break his promise, the old man, very much distressed,\nwas then obliged to deliver up his eldest son to the giant, who\nthereupon said, \u201cNow I shall take your son with me, but after three\nyears have passed you can come to the Luckless River and take him\naway.\u201d\n\nHaving said this the black giant disappeared, taking with him the young\nman, whom he carried off to his workshop as an apprentice to the trade\nof witchcraft.\n\nFrom that time the poor old man had not a single moment of happiness.\nHe was always sad and anxious, and counted every year, and month, and\nweek, and even every day, until the dawn of the last day of the three\nyears. Then he took a staff in his hand and hurried off to the bank of\nthe river Luckless. As soon as he reached the river, he was met by the\nblack giant, who asked him, \u201cWhy are you come?\u201d The old man answered\nthat he had come to take home his son, according to his agreement.\n\nThereupon the giant brought out a tray on which stood a sparrow, a\nturtle-dove, and a quail, and said to the old man, \u201cNow, if you can\ntell which of these is your son, you may take him away.\u201d\n\nThe poor old father looked intently at the three birds, one after the\nother, and over and over again, but at last he was forced to own that\nhe could not tell which of them was his son. So he was obliged to go\naway by himself, and was far more miserable than before. He had hardly,\nhowever, got half-way home when he thought he would go back to the\nriver and take one of the birds which he remembered had looked at him\nintently.\n\nWhen he reached the river Luckless he was again met by the black giant,\nwho brought out the tray again, and placed on it this time a partridge,\na tit-mouse, and a thrush, saying, \u201cNow, my old man, find out which is\nyour son!\u201d\n\nThe anxious father again looked at one bird after the other, but he\nfelt more uncertain than before, and so, crying bitterly, again went\naway.\n\nJust as the old man was going through a forest, which was between the\nriver Luckless and his house, an old woman met him, and said, \u201cStop a\nmoment! Where are you hurrying to? And why are you in such trouble?\u201d\nNow, the old man was so deeply musing over his great unhappiness that\nhe did not at first attend to the old woman; but she followed him,\ncalling after him, and repeating her questions with more earnestness.\nSo he stopped at last, and told her what a terrible misfortune had\nfallen upon him. When the old woman had listened to the whole story,\nshe said cheerfully, \u201cDon\u2019t be cast down! Don\u2019t be afraid! Go back\nagain to the river, and, when the giant brings out the three birds,\nlook into their eyes sharply. When you see that one of the birds has a\ntear in one of its eyes, seize that bird and hold it fast, for it has a\nhuman soul.\u201d\n\nThe old man thanked her heartily for her advice, and turned back, for\nthe third time, towards the Luckless River. Again the black giant\nappeared, and looked very merry whilst he brought out his tray and put\nupon it a sparrow, a dove, and a woodpecker, saying, \u201cMy old man! find\nout which is your son!\u201d Then the father looked sharply into the eyes of\nthe birds, and saw that from the right eye of the dove a tear dropped\nslowly down. In a moment he grasped the bird tightly, saying, \u201cThis is\nmy son!\u201d The next moment he found himself holding fast his eldest son\nby the shoulder, and so, singing and shouting in his great joy, took\nhim quickly home and gave him over to his eldest daughter-in-law, the\nwife of his son.\n\nNow, for some time they all lived together very happily. One day,\nhowever, the young man said to his father, \u201cWhilst I was apprentice in\nthe workshop of the black giant, I learned a great many tricks of\nwitchcraft. Now I intend to change myself into a fine horse, and you\nshall take me to market and sell me for a good sum of money. But be\nsure not to give up the halter.\u201d\n\nThe father did as the son had said. Next market-day he went to the city\nwith a fine horse which he offered for sale. Many buyers came round\nhim, admiring the horse, and bidding large sums for it, so that at last\nthe old man was able to sell it for two thousand ducats. When he\nreceived the money, he took good care not to let go the halter, and he\nreturned home far richer than he ever dreamt of being.\n\nA few days later, the man who had bought the horse sent his servant\nwith it to the river to bathe, and, whilst in the water, the horse got\nloose from the servant and galloped off into the neighbouring forest.\nThere he changed himself back into his real shape, and returned to his\nfather\u2019s house.\n\nAfter some time had passed, the young man said one day to his father,\n\u201cNow I will change myself into an ox, and you can take me to market to\nsell me; but take care not to give up the rope with which you lead me.\u201d\n\nSo next market-day the old man went to the city leading a very fine ox,\nand soon found a buyer, who offered him ten times the usual price paid\nfor an ox. The buyer asked also for the rope to lead the animal home,\nbut the old man said, \u201cWhat do you want with such an old thing? You had\nbetter buy a new one!\u201d and he went off taking with him the rope.\n\nThat evening, whilst the servants of the buyer were driving the ox to\nthe field, he ran away into a wood near, and, having taken there his\nhuman shape, returned home to his father\u2019s house.\n\nOn the eve of the next market-day, the young man said to his father,\n\u201cNow I will change myself into a cow with golden horns, and you can\nsell me as before, only take care not to give up the string.\u201d\n\nAccordingly he changed himself next morning into a cow, and the old man\ntook it to the market-place, and asked for it three hundred crowns.\n\nBut the black giant had learnt that his former apprentice was making a\ngreat deal of money by practising the trade he had taught him, and,\nbeing jealous at this, he determined to put an end to the young man\u2019s\ngains.\n\nTherefore, on the third day he came to the market himself as a buyer,\nand the moment he saw the beautiful cow with golden horns he knew that\nit could be no other than his former apprentice. So he came up to the\nold man, and, having outbid all the other would-be purchasers, paid at\nonce the price he had agreed on. Having done this, he caught the string\nin his hand, and tried to wrench it from the terrified old man, who\ncalled out, \u201cI have not sold you the string, but the cow!\u201d and held the\nstring as fast as he could with both hands.\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d said the buyer, \u201cI have the law and custom on my side!\nWhoever buys a cow, buys also the string with which it is led!\u201d Some of\nthe amused and astonished lookers-on said that this was quite true,\ntherefore the old man was obliged to give up the string.\n\nThe black giant, well satisfied with his purchase, took the cow with\nhim to his castle, and, after having put iron chains on her legs,\nfastened her in a cellar. Every morning the giant gave the cow some\nwater and hay, but he never unchained her.\n\nOne evening, however, the cow, with incessant struggles, managed to get\nfree from the chains, and immediately opened the cellar-door with her\nhorns and ran away.\n\nNext morning the black giant went as usual into the cellar, carrying\nthe hay and water for the cow; but seeing she had got free and run\naway, he threw the hay down, and started off at once to pursue her.\n\nWhen he came within sight of her, he turned himself into a wolf and ran\nat her with great fury; but his clever apprentice changed himself\ninstantly from a cow into a bear, whereupon the giant turned himself\nfrom a wolf into a lion; the bear then turned into a tiger, and the\nlion changed into a crocodile, whereupon the tiger turned into a\nsparrow. Upon this the giant changed from the form of a crocodile into\na hawk, and the apprentice immediately changed into a hare; on seeing\nwhich, the hawk became a greyhound. Then the apprentice changed from a\nhare into a falcon, and the greyhound into an eagle; whereupon the\napprentice changed into a fish. The giant then turned from an eagle\ninto a mouse, and immediately the apprentice, as a cat, ran after him;\nthen the giant turned himself into a heap of millet, and the apprentice\ntransformed himself into a hen and chickens, which very greedily picked\nup all the millet except one single seed, in which the master was, who\nchanged himself into a squirrel; instantly, however, the apprentice\nbecame a hawk, and, pouncing on the squirrel, killed it.\n\nIn this way the apprentice beat his master, the black giant, and\nrevenged himself for all the sufferings he had endured whilst learning\nthe trade of witchcraft. Having killed the squirrel, the hawk took his\nproper shape again, and the young man returned joyfully to his father,\nwhom he made immensely rich.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRADE THAT NO ONE KNOWS\n\n\nA long while ago there lived a poor old couple, who had an only son.\nThe old man and his wife worked very hard to nourish their child well\nand bring him up properly, hoping that he, in return, would take care\nof them in their old age.\n\nWhen, however, the boy had grown up, he said to his parents, \u201cI am a\nman now, and I intend to marry, so I wish you to go at once to the king\nand ask him to give me his daughter for wife.\u201d The astonished parents\nrebuked him, saying, \u201cWhat can you be thinking of? We have only this\npoor hut to shelter us, and hardly bread enough to eat, and we dare not\npresume to go into the king\u2019s presence, much less can we venture to ask\nfor his daughter to be your wife.\u201d\n\nThe son, however, insisted that they should do as he said, threatening\nthat if they did not comply with his wishes he would leave them, and go\naway into the world. Seeing that he was really in earnest in what he\nsaid, the unhappy parents promised him they would go and ask for the\nking\u2019s daughter. Then the old mother made a wedding cake in her son\u2019s\npresence, and, when it was ready, she put it in a bag, took her staff\nin her hand, and went straight to the palace where the king lived.\nThere the king\u2019s servants bade her come in, and led her into the hall\nwhere his Majesty was accustomed to receive the poor people who came to\nask alms or to present petitions.\n\nThe poor old woman stood in the hall, confused and ashamed at her\nworn-out, shabby clothes, and looking as if she were made of stone,\nuntil the king said to her kindly, \u201cWhat do you want from me, old\nmother?\u201d\n\nShe dared not, however, tell his Majesty why she had come, so she\nstammered out in her confusion, \u201cNothing, your Majesty.\u201d\n\nThen the king smiled a little and said, \u201cPerhaps you come to ask alms?\u201d\n\nThen the old woman, much abashed, replied, \u201cYes, your Majesty, if you\nplease!\u201d\n\nThereupon the king called his servants and ordered them to give the old\nwoman ten crowns, which they did. Having received this money, she\nthanked his Majesty, and returned home, saying to herself, \u201cI dare say\nwhen my son sees all this money he will not think any more of going\naway from us.\u201d\n\nIn this thought, however, she was quite mistaken, for no sooner had she\nentered the hut than the son came to her and asked impatiently, \u201cWell,\nmother, have you done as I asked you?\u201d\n\nAt this she exclaimed, \u201cDo give up, once for all, this silly fancy, my\nson. How could you expect me to ask the king for his daughter to be\nyour wife? That would be a bold thing for a rich nobleman to do, how\nthen can we think of such a thing? Anyhow, I dared not say one word to\nthe king about it. But only look what a lot of money I have brought\nback. Now you can look for a wife suitable for you, and then you will\nforget the king\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man heard his mother speak thus, he grew very angry, and\nsaid to her, \u201cWhat do I want with the king\u2019s money? I don\u2019t want his\nmoney, but I do want his daughter! I see you are only playing with me,\nso I shall leave you. I will go away somewhere\u2014anywhere\u2014wherever my\neyes lead me.\u201d\n\nThen the poor old parents prayed and begged him not to go away from\nthem, and leave them alone in their old age; but they could only quiet\nhim by promising faithfully that the mother should go again next day to\nthe king, and this time really ask him to give his daughter to her son\nfor a wife.\n\nIn the morning, therefore, the old woman went again to the palace, and\nthe servants showed her into the same hall she had been in before. The\nking, seeing her stand there, inquired, \u201cWhat want you, my old woman,\nnow?\u201d\n\nShe was, however, so ashamed that she could hardly stammer, \u201cNothing,\nplease, your Majesty.\u201d\n\nThe king, supposing that she came again to beg, ordered his servants to\ngive her this time also ten crowns.\n\nWith this money the poor woman returned to her hut, where her son met\nher, asking, \u201cWell, mother, this time I hope you have done what I asked\nyou?\u201d But she replied, \u201cNow, my dear son, do leave the king\u2019s daughter\nin peace. How can you really think of such a thing? Even if she would\nmarry you, where is the house to bring her to? So be quiet, and take\nthis money which I have brought you.\u201d\n\nAt these words the son was more angry than before, and said sharply,\n\u201cAs I see you will not let me marry the king\u2019s daughter, I will leave\nyou this moment and never come back again\u201d; and, rushing out of the\nhut, he ran away. His parents hurried after him, and at length\nprevailed on him to return, by swearing to him that his mother should\ngo again to the king next morning and really and in truth ask his\nMajesty this time for his daughter.\n\nSo the young man agreed to go back home and wait until the next day.\n\nOn the morrow the old woman, with a heavy heart, went to the palace,\nand was shown as before into the king\u2019s presence. Seeing her there for\nthe third time, his Majesty asked her impatiently, \u201cWhat do you want\nthis time, old woman?\u201d And she, trembling all over, said, \u201cPlease, your\nMajesty\u2014nothing.\u201d Then the king exclaimed, \u201cBut it cannot be nothing.\nSomething you must want, so tell me the truth at once, if you value\nyour life!\u201d Thereupon the old woman was forced to tell all the story to\nthe king; how her son had a great desire to marry the princess, and so\nhad forced her to come and ask the king to give her to him for wife.\n\nWhen the king had heard everything, he said, \u201cWell, after all, I shall\nsay nothing against it if my daughter will consent to it.\u201d He then told\nhis servants to lead the princess into his presence. When she came he\ntold her all about the affair, and asked her, \u201cAre you willing to marry\nthe son of this old woman?\u201d\n\nThe princess answered, \u201cWhy not? If only he learns first the trade that\nno one knows!\u201d Thereupon the king bade his attendants give money to the\npoor woman, who now went back to her hut with a light heart.\n\nThe moment she entered, her son asked her, \u201cHave you engaged her?\u201d And\nshe returned, \u201cDo let me get my breath a little! Well, now I have\nreally asked the king; but it is of no use, for the princess declares\nshe will not marry you until you have learnt the trade that no one\nknows!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, that matters nothing!\u201d exclaimed the son. \u201cNow I only know the\ncondition, it\u2019s all right!\u201d The next morning the young man set out on\nhis travels through the world in search of a man who could teach him\nthe trade that no one knows. He wandered about a long time without\nbeing able to find out where he could learn such a trade. At length one\nday, being quite tired out with walking and very sad, he sat down on a\nfallen log by the wayside. After he had sat thus a little while, an old\nwoman came up to him, and asked, \u201cWhy art thou so sad, my son?\u201d And he\nanswered, \u201cWhat is the use of your asking, when you cannot help me?\u201d\nBut, she continued, \u201cOnly tell me what is the matter, and perhaps I can\nhelp you.\u201d Then he said, \u201cWell, if you must know, the matter is this: I\nhave been travelling about the world a long time to find a master who\ncan teach me the trade which no one knows.\u201d \u201cOh, if it is only that,\u201d\ncried the old woman, \u201cjust listen to me! Don\u2019t be afraid, but go\nstraight into the forest which lies before you, and there you will find\nwhat you want.\u201d\n\nThe young man was very glad to hear this, and got up at once and went\nto the forest. When he had gone pretty far in the wood, he saw a large\ncastle, and, whilst he stood looking at it and wondering what it was,\nfour giants came out of it and ran up to him, shouting, \u201cDo you wish to\nlearn the trade that no one knows?\u201d He said, \u201cYes; that is just the\nreason why I come here.\u201d Whereupon they took him into the castle.\n\nNext morning the giants prepared to go out hunting, and, before\nleaving, they said to him, \u201cYou must on no account go into the first\nroom by the dining-hall.\u201d Hardly, however, were the giants well out of\nsight before the young man began to reason thus with himself: \u201cI see\nvery well that I have come into a place from which I shall never go out\nalive with my head, so I may as well see what is in the room, come what\nmay afterwards.\u201d So he went and opened the door a little and peeped in.\nThere stood a golden ass, bound to a golden manger. He looked at it a\nlittle, and was just going to shut the door when the ass said, \u201cCome\nand take the halter from my head, and keep it hidden about you. It will\nserve you well if you only understand how to use it.\u201d So he took the\nhalter, and, after fastening the room door, quickly concealed it under\nhis clothes. He had not sat very long before the giants came home. They\nasked him at once if he had been in the first room, and he, much\nfrightened, replied, \u201cNo, I have not been in.\u201d \u201cBut we know that you\nhave been!\u201d said the giants in great anger, and, seizing some large\nsticks, they beat him so severely that he could hardly stand on his\nfeet. It was very lucky for him that he had the halter wound round his\nbody under his clothes, or else he would certainly have been killed.\n\nThe next day the giants again prepared to go out hunting, but before\nleaving him they ordered him on no account to enter the second room.\n\nAlmost as soon as the giants had gone away he became so very curious to\nsee what might be in the second room, that he could not resist going to\nthe door. He stood there a little, thinking within himself, \u201cWell, I am\nalready more dead than alive, much worse cannot happen to me!\u201d and so\nhe opened the door and looked in. There he was surprised to see a very\nbeautiful girl, dressed all in gold and silver, who sat combing her\nhair, and setting in every tress a large diamond. He stood admiring her\na little while, and was just going to shut the door again, when she\nspoke, \u201cWait a minute, young man. Come and take this key, and mind you\nkeep it safely. It will serve you some time, if you only know how to\nuse it.\u201d So he went in and took the key from the girl, and then, going\nout, fastened the door and went and sat down in the same place he had\nsat before.\n\nHe had not remained there very long before the giants came home from\nhunting. The moment they entered the house they took up their large\nsticks to beat him, asking, at the same time, whether he had been in\nthe second room.\n\nShaking all over with fear, he answered them, \u201cNo, I have not!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we know that you have been,\u201d shouted the giants in great anger,\nand they then beat him worse than on the first day.\n\nThe next morning, as the giants went out as usual to hunt, they said to\nhim, \u201cDo not go into the third room, for anything in the world; for if\nyou do go in we shall not forgive you as we did yesterday, and the day\nbefore! We shall kill you outright!\u201d No sooner, however, had the giants\ngone out of sight, than the young man began to say to himself, \u201cMost\nlikely they will kill me, whether I go into the room or not. Besides,\nif they do not kill me, they have beaten me so badly already that I am\nsure I cannot live long, so, anyhow, I will go and see what is in the\nthird room.\u201d Then he got up and went and opened the door.\n\nHe was quite shocked, however, when he saw that the room was full of\nhuman heads! These heads belonged to young men who had come, like\nhimself, to learn the trade that no one knows, and who, not having\nobeyed faithfully and strictly the orders of the giants, had been\nkilled by them.\n\nThe young man was turning quickly to go away, when one of the heads\ncalled out, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, but come in!\u201d Thereupon he went into the\nroom. Then the head gave him an iron chain, and said, \u201cTake care of\nthis chain, for it will serve you some time if you know how to use it!\u201d\nSo he took the chain, and going out fastened the door.\n\nHe went and sat down in the usual place to wait for the coming home of\nthe giants, and, as he waited, he grew quite frightened, for he fully\nexpected that they would really kill him this time.\n\nThe instant the giants came home they took up their thick sticks and\nbegan to beat him without stopping to ask anything. They beat him so\nterribly that he was all but dead; then they threw him out of the\nhouse, saying to him, \u201cGo away now, since you have learnt the trade\nthat no one knows!\u201d When he had lain a long time on the ground where\nthey had thrown him, feeling very sore and miserable, at length he\ntried to move away, saying to himself, \u201cWell, if they really have\ntaught me the trade that no one knows, for the sake of the king\u2019s\ndaughter I can suffer gladly all this pain, if I can only win her!\u201d\n\nAfter travelling for a long time, the young man came at last to the\npalace of the king whose daughter he wished to marry. When he saw the\npalace, he was exceedingly sad, and remembered the words of the\nprincess; for, after all his wanderings and sufferings, he had learnt\nno trade, and had never been able to find what trade it was \u201cthat no\none knows.\u201d Whilst considering what he had better do, he suddenly\nrecollected the halter, the key, and the iron chain, which he had\ncarried concealed about him ever since he left the castle of the four\ngiants. He then said to himself, \u201cLet me see what these things can do!\u201d\nSo he took the halter and struck the earth with it, and immediately a\nhandsome horse, beautifully caparisoned, stood before him. Then he\nstruck the ground with the iron chain, and instantly a hare and a\ngreyhound appeared, and the hare began to run quickly and the greyhound\nto follow her. In a moment the young man hardly knew himself, for he\nfound himself in a fine hunting-dress, riding on the horse after the\nhare, which took a path that passed immediately under the windows of\nthe king\u2019s palace.\n\nNow, it happened that the king stood at a window looking out, and\nnoticed at once the beautiful greyhound which was chasing the hare, and\nthe very handsome horse which a huntsman in a splendid dress was\nmounted on. The king was so pleased with the appearance of the horse\nand the greyhound, that he called instantly some of his servants, and,\nsending them after the strange rider, bade them invite him to come to\nthe palace. The young man, however, hearing some people coming behind\nhim calling and shouting, rode quickly behind a thick bush, and shook a\nlittle the halter and the iron chain. In a moment the horse, the\ngreyhound, and the hare had vanished, and he found himself sitting on\nthe ground under the trees dressed in his old shabby clothes. By this\ntime the king\u2019s servants had come up, and, seeing him sitting there,\nthey asked him whether he had seen a fine huntsman on a beautiful horse\npass that way. But he answered them rudely, \u201cNo! I have not seen anyone\npass, neither do I care to look to see who passes!\u201d\n\nThen the king\u2019s servants went on and searched the forest, calling and\nshouting as loudly as they could, but it was all in vain; they could\nneither see nor hear anything of the hunter. At length they went back\nto the king, and told him that the horse the huntsman rode was so\nexceedingly quick that they could not hear anything of him in the\nforest.\n\nThe young man now resolved to go to the hut where his old parents\nlived; and they were glad to see that he had come back to them once\nmore.\n\nNext morning, the son said to his father, \u201cNow, father, I will show you\nwhat I have learned. I will change myself into a beautiful horse, and\nyou must lead me into the city and sell me, but be very careful not to\ngive away the halter, or else I shall remain always a horse!\u201d\nAccordingly, in a moment he changed himself into a horse of\nextraordinary beauty, and the father took him to the market-place to\nsell him. Very soon a great number of people gathered round the horses\nwondering at his unusual beauty, and very high prices were offered for\nhim; the old man, however, raised the price higher and higher at every\noffer.\n\nThe news spread quickly about the city that a wonderfully handsome\nhorse was for sale in the market-place, and at length the king himself\nheard of it, and sent some servants to bring the horse, that he might\nsee it. The old man led the horse at once before the palace, and the\nking, after looking at it for some time with great admiration, could\nnot help exclaiming, \u201cBy my word, though I am a king, I never yet saw,\nmuch less rode, so handsome a horse!\u201d Then he asked the old man if he\nwould sell it him. \u201cI will sell it to your Majesty, very willingly,\u201d\nsaid the old man; \u201cbut I will sell only the horse, and not the halter.\u201d\nThereupon the king laughed, saying, \u201cWhat should I want with your dirty\nhalter? For such a horse I will have a halter of gold made!\u201d So the\nhorse was sold to the king for a very high price, and the old man\nreturned home with the money.\n\nNext morning, however, there was a great stir and much consternation in\nthe royal stables, for the beautiful horse had vanished somehow during\nthe night. And at the time when the horse disappeared, the young man\nreturned to his parents\u2019 hut.\n\nA day or two afterwards the young man said to his father, \u201cNow I will\nturn myself into a fine church not far from the king\u2019s palace, and if\nthe king wishes to buy it you may sell it him, only be sure not to part\nwith the key or else I must remain always a church!\u201d\n\nWhen the king got up that morning and went to his window to look out,\nhe saw a beautiful church which he had never noticed before. Then he\nsent his servants out to see what it was, and soon after they came back\nsaying, that \u201cthe church belonged to an old pilgrim, who told them that\nhe was willing to sell it if the king wished to buy it.\u201d Then the king\nsent to ask what price he would sell it for, and the pilgrim replied,\n\u201cIt is worth a great deal of money.\u201d\n\nWhilst the servants were bargaining with the father an old woman came\nup. Now this was the same old woman who had sent the young man to the\ncastle of the four giants, and she herself had been there and had\nlearnt the trade that no one knew. As she understood at once all about\nthe church, and had no mind to have a rival in the trade, she resolved\nto put an end to the young man. For this purpose she began to outbid\nthe king, and offered, at last, so very large a sum of ready money,\nthat the old man was quite astonished and confused at seeing the money\nwhich she showed him. He accordingly accepted her offer, but whilst he\nwas counting the money, quite forgot about the key. Before long,\nhowever, he recollected what his son had said, and then, fearing some\nmischief, he ran after the old woman and demanded the key back. But the\nold woman could not be persuaded to give back the key, and said it\nbelonged to the church which she had bought and paid for. Seeing she\nwould not give up the key, the old man grew more and more alarmed, lest\nsome ill should befall his son, so he took hold of the old woman by the\nneck and forced her to drop the key. She struggled very hard to get it\nback again, and, whilst the old man and she wrestled together, the key\nchanged itself suddenly into a dove and flew away high in the air over\nthe palace gardens.\n\nWhen the old woman saw this, she changed herself into a hawk and chased\nthe dove. Just, however, as the hawk was about to pounce upon it, the\ndove turned itself into a beautiful bouquet, and dropped down into the\nhand of the king\u2019s daughter who happened to be walking in the garden.\nThen the hawk changed again into the old woman, who went to the gate of\nthe palace and begged very hard that the princess would give her that\nbouquet, or, at least, one single flower from it.\n\nBut the princess said, \u201cNo! not for anything in the world. These\nflowers fell to me from heaven!\u201d The old woman, however, was determined\nto get one flower from the bouquet, so, seeing the princess would not\nhear her, she went straight to the king, and begged piteously that he\nwould order his daughter to give her one of the flowers from her\nbouquet. The king, thinking the old woman wanted one of the flowers to\ncure some disease, called his daughter to him, and told her to give one\nto the beggar.\n\nBut just as the king said this, the bouquet changed itself into a heap\nof millet-seed and scattered itself all over the ground. Then the old\nwoman quickly changed herself into a hen and chickens, and began\ngreedily to pick up the seeds. Suddenly, however, the millet vanished,\nand in its place appeared a fox, which sprang on the hen and killed\nher.\n\nThen the fox changed into the young man, who explained to the\nastonished king and princess that he it was who had demanded the hand\nof the princess, and that, in order to obtain it, he had wandered all\nover the world in search of someone who could teach him \u201cthe trade that\nno one knows.\u201d\n\nWhen the king and his daughter heard this, they gladly fulfilled their\npart of the bargain, seeing how well the young man had fulfilled his.\n\nThen, shortly afterwards, the king\u2019s daughter married the son of the\npoor old couple; and the king built for the princess and her husband a\npalace close to his own. There they lived long and had plenty of\nchildren, and people say that some of their descendants are living at\npresent, and that these go constantly to pray in the church, which is\nalways open because the key of it turned itself into a young man who\nmarried the king\u2019s daughter after he had shown to her that he had done\nas she wished, and learnt, for her sake, \u201cthe trade that no one knows.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE SUITORS\n\n\nIn a very remote country there formerly lived a king who had only one\nchild\u2014an exceedingly beautiful daughter. The princess had a great\nnumber of suitors, and amongst them were three young noblemen, whom the\nking loved much. As, however, the king liked the three nobles equally\nwell, he could not decide to which of the three he should give his\ndaughter as a wife. One day, therefore, he called the three young\nnoblemen to him, and said, \u201cGo, all of you, and travel about the world.\nThe one of you who brings home the most remarkable thing shall become\nmy son-in-law!\u201d\n\nThe three suitors started at once on their travels, each of them taking\nopposite ways, and going in search of remarkable things into distant\nand different countries.\n\nA long time had not passed before one of the young nobles found a\nwonderful carpet which would carry rapidly through the air whoever sat\nupon it.\n\nAnother of them found a marvellous telescope, through which he could\nsee everybody and everything in the world, and even the many-coloured\nsands at the bottom of the great deep sea.\n\nThe third found a wonder-working ointment, which could cure every\ndisease in the world, and even bring dead people back to life again.\n\nNow the three noble travellers were far distant from each other when\nthey found these wonderful things. But when the young man who had found\nthe telescope looked through it he saw one of his former friends and\npresent rivals walking with a carpet on his shoulder, and so he set out\nto join him. As he could always see, by means of his marvellous\ntelescope, where the other nobleman was, he had no great difficulty in\nfinding him, and when the two had met, they sat side by side on the\nwonderful carpet, and it carried them through the air until they had\njoined the third traveller.\n\nOne day, when each of them had been telling of the remarkable things he\nhad seen in his travels, one of them exclaimed suddenly, \u201cNow let us\nsee what the beautiful princess is doing, and where she is.\u201d Then the\nnoble who had found the telescope looked through it and saw, to his\ngreat surprise and dismay, that the king\u2019s daughter was lying very\nsick, and at the point of death. He told this to his two friends and\nrivals, and they, too, were as thunderstruck at the bad news\u2014until the\none who had found the wonder-working ointment, remembering it suddenly,\nexclaimed, \u201cI am sure I could cure her, if I could only reach the\npalace soon enough!\u201d On hearing this, the noble who had found the\nwonderful carpet, cried out, \u201cLet us sit down on my carpet, and it will\nquickly carry us to the king\u2019s palace!\u201d\n\nThereupon the three nobles gently placed themselves on the carpet,\nwhich rose instantly in the air, and carried them direct to the king\u2019s\npalace.\n\nThe king received them immediately, but said very sadly, \u201cI am sorry\nfor you, for all your travels have been in vain. My daughter is just\ndying, so she can marry none of you!\u201d\n\nBut the nobleman who possessed the wonder-working ointment said\nrespectfully, \u201cDo not fear, sire, the princess will not die!\u201d And on\nbeing permitted to enter the apartment where she lay sick, he placed\nthe ointment so that she could smell it. In a few moments the princess\nrevived, and when her waiting-women had rubbed a little of the ointment\non her skin she recovered so quickly that in a few days she was better\nthan she had been before she was taken ill.\n\nThe king was so glad to have his daughter given back to him, as he\nthought, from the grave, that he declared that she should marry no one\nbut the young nobleman whose wonderful ointment had cured her.\n\nBut now a great dispute arose between the three young nobles; the one\nwho possessed the ointment affirmed that had he not found it the\nprincess would have died, and could not, therefore, have married\nanyone; the noble who owned the telescope declared that had he not\nfound the wonderful telescope they would never have known that the\nprincess was dying, and so his friend would not have brought the\nointment to cure her; whilst the third noble proved to them that had he\nnot found the wonderful carpet, neither the finding of the ointment nor\nthe telescope would have helped the princess, since they could not have\ntravelled such a great distance in time to save her.\n\nThe king, overhearing this dispute, called the young noblemen to him,\nand said to them, \u201cMy lords, from what you have said, I see that I\ncannot, with justice, give my daughter to any of you; therefore, I pray\nyou to give up altogether the idea of marrying her, and that you\ncontinue friends as you always were before you became rivals.\u201d\n\nThe three young nobles saw that the king had decided justly; so they\nall left their native country, and went into a far-off desert to live\nlike hermits. And the king gave the princess to another of his great\nnobles.\n\nMany, many years had passed away since the marriage of the princess,\nwhen her husband was sent by her father to a distant country with which\nthe king was waging war. The nobleman took his wife, the princess, with\nhim, as he was uncertain how long he might be forced to remain abroad.\nNow it happened that a violent storm arose just as the vessel, in which\nthe princess and her husband were, was approaching a strange coast, and\nin the height of the great tempest the ship dashed on some rocks, and\nwent to pieces instantly. All the people on board perished in the\nwaves, excepting only the princess, who clung very fast to a boat, and\nwas carried by the wind and the tide to the sea-shore. There she found\nwhat seemed to be an uninhabited country, and, finding a small cave in\na rock she lived in it alone three years, feeding on wild herbs and\nfruits. She searched every day to find some way out of the forest which\nsurrounded her cave, but could find none. One day, however, when she\nhad wandered farther than usual from the cave where she lived, she came\nsuddenly on another cave, which had, to her great astonishment, a small\ndoor. She tried over and over again to open the door, thinking she\nwould pass the night in the cave; but all her efforts were unavailing,\nit was shut so fast. At length, however, a deep voice from within the\ncave called out, \u201cWho is at the door?\u201d\n\nAt this the princess was so surprised that she could not answer for\nsome moments; when, however, she had recovered a little, she said,\n\u201cOpen me the door!\u201d Immediately the door was opened from within, and\nshe saw, with sudden terror, an old man with a thick grey beard\nreaching below his waist, and long white hair flowing over his\nshoulders.\n\nWhat frightened the princess the more was her finding a man living here\nin the same desert where she had lived herself three years without\nseeing a single soul.\n\nThe hermit and the princess looked at each other long and earnestly\nwithout saying a word. At length, however, the old man said, \u201cTell me,\nare you an angel or a daughter of this world?\u201d\n\nThen the princess answered, \u201cOld man, let me rest a moment, and then I\nwill tell you all about myself, and what brought me here!\u201d So the\nhermit brought out some wild pears, and when the princess had taken\nsome of them she began to tell him who she was, and how she came in\nthat desert. She said, \u201cI am a king\u2019s daughter, and once, many years\nago, three young nobles of my father\u2019s court asked the king for my hand\nin marriage. Now the king had such an equal affection for all these\nthree young men that he was unwilling to give pain to any of them, so\nhe sent them to travel into distant countries, and promised to decide\nbetween them when they returned.\n\n\u201cThe three noblemen remained a long time away; and whilst they were\nstill abroad somewhere, I fell dangerously ill. I was just at the point\nof death, when they all three returned suddenly; one of them bringing a\nwonderful ointment which cured me at once; the two others brought each\nequally remarkable things\u2014a carpet that would carry whoever sat on it\nthrough the air, and a telescope with which one could see everybody and\neverything in the world, even to the sands at the bottom of the sea.\u201d\n\nThe princess had gone on thus far with her story, when the hermit\nsuddenly interrupted her, saying, \u201cAll that happened afterwards I know\nas well as you can tell me. Look at me, my daughter! I am one of those\nnoblemen who sought to win your hand, and here is the wonderful\ntelescope.\u201d And the hermit brought out the instrument from a recess in\nthe side of his cave before he continued, \u201cMy two friends and rivals\ncame with me to this desert. We parted, however, immediately, and have\nnever met since. I know not whether they are living or dead, but I will\nlook for them.\u201d\n\nThen the hermit looked through his telescope, and saw that the other\ntwo noblemen were living in caves like his, in different parts of the\nsame desert. Having found this out, he took the princess by the hand,\nand led her on until they found the other hermits. When all were\nreunited, the princess related her adventures since the ship, in which\nher husband was, had gone down, and she alone had been saved.\n\nThe three noble hermits were pleased to see her alive once again, but\nat once decided that they ought to send her back to the king, her\nfather.\n\nThen they made the princess a present of the wonderful telescope, and\nthe wonder-working ointment, and placed her on the wonderful carpet,\nwhich carried her and her treasures quickly and safely to her father\u2019s\npalace. As for the three noblemen, they remained, still living like\nhermits, in the desert, only they visited each other now and then, so\nthat the years seemed no longer so tedious to them, for they had many\nadventures to relate to each other.\n\nThe king was exceedingly glad to receive his only child back safely,\nand the princess lived with her father many years, but neither the king\nnor his daughter could entirely forget the three noble friends who, for\nher sake, lived like hermits in a wild desert in a far-off land.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN-HAIRED TWINS\n\n\nOnce upon a time, a long, long while ago, there lived a young king who\nwished very much to marry, but could not decide where he had better\nlook for a wife.\n\nOne evening as he was walking disguised through the streets of his\ncapital, as it was his frequent custom to do, he stopped to listen near\nan open window where he heard three young girls chatting gaily\ntogether.\n\nThe girls were talking about a report which had been lately spread\nthrough the city, that the king intended soon to marry.\n\nOne of the girls exclaimed, \u201cIf the king would marry me I would give\nhim a son who should be the greatest hero in the world.\u201d\n\nThe second girl said, \u201cAnd if I were to be his wife I would present him\nwith two sons at once. Two twins with golden hair.\u201d\n\nAnd the third girl declared that were the king to marry her she would\ngive him a daughter so beautiful that there should not be her equal in\nthe whole wide world!\n\nThe young king listened to all this, and for some time thought over\ntheir words, and tried to make up his mind which of the three girls he\nshould choose for his wife. At last he decided that he would marry the\none who had said she would bring him twins with golden hair.\n\nHaving once settled this in his own mind, he ordered that all\npreparations for his marriage should be made forthwith, and shortly\nafter, when all was ready, he married the second girl of the three.\n\nSeveral months after his marriage, the young king, who was at war with\none of the neighbouring princes, received tidings of the defeat of his\narmy, and heard that his presence was immediately required in the camp.\nHe accordingly left his capital and went to his army, leaving the young\nqueen in his palace to the care of his stepmother.\n\nNow the king\u2019s stepmother hated her daughter-in-law very much indeed,\nso when the golden-haired twins were born, the old queen contrived to\nsteal them out of their cradle, and put in their place two ugly little\ndogs. She then caused the two beautiful golden-haired boys to be buried\nalive in an out-of-the-way spot in the palace gardens, and then sent\nword to the king that the young queen had given him two little dogs\ninstead of the heirs he was hoping for. The wicked stepmother said in\nher letter to the king that she herself was not surprised at this,\nthough she was very sorry for his disappointment. As to herself, she\nhad a long time suspected the young queen of having too great a\nfriendship for goblins and elves, and all kinds of evil spirits.\n\nWhen the king received this letter, he fell into a frightful rage,\nbecause he had only married the young girl in order to have the\ngolden-haired twins she had promised him as heirs to his throne.\n\nSo he sent word back to the old queen that his wife should be put at\nonce into the dampest dungeon in the castle, an order which the wicked\nwoman took good care to see carried out without delay. Accordingly the\npoor young queen was thrown into a miserably dark dungeon under the\npalace, and kept on bread and water.\n\nNow there was only a very small hole in this prison\u2014hardly large enough\nto let in light and air\u2014yet the old queen managed to cause a great many\npeople to pass by this hole, and whoever passed was ordered to spit at\nand abuse the unhappy young queen, calling out to her, \u201cAre you really\nthe queen? Are you the girl who cheated the king in order to be a\nqueen? Where are your golden-haired twins? You cheated the king and\nyour friends, and now the witches have cheated you!\u201d\n\nBut the young king, though terribly angry and mortified at his great\ndisappointment, was, at the same time, too sad and troubled to be\nwilling to return to his palace. So he remained away for fully nine\nyears. When he at last consented to return, the first thing he noticed\nin the palace gardens were two fine young trees, exactly the same size\nand the same shape.\n\nThese trees had both golden leaves and golden blossoms, and had grown\nup of themselves from the very spot where the stepmother of the king\nhad buried the two golden-haired boys she had stolen from their cradle.\nThe king admired these two trees exceedingly, and was never weary of\nlooking at them. This, however, did not at all please the old queen,\nfor she knew that the two young princes were buried just where the\ntrees grew, and she always feared that by some means what she had done\nwould come to the king\u2019s ears. She therefore pretended that she was\nvery sick, and declared that she was sure she should die unless her\nstepson, the king, ordered the two golden-leaved trees to be cut down,\nand a bed made for her out of their wood.\n\nAs the king was not willing to be the cause of her death, he ordered\nthat her wishes should be attended to, although he was exceedingly\nsorry to lose his favourite trees.\n\nA bed was soon made from the two trees, and the seemingly sick old\nqueen was laid on it as she desired. She was quite delighted that the\ngolden-leaved trees had disappeared from the garden; but when midnight\ncame she could not sleep a bit, for it seemed to her that she heard the\nboards of which her bed was made in conversation with each other!\n\nAt last it seemed to her that one board said, quite plainly, \u201cHow are\nyou, my brother?\u201d And the other board answered, \u201cThank you, I am very\nwell; how are you?\u201d \u201cOh, I am all right,\u201d returned the first board;\n\u201cbut I wonder how our poor mother is in her dark dungeon! Perhaps she\nis hungry and thirsty!\u201d\n\nThe wicked old queen could not sleep a minute all night, after hearing\nthis conversation between the boards of her new bed; so next morning\nshe got up very early and went to see the king. She thanked him for\nattending to her wish, and said she already was much better, but she\nfelt quite sure she would never recover thoroughly unless the boards of\nher new bed were cut up and thrown into a fire. The king was sorry to\nlose entirely even the boards made out of his two favourite trees,\nnevertheless he could not refuse to use the means pointed out for his\nstepmother\u2019s perfect recovery.\n\nSo the new bed was cut to pieces and thrown into the fire. But whilst\nthe boards were blazing and crackling, two sparks from the fire flew\ninto the courtyard, and in the next moment two beautiful lambs with\ngolden fleeces and golden horns were seen gambolling about the yard.\n\nThe king admired them greatly, and made many inquiries who had sent\nthem there, and to whom they belonged. He even sent the public crier\nmany times through the city, calling on the owners of the\ngolden-fleeced lambs to appear and claim them; but no one came, so at\nlength he thought he might fairly take them as his own property.\n\nThe king took very great care of these two beautiful lambs, and every\nday directed that they should be well fed and attended to; this,\nhowever, did not at all please his stepmother. She could not endure\neven to look on the lambs with their golden fleeces and golden horns,\nfor they always reminded her of the golden-haired twins. So, in a\nlittle while she pretended again to be dangerously sick, and declared\nshe felt sure she should soon die unless the two lambs were killed and\ncooked for her.\n\nThe king was even fonder of his golden-fleeced lambs than he had been\nof the golden-leaved trees, but he could not long resist the tears and\nprayers of the old queen, especially as she seemed to be very ill.\nAccordingly, the lambs were killed, and a servant was ordered to carry\ntheir golden fleeces down to the river and to wash them well. But\nwhilst the servant held them under the water, they slipped, in some way\nor another, out of his fingers, and floated down the stream, which just\nat that place flowed very rapidly. Now it happened that a hunter was\npassing near the river a little lower down, and, as he chanced to look\nin the water, he saw something strange in it. So he stepped into the\nstream, and soon fished out a small box which he carried to his house\nand there opened it. To his unspeakably great surprise, he found in the\nbox two golden-haired boys. Now the hunter had no children of his own;\nhe therefore adopted the twins he had fished out of the river, and\nbrought them up just as if they had been his own sons. When the twins\nwere grown up into handsome young men, one of them said to his\nfoster-father, \u201cMake us two suits of beggar\u2019s clothes, and let us go\nand wander a little about the world!\u201d The hunter, however, replied and\nsaid, \u201cNo, I will have a fine suit made for each of you, such as is\nfitting for two such noble-looking young men.\u201d But as the twins begged\nhard that he should not spend his money uselessly in buying fine\nclothes, telling him that they wished to travel about as beggars, the\nhunter\u2014who always liked to do as his two handsome foster-sons\nwished\u2014did as they desired, and ordered two suits of clothes, like\nthose worn by beggars, to be prepared for them. The two sons then\ndressed themselves up as beggars, and as well as they could hid their\nbeautiful golden locks, and then set out to see the world. They took\nwith them a gusle [2] and a cymbal, and maintained themselves with\ntheir singing and playing.\n\nThey had wandered about in this way some time when one day they came to\nthe king\u2019s palace. As the afternoon was already pretty far advanced,\nthe young musicians begged to be allowed to pass the night in one of\nthe outbuildings belonging to the Court, as they were poor men, and\nquite strangers in the city. The old queen, however, who happened to be\njust then in the courtyard saw them, and hearing their request, said\nsharply that beggars could not be permitted to enter any part of the\nking\u2019s palace. The two travellers said they had hoped to pay for their\nnight\u2019s lodging by their songs and music, as one of them played and\nsung to the gusle, and the other to the cymbal.\n\nThe old queen, however, was not moved by this, but insisted on their\ngoing away at once. Happily for the two brothers the king himself came\nout into the courtyard just as his stepmother angrily ordered them to\ngo away, and at once directed his servants to find a place for the\nmusicians to sleep in, and ordered them to provide the brothers with a\ngood supper. After they had supped, the king commanded them to be\nbrought before him that he might judge of their skill as musicians, and\nthat their singing might help him to pass the time more pleasantly.\n\nAccordingly, after the two young men had taken the refreshment provided\nfor them, the servants took them into the king\u2019s presence, and they\nbegan to sing this ballad:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe pretty bird, the swallow, built her nest with care, in the palace\nof the king. In the nest she reared up happily two of her little ones.\nA black, ugly-looking bird, however, came to the swallow\u2019s nest to mar\nher happiness, and to kill her two little ones. And the ugly black bird\nsucceeded in destroying the happiness of the poor little swallow; the\nlittle ones, however, although yet weak and unfledged, were saved, and,\nwhen they were grown up and able to fly, they came to look at the\npalace where their mother, the pretty swallow, had built her nest.\u201d\n\nThis strange song the two minstrels sang so very sweetly that the king\nwas quite charmed, and asked them the meaning of the words.\n\nWhereupon the two meanly dressed young men took off their hats, so that\nthe rich tresses of their golden hair fell down over their shoulders,\nand the light glanced so brightly upon it that the whole hall was\nilluminated by the shining. They then stepped forward together, and\ntold the king all that had happened to them and to their mother, and\nconvinced him that they were really his own sons.\n\nThe king was exceedingly angry when he heard all the cruel things his\nstepmother had done, and he gave orders that she should be burnt to\ndeath. He then went with the two golden-haired princes to the miserable\ndungeon wherein his unfortunate wife had been confined so many years,\nand brought her once more into her beautiful palace. There, looking on\nher golden-haired sons, and seeing how much the king, their father,\nloved them, she soon forgot all her long years of misery. As to the\nking, he felt that he could never do enough to make amends for all the\nmisfortunes his queen had lived through, and all the dangers to which\nhis twin sons had been exposed. He felt that he had too easily believed\nthe stories of the old queen, because he would not trouble himself to\ninquire more particularly into the truth or falsehood of the strange\nthings she had told him.\n\nAfter all this mortification, and trouble, and misery, everything came\nright at last. So the king and his wife, with their golden-haired\ntwins, lived together long and happily.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DREAM OF THE KING\u2019S SON\n\n\nThere was once a king who had three sons. One evening, when the young\nprinces were going to sleep, the king ordered them to take good note of\ntheir dreams and come and tell them to him next morning.\n\nSo the next day the princes went to their father as soon as they awoke,\nand the moment the king saw them he asked of the eldest, \u201cWell, what\nhave you dreamt?\u201d\n\nThe prince answered, \u201cI dreamt that I should be the heir to your\nthrone.\u201d\n\nAnd the second said, \u201cAnd I dreamt that I should be the first subject\nin the kingdom.\u201d\n\nThen the youngest said, \u201cI dreamt that I was going to wash my hands,\nand that the princes, my brothers, held the basin, whilst the queen, my\nmother, held fine towels for me to dry my hands with, and your\nmajesty\u2019s self poured water over them from a golden ewer.\u201d\n\nThe king, hearing this last dream, became very angry, and exclaimed,\n\u201cWhat! I\u2014the king\u2014pour water over the hands of my own son! Go away this\ninstant out of my palace, and out of my kingdom! You are no longer my\nson.\u201d\n\nThe poor young prince tried hard to make his peace with his father,\nsaying that he was really not to be blamed for what he had only\ndreamed; but the king grew more and more furious, and at last actually\nthrust the prince out of the palace.\n\nSo the young prince was obliged to wander up and down in different\ncountries, until one day, being in a large forest, he saw a cave, and\nentered it to rest. There, to his great surprise and joy, he found a\nlarge kettle full of Indian corn boiling over a fire and, being\nexceedingly hungry, began to help himself to the corn. In this way he\nwent on until he was shocked to see he had eaten up nearly all the\nmaize, and then, being afraid some mischief would come of it, he looked\nabout for a place in which to hide himself. At this moment, however, a\ngreat noise was heard at the cave-mouth, and he had only time to hide\nhimself in a dark corner before a blind old man entered, riding on a\ngreat goat and driving a number of goats before him.\n\nThe old man rode straight up to the kettle, but as soon as he found\nthat the corn was nearly all gone, he began to suspect someone was\nthere, and groped about the cave until he caught hold of the prince.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked he sharply; and the prince answered, \u201cI am a poor,\nhomeless wanderer about the world, and have come now to beg you to be\ngood enough to receive me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the old man, \u201cwhy not? I shall at least have someone to\nmind my corn whilst I am out with my goats in the forest.\u201d\n\nSo they lived together for some time; the prince remaining in the cave\nto boil the maize, whilst the old man drove out his goats every morning\ninto the forest.\n\nOne day, however, the old man said to the prince, \u201cI think you shall\ntake out the goats to-day, and I will stay at home to mind the corn.\u201d\n\nThis the prince consented to very gladly, as he was tired of living so\nlong quietly in the cave. But the old man added, \u201cMind only one thing!\nThere are nine different mountains, and you can let the goats go freely\nover eight of them, but you must on no account go on the ninth. The\nVilas (fairies) live there, and they will certainly put out your eyes\nas they have put out mine, if you venture on their mountain.\u201d\n\nThe prince thanked the old man for his warning, and then, mounting the\ngreat goat, drove the rest of the goats before him out of the cave.\n\nFollowing the goats, he had passed over all the mountains to the\neighth, and from this he could see the ninth mountain, and could not\nresist the temptation he felt to go upon it. So he said to himself, \u201cI\nwill venture up, whatever happens!\u201d\n\nHardly had he stepped on the ninth mountain before the fairies\nsurrounded him, and prepared to put out his eyes. But happily a thought\ncame into his head, and he exclaimed, quickly, \u201cDear Vilas, why take\nthis sin on your heads? Better let us make a bargain, that if you\nspring over a tree that I will place ready to jump over, you shall put\nout my eyes, and I will not blame you!\u201d\n\nSo the Vilas consented to this, and the prince went and brought a large\ntree, which he cleft down the middle almost to the root; this done, he\nplaced a wedge to keep the two halves of the trunk open a little.\n\nWhen it was fixed upright, he himself first jumped over it, and then he\nsaid to the Vilas, \u201cNow it is your turn. Let us see if you can spring\nover the tree!\u201d\n\nOne Vila attempted to spring over, but the same moment the prince\nknocked the wedge out, and the trunk closing, at once held the Vila\nfast. Then all the other fairies were alarmed, and begged him to open\nthe trunk and let their sister free, promising, in return, to give him\nanything he might ask. The prince said, \u201cI want nothing except to keep\nmy own eyes, and to restore eyesight to that poor old man.\u201d So the\nfairies gave him a certain herb, and told him to lay it over the old\nman\u2019s eyes, and then he would recover his sight. The prince took the\nherb, opened the tree a little so as to let the fairy free, and then\nrode back on the goat to the cave, driving the other goats before him.\nWhen he arrived there he placed at once the herb on the old man\u2019s eyes,\nand in a moment his eyesight came back, to his exceeding surprise and\njoy.\n\nNext morning the old man, before he drove out his goats, gave the\nprince the keys of eight closets in the cave, but warned him on no\naccount to open the ninth closet, although the key hung directly over\nthe door. Then he went out, telling the prince to take good care that\nthe corn was ready for their suppers.\n\nLeft alone in the cave, the young man began to wonder what might be in\nthe ninth closet, and at last he could not resist the temptation to\ntake down the key and open the door to look in.\n\nWhat was his surprise to see there a golden horse, with a golden\ngreyhound beside him, and near them a golden hen and golden chickens\nwere busy picking up golden millet-seeds.\n\nThe young prince gazed at them for some time, admiring their beauty,\nand then he spoke to the golden horse, \u201cFriend, I think we had better\nleave this place before the old man comes back again.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d answered the golden horse, \u201cI am quite willing to go away,\nonly you must take heed to what I am going to tell. Go and find linen\ncloth enough to spread over the stones at the mouth of the cave, for if\nthe old man hears the ring of my hoofs he will be certain to kill you.\nThen you must take with you a little stone, a drop of water, and a pair\nof scissors, and the moment I tell you to throw them down you must obey\nme quickly, or you are lost.\u201d\n\nThe prince did everything that the golden horse had ordered him, and\nthen, taking up the golden hen with her chickens in a bag, he placed it\nunder his arm, and mounted the horse and rode quickly out of the cave,\nleading with him, in a leash, the golden greyhound. But the moment they\nwere in the open air the old man, although he was very far off, tending\nhis goats on a distant mountain, heard the clang of the golden hoofs,\nand cried to his great goat, \u201cThey have run away. Let us follow them at\nonce.\u201d\n\nIn a wonderfully short time the old man on his great goat came so near\nthe prince on his golden horse, that the latter shouted, \u201cThrow now the\nlittle stone!\u201d\n\nThe moment the prince had thrown it down, a high rocky mountain rose up\nbetween him and the old man, and before the goat had climbed over it\nthe golden horse had gained much ground. Very soon, however, the old\nman was so nearly catching them that the horse shouted, \u201cThrow, now,\nthe drop of water!\u201d The prince obeyed instantly, and immediately saw a\nbroad river flowing between him and his pursuer.\n\nIt took the old man on his goat so long to cross the river that the\nprince on his golden horse was far away before them; but for all that\nit was not very long before the horse heard the goat so near behind him\nthat he shouted, \u201cThrow the scissors.\u201d The prince threw them, and the\ngoat, running over them, injured one of his forelegs very badly. When\nthe old man saw this, he exclaimed, \u201cNow I see I cannot catch you, so\nyou may keep what you have taken. But you will do wisely to listen to\nmy counsel. People will be sure to kill you for the sake of your golden\nhorse, so you had better buy at once a donkey, and take the hide to\ncover your horse. And do the same with your golden greyhound.\u201d\n\nHaving said this, the old man turned and rode back to his cave; and the\nprince lost no time in attending to his advice, and covered with\ndonkey-hide his golden horse and his golden hound.\n\nAfter travelling a long time the prince came unawares to the kingdom of\nhis father. There he heard that the king had had a ditch\u2014three hundred\nyards wide and four hundred yards deep\u2014dug, and had proclaimed that\nwhosoever should leap his horse over it, should have the princess, his\ndaughter, for wife.\n\nAlmost a whole year had elapsed since the proclamation was issued, but\nas yet no one had dared to risk the leap. When the prince heard this,\nhe said, \u201cI will leap over it with my donkey and my dog!\u201d and he leapt\nover it.\n\nBut the king was very angry when he heard that a poorly dressed man, on\na donkey, had dared to leap over the great ditch which had frightened\nback his bravest knights; so he had the disguised prince thrown into\none of his deepest dungeons, together with his donkey and his dog.\n\nNext morning the king sent some of his servants to see if the man was\nstill living, and these soon ran back to him, full of wonder, and told\nhim that they had found in the dungeon, instead of a poor man and his\ndonkey, a young man, beautifully dressed, a golden horse, a golden\ngreyhound, and a golden hen, surrounded by golden chickens, which were\npicking up golden millet-seeds from the ground.\n\nThen the king said, \u201cThat must be some powerful prince.\u201d So he ordered\nthe queen, and the princes, his sons, to prepare all things for the\nstranger to wash his hands. Then he went down himself into the dungeon,\nand led the prince up with much courtesy, desiring thus to make amends\nfor the past ill-treatment.\n\nThe king himself took a golden ewer full of water, and poured some over\nthe prince\u2019s hands, whilst the two princes held the basin under them,\nand the queen held out fine towels to dry them on.\n\nThis done, the young prince exclaimed, \u201cNow, my dream is fulfilled\u201d;\nand they all at once recognised him, and were very glad to see him once\nagain amongst them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE BROTHERS\n\n\nI.\n\nThere was once upon a time an old man whose family consisted of his\nwife and three sons. They were exceedingly poor, and finding that they\ncould not possibly all live at home, the three sons went out into the\nworld in different directions to find some means of living. Thus the\nold man and his wife remained alone.\n\nHaving neither horses nor oxen, the old man was obliged to go every day\nto the forest for fuel, and carry home the firewood on his back.\n\nOn one occasion it was nearly evening when he started to go to the\nforest, and his wife, who was afraid to remain alone in the house,\nbegged very hard to be permitted to go with him. He objected very much\nat first, but as she persisted in her entreaties, he at length\nconsented to her following him, first bidding her, however, take good\ncare to make the house-door safe, lest some one should break into the\nhouse.\n\nThe old woman thought the door would be safest if she took it off its\nhinges, and carried it away on her back. So she took it off and\nfollowed her husband as fast as she was able. The old man, however, was\nnot angry when he saw how she had mistaken his words, and the manner\nshe had chosen to make sure of the door; for, he reflected, there was\nlittle or nothing at all in the house for any one to steal.\n\nWhen they had reached the forest the husband began to cut wood, and his\nwife gathered the branches together in a heap. Meanwhile it had got\nvery late, and they were anxious as to how they should pass the night,\nseeing their own house was so far off that they would be unable to\nreach it before morning, and there were no houses in the neighbourhood\nwhere they could sleep. At last they observed a very tall and widely\nspreading pine-tree, and they resolved to climb up and pass the night\non one of its branches.\n\nThe man got up first, and his wife followed him, drawing, with great\ndifficulty, the door after her. Her husband advised her to leave the\ndoor on the ground under the tree; but she would not listen to him, and\ncould not be persuaded to remain in the tree without her house-door.\nHardly had they settled themselves on a branch, the old woman holding\nfast her door, before they heard a great noise, which came nearer and\nnearer.\n\nThey were excessively frightened at the noise, and dared neither speak\nnor move.\n\nIn a short time they saw a captain of robbers followed by twelve of his\nmen, approach the tree; the robbers were dressed all alike, in gold and\nsilver, and one of them carried a sheep killed and ready for roasting.\nWhen the old man and woman saw the band of robbers come and settle\nunder the pine-tree in which they had themselves taken refuge they\nthought their time was come, and gave themselves up for lost.\n\nAs soon as the robbers had settled themselves, the youngest of them\nmade a fire and put the sheep down to roast, whilst the captain\nconversed with the others. The sheep was already roasted and cut up,\nand the robbers had begun with great gaiety to eat it, when the old\nwoman told her husband that she could not possibly hold the door any\nlonger, but must let it fall. The old man begged her piteously not to\nlet it go, but to hold it fast and keep quiet, lest the robbers should\ndiscover and kill them. The old woman said, however, that she was so\nexceedingly tired she could no longer by any possibility hold it. The\nold man, seeing it was no good talking about it, declared that, as he\ncould not hold his corner of the door any longer when she had let go\nher corner, it was not worth while to complain, \u201csince,\u201d as he said,\n\u201cwhat must be must be, and it is no use to be sorry for anything in\nthis world.\u201d Thereupon they both loosened their holds of the door at\nonce, and it fell down, making a great noise\u2014especially with its iron\nlock\u2014as it fell from branch to branch.\n\nThe door made so much noise in falling, that the whole forest re-echoed\nwith the sound.\n\nThe robbers, greatly astonished at the noise, and too frightened by the\nunexpected clashing above their heads to see what was the cause, took\nto their heels, without once thinking of the roast sheep they left\nbehind, or of any of the treasures which they had brought with them.\nOne of them alone did not run away far from the spot, but hid himself\nbehind a tree, and waited to see what might come of so much noise.\n\nThe old couple, seeing the robbers did not return, came down from the\ntree, and, being exceedingly hungry, began to eat heartily; the old man\nall the time praising the wisdom of his wife in throwing down the door.\n\nThe robber who had hidden himself, seeing only the old people near the\nfire, came up to them, and begged to be allowed to share their meal, as\nhe had not eaten anything for the last twenty-four hours. This they\npermitted, and spoke of all kinds of things, until the old man\nexclaimed suddenly to the robber, \u201cTake care! you have a hair on your\ntongue! Do not choke yourself, for I have no means to bury you here!\u201d\n\nThe brigand took this joke in earnest, and begged the old man to take\nthe hair out of his mouth, and he would in return show him a cave\nwherein a great treasure was hidden. As he was describing the great\nheaps of gold ducats, thalers, shillings, and other coins which he said\nwere in the cave, the old woman interrupted him, saying, \u201cI will take\nthe hair out of your mouth, without pay! Only put your tongue out and\nshut your eyes!\u201d The robber very gladly did as she told him, and she\ncaught up a knife and in a moment cut off a piece of his tongue. Then\nshe said, \u201cWell, now! I have taken the hair out!\u201d When the robber felt\nwhat had been done to him he jumped up and down in pain, and at length\nran away without hat or coat in the same direction as his companions\nhad gone, shouting all the time, \u201cHelp! help! give me some plaster!\u201d\nHis companions, hearing imperfectly these words, misunderstood him, and\nthought he cried to them, \u201cHelp yourselves; here is the police-master!\u201d\nespecially as he ran as if the captain of police with a large force was\nat his heels. Accordingly, the robbers themselves ran faster and\nfarther away.\n\nMeanwhile the old couple thought it no longer safe to stay under the\npine-tree, so they gathered up quickly all the money, whether gold or\nsilver, which they could carry, and hurried back to their home. When\nthey got there they found the hens of the neighbours had pulled off the\nthatch of their house; they were, however, the less sorry for this,\nsince they had now money enough to build another and a better home. And\nthis they did, and continued to live in their fine new house without\nonce remembering their sons, who had been wandering about the world\nalready some nine long years.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nIn the meantime the sons had been working each in a different part of\nthe world. When, however, they had been away from their home nine\nyears, they all, as if by common consent, conceived an ardent desire to\ngo back once more to their father\u2019s house. So they took the whole of\nthe savings which they had laid up in their nine years\u2019 service, and\ncommenced their journeys homewards.\n\nOn his travels the eldest brother met with three gipsies, who were\nteaching a young bear to dance by putting him on a red-hot plate of\niron. He felt compassion for the creature in its sufferings, and asked\nthe gipsies why they were thus tormenting the animal. \u201cBetter,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201clet me have it, and I will give you three pieces of silver for\nit!\u201d The gipsies accepted the offer eagerly, took the three pieces of\nsilver, and gave him the bear. Travelling farther on he met with some\nhuntsmen who had caught a young wolf, which they were about to kill. He\noffered them, also three pieces of silver for the animal, and they,\npleased to get so much, readily sold it. A little further still he met\nsome shepherds, who were about to hang a little dog. He was sorry for\nthe poor brute, and offered to give them two pieces of silver if they\nwould give the dog to him, and this they very gladly agreed to.\n\nSo he travelled on homeward, attended by the young bear, the wolf-cub,\nand the little dog. As all his nine years\u2019 savings had amounted only to\nnine pieces of silver, he had now but a single piece left.\n\nBefore he reached his father\u2019s house he met some boys who were about to\ndrown a cat. He offered them his last piece of money if they would give\nhim the cat, and they were content with the bargain and gave it up to\nhim. So, at last he arrived at his home without any money, but with a\nbear, a wolf, a dog, and a cat.\n\nJust so, it had happened with the other two brothers. By their nine\nyears\u2019 work they had only saved nine pieces of silver, and on their way\nhome they had spent them in ransoming animals, exactly as the eldest\nbrother had done.\n\nSoon after they had returned, the old father died. Then the three\nbrothers consulted together, and decided to invest part of the money,\nwhich their father and mother had got from the robbers, in the purchase\nof four horses and one grass-field.\n\nA few days later they all went into the fields to bring in the hay\nwhich the two elder ones had mown. They found, however, hardly the\nthird part of the hay which they had left. At this they wondered\ngreatly, and looked about to see who had stolen it; but, finding no\none, after a little while they took up what was left and returned home.\n\nAt length the year, on which all this had happened, passed away. The\nnext year, however, they dared not leave their mown grass unwatched. So\nthey discussed which of them should first keep guard. Each of them\noffered to do it; but, at last, they agreed that the youngest brother\nshould begin to watch. So he prepared himself, and, at night, went out\ninto the field. Having come there, he climbed up into a tree and\nresolved to remain there until daybreak. About midnight he heard a\ngreat noise and shouting, which frightened him so much that he dared\nnot stir at all. Some creatures came into the field and ate up most of\nthe hay, and what they did not eat they tossed about and spoiled, so\nthat it was fit for nothing. When daylight came, the youngest brother\ncame down from the tree and went home, to tell what he had seen.\n\nSo that year they had no hay.\n\nNext year, when hay harvest came, the three brothers took counsel\ntogether how to preserve their hay. The second brother now volunteered\nto watch in the field, and seemed quite sure he would be able to save\nthe hay. Accordingly he went, and climbed into the tree, just as his\nbrother had done the previous year. About midnight three winged horses\ncame into the field with a company of fairies. The winged horses began\nto eat the newly mown hay, and the fairies danced over it. After the\ngreater part of the hay had been eaten by the horses, and all the rest\nhad been spoiled by the dancing of the fairies, the whole company left\nthe field, just as day began to dawn. The watcher in the tree had\nwitnessed all this; he was, however, too frightened to do\nanything\u2014indeed, he hardly dared to move. When he went home, he told\nhis brothers all that he had seen; at which they were sad, since this\nyear again they would have no hay.\n\nHowever, the time passed, and the third summer came on. Again the three\nbrothers cut the grass in their meadow, and consulted together\nanxiously how they should manage to keep their new hay.\n\nAt length it was settled that it was now the turn of the eldest brother\nto keep watch. If he, also, failed to save the hay, it was agreed that\nthey should divide amongst them the little property which they had\nleft, and go out again, separately, to seek their fortunes in the\nworld, seeing they had no luck in their own country.\n\nAs had been agreed upon, the eldest brother now went out into the field\nat night; but, instead of going up into the tree as his brothers had\ndone, he lay quietly down on a heap of hay, and waited to see what\nwould happen. About midnight he heard a great noise, afar off, and,\nby-and-by, a troop of fairies, with three winged horses, came straight\ntowards the place where he lay. Having got there, the fairies began to\ndance, and the horses to eat the hay, and canter about. The eldest\nbrother looked on, and, at first, felt much afraid, and wished heartily\nthe whole company would go away without seeing him. As, however, they\nseemed in no hurry to do this, he considered what he should do, and, at\nlength, decided that it would be worth while to try to catch one of the\nthree horses. So, when they came near him, he jumped on the back of one\nof them, and clung fast to it. The other two horses instantly ran away,\nand the fairies with them.\n\nThe horse which the eldest brother had caught tried all sorts of tricks\nto throw off his unwelcome rider, but he could not succeed. Finding all\nhis attempts to free himself quite useless, at last he said, \u201cLet me\ngo, my good man, and I will be of use to you some other time.\u201d The man\nanswered, \u201cI will set you free on one condition; that is, you must\npromise never more to come in this field; and you must give me some\npledge that you will keep your promise.\u201d\n\nThe horse gladly agreed to this condition, and gave the man a hair from\nhis tail, saying, \u201cWhenever you happen to be in need, hold this hair to\na fire, and I will instantly be at your service.\u201d\n\nThereupon the horse went off, and the eldest brother returned home. His\nbrothers had waited impatiently for his return, and, when they saw him,\npressed him immediately to tell them all that had happened. So he told\neverything, except that he had got a hair from the horse\u2019s tail,\nbecause he did not believe that the horse would keep his promise and\ncome to him in his need. The two younger brothers, however, had no\nconfidence that the fairies and winged horses would fulfil their\npromise and never come again to ruin their hay-field, so they proposed\nthat the property should be at once divided, and that they should\nseparate. The eldest brother tried to persuade them to remain at least\none other year longer, to see what would happen; he was not able,\nhowever, to succeed in this. Accordingly they divided the remnant of\ntheir property, took each their animals, that is, each his bear, his\nwolf, his dog, and his cat, and left their home, for the second time,\nto seek their fortunes in the world.\n\nThe first day they travelled together, but the second day they were\nobliged to separate, because having come to a crossway, and trying to\nkeep on the same path, they found they could not take a step forward so\nlong as they were together. They therefore left that path and tried\nanother; it was, however, of no use, for they could not move a step\nforward as long as they were together; and when they tried the third\npath, the same happened there also. So they tried if two of them could\ngo on in one road if one of them went before and the other behind. But\nthis also they were unable to do; they could not get on one step, try\nas hard as they would, so nothing was left them but to separate and\neach of them to go alone by a different road. They were exceedingly\nsorry to part, but could not help themselves.\n\nBefore the brothers separated, the eldest brother said, \u201cNow, brothers,\nbefore we part, let us stick our knives in this oak-tree; as long as we\nlive our knives will remain where we stick them; when one of us dies,\nhis knife will fall out. Let us, then, come here every third year to\nsee if the knives are still in their places. Thus we shall know\nsomething, at least, about each other.\u201d The other two agreed to this,\nand, having stuck their knives in the oak-tree, and kissed each other,\nwent, each one his own way, taking his animals with him.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nLet us first follow the youngest brother in his wanderings. He\ntravelled, with his attendant animals, all that day and the following\nnight without stopping, and the next day saw before him a king\u2019s\npalace, and went straight towards it. Having been taken into the\npresence of the king, he begged his Majesty to employ him in watching\nhis goats. The king consented to take him as goat-herd, and from that\nday he had the charge of the king\u2019s goats and lived on thus quietly for\na long time.\n\nOne day the new goat-herd chanced to drive his flock to a high hill,\nnot far from the king\u2019s palace. On the summit of the hill there was a\nvery tall pine-tree, and the instant he saw it he resolved to climb up\nand look about from its top on the surrounding country. Accordingly, he\nclimbed up, and enjoyed exceedingly the extensive and beautiful\nprospect. As he looked in one direction he saw, a long way off, a great\nsmoke arising from a mountain. The moment he saw the smoke he fancied\nthat one of his brothers must be there, as he thought it unlikely that\nanyone else would be in such a wilderness. So he resolved at once to\ngive up his place of goat-herd, and travel to the mountain which he had\nseen in the distance. Coming down from the tree, therefore, he\nimmediately collected his goats, which was a very easy task for him to\ndo, since he had such good help in his bear, his wolf, his dog, and his\ncat.\n\nNo sooner had he reached the palace than he went straight to the king\nand said, \u201cSir, I can no longer be your Majesty\u2019s goat-herd. I must go\naway, for I saw to-day a smoking mountain, and I believe that one of my\nbrothers is there, and I wish to go and see if this be so. I therefore\nbeg your Majesty to pay me what you owe me, and to let me go!\u201d All this\ntime he thought the king knew nothing about the smoking mountain.\n\nWhen he had said this, however, the king immediately began to advise\nhim on no account to go to the mountain\u2014for, as he assured him, whoever\nwent there never came back again. He told him that all who had gone\nthither seemed at once to have sunk into the earth, for no one ever\nheard anything more about them. All the king\u2019s warnings and counsels,\nhowever, availed nothing; the goat-herd was bent on going to the\nsmoking mountain, and looking after his two brothers.\n\nAfter he had made all preparations for the journey he set out,\naccompanied, as usual, by his four animals. He went straight to the\nmountain; but, having got there, he could not at first find the fire.\nIndeed, he had trouble enough before he discovered it. At length,\nhowever, he found a large fire burning under a beech tree, and went\nnear it to warm himself. At the same time he looked about on all sides\nto see who had made the fire. After looking about some time he heard a\nwoman\u2019s voice, and upon his looking up to see whence the sound came, he\nsaw an old woman sitting on one of the branches above his head. She sat\nhuddled together all of a heap, and shaking with cold.\n\nNo sooner had he discovered her than the old woman begged him to allow\nher to come down to the fire and warm herself a little. So he told her\nshe might come down and warm herself as soon as she pleased. She\nanswered, however, \u201cOh, my son, I dare not come down because of your\ncompany. I am afraid of the animals you have with you\u2014your bear, and\nwolf, and dog, and cat.\u201d\n\nAt this he tried to reassure her and said, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid! They will\ndo you no harm.\u201d However, she would not trust them, so she plucked a\nhair from her head, and threw it down, saying, \u201cPut that hair on their\nnecks and then I shall not be afraid to come down.\u201d\n\nAccordingly the man took the hair and threw it over his animals, and in\na moment the hair was turned into an iron chain which kept his\nfour-footed followers bound fast together.\n\nWhen the old woman saw that he had done as she desired, she came down\nfrom the tree and took her place by the fire. She seemed at first a\nvery little woman; as she sat by the fire, however, she began to grow\nlarger. When he saw this he was greatly astonished, and said to her,\n\u201cBut, my old woman, it seems to me that you grow bigger and bigger!\u201d\nThereupon she answered, shivering, \u201cHa! ha! no, no, my son! I am only\nwarming myself!\u201d But, nevertheless, she continued to grow taller and\ntaller, and had already grown half as tall as the beech-tree. The\ngoat-herd watched her growing with wide-open eyes, and, beginning to\nget frightened, said again, \u201cBut really you are getting a fearful size,\nand are growing taller and taller every moment.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa, ha, my son,\u201d she coughed and shivered, \u201cI am only warming myself!\u201d\nSeeing, however, that she was now as tall as the tallest beech-tree,\nand, fearing that his life was in danger, he called anxiously to his\ncompanions, \u201cHold her fast, my bear! Hold her fast, my wolf! Hold her\nfast, my dog! Hold her fast, my cat!\u201d But it was all in vain that he\ncalled to them; none of them could move a step from his place. When he\nsaw that, he endeavoured to run away, but found that he could no more\nmove from his place than if he were fast chained to it. Then the old\nwoman, seeing everything had gone on just as she wished, bent down a\nlittle, and, touching him with her little finger, said, \u201cGo, you have\nlost your head!\u201d and the self-same moment he turned to ashes. After\nthat, she touched, with the little toe of her left foot, all his\nanimals, one after the other, and they also turned at once to ashes as\ntheir master had done.\n\nHaving collected all the ashes she buried them under an oak-tree. Then\nas soon as she took the iron chain in her hand, it turned again into a\nhair, which she put back into its place on her head.\n\nShe had before done with many young and noble knights just as she had\nnow done with this poor goat-herd.\n\nThe second brother, after serving a long time in a strange place, was\nseized with a great desire to go to the oak-tree at the cross-roads,\nwhere he had parted with his brothers, in order to see if their knives\nwere still sticking in the tree. When he got there, he found the knife\nof his eldest brother still firmly fixed in the trunk of the oak, but\nhis youngest brother\u2019s knife had fallen to the ground. Then he knew\nthat his younger brother was dead, or in great danger of death, and he\nresolved at once to follow the way he had gone and try to discover what\nhad become of him. Going then along the same road which his younger\nbrother had travelled, he came, on the third day, to the king\u2019s palace,\nand went in and begged the king to take him into his service. Whereupon\nthe king took him as goat-herd, exactly as he had taken before the\nyoungest brother.\n\nWhen the second brother had tended the king\u2019s goats a long time, he one\nday drove them up a high hill, and, finding there a very tall\npine-tree, resolved at once to climb up to its top and look about to\nsee what kind of a country lay on the other side of the hill. When he\nhad looked round a while from the tree he noticed a great volume of\nsmoke rising from a mountain afar off, and the thought came at once to\nhis mind that his brothers might be there. Accordingly, he came down\nquickly, collected his goats, and went back to the king\u2019s palace,\nfollowed by his four companions, that is to say, by his bear, his wolf,\nhis dog, and his cat. When he had reached the palace he went straight\nto the king, and begged him to pay him his wages at once, and to let\nhim go to look after his brothers; for he had seen a smoke upon a\nmountain, and he believed they were there. The king tried in vain to\ndissuade him by telling him that none who went there ever came back;\nbut all his Majesty\u2019s words availed nothing. Thereupon, seeing he was\ndecided on going, the king paid him what he owed him, and let him go.\n\nHe at once set out, and went straight to the mountain; but, when he got\nthere, he was a long time before he could find any fire. At last,\nhowever, he found one burning under a beech-tree, and he went up to it\nto warm himself, wondering all the time who had made it, since he saw\nno one near. As he warmed himself he heard a woman\u2019s voice in the tree\nabove his head, and, looking up, saw there an old woman huddled up on a\nbranch, and shaking with cold.\n\nAs soon as he saw her, the old woman asked him to let her come down and\nwarm herself by the fire, and he told her she might come and warm\nherself as long as she liked.\n\nShe said, however, \u201cI am afraid of the company which you have with you.\nTake this hair and lay it over your bear, and wolf, and dog, and cat,\nand then I shall be able to come down.\u201d\n\nSo saying, she pulled a hair out of her head and threw it down. He\nlaughed at her fears, and assured her that his companions would not\nhurt her; finding, however, notwithstanding all he said, that she was\nstill afraid to come down from the tree, he at last took the hair and\nlaid it on the beasts as she had directed. In an instant the hair\nturned into an iron chain, and bound the four animals fast together.\nThen the old woman came down, and took a place by the fire to warm\nherself. As the second brother watched her warming herself, he saw her\ngrow bigger and bigger, until she had grown half as tall as the\nbeech-tree.\n\nWondering greatly, he exclaimed, \u201cOld woman, you are growing bigger and\nbigger.\u201d \u201cHy, hy! my son,\u201d said she, coughing and shivering, \u201cI am only\nwarming myself.\u201d But when he saw that she was already as tall as the\nbeech-tree, he became frightened, and called to his companions, \u201cHold\nher, my bear! hold her, my wolf! hold her, my dog! hold her, my cat.\u201d\nThey were none of them, however, able to move, so fast were they held\ntogether by the iron chain.\n\nSeeing that, the old woman stooped down and touched him with her little\nfinger, and he fell immediately into ashes. Then she touched the four\nanimals, one after the other, with the little toe of her left foot, and\nthey, also, crumbled to ashes.\n\nNo sooner had the old woman done this than she collected all the ashes\nin a heap and buried them under an oak-tree. As she had before done\nwith the ashes of many a youthful knight and gentleman, so she did now\nwith those of this poor simple man. Pity, if they were to die, that\nsome more worthy means than one hair from the head of a miserable old\nwoman had not brought about their deaths!\n\nA very long time had passed, and yet the eldest brother never once\nthought of going back to the cross-roads where he had parted with his\nbrothers. He was engaged in the service of a good and honest master,\nand, finding himself so well off, fancied that his brothers were the\nsame. His master was an innkeeper, and the whole work of the servant\nwas to prepare, morning and evening, the beds of the guests. He did his\nduty so well that his master thought of adopting him for his son, as he\nhimself was childless.\n\nOne day a gentleman of great distinction came to pass the night at the\ninn, and the servant thought that the stranger looked remarkably like\nhis youngest brother. He wished to ask him his name, but could not for\nshame, partly because he feared his brother would reproach him for\nhaving forgotten to go to the cross-roads; partly because the guest\u2019s\nmanners were so polished and his clothes were of fine silk and velvet;\nwhereas he had left his brother very poorly clad, and of rustic\nmanners.\n\nAs he thought of the likeness which the guest bore to his youngest\nbrother, he considered that, in his travels about the world, his\nbrother might have found wisdom, and by his wisdom might have succeeded\nin some way of business, and by his business might have gained money;\nand then, having got money, that it would be easy for him to get as\nfine clothes as the stranger wore. Reasoning thus, he took courage at\nlast to ask the gentleman about his family, and at length grew bold\nenough to ask him plainly if he was not his brother.\n\nThis, however, the stranger quickly and positively denied, and asked,\nin return, about the servant\u2019s family. To all the particulars which the\nservant gave him he listened with a smile.\n\nNext morning, the guest left the inn very early; and when the servant\nwent to arrange the bed in which he had slept, he found, under the\npillow, a little stone.\n\nHe thought the stone must be valuable, having been in the possession of\nso rich a man, and yet he considered its loss could hardly be felt by\none who went clothed in silks and velvets. He lifted it to his lips to\nkiss it, before putting it in his pocket; but the moment his lips\ntouched it, two negroes started out and asked him, \u201cWhat are your\norders, sir?\u201d He was frightened by the suddenness of their appearance,\nand answered, \u201cI do not order anything.\u201d Then the negroes disappeared,\nand he put the stone in his pocket.\n\nThe more he thought of this, the more he marvelled at the wonderful\nstone, and considered what he should do with it. By-and-by, in order to\nfind out what the negroes could do, he took the stone out of his\npocket, and raised it again to his lips. The moment he did so, the\nnegroes reappeared, and asked him again, \u201cWhat do you demand, sir?\u201d He\nreplied quickly, \u201cI desire to have the finest clothes prepared for me,\nof which no two pieces must be made from the same kind of stuff.\u201d In a\nvery few moments the negroes brought him the most beautiful clothes\npossible; so fine indeed were they all, that he could not decide which\npiece was the most beautiful. Then, dismissing the negroes, who\ndisappeared in the stone, he dressed himself. He was admiring the fine\nfit of his clothes, when his master came to the door of his room, and,\nseeing a stranger in such an exceedingly rich dress, said humbly,\n\u201cExcuse me, sir, where do you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom not far off,\u201d the servant answered.\n\n\u201cWait a moment, sir,\u201d said the innkeeper; \u201cI will call my servant to\ntake your orders;\u201d and, going outside, he called loudly for his\nservant.\n\nMeanwhile, the servant quickly threw off his fine clothes and gave them\nback to the negroes. Dressing himself hurriedly in his old clothes, he\nrushed out of his room. Then, finding the pantry open, he began to\narrange the things.\n\nHis master found him employed in this way, and ordered him at once to\nleave that business, and to go into the house to make coffee for a\ndistinguished guest who had that moment arrived.\n\nThe strange guest, however, was nowhere to be found. The innkeeper\nlooked, with his servant, into all the rooms, but there was no sign of\na guest anywhere. Then the master, greatly astonished, thought that\nsome thieves had been playing him a trick, and bid the servant in\nfuture to look more sharply who came in and who went out of the inn.\nThe servant listened quietly to his master; but, having once remembered\nhis brothers, he had now an irresistible desire to look after them, and\nso he told the innkeeper that he had resolved to go away, and desired\nthat he might be paid his wages.\n\nThe innkeeper was very sad at hearing this, and offered to raise his\nwages, and tried all means to keep him; but it was of no use. Seeing\nthat the servant was resolved to go away, the master then paid him, and\nlet him leave the inn. Then the eldest brother took with him his four\nanimals\u2014his bear, wolf, dog, and cat, and went away.\n\nAfter travelling a very long time, his good fortune brought him to the\ncross-roads where he had parted with his brothers. Instantly he rushed\nto the oak to see if the knives were still sticking in it, but his own\nknife alone stood in the tree. The two others had fallen out, and he\nwas much grieved at this, believing that his brothers were dead or that\nthey were in great danger. In his trouble he had quite forgotten the\nwonderful hair and stone which he possessed. He resolved to go and\nsearch after his brothers, and therefore went along the same road his\nyoungest brother had taken when they parted.\n\nAs he travelled he remembered the hair which the winged horse had given\nhim, and the stone which he had found at the inn; but these did not\nmuch console him, he was so exceedingly sorry for his brothers. After\ntravelling some time he found himself before a large palace, the\ndoor-keeper of which asked him if he would take charge of the king\u2019s\ngoats. He said he would, if the king could only tell him something\nabout his two brothers, who had travelled that way with a similar\ncompany to that which he had. The king said that no men with such a\ncompany had passed that way during his reign; and this was quite true,\ninasmuch as he had only recently mounted the throne, the old king,\nunder whom the two brothers had served, having lately died. However,\nthough the eldest brother could learn nothing of his two younger\nbrothers, he decided to stay some time there, and so engaged himself to\nthe king as goat-keeper.\n\nAs he drove the goats out, day by day, he looked about on all sides for\nsome trace of his brothers; for, although their knives had fallen out\nof the oak-tree, he tried to believe that they were not dead.\n\nOne day, as he thus wandered about with his goats, he met an old man,\nwho was going to the forest, with his axe on his shoulder, to cut wood.\n\nSo he asked him if he had seen anything of his two brothers. The old\nman answered, \u201cWho knows? Perhaps they have been lost on that mountain\nwhere so many other men have lost their lives. Drive your goats up that\nhigh hill; from its top you will see a much higher mountain, which\nsmokes, and never ceases to smoke. On that mountain many people have\nbeen lost; perhaps your brothers also have perished there. I will,\nhowever, give you one piece of good advice. Do not go, for anything in\nthe world, to the place where it smokes. I am now an old man, but I\nnever remember to have seen one man return who went there. Therefore,\nif your life is dear to you, do not go up that mountain.\u201d So saying the\nold man went off.\n\nThe goat-keeper drove his goats up the hill, and from its top he saw,\nas he had been told, a very high mountain which smoked. He tried to\ndiscover if any living creature was thereon, but he could not see the\ntraces of a single one there. He considered within himself whether he\nshould go there or not, and, after revolving it over in his mind, he at\nlength determined to go.\n\nIn the evening, when he drove the goats home, he told the king of his\nintention. The king tried hard to dissuade him, and promised to raise\nhis wages if he would stay with him; however, nothing could turn him\nfrom his resolution. So the king paid him, and he went away.\n\nHaving come to the mountain he found the fire, and wondered who lit it.\nAs he thought over this he heard a woman\u2019s voice, saying, \u201cHy, hy!\u201d So\nhe looked up, and was astonished at seeing, in the branches of the\nbeech-tree over his head, an old woman huddled together. Her hair was\nlonger than her body, and as white as snow. When he looked up, she said\nto him, \u201cMy son, I am so cold. I should like to warm myself, but I am\nafraid of your beasts. I made that fire myself, but, seeing you coming\nwith your animals, I was frightened, and got up here to save myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you can now come down again, and warm yourself as much as you\nplease,\u201d said he. However, she protested, \u201cI dare not\u2014your beasts would\nbite me. But I will throw you a hair, and you shall bind them with it.\nThen I can come down.\u201d The eldest brother thought to himself: the hair\nmust be a very singular hair indeed, if it could bind his bear, his\nwolf, his dog, and his cat. So, instead of throwing it over the\nanimals, he threw it into the fire. Meanwhile the old woman came down\nfrom the tree, and they both sat by the fire. But he never moved his\neyes from her.\n\nVery soon she began to grow, and grow, and in a short time she was ten\nyards high. Then he remembered the words of the old wood-cutter, and\ntrembled. However, he only said to her, \u201cHow you are growing, auntie.\u201d\n\u201cOh, no, my son,\u201d she answered, \u201cI am only warming myself.\u201d She still\ngrew taller and taller, and had grown as tall as the beech-tree, when\nhe again exclaimed, \u201cBut how you are growing, old woman!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no, my son. I am only warming myself,\u201d she repeated as before.\n\nBut he saw that she meant him mischief, so he shouted to his\ncompanions, \u201cHold her, my dog! hold her, my little bear! hold her, my\nlittle wolf! hold her my pussy!\u201d Thereupon they all jumped on the old\nwoman, and began to tear her. Seeing she was unable to help herself,\nshe begged him to save her from her furious enemies, and promised she\nwould give him whatever he asked. \u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cI demand that you\nbring back to life my two brothers, with their companions, and all\nthose you have destroyed. Besides that, I demand ten loads of ducats.\nIf you will not comply with these demands, I shall leave you to be torn\nto pieces by my animals.\u201d The old woman agreed to do all this, only she\nbegged hard that one man should not be brought back to life, because\nshe had said, when she had turned him to ashes, \u201cWhen you arise, may I\nlie down in your place!\u201d and, therefore, she was afraid she should be\nturned to ashes herself if he came back to life.\n\nAs the eldest brother, however, thought that she was trying to cheat\nhim, he would not comply with her request.\n\nFinding that she could not otherwise help herself, she at length said\nto him, \u201cTake some ashes from that heap under the tree, and throw them\nover yourself and your company, and whilst you do so say, \u2018Arise up,\ndust and ashes\u2014what I am now may you also be!\u2019\u201d\n\nWonder of wonders! The moment he did as she told him, there arose up\ncrowds of men\u2014more than ten thousand of them. On seeing such a\nmultitude of people coming from under the tree, he was almost struck\nsenseless with astonishment. But he explained to them briefly what had\nhappened. Most of them thanked him heartily; some, however, of them\nwould not believe him, and said with anger, \u201cWe would rather you had\nnot awakened us.\u201d Then they went away in crowds; some took one way,\nsome another, until they were all dispersed. Only his two brothers\nremained behind; though they, too, for some time could not believe that\nhe was their brother. However, when they saw that their animals\nrecognised his, they remembered that no one but themselves had had such\na strange company of beasts. Having recognised each other, the brothers\nfell into each other\u2019s arms, and embraced affectionately. Then they\ndivided the ducats which the old woman had given to the eldest, loaded\ntheir animals with their treasures, and went straight away towards the\nplace where they were born, and where their parents had died.\n\nAs for the old woman, when the last man arose from the ashes under the\noak-tree, she herself crumbled into ashes under it.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nThe three brothers built three fine palaces for themselves, and lived\ntherein some time unmarried. At length, however, they began to think\nwhat would become of all their property after their deaths, and said to\neach other that it would be a pity for them to die without heirs. So\nthey resolved to marry, that their wealth might be left to their sons\nand daughters.\n\nThe eldest brother said, \u201cLet me go and find the best wives I can for\nall three of us; meantime you two will remain here, and take care of\nour property.\u201d The others gladly agreed to this, as the eldest brother\nhad given proofs enough that he was by far the wisest of the three, and\nthey felt sure that he would be able also to bring this important\nbusiness to a successful issue. So he made the needful preparations,\nand started on his journey to look out for three wives for himself and\nthe two younger brothers who remained at home.\n\nAfter long travelling he arrived at a large city, and resolved to\nremain there all night, and to continue his journey in the morning.\n\nIt happened that the king of that place had just arranged a horse-race,\nand promised his only daughter as the prize, and, with her, ten loads\nof treasure to the winner.\n\nThe very evening the eldest brother arrived he heard the public\nbell-man proclaiming aloud through the streets, that everyone who had a\nhorse should come to-morrow to the royal field, and whoever should\nspring first over the ditch should be rewarded with the king\u2019s\ndaughter, and should receive, with her, ten loads of gold.\n\nHe listened to the proclamation without saying anything. Next morning\nhe went out into the king\u2019s field in order to see the racing, and found\nthere already innumerable horses of all kinds.\n\nA little later came also the princess, the king\u2019s daughter, and behind\nher were brought ten loads of treasures.\n\nWhen he saw the king\u2019s daughter he thought her so exceedingly beautiful\nthat he went instantly a little aside from the crowd to get a better\nsight of her. He then remembered his wonderful stone. Taking it out he\nnow lifted it to his lips, and immediately the two negroes appeared,\nand said, \u201cMaster, what do you command?\u201d He replied, \u201cBring me clothes\nof silk and velvet, together with precious stones, and ten good horses!\nand bring them as soon as possible!\u201d He had not winked twice before the\nnegroes had placed before him everything which he had demanded. Then he\ntook out the hair, and, striking fire with a flint, held the hair near\nit. The moment he did this, the same cream-coloured horse that had\ngiven him the hair stood beside him, and asked, \u201cMaster, what do you\ncommand?\u201d He answered, \u201cI wish that to-day we leave all the other\nhorses behind us in the race, so that I may gain the king\u2019s daughter.\nTherefore prepare yourself, and let us go at once, as the other horses\nare now ready for starting.\u201d\n\nThe instant he had spoken these words, the cream-coloured horse stood,\npawing the earth, ready and eager to begin the race. The man then\nmounted it, and off they went. The other racers, having started a few\nmoments before, were already pretty far from the starting-point; in an\ninstant, however, he had reached them, and in another had passed and\nleft them far behind. When he reached the ditch\u2014which was a hundred and\nfive yards deep, and a hundred yards wide\u2014the horse made so great a\nspring that it touched ground some fifty yards beyond the ditch, broad\nas it was.\n\nThen he rode back and took the maiden, the king\u2019s daughter, and,\nplacing her behind him on his horse, carried her off, together with the\nloads of gold. All the people, seeing this, wondered greatly who the\nstrange knight could be who had left all the best horses so far behind\nin the race, and had won the beautiful princess, with all her rich\ntreasures.\n\nHe rode along until he came to a wood pretty far from the city, and\nthere he let his wonderful horse go until he should want him again. He\nthen took off all his beautiful clothes, and put on his old dress, and\nin this manner went on with the maiden and the loads of gold.\n\nAbout evening he arrived at a strange city, and decided to remain\nthere. After he had rested a little while, the people in the inn told\nhim that all day long the city bell-man had proclaimed that whoever had\na good horse should go to-morrow to the horse-race, for the king of the\npalace had offered his only daughter as a prize, together with a\nhundredweight of gold and jewels; but that there was a ditch to be\nsprung over which was three hundred and fifty yards deep and a hundred\nand fifty yards wide. When he heard this he was greatly pleased, for he\nwas quite sure that he should win this race also.\n\nNext morning, by the help of the little stone and the wonderful hair,\nhe was again dressed in the finest clothes, and mounted on his\ncream-coloured horse, and so took his place amongst the racers.\n\nEveryone wondered from what country this knight came, and were\ndelighted at his rich dress; as for the horse, the people were never\ntired of admiring it. When the race-horses were arranged for the start\nhe remained purposely behind. He knew well enough that this was of no\nconsequence to him, as in one moment he could reach and pass them all.\nAt length he started, and in a moment distanced the fleetest horse,\narriving at the ditch, and leaping over it as if it were nothing. Then,\nwithout waiting a minute, he took possession of the king\u2019s daughter and\nher treasures, and went straight to the city where he had left the\nfirst king\u2019s daughter and her loads of gold.\n\nTaking the two princesses and all the wealth with him, he now thought\nthat it was time for him to go back home. On his way, however, he had\nthe great good luck to come again to a large city, where he resolved to\nremain during the night. There, also, the public crier had been\nproclaiming all day long that the king had determined to give his only\ndaughter and fifteen hundredweight of gold to whoever should win the\nrace which was to be run on the morrow. In this instance, however, the\nhorses would have to leap over a ditch one thousand yards deep and four\nhundred and fifty yards wide. On hearing this proclamation, the eldest\nbrother became very joyful, for he knew that no racer had any chance of\nbeating his wonderful horse.\n\nOn the morrow, therefore, by means of his little stone and the hair, he\nordered fifteen horses to be ready, to carry away the treasures he felt\nsure of winning, and, at the same time, directed the negroes to bring\nhim his fairy courser and dresses so splendid that not even a king\ncould buy them.\n\nRichly dressed in this way, and mounted, as he was, on his marvellous\nhorse, all the world, who had gathered to see the great race, could\nlook at nothing except at him.\n\nWhen all the racers were arranged for the start, he lingered behind and\nlet them all speed off like falcons. He wished everyone to see that he\nwas the last to start, that they might not charge him afterwards with\nhaving in any way cheated. When they had already gone pretty far, he\nstarted himself, and in a moment he had reached them, passed them, and\nleft them all a long, long distance behind. How could it be otherwise?\nWhen did the crow outfly the falcon? Coming to the ditch, he touched\nthe bridle a little, and, in an instant, his horse had leaped over the\nditch, and they were safe on the other side. So, without any delay, he\ntook away the maiden, together with all the gold, and went back to the\ncity. Having collected his immense treasures, he now took with him the\nthree princesses and went straight home. As he travelled along with his\ncompany, everyone who met him asked him, \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d For you\nsee the princesses were exceedingly beautiful. But beyond all others\nhis two brothers, when he reached home, wondered and were delighted at\nthe sight of the three beautiful princesses. They did not rejoice half\nso much over the great riches he had gained for them as over the\nmarvellous fairness of the king\u2019s daughters whom he had brought to be\ntheir wives.\n\nThus each of the three brothers married a beautiful princess; the\neldest brother, however, who had shown himself so much the bravest and\nwisest of them, married the youngest and most beautiful of the three.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHEPHERD AND THE KING\u2019S DAUGHTER\n\n\nA long time ago there lived a poor woman who possessed nothing in the\nworld except one son and four lambs. The boy took the lambs out to\ngraze every morning, and brought them home every night. One day it\nhappened that the lambs were grazing in a field not far from the summer\npalace of the king, and the king\u2019s daughter came out to the young\nshepherd and asked him to give her one of them. The boy refused,\nsaying, \u201cI cannot give you one, for my mother will scold me if I do, as\nwe have nothing in the world except these four lambs.\u201d The princess,\nhowever, had taken so great a fancy for a lamb that she would not be\nrefused, and at last said, \u201cOnly let me have this one and I will give\nyou any price you like to ask.\u201d\n\nThe boy, seeing that the princess would not go away without a lamb,\nconsidered a little how he could get rid of her, and then he told her\nthat he would give her one if she would show him one of her shoulders.\nTo his great surprise the princess, without any hesitation, pushed her\nmantle aside and showed him her bare white arm, and he noticed that on\nthe shoulder there was a mark like a star. He was obliged now to give\nher one of his lambs, and when he went home in the evening he told his\nmother that he had fallen asleep at noon, and that when he awoke, one\nof the lambs had vanished, and he could not find it anywhere.\n\nThen his mother scolded him very much, saying, \u201cI see you will bring me\nto the beggar\u2019s staff with your carelessness! To-morrow you must take\nthese three lambs out to graze very early, and look well about for the\nlost one. And if you don\u2019t find it you had better never let me set eyes\non you again.\u201d\n\nAt dawn the next day the boy took the three lambs to graze in the same\nfield, and sat down to consider how he could get back the lamb he had\nlost. At noon, when no one was about, the king\u2019s daughter came out of\nthe palace and said to him, \u201cYoung shepherd, give me another lamb, and\nask what you please in return.\u201d But the boy answered, \u201cNo! I dare not\ngive you another; I have suffered enough for the one I gave you\nyesterday! So please go and bring me my lamb back.\u201d\n\nThis the princess refused to do, and said, \u201cIt is quite useless to\nspeak of such a thing. But tell me, did you notice anything particular\non my shoulder?\u201d\n\nThe youth answered, \u201cYes, I saw a star!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed the princess; \u201cfor that you can never pay me enough,\nand yet you want your lamb back!\u201d So they almost quarrelled, for the\nking\u2019s daughter persisted in begging him to give her another lamb, and\nthe young shepherd insisted that she should bring him the first one\nback again.\n\nAt last, seeing there was no end to her begging, the boy said, \u201cWell! I\nwill give you one if you uncover before me your other shoulder.\u201d This\nthe princess did instantly, and he remarked that she had the mark of a\nstar on that arm also. In this way he lost a second lamb; and when the\nevening came he went home very sadly, feeling sure his mother would\nscold him. And so she did, far more than at the first time, calling him\nill names and threatening to beat him. The boy was really sorry that he\nhad given way to the princess\u2019s prayers, but he could not help it now.\nNext day, again, the princess came to him and begged so hard and so\nlong for a third lamb that he became impatient, and, thinking to shame\nher, said he would give her one if she showed him her neck. To his\ngreat surprise, however, the king\u2019s daughter at once let her mantle\nfall, and he saw that she had the mark of a crescent on her throat. So\nthe poor boy lost a third lamb, and hardly dared go home to his mother\nat night with the one lamb left them. Indeed the poor old woman was so\nangry at her son\u2019s carelessness in losing one lamb after another whilst\nhe slept\u2014for he did not dare to tell her the truth about the\nprincess\u2014that she cursed him as \u201ca good-for-nothing who would bring her\nto beggary.\u201d\n\nNotwithstanding all his mother\u2019s reproaches and threats the boy could\nnot refuse the princess the next day when she came out to ask for the\nfourth lamb. However, he tried to get her to go away a long time, and\nnot until quite tired out with her begging, did he exclaim, \u201cWell, I\nwill give you the lamb if you will show me your breast!\u201d Then the\nprincess pushed her robe aside, and the boy noticed that she had the\nmark of a sun on her bosom.\n\nIn this way the young shepherd lost all the four lambs, and he lived a\nlong time with his mother in great poverty.\n\nA long, long time afterwards the king sent out a proclamation that he\nintended to let his daughter marry, and would give her to that man who\ncould tell him what particular birth-marks she had about her. The young\nshepherd heard this proclamation, and when he went home in the evening\nhe said to his mother, \u201cMother, I intend to go to the king\u2019s palace\nto-morrow, so get me my best linen ready.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what do you want in the king\u2019s palace?\u201d asked the poor old woman\nwondering.\n\n\u201cI intend, God helping me, to marry the king\u2019s daughter,\u201d replied the\nyoung man boldly.\n\n\u201cOh! you had better give up that fancy,\u201d cried the mother. \u201cIt will be\nbetter for you to go and work and gain a piaster than to go, like a fly\nwithout a head, dreaming about things that are as high as the sky above\nyou.\u201d\n\nBut the young man would not be persuaded, and went the next day to the\nking\u2019s palace. Before going out of the hut, however, he said to his\nanxious old mother, \u201cGood-bye, mother.\u201d\n\nHe had not waited very far before a gipsy met him, and asked, \u201cWhere\nare you going, my young man?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to the king\u2019s palace,\u201d answered the youth, \u201cand I mean, God\nhelping me, to marry the king\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, my dear comrade,\u201d said the gipsy, keeping near him, \u201chow can you\nreally expect that she will marry you, when you are so poor? Only a\nshepherd!\u201d\n\n\u201cEh!\u201d returned the young man; \u201cbut I know what birth-marks she has, and\nthe king has sent out a proclamation that whoever guesses these shall\nhave her for his wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is so,\u201d rejoined the cunning gipsy, \u201cI myself will also go to\nthe palace with you.\u201d\n\nThe young man was glad to have company on the road, and so he and the\ngipsy travelled on together until they came to the residence of the\nking.\n\nWhen they came to the palace they found a large number of people who\nhad come to \u201ctry their luck,\u201d and guess what birth-marks the princess\nhad. But it was lost time, for every one of them, after going past the\nking and guessing \u201cby good luck\u201d at the marks of the princess, was\nobliged to go away, having lost his time and gained nothing. At length\nthe turn came for the young shepherd to pass before the king, and the\ngipsy kept close to him to hear what he would say.\n\nSo the youth stepped before the king and said, \u201cThe princess has a star\non each shoulder, and a crescent on the throat\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nAt this moment the gipsy shouted loudly, \u201cLook there! that is just what\nI was going to say!\u201d\n\n\u201cBe quiet!\u201d said the young shepherd; \u201cor, if you really know what other\nmarks she has, speak out.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d cried the gipsy, \u201cgo on, go on! When you have done, I will\nspeak what I know!\u201d\n\nThen the youth turned again to the king and continued, \u201cThe princess\nhas the mark of a sun on her bosom\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is exactly what I was going to say!\u201d cried the gipsy, coming up\nquickly; \u201cshe has the mark of a sun on her breast.\u201d\n\nNow the king was exceeding surprised, and confessed to his counsellors\nthat the young shepherd had really guessed the truth. But as neither\nthe king nor the counsellors at all liked the idea of the princess\nmarrying a poor shepherd, they consulted how they could get rid of him\nwithout giving the lie to the king\u2019s proclamation. At length it was\ndecided that his Majesty should say, \u201cAs both the shepherd and the\ngipsy have guessed the princess\u2019s birth-marks, I cannot justly decide\nwhich of them should marry her. But I will give to each of them seventy\npiasters, and they must both go and trade with this money for a year.\nAt the end of the year, that one which brings back the most money shall\nhave the princess for his wife.\u201d\n\nThe young shepherd and the gipsy, having received the money, went off\nin opposite directions to seek their fortunes.\n\nAfter having travelled about some time, like a fly without a head, not\nknowing where\u2014the shepherd stopped one night to rest in the hut of an\nold woman, who was even poorer than his own mother.\n\nAs he sat with the old woman in the hut that evening, the lad thought\nhe might just as well ask her advice as to the best way to invest his\ncapital of seventy piasters, so he said: \u201cI have seventy piasters to\ntrade with, can you tell me some good way in which I may employ them\nprofitably?\u201d\n\nThe old woman considered the matter for some time before she answered,\nand then said, \u201cTo-morrow is market-day in the next city; go there\nyourself, and when a man brings a very poor cow for sale, go up and try\nto buy it. The cow will be of many different colours, but very thin and\nill fed, but you must buy her at whatever price the man asks for her.\nWhen you have bought her, bring her here at once.\u201d\n\nThe young man agreed to follow the old woman\u2019s counsel, and so next day\nhe went to the city and really found there a man who had brought a\npoor, but variously coloured, cow to sell. Many people wished to buy\nthe cow, but the young man outbid them all, and at length offered all\nhis seventy piasters for her. So he got the cow, and drove it to the\nhut where he had passed the night. When the old woman came out to see\nwho was coming, he called out to her, \u201cNow, my old mother, I have\nbought the cow, and what shall we do with her? She has cost me all my\ncapital!\u201d\n\nThe old woman answered at once, \u201cKill the cow, my son, and cut it in\npieces.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how will that bring me back my money with profit?\u201d asked the young\nshepherd, hesitating whether he should follow her advice or no.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, my son, but do as I say,\u201d returned the old woman.\nAccordingly he did as she advised him, killed the cow and cut her into\npieces. This done, he asked again, \u201cAnd now, what shall I do?\u201d The old\nwoman said quietly, \u201cWell, now we will eat the meat, and the suet we\nwill melt down and put into a pot to keep for some other occasion.\u201d\n\nThe shepherd did not at all like this proposal, for he could not see\nwhat return he could hope to get for such an investment of his capital.\nHowever, he thought within himself, \u201cWell, since I have been foolish\nenough to follow her counsel on the two former occasions, I may as well\nfollow it also this third time.\u201d So he remained with the old woman many\ndays, until the last piece of meat had been eaten up. When, however, he\nthought over all that had happened, he grew very sad, and, seeing no\nsign of anything better, said one morning to the old woman\nreproachfully, \u201cNow you see by following your counsel I have spent all\nthe king\u2019s money, and am now a ruined man!\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, my son,\u201d said the old woman; \u201cyou can now take that\npot of suet with you and go to the black world, where all the people\nare black as chimney-pots, and there you can sell for a good deal of\nmoney your suet, for it has the power to make the black skin white.\u201d\n\nThe poor shepherd was very glad at hearing this, and next morning took\nthe pot of suet on his shoulder and started on his journey. After he\nhad travelled many, many days, he came to a strange-looking country,\nand, going a little farther, he saw a man who was quite black, just as\nthe old woman had said\u2014as black as a chimney-pot. He was immediately\ngoing to offer to sell some of his fat to the black man, when the\nlatter, frightened at the sight of a white man, ran away. Many other\nblack men who saw him did the same, but after a while, when they saw\nthat he went on quietly carrying his pot on his shoulder, they took\ncourage, and came to him one by one, until at last quite a large crowd\nhad gathered about him. At length, one of them ventured to say to him,\n\u201cYou strange-looking man, tell us who you are, and where you come from,\nand why did you come here?\u201d The shepherd answered, \u201cI am a white man\nfrom a white world, and I come to bring you some fat which will make\nyou also white\u2014that is, of course, if you choose to buy it from me and\npay me for it well.\u201d\n\nNow the black men, though they had been quite shocked at first to see\nthe white man, began to think they also would like to be white; so they\nsaid they were willing to pay him as much as he liked to ask for his\nwonderful fat, because they were very rich.\n\nHowever, they doubted a little if the fat would really make them white\nas he said, and wished to see it tried before they bought it. Thereupon\nhe set the pot on the ground, and walked round and round it, saying\nsome queer words as if he were charming it. Then he took out of the pot\na little of the fat, and with it smeared one of the black men. In a\nmoment the black skin became quite white, and the other blacks, seeing\nthat he had told them the truth, crowded eagerly round him, begging\nthat he would make them white also, and out-bidding each other in\noffers of money, provided only that he made them white in a short time.\nThe young shepherd worked hard, smearing one black skin after the\nother, until he got quite weary and had become very rich, for they gave\nhim a good deal of money, and there were a great many of them who\nwished to be made white.\n\nJust as he had thus whitened the last of the black men about him, one\nof them said to him, \u201cWonder-working man! We have a king who, being our\nchief, is the blackest of us all; therefore, if you think you can make\nhim white also, we are sure he will be very glad to get rid of his\nblackness, and will pay you more money than you ever dreamt of.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do it very gladly,\u201d answered the shepherd; \u201cfor you must know I\nam doing this not so much for the sake of money as for charity; only,\nshow me at once the way to your king.\u201d\n\nSo they all ran off before him to show him the way, and he followed\nthem carrying his pot on his shoulder.\n\nWhen they arrived at the door of the king\u2019s palace, one of the men said\nto him, \u201cWait a moment here, whilst I go and tell his Majesty all about\nyour wonderful fat, and ask him to receive you.\u201d The shepherd waited\nquietly, though crowds gathered round him to stare at him and his great\npot, until the man came back and said the king was waiting impatiently\nto see him. So he lifted his pot again on his shoulder\u2014for he had set\nit down that he might rest the better\u2014and followed the messenger to the\nking\u2019s presence.\n\nNow the king of the black men was far blacker than anything the\nshepherd had ever seen in his life; he had no doubt, however, after all\nhe had seen, but that his fat would whiten him also. So he said\ncheerfully, \u201cGood morning, your Majesty!\u201d \u201cGood morning, my dear\nfellow,\u201d returned the black king; \u201cI have heard that you can do\nwonders, and I have seen that you have already whitened many of my\nsubjects, so, for Heaven\u2019s sake, deliver me also from this my\nblackness, and ask in return whatever you like, even the half of my\nkingdom!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat your Majesty has heard is quite true,\u201d said the shepherd; \u201cand I\nwill very gladly try to make you also white!\u201d and he took a great lump\nof fat and rubbed it well all over the king\u2019s face and neck. In a\nmoment the king became as white as snow, to the great rejoicings of all\nhis people. But no one was so pleased as the king himself, so he said\nagain, \u201cOnly ask! I will give you whatever you wish, even if it be my\nthrone!\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank your Majesty very humbly for offering me your throne, but I\ndon\u2019t want it,\u201d replied the shepherd; \u201cbut if you will give me three\nships full of gold and silver, and some good sailors to manage the\nships, and some good soldiers and cannons to defend them against the\npirates, I shall think myself more than repaid, and I will send you\nback the ships and cannons when the gold and silver are landed safely\nin my country.\u201d\n\nThen the king at once gave the necessary orders, and in a very few days\nhis servants came to report to him that the ships were then filled with\ngold and silver, and that the cannons were ready loaded and posted for\naction, and all the sailors and soldiers prepared to fight if any\nsea-robber came in their way.\n\nThen the young shepherd took a courteous leave of the king, and of all\nthose other people who were so thankful to him for having changed them\nfrom black men into white ones. He now went on board one of the ships,\nvery glad to go back to his own country, and the two other ships full\nof gold and silver followed the first one across the seas.\n\nAfter having sailed a long time the three ships reached at last the\ncoast of the kingdom where the king was waiting, daily expecting the\nreturn of the gipsy and shepherd to claim his daughter. The shepherd\nlet his ships lie quietly in the harbour one day, and then, noticing\nmuch tumult and disturbance in the city, went ashore to see what had\nhappened. There he found a great crowd, and on asking some of the\npeople what they were going to do, they told him that they were going\nto hang a gipsy who had come to the city with seventy piasters capital,\nand who had not only spent all his money in drinking and revellings,\nbut had even got into debt for seventy other piasters, which he was\nquite unable to pay, and that this was the reason they were about to\nhang him. In a few moments the hangman appeared, leading the gipsy, who\nwas no other than the very man who had tried to cheat the shepherd out\nof the princess.\n\nThe young shepherd recognised his rival at once, and, going near him,\nsaid, \u201cWhat is this, my old friend? Have you really come to this?\u201d The\ninstant the gipsy saw the shepherd he stopped and began to whine and\nwail, begging him to save him from the gibbet, and he would be his\nfaithful servant all his life. \u201cAs for the princess,\u201d he added\ncunningly, \u201cI have given her up a long time ago, and don\u2019t care for\nanything if only my life is spared.\u201d\n\nThen the young shepherd was sorry for the poor trembling, whining\nwretch, and offered to pay the debt for the gipsy if the people would\nlet him off. So they agreed to this, and the young man not only paid\nthe seventy piasters the gipsy owed, but bought him besides a suit of\ngood clothes as well as a carriage and a pair of fine horses. Then he\nleft him and went back to his ships, and they sailed on slowly along\nthe coast towards the king\u2019s residence.\n\nNow when the gipsy had dressed himself out smartly in his fine new\nclothes, he got into his carriage and drove off quickly to the king\u2019s\npalace. Arrived there, he left his carriage and horses in the\ncourtyard, and went at once to the presence of the king, whom he\naddressed thus: \u201cYour Majesty knows it is not yet quite a year since\nyou gave me seventy piasters to trade with, and see! I come back\nalready handsomely dressed, and have a fine carriage with a pair of\nbeautiful horses below in the yard. As for the young shepherd, I have\nheard that he has not only spent all your Majesty\u2019s money in rioting,\nbut that he had also got in debt, for which he has been hanged. So it\nis no use waiting for him! Let us keep my wedding at once!\u201d\n\nThe king did not fancy the gipsy for his son-in-law, and was thinking\nwhat he could say to put him off a little time, when, looking by chance\nthrough his window, he saw three strange-looking ships sailing slowly\ntowards the shore. At this he exclaimed, \u201cI see some foreign visitors\nare coming to visit me, and I shall have enough to do to receive them\nwith due honours, so we must put off the marriage for some days, at\nleast!\u201d\n\nBut the gipsy pressed the king more and more to let him marry the\nprincess at once; he was even bold enough to tell his Majesty that he\ncould not wait any longer, and that the wedding would be all over in an\nhour. The king, however, refused to hear anything of this; so the\ngipsy, seeing that his plan had failed, went out from the presence of\nthe king in great anger.\n\nA few hours later the three strange-looking ships dropped their anchors\njust opposite the palace, and the young shepherd, landing, came into\nthe presence of the king, who was greatly astonished to see him alive,\nand still more astonished to hear that in return for his seventy\npiasters he had brought three vessels full of gold and silver.\n\nThe king was now very well content to accept him as his son-in-law, and\ntold him, in the course of conversation, what the gipsy had said about\nhis having gone in debt and been hanged. Then the young shepherd told\nhis Majesty how he had found the gipsy, and had saved his life by\npaying his debt for him. The king was exceedingly angry, and ordered\nhis servants to go after the gipsy and bring him at once into his\npresence.\n\nThe servants looked about and around the palace on all sides, but\nnowhere could they find any trace of the gipsy. Then the king commanded\nthat some of them should go in search of him without delay, and armed\nmen were speedily scattered over the whole country, so that at last he\nwas caught, and brought before the king, who condemned him to be hanged\nfor having so shamefully tried to injure the man who had saved his life\nand treated him so generously, and for having, at the same time,\nattempted to cheat the king.\n\nThe young shepherd spent a few days in the palace, telling the king all\nthe things he had seen in the black world, and then, all preparations\nhaving been made, he was married to the princess, with great pomp and\nrejoicings.\n\nThen the king with his daughter and son-in-law lived for a great many\nyears very happily.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n[1] Serbian name for \u201cCinderella.\u201d\n\n[2] \u201cGusle,\u201d a one-stringed musical instrument.","title":"Serbian Fairy Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":55240}