Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 08 (20 page)

And the prince had pity, and let fall his arrow and unstrung his bow.

'Oh, prince! I will repay your deed of mercy,' exclaimed the grateful
wild duck.

'You poor thing! how can you repay me?' asked the prince.

'You have forgotten,' answered the wild duck, 'the proverb that
runs, "mountain and mountain can never meet, but one living
creature can always come across another."' The boy laughed at this
speech and went his way.

He had not wandered far from the shores of the lake, when he
noticed a stork standing on one leg, and again he raised his bow and
prepared to take aim.

'Do not shoot, I pray you, noble prince,' cried the stork; 'I have two
little sons at home; they will die of hunger if I am not there to bring
them food.'

Again the prince was filled with pity, and this time also he did not
shoot.

'Oh, prince, I will repay your deed of mercy,' cried the stork.

'You poor stork! how can you repay me?' asked the prince.

'You have forgotten,' answered the stork, 'the proverb that runs,
"mountain and mountain can never meet, but one living creature
can always come across another."'

The boy laughed at hearing these words again, and walked slowly
on. He had not gone far, when he fell in with two discharged
soldiers.

'Where are you going, little brother?' asked one.

'I am seeking work,' answered the prince.

'So are we,' replied the soldier. 'We can all go together.'

The boy was glad of company and they went on, and on, and on,
through seven kingdoms, without finding anything they were able
to do. At length they reached a palace, and there was the king
standing on the steps.

'You seem to be looking for something,' said he.

'It is work we want,' they all answered.

So the king told the soldiers that they might become his coachmen;
but he made the boy his companion, and gave him rooms near his
own. The soldiers were dreadfully angry when they heard this, for
of course they did not know that the boy was really a prince; and
they soon began to lay their heads together to plot his ruin.

Then they went to the king.

'Your Majesty,' they said, 'we think it our duty to tell you that your
new companion has boasted to us that if he were only your steward
he would not lose a single grain of corn out of the storehouses.
Now, if your Majesty would give orders that a sack of wheat
should be mixed with one of barley, and would send for the youth,
and command him to separate the grains one from another, in two
hours' time, you would soon see what his talk was worth.'

The king, who was weak, listened to what these wicked men had
told him, and desired the prince to have the contents of the sack
piled into two heaps by the time that he returned from his council.
'If you succeed,' he added, 'you shall be my steward, but if you fail,
I will put you to death on the spot.'

The unfortunate prince declared that he had never made any such
boast as was reported; but it was all in vain. The king did not
believe him, and turning him into an empty room, bade his servants
carry in the huge sack filled with wheat and barley, and scatter them
in a heap on the floor.

The prince hardly knew where to begin, and indeed if he had had a
thousand people to help him, and a week to do it in, he could never
have finished his task. So he flung himself on the ground in despair,
and covered his face with his hands.

While he lay thus, a wood-pigeon flew in through the window.

'Why are you weeping, noble prince?' asked the wood-pigeon.

'How can I help weeping at the task set me by the king. For he
says, if I fail to do it, I shall die a horrible death.'

'Oh, there is really nothing to cry about,' answered the wood-pigeon
soothingly. 'I am the king of the wood-pigeons, whose life you
spared when you were hungry. And now I will repay my debt, as I
promised.' So saying he flew out of the window, leaving the prince
with some hope in his heart.

In a few minutes he returned, followed by a cloud of wood-pigeons,
so dense that it seemed to fill the room. Their king showed them
what they had to do, and they set to work so hard that the grain
was sorted into two heaps long before the council was over. When
the king came back he could not believe his eyes; but search as he
might through the two heaps, he could not find any barley among
the wheat, or any wheat amongst the barley. So he praised the
prince for his industry and cleverness, and made him his steward at
once.

This made the two soldiers more envious still, and they began to
hatch another plot.

'Your Majesty,' they said to the king, one day, as he was standing
on the steps of the palace, 'that fellow has been boasting again, that
if he had the care of your treasures not so much as a gold pin
should ever be lost. Put this vain fellow to the proof, we pray you,
and throw the ring from the princess's finger into the brook, and bid
him find it. We shall soon see what his talk is worth.'

And the foolish king listened to them, and ordered the prince to be
brought before him.

'My son,' he said, 'I have heard that you have declared that if I
made you keeper of my treasures you would never lose so much as
a gold pin. Now, in order to prove the truth of your words, I am
going to throw the ring from the princess's finger into the brook,
and if you do not find it before I come back from council, you will
have to die a horrible death.'

It was no use denying that he had said anything of the kind. The
king did not believe him; in fact he paid no attention at all, and
hurried off, leaving the poor boy speechless with despair in the
corner. However, he soon remembered that though it was very
unlikely that he should find the ring in the brook, it was impossible
that he should find it by staying in the palace.

For some time the prince wandered up and down peering into the
bottom of the stream, but though the water was very clear, nothing
could he see of the ring. At length he gave it up in despair, and
throwing himself down at the foot of the tree, he wept bitterly.

'What is the matter, dear prince?' said a voice just above him, and
raising his head, he saw the wild duck.

'The king of this country declares I must die a horrible death if I
cannot find the princess's ring which he has thrown into the brook,'
answered the prince.

'Oh, you must not vex yourself about that, for I can help you,'
replied the bird. 'I am the king of the wild ducks, whose life you
spared, and now it is my turn to save yours.' Then he flew away,
and in a few minutes a great flock of wild ducks were swimming all
up and down the stream looking with all their might, and long
before the king came back from his council there it was, safe on the
grass beside the prince.

At this sight the king was yet more astonished at the cleverness of
his steward, and at once promoted him to be the keeper of his
jewels.

Now you would have thought that by this time the king would have
been satisfied with the prince, and would have left him alone; but
people's natures are very hard to change, and when the two envious
soldiers came to him with a new falsehood, he was as ready to
listen to them as before.

'Gracious Majesty,' said they, 'the youth whom you have made
keeper of your jewels has declared to us that a child shall be born in
the palace this night, which will be able to speak every language in
the world and to play every instrument of music. Is he then become
a prophet, or a magician, that he should know things which have
not yet come to pass?'

At these words the king became more angry than ever. He had
tried to learn magic himself, but somehow or other his spells would
never work, and he was furious to hear that the prince claimed a
power that he did not possess. Stammering with rage, he ordered
the youth to be brought before him, and vowed that unless this
miracle was accomplished he would have the prince dragged at a
horse's tail until he was dead.

In spite of what the soldiers had said, the boy knew no more magic
than the king did, and his task seemed more hopeless than before.
He lay weeping in the chamber which he was forbidden to leave,
when suddenly he heard a sharp tapping at the window, and,
looking up, he beheld a stork.

'What makes you so sad, prince?' asked he.

'Someone has told the king that I have prophesied that a child shall
be born this night in the palace, who can speak all the languages in
the world and play every musical instrument. I am no magician to
bring these things to pass, but he says that if it does not happen he
will have me dragged through the city at a horse's tail till I die.'

'Do not trouble yourself,' answered the stork. 'I will manage to find
such a child, for I am the king of the storks whose life you spared,
and now I can repay you for it.'

The stork flew away and soon returned carrying in his beak a baby
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid it down near a lute. In an
instant the baby stretched out its little hands and began to play a
tune so beautiful that even the prince forgot his sorrows as he
listened. Then he was given a flute and a zither, but he was just as
well able to draw music from them; and the prince, whose courage
was gradually rising, spoke to him in all the languages he knew.
The baby answered him in all, and no one could have told which
was his native tongue!

The next morning the king went straight to the prince's room, and
saw with his own eyes the wonders that baby could do. 'If your
magic can produce such a baby,' he said, 'you must be greater than
any wizard that ever lived, and shall have my daughter in marriage.'
And, being a king, and therefore accustomed to have everything the
moment he wanted it, he commanded the ceremony to be
performed without delay, and a splendid feast to be made for the
bride and bridegroom. When it was over, he said to the prince:

'Now that you are really my son, tell me by what arts you were able
to fulfil the tasks I set you?'

'My noble father-in-law,' answered the prince, 'I am ignorant of all
spells and arts. But somehow I have always managed to escape the
death which has threatened me.' And he told the king how he had
been forced to run away from his stepfather, and how he had spared
the three birds, and had joined the two soldiers, who had from envy
done their utmost to ruin him.

The king was rejoiced in his heart that his daughter had married a
prince, and not a common man, and he chased the two soldiers
away with whips, and told them that if they ever dared to show
their faces across the borders of his kingdom, they should die the
same death he had prepared for the prince.

(From Ungarische Mahrchen)

Once upon a time there lived a princess who was so beautiful and
so good that everybody loved her. Her father could hardly bear her
out of his sight, and he almost died of grief when, one day, she
disappeared, and though the whole kingdom was searched through
and through, she could not be found in any corner of it. In despair,
the king ordered a proclamation to be made that whoever could
bring her back to the palace should have her for his wife. This
made the young men start afresh on the search, but they were no
more successful than before, and returned sorrowfully to their
homes.

Now there dwelt, not far from the palace, an old man who had
three sons. The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just
as they liked, but the youngest was always obliged to give way to
his brothers. When they were all grown up, the eldest told his
father that he was tired of leading such a quiet life, and that he
meant to go away and see the world.

The old people were very unhappy at the thought that they must
part with him, but they said nothing, and began to collect all that he
would want for his travels, and were careful to add a pair of new
boots. When everything was ready, he bade them farewell, and
started merrily on his way.

For some miles his road lay through a wood, and when he left it he
suddenly came out on a bare hillside. Here he sat down to rest, and
pulling out his wallet prepared to eat his dinner.

He had only eaten a few mouthfuls when an old man badly dressed
passed by, and seeing the food, asked if the young man could not
spare him a little.

'Not I, indeed!' answered he; 'why I have scarcely enough for
myself. If you want food you must earn it.' And the beggar went
on.

After the young man had finished his dinner he rose and walked on
for several hours, till he reached a second hill, where he threw
himself down on the grass, and took some bread and milk from his
wallet. While he was eating and drinking, there came by an old
man, yet more wretched than the first, and begged for a few
mouthfuls. But instead of food he only got hard words, and limped
sadly away.

Towards evening the young man reached an open space in the
wood, and by this time he thought he would like some supper. The
birds saw the food, and flew round his head in numbers hoping for
some crumbs, but he threw stones at them, and frightened them off.
Then he began to wonder where he should sleep. Not in the open
space he was in, for that was bare and cold, and though he had
walked a long way that day, and was tired, he dragged himself up,
and went on seeking for a shelter.

At length he saw a deep sort of hole or cave under a great rock,
and as it seemed quite empty, he went in, and lay down in a corner.
About midnight he was awakened by a noise, and peeping out he
beheld a terrible ogress approaching. He implored her not to hurt
him, but to let him stay there for the rest of the night, to which she
consented, on condition that he should spend the next day in doing
any task which she might choose to set him. To this the young man
willingly agreed, and turned over and went to sleep again. In the
morning, the ogress bade him sweep the dust out of the cave, and
to have it clean before her return in the evening, otherwise it would
be the worse for him. Then she left the cave.