Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 08 (8 page)

'Well, you will see a difference to-morrow,' replied the witch, 'for
one will have a cut on his sleeve. That is the youth you must kill.'
And one hour before midnight, when witches are invisible, she
glided into the room where all three lads were sleeping in the same
bed. She took out a pair of scissors and cut a small piece out of the
boy's coat-sleeve which was hanging on the wall, and then crept
silently from the room. But in the morning the youth saw the slit,
and he marked the sleeves of his two companions in the same way,
and all three went down to breakfast with the Sultan. The old
witch was standing in the window and pretended not to see them;
but all witches have eyes in the backs of their heads, and she knew
at once that not one sleeve but three were cut, and they were all as
alike as before. After breakfast, the Sultan, who was getting tired
of the whole affair and wanted to be alone to invent some other
plan, told them they might return home. So, bowing low with one
accord, they went.

The princess welcomed the boy back joyfully, but the poor youth
was not allowed to rest long in peace, for one day a fresh letter
arrived from the Sultan, saying that he had discovered that the
young man was a very dangerous person, and that he must be sent
to Turkey at once, and alone. The girl burst into tears when the
boy told her what was in the letter which her father had bade her to
carry to him. 'Do not weep, love of my heart,' said the boy, 'all will
be well. I will start at sunrise to-morrow.'

So next morning at sunrise the youth set forth, and in a few days he
reached the Sultan's palace. The old witch was waiting for him at
the gate, and whispered as he passed: 'This is the last time you will
ever enter it.' But the sword clanked, and the lad did not even look
at her. As he crossed the threshold fifteen armed Turks barred his
way, with the Sultan at their head. Instantly the sword darted forth
and cut off the heads of everyone but the Sultan, and then went
quietly back to its scabbard. The witch, who was looking on, saw
that as long as the youth had possession of the sword, all her
schemes would be in vain, and tried to steal the sword in the night,
but it only jumped out of its scabbard and sliced off her nose, which
was of iron. And in the morning, when the Sultan brought a great
army to capture the lad and deprive him of his sword, they were all
cut to pieces, while he remained without a scratch.

Meanwhile the princess was in despair because the days slipped by,
and the young man did not return, and she never rested until her
father let her lead some troops against the Sultan. She rode
proudly before them, dressed in uniform; but they had not left the
town more than a mile behind them, when they met the lad and his
little sword. When he told them what he had done they shouted for
joy, and carried him back in triumph to the palace; and the king
declared that as the youth had shown himself worthy to become his
son-in-law, he should marry the princess and succeed to the throne
at once, as he himself was getting old, and the cares of government
were too much for him. But the young man said he must first go
and see his mother, and the king sent him in state, with a troop of
soldiers as his bodyguard.

The old woman was quite frightened at seeing such an array draw
up before her little house, and still more surprised when a handsome
young man, whom she did not know, dismounted and kissed her
hand, saying: 'Now, dear mother, you shall hear my secret at last! I
dreamed that I should become King of Hungary, and my dream has
come true. When I was a child, and you begged me to tell you, I
had to keep silence, or the Magyar king would have killed me. And
if you had not beaten me nothing would have happened that has
happened, and I should not now be King of Hungary.'

(From the Folk Tales of the Magyars.)

Once upon a time there lived an emperor who had three sons. They
were all fine young men, and fond of hunting, and scarcely a day
passed without one or other of them going out to look for game.

One morning the eldest of the three princes mounted his horse and
set out for a neighbouring forest, where wild animals of all sorts
were to be found. He had not long left the castle, when a hare
sprang out of a thicket and dashed across the road in front. The
young man gave chase at once, and pursued it over hill and dale, till
at last the hare took refuge in a mill which was standing by the side
of a river. The prince followed and entered the mill, but stopped in
terror by the door, for, instead of a hare, before him stood a
dragon, breathing fire and flame. At this fearful sight the prince
turned to fly, but a fiery tongue coiled round his waist, and drew
him into the dragon's mouth, and he was seen no more.

A week passed away, and when the prince never came back
everyone in the town began to grow uneasy. At last his next
brother told the emperor that he likewise would go out to hunt, and
that perhaps he would find some clue as to his brother's
disappearance. But hardly had the castle gates closed on the prince
than the hare sprang out of the bushes as before, and led the
huntsman up hill and down dale, till they reached the mill. Into this
the hare flew with the prince at his heels, when, lo! instead of the
hare, there stood a dragon breathing fire and flame; and out shot a
fiery tongue which coiled round the prince's waist, and lifted him
straight into the dragon's mouth, and he was seen no more.

Days went by, and the emperor waited and waited for the sons who
never came, and could not sleep at night for wondering where they
were and what had become of them. His youngest son wished to
go in search of his brothers, but for long the emperor refused to
listen to him, lest he should lose him also. But the prince prayed so
hard for leave to make the search, and promised so often that he
would be very cautious and careful, that at length the emperor gave
him permission, and ordered the best horse in the stables to be
saddled for him.

Full of hope the young prince started on his way, but no sooner was
he outside the city walls than a hare sprang out of the bushes and
ran before him, till they reached the mill. As before, the animal
dashed in through the open door, but this time he was not followed
by the prince. Wiser than his brothers, the young man turned away,
saying to himself: 'There are as good hares in the forest as any that
have come out of it, and when I have caught them, I can come back
and look for you.'

For many hours he rode up and down the mountain, but saw
nothing, and at last, tired of waiting, he went back to the mill. Here
he found an old woman sitting, whom he greeted pleasantly.

'Good morning to you, little mother,' he said; and the old woman
answered: 'Good morning, my son.'

'Tell me, little mother,' went on the prince, 'where shall I find my
hare?'

'My son,' replied the old woman, 'that was no hare, but a dragon
who has led many men hither, and then has eaten them all.' At
these words the prince's heart grew heavy, and he cried, 'Then my
brothers must have come here, and have been eaten by the dragon!'

'You have guessed right,' answered the old woman; 'and I can give
you no better counsel than to go home at once, before the same fate
overtakes you.'

'Will you not come with me out of this dreadful place?' said the
young man.

'He took me prisoner, too,' answered she, 'and I cannot shake off
his chains.'

'Then listen to me,' cried the prince. 'When the dragon comes back,
ask him where he always goes when he leaves here, and what
makes him so strong; and when you have coaxed the secret from
him, tell me the next time I come.'

So the prince went home, and the old woman remained in the mill,
and as soon as the dragon returned she said to him:

'Where have you been all this time—you must have travelled far?'

'Yes, little mother, I have indeed travelled far.' answered he. Then
the old woman began to flatter him, and to praise his cleverness;
and when she thought she had got him into a good temper, she said:
'I have wondered so often where you get your strength from; I do
wish you would tell me. I would stoop and kiss the place out of
pure love!' The dragon laughed at this, and answered:

'In the hearthstone yonder lies the secret of my strength.'

Then the old woman jumped up and kissed the hearth; whereat the
dragon laughed the more, and said:

'You foolish creature! I was only jesting. It is not in the
hearthstone, but in that tall tree that lies the secret of my strength.'
Then the old woman jumped up again and put her arms round the
tree, and kissed it heartily. Loudly laughed the dragon when he saw
what she was doing.

'Old fool,' he cried, as soon as he could speak, 'did you really
believe that my strength came from that tree?'

'Where is it then?' asked the old woman, rather crossly, for she did
not like being made fun of.

'My strength,' replied the dragon, 'lies far away; so far that you
could never reach it. Far, far from here is a kingdom, and by its
capital city is a lake, and in the lake is a dragon, and inside the
dragon is a wild boar, and inside the wild boar is a pigeon, and
inside the pigeon a sparrow, and inside the sparrow is my strength.'
And when the old woman heard this, she thought it was no use
flattering him any longer, for never, never, could she take his
strength from him.

The following morning, when the dragon had left the mill, the
prince came back, and the old woman told him all that the creature
had said. He listened in silence, and then returned to the castle,
where he put on a suit of shepherd's clothes, and taking a staff in his
hand, he went forth to seek a place as tender of sheep.

For some time he wandered from village to village and from town
to town, till he came at length to a large city in a distant kingdom,
surrounded on three sides by a great lake, which happened to be the
very lake in which the dragon lived. As was his custom, he stopped
everybody whom he met in the streets that looked likely to want a
shepherd and begged them to engage him, but they all seemed to
have shepherds of their own, or else not to need any. The prince
was beginning to lose heart, when a man who had overheard his
question turned round and said that he had better go and ask the
emperor, as he was in search of some one to see after his flocks.

'Will you take care of my sheep?' said the emperor, when the young
man knelt before him.

'Most willingly, your Majesty,' answered the young man, and he
listened obediently while the emperor told him what he was to do.

'Outside the city walls,' went on the emperor, 'you will find a large
lake, and by its banks lie the richest meadows in my kingdom.
When you are leading out your flocks to pasture, they will all run
straight to these meadows, and none that have gone there have ever
been known to come back. Take heed, therefore, my son, not to
suffer your sheep to go where they will, but drive them to any spot
that you think best.'

With a low bow the prince thanked the emperor for his warning,
and promised to do his best to keep the sheep safe. Then he left the
palace and went to the market-place, where he bought two
greyhounds, a hawk, and a set of pipes; after that he took the sheep
out to pasture. The instant the animals caught sight of the lake
lying before them, they trotted off as fast as their legs would go to
the green meadows lying round it. The prince did not try to stop
them; he only placed his hawk on the branch of a tree, laid his pipes
on the grass, and bade the greyhounds sit still; then, rolling up his
sleeves and trousers, he waded into the water crying as he did so:
'Dragon! dragon! if you are not a coward, come out and fight with
me!' And a voice answered from the depths of the lake:

'I am waiting for you, O prince'; and the next minute the dragon
reared himself out of the water, huge and horrible to see. The
prince sprang upon him and they grappled with each other and
fought together till the sun was high, and it was noonday. Then the
dragon gasped:

'O prince, let me dip my burning head once into the lake, and I will
hurl you up to the top of the sky.' But the prince answered, 'Oh, ho!
my good dragon, do not crow too soon! If the emperor's daughter
were only here, and would kiss me on the forehead, I would throw
you up higher still!' And suddenly the dragon's hold loosened, and
he fell back into the lake.

As soon as it was evening, the prince washed away all signs of the
fight, took his hawk upon his shoulder, and his pipes under his arm,
and with his greyhounds in front and his flock following after him
he set out for the city. As they all passed through the streets the
people stared in wonder, for never before had any flock returned
from the lake.

The next morning he rose early, and led his sheep down the road to
the lake. This time, however, the emperor sent two men on
horseback to ride behind him, with orders to watch the prince all
day long. The horsemen kept the prince and his sheep in sight,
without being seen themselves. As soon as they beheld the sheep
running towards the meadows, they turned aside up a steep hill,
which overhung the lake. When the shepherd reached the place he
laid, as before, his pipes on the grass and bade the greyhounds sit
beside them, while the hawk he perched on the branch of the tree.
Then he rolled up his trousers and his sleeves, and waded into the
water crying:

'Dragon! dragon! if you are not a coward, come out and fight with
me!' And the dragon answered:

'I am waiting for you, O prince,' and the next minute he reared
himself out of the water, huge and horrible to see. Again they
clasped each other tight round the body and fought till it was noon,
and when the sun was at its hottest, the dragon gasped: