Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (17 page)

'Indeed I am unworthy of anything so charming,' answered the
cloud; 'but you make a mistake again in what you say. There is
one thing that is even more powerful than I, and that is the
wind. Ah, here he comes, you can see for yourself.'

And she DID see, for catching up the cloud as he passed, he threw
it on the other side of the sky. Then, tumbling father, mother
and daughter down to the earth again, he paused for a moment
beside them, his foot on an old wall.

When she had recovered her breath, the mother began her little
speech once more.

'The wall is the proper husband for your daughter,' answered the
wind, whose home consisted of a cave, which he only visited when
he was not rushing about elsewhere; 'you can see for yourself
that he is greater than I, for he has power to stop me in my
flight.' And the mother, who did not trouble to conceal her
wishes, turned at once to the wall.

Then something happened which was quite unexpected by everyone.

'I won't marry that ugly old wall, which is as old as my
grandfather,' sobbed the girl, who had not uttered one word all
this time. 'I would have married the sun, or the cloud, or the
wind, because it was my duty, although I love the handsome young
rat, and him only. But that horrid old wall—I would sooner
die!'

And the wall, rather hurt in his feelings, declared that he had
no claim to be the husband of so beautiful a girl.

'It is quite true,' he said, 'that I can stop the wind who can
part the clouds who can cover the sun; but there is someone who
can do more than all these, and that is the rat. It is the rat
who passes through me, and can reduce me to powder, simply with
his teeth. If, therefore, you want a son-in-law who is greater
than the whole world, seek him among the rats.'

'Ah, what did I tell you?' cried the father. And his wife,
though for the moment angry at being beaten, soon thought that a
rat son-in-law was what she had always desired.

So all three returned happily home, and the wedding was
celebrated three days after.

(Contes Populaires.)

Long, long ago, there lived a king who ruled over a country by
the sea. When he had been married about a year, some of his
subjects, inhabiting a distant group of islands, revolted against
his laws, and it became needful for him to leave his wife and go
in person to settle their disputes. The queen feared that some
ill would come of it, and implored him to stay at home, but he
told her that nobody could do his work for him, and the next
morning the sails were spread, and the king started on his
voyage.

The vessel had not gone very far when she ran upon a rock, and
stuck so fast in a cleft that the strength of the whole crew
could not get her off again. To make matters worse, the wind was
rising too, and it was quite plain that in a few hours the ship
would be dashed to pieces and everybody would be drowned, when
suddenly the form of a mermaid was seen dancing on the waves
which threatened every moment to overwhelm them.

'There is only one way to free yourselves,' she said to the king,
bobbing up and down in the water as she spoke, 'and that is to
give me your solemn word that you will deliver to me the first
child that is born to you.'

The king hesitated at this proposal. He hoped that some day he
might have children in his home, and the thought that he must
yield up the heir to his crown was very bitter to him; but just
then a huge wave broke with great force on the ship's side, and
his men fell on their knees and entreated him to save them.

So he promised, and this time a wave lifted the vessel clean off
the rocks, and she was in the open sea once more.

The affairs of the islands took longer to settle than the king
had expected, and some months passed away before he returned to
his palace. In his absence a son had been born to him, and so
great was his joy that he quite forgot the mermaid and the price
he had paid for the safety of his ship. But as the years went
on, and the baby grew into a fine big boy, the remembrance of it
came back, and one day he told the queen the whole story. From
that moment the happiness of both their lives was ruined. Every
night they went to bed wondering if they should find his room
empty in the morning, and every day they kept him by their sides,
expecting him to be snatched away before their very eyes.

At last the king felt that this state of things could not
continue, and he said to his wife:

'After all, the most foolish thing in the world one can do is to
keep the boy here in exactly the place in which the mermaid will
seek him. Let us give him food and send him on his travels, and
perhaps, if the mermaid ever blocs come to seek him, she may be
content with some other child.' And the queen agreed that his
plan seemed the wisest.

So the boy was called, and his father told him the story of the
voyage, as he had told his mother before him. The prince
listened eagerly, and was delighted to think that he was to go
away all by himself to see the world, and was not in the least
frightened; for though he was now sixteen, he had scarcely been
allowed to walk alone beyond the palace gardens. He began busily
to make his preparations, and took off his smart velvet coat,
putting on instead one of green cloth, while he refused a
beautiful bag which the queen offered him to hold his food, and
slung a leather knapsack over his shoulders instead, just as he
had seen other travellers do. Then he bade farewell to his
parents and went his way.

All through the day he walked, watching with interest the strange
birds and animals that darted across his path in the forest or
peeped at him from behind a bush. But as evening drew on he
became tired, and looked about as he walked for some place where
he could sleep. At length he reached a soft mossy bank under a
tree, and was just about to stretch himself out on it, when a
fearful roar made him start and tremble all over. In another
moment something passed swiftly through the air and a lion stood
before him.

'What are you doing here?' asked the lion, his eyes glaring
fiercely at the boy.

'I am flying from the mermaid,' the prince answered, in a quaking
voice.

'Give me some food then,' said the lion, 'it is past my supper
time, and I am very hungry.'

The boy was so thankful that the lion did not want to eat him,
that he gladly picked up his knapsack which lay on the ground,
and held out some bread and a flask of wine.

'I feel better now,' said the lion when he had done, 'so now I
shall go to sleep on this nice soft moss, and if you like you can
lie down beside me.' So the boy and the lion slept soundly side
by side, till the sun rose.

'I must be off now,' remarked the lion, shaking the boy as he
spoke; 'but cut off the tip of my ear, and keep it carefully, and
if you are in any danger just wish yourself a lion and you will
become one on the spot. One good turn deserves another, you
know.'

The prince thanked him for his kindness, and did as he was bid,
and the two then bade each other farewell.

'I wonder how it feels to be a lion,' thought the boy, after he
had gone a little way; and he took out the tip of the ear from
the breast of his jacket and wished with all his might. In an
instant his head had swollen to several times its usual size, and
his neck seemed very hot and heavy; and, somehow, his hands
became paws, and his skin grew hairy and yellow. But what
pleased him most was his long tail with a tuft at the end, which
he lashed and switched proudly. 'I like being a lion very much,'
he said to himself, and trotted gaily along the road.

After a while, however, he got tired of walking in this
unaccustomed way—it made his back ache and his front paws felt
sore. So he wished himself a boy again, and in the twinkling of
an eye his tail disappeared and his head shrank, and the long
thick mane became short and curly. Then he looked out for a
sleeping place, and found some dry ferns, which he gathered and
heaped up.

But before he had time to close his eyes there was a great noise
in the trees near by, as if a big heavy body was crashing through
them. The boy rose and turned his head, and saw a huge black
bear coming towards him.

'What are you doing here?' cried the bear.

'I am running away from the mermaid,' answered the boy; but the
bear took no interest in the mermaid, and only said: 'I am
hungry; give me something to eat.'

The knapsack was lying on the ground among the fern, but the
prince picked it up, and, unfastening the strap, took out his
second flask of wine and another loaf of bread. 'We will have
supper together,' he remarked politely; but the bear, who had
never been taught manners, made no reply, and ate as fast as he
could. When he had quite finished, he got up and stretched
himself.

'You have got a comfortable-looking bed there,' he observed. 'I
really think that, bad sleeper as I am, I might have a good night
on it. I can manage to squeeze you in,' he added; 'you don't
take up a great deal of room.' The boy was rather indignant at
the bear's cool way of talking; but as he was too tired to gather
more fern, they lay down side by side, and never stirred till
sunrise next morning.

'I must go now,' said the bear, pulling the sleepy prince on to
his feet; 'but first you shall cut off the tip of my ear, and
when you are in any danger just wish yourself a bear and you will
become one. One good turn deserves another, you know.' And the
boy did as he was bid, and he and the bear bade each other
farewell.

'I wonder how it feels to be a bear,' thought he to himself when
he had walked a little way; and he took out the tip from the
breast of his coat and wished hard that he might become a bear.
The next moment his body stretched out and thick black fur
covered him all over. As before, his hands were changed into
paws, but when he tried to switch his tail he found to his
disgust that it would not go any distance. 'Why it is hardly
worth calling a tail!' said he. For the rest of the day he
remained a bear and continued his journey, but as evening came on
the bear-skin, which had been so useful when plunging through
brambles in the forest, felt rather heavy, and he wished himself
a boy again. He was too much exhausted to take the trouble of
cutting any fern or seeking for moss, but just threw himself down
under a tree, when exactly above his head he heard a great
buzzing as a bumble-bee alighted on a honeysuckle branch. 'What
are you doing here?' asked the bee in a cross voice; 'at your age
you ought to be safe at home.'

'I am running away from the mermaid,' replied the boy; but the
bee, like the lion and the bear, was one of those people who
never listen to the answers to their questions, and only said: 'I
am hungry. Give me something to eat.'

The boy took his last loaf and flask out of his knapsack and laid
them on the ground, and they had supper together. 'Well, now I
am going to sleep,' observed the bee when the last crumb was
gone, 'but as you are not very big I can make room for you beside
me,' and he curled up his wings, and tucked in his legs, and he
and the prince both slept soundly till morning. Then the bee got
up and carefully brushed every scrap of dust off his velvet coat
and buzzed loudly in the boy's ear to waken him.

'Take a single hair from one of my wings,' said he, 'and if you
are in danger just wish yourself a bee and you will become one.
One good turn deserves another, so farewell, and thank you for
your supper.' And the bee departed after the boy had pulled out
the hair and wrapped it carefully in a leaf.

'It must feel quite different to be a bee from what it does to be
a lion or bear,' thought the boy to himself when he had walked
for an hour or two. 'I dare say I should get on a great deal
faster,' so he pulled out his hair and wished himself a bee.

In a moment the strangest thing happened to him. All his limbs
seemed to draw together, and his body to become very short and
round; his head grew quite tiny, and instead of his white skin he
was covered with the richest, softest velvet. Better than all,
he had two lovely gauze wings which carried him the whole day
without getting tired.

Late in the afternoon the boy fancied he saw a vast heap of
stones a long way off, and he flew straight towards it. But when
he reached the gates he saw that it was really a great town, so
he wished himself back in his own shape and entered the city.

He found the palace doors wide open and went boldly into a sort
of hall which was full of people, and where men and maids were
gossiping together. He joined their talk and soon learned from
them that the king had only one daughter who had such a hatred to
men that she would never suffer one to enter her presence. Her
father was in despair, and had had pictures painted of the
handsomest princes of all the courts in the world, in the hope
that she might fall in love with one of them; but it was no use;
the princess would not even allow the pictures to be brought into
her room.

'It is late,' remarked one of the women at last; 'I must go to my
mistress.' And, turning to one of the lackeys, she bade him find
a bed for the youth.

'It is not necessary,' answered the prince, 'this bench is good
enough for me. I am used to nothing better.' And when the hall
was empty he lay down for a few minutes. But as soon as
everything was quiet in the palace he took out the hair and
wished himself a bee, and in this shape he flew upstairs, past
the guards, and through the keyhole into the princess's chamber.
Then he turned himself into a man again.

At this dreadful sight the princess, who was broad awake, began
to scream loudly. 'A man! a man!' cried she; but when the guards
rushed in there was only a bumble-bee buzzing about the room.
They looked under the bed, and behind the curtains, and into the
cupboards, then came to the conclusion that the princess had had
a bad dream, and bowed themselves out. The door had scarcely
closed on them than the bee disappeared, and a handsome youth
stood in his place.