Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (18 page)

'I knew a man was hidden somewhere,' cried the princess, and
screamed more loudly than before. Her shrieks brought back the
guards, but though they looked in all kinds of impossible places
no man was to be seen, and so they told the princess.

'He was here a moment ago—I saw him with my own eyes,' and the
guards dared not contradict her, though they shook their heads
and whispered to each other that the princess had gone mad on
this subject, and saw a man in every table and chair. And they
made up their minds that—let her scream as loudly as she might—
they would take no notice.

Now the princess saw clearly what they were thinking, and that in
future her guards would give her no help, and would perhaps,
besides, tell some stories about her to the king, who would shut
her up in a lonely tower and prevent her walking in the gardens
among her birds and flowers. So when, for the third time, she
beheld the prince standing before her, she did not scream but sat
up in bed gazing at him in silent terror.

'Do not be afraid,' he said, 'I shall not hurt you'; and he began
to praise her gardens, of which he had heard the servants speak,
and the birds and flowers which she loved, till the princess's
anger softened, and she answered him with gentle words. Indeed,
they soon became so friendly that she vowed she would marry no
one else, and confided to him that in three days her father would
be off to the wars, leaving his sword in her room. If any man
could find it and bring it to him he would receive her hand as a
reward. At this point a cock crew, and the youth jumped up
hastily saying: 'Of course I shall ride with the king to the war,
and if I do not return, take your violin every evening to the
seashore and play on it, so that the very sea-kobolds who live at
the bottom of the ocean may hear it and come to you.'

Just as the princess had foretold, in three days the king set out
for the war with a large following, and among them was the young
prince, who had presented himself at court as a young noble in
search of adventures. They had left the city many miles behind
them, when the king suddenly discovered that he had forgotten his
sword, and though all his attendants instantly offered theirs, he
declared that he could fight with none but his own.

'The first man who brings it to me from my daughter's room,'
cried he, 'shall not only have her to wife, but after my death
shall reign in my stead.'

At this the Red Knight, the young prince, and several more turned
their horses to ride as fast as the wind back to the palace. But
suddenly a better plan entered the prince's head, and, letting
the others pass him, he took his precious parcel from his breast
and wished himself a lion. Then on he bounded, uttering such
dreadful roars that the horses were frightened and grew
unmanageable, and he easily outstripped them, and soon reached
the gates of the palace. Here he hastily changed himself into a
bee, and flew straight into the princess's room, where he became
a man again. She showed him where the sword hung concealed
behind a curtain, and he took it down, saying as he did so: 'Be
sure not to forget what you have promised to do.'

The princess made no reply, but smiled sweetly, and slipping a
golden ring from her finger she broke it in two and held half out
silently to the prince, while the other half she put in her own
pocket. He kissed it, and ran down the stairs bearing the sword
with him. Some way off he met the Red Knight and the rest, and
the Red Knight at first tried to take the sword from him by
force. But as the youth proved too strong for him, he gave it
up, and resolved to wait for a better opportunity.

This soon came, for the day was hot and the prince was thirsty.
Perceiving a little stream that ran into the sea, he turned
aside, and, unbuckling the sword, flung himself on the ground for
a long drink. Unluckily, the mermaid happened at that moment to
be floating on the water not very far off, and knew he was the
boy who had been given her before he was born. So she floated
gently in to where he was lying, she seized him by the arm, and
the waves closed over them both. Hardly had they disappeared,
when the Red Knight stole cautiously up, and could hardly believe
his eyes when he saw the king's sword on the bank. He wondered
what had become of the youth, who an hour before had guarded his
treasure so fiercely; but, after all, that was no affair of his!
So, fastening the sword to his belt, he carried it to the king.

The war was soon over, and the king returned to his people, who
welcomed him with shouts of joy. But when the princess from her
window saw that her betrothed was not among the attendants riding
behind her father, her heart sank, for she knew that some evil
must have befallen him. and she feared the Red Knight. She had
long ago learned how clever and how wicked he was, and something
whispered to her that it was he who would gain the credit of
having carried back the sword, and would claim her as his bride,
though he had never even entered her chamber. And she could do
nothing; for although the king loved her, he never let her stand
in the way of his plans.

The poor princess was only too right, and everything came to pass
exactly as she had foreseen it. The king told her that the Red
Knight had won her fairly, and that the wedding would take place
next day, and there would be a great feast after it.

In those days feasts were much longer and more splendid than they
are now; and it was growing dark when the princess, tired out
with all she had gone through, stole up to her own room for a
little quiet. But the moon was shining so brightly over the sea
that it seemed to draw her towards it, and taking her violin
under her arm, she crept down to the shore.

'Listen! listen! said the mermaid to the prince, who was lying
stretched on a bed of seaweeds at the bottom of the sea.
'Listen! that is your old love playing, for mermaids know
everything that happens upon earth.'

'I hear nothing,' answered the youth, who did not look happy. '
Take me up higher, where the sounds can reach me.'

So the mermaid took him on her shoulders and bore him up midway
to the surface. 'Can you hear now?' she asked.

'No,' answered the prince, 'I hear nothing but the water rushing;
I must go higher still.'

Then the mermaid carried him to the very top. 'You must surely
be able to hear now?' said she.

'Nothing but the water,' repeated the youth. So she took him
right to the land.

'At any rate you can hear now?' she said again.

'The water is still rushing in my ears,' answered he; ' but wait
a little, that will soon pass off.' And as he spoke he put his
hand into his breast, and seizing the hair wished himself a bee,
and flew straight into the pocket of the princess. The mermaid
looked in vain for him, and coated all night upon the sea; but he
never came back, and never more did he gladden her eyes. But the
princess felt that something strange was about her, though she
knew not what, and returned quickly to the palace, where the
young man at once resumed his own shape. Oh, what joy filled her
heart at the sight of him! But there was no time to be lost, and
she led him right into the hall, where the king and his nobles
were still sitting at the feast. 'Here is a man who boasts that
he can do wonderful tricks,' said she, ' better even than the Red
Knight's! That cannot be true, of course, but it might be well to
give this impostor a lesson. He pretends, for instance, that he
can turn himself into a lion; but that I do not believe. I know
that you have studied the art of magic,' she went on, turning to
the Red Knight, 'so suppose you just show him how it is done, and
bring shame upon him.'

Now the Red Knight had never opened a book of magic in his life;
but he was accustomed to think that he could do everything better
than other people without any teaching at all. So he turned and
twisted himself about, and bellowed and made faces; but he did
not become a lion for all that.

'Well, perhaps it is very difficult to change into a lion. Make
yourself a bear,' said the princess. But the Red Knight found it
no easier to become a bear than a lion.

'Try a bee,' suggested she. 'I have always read that anyone who
can do magic at all can do that.' And the old knight buzzed and
hummed, but he remained a man and not a bee.

'Now it is your turn,' said the princess to the youth. 'Let us
see if you can change yourself into a lion.' And in a moment
such a fierce creature stood before them, that all the guests
rushed out of the hall, treading each other underfoot in their
fright. The lion sprang at the Red Knight, and would have torn
him in pieces had not the princess held him back, and bidden him
to change himself into a man again. And in a second a man took
the place of the lion.

'Now become a bear,' said she; and a bear advanced panting and
stretching out his arms to the Red Knight, who shrank behind the
princess.

By this time some of the guests had regained their courage, and
returned as far as the door, thinking that if it was safe for the
princess perhaps it was safe for them. The king, who was braver
than they, and felt it needful to set them a good example
besides, had never left his seat, and when at a new command of
the princess the bear once more turned into a man, he was silent
from astonishment, and a suspicion of the truth began to dawn on
him. 'Was it he who fetched the sword?' asked the king.

'Yes, it was,' answered the princess; and she told him the whole
story, and how she had broken her gold ring and given him half of
it. And the prince took out his half of the ring, and the
princess took out hers, and they fitted exactly. Next day the
Red Knight was hanged, as he richly deserved, and there was a new
marriage feast for the prince and princess.

(Lapplandische Mahrchen.)

When birds were men, and men were birds, Pivi and Kabo lived in
an island far away, called New Claledonia. Pivi was a cheery
little bird that chirps at sunset; Kabo was an ugly black fowl
that croaks in the darkness. One day Pivi and Kabo thought that
they would make slings, and practice slinging, as the people of
the island still do. So they went to a banyan tree, and stripped
the bark to make strings for their slings, and next they repaired
to the river bank to find stones. Kabo stood on the bank of the
river, and Pivi went into the water. The game was for Kabo to
sling at Pivi, and for Pivi to dodge the stones, if he could.
For some time he dodged them cleverly, but at last a stone from
Kabo's sling hit poor Pivi on the leg and broke it. Down went
Pivi into the stream, and floated along it, till he floated into
a big hollow bamboo, which a woman used for washing her sweet
potatoes.

'What is that in my bamboo?' said the woman. And she blew in at
one end, and blew little Pivi out at the other, like a pea from a
pea-shooter.

'Oh!' cried the woman, 'what a state you are in! What have you
been doing?'

'It was Kabo who broke my leg at the slinging game,' said Pivi.

'Well, I am sorry for you,' said the woman; 'will you come with
me, and do what I tell you?'

'I will!' said Pivi, for the woman was very kind and pretty. She
took Pivi into a shed where she kept her fruit laid him on a bed
of mats, and made him as comfortable as she could, and attended
to his broken leg without cutting off the flesh round the bone,
as these people usually do.

'You will be still, won't you, Pivi?' she said. 'If you hear a
little noise you will pretend to be dead. It is the Black Ant
who will come and creep from your feet up to your head. Say
nothing, and keep quiet, won't you, Pivi?'

'Certainly, kind lady,' said Pivi, 'I will lie as still as can
be.'

'Next will come the big Red Ant—you know him?'

'Yes, I know him, with his feet like a grasshopper's.'

'He will walk over your body up to your head. Then you must
shake all your body. Do you understand, Pivi?'

'Yes, dear lady, I shall do just as you say.'

'Very good,' said the woman, going out and shutting the door.

Pivi lay still under his coverings, then a tiny noise was heard,
and the Black Ant began to march over Pivi, who lay quite still.
Then came the big Red Ant skipping along his body, and then Pivi
shook himself all over. He jumped up quite well again, he ran to
the river, he looked into the water and saw that he was changed
from a bird into a fine young man!

'Oh, lady,' he cried, 'look at me now! I am changed into a man,
and so handsome!'

'Will you obey me again?' said the woman.

'Always; whatever you command I will do it,' said Pivi, politely.

'Then climb up that cocoa-nut tree, with your legs only, not
using your hands,' said the woman.

Now the natives can run up cocoa-nut trees like squirrels, some
using only one hand; the girls can do that. But few can climb
without using their hands at all.

'At the top of the tree you will find two cocoa-nuts. You must
not throw them down, but carry them in your hands; and you must
descend as you went up, using your legs only.'

'I shall try, at least,' said Pivi. And up he went, but it was
very difficult, and down he came.

'Here are your cocoa-nuts,' he said, presenting them to the
woman.

'Now, Pivi, put them in the shed where you lay, and when the sun
sets to cool himself in the sea and rise again not so hot in the
dawn you must go and take the nuts.'

All day Pivi played about in the river, as the natives do,
throwing fruit and silvery showers of water at each other. When
the sun set he went into the hut. But as he drew near he heard
sweet voices talking and laughing within.

'What is that? People chattering in the hut! Perhaps they have
taken my cocoa-nuts,' said Pivi to himself.