Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (22 page)

'But, my child, it is impossible for you to marry such a being,'
exclaimed the sultan.

'Yes, I will marry him. He had a beautiful head, and I love him
already.'

So the marriage was celebrated, and great feasts were held in the
palace, though the people wept tears to think of the sad fate of
their beloved princess. But when the merry-making was done, and
the young couple were alone, the head suddenly disappeared, or,
rather, a body was added to it, and one of the handsomest young
men that ever was seen stood before the princess.

'A wicked fairy enchanted me at my birth,' he said, 'and for the
rest of the world I must always be a head only. But for you, and
you only, I am a man like other men.'

'And that is all I care about,' said the princess.

(Traditions populaires de toutes les nations (Asie Mineure).)

A long time ago there lived a young prince whose favourite
playfellow was the son of the gardener who lived in the grounds
of the palace. The king would have preferred his choosing a
friend from the pages who were brought up at court; but the
prince would have nothing to say to them, and as he was a spoilt
child, and allowed his way in all things, and the gardener's boy
was quiet and well-behaved, he was suffered to be in the palace,
morning, noon, and night.

The game the children loved the best was a match at archery, for
the king had given them two bows exactly alike, and they would
spend whole days in trying to see which could shoot the highest.
This is always very dangerous, and it was a great wonder they did
not put their eyes out; but somehow or other they managed to
escape.

One morning, when the prince had done his lessons, he ran out to
call his friend, and they both hurried off to the lawn which was
their usual playground. They took their bows out of the little
hut where their toys were kept, and began to see which could
shoot the highest. At last they happened to let fly their arrows
both together, and when they fell to earth again the tail feather
of a golden hen was found sticking in one. Now the question
began to arise whose was the lucky arrow, for they were both
alike, and look as closely as you would you could see no
difference between them. The prince declared that the arrow was
his, and the gardener's boy was quite sure it was HIS—and on
this occasion he was perfectly right; but, as they could not
decide the matter, they went straight to the king.

When the king had heard the story, he decided that the feather
belonged to his son; but the other boy would not listen to this
and claimed the feather for himself. At length the king's
patience gave way, and he said angrily:

'Very well; if you are so sure that the feather is yours, yours
it shall be; only you will have to seek till you find a golden
hen with a feather missing from her tail. And if you fail to
find her your head will be the forfeit.'

The boy had need of all his courage to listen silently to the
king's words. He had no idea where the golden hen might be, or
even, if he discovered that, how he was to get to her. But there
was nothing for it but to do the king's bidding, and he felt that
the sooner he left the palace the better. So he went home and
put some food into a bag, and then set forth, hoping that some
accident might show him which path to take.

After walking for several hours he met a fox, who seemed inclined
to be friendly, and the boy was so glad to have anyone to talk to
that he sat down and entered into conversation.

'Where are you going?' asked the fox.

'I have got to find a golden hen who has lost a feather out of
her tail,' answered the boy; 'but I don't know where she lives or
how I shall catch her!'

'Oh, I can show you the way!' said the fox, who was really very
good-natured. 'Far towards the east, in that direction, lives a
beautiful maiden who is called "The Sister of the Sun." She has
three golden hens in her house. Perhaps the feather belongs to
one of them.'

The boy was delighted at this news, and they walked on all day
together, the fox in front, and the boy behind. When evening
came they lay down to sleep, and put the knapsack under their
heads for a pillow.

Suddenly, about midnight, the fox gave a low whine, and drew
nearer to his bedfellow. 'Cousin,' he whispered very low, 'there
is someone coming who will take the knapsack away from me. Look
over there!' And the boy, peeping through the bushes, saw a man.

'Oh, I don't think he will rob us!' said the boy; and when the
man drew near, he told them his story, which so much interested
the stranger that he asked leave to travel with them, as he might
be of some use. So when the sun rose they set out again, the fox
in front as before, the man and boy following.

After some hours they reached the castle of the Sister of the
Sun, who kept the golden hens among her treasures. They halted
before the gate and took counsel as to which of them should go in
and see the lady herself.

'I think it would be best for me to enter and steal the hens,'
said the fox; but this did not please the boy at all.

'No, it is my business, so it is right that I should go,'
answered he.

'You will find it a very difficult matter to get hold of the
hens,' replied the fox.

'Oh, nothing is likely to happen to me,' returned the boy.

'Well, go then,' said the fox, 'but be careful not to make any
mistake. Steal only the hen which has the feather missing from
her tail, and leave the others alone.'

The man listened, but did not interfere, and the boy entered the
court of the palace.

He soon spied the three hens strutting proudly about, though they
were really anxiously wondering if there were not some grains
lying on the ground that they might be glad to eat. And as the
last one passed by him, he saw she had one feather missing from
her tail.

At this sight the youth darted forward and seized the hen by the
neck so that she could not struggle. Then, tucking her
comfortably under his arm, he made straight for the gate.
Unluckily, just as he was about to go through it he looked back
and caught a glimpse of wonderful splendours from an open door of
the palace. 'After all, there is no hurry,' he said to himself;
'I may as well see something now I AM here,' and turned back,
forgetting all about the hen, which escaped from under his arm,
and ran to join her sisters.

He was so much fascinated by the sight of all the beautiful
things which peeped through the door that he scarcely noticed
that he had lost the prize he had won; and he did not remember
there was such a thing as a hen in the world when he beheld the
Sister of the Sun sleeping on a bed before him.

For some time he stood staring; then he came to himself with a
start, and feeling that he had no business there, softly stole
away, and was fortunate enough to recapture the hen, which he
took with him to the gate. On the threshold he stopped again.
'Why should I not look at the Sister of the Sun?' he thought to
himself; 'she is asleep, and will never know.' And he turned
back for the second time and entered the chamber, while the hen
wriggled herself free as before. When he had gazed his fill he
went out into the courtyard and picked up his hen who was seeking
for corn.

As he drew near the gate he paused. 'Why did I not give her a
kiss?' he said to himself; 'I shall never kiss any woman so
beautiful.' And he wrung his hands with regret, so that the hen
fell to the ground and ran away.

'But I can do it still!' he cried with delight, and he rushed
back to the chamber and kissed the sleeping maiden on the
forehead. But, alas! when he came out again he found that the
hen had grown so shy that she would not let him come near her.
And, worse than that, her sisters began to cluck so loud that the
Sister of the Sun was awakened by the noise. She jumped up in
haste from her bed, and going to the door she said to the boy:

'You shall never, never, have my hen till you bring me back my
sister who was carried off by a giant to his castle, which is a
long way off.'

Slowly and sadly the youth left the palace and told his story to
his friends, who were waiting outside the gate, how he had
actually held the hen three times in his arms and had lost her.

'I knew that we should not get off so easily,' said the fox,
shaking his head; 'but there is no more time to waste. Let us
set off at once in search of the sister. Luckily, I know the
way.'

They walked on for many days, till at length the fox, who, as
usual, was going first, stopped suddenly.

'The giant's castle is not far now,' he said, 'but when we reach
it you two must remain outside while I go and fetch the princess.
Directly I bring her out you must both catch hold of her tight,
and get away as fast as you can; while I return to the castle and
talk to the giants—for there are many of them—so that they may
not notice the escape of the princess.'

A few minutes later they arrived at the castle, and the fox, who
had often been there before, slipped in without difficulty.
There were several giants, both young and old, in the hall, and
they were all dancing round the princess. As soon as they saw
the fox they cried out: 'Come and dance too, old fox; it is a
long time since we have seen you.'

So the fox stood up, and did his steps with the best of them; but
after a while he stopped and said:

'I know a charming new dance that I should like to show you; but
it can only be done by two people. If the princess will honour
me for a few minutes, you will soon see how it is done.'

'Ah, that is delightful; we want something new,' answered they,
and placed the princess between the outstretched arms of the fox.
In one instant he had knocked over the great stand of lights that
lighted the hall, and in the darkness had borne the princess to
the gate. His comrades seized hold of her, as they had been
bidden, and the fox was back again in the hall before anyone had
missed him. He found the giants busy trying to kindle a fire and
get some light; but after a bit someone cried out:

'Where is the princess?'

'Here, in my arms,' replied the fox. 'Don't be afraid; she is
quite safe.' And he waited until he thought that his comrades
had gained a good start, and put at least five or six mountains
between themselves and the giants. Then he sprang through the
door, calling, as he went: 'The maiden is here; take her if you
can!'

At these words the giants understood that their prize had
escaped, and they ran after the fox as fast as their great legs
could carry them, thinking that they should soon come up with the
fox, who they supposed had the princess on his back. The fox, on
his side, was far too clever to choose the same path that his
friends had taken, but would in and out of the forest, till at
last even HE was tired out, and fell fast asleep under a tree.
Indeed, he was so exhausted with his day's work that he never
heard the approach of the giants, and their hands were already
stretched out to seize his tail when his eyes opened, and with a
tremendous bound he was once more beyond their reach. All the
rest of the night the fox ran and ran; but when bright red spread
over the east, he stopped and waited till the giants were close
upon him. Then he turned, and said quietly: 'Look, there is the
Sister of the Sun!'

The giants raised their eyes all at once, and were instantly
turned into pillars of stone. The fox then made each pillar a
low bow, and set off to join his friends.

He knew a great many short cuts across the hills, so it was not
long before he came up with them, and all four travelled night
and day till they reached the castle of the Sister of the Sun.
What joy and feasting there was throughout the palace at the
sight of the princess whom they had mourned as dead! and they
could not make enough of the boy who had gone through such
dangers in order to rescue her. The golden hen was given to him
at once, and, more than that, the Sister of the Sun told him
that, in a little time, when he was a few years older, she would
herself pay a visit to his home and become his wife. The boy
could hardly believe his ears when he heard what was in store for
him, for his was the most beautiful princess in all the world;
and however thick the darkness might be, it fled away at once
from the light of a star on her forehead.

So the boy set forth on his journey home, with his friends for
company; his heart full of gladness when he thought of the
promise of the princess. But, one by one, his comrades dropped
off at the places where they had first met him, and he was quite
alone when he reached his native town and the gates of the
palace. With the golden hen under his arm he presented himself
before the king, and told his adventures, and how he was going to
have for a wife a princess so wonderful and unlike all other
princesses, that the star on her forehead could turn night into
day. The king listened silently, and when the boy had done, he
said quietly: 'If I find that your story is not true I will have
you thrown into a cask of pitch.'

'It is true—every word of it,' answered the boy; and went on to
tell that the day and even the hour were fixed when his bride was
to come and seek him.

But as the time drew near, and nothing was heard of the princess,
the youth became anxious and uneasy, especially when it came to
his ears that the great cask was being filled with pitch, and
that sticks were laid underneath to make a fire to boil it with.
All day long the boy stood at the window, looking over the sea by
which the princess must travel; but there were no signs of her,
not even the tiniest white sail. And, as he stood, soldiers came
and laid hands on him, and led him up to the cask, where a big
fire was blazing, and the horrid black pitch boiling and bubbling
over the sides. He looked and shuddered, but there was no
escape; so he shut his eyes to avoid seeing.