The Orange Fairy Book (13 page)

'You are my own wife, and I shall never let you go,' he said. But the
words were hardly out of his mouth when he found that it was a hare
that he was holding by the paw. Then the hare changed into a fish, and
the fish into a bird, and the bird into a slimy wriggling snake. This
time the prince's hand nearly opened of itself, but with a strong
effort he kept his fingers shut, and drawing his sword cut off its
head, when the spell was broken, and the girl stood before him as he
had seen her first, the wreath upon her head and the birds singing for
joy.

The very next morning the stepmother arrived at the palace with an
ointment that the old witch had given her to place upon her daughter's
tongue, which would break the dove's spell, if the rightful bride had
really been drowned in the sea; if not, then it would be useless. The
mother assured her that she had seen her stepdaughter sink, and that
there was no fear that she would ever come up again; but, to make all
quite safe, the old woman might bewitch the girl; and so she did.
After that the wicked stepmother travelled all through the night to get
to the palace as soon as possible, and made her way straight into her
daughter's room.

'I have got it! I have got it!' she cried triumphantly, and laid the
ointment on her daughter's tongue.

'Now what do you say?' she asked proudly.

'Dirty creatures! dirty creatures!' answered the daughter; and the
mother wrung her hands and wept, as she knew that all her plans had
failed.

At this moment the prince entered with his real wife. 'You both
deserved death,' he said, 'and if it were left to me, you should have
it. But the princess has begged me to spare your lives, so you will be
put into a ship and carried off to a desert island, where you will stay
till you die.'

Then the ship was made ready and the wicked woman and her daughter were
placed in it, and it sailed away, and no more was heard of them. But
the prince and his wife lived together long and happily, and ruled
their people well.

(Adapted from Thorpe's Yule-Tide Stories.)

Once a weaver, who was in want of work, took service with a certain
farmer as a shepherd.

The farmer, knowing that the man was very slow-witted, gave him most
careful instructions as to everything that he was to do.

Finally he said: 'If a wolf or any wild animal attempts to hurt the
flock you should pick up a big stone like this' (suiting the action to
the word) 'and throw a few such at him, and he will be afraid and go
away.' The weaver said that he understood, and started with the flocks
to the hillsides where they grazed all day.

By chance in the afternoon a leopard appeared, and the weaver instantly
ran home as fast as he could to get the stones which the farmer had
shown him, to throw at the creature. When he came back all the flock
were scattered or killed, and when the farmer heard the tale he beat
him soundly. 'Were there no stones on the hillside that you should run
back to get them, you senseless one?' he cried; 'you are not fit to
herd sheep. To-day you shall stay at home and mind my old mother who
is sick, perhaps you will be able to drive flies off her face, if you
can't drive beasts away from sheep!'

So, the next day, the weaver was left at home to take care of the
farmer's old sick mother. Now as she lay outside on a bed, it turned
out that the flies became very troublesome, and the weaver looked round
for something to drive them away with; and as he had been told to pick
up the nearest stone to drive the beasts away from the flock, he
thought he would this time show how cleverly he could obey orders.
Accordingly he seized the nearest stone, which was a big, heavy one,
and dashed it at the flies; but, unhappily, he slew the poor old woman
also; and then, being afraid of the wrath of the farmer, he fled and
was not seen again in that neighbourhood.

All that day and all the next night he walked, and at length he came to
a village where a great many weavers lived together.

'You are welcome,' said they. 'Eat and sleep, for to-morrow six of us
start in search of fresh wool to weave, and we pray you to give us your
company.'

'Willingly,' answered the weaver. So the next morning the seven
weavers set out to go to the village where they could buy what they
wanted. On the way they had to cross a ravine which lately had been
full of water, but now was quite dry. The weavers, however, were
accustomed to swim over this ravine; therefore, regardless of the fact
that this time it was dry, they stripped, and, tying their clothes on
their heads, they proceeded to swim across the dry sand and rocks that
formed the bed of the ravine. Thus they got to the other side without
further damage than bruised knees and elbows, and as soon as they were
over, one of them began to count the party to make sure that all were
safe there. He counted all except himself, and then cried out that
somebody was missing! This set each of them counting; but each made
the same mistake of counting all except himself, so that they became
certain that one of their party was missing! They ran up and down the
bank of the ravine wringing their hands in great distress and looking
for signs of their lost comrade. There a farmer found them and asked
what was the matter. 'Alas!' said one, 'seven of us started from the
other bank and one must have been drowned on the crossing, as we can
only find six remaining!' The farmer eyed them a minute, and then,
picking up his stick, he dealt each a sounding blow, counting, as he
did so, 'One! two! three!' and so on up to the seven. When the weavers
found that there were seven of them they were overcome with gratitude
to one whom they took for a magician as he could thus make seven out of
an obvious six.

(From the Pushto.)

Once upon a time there lived an old man who dwelt with his son in a
small hut on the edge of the plain. He was very old, and had worked
very hard, and when at last he was struck down by illness he felt that
he should never rise from his bed again.

So, one day, he bade his wife summon their son, when he came back from
his journey to the nearest town, where he had been to buy bread.

'Come hither, my son,' said he; 'I know myself well to be dying, and I
have nothing to leave you but my falcon, my cat and my greyhound; but
if you make good use of them you will never lack food. Be good to your
mother, as you have been to me. And now farewell!'

Then he turned his face to the wall and died.

There was great mourning in the hut for many days, but at length the
son rose up, and calling to his greyhound, his cat and his falcon, he
left the house saying that he would bring back something for dinner.
Wandering over the plain, he noticed a troop of gazelles, and pointed
to his greyhound to give chase. The dog soon brought down a fine fat
beast, and slinging it over his shoulders, the young man turned
homewards. On the way, however, he passed a pond, and as he approached
a cloud of birds flew into the air. Shaking his wrist, the falcon
seated on it darted into the air, and swooped down upon the quarry he
had marked, which fell dead to the ground. The young man picked it up,
and put it in his pouch and then went towards home again.

Near the hut was a small barn in which he kept the produce of the
little patch of corn, which grew close to the garden. Here a rat ran
out almost under his feet, followed by another and another; but quick
as thought the cat was upon them and not one escaped her.

When all the rats were killed, the young man left the barn. He took
the path leading to the door of the hut, but stopped on feeling a hand
laid on his shoulder.

'Young man,' said the ogre (for such was the stranger), 'you have been
a good son, and you deserve the piece of luck which has befallen you
this day. Come with me to that shining lake yonder, and fear nothing.'

Wondering a little at what might be going to happen to him, the youth
did as the ogre bade him, and when they reached the shore of the lake,
the ogre turned and said to him:

'Step into the water and shut your eyes! You will find yourself
sinking slowly to the bottom; but take courage, all will go well. Only
bring up as much silver as you can carry, and we will divide it between
us.'

So the young man stepped bravely into the lake, and felt himself
sinking, sinking, till he reached firm ground at last. In front of him
lay four heaps of silver, and in the midst of them a curious white
shining stone, marked over with strange characters, such as he had
never seen before. He picked it up in order to examine it more
closely, and as he held it the stone spoke.

'As long as you hold me, all your wishes will come true,' it said.
'But hide me in your turban, and then call to the ogre that you are
ready to come up.'

In a few minutes the young man stood again by the shores of the lake.

'Well, where is the silver?' asked the ogre, who was awaiting him.

'Ah, my father, how can I tell you! So bewildered was I, and so
dazzled with the splendours of everything I saw, that I stood like a
statue, unable to move. Then hearing steps approaching I got
frightened, and called to you, as you know.'

'You are no better than the rest,' cried the ogre, and turned away in a
rage.

When he was out of sight the young man took the stone from his turban
and looked at it. 'I want the finest camel that can be found, and the
most splendid garments,' said he.

'Shut your eyes then,' replied the stone. And he shut them; and when
he opened them again the camel that he had wished for was standing
before him, while the festal robes of a desert prince hung from his
shoulders. Mounting the camel, he whistled the falcon to his wrist,
and, followed by his greyhound and his cat, he started homewards.

His mother was sewing at her door when this magnificent stranger rode
up, and, filled with surprise, she bowed low before him.

'Don't you know me, mother?' he said with a laugh. And on hearing his
voice the good woman nearly fell to the ground with astonishment.

'How have you got that camel and those clothes?' asked she. 'Can a son
of mine have committed murder in order to possess them?'

'Do not be afraid; they are quite honestly come by,' answered the
youth. 'I will explain all by-and-by; but now you must go to the
palace and tell the king I wish to marry his daughter.'

At these words the mother thought her son had certainly gone mad, and
stared blankly at him. The young man guessed what was in her heart,
and replied with a smile:

'Fear nothing. Promise all that he asks; it will be fulfilled somehow.'

So she went to the palace, where she found the king sitting in the Hall
of Justice listening to the petitions of his people. The woman waited
until all had been heard and the hall was empty, and then went up and
knelt before the throne.

'My son has sent me to ask for the hand of the princess,' said she.

The king looked at her and thought that she was mad; but, instead of
ordering his guards to turn her out, he answered gravely:

'Before he can marry the princess he must build me a palace of ice,
which can be warmed with fires, and wherein the rarest singing- birds
can live!'

'It shall be done, your Majesty,' said she, and got up and left the
hall.

Her son was anxiously awaiting her outside the palace gates, dressed in
the clothes that he wore every day.

'Well, what have I got to do?' he asked impatiently, drawing his mother
aside so that no one could overhear them.

'Oh, something quite impossible; and I hope you will put the princess
out of your head,' she replied.

'Well, but what is it?' persisted he.

'Nothing but to build a palace of ice wherein fires can burn that shall
keep it so warm that the most delicate singing-birds can live in it!'

'I thought it would be something much harder than that,' exclaimed the
young man. 'I will see about it at once.' And leaving his mother, he
went into the country and took the stone from his turban.

'I want a palace of ice that can be warmed with fires and filled with
the rarest singing-birds!'

'Shut your eyes, then,' said the stone; and he shut them, and when he
opened them again there was the palace, more beautiful than anything he
could have imagined, the fires throwing a soft pink glow over the ice.

'It is fit even for the princess,' thought he to himself.

As soon as the king awoke next morning he ran to the window, and there
across the plain he beheld the palace.

'That young man must be a great wizard; he may be useful to me.' And
when the mother came again to tell him that his orders had been
fulfilled he received her with great honour, and bade her tell her son
that the wedding was fixed for the following day.

The princess was delighted with her new home, and with her husband
also; and several days slipped happily by, spent in turning over all
the beautiful things that the palace contained. But at length the
young man grew tired of always staying inside walls, and he told his
wife that the next day he must leave her for a few hours, and go out
hunting. 'You will not mind?' he asked. And she answered as became a
good wife:

'Yes, of course I shall mind; but I will spend the day in planning out
some new dresses; and then it will be so delightful when you come back,
you know!'

So the husband went off to hunt, with the falcon on his wrist, and the
greyhound and the cat behind him—for the palace was so warm that even
the cat did not mind living in it.

No sooner had he gone, than the ogre who had been watching his chance
for many days, knocked at the door of the palace.

'I have just returned from a far country,' he said, 'and I have some of
the largest and most brilliant stones in the world with me. The
princess is known to love beautiful things, perhaps she might like to
buy some?'