h-anna 
 
 
STTTi^ 
 
 BOOK 398.2.G28 1F c. 1 
 
 GELDART # FOLK LORE OF MODERN 
 
 GREECE 
 
 3 ^153 DD12ME1.1 b 
 
FOLK-LOKE ^^"^ 
 
 OF 
 
 MODERN GREECE: 
 
 THE TALES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 EDITED BY THE 
 
 I^Ev. E. M. GELDAET, M.A., 
 
 AUTiioi: or "THE mode-ix greek language in its kelation to ancient 
 
 GREEK ;■■ "A guide TO MODERN GREEK," &e., &C. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 W. SWAX SO^WEXSCHEIX & CO., 
 
 PATEHNOSTER SQUARE. 
 1S84. 
 
1' KIN TED BY 
 
 KELLY AND to.. GATE STKEET. LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; 
 
 AND KIN(JSTON-()N-THAMES. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The following Fairy Tales are translated, with the exception of 
 the first three, the originals of which are contained in the 
 Farnassos, a journal published by the Philological Society of that 
 name in Athens, from the Greek text, edited by J. Pio at 
 Copenhagen, under the title : Contes Populaii-es Grecs piiblih 
 (Tap res les Manuscrits dii Dr. J. G. de Ha/ui, 1879. Von Hahn 
 himself, the author of Albanesische Sfndie7i, Jena, 1854, and 
 GriecJiische und albanesische MdrcJieu, Leipzig, 1864, having lived 
 from his youth in various parts of Cireece, had employed native 
 amanuenses to write down, by word of mouth, the several stories 
 which formed the basis of his Cxerman version, as they fell from 
 the lips of their narrators. Some of these were subseciuently 
 revised by Professor INIavrophrydes, of Athens, the rest after his 
 death by M. Pio, the editor of the Greek text already mentioned. 
 Of many of the tales the latter found duplicate versions among 
 f', the posthumous MSS. of Von Hahn, and, by the collation of 
 ^^hese, he succeeded in producing a text which, while it leaves 
 >^much to be desired from a purely philological point of view, is 
 evidently, as the mere style of the recital sufficiently attests, a 
 far closer approximation to genuine oral tradition than is mostly 
 the case with collections of popTilar* legends. With regard to my 
 own work, namely, the selection and translation of the tales con- 
 tained in the present volume, I wish to say first that I have 
 confined myself entirely to those of which I had the Greek text 
 , before me; secondly, that I have translated them directly from 
 the original, and subsequently compared, where I could, the 
 f\y^erman version of Von Hahn : besides consulting native Greek 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 friends on doubtful points. I cannot, however, ask to be 
 judged by Von Hahn's translation. Great as his merit is in 
 having first drawn the attention of his countrymen to the rich 
 treasure of fairy legends (in a prose form) to be found in (rreecc, 
 he was rather a mythologist than a linguist, and his (lerman 
 version is not only free, but in some instances either demonstrably 
 inaccurate or founded on a different reading to that followed by 
 Pio. In regard to the choice I have made within the limits 
 assigned, and resisting the temptation to enlarge the present 
 volume either from those portions of Von Hahn's Mcirchen of 
 which the Greek text is not published, or from the charming 
 French collection of Emile Legrand : Recueil de Contes Popidaircs 
 Grecs^ Paris, 1881, of which also the original is not yet accessible, 
 I have to say that I was still further restricted in the matter of 
 .selection, by the character of the legends themselves, many of 
 which exhibit all that naive unconsciousness of the proprieties of 
 civilized life, which belongs to popular thought and speech, and 
 which, while wholly innocent in itself, renders the narratives un- 
 presentable in polite society, except at the cost of such mutilation 
 as would deprive them of scientific value. For this scientific 
 value consists essentially, as it seems to me. in the faithful and 
 rigorous preservation both of the matter and the form of the 
 original, so far as this is possible and compatible with translation. 
 I have therefore not sought nor desired to remove the uncoutli 
 abruptness of the narrative, or to make it in any sense conform 
 to the demands of literary elegance ; 1 have rather endeavoured 
 to retain, so far as the English idiom at all admits, even the rapid 
 transition from the })ast tense to the historic present, and vice versa, 
 which is so sj^ecially characteristic of popular oral narration, and 
 have left intact, as far as I cjuld, the somewhat confusing inter- 
 calation of comment, and often far-fetc-hed proverbial allusion 
 and ilhistration, which is another strongly marked trait of these 
 vernacular recitals. 'I'he main interest for the student attaching 
 to t!iese tales centres around the ])roblen7 ct the nTigration of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 myths. Many an old nursery favourite will be recognised through 
 it!rTrreek disguise by English children when they read, as I hope 
 they will read, this book . ATIftle girl of eleven interrupted me 
 in the story of the Two Brothers and the Forty-Nine Dragons by 
 the cry, "Why that's the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 1 "' 
 And so it is, with a difference. How far such tales are indoger- 
 manishes Ge>/iei?igitt, how far they have crept into Greece through 
 Turkish, Arabic and perhaps, ultimately, Persian sources ; what 
 way they have • travelled; and what they have lost and gained 
 upon the journey, is one ot the~"most interesting, and at the same 
 time compllcated~questions , which can engage the investigator 
 of ethnologi cal relations. That Little Saddleslut is the Cireek 
 Cinderella is obvious at the first blush. But why the one sat 
 upon the hearth and the other on a saddle, not without a 
 reminiscence of the hearth in respect of the place of burial of 
 her much injured mother ; why in Greece the corpse of the 
 mother replaces the Godmother of the I'eutonic legend, whether 
 or not in the spinning wheel and the cannibal feast which usher 
 in the Greek story, we have elements purely Hellenic, in a word, 
 to account at once for difference and likeness in the two tales 
 when placed side by side : these are among the most knotty points 
 which savants can undertake to determine. The reader who is 
 curious about parallels will find abundant comparative illustration 
 in the notes to Von Hahn's collection. But the inexhaustible 
 nature of the inquiry here opened up deters me under present 
 conditions, especially that of my own ignorance, from doing 
 more than offering one or two solitary and perhaps superfluous 
 hints. With the story of "The (lolden Steed" compare "Der 
 gute Johannes " in Grimm's Kinder- iind Hausniarchen. "With 
 " Starbright and Birdie," Grimm's "• Briiderchen und Schwe.s- 
 terchenl"' With "Sir Lazarus and the Dragons," Grimm's 
 "Das tapfere Schneiderlefn.'' Again, as essentially the same 
 tale in another form, compare "The Man without a pjeard " 
 and " Der Riese und der Schneider." I venture here to 
 
vl PliKFACK. 
 
 hazard the suggestion thnt the greater i)rominence of solar 
 and stellar elements to be found in the (ireek, compared with 
 the German versions, of cognate stories, points to a higher 
 antiquity for the former, as regards the shape in which they have 
 come down. I would especially refer to the almost total disappear- 
 ance of the astronomical " strain " in " Briiderchen and Schwes- 
 terchen," and its, even conscious, presence in the story of 
 '• Starbright and Birdie." For a more distinctly solar signification I 
 would draw special attention to the adventures of the " Scab- 
 pate," pp. 56-65, and 152-181. His tumbling in the mire, his 
 horses of various hue, his javelin wherewith he slays his rival in 
 the first story, and all the varied vicissitudes of his chequered 
 fortune, are so many ways of representing the struggle of the sun 
 with clouds and darkness, and depicting its final victory over 
 storm and gloom. In the "Tale of the Dragon," pp. 141-143, the 
 j)art i)layed by the pea reminds us curiously of Hans Andersen's 
 story cf "The Real Princess." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 V.XC.K 
 
 I, — THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FORTY-NIXE 
 
 DRAGONS 9 
 
 II.- — THE NINE DOVES ...... l8 
 
 III. MY LADY SEA *% . . . . • .22 
 
 IV.— LITTLE SADDI,ESLUT . . . . . 27 
 
 V. STARBRIGHT AND BIRDIE . . . . -31 
 
 VI. THE GOLDEN WAND 37 
 
 VII. THE SNAKE, THE DOG, AND THE CAT . . 42 
 
 VIII. SIR LAZARUS AND THE DRAGONS ... 47 
 
 IX. THE LION, THE TIGER, AND THE EAGLE . . 50 
 
 X. THE LITTLE BROTHER WHO SAVED HIS SISTER 
 
 FROM THE DRAGON 55 
 
 XL THE BET WITH THE BEARDLESS . . . . 60 
 
 XII. THE KNIFE OF SLAUGHTER, THE WHETSTONE OF 
 
 PATIENCE, AND THE UNMELTING CANDLE . 62 
 
 XIII. THE FOX OX PILGRIMAGE .... 65 
 
 XIV. THE HUSBANDMAN, THE SNAKE, AND THE FOX . 68 
 
 XV. THE PRINCESS WHO WENT TO THE WARS . JO 
 
 XVI. THE TWINS ....... 74 
 
 XVII. THE GOAT-GIRL 8 1 
 
 XVIII. THE BAY-BERRY ....... 85 
 
 XIX. THE PRINCE AND THE FAIRY. ... 88 
 
 XX. THE GOLDEN STEED ...... 92 
 
viii COyrEXTS. 
 
 PACK 
 XXI. THE GOLDEN CASKET . . . . . 1 06 
 
 XXII. THE CUNNING OLD ^L\N . . . . . I26 
 
 XXIII.— :THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS . . I35 
 
 >^<KXIV.— THE TALE OF THE DRACiON .... I4I 
 
 XXV. LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW's SON . . . I44 
 
 XXVI. THE SCAB-PATE . . . . . ,154 
 
 XXVII. ■ — CONSTANTES AND I'HE DRAGON . . . I 74 
 
 XXVIII. — -THE CRAZY PRIESTESS WITH HER CRAZY 
 
 DAUGHTERS . . . . . . I 82 
 
 XXIX. THE MAN ^VITHOUT A F.EARD . . . • 185 
 
THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FORTY- 
 NINE DRAGONS. 
 (Syra.) 
 
 Once upon a time there were two brothers. One was very rich 
 and had four children, the other was very poor and had seven 
 children. One day the poor man's wife went to the rich man 
 and said to him, " I am very wretched, for I have not enough 
 bread for my children. I take a little meal and I mix it witli 
 a great deal of bran and so manage to make bread. It is 
 well nigh a year since my children have had any relish with theii^ 
 meals ; they get nothing but bread and water." 
 
 He answered her : " And yet your children are so strong, 
 w^hile mine, with all their feeding and the comforts they enjoy, 
 are always ailing ! " 
 
 The poor woman said, "God has given us poverty and hunger, 
 but thanks be to Heaven, our children are hale and hearty. 
 Now, therefore, I have come to beg you, if you have any work, 
 not to send for any one but me, so may God send health to 
 your children ! " and as she spoke these words, the tears ran 
 from her eyes like a river. 
 
 Then he called his wife and said to her : 
 
 " Have we any work for her to come and do for us daily, so 
 that she may not sit idle ? " 
 
 His wife answered him : " Let her come twice a week and 
 knead bread for us." 
 
 When she heard these words she was glad, for she thought at 
 once, that when she kneaded that fine white bread they would 
 give her some of it, and her poor children would eat and rejoice. 
 So she rose to go away. And they said to her : 
 
 " Good-bye, and remember to come to-morrow morning." 
 
 B 
 
lo THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FORTV-XiyE DRAGONS. 
 
 Thus they bade her farewell without giving her a scrap of 
 anything. As she set off home she said to herself, " Would that 
 I were rich, that I might open my cupboard, and bring forth a 
 bit of cheese, or a piece of bread, or at least a little rice, or such 
 like household store to gladden the hearts of the poor I " and. 
 lifting her hands to heaven she said : " Why, oh my God, hast 
 thou made me so poor ? " 
 
 And so she went weeping home where her children were 
 waiting for her ever so eagerly, hoping she might bring them 
 something. 
 
 But alas, poor thing, she came with empty hands. 
 
 The next day she went very early in the morning to the rich 
 man's house to knead bread, and when she had kneaded it and 
 ended her work, they bade her farewell and told her to be sure 
 aid conie next time, without giving her so much as a cup of 
 
 told Watdr'. 
 
 As soon as she came home the children said to her : 
 
 " Have you brought us anything, mother? " 
 
 " No ! " she said : " may be, when they have done baking 
 they will send us a bit of bread." 
 
 But in vain she waited, and when evening came not a loaf nor 
 a plate of anything to eat appeared. 
 
 In two or three days they sent word for her to come and 
 knead again: for they liked her kneading much. Then the 
 poor woman arose and went again ; and as she v.-as kneading 
 the thought came into her head, not to wash her hands till she 
 got home, and then to wash them in a dish, and to give the 
 wash to her children instead of plain water. So as soon as she 
 had done kneading, she hurried away, and when she got home 
 she said to her children, " Wait till I give you a little milk-soup." 
 And washing her hands well of the dough, she filled a good dish, 
 and gave each one a little to drink. 
 
 And they liked it so much that they said, " Mother, whenever 
 you go to knead, mind you bring us some of that broth to drink.'' 
 
 A month passed while she went on at this work. And it 
 seems that God blessed her children, for they grew fatter than 
 
 ever. 
 
 One day as the rich man was passing by the poor man's 
 
THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE EORTY-XiyE DRAGOXS. ii 
 
 house, he put his head in at the door and said, " How do you 
 do here ? "' Then he turns and looks at all the children, and is 
 amazed to see how fat they seem ; and going out at the door in 
 a rage, he went home to his wife and called her : " Come here 
 and tell me what you give to my sister-in-law who comes to 
 knead for us." 
 
 Now she was frightened at the way he shouted at her and 
 said, " I never gave her anything yet, because I am so afraid of 
 giving her too much and your scolding me." 
 
 Says he, " You must have given her something, for her 
 children are so fat they look a.s if they would burst." 
 
 Then she swore an oath and said, " She takes nothing away 
 with her but her unwashed hands and she washes them at home., 
 and gives the wash to her children to drink."' 
 
 When he heard that he said, " Put a stop to that too." 
 So the next day when the woman went to knead, her mistress 
 waited until she had finished, and Avhen she had done, said to 
 her, " Wash your hands v.-ell and then go." 
 
 When the poor woman heard that her countenance fell, and 
 she quailed with grief to think how she should go to her children, 
 and they would beg the milk-soup of her. When she came to 
 her house her children were gathered together awaiting her, and 
 as soon as they saw her come in they all cried with one voice ; 
 " What have you got, mother? " 
 
 " Nothing, children ; I forgot myself and washed my hands : ''" 
 All the children began to weep and to cry, " How could you 
 so forget us, as not to bring us that beautiful broth ? " 
 
 While they were thus weeping and wailing, the father entered' 
 the house and said, " What ails the children that they cry ? " 
 
 Then she told hin] all that had happened, and he was sorely 
 gi-ieved, and made up liis mind to kill himself, and so that his 
 wife might not guess his purpose, he asked her for a bag to go 
 to the hill and gather herbs. She gave it him, and he went 
 away. And as he wandered about bewildered for a long while, 
 he found himself at the top of a high crag, and there he made 
 up his mind to fling himself down and die. Ihen he spied 
 facing the crag a great castle, and he said to himself, " Before I 
 kill myself, I may as well go and see what that castle is like." 
 
 B 2 
 
12 THE TWO BROTHERS Ayi) THE EORTY-MyE DRAGONS. 
 
 And drawing near he saw a tree, and he cHmbed up into it to 
 see who Hved in the castle. After a Httle while he looked, and 
 behold, a number of dragons came out ! He counted them, and 
 they were forty-nine. When the dragons were gone, they left 
 the door open, for that was always their custom. So he climbed 
 down from the tree and went into the castle and walked about 
 it, and saw that it contained much treasure. Tlien he took his 
 bag and filled it with as much as his back could carry, and went 
 away at once, for he feared lest the dragons should catch him. 
 
 When they came back they perceived that a thi<ef had been 
 and stolen some of their money, and from henceforth they 
 determined that one of them should always stay behind in the 
 castle. The poor man returned to the town two days later, and 
 found his wife weeping and refusing to be comforted, for she 
 feared that his affliction had led him to go and kill himself. But 
 when she saw^ him come back she praised God because he came 
 alive. Then said her husband to her, " Wife, God has taken 
 pity on our children and on you, who made bread so long at my 
 brother's house, though they never gave you a morsel to feed 
 our little ones. See, here we have enough to live for some 
 time." And opening his bag he showed her the coins. 
 
 She w^as a pious woman, so she said, " The first thing you 
 must buy is some oil that we may light a lamp to our Lady, 
 which we have not done for so long." 
 
 And her husband hearkened unto her and straightway went 
 and bouglit oil, and when they had lighted the lamp they 
 prayed with all their hearts and with tears in their eyes. 
 
 The next day her husband arose, and the first thing he did 
 was to buy a house ; and he moved into it with his homely 
 furniture and his poor children. 
 
 On the first evening he said to his wife, " From day to day we 
 will buy what we want for the house, but nothing more, for we 
 must bear in mind how you used to give milk-soup to the 
 children to drink, to save them from dying of hunger.'' 
 
 " Yes," said she, " I will never ask you for anything that we do 
 not want." 
 
 'I'wo months ])assed during which these people lived hajipily. 
 They did nothing else but go to church and help the poor. One 
 
THE TWO BIWTHEES AXB THE FORTY-yiXE UnAGOyS. 13 
 
 day, then, the v\-ife of the rich man came to visit her poor kins- 
 v;oman, for she had heard from many that she was now well off, 
 and she herself had begun to suffer misfortune ; all her sheep 
 had died, her fields had brought forth no crops, the frost had 
 bitten many of her trees, and she had met with many other mis- 
 haps. When the poor woman saw her without being in the least 
 affronted to think how little she had helped her in her own 
 misery, she welcomed her joyfully, and gave her the best seat, 
 and put before her the best things she had to eat in the house ; 
 whereas the other, when she went, had only received her in the 
 kitchen, and never asked her to sit down ! 
 
 After some time, she said, '' Sister, pray tell me, where has 
 your husband found work, that my husband may try and find 
 some too, for we have fallen into great distress." 
 
 And the poor woman answered her, " My husband has not got 
 any employment, but the day you made me wash my hands he 
 went aWay '' and then she told her all that had happened. 
 
 Then the rich woman asked her to take her husband and show 
 him the dragons. " Perhaps," said she, "we, too, may thus find 
 succour." 
 
 And the poor one said to her, " When my husband comes this 
 evening I will tell him, and your husband can go to-morrow, with 
 a bag, along with him." 
 
 When the poor man came home at nightfall, his wife told him 
 v.hat had passed, and he said to her, 
 
 " I will go and show him the place, but I will not go to gather 
 niore treasures for myself, for this which I have God blesses, and 
 it grows from day to day." 
 
 Next morning the rich man came with his bag on his back, and 
 said to him, " Good morrow, brother, how do you do ? Are you 
 Vvell ? " Whereas at other times, if he saw his brother in the way 
 he would turn his back upon him, or take another road, so as not 
 to hear him say that he wanted any help. But when the poor 
 man saw him he got up and kissed him, and said, " AVelcome, 
 brother ; I daresay it's ten years since I had the happiness of 
 seeing you enter my house." 
 
 "Yes," said the rich one, "but now I have fallen into distress, 
 and know not what to do." 
 
14 THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FORTY-yiSE DRAG OSS. 
 
 Says the poor man, '' Let us go ; perhaps you will have good 
 luck yet, and get as ricli as ever.'' So they set off for the hill. 
 
 And when they got there he showed him the tree, and said to 
 him, " Go aloft and sit in the tree, and soon the dragons v/ill 
 come out. Count them. If there are forty-nine you can come 
 down and enter the castle free from fear ; but if, peradventure, 
 they are but forty-eight, do not go in.'' With these words he 
 went awa}'. In a little while the dragons came out, and he began 
 to count them. But it seems he counted them wrong, and 
 instead of saying forty-eight he said forty-nine. So he came 
 down as fast as he could and went into the castle, and eagerly 
 looked about to see where the treasure was, that he might fill his 
 bag and be gone with all speed, and as he stood there he heard a 
 voice saying, " So you are the thief, and have come back to steal 
 more I *' And lo ! out comes the dragon which had been watch- 
 ing in a room close by, and seizes him by the head and makes 
 four quarters of him, and hangs them up at the four corners of 
 the dwelling. When the dragons came home, he said to them, 
 " There's no need to keep watch any longer, for I have hung up 
 the four (quarters of the thief, and they will guard our castle for 
 us ! '' And from that day forward they determined, none of 
 them to stay at home, but all of them to go out, and so they 
 began to do. 
 
 When two days had passed away the wife of the rich man got 
 restless, and went to the house of her brother-in-law to ask him 
 what they had done with her husband. But the poor man told 
 her what directions he had given him, and said, '' I don't know 
 whether he has counted the dragons right, but I will go and see." 
 And off he went. When he came near to the castle, he got up 
 into the tree, and when the dragons came out he counted them 
 with great care, and they were forty-nine in all. Then he came 
 down and went into the castle and looked right and left for his 
 brother. And raising his eyes he looked aloft and beheld his 
 brother hanging in four quarters, and he was sore amazed. Then 
 he lost no time in taking him down, filling his bag with money 
 and going away. When he got home he felt very weary and sad, 
 and said to his wife, "Send some one to my sister-in-law's to tell 
 her to come and take charge of her husband." 
 
THE TWO BBOTHEIiS AXD THE FORTY-yiNE DRAGOyS. 15 
 
 And when she came she wept, and would not be comforted on 
 beholding her husband cut into four quarters. Then she said to 
 the poor man, "You must find me a tailor to sew him together, 
 for I cannot bury him like that in four pieces." 
 
 The poor man went out at once and got a tailor, who sewed 
 him together. When they had buried and bewailed him, the poor 
 man opened the bag and gave his sister-in-law half the money, 
 and said to her, " Go and get succour for yourself and your 
 children, and if you are in want again, do not blush to come and 
 ask me for what you need." The widow went home with tears in 
 her eyes. 
 
 Let us leave them and return to the dragons. 
 
 When they reached their castle and found the dead man was 
 gone, they all cried aloud, " So the thief has an accomplice ! " 
 
 The next day, therefore, they went into the town and sought 
 for a tailor to make them forty-nine coats and forty-nine pairs of 
 shoes. So they said to the tailor, " Mind you sew them well so 
 that the stitches don't come out and that they fit us nicely ! " 
 And they said it over" and over again till the tailor got angry and 
 said to them, " Here's a fuss 1 why yesterday I had to sew a dead 
 man, who was in four bits, together, and they were quite satisfied 
 with the job, though it was out of my line, and you v\ith your 
 coats are like to craze me I " 
 
 Then they said to him, " Pray do you know the man who 
 brought you the dead man to sew ?" Said he, " Of course I do, 
 he lives quite close, and if you like I will show you his house, so 
 that you can go and ask him, whether the dead man was well 
 sewed or not." 
 
 So he took a dragon with him, and after walking twenty 
 good paces, he showed them the shop. Then they went away 
 to a joiner's, and ordered forty-eight chests, just big enough for 
 them to get into. When they were finished, the forty-eight 
 dragons got inside, and the forty-ninth remained outside. And 
 in the morning the dragon went to the poor man's place, and 
 said to him, " I have had forty-eight chests sent me and I 
 want you to be so kind as to let me leave them here for the 
 night," 
 
 "Not for one night only," he answered, " but let them stay as 
 
1 6 THE TV/0 BROTHERS ASD THE FORTV-yiyE DRAGOyS. 
 
 long as you like, and until it suits you to take them away.'' And 
 he got porters to bring them in. 
 
 Then the children of the poor man begin to get upon the 
 chests, and jum}) about, and j^lay on them ; and the dragons who 
 were inside, from time to time, groaned and said, " Ah, would it 
 were dark that vre might eat them all." 
 
 One of the children was playing hide-and-seek with the rest, 
 and he heard these words and these groanings. So he ran to his 
 father and said : " Those chests are bewitched ; they are 
 talking." 
 
 Then the father thought a moment, and said, " Forty-eight ! 
 and the one that brought them makes forty-nine." And he went 
 close up to the chests, and put his ear at the key-hole, and he, 
 too, heard the groaning. So he said to himself, "Now, monsters, 
 I'll make sure of you, now that I have got you in my power." 
 
 So off he set at once, and went and bought forty-eight spits, 
 and lighted his kitchen fire, and put them in, and made them red 
 hot, and took them one by one, and thrust them into all the 
 chests. Then he said to his servant, " Look here, my man, they 
 have played us a trick, and put a dragon in a chest, and if we 
 had not killed it, it would have eaten us all up." The servant 
 v;as angry, and said to his master, " Give it me, and let me go 
 sink it by the sea shore ? " And he took it on his back, and 
 threw it on to the beach. While he was on his way back, his 
 master made ready another one, and said, " You did not throw 
 it far enough out to sea, and it has come back." And as often 
 as he returned he did the same with all, and threw them into the 
 sea. 
 
 But when he got to the last one he grew tired of always 
 coming back and finding one there again, so he walked right into 
 the sea, and plunged it in deep, and when he got back to the 
 shop he called out : 
 
 " Master, is it back again ? " And his master answered, " No, 
 no, it has not come back. You must have thrown it in very 
 deep." "Aye, master," said he, "I went right into the sea, and 
 plunged it in, and left it." 
 
 In the morning the dragon came to see what had become of 
 the chests, and the mercliant cunningly told him tliat one chest 
 
THE TWO BEOTHEBS AXD THE FOBTY-MXE DliAGOXS. i-j 
 
 was found open, " and I don't know," says he, " what you had 
 inside." He was seized with fear, and went to look at the chests, 
 which were in the back part of the shop. And he found the 
 chest was indeed open, and he trembled. The merchant lost no 
 time, but seized him and flung him into the chest, and made it 
 fast forthwith, and straightway spitted him, and so they were all 
 done for. And the man himself inherited the dragon's castle, 
 and lived there as happy as a prince, and may we live happier 
 still. 
 
THE NINE DOVES. 
 
 (Thera.) 
 
 Once upon a time there was a king who had an only daughter. 
 So he built a tower of glass and put her into it. Her food was 
 nothing but lean meat without any bone in it. One day she says 
 to him, "Pray is all meat the same as I eat ?" Says he, " No, 
 there is bone- as well." Says she, " Bring me some like what you 
 eat.'' They bring it her, she eats it, and flings the bone at the 
 flag. It smashes the glass, and makes a little window. 
 
 Then she began to sit by the window, and bask in the sun- 
 shine that then chanced to be coming through. 
 
 There were passing at the moment nine doves, eight black, and 
 one white. The white dove leaves the rest and comes in at the 
 window. She lifts her hand to catch it, and drops her ring. The 
 white dove takes it in its beak, and flies off with it. Some days- 
 afterwards the same bird comes back. As she moves her arm, 
 she drops her bracelet, and the bird flies away with it. 
 
 After the same length of time had passed it comes back again. 
 She chases it with her handkerchief ; it catches it and flies ofl" 
 with it. Now she began to cry, to think that her father, who had 
 shut her up, would find them missing. Then she begged her 
 father to build her a cloister in the country, and everyone that 
 passed, she took him in, and asked what he had seen, what 
 he knew, hojiing thus to learn if anyone had found her 
 things, and could give them back to her. Now let us leave 
 her, and come to an old woman who had one son, Avho was half- 
 witted ; and he found the secret out. Says he, " Mother dear, I 
 am going to the Queen, so wash me." 
 
 " ^Vhat are you thinking of, my lad ? Do nothing of the sort, 
 for the Queen will not receive such a poor fellow as you." 
 
 Says he, " Go, I will." 
 
THE yiJE DOVES. 19 
 
 Since she could not content him, she said to him, " Come, get 
 me wood to make a fire, that I. may wash your shirt, tliat you may 
 go a bit clean, at any rate." So he took his axe and his little 
 donkey, and went out. On his way, when he had tied his 
 donkey to the stump of a tree, just as he was going to fetch a 
 blow with his axe to cut a great log, up comes a donkey going the 
 other way. 
 
 '' Oh, my donkey I " he cries, and leaves his axe and runs to 
 catch it. As the two went along one after the other, the donkey 
 comes to a stand before a black door, and it opened and they 
 went in, and it shut behind them. As they went on they saw a 
 high staircase, up which the donkey went with the boy after him. 
 Going upstairs into a room, he loses sight of the donkey, and is 
 left alone. There he saw a cauldron boiling. He removes it 
 and sees two partridges. He takes one and leaves the other. 
 He sees a cupboard and gets inside it, and there he ate the par- 
 tridge. As he sat there, he looked out of the chink, and about 
 mid-day came nine doves. They entered the house, shook them- 
 selves, and eight of them became dragons, but the white one re- 
 mained in the chamber where the old dame's son was, shook 
 itself, and turned into a young man, who claps his hands, and in 
 comes a maid with a basin and towel, and he washes himself. 
 
 When he was washed, she placed a table before him, and said, 
 "• Master, there were two partridges, I have only found one.'' 
 
 " Never mind," says he, " serve it up ; it does not matter." 
 
 He ate, the table was cleared, and he was left alone. 
 
 He spread out a handkerchief upon the table, and took out 
 the bracelet and the ring, and put them on it, and kissed them, 
 and wept, saying : 
 
 " Oh, Princess, since I took your handkerchief, I see you no 
 more in your chamber when I pass." So speaking, he kissed 
 them. 
 
 Then, in the midst of his grief, the dragons come, they take 
 him with them, and nine doves fly away. 
 
 The lad in terror came out of the cupboard as soon as the 
 dragons had gone, in order to run away. The donkey stands 
 before him. He goes down the stairs, the black door opens ; 
 they go towards the place where his faggots were lying. The 
 
20 THE yiXE DOVES. 
 
 donkey disai)pears, he turns round and sees his own donkey tied 
 to the tree. " Oh, my darUngHttle donkey," says he, "■ I tied you 
 up, and }-ou got loose by yourself, and tied yourself up again, all 
 to save me trouble." 
 
 He took his axe, chopped the wood, and went home to his 
 mother. She lights a fire, washes his shirt, dries it. and puts it 
 on him. 
 
 Then he runs, and goes to the Princess, and tells her every- 
 thing. As soon as she hears it, a great longing seizes her to go. 
 
 " Ah," says he, " are you to take your ease, while I go mad 
 with trouble, who am my mother's only boy? " 
 
 And he spoke right earnestly, and kept bawling it into her 
 ears. 
 
 " Then," says she, " take me ! " 
 
 Says he, " I won't take you." 
 
 But by dint of money and promises he consents to take her, 
 and sets off with her. And he takes a sprig of pepper with 
 him. 
 
 Says he, " If you chance to stumble and fall on the ground, or 
 do anything of that sort with me, I will stuff this pepper in your 
 mouth." 
 
 The Princess only laughed, and hurried him on. He brought 
 her to the place, put her in the cupboard, and she saw every- 
 thing. She could not refrain herself, but came out and embraced 
 the youth. Then the boy ran away, and went to the cloister 
 v/ith his mother, and she lived with him there. The Princess 
 lived with the youth eight or nine months. He used to hide 
 her, and go out with the dragons. Then he said to her, "Go to 
 a i)lace which I will tell you of, where I have a sister, until your 
 ( hild is born, and then I will come to you." In course of time a 
 son was born to her, and when he was six weeks old she said to 
 her sister-in-law : 
 
 " Sister-in-law, I should like to build a glass i)alace somewhere 
 in the country, where we could stay, and have it fenced out- 
 side witli iron." 
 
 So when tliey had made the ])alacc, and the two girls had gone 
 into it, the doves passed by, and as they passed the white one 
 came inside. And they locked the others out with the iron gate. 
 
THE yiSE U J ^ES. 2 1 
 
 From their grief at having lost their son, the dragons swelled u]) 
 and burst with a bang. But lo and behold, the white dove had 
 three pins on the top of its head, and did not remember to tell 
 the Princess to take them out. Then the dove fell on to the bed 
 and began to pant and gasp for its life, because it could not 
 manage to turn into a man. 
 
 She put the child upon him, and said, " Let us all three go 
 near him, for he is dying." The babe tumbled over him, and 
 pulled out the pins, when he became a Prince. " Ah, my beloved 
 Princess," says he, " had I been left as I was but another hour, 
 we should both of us have been lost." 
 
 Then he took her and his sister and brought them to his father 
 and they lived happily. 
 
MY LADY SEA. 
 (Thera.) 
 
 There was once an old man who had his house upon the sand. 
 He was a shoemaker by trade. Now his house was small and had 
 one little window and one door. Moreover the old man was all 
 alone. One day he got tired of this, so he went and got some 
 meal, kneaded it into a great lum}) of dough, and made it into 
 three pieces. Then he moulded it into three dolls like fair 
 maidens. Then he took a,nd dressed them ; the one in red, the 
 other in blue, and the third in white. He had also a pot with a 
 plant of rosemary in it. In the morning before he went out the 
 old man, who was proud of his daughters, took the one with the 
 white dress, and set her at the window, and put the pot of rose- 
 mary by her, and said to her, " My lass, lest you should feel 
 lonely now that I am going away, you can sit at the window and 
 amuse yourself by looking at the people passing. Mind you 
 behave yourself, and make no acquaintances." 
 
 The old man lo::ks the door with the key, and goes away to 
 his work. Thereupon as the people pass, on their walks, there 
 comes by among the rest the king's son, who sees the maiden 
 at the window and stops. He bids her good day, and says to 
 her, " Ah, how I love you ! would tliat you loved me too, and I 
 would make you a cpieen." He beseeches her to speak with him, 
 but she says not a word, so he cuts off a s])rig of rosemary, 
 throws some coins into the laj) of the maiden, and makes off to 
 the palace. At nightfall the old man comes home, sees the rose- 
 mary gone, and the coins in her lap, seizes her hand and flings 
 her on tlie floor. "You graceless disgusting creature," he ex- 
 claims. " ^Vhy, I've never let you go outside the house, and 
 you've got into mischief already ! " 
 
 He cuts her up into pieces, opens a cupboard, puts her in, 
 
MY LADY SEA. 23 
 
 picks up the money, shuts the window, and goes to sleep. Next 
 morning he gets up and puts the other with the blue dress at the 
 window, and says to her, " See that you behave yourself," locks 
 her in and goes away. And lo and behold, the Prince came by 
 again, quite desperately in love, and said to her, " My darling, 
 my life ! yesterday you were dressed in white, and to-day you are 
 in blue. Won't you speak to me. when I want to take you to 
 the palace, and make a queen of you ; but will you drive me 
 mad ? " Then he besought her earnestly, but as she did not 
 speak, he cut another sprig of rosemary, and flung coins to her, 
 and fled. The old man comes home, and what should he see but 
 the rosemary clipped, and the coins. " Why," says he, '' you are 
 madder than your sister I " So he takes her by the ear and pulls 
 her down, and chops her up and puts her in the cupboard ; takes 
 care of the money, and shuts the window fast. 
 
 Next morning he set up the third, with the red dress, warned 
 her well, and went his way. The Prince, as usual, rises, goes out 
 v/alking, sees her, and is like to lose his wits. Says he, " ]\Iy 
 darling, my life ! the day before yesterday you were in white, 
 yesterday in blue, and to-day in red, and all to send me mad I 
 Speak to me, my darling ; speak to me, my sweet ! Have you no 
 pity on me, my father's only son ? Speak to me, and let me take 
 you to the palace and make a queen of you." But as she did 
 not speak, he clips off a sprig of rosemary, flings her money, and 
 goes away sadly to the palace. The old man comes and finds it 
 the same with her, takes her and pulls her down, and chops her 
 up, and puts her in the cupboard, and says, " There you are, 
 since you've all of you determined I am not to have you as 
 daughters, but have so disgraced yourselves." So he shut the 
 window and opened it no more. 
 
 For three mornings the Prince passed, as was his wont, and 
 sees the window closed, and falls ill with grief. 
 
 The King comes, the doctors come, medicine comes for the 
 Prince, but he gets worse instead of better. The doctors say to 
 the King, " Beg him. Oh King, to tell you what ails him, for this is 
 no common sickness." " Father," says he, " what shall I tell you? 
 I saw a fair maiden at such and such a window, and if I may not 
 v/in her, I shall die." 
 
24 MY LADY SEA. 
 
 "Well, my son, we must see where she is." 
 
 Messengers are sent to seek her. They make inquiries and 
 are told, " An old man lives in that house." After hunting in all 
 directions they find him. Says the messenger, " You must come, 
 the King wants you." The poor fellow was seized with great 
 fear. Says he, " What does the King want with me ? " He goes 
 to the palace, and the King says to him, " Old man, you must 
 bring me your daughter." The old man was afraid to tell him 
 he had not got one. Said the King, " Bring me your daughter, 
 or I shall kill you. Come, old man," he continued, "you'd 
 better bring her, you know what will happen if you don't." 
 
 Then the old man left. Says he, " There's nothing for it but 
 to seek among my acquaintance for some girl to bring him." 
 
 He went into the wood. There an old woman met him and 
 said to him, "Eh, old man, whither away?" Says he, "Let me 
 alone, will you ? for I am going to dash my brains out over a 
 precipice." Says she, "Nay, but you must tell me." Says he, 
 '' The King wants my daughter, and I have no daughter." 
 
 "Old man," said she, "take this whip and go to the shore, 
 and strike it upon the sea, and call three times ' My Lady Sea,' 
 Come calm, come storm, raise no alarm ! " So he went to the 
 shore and struck upon the sea with the whip. A gentle wave 
 came up. He cried, " Oh, Lady Sea, what think you ? The 
 King sends word that you should send him your daughter, that 
 he may give her in marriage." 
 
 " If he will wait three days and three nights," was the answer, 
 *'that I may array her, I will send her." 
 
 So the old man waited, and sent word up to the King that in 
 six days he would bring him his daughter. When the King heard 
 it, he sent down to the old man a guard, and every comfort, and 
 bade them give him bed and board. In three days and three 
 nights the sea retreated and left the shore dry, and there came 
 out a maiden, at the brightness of whose beauty he was thunder- 
 struck. Then the old man takes her as his daughter, along with 
 the soldiers who were guarding him, and goes up to the ]xalace. 
 And for garments her mother dressed her with the sky and the 
 stars, with the field and the flowers, with the sea and the ships 
 that sail thereon ; the countless pebbles of the sand she ])ut on 
 
.Vr LADY SEA. 25 
 
 lier for pearls ; of the little shells upon the shore slie made her rings 
 for her fingers, and the raven's wing she gave her for an arching 
 eyebrow. Then he took her to the palace, and when the Prince 
 saw her, he set her in the best chamber, and paid her every 
 attention, and spoke to her, but she would not speak to him. 
 Then he besought her day and night upon his bended knee : 
 " My darling ! you would not believe me then, when you were at 
 the window " — for he thought she was the one he had seen at the 
 window — -"when 1 said I would take you for my bride ; but won't 
 you believe me now that I am ready to wed you ?" He weeps, 
 he despairs, night and day, entreating her to speak to him, but 
 speak to him she would not. Once on a time, when the Prince 
 had gone out to divert his grief, she told her maid to get her 
 ready a stove of coals, and a frying-pan filled with oil. They put 
 it on the stove, and it began to boil before her, and then she 
 put in her hands when it had boiled and bubbled, and the 
 frying-pan was filled with such barbel as were a dish fit for the 
 King. When they were fried she put them by, and in the evening 
 she set them on the King's table. Says he, " Who did those 
 fish ? " They say, " The old man's daughter ; " and he was 
 pleased. 
 
 Then the next day the Prince went to her and entreated her, 
 but as she would not speak to him, he was much troubled, and 
 Vv-ent to sleep on a couch in the same room, that he might 
 recover from the grief which dazed him. By his pillow there was a 
 window, and she took and made two little dolls as big as one of 
 our fingers, in full dress, and put them at the window, when they 
 began to quarrel with one another, and one of them said, " Where - 
 are my shoes, and where is my handkerchief ? " and the other, 
 '• Where is my petticoat ? Give me my petticoat 1 " And they 
 raised their voices so loud that the Prince opened his eyes and 
 saw the two dolls at the window quarrelling. And when they saw- 
 him they ceased their noise ; but the one said to the other — 
 
 " Just look at the Prince ! what a fool he is !" 
 
 "Why?" said the other. 
 
 "Why, he has had our mistress all this time, and he can't make 
 her speak I" 
 
 "And what ought he to say to her ?" 
 
 c 
 
25 MY LADY SEA. 
 
 "He should say to her, 'I wish you joy of your Su"e the Sun, 
 and of your Mother the Lady Sea.'" And all at once the dolls 
 vanished from the window without his seeing whither they went — 
 for they were barbels out of the sea, and the maiden had changed 
 them into dolls. 
 
 The Prince's curiosity was roused. 
 
 But when he saw them no more, he got up and went to the 
 Princess and begged her again to speak to him. " For,'' said he, 
 "in the course of conversation I will bring in the saying that I 
 heard from the dolls." For it seemed to him like a dream. 
 
 Then just when he came to the words, ''I wish you joy of your 
 Sire the Sun, and of your Mother the Lady Sea," she spoke to 
 him, and threw her arms round his neck. And at once the 
 wedding was made ready, and they were married and lived a 
 right merry life together. 
 
LITTLE SADDLESLUT. 
 
 [The Greek Cinderella.] 
 (Epirus..) 
 
 There were once three sisters spinning flax, and they said, 
 " Whosever spindle falls, let us kill her and eat her." 
 
 The mother's spindle fell, and they left her alone. 
 
 Again they sat down to spin, and again the mother's spindle 
 fell, and again and yet again. "Ah, welll" said they, "let us 
 eat her now !" 
 
 "No I" said the youngest, "do not eat her; eat me, if flesh 
 you will have." 
 
 But they would not ; and two of them killed their mother and 
 cooked her for eatina;. 
 
 When they had sat down to make a meal of her, they said to 
 the youngest, "Come and eat too I" 
 
 But she refused, and sat down on a saddle which the fowls 
 were covering with filth, and wept, and upbraided them. Many 
 a time they said to her, " Come and eat ! " but she would not ; 
 and when they had done eating, they all went away. Then the 
 youngest, whom they called Little Saddleslut, gathered all the 
 bones together and buried them underneath the grate, and 
 smoked them every day with incense for forty days ; and after 
 the forty days were out, she went to take them away and put 
 them in another place. And when she lifted up the stone, she 
 was astonished at the rays of light which it sent forth, and 
 raiment was found there, like unto the heavens and the stars, 
 the spring with its flowers, the sea with its waves ; and many 
 coins of every kind ; and she left them where she found them. 
 Afterwards her sisters came and found her sitting on the saddle, 
 and jeered at her. On Sunday her sisters went to church ; then 
 
 c 2 
 
2S LITTLE SADDLESLUT. 
 
 she, too, arose ; she washed and attired herself, putting on the 
 garment that was as the heavens with the stars, and went to 
 church, taking Avith her a few gold pieces in her purse. When 
 she went into the church all the people were amazed, and could 
 not gaze upon her by reason of the brightness of her garments. 
 \V'hen she left the church, the people followed her to see whither 
 she went. Then she filled her hand with money from her bag 
 and cast it in the way, and so she kept throwing it down all the 
 vray she went, so that they might not get near her. Then the 
 crowd scrambled for the coins, and left her alone. And straight- 
 way she went into her house, and changed her clothes, and put 
 on her old things, and sat down upon the saddle. Her sisters 
 came home from church and said to her, " Where are you, 
 Vv' retch ? Come and let us tell you how there came into the 
 church a maiden more glorious than the sun, who had such 
 garments on as you could not look on, so brightly did they 
 gleam and shine, and she strewed money on the way ! Look, 
 see what a lot we have picked up ! Why did not you come too ? 
 v.-orse luck to you I " 
 
 " You are welcome to v/hat you picked up ; I don't want it," 
 
 Said she. 
 
 Next Sunday they went to church again, and she did the same. 
 Then they went another Sunday, and just as she was flinging the 
 money, she lost her shoe among the crowd, and left it behind 
 her. Now the King's son was following her, but could not catch 
 her, and only found her shoe. Then said he to himself, 
 '•Whose ever foot this shoe exactly fits, without being either 
 tDO large or too small, I will take her for my wife." And he 
 v;ent to all the women he knew and tried it on, but could not 
 manage to fit it. Then her sisters came to her and spoke as 
 follows to her, " You go and try ; perhai)s it will fit you 1" 
 
 '' Get away with you !" said she. " Do you think he will i)ut 
 the shoe on me, and get it covered with filth ? Do not make fun 
 of me." The Prince had taken all the houses in turn, and so he 
 came at length to the house of Little SaddlesUit, and his servants 
 told her to come and try on the slioe. 
 
 ^' Dq not make fun of me," she says. However she went 
 <lQwn, and when the Prince saw her, he knew the shoe was hers. 
 
LITTLE SADDLESLUT. 29 
 
 and said to her, "Do you try on the shoe." And with tlic 
 greatest ease she put it on, and it fitted her. 
 
 Then said the Prince to her, " I will take you to wife." 
 
 "Do not make fun of me," she answered, "so may ycur 
 youth be happy I " 
 
 " Nay, but I will marry you," said he, and he took her a::d 
 made her his wife. Then she put on her fairest robes. When a 
 little child was born to her, the sisters came to see it. And when 
 she was helpless and alone they took her and put her into a chest, 
 and carried her off and threw her into a river, and the river cast 
 her forth upon a desert. 
 
 There was a half-witted old woman there, and when she sr.'.v 
 the chest, she thought to cut it up [for firewood] and took it 
 away for that purpose. And when she had broken it open, and 
 saw someone alive in it, she got up and made off. So the Princee3 
 was left alone, and heard the wolves howling, and the swine and 
 the lions, and she sat and wept and prayed to God, " Oh God, 
 give me a little hole in the ground that I may hide my head in 
 it, and not hear the wild beasts," and He gave her one. Agrjn 
 she said, " Oh God, give me one a little larger, that I may get in 
 up to my waist." And He gave her one. And she besought 
 Him again a third time, and He gave her a cabin with all that 
 she V anted in it: and there she dwelt, and whatever she said, 
 her bidding was done forthwith. For instance, when she wanted 
 to eat, she would say, " Come, table with all that is wanted I 
 Come food I Come spoons and forks, and all things needful," -nd 
 straightway they all got ready, and when she finished Lhe would 
 ask, "Are you all there ? " and they would answer, " Wj are." 
 
 One day the Prince came into the wilderness to l.unt, and 
 seeing the cabin he went to find out who was inside ; and when 
 he got there he knocked at the door. And she saw him and 
 knew him from afar, and said, "Who is knocking at the door? " 
 " It is I, let me in," said he. " Open, doors I " said she, and in 
 a twinkling the doors opened and he entered. He went upstairs 
 and found her seated on a chair. " Good day to you," said he, 
 " Welcome ! " said she, and straightway all that was in the room 
 cried cut, " Welcome ! " " Come chair ! " she cried, and one 
 came at once. " Sit down," she said to him and down he sat. 
 
30 
 
 LITTLE SADDLESLUT. 
 
 And when she had asked him the reason of his coming, she bade 
 him stay and dine, and afterwards depart. 
 
 He agreed, and straightway she gave her orders : "Come table 
 with all the covers," and forthwith they presented themselves, 
 and he was sore amazed. "Come basin," she cried. "Come 
 jug, pour water for us to wash ! Come food in ten courses ! " 
 and immediately all that she ordered made its appearance. 
 Afterwards when the n:eal was ended, the Prince tried to hide a 
 spoon, and put it into his shoe ; and when they rose from table, 
 she said " Table, have you all your covers ? " 
 
 "Yes I have." 
 
 "Spoons, are you all there?" 
 
 "All," they said, except one which said "I am in the Prince's 
 shoe." 
 
 Then she cried again, as though she had not heard, " Are you 
 all. there, spoons and forks?" 
 
 And as soon as the Prince heard her he got rid of it en the sly 
 and blushed. 
 
 And she said to him " Why did you blush ? Don't be afraid. 
 I am your wife." 
 
 Then she told him how she got there and how she fared. And 
 they hugged and kissed each other, and she ordered the house to 
 move and it did move. And when they came near the town all 
 the world came out to see them. Then the Prince gave orders 
 for his wife's sisters to be brought before him, and they brought 
 them and he hewed them in pieces. And so henceforward they 
 lived happily, and may we live more happily still. 
 
STARBRIGHT AND BIRDIE. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 I WILL begin my tale, by wishing your worships good evening. 
 
 Once upon a time there was a woman who had two children, 
 the one a boy whom they called Starbright, and the other a girl 
 whom they called Birdie. One day the husband went out 
 hunting, and brought his wife a pigeon and gave it her to cook 
 for dinner. She took the pigeon and hung it on the spit and 
 vrent out to gossip with the neighbours. Then comes the cat 
 and sees the pigeon hanging on the spit and pounces on it and 
 carries it oft and eats it. When dinner time conies, the women 
 get up from their gossip, and the good wife goes to fetch the 
 pigeon, and cannot find it. And she saw that the cat had taken it. 
 and was afraid her husband would scold her, so she chopped off a 
 piece of her breast and cooked it. Her husband came home 
 and said, "Well, wife, have you cooked us anything for dinner? "' 
 
 " I have," she said, and she laid the cloth, and brought the 
 meat for him to eat. 
 
 " Sit down, wife, and let's eat," says he. 
 
 " I have had my own dinner," said she, " because you were so 
 late in coming." 
 
 When the man had swallowed a few mouthfuls he said, " What 
 good meat this is ; I never ate such in my life." 
 
 Then his wife said to him, " Hear what has happened to me. 
 I had hung the pigeon on the spit, and I went to fetch wood, 
 and came back and could not find it. The cat had taken it. 
 What was I to do ? I cut a piece off my breast and cooked it, 
 and if you don't believe me, look I " and she showed him the 
 wound. 
 
 " How nice is human flesh, wife ! " cried he. " Do you know 
 
32 STAEBBIGIir Ay I) BIRDIE. 
 
 what we'll do ? Let's kill and eat our children. To-morrov; 
 morning we will go to church and you shall go home first, and 
 kill them, and cook them, and then I will come too, and we'll eat 
 them." Now there was a little dog there that heard what they 
 were saying. And while the children were asleep, the dog came 
 and barked " Yap ! Yap ! " and a voice was heard saying, " Get 
 up, your mother is coming to kill you." "Tut! Tut!" said 
 they. But the dog went on again in the same strain. Then when 
 they heard plainly, they got up in haste, and made ready to fly. 
 " What shall we take with us, Birdie dear ? " says the boy. 
 
 "I don't know, my Starbright," says the girl. "Take a knife, 
 and a comb, and a handful of salt." They took them, and went 
 off, not knowing whither, taking the dog with them, and as they 
 were going along, lo and behold ! there they saw their mother, a 
 long way off, running after them. Starbright turned round and 
 says, " Look ! Mother is after us ; she will catch us up." 
 
 "Go on, darling," says the maiden, "and she won't catch us." 
 
 " She is up to us, Birdie dear, look ! " says the boy. 
 
 "Throw down your knife behind you," says she: and Ivj 
 threw it down and it became a field which had no bound. But 
 the mother ran so fast that she caught them up again. 
 
 " She is up with us," says the boy again. 
 
 ^' Go on," says she, "and they won't overtake us." 
 
 ■"But they have overtaken us," said he again, "Quick, throv.- 
 away your comb," said she. He threw the comb and it bccanic 
 a thick forest. She passed over that also, and the third time 
 they threw down the salt, and it became a sea and the ])arents 
 could not cross over it. I'hen the girl stood still and looked 
 across and her mother said to her, " Come back, my darling, 
 and I won't do you any harm." But they would not. She 
 threatened them and beat her breast in her rage. 
 
 But they still would not listen to her, and began to go further. 
 And when they had gone a long way, Starbright said, " lUrdie, 
 I am thirsty." " Go on," said she, " yonder is the King's 
 fountain, and you can drink." \\'hen they had gone some way 
 further, the boy said again, " I ani thirsty ; 1 shall die." And 
 jusl there they found a hole made by a wolfs hoof, with water in 
 it, and he said to her, "1 will drir.k liere." " Don't drink," said 
 
ST AH BRIGHT AXD BIRDIE. 33 
 
 she, " or you will turn into a wolf and eat me." " If so, I won't 
 drink," said he, and they went on again. They go on and on 
 till they find a hole made by a sheep's hoof with water in it. 
 '• I'll drink here, I can stand it no longer; I'm done for." 
 
 " Don't drink," says Birdie to him, "or you will be turned into 
 a lamb, and they will kill you." 
 
 "Let them kill me," said he, "but drink I will." 
 
 So he drank, and became a. lamb, and ran after her bleating : 
 "Baa, Birdie, Baa, Birdie." 
 
 " Come along with me," said Birdie, and they went on a little 
 and found the King's fountain, and drank water. Then said 
 Birdie to the lamb, " Sit down here with the dog, my darling," 
 and she went and prayed to God underneath a tall, tall cypress 
 tree and said, " Oh God, give me strength to get up into the top 
 of this cypres3, and grant my prayer." And strength from on 
 high lifted her up to the top of the cypress, and there, where 
 she sat, appeared a golden throne, and the lamb stayed down 
 below beside the dog underneath the cypress, and grazed. In a 
 little while the King's servants came to water their horses, and 
 when they got close to the cypress the horses took fright and 
 broke their traces and fled before the brightness of Birdie, who 
 was very fair, and shone from the top of the cypress. 
 
 " Come down ! " said the servants to her, " the horses are 
 afraid to drink water." 
 
 " I won't come down," says she, "let the horses drink water; 
 I will do them no harm." 
 
 " Come down," say they again to her. 
 
 " I won't come down," says she. 
 
 Then they go to the Prince and tell him, as follows : — " By 
 the fountain, up in a cypress, there sits a maiden, the brightness 
 of whose beauty is such that the horses are afraid of its sheen, 
 and will not drink ; and we told her to come down and she 
 won't." When the Prince heard that he arose and came to the 
 place and told her himself to come down, and she would not. 
 A second and a third time he said, " Come down ; we will fell 
 the tree if you do not come down." " Fell it," says she, "I 
 sha'n't come down." So they got men to fell the tree, and while 
 they were hacking at it, the lamb went and licked the tree, and 
 
36 STARBBIGHT AXD BIRDIE. 
 
 it got twice as thick as it was before. They hewed and hewed, to 
 cut it down ; but in vain. 
 
 " Get away with you all," said the Prince, in his wrath, and 
 away they ran. He then goes in his grief to an old woman, and 
 says to her, " If you will fetch me that girl down from the 
 cypress, I will fill your bonnet with money." 
 
 " I'll fetch her down for you," says the old woman ; and she 
 takes a trough and sieve and some flour and goes to the foot of 
 the cypress tree and turns the trough and the sieve upside do.,n, 
 and so begins to sift. The girl then looks down from the cypress 
 and calls out, " Turn the trough the other way, good mother, and 
 turn the sieve the other way, too ! " 
 
 The "good mother" on her part made believe not to 
 hear, and said, " Eh, my darling, who are you ? Can't hear 
 you." 
 
 " The other way up with the sieve ; the other way up with the 
 trough 1 " said she for the second and the third time. The " good 
 mother " answered her again, " I can't hear you, my darling 1 
 who are you ? I don't see you. Come and show me, and may 
 God bless you ! " And so the maiden little by little came down, 
 and just w^hen she was going to show her, out came the Prince 
 who had been hiding there and seized her, and led her off, and 
 the lamb and the dog followed behind. And when they came 
 to the royal palace, he made a feast and took her for his wife. 
 The King loved his daughter-in-law^ very much, but the Queen 
 was jealous of her. One day when the Prince went out the 
 Queen called her maid-servants and told them to take her 
 daughter-in-law a walk in the garden, and throw her into the well. 
 The maid-servants did as the Queen bade them, and threw her 
 into the well. Afterwards, when the Prince came home and 
 could not see her, he asked his mother : " Mother, where is the 
 bride ? " 
 
 "Gone out," said she, "to take a walk; and it might be as 
 well," !^he added, "now that she is not here, to slay the lamb." 
 " True ! " said the rest. The lamb heard this and ran to the 
 well, and said to Birdie, " Birdie dear, they are going to kill 
 me." 
 
 " Hush, my darling ! "' said she. "They sha*n"t kill you." 
 
STARBIUGllT AM) BIRDIE. 35 
 
 " Only look ! they are sharpening the knives 1 they have caught 
 me I they will kill me ! " 
 
 "What can I do for you, my darling? do you not see where 
 I am ? " 
 
 Then the maid-servants caught the lamb, and were about to kill 
 it, and just as they were lifting the knife against it. Birdie prayed to 
 God, and said, " Oh God, they are killing my brother, and here 
 am I in the well I " In a twinkling she had leapt from the well 
 and went and found the lamb, whose throat they had cut. She 
 screams and calls to them to let it go. But they had cut its 
 throat. '• Oh, my lamb I " she screams and cries, "• Oh, my 
 lamb, my lamb ! "' She will not be comforted. The King comes 
 and says, " What do you want, my precious one ? Tell me what 
 you want and I will give it you." 
 
 "Nothing," says she, " my lamb, my lamb I " 
 
 "What's done can't be undone," says he, " only be quiet." 
 
 And when they had cooked it, they served it up for dinner. 
 "Come let us eat," they said. 
 
 "I have eaten," says she, "I shall eat no more at present." 
 
 " Come, my dear, eat," they say again. 
 
 " Do you eat," says she, " I have eaten." 
 
 When they had finished their meal, she went and gathered all 
 the bones together, and put them in a jar and buried them in 
 the garden. And in the spot where she buried them, there grew up 
 a tall, tall apple tree, and bore a golden apple ; and many tried 
 to reach it and could not, for the nearer they got to it, the higher 
 grew the apple-tree. Only when Birdie drew near, it came down 
 again. And Birdie said to the King, " All have been to try, and 
 could not reach the apple, let me go too ; perhaps I shall reach 
 it." 
 
 " What ? " says he, " when so many tall people have tried and 
 have not been able to reach it, do you think you can do so ? " 
 
 "I,et me go too," said she, "do me the favour." 
 
 " \/ell, then, you can go," said he to her. 
 
 And no sooner did she approach than the apple-tree grew 
 lower, and Birdie reached the apple ; and the apple said to her, 
 " Draw me gently, gently, so as not to bruise me." 
 
 And she took it and put it in her pocket, and cried, " Fare- 
 
36 STARBRIGHT ASD BIRDIE. 
 
 well, my dearest father-in-law ; and as for that cruel mother-in- 
 law of mine, may she sleep and never wake ! " And she fied 
 and returned no more. And God took pity upon her and she 
 became the constellation of the Dove (Pleiades) and Starbright 
 — the evening star. 
 
THE GOLDEN WAND. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was a merchant who traded in the Indies and who had 
 three daughters. Once when he set off on his journey to the 
 Indies his daughters besought him as follows : the first to bring 
 her an Indian dress, the second an Indian turban, and the third 
 the Golden Wand. And they adjured him by a spell so that if 
 he did not bring the things, his ship should not leave the shore. 
 When he got to the Indies he obtained all the merchandise he 
 desired, and also what two of his daughters had begged of him, 
 only he forgot to get the Golden Wand for his youngest daughter. 
 When, then, he prepared to leave the Indies, although it was fair 
 v>-eather, his ship would not leave the shore. Then he sat down 
 and considered, and a countryman passed by and asked why he 
 vs-as so thoughtful. The merchant did not wish to tell him. 
 Then the countryman entreated him to do so, and said to 
 him, " Think : have you not made some promise ? " 
 
 'j'he merchant thought and remembered what he had promised 
 his youngest daughter, and asked the countryman where the 
 Golden Wand was to be found. Then the countryman pointed 
 to a road and said to him, that he must walk for three hours 
 and he would come upon the Golden Wand. And the merchant 
 did as the countryman told him, and walked for three hours, 
 and came to a place and asked there, " Where is the Golden 
 Wand ? " And they showed him a palace, and told him that 
 inside it was the Golden Wand, and that it was the name of the 
 King's son. He was afraid when they told him it was the King's 
 son, but afterwards he plucked up heart and went to the palace 
 and asked leave from the King to enter, and the King gave him 
 leave. And when the King asked him what he wanted, he told 
 him that he wished to speak v\-ith the Prince. The King led him 
 
38 THE GOLDEN WAND. 
 
 into the room where the Prince was sitting, and the Prince asked 
 him, " Wliat do you want with me ? " And the merchant told 
 him all that his daughter had said to him. Then the Prince took 
 him into a room where there were pictures of a number of 
 maidens and asked him : 
 
 " Is your daughter as fair as these ? " 
 
 And he said to him : '* Oh, a thousand times fairer ! " 
 
 Then he took him into another room where there wai a picture 
 of one whom he had seen in his sleep and dreamt he was to 
 take to wife ; and he asked him : 
 
 " Is your girl as fair as that ? " 
 
 And he answered : " Why it is she herself! " 
 
 Then the Prince gave him a letter, and a cup, and a ring to 
 give to his daughter. And the merchant took them on board 
 his ship. And forthwith the ship left the shore and sailed away 
 home. When he came to his home, his daughters asked him. 
 ''Well, father, have you brought us the things you promised 
 us?" 
 
 " I have," said he, and he took them out and gave each one 
 what he had promised her. He gave also to the youngest the 
 letter, the cup, and the ring which the Prince had given him. 
 And she took them and went and shut herself up alone in her 
 room, and opened the letter and read it and saw what he wrote 
 to her, which was, that when she wanted him she was to put 
 water in the cup and then to put the ring into the water and to 
 say three times, "Come, come, come, my Golden Wand!" and 
 that he himself would come in the shape of a dove, and would 
 wash in the water, and become a man : and she was to leave an 
 opening in the ceiling for him to come in by. 
 
 Then she did as he wrote to her, and the dove came, and after 
 swimming in the water it turned into a man ; and when they had 
 talked for a long time together, it again took a swim in the 
 ivater and became a dove and flew away. As it flew it left her 
 n cactus-berry behind, and told her to break it open, and to put 
 lOn what she found inside. 
 
 \\'hen he was gone she opened it and found within it a fine 
 dress on which were embroidered the heavens and the stars. 
 She put it on and went out. When her sisters saw it they 
 
THE GOLDEN WAND. 39 
 
 wondered and began to ask her questions, and grew jealous of 
 her. She did the same thing another time, and again Golden 
 "Wand came, and when he went away he left her a nut, and told 
 her to break it and put on what she found inside. And when 
 the dove was gone, then she broke open the nut and found a 
 dress which had a picture on it of the sea with the waves, and 
 she put it on and went out. Again her sisters wondered as they 
 saw her and were more jealous of her than ever. Again she put 
 the cup full of water before her, and said thrice, " Come, come, 
 come, my Golden Wand I " And he came and swam in the 
 water and became a man. When he went away again, he left 
 her a fig, and told her to cut it open, and put on what she found 
 inside. When he was gone, she cut it open and inside she found 
 another dress whereon was a picture of May, with all its flowers. 
 She put it on and went out. 
 
 Then the sisters wondered more J:han ever and took counsel 
 together how they might work her woe, and said to one another 
 that when they went to bathe, the eldest should take a bag of 
 pearls, and make believe to spill them, and stay behind the rest 
 to pick them up ; and while the others went on to bathe, she, 
 under the pretence of picking up the pearls, should go home and 
 do the same as the youngest used to do — for they had watched 
 her and seen what she did — and make herself out to be the 
 youngest, so that he might give her something too. And in the 
 morning when they went to bathe, the eldest took the bag of 
 pearls, and while they were walking along the road, she made 
 believe to slip, and spilt the pearls and said to the others, " Go 
 on in front while I pick up my pearls," and when the others had 
 gone on some distance she swept them all up in a moment, and 
 put them in her bag and went home, and took the key of the 
 youngest one's chamber, and went in (for she had watched where 
 she put the key), and she opened the cupboard and took the 
 cup and filled it with water and put in the ring. 
 
 But her youngest sister had a knife and she had forgotten it 
 and left it on the cup, and when the other said, "Come, my 
 Golden Wand I " the Prince came and swam, and when he was 
 about to rise he cut himself against the knife, and got up and 
 fled. When she saw the blood in the water, she was much 
 
40 THE GOLDEX WAND. 
 
 distressed. She left the cup with the blood in it in the cupboard, 
 and ran away to join the other girls. And when they returned 
 the youngest went into her room, and on entering she said, 
 " Come, my Golden Wand, and see me, now that I have been 
 and bathed." And when she went to take the cup, she sees it 
 full of blood. She weeps and wails and cries, " Alas ! what has 
 befallen me ? " and after weeping much she went out. But she 
 saw what her sisters had done, and she went to her father and 
 said to him : 
 
 " Sire, cut me out a fine dress in the Frankish fashion and 
 give me a good ship that I may go abroad." 
 
 Then her father cut her out the Frankish dress, and she put 
 it on, and went on board the ship to sail for the Indies to find 
 him. And as she went in the way she .saw a bird who was 
 overtaking another, and the first bird, who, by-the-bye, was a 
 dove, said to him, " Are you not grieved that the Prince is ill, 
 and that the doctors have given him up ? " 
 
 And the other bird said to him, " The doctors don't know it ; 
 but the Prince may yet be healed." 
 
 The other bird asked him, "With what medicine may he be 
 healed ? " 
 
 And his companion ans>vered him, " They must kill us, and 
 take us and a little water from that spring over there, and make 
 an ointQient and anoint his throat where he is wounded, and he 
 will be healed." 
 
 The maiden, when she heard these words (for she knev/ the 
 language of doves from Golden Wand), understood what the 
 birds said. Then she fired a gun and killed both of them, and 
 took them, and a little water from the spring they spoke of, and 
 made the ointment and went to the seraglio of the Prince and 
 stood below and cried, "A good physician, a good physician ! 
 and good physic too ! " Then the King heard her and called out 
 from overhead, and said to her, " Can you heal my son? " And 
 she said to him, " Fet me see him." And wlicn she saw him slie 
 said to the King, "Fi eight days' time 1 will have him hcalctl and 
 send him out to hunt." 
 
 When the King heard that he was glad. 
 
 The other doctors who heard him say how he was going to 
 
THE G()LDI':X WASD. 41 
 
 Ileal him, said, " If he heals your son as he says, you may cut 
 off our heads." 
 
 Then the " Doctor '' went to the Prince and anointed him 
 with the ointment, and he got better: and after two days he 
 began to sj^eak. And when she had applied the ointment many 
 times, in eight days she had healed him and sent him out to hunt. 
 
 When his father saw him he was very pleased and said to the 
 '• Doctor," " What good thing do you wish me to do to you for 
 the good you have done to me ? "' 
 
 And the ^' Doctor " said, '• I wish for nothing else from your 
 [Majesty except that you should make a feast for me, and call to 
 it all the rulers of India." ' •-. ^ . . 
 
 Then the King said to him, " What' yoii ask for is nothing to 
 me.'' And he began to make ready for the feast, and called all 
 the rulers of India, and gave a very great banquet. And when 
 they had eaten and drunk, the '' Doctor" said to the King, " Bid 
 tliem be still, for I have a tale to tell." 
 
 Then the King commanded silence, and they were all still, 
 and the "Doctor" began to tell his tale — word by word, as 
 we know it. He told all that had befallen him without saying 
 who he was. 
 
 And when he told how the maiden had turned doctor, he 
 declared himself, and said, '' I am that maiden and the bride of 
 the Prince, and it was not I that wounded him to death but my 
 sister." 
 
 Then when the Prince heard that he embraced her, and said to 
 her, " You are my bride, "^ and they had a splendid wedding and 
 became man and wife. 
 
 D 
 
THE SNAKE, THE DOG, AND THE CAT. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 Ther?: was a poor woman who had one son, and they had no 
 bread to eat. So the lad took a load of oleander and went and 
 sold it for a couple of coppers. And as he was coming back he 
 found some boys, who were about to kill a snake, and said to 
 them, "There's a copper for you ; don't kill it." wSo he gave them 
 the copper, and the boys did not kill it, and the snake followed 
 him. 
 
 When he came home lie told his mother what he had done. 
 
 And his mother scolded him, and said, " I send you to get 
 money that we may have something to eat, and you bring me 
 snakes !" 
 
 And he said, " Never mind, mother; even this will be of some 
 use to us." 
 
 Again the lad took some oleander and sold it ; and as he came 
 back he saw some boys who were going to kill a dog, and said to 
 them, " There's a copper for you ; don't kill it." The boys took 
 the copper and let the dog go. Then it, too, followed him. 
 
 The lad went to his mother and told her what he had done. 
 And again his mother scolded him as before. 
 
 One more he took some oleander, and sold it, and on his way 
 back he found some boys who were going to kill a cat, and said 
 to them, " Don't kill it, and I will give you a copper." So he 
 gave them the copper and they let the cat go. And when he 
 came home again, he told his mother what he had done, and she 
 scolded him and said to him, " I send you to get money that we 
 may eat bread, and you bring dogs, and cats, and snakes." 
 
 Then said he to her, " Never mind, mother ; even they will be 
 of some use to us." 
 
 Afterwards the snake said to him, " Bring me to my father and 
 
THE SXAKE, THE DOG, AXD THE CAT. 43 
 
 mother, and take neither silver nor gold from them, only ask for 
 the signet-ring which my father wears on his finger, and from it 
 you will reap great advantage." 
 
 Then he took the snake to its father, and the snake said to its 
 father, "This lad saved me from death.'' 
 
 And the father of the snake said to him, "A\'hat shall I give 
 you for the kindness you have shown to my son ?"" 
 
 Then said the lad to the snake's father, " I want neither silver 
 nor gold, I only want the signet-ring which you wear on your 
 finger."" 
 
 Then said the snake's father to the lad, " It is a great request 
 you make, and more than I can grant." 
 
 Then the snake made as though he would follow the boy home, 
 and said to its father, " Since you will not give the signet-ring to 
 him who saved me from death, I will follow him wherever he 
 goes, for to him I owe my life." 
 
 Then the father of the snake gave the ring to the boy, and 
 said to him, " Whenever you want anything, press the seal, and 
 there will come a Negro, whom you may bid do whatever you 
 want, and he will do it." 
 
 Then the boy left and came to his house. And his mother 
 said to him, " What shall we eat, my darling ? " And he said to 
 her, " Go to the cupboard and you will find bread there ? " 
 
 Then said his mother, " My son, I know there is no bread in 
 the cupboard, and yet you tell me to go and find bread there." 
 
 And he said, " Go, as I tell you, and you will find some." 
 
 And while she was going to the cupboard he pressed the seal, 
 and the Negro came, and said, "What are your orders, master?" 
 And the lad said to him, " I wish you to fill the cupboard with 
 bread." 
 
 And when his mother came to the cupboard she found it full 
 of bread, and took, and ate. In this way they fared well with 
 the signet-ring. 
 
 Once on a time the lad said to his mother, " Mother, go to the 
 King and tell him to give me his daughter in marriage." His 
 mother answered him, " What a pass have things come to that 
 the King should give his daughter in marriage to the likes 
 of us ! " 
 
 D 2 
 
44 THE SXAKE, THE DOG, ANI) THE CAT. 
 
 Hut he said, " Cro, I tell you."' 
 
 So the jjoor woman set off to see the King. 
 
 \\'hen she was admitted she said to the King, " My son wishes 
 to marry your daughter." Then said the King to her, " I will 
 give her to him if he is able to build a palace larger than 
 
 mine." 
 
 The old woman arose and went to her son, and told him what 
 the King said. And that same night he pressed the seal, and 
 straightway the Negro appeared, and said to him : 
 
 " What are your orders, Master ? " 
 
 And the other said to him, " That you build a castle larger 
 than that of the King," and forthwith he found himself in a large 
 ])alace. Then he sent his mother to the King again, and she said 
 to him, " My son has built the castle which you ordered. "" Said 
 the King to her, "If he is able to pave the street from his 
 palace to mine with gold, then he shall have my daughter in 
 marriage." 
 
 Then the old woman went to her son, and told him all these 
 things, and the lad called the Negro, and told him to pave the 
 road all with gold. In the morning the lad got up and found it 
 covered with gold as the King had reciuired. Then his mother 
 went again to the King, and said to him : 
 
 "My son has done all that you required." Then the King 
 told her that the wedding should be made ready. And the old 
 woman ran off, and went and told her son what the King had 
 said to her. 
 
 'Hie lad then made ready for the v/edding. 
 
 And the King called his daughter, and told her all that had 
 happened, and that she was to get ready for the marriage. 
 
 'I'he daughter was delighted, but begged her father to give 
 her a slave to send whithersoever she would, and her father 
 did as she- desired. When the wedding .was held, the bride- 
 groom took the bride, and they lived happily for a long time. 
 At length the Princess fell in. love with the slave, and one 
 night she stole the signet-ring from her husband and ran away 
 with the slave, and they went to the sea side and built a palace 
 with the seal, and lived together there close to the sea. 
 
 When the Princess had gone away with the slave, the cat 
 
THE SXAKI::, THE DOG. AM) THE CAT. 45 
 
 came and purred and mewed and said to her master, " Master, 
 what's the matter ? " 
 
 " Matter, indeed I puss, this is what has befallen me : 
 
 " One night, while I was asleep, the slave took my ring and my 
 wife, and ran away with them.'" 
 
 '' Peace, Master," said his cat, " I will go and fetch her. (live 
 me the dog to ride, and let me go and fetch the ring.'" 
 
 Then he gives her the dog, and the cat rides him and crosses 
 the sea. And as she was going along she found a mouse and said 
 to it, " If you wish me to spare your life, go and stick your tail 
 into the .slave's nose while he is asleep." The mouse did so, 
 and then the slave sneezed, and the ring which he had hidden in 
 his mouth, fell out of it. The cat seized it and bestrode the dog, 
 and while they were swimming in the sea, the dog said to the 
 cat : 
 
 " As you hope to live, puss, stop, and let me just have a peep 
 at the signet ring." 
 
 "Why should you want to look at it, Coz ? " And as the dog 
 took the seal, he let it drop into the sea, and a fish snapped it up 
 and turned all sorts of fine colours. Then said the cat to the 
 dog, "Alack, what have you done to me? How shall I go to my 
 master without the signet ? Come along, let's ride you." 
 
 And she rode him again till she came where the ships were 
 drawn ashore. 
 
 And in the ship beside which they stopped the captain had 
 just caught the very fish. So the cat began to purr and mew 
 again, till the captain said, " What a nice cat we have here ? 
 This evening, when I go home and cook the fish, I will throw her 
 the entrails to eat." So when he was cleaning the fish and throw- 
 ing her the entrails, the signet falls out, and the cat seizes it, rides 
 the dog, and brings it to her master. And when her master saw 
 her he said, " Well, puss, have you brought the signet ? " "I 
 have," said she, "only you must kill the dog, because he threw it 
 into the sea, and I have had no end of trouble to find it again," 
 and she told him all she had gone through. 
 
 Then he took his gun to kill the dog, but now the cat inter- 
 fered, and said to him, " Spare him this time, because we have 
 taken our meals together so long " 
 
46 THE SXAKE, THE DOG, AND THE CAT. 
 
 Then he spared him. After that he took the signet and 
 pressed it, and the Negro comes, and says to him, '' What are 
 your orders, Master ? '' 
 
 " That you bring hither the castle that is by the sea," said he. 
 
 In a moment the Negro brought it. 
 
 The lad went in and found the slave with the Princess, and 
 killed him. 
 
 Then he took his wife and they lived happily all their lives. 
 
SIR LAZARUS AND THE DRAGONS. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a cobbler called Lazarus. One day as he was 
 cobbling, a swarm of flies came about him, and he switched a sole 
 at them, and slew forty flies. Then he went and made a sword, 
 and wrote on it, ''With one stroke I have taken forty lives.'"' 
 And when he had made his sword, he set off" for foreign parts. 
 After two days' journey from his home he came to a spring, and 
 lay down to sleep there. There the dragons were dwelling. 
 Then one came to fetch water, and found Lazarus asleep. He 
 saw also what was written on his sword, and went and told the 
 rest. They told him to go and propose to him that they should 
 become comrades. 
 
 The dragon went and called him, and said, " If he liked they 
 would become comrades," Lazarus said he was willing. And 
 they went and lived together. 
 
 Then the dragons told him they took it in turn to go for water 
 and also for wood. So the dragons went to fetch wood and water. 
 
 At length the turn of Lazarus came to fetch water. The 
 dragons had a skin in which they took the water, and it held two 
 hundred gallons. It was all that Lazarus could do to carry the 
 skin empty to the well, and since he could not carry the water he 
 did not fill the skin, but began digging round the well. The 
 dragons, finding Lazarus was a long time away, were afraid some- 
 thing was wrong, and sent one of their number to go and see 
 what had happened. 
 
 The dragon went and said to him, "What are you doing there. 
 Sir Lazarus ? " 
 
 Says he, " I can't be at the trouble of coming to fetch water 
 every day, so I am going to bring the whole well at once, to save 
 time." 
 
48 SIN LAZAin'S AM) THK DUAGoyS. 
 
 " For God's sake, Sir Lazarus, don't do that," says the dragon. 
 " for we shall die of thirst ; we will go in your stead, when it is 
 your turn." 
 
 Next it came to the turn of Lazarus to fetch wood ; and as lie 
 could not lift a tree like the dragons, he tied all the trees together 
 with thongs. And when it grew late, the dragons again sent one 
 of their number to see what he was doing. "What are you doing 
 there, wSir Lazarus ? " said he. 
 
 "I am going to bring the whole wood at once, to save trouble." 
 said he. 
 
 " Don"t do that, Sir Lazarus," says the dragon, " or we shall 
 die of cold ; we will go in your stead when it is your turn." 
 
 So the dragon took the tree and carried it off 
 
 After some time the dragons thought they would kill him, and 
 they resolved that at nightfall they would all fetch him a stroke 
 with an axe. Lazarus heard what they said, and when evening- 
 came he put a log in his bed, and covered it with his cloak. At 
 nightfall they all struck the log at once, and hewed it in pieces, 
 and thought they had killed him. When the dragons had gone 
 to slee}), Lazarus took the log and threw it away, and lay down, 
 and as day began to dawn he murmured something, and the 
 dragons asked him, saying, " What is the matter ? "' 
 
 And he told them that some fleas had been biting him. The 
 dragons supposed that he thought the axe-blows were flea-bites, 
 and next day they told him that if he had wife and children, and 
 thought well, they would give him a supply of money, and let him 
 go home. Lazarus said he was willing, and that he would take 
 one of the dragons with him to carry the money to his house. 
 
 A\'hile they were on the way, he said to the dragon, " Stop ! let 
 me go and tie up my children, lest they eat you." 
 
 He went and tied up his childreii with some old ropes, and said 
 to them, " When you see the dragon, mind you call out ' Dragon's 
 flesh : ' " 
 
 And when the dragon came near, the children called out, 
 " Dragon's flesh 1 " I'he dragon in a great tVight left tlie mone\' 
 and fled. 
 
 AV'hili; he was on his way he met a fox, who asked why he 
 was in such a fright. And he said to him, " That until he had 
 
SIh' LAZAUrs AM) IHK DILiGOyS. 49 
 
 made good his escape, the children of Sir Lazarus were like to 
 eat him." " Are you afraid of Sir Lazarus' children ? "" said he, 
 " Why he had two hens, one of them I ate yesterday, and the 
 other I am going to eat now. And if you don't believe me, come 
 along V\ith me and see; tie yourself to my tail." 
 
 So the dragon tied himself to the fox's tail, and went to see. 
 
 When they neared the house of Sir Lazarus, Sir Lazarus was 
 on the look-out with his gun, for he was afraid of the dragons. 
 
 When he saw the fox coming along with the dragon, he said to 
 it, '• I didn't tell you only to bring that dragon, but to bring them 
 all." 
 
 When the dragon heard that, he made off: and from the 
 grecit force with which he dragged the fox, it died. 
 
 So when Sir Lazarus had got rid of the dragons, he did up his 
 house handsomely, and lived at ease. 
 
THE LION, THE TIGER, AND THE EAGLE. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a King who had three daughters and three sons. 
 The time came for their father to die, and he said to his sons, 
 '• My sons, I am now dying ; but do you think to get your sisters 
 married, and afterwards to marry yourselves. As for you," he 
 said to the youngest, "■ I have a fairy for you shut up in the 
 crystal chamber, and when your sisters are married, see that you 
 get married too.*' After giving theni further counsel, he died. 
 A few days later the Queen died also, and the children were left 
 orphans. A short time passed and there came a lion, and 
 knocked at the door. "Who is th^re? '' cried the King's chil- 
 dren. "I am the lion," said he, "come to take your eldest 
 sister to wife." 
 
 " How far off is your dv/elling ? " said they. 
 
 " For such as me, five days' journey, and for such as you, five 
 years',' said he. 
 
 " Five years I" they cried, "we. will not let our sister go. If 
 she should ever fall ill, how could we get to see her ? *' 
 
 But the youngest brother took her by the hand and led her to 
 the lion. 
 
 " (jO where your fortune takes you," said he. So when they 
 had made love to one another, the lion took her and fled. The 
 next day the tiger came and knocked at the door. They asked 
 what he wanted. And he answered, " I want your second sister 
 to wife." 
 
 " How far off is your thvelling," said they. 
 
 " For such as me, ten days, and for such as you, ten years," 
 was the answer. 
 
 " 'I'en years !" said they, "we won't let our sister go."' But 
 
THE LIOX, THE TIGEI,\ AXD THE EAGLE. 51 
 
 their youngest brother again took his sister and gave her to the 
 tiger, as he had done before with the Hon. 
 
 The next day the eagle came and knocked at the door, and 
 they asked him who was there, and he said, " I am the eagle, 
 and have come to take your youngest sister to wife."' 
 
 Him too they asked if his dwelling was far. And he answered, 
 " For such as me, fifteen days, and for such as you, fifteen 
 years." 
 
 " We won't let our sister go," said they. '' One sister we have 
 let go five years* journey away, the other, ten years', and shall we 
 let this one go fifteen ? ' 
 
 Once more the youngest brother took her too by the hand, 
 and gave her to the eagle. 
 
 When the maidens were married, the young men got married 
 too ; first the eldest, then the middle one, and lastly the youngest 
 opened the chamber to take thence the fairy. But the fairy at 
 once escaped and said to him, " If you want to get me, you 
 must make an iron staff and iron shoes, and come 
 
 •• To the Illinee'^, the Billinees. the Alamalacusians. * 
 Unto the marble mountains, and unto tlie ciystal meadows.'' 
 
 So he made the iron staff and the iron shoes and went to find 
 her. And when he had gone five years' journey, he came to his 
 sisters house, and sat outside on the stone seat to rest. Then 
 the servant came out to fill her pail with water, and he asked her 
 for a drink from the pail. At first she would not give him one, 
 but after he had entreated her, she did so. And while he drank 
 the water, he dropped his ring into it. The maid brought the 
 water to her mistress. The mistress perceived by the ring that 
 her brother was outside. 
 
 "■' Whom have you given water to ? "' she asked her maid. 
 
 " I have not given to anyone," said the maid. 
 
 " Don't be afraid," said her mistress, " tell me who the man 
 was ? " 
 
 '* He is a traveller, he was sitting on the stone seat outside," 
 said the maid, " and he besought me, and I gave him some." 
 
 '' Go and bid him come in," said she. 
 
 * These names are mere js^ibberish. 
 
52 77//'; LIOX. THE TIGKh\ AM) THK EAGLE. 
 
 And when he was com.e in, they embraced one another, and 
 his sister asked him : 
 
 " How did-you come hither?" 
 
 Then he told her all that had befallen him. As they were 
 talking, they heard the lion coming. " Let me hide you," said 
 she to her brother, " lest he eat you." And she gave him a pat 
 and he was turned into a broom, and she put him against the 
 door. 
 
 When the lion had come in at the door, he said, "I smell 
 kingly blood I " 
 
 " Kingly the ways that you walk I"' replied the King's daughter. 
 " hence the smell of kingly blood in your nose I '' While they 
 were eating bread, the king's daughter said to the lion, " If my 
 eldest brother were to come, what would you do to liim ? " 
 
 "I would rip him up," said he. 
 
 " If the second one were to come ? " 
 
 " I would make mince-meat of him." 
 
 " If the youngest came ? " 
 
 '• I would kiss him on his eyes." 
 
 " He has come I " said she. 
 
 "And you hide him from me ? " said he. Then she took the 
 broom and gave it a ])at, and it became her brother. 
 
 'Hie lion embraced him, kissed him, and asked him wherefore 
 he was come. 
 
 Then he told him all that had befallen liim, and asked liim if 
 lie knew where were the 
 
 ■• lUinee?. the Billinees. the Alainalacusian?. 
 The mountain-s made of marble, and the meadows all of ciysiai.'" 
 
 "I don't know them myself," said he, "but to-morrow I will 
 s ummon all the beasts, and perhaps one of them may know." 
 
 On the morrow he summoned all the beasts, but none of them 
 knew. So he set off the next day to find the "Illinees, Billinees," 
 and after five years he came to the other sister, and sat again on 
 the stone seat, and the maid-servant came to fetch water, and he 
 Ijegged her to give him a little water from the pail to drink. 
 
 And when he had drunk, he dropped his ring into the i)ail, 
 and when his sister saw tlie ring, she perceived that it belonged 
 to iier brother, and. she sent, and they called him in. And when 
 
THE LlOy. THE TIGKh\ AM) THE EAGLE. 53 
 
 he was come in they embraced and kissed eacli other, and his 
 sister asked him, ''How did you come?" And when he had told 
 her all that had befallen him, they heard the tiger coming. And 
 she gave him a pat, and turned him into a dust-box, so that the 
 tiger might not eat him. As soon as the tiger came in, " I smell 
 kindv blood I " says he. 
 
 " Kingly the ways that you walk," said his wife to him, " hence 
 the smell of king's blood in -your nostrils. If my eldest brother 
 were to come, what would you do to him ? " 
 
 "I would rip him up," said he. 
 
 " If the second one came ? " 
 
 "I would make mince-meat of him," said he. 
 
 " And if the youngest came ? " 
 
 " I would treat him as a brother." 
 
 "He has come," said she, "and I was afraid you would eat him, 
 and so I hid him." Then she gave him another pat, and made 
 him into a man. Thereupon the tiger embraced him, and kissed 
 him, and asked him, " Wherefore are you come ? " 
 
 He asked him whether he knew of the " Illinees, Billinees." 
 
 " I don't know them," said he. " To-morrow, I will summon 
 all the beasts, and some of them may know." 
 
 So in the morning he summoned them, but none of them 
 knew. 
 
 So next day he set oA", and came to his third sister, who was 
 five years' journey further still. And again he went and sat on 
 the stone seat by his sister's house ; and the maid came to fetch 
 water, and he begged a drink, and threw his ring into the pail. 
 And when the King's daughter saw the ring, she perceived that 
 her brother had come, and sent her maid to bid him come in. 
 And when he was come in, they embraced and kissed each other, 
 and she asked him, " Wherefore are you come ? " And he told 
 her what had befallen him. Then came the eagle, and asked why 
 he was come. 
 
 And he told him, and asked him if he knew of the " Illinees, 
 Billinees.'' 
 
 "I know them not," said he; "but to-morrow I will gather to- 
 gether all the birds, and perhaps one of them may know.'' 
 
 So on the morrow all the birds were gathered together, and the 
 
54 THK LIOX, THK TIGKh'. AS I) THE EAGLE. 
 
 eagle asked them if they knew anything about the " lUinees, 
 oillinees." "We know them not," said they; " but there is a 
 lame she-hawk absent, and }jerhaps she may know." 
 
 Then the lame she-hawk came, and she did know. Then said 
 the eagle to her, "Take this man to the 'Illinees, Billinees."" 
 "I will,"" said the lame she-liawk. And when they came to the 
 " Illinees, Billinees," the iron shoes were worn to holes. So he 
 came to the " Illinees, Billinees," and found his bride, who was 
 with other fairies, and he took her to his palace, and married her. 
 
THE LITTLE BROTHER WHO SAVED HIS 
 SISTER FROM THE DRAGON. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 Onxe upon a time there was a King who had three sons and one 
 daughter. At the foot of his palace there was a garden, and 
 into the garden a dragon used to come. 
 
 The Princess did not Hke to go into the garden, because she- 
 feared the dragon might take her. One day, her youngest 
 brother took her, and they went into the garden. Suddenly the 
 dragon appeared, and bore her aloft into the air, and took her ui> 
 into a high mountain, whither no one could ascend. When he 
 had taken the Princess, the King put the whole palace in mourn- 
 ing, and held no courts of justice ; only the ministers held the 
 courts. 
 
 The youngest brother, since it was his fault that the dragon 
 had taken his sister, resolved to go and find her, or to perish. 
 His father would not let him go, for he loved him more than all 
 the others. But he could not rest, and was determined to go and 
 find her. At length, after some da3's, he set off, and came to the 
 foot of the mountain, but he could not get up to the top. 
 
 There, at the foot of the mountain, he found two snakes 
 fighting, one black, and the other white. And the black one was 
 on the point of killing the white one, which when he perceived, 
 he slew the black one ; and then the white one said to him, 
 
 "What good thing can I do for you, for the kindness you have 
 shown to me ? " 
 
 " I want nothing else," said the Prince, " but that you should 
 put me up on the top of this mountain." 
 
 "Fasten yourself to my tail," said the snake. So when he 
 had fastened himself to its tail, it took him to the top of the moun- 
 tain, and then disappeared. The Prince went to a shepherd who 
 
56 THK LITTLE BUUTHKn WHO SAVKD * 
 
 was feeding the dragon's sheep, and entered the service of the 
 shepherd, and put on herdsman's clothes. The shepherd used 
 to send him every week to the dragon to fetch bread. 
 
 One day he found his sister alone, and said to her, '' I am 
 your brother, and am come to fetch you." 
 
 " And how did you get here ? " she said, '' were you not afraid 
 lest the dragon should eat you ? He may come any moment, so 
 you had better hide, lest he find you. To flee hence is impos- 
 sible, and we cannot escape from the clutches of the dragon ; for 
 his chambers are filled with princesses whom he has enthralled 
 and we cannot get down from the mountain. Nay, I wonder 
 how you could have got up, for not even a bird can do so."" 
 
 " I fastened myself to a snake's tail,'' said he, " and so I got 
 up. This evening, when the dragon comes, ask him where his 
 strength lies, and, whatever he tells you, let me know to-morrow 
 when I come." 
 
 In the evening, the dragon came, and the Princess asked him 
 where his strength lay. And the dragon told her that he had 
 three golden hairs in his head, and with these a chamber might 
 be opened, and in the chamber were three doves ; if one died, 
 the dragon would fall sick ; if the other, he would get very ill : 
 .and if the third, he would die. 
 
 Next day, when her brother came, she told him these things, 
 and he said to her, " In the evening, next time you are combing' 
 out .his hair, take a pair of scissors, and cut off the golden hairs, 
 nnd open the chamber and kill the, doves, .so that the dragon may 
 die." At eventide the Princess waited till the dragon was aslee}), 
 and cut off the hairs, and opened the chamber, and killed the 
 xioves:, and the dragon died. 
 
 When the dragon was dead, they oi)ened all the rooms, and set 
 free all the i)eople whom he had enthralled. They set free, 
 among the rest, three .i)rincesses, and thesethey took with them. 
 And when they had got to the brow of the mountain, they saw 
 their brothers, who were waiting at the foot ; and he hung down 
 the hairs, and first let down the eldest princess, and cried, •' I'his 
 is the bride of our eldest brother I" Then he let down the 
 second, and cried, ''This is the second one's bride I"" Last of 
 all he let down the youngest, and said that was his own. 
 
HIS SISTKli FHOM THE I) I! AG OX. 57 
 
 AVhen his brothers saw that the youngest was tairer than the 
 rest, they envied him, and cut the hairs, and left him on the top 
 of the mountain. 
 
 In his grief he returned to the palace of the dragon, and 
 walked through the chambers. In one chamber, which was 
 carpeted green, he saw a velvet greyhound hunting a velvet hare. 
 In another chamber he saw a golden basin, and a golden jug 
 which poured water of itself. In another chamber he saw a 
 golden nest, with golden birds. Afterwards, he went into the 
 stables, and in one stable he saw three horses with t^olden win^rs, 
 one grey, another red, and another green. 
 
 "What kindness shall we show you,'* said the horses, "for 
 opening the door for us ? " 
 
 '• I want nothing more," said he, "than that you should get 
 me away from the mountain." 
 
 "Get on my back," -aid the green one; and when he had 
 mounted him, he scoured across the hill and put him down in the 
 ]jlain. Then each of the three horses gave him a golden hair, 
 and said to him, " When you want us, set fire to a hair, and we 
 will come." 
 
 After walking for some days, he came to the state where his 
 father was King. 
 
 And he put a bladder on his head, so that they took hin. for a 
 scab-pate, and he hired himself to a goldsmith. 
 
 When they had brought the Princess and her two brothers to 
 their father, along with the other three princesses, he asked 
 them, "What has become of your youngest brother?" and they 
 told him he was dead. 
 
 The eldest prince tried to force the eldest princess to marry 
 him ; but she refused, and said she would not marry unless he 
 made the velvet greyhound hunt the velvet hare, which was in 
 the dragon's dwelling. And the King issued a proclamation, 
 asking who was able to do this. Then the scab-pate said to the 
 goldsmith that he would do it, and begged he might go to offer 
 his services to the King. After offering to do what was desired, 
 the scab-pate asked them to provide him with a measure of good 
 wine and a measure of chestnuts (roasted), and ta. let him shut 
 himself up alone in his room. So they brought him everything he 
 
 E 
 
58 THE LITTLE miOTHKU WHO SAVED 
 
 asked, and he shut himself up in his room. The goldsmith 
 watched at the key-hole to see how he would manage matters. 
 The scab-pate did nothing but eat chestnuts and drink wine. 
 Then the goldsmith went away and fell asleep. At day-break the 
 scab-pate lit a hair (of the grey horse), and the horse came. 
 
 " What do you want with me ? " it said. 
 
 " I want you," said he, ''to bring me the greyhound and the 
 hare.'' 
 
 And straightway he brought it, and in the morning he gave it to 
 the goldsmith. The goldsmith sent him with it to the King, and 
 the King, when he got it, loaded him with money. But he gave 
 the money to the goldsmith. 
 
 On the Sunday, when the marriage was to take place, every 
 one went out into the country to play at javelins on horseback. 
 When the goldsmith had left his workshop and gone out for a 
 walk, the scab-pate lit a hair, and straightway the green horse 
 came, and brought him a green robe. Then the scab-pate rode 
 forth afield to jjlay at javelins. 
 
 When he had played for some time, and was about to go away, 
 they rushed at him to catch him ; but he strewed silver and gold 
 on the ground, and fled back to the workshop, and put his head 
 again into the bladder. 
 
 The next Sunday the second brother wanted to be married, 
 and to wed the second princess. But she said she would not 
 marry unless they brought her the gold basin and the golden jug 
 which were in the palace of the dragon. Then the King sent an 
 order to all the goldsmiths, that whoever was able should produce 
 them. 
 
 Again the scab-pate promised to get them, and told his master 
 to get him two measures of chestnuts and two measures of wine ; 
 and when he had got them for him, he sat till morning eating 
 chestnuts and drinking wine. 
 
 And at morning he lit a hair, and the red horse came, and he 
 bade it bring him the golden basin and the golden jug. The 
 horse brought them at once, and the scab-pate took them to the 
 King, and the King loaded him with money. Again they went to 
 play javelins when the second wedding took place. The scab-pate 
 lit a hair, and the red horse came and brought him a red robe. 
 
HIS SISTER FROM THE DIUGOy. 59 
 
 And when he had dressed himself, he, too, went to i)lay javelins. 
 After playing a long time, he started to go away, and then they 
 rushed to catch him. Then he flung nioney down, and they let 
 him go. 
 
 Next Sunday, the youngest sister was to be married, and was 
 to wed a brother of the King ; but she refused, and said unless 
 they brought her the golden nest with the golden eggs, she 
 would not marry. These, too, the scab-pate brought, and on the 
 Sunday, when they were to be married, they went out to play 
 javelins. The scab-pate went, too, with the grey horse, and with 
 a white robe. And while they were playing, he threw his javelin 
 and killed his uncle. Then they took liim and brought him to 
 the King. And the King asked him why he had slain his uncle. 
 Then he told him all that he had suffered. And when the King 
 lieard it, he forthwith gave orders to slay his two other sons ; and 
 to the youngest he gave the youngest princess, and they lived 
 liappily ever afterwards. 
 
 E 2 
 
THE BET WITH THE BEARDLESS. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a father who liad three sons, of whom the 
 youngest was lame. 
 
 And when the father died, he left them as legacy a warning 
 never to travel with any one beardless or lame. " Good, Sire," 
 said his sons. 
 
 When the father was dead, the eldest sets out on a journey- 
 When he had gone some little way from home he found a Beard- 
 less One, who asked him, " Whither away, my son ? " 
 
 "I am going a journey," he answered. 
 
 " Won't you take me with you? '' says the Beardless One. 
 
 "No, I will not," says he, "for our father left word with us 
 tliat we were never to travel with anyone who was beardless." 
 
 He goes on and finds another Beardless One, and tells him the 
 same. He goes further and meets yet another. The Beardless 
 One asks him, "Whither away, my son ? "" 
 
 " On a journey." 
 
 " Won't you take me with you ? " 
 
 Then he thinks to himself, " I meet nothing but beardless 
 men, and I may meet more still. Suppose I take him." So he 
 says to the Beardless One, " Come along, then." 
 
 On the way they agree that whichever of them gets angry, the 
 other sliall cut the flesh from his back. 
 
 After a time the Beardless One gives him a roll of bread, and 
 says to him, "You see this roll ? Eat it and give it to the dog, 
 and keep it whole." Then says the other, "How, then, should 
 the roll remain whole ? "' 
 
 " 'Inhere you are," says the Beardless One, "you see, you've 
 lost your temper ! " 
 
THE BET WITH THE BEARDLESS. 6i 
 
 And he stopped and cut the flesh from his back, and so the 
 poor fellow went away. 
 
 The same thing befell the second son also. 
 
 Then the youngest, the lame one, started. After starting he 
 found three Beardless Ones like his brothers, and with the third 
 he made the same bargain. Then the Beardless One gave him 
 tlie roll of bread, and said to him, " There's some bread. Eat 
 it yourself and give it to my dog, and yet keep it whole." 
 
 Then what does the cunning fellow do ? 
 
 He goes down to the herd of the Beardless One (for he was 
 tending it at the time), kills a lamb, roasts it and eats it. 
 
 The dog began to bark, so he takes it and kills it. After that 
 he passed a wain with some bullocks ; and one of the bullocks 
 was near dying ; so he changed the two that were yoked to the 
 u'ain for two of his own, and asked the men who had the wain, 
 '•' Have you got any bread and wine ? "" 
 
 " We have," said they. Then he slew a heifer, and roasted it, 
 and they ate and drank. And when he took the herd home to 
 the Beardless One, the latter, on seeing that some were missing, 
 made no complaint, but only said, ''Now I have found my 
 match." 
 
 But when the Lame One had treated the Beardless One in this 
 manner several times, he could bear it no longer, and said to the 
 former, " What has become of the cattle ? " . 
 
 The I.ame One said, " According to our bargain, you must not 
 complain. Now stand still while I cut a slice of flesh from your 
 back."' So he cut the flesh from his back, took away the Beard- 
 Jess One's goods, and went home. 
 
THE KNIFE OF SLAUGHTER, THE WHET- 
 STONE OF PATIENCE, AND THE 
 UNMELTING CANDLE. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 There was once a rich man who had an only daughter, who sat 
 embroidering at the window. And while she was embroidering, 
 a bird passed, and said to her : 
 
 " Why embroiderest thou and gildest ? Thou shalt wed a hte- 
 
 less husband." 
 
 Then the girl goes weeping to her father, and tells him all the 
 
 bird had said to her. 
 
 And her father answered, " 'Tis but a bird ; let it warble as it 
 
 will." 
 
 But the bird came many times to the window, and always said 
 the same ; and the girl went to her father and told him all thai 
 it said, as at first. 
 
 And one day, when she was with her companions playing out 
 of doors, a shower of rain caught them, and they stood under 
 the eaves of a neighbouring house, and while they stood there 
 the door opened and she went in, and again the door shut ot it- 
 self. And while she dwelt there by herself, she i)assed by the 
 rooms in turn, and there, in one room, she found a dead Prince, 
 and he had a letter in his hand, whereon something was written, 
 which she read and which ran as follows : 
 
 " Whosoever shall come hither and watch for three weeks, and 
 three days, and three hours without sleeping, I will arise, and if 
 it is a man I will make him my vizier, and if it is a woman I will 
 take her to wife." 
 
 I'hen she, when she had so read, sat three weeks and tlnee 
 
THE KyiFE OF SLArOHTFJi, ETC. 63 
 
 days without sleeping, and afterwards she saw a gipsy woman 
 below, and she bade her come up to the window, and said to her, 
 " Sit here for two hours while I sleep, and when the two hours 
 are over, wake me up." 
 
 " Good,'"' said the gipsy woman. 
 
 So she fell asleep, but the gipsy did not wake her, but sat up 
 the three hours herself. And afterwards the Prince awoke and 
 said to the gipsy, "You are my wife." 
 
 Then the gipsy said to him, "■ Take her who is asleep, and set 
 her to feed the geese." So he took her and set her to feed the 
 geese. 
 
 One day an order came for him to go to the wars, and he 
 called his wife and asked her what she wished him to bring her. 
 And she told him he was to bring her a golden dress. 
 Then he called her who fed the geese, and asked licr, "Do 
 you wish me to bring you anything on my return ? '' 
 
 And she said to him, " I want you to bring me the Knife of 
 Slaughter, the Whetstone of Patience, and the Unmelting 
 Candle, else may your horse refuse to stir." 
 
 Then he set off and went to the wars, and conquered the foe. 
 And when he turned back he took the golden garment for his 
 wife, but forgot to take for her who fed the geese what she had 
 told him. 
 
 And when he was about to start, his horse refused to stir. 
 Then he sat down and pondered. At last he remembered the 
 things that she who fed the geese had bid him bring, and he 
 went to the bazaar asking for them, and found them in a shop 
 and bought them. 
 
 And the merchant who sold them, said to him, " For whom are 
 you getting them ? " " For my maid," said the Prince. " When 
 you give them her, see what she will do," said he. 
 
 And the Prince took them and came to his country, and on his 
 arrival his wife asked him, " Have you brought me what I told 
 you ? " 
 
 "' I have," said the Prince, and gave her the golden garment. 
 He also gave the girl who fed his geese, the knife, the whet- 
 stone, and the candle. And she took them and went to her hut 
 and shut herself in, and put the Whetstone of Patience on the 
 
64 THE KMFK OF SLAUGHTER, ETC. 
 
 ground, and upon it she placed the Knife of Slaughter, and lit 
 the Unmelting Candle, and set it near the knife. 
 
 And the Prince drew near, and watched to see what she would 
 do. And she began to say : 
 
 '*\\'hy dost thou tarry, oil Knife of Slaughter ? Wilt thou 
 not arise and cut my throat ? "' 
 
 Then the knife rose to cut her throat, but the Whetstone of 
 Patience turned it back, and when the knife began to rise, the 
 Unmelting Candle began to go out. 
 
 ''I was a Grandee's daughter," she continued, "and v.hile 1 
 was embroidering, there would come a bird, and would say to me : 
 ' Why embroiderest thou and gildest ? Thou shalt have a life- 
 less husband,' and I believed it not. Why dost thou tarry, oli 
 knife ? Wilt thou not rise and cut my throat ? " 
 
 (Then the knife rose and the whetstone turned it back.) 
 
 " And once as I was playing with my companions, a shower 
 caught us and I stood at the door of this palace, until the rain 
 should be over. Whv dost thou tarry, Knife of Slaughter, and 
 arisest not to cut my throat ? "' 
 
 (Then the knife rose up above her, but the whetstone turned 
 it back.) 
 
 "And the door opened and took me in, and I walked 
 through all the rooms until I came to the Prince's room, 
 and saw the letter which he held in his hand and read il- 
 Why tarryest thou. Knife of Slaughter, and risest not and cuttest 
 off my head ? " 
 
 (And it rose above her, but the AMietstone of Patience turned 
 it back.) 
 
 " And I sat for three v^-eeks and three days without sleeping ; 
 and then the gipsy, whom he lias for his wife, came by the win- 
 dow, and I bade her come u}), and told her to sit and watch 
 two hours, but she sat and watched three, and waked me not, 
 and so the Prince took her to wife, and me he set to feed his 
 gee.se. How can'st thou bear it. Knife of Slaughter, that I 
 should sit sleei)less for three weeks, and now be a feeder of geese, 
 and the gi])sy but three liours and be Princess? Art thou yet still, 
 oh Knife ? "' 
 
 'J'hen tlie Knife of Slaughter rose very high above her, so that 
 
THE KXIFK OF SLAl'frHrr.n, ETC. 65 
 
 the AVlietstone of Patience could no longer reach it, and the 
 candle all but went out. 
 
 Then the Prince when he heard it wept, and broke open the 
 door, and seized the knife which was coming down upon the 
 noble's daughter, and he took her and made her his wife, and set 
 the gipsy to feed the geese. 
 
THE FOX ON PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a Fox who had nothing to eat, so she pretended 
 to go on a pilgrimage. On her way she met a cock, and the 
 latter asked her, 
 
 "Where are you going, my lady?"* 
 
 "On pilgrimage and back," said she. 
 
 "Shall I come too?" said he. 
 
 "Come along," said she. " Shall I take you on my back?"" 
 
 So the cock went with her. 
 
 She went on and met some doves, and when the doves saw 
 lier they fluttered with their wings. But she said to them. 
 " Don't fly away, don't fly away, I have done with all that sort of 
 thing. Now I am off" on a pilgrimage." 
 
 " Shall I come too, my lady? " said the eldest. 
 
 "Well, as the cock is going, you may as well come too," said 
 she. "Shall I take you on my back ? " Then the doves went 
 with her. 
 
 She went further, and met some crested larks, ^\'llen the 
 latter saw her they fluttered with their wings. " I)on"t fly 
 away," said the Fox. " I have given up those old ways of mine. I 
 am off" on a pilgrimage now."" 
 
 " Shall I come too ? " said the eldest. 
 
 " As the others are going, you may as well come with us. 
 Shall I take you on my back ? " 
 
 When they had gone a long way they came to a cave, and 
 tlicre the Fox said to them, " Let us turn in here and shrive one 
 another, for we have seas and rivers to cross, and Gcd on1\- 
 
 I n the Circek. '' Lady Maiy." the soubriquet answerinfj to Re)n:;rtl, Rcinekc. &c., 
 among the nations of \Vcsterri Iv.:ro{ic. 
 
THK FOX (>y I'lLGNlMAOJ':. 67 
 
 knows whether we shall live to accomplish our pilgrimage or not. 
 Come now, cock, let me shrive you." 
 
 " What have I done, mv lady ? " said the cock. 
 
 "What have you done : •' said she. "You who crow at mid- 
 night and wake man and wife '. And sometimes you crow too 
 eady and the caravans are deceived and start on their journey, 
 and the robbers come upon them." So Mistress Fox set to work 
 
 and ate the cock. 
 
 " Come, dove, let me shrive iv?// .' "' 
 
 "What harm have I done, my lady," said the dove. 
 
 " V;hat harm have you done I " said she. " When people sow 
 their grain in hopes of a crop, and you go and scrape it up and 
 eat it ? " So she ate the dove. 
 
 Lastly she called the crested lark. 
 
 "Come, crested lark, let me shrive you." 
 
 " What harm have I done, my lady ? " said he. 
 
 "What harm have you done'.'' said she. "You who have 
 stolen the king's crown, and wear it on your head ? " 
 . " Nay, my lady," said he, " wait till I go and bring witnesses. 
 
 "Yery well, off with you." 
 
 So the crested lark goes and sits on a wild pear tree, and there 
 came by a hunter who aimed at him with his gun, and thought to 
 
 kill him. 
 
 "Dont kill me." says he, "and you will have your reward. 
 
 Come, I will show you where a Fox is hiding."" 
 
 So he took him and brought him -to- the place, and as he came 
 to the mouth of the cave the crested lark called out, "Come 
 forth, my lady, I have brought you witnesses."' 
 
 Then said the Fox, " So, so ! But won't these witnesses deign 
 
 to come in ? " 
 
 " No, they don't wish to enter. Will your ladyship kindly 
 
 come out ? " 
 
 And the hunter pointed his gun at the mouth of the cave, and 
 when the Fox prepared to come out the huntsman fired at her, 
 and killed her, and as she lay in her last struggle the Fox said to 
 the crested lark, " Woe worth the day and the witnesses that you 
 brousrht me." 
 
THE HUSBANDMAN, THE SNAKE, AND 
 
 THE FOX. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 :0: — 
 
 There was a husbandman working on his field, and in the 
 middle of the field there was a heap of stones. And he said to 
 himself, '' I will cut up the brambles, and clear away the stones, 
 and make that s})ot also into a tilled field." Just as he was about 
 to set fire to the brambles, there appeared a snake in the midst 
 of them, who said to him, '"Beware that you burn not my house." 
 
 " Nonsense, I shall burn it," said the husbandman. 
 " Be it so, then," said the snake. '' Burn my house if you like, 
 only put your staff down in the bramble bush so that I may have 
 a path to walk out by."' 
 
 And while the husbandman was holding the staff the snake 
 ])assed up it and coiled itself round him. Then the husbandman 
 pro])osed to the snake that they should go and have the matter 
 tried before three judges. P'irst they found a horse and said to 
 him, "Such and such is the case between us." 
 
 Then the horse said, ""When I was with my master and enjoyed 
 my youth, they used to ride me and kept me in the stall. Now 
 ihey have turned me adrift into the wilderness : and now the 
 time has come for the snake to eat you." They went further 
 and they found a mule, and he told them the same. Lastly, they 
 fmd a fox, and say lo her, "Come, my lady, let us be tried by you» 
 for we liave a difference." 
 
 " How can 1 judge between you while one is ridmg tlie other, 
 ("ome down upon the ground ajxart, and then I will judge you." 
 
 So the snake came down on to the ground. 
 
 Then says my lady to the husba''dman, "A\"hat are you wait- 
 ing for now, my friend ; take a p'tchfork and give him a prog or 
 
THE Hl'SBAyDMAX, Tin-: SXAKK AM) THK FOX. 69 
 
 two on the head, and send him about his business, and I will 
 help you." The husbandman takes his staff, gives the snake a 
 bloAv and kills it. Then says the husbandman to the fox, " How 
 shall I show my thanks for the kindness you have done me ? '' 
 
 "I want nothing else," said she, " but a few young chickens, 
 if \ ou have them." 
 
 '• (xood I I will bring them you," said lie. vSo he goes home^ 
 finds his wife, and says to her : 
 
 " My love, I was in suc-h and such a plight, and my lady fox 
 got me out of the scrape ; and now I want to bring her a brood of 
 young chickens." Then said his wife to him : 
 
 "What a fool you are, husband I Why don't you take your 
 hounds, and put them in the bag, and go and catch her." So 
 the man took the hounds and put them in the bag and went. 
 
 My lady was waiting. Just as she turned out the bag to seize 
 the chickens, out tumbled the hounds and caught her and tore 
 lier sadly. And she, as she slunk into her hole, exclaimed, " Neither 
 my grandfather nor my father was ever a magistrate, but I must 
 turn magistrate and judge men's (juarrels for them ! " Be wiser, 
 mv ladv. another time ! 
 
THE PRINCESS WHO WENT TO THE WARS. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a King who had three daughters. Once there 
 <'ame a message for him to go to war. As he was an old man, lie 
 sat down and wept, and pondered what he should do. Then his 
 eldest daughter came to him and said, ''What ails you, father, 
 that you weep? " 
 
 " It's nothing that concerns you to know : only get you hence,*' 
 .said he. 
 
 " Nay, sire, but tell me. 1 will know." 
 
 ^' What shall I tell you, poor girl ? " said he. " See I they have 
 sent word for me to go to the war, and I am too weak."' 
 
 " Oh I out upon the war and worse luck to it," said his daughter. 
 ^' Why I was expecting you to get me married I " 
 
 Then the middle daughter comes and asks him, •• AVhat ails 
 you, father, that you weep? " 
 
 " (jet you hence I " says he. " It concerns you not to 
 know." 
 
 ''Nay, but tell me, what it is." 
 
 ■"I won't tell you, for you will say to me as your sister did." 
 
 "Nay, sire, I will not say what my sister said." 
 
 " Well ! " says he, " this is what ails me, my darling. Tliey 
 have sent word for me to go to war, and I am too old and weak 
 to go." 
 
 "Oh! woe betide the war and worse luck to it I" said the 
 girl. " I was expecting you to get me married I " 
 
 'J'hen the youngest comes and asks him, "What ails you, father, 
 that you weep ? " 
 
 "Get you hence," says he. "It is no concern of yours to 
 know." 
 
 " Nay, but tell me," said she. 
 
THE PPjyCESS WHO WEST TO THE lVAh\S. 71 
 
 " I won't," said he, " for you will talk like the rest." 
 
 " No ! " said she, " whatever hapjjens to me, I will not talk 
 like them." 
 
 ''See then what ails me, girl "' said he, "they have sent me 
 word to go to the war, and I cannot go, for I am too old."" 
 
 " And is that why you sit and weep, my father ? "' says she. 
 " Make me a man's dress, and give me a good horse, and I will 
 go to the war.'' 
 
 " Oet you hence I " said the King. " A girl like you go to 
 war : ■' 
 
 " Nay, never heed ! " said the Princess, " I will go and 
 conquer."' 
 
 " Be it so ! " said the King ; so he made her a Frankish suit, 
 and gave her a good steed, and the Princess went to the war and 
 overcame the foe. 
 
 In that war there was with her a Prince from another kingdom : 
 and when they came back from the war they went and stayed at 
 that Prince's palace. Then the Prince recognised the Princess 
 as no young man, and said to his mother, " Only think, mother, 
 a maiden in the battle-field I " 
 
 And his mother said to him, " Why, my son, how can a girl go 
 to war ? " 
 
 But he said it was a girl. 
 
 So his mother said to him, " Go out and sleep both of you on 
 the grass, and if your place is the greener she is a maiden ; but, if 
 not, she is a man." 
 
 Then they went out into the meadow and lay down to sleep : 
 and when the Prince had fallen asleep, she went to another place 
 a long way off, and on the morrow at early dawn she came back 
 to her first place, and when they arose they looked, and behold, 
 the place where the Princess lay was greener. Then he went to 
 his mother, and told her that his place was the drier of the two. 
 Then said his mother, " Didn't I tell you it was a man ? " 
 
 "Nay," said he again, " it is a maid." And when the Princess 
 was departing to go to her own kingdom, and had got beyond 
 the boundary, she cried, "A maiden I went to the war, a maiden 
 I come back, to shame the son of that donkey of a king." 
 
 When the Prince heard that, he said to his mother, " Did I not 
 
72 THK Pn/yCKSS WHO WEST TO THE WARS. 
 
 say so, mother ? She is a ghi. I will go to her kingdom to 
 fetch her." 
 
 Then he put on mean attire and took spindle-shafts and 
 spindles and collars, and went and sold them in the country of 
 the Princess, and kept calling, " Spindle-shafts and spindles and 
 collars for ' Golden Tooth.' " For he knew that they had taken 
 out one of the Princess' teeth and had put her in one of gold. 
 A\hen the handmaids of the Princess heard these words that he 
 v.as calling, they said to the Princess, '• Mistress, do you hear 
 what that good-for-nothing fellow is calling ? " 
 
 '• Let him jabber," said the Princess. 
 
 " Shall we not take any thing? "' said the maids. 
 
 '' Take what you will," said the Princess. 
 
 The.-i they asked him his price for a collar. p]ut he said : 
 
 '' I want no money, only a i)an of millet." 
 
 So they gave him a pan of millet, and just as he was going to 
 jjut it in his bag, he si)ilt it and sat down to pick it Uj) grain by 
 grain, until nightfall. 
 
 Then the maids said to him, ''Why don't you ask us for 
 another pan of millet, rather than sit there picking it up ? " 
 
 " Nay," said he, " this must be my first business : only jjut me 
 into a garret to sleep." 
 
 And they brought him to the Princess, and she said to them 
 '• Put him into a garret and let him sleep.'' 
 
 I'hen he watched to see where they put the keys, that shut 
 the apartment of the Princess : and he went by night and took 
 the keys and opened the chamber-door and flung a slee])ing- 
 herl) upon the Princess, which he had with him, and took her 
 on his back, and carried her off to his own country. 
 
 And when the Princess awoke and found herself in a strange 
 l)lacc, she did not speak for three years. Then the Prince's 
 mother said to him : 
 
 '■ You must have lost your wits to go and bring us that deaf 
 and dumb woman. Now you had better leave her and take 
 another." 
 
 However they plighted their troth to each other, and when he 
 was going to be married to the other, they gave a candle to the 
 deaf and dumb girl just as they did to the rest, and when the 
 
THE PRINCESS WHO WENT TO THE WARS. 73 
 
 candle burnt down she did not throw it away, but kept it in her 
 hand. And the rest said to her : 
 
 " Your hand's on fire, Dummy I " 
 
 And she made as though she did not hear. Then the bride- 
 groom said : 
 
 " Bid the bride say it to her also." 
 
 So the bride said, " Dummy, your hand is on fire.'' 
 
 " May you be dumb, and go back to the place whence you 
 came," she answered. " I spake but one word to the Prince 
 and have been silent for three years, and you in your bridal 
 garland dare to call me ' Dummy ? ' '"' 
 
 Then when the Prince heard these words he left the bride he 
 was about to take, and took the " dumb girl," and so they lived 
 ha})pily all their lives. 
 
THE TWINS. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 -:0:- 
 
 'J'here was once a fisherman who had no children. One day an 
 old woman called on the fisherman's wife and said to her : 
 
 " What is the use of all your wealth to you when you have no 
 children ? " 
 
 " God has so willed it, good dame," said the fisherman's wife. 
 "Nothing of the sort, my child," said the old woman, "it is 
 your husband's fault ; for if he were to catch the golden fish, 
 he would have children. When your husband comes home at 
 night tell him to go and catch it, if you want to have children. 
 And you must cut it in six pieces. One piece you must eat 
 yourself, and one your husband must eat, and you v.'ill have two 
 children. One the bitch must eat, and she will have two puppies. 
 One the mare must eat, and she will have two foals. One you 
 must put on the curb-stone at one corner of your house, and one 
 at the other, and two cypress-trees will spring up." 
 
 In the evening, when her husband came, his wife told him all 
 this, and off he went at once" and caught the fish, and did with it 
 as the old woman had directed. After some time he had two 
 boys so like each other that they could not be distinguished. 
 The l)itch had two i)uppies just like each other, the mare two foals, 
 and at the curb-stones grew two cypress trees. When the lads were 
 grown uj) they would not stay at home, but wanted to go and 
 make a name for themselves. The father would not let them go, 
 because they were his only children, and said to them, " Let 
 one go first alone, and when he has come back let the other go." 
 'Hien one of them took one of the dogs and one of the horses 
 and set off, and said to his brother that as long as one of the 
 cy])ress trees remained green, he should consider him safe and 
 sound ; but should it wither, he must go in search of him. 
 
THE TU'/ys. 75 
 
 He went on and on a long way from his home, till he came 
 and stopped at an old woman's house. At even-tide, as he 
 sallied forth for a while, he said to the old woman, " Whose is 
 that house over there ? " 
 
 And the old woman answered, " 'I'hat is the house of the Fair 
 One of the Land." 
 
 "And I," said the youth, "have come to fetch her." 
 
 *' Many, my son," said she, " have come to fetch her, but 
 none have succeeded, and she has cut off their heads and 
 impaled them on those iron spikes that you see sticking upright 
 there." 
 
 Then said the youth to her, '' I will go and tell her I will fetch 
 her, though she cut off my haad."' 
 
 Now the lad knew well how to }jlay the guitar. So he played 
 it that evening and the Princess heard it. 
 
 In the morning the Fair One of the Land said to the old 
 woman, " Good dame, whom have you staying with you, who 
 was playing the guitar so beautifully ? " 
 
 "A stranger has come, my lady," said the old woman, "and 
 it was he who was playing it." 
 
 " Tell him to come and let me see him," said the Princess. 
 
 So the youth went to the Princess, and she asked him w^hence 
 he was, and told him how much the guitar j^leased her, and that 
 .she was willing to marry him. 
 
 " x\nd I, Princess," says the youth, "have come for this very 
 purpose." 
 
 "Go and tell my father," said she, ''that you wish to take me 
 to wife, and what he tells you, come and tell to me." 
 
 So the youth went to the King, and told him he wished to 
 take the maiden to wife. 
 
 And the King said to him, " If you are able to do whatsoever 
 I tell you, well ; but if not, I shall take your head. I have a 
 thick block of wood in the field, which two hairs' length will not 
 compass. Hew it in twain with one stroke of your sword, and I 
 will give you my daughter in marriage ; but otherwise I shall take 
 your head." 
 
 So the lad arose and went sorrowfully away to the old woman 
 because next day the King was going to cut off his head. That 
 
 F 2 
 
76 THE TlViyS. 
 
 evening he did not play the guitar, which he was wont to play 
 every evening, but kept thinking how he should hew so big a 
 block in twain. 
 
 When the Princess heard no guitar, she called to him : " Why 
 do you not play the guitar, but are so sad ? " 
 
 Then the youth told her all the King had said to him. 
 
 "And is .that why you are grieved?" said the Princess. 
 " Quick, ])lay your guitar, that we may enjoy ourselves a little, 
 and to-morrow morning come and call on me." 
 
 So the youth played the guitar all the evening, and they had a 
 right joyous time of it ; and on the morrow, at daybreak, the 
 Princess gave him a hair from her tresses, and told him to twine 
 it round his sword, and he would hew the block. So the lad 
 went to the place where the block lay, and, at one stroke, 
 he hewed it in twain. And the King said to him, "Yet one 
 thing more I must tell you to do, and I will give you my daughter 
 to wife. You must ride a horse, and go for three hours at a 
 gallop, and you must hold in your hands two ])ails full of water, 
 and if you don't spill a single drop, I will give you my daughter 
 to wife, but otherwise I shall take your head." Again the youth 
 went away sorrowful to the old woman, and did not play the 
 guitar. Then the Princess called to him, and said to him, " Why 
 do not you play the guitar, this evening, but are so sad ? " 
 
 Then he told her what the King had said to him. And the 
 Princess told him not to be sad, but to play the guitar as usual, 
 and on the morrow to come to her. 
 
 On the morrow he went, and the Princess gave him her ring,, 
 and said to him, " You must put this ring into the water, and it 
 will freeze, and so will not be spilt." Then he did as the Prin- 
 cess had told him, and the water was not spilt. 
 
 And when he saw it was not spilt, the King said to him, " Yet 
 one thing more I have to tell you, and after that 1 shall say no. 
 more. I have a negro, and to-morrow you must wrestle together^ 
 and if you overcome him, you shall take the Princess." 
 
 Then the youth went merrily to the Princess, and was full of 
 joy. The Princess calls to him, and says, "You seem pretty 
 merry this evening. What has my father said to you, to make 
 you so merry?" And the lad said, "He told me I am to wrestle 
 
THE TWINS. 77 
 
 with a negro, and I hope to overcome hmi, for he is a man and 
 so am I." 
 
 " That is the worst of all," said the Princess, "for I am the 
 negro. They give me a sherbet to drink, and I become a negro. 
 However, go to-morrow to the market, and buy twelve thongs of 
 ox-hide to harness your horse, and take this handkerchief too. 
 When I come against you, show it me, that I may have an inkling 
 who you are, and not kill you. Try to strike my steed between 
 the eyebrows, and when you have slain my steed, you will have 
 conquered me." 
 
 So he went to wrestle with the negro. 
 
 And when they had wrestled and eleven of the thongs of ox- 
 hide had snapped, and the negro was making ready to slay the 
 lad, the latter smote the negro's steed between the eyebrows, and 
 when his steed had fallen dead upon the arena, the negro was 
 overcome, and the youth had conquered. And the King said to 
 him : 
 
 " Now that you have done this, I \\\\\ make you my son-in- 
 law." 
 
 The lad said to him, " I have some business at present, but 
 after a hundred days, I will come and fetch her." 
 
 So the youth went elsewhere, and came to a town, and stopped 
 at an old woman's house. 
 
 And in the evening they supped, and the lad asked the old 
 woman for water. "I have none," said she, "we only get water 
 here once a year, for a monster has it in keeping, and every year 
 we give him a maiden to eat, and he lets us fetch w^ater. And 
 now the lot. has fallen on the King's daughter, and they will bring 
 her to the monster, to-morrow." 
 
 Next day they brought the King's daughter for the monster to 
 eat, and they tied her up near his dwelling with a golden chain, 
 and went away and left her there alone. 
 
 When they had all gone away, the youth went to the Princess, 
 and found her weeping, and asked her, " What ails you that you 
 weep ? " And the Princess said to him, that the monster 
 would come forth and eat her, and that was why she wept. 
 
 And the youth said to her that he would rescue her if she 
 would take him for her husband. 
 
78 THE TWINS. 
 
 Then the Princess said slic would. 
 
 And when the monster came forth, tlie youth gave the word to 
 his dog, and he throttled the monster, and so the Princess was 
 saved. 
 
 And when the King learnt that, he himself also resolved to give 
 his daughter to wife to the youth, and they celebrated the wed- 
 ding. When the youth had been a week in the house, he got 
 weary and wanted to go forth to hunt. The King did not want 
 him to go, but he could bear the confinement no longer. He 
 told him to take attendants with him, but he would not, and took 
 only his horse and his dog. 
 
 And when they had gone some way, and he felt thirsty, and 
 espied a hut at some distance, he went thither to drink 
 water. 
 
 And in the hut was an old woman, and he asked her to give 
 him a little water to drink. 
 
 And the old woman bade him first let her crack a whip over 
 his dog, and then she would give him water. So he said, "Crack 
 away 1 " 
 
 And she cracked the whip over the dog, and turned him into 
 marble ; and then she turned him into marble, and turned his 
 horse into marble, too. 
 
 And when she had turned him into marble, the cypress by the 
 house withered. 
 
 And his other brother set off to find him, and passed by the 
 town where his brother had slain the monster, and chanced to 
 come and stay with the old woman with whom his brother had 
 stayed. And when the old woman saw him she said, " Pra\- 
 forgive me, my son, that I did not come to wish you joy at your 
 wedding, when you married the King's daughter." For the old 
 woman thought he was his other brother. '' Never mind ! It is 
 no matter," said he. And he went straight away to the King's 
 residence. And when the King saw him, he said, "What has be- 
 come of you ? we thought some evil had befallen you, that you 
 have not been seen all tliese days." 
 
 In the evening, when he slei)t with the Princess, he put his 
 sword betwixt them. And the Princess said to him, " What 
 ails you, that you are vexed?"' Put he answered her not a word; 
 
THE TWINS. 79 
 
 and on the morrow he went again to the hunt, and chanced 
 to take the very way which his brother had taken, and from 
 ai'ar he espied his brother turned to marble, and he knew him. 
 He went to the hut, and told the old woman to unmarble his 
 brother. 
 
 The old woman said to him, "Let me have a crack at your dog 
 with my whip, then I will unmarble your brother." The lad said 
 to his dog, "Gulp down the old woman whole." 
 
 And the old woman said to him, "Tell your dog not to eat me. 
 and I will unmarble your brother."' 
 
 ''Tell me how to unmarble him,"" said the youth, "or I will 
 make my dog swallow you." 
 
 And as she would not, he gave the word to his dog, and he 
 gulped her down half way. Then said the old woman to him, 
 " I have two whips : one green, the other red. With the green 
 one I turn to marble, and with the red one I unmarble." Then 
 he took the red whip and unmarbled his brother, the dog, and the 
 horse. Then he gave the word to his dog, and he finished gulj)- 
 ing down the old woman. Then they set off, and made for the 
 house of the father-in-law. 
 
 On the way, as they were walking, his brother told him what 
 had befallen him, and how he had slept with his wife, but he 
 never got so far as to tell him how he had put the sword betwixt 
 them, for he fetched him a blow at once, and slew him, and went 
 to his father-in-law's alone. 
 
 In the evening, when he lay down beside the Princess, she 
 said to him, "What ailed you last night, that you would not speak 
 to me, and put a sword betwixt us, and would not turn my way ai: 
 all ? •■ 
 
 " It was not I last night, at all,"' said he, "but my brother, and 
 when he told me, on the way, that he had slept with you, I slew 
 him."" " What ?" said she, "you slew him; and do you know 
 where he is, or not ? " 
 
 " I know," said he. 
 
 " To-morrow, let us go and see him," said the Princess. 
 
 So in the morning they went, and took with them a flask of 
 " deathless water," and sprinkled it on him, and he arose 
 asfain. 
 
8o THE TIVIXS. 
 
 And when he had arisen, the other said to him : 
 
 " Forgive me, brother, for slaying you." 
 
 Then they embraced, and went to the Fair One of the Land, 
 and he gave her to his brother in marriage, and sent word also to 
 their parents, and they came thither also. 
 
THE GOAT-GIRL. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 :0:- 
 
 There was once a husbandman with his wife who had no 
 children. His wife besought God to give her a child, though it 
 were no better than a kid. In course of time she accordingly 
 gave birth to a kid. It grew up and became a fine she-goat. Her 
 mother said to her, once on a time, " Who will take water for 
 your father to the field ? " Said she, '' Fasten it to my horn, 
 and I will take it." So she fastened it, and she took it to her 
 father. On her return, she found a sunny spot, where she took 
 off her hide to clean it. 
 
 As a Prince passed by to go to the chase, he saw her, and his 
 eyes were dazzled with her beauty, which shone like the sun. 
 When she saw the Prince, she straightway went into her hide, and 
 set off home. The Prince sent people to follow her, and watch 
 where she went in. Then the Prince returned to his mother, and 
 said, " Send to say I am suitor for the hand of the she-goat."' 
 
 When his mother heard that she began to wail, and beat her 
 breast, and said, "My son, if you want to marry, take a princess." 
 
 " Nay," said he, "but I will take her." 
 
 His mother saw his distress and affliction, and sent two women 
 to get the goat. The mother of the she-goat took a cudgel to 
 them. " W^hy have you come to mock me ? " said she, " me, who 
 have no daughter, only this goat that God has given me to 
 console me ! " 
 
 So the women went back and told the treatment they had met 
 
 with. ^^^\^0 
 
 The Prince said to his mother, "Go yourself'" 
 So, willy-nilly, she went, and said to the she-goat's mother, 
 " There's no help for it I " 
 
 The latter was so frightened when she saw the Queen, that she 
 
82 THE GOAT-GIRL. 
 
 let her have the goat. So the Queen took her and brought her 
 to her son. Then her son was glad, for he had eaten no bread 
 for five days for grief. 
 
 One day the Queen made ready to knead a cake : the she-goat 
 came with her horn and tore the dough to bits : so the Queen 
 hit her a whack with the rolling-pin. 
 
 The next day the maid took the bread and put it into the 
 oven. The she-goat went frisking by her side, and when she 
 reached the oven, the goat went and spoiled the loaf with her 
 horn. The cook seized the shovel and hit her a bang with it. 
 
 At that time a cousin of the King was to be married, and her 
 father invited his kinsfolk to the wedding. So they made ready 
 and went to the wedding, and tied the goat to a bench. When 
 thev were all gone, and the goat was left by herself, she, too. laid 
 aside her hide, and dressed herself in golden embroidery, and 
 went to the wedding, and sat by her mother-in-law. When her 
 mother-in-law saw her beauty, she said to herself, '' Would that 
 such an one were my son's wife I " So she asked her. " Whence 
 do you come, my child ? " 
 
 '■'• From the rolling-pin I "' said she. 
 
 She went down to the dance, and danced. AVhen her betrothed 
 saw her he knew her, and when the dance slackened, she flung 
 down a golden apple, and put on her hide, and fled. In the 
 evening, the Queen came home with her son, and said, '' Did you 
 see a fair woman at the dance ? " 
 
 Said her son, " I did ; but did not you ask her wiience she 
 came ? '" 
 
 And she said, " Yes ; but I don't know wliat she said : I did 
 not hear aright." 
 
 '' If she come to-morrow, mind you ask her, mother 1 "' said 
 her son. 
 
 On the morrow, they all went again to the marriage festivities, 
 and the goat also went, and sat by her future mother-in-law. 
 
 So shc.'asked her, " Whence come you, my child ? " 
 
 Said she, '" From the fire-shovel." 
 
 Then she went down to the dance, and danced. When the 
 dance slackened, again she flung down a golden apple, so as to 
 astonish the people, that she might get away. Again she put on 
 
THE GOAT-aiUL. 83 
 
 her hide, and sat down, tied by the bench. The Prince did not 
 know how to get the hide off her. 
 
 In the evening, he came home again with his mother, and asked 
 her, " Mother, did you ask where that fair one came from ? " 
 
 '' She told me, my son, but I have forgotten," said his mother. 
 
 In the morning, the Prince arose and went to the cook, and 
 said to him, '• Make the oven very hot, and don't bake bread for 
 any one, because you give me no cake.'' 'I'hen he said to his 
 mother, ""(jO you to the marriage feast, — I will come later on." 
 
 So they all went out, and he shut himself up in a neighbouring 
 liouse. The goat puts off her hide, and goes to the feast. The 
 Prince seizes the skin and flings it in the oven. The smell of the 
 singeing hide came to her nostrils, and she left the dance and 
 rushed to cast herself into the oven. The Prince burst forth and 
 seized her — and said to her, "I don't mean you for the oven, my 
 lady ' " And he took her in his arms and shut her in the glass- 
 chamber. And he went no more to the feast, but stayed with her. 
 His mother sent the nurse to see why her son did not come, and 
 the nurse said to him, "Why did not you come to the feast ?" 
 
 He said, " I have a head-ache. Let my mother enjoy herself, 
 and 1 will come in later on." 
 
 So his mother waited, but he did not come. So she set off and 
 vrent home alone. 
 
 Then the Prince said to her, " See, mother : take the key and 
 bring me a mug from the glass-chamber." 
 
 As his mother went to open the door, the chamber shone. 
 Then his mother uttered a loud cry, and told him there was a 
 fairy in the chamber. And the Prince laughed, and said, " You 
 have good eyes, mother I" 
 
 Then he took his mother by the hand, and they went in 
 together. And the bride came and kissed her hand. And the 
 Prince said to her, " See, mother, that's the goat I " 
 
 Then the Queen embraced her, and said to her, " My child, 
 why have you not shown yourself all this long time ? " 
 
 And straightway, on the morrow, the Queen went and called 
 all her royal kinsfolk to the wedding ; and she went and called 
 the mother and father of the bride as well. But they were afraid 
 lest they should behead them ; and they told the King they were 
 
84 THE GOAT-GIRL. 
 
 afraid, and would not come. Then the King had clothes made 
 for the mother and father, and went himself and brought them : 
 and the daughter came to meet them, and kissed her hand to 
 them from the foot of the staircase, and welcomed her mother 
 and father, and they celebrated the wedding, and lived happily. 
 
THE BAY-BERRY. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a man and his wife who had no children. So 
 
 the woman besought God to give her a child, though it were but 
 
 a bay -berry. Then God heard her prayer, and she gave birth to 
 
 the bay-berry. The people did not perceive it : but as they were 
 
 washing the linen one day, out fell the bay-berry, and became a 
 
 golden bay-tree, whose branches shone like the sun. 
 
 The young princes heard about this golden bay-tree, and came 
 
 to walk about it from every kingdom in the world. One Prince 
 
 made his tent close to its roots. He left his cook there, and went 
 
 to walk about with the other young princes. And the cook, too, 
 
 would go out, when the cooking was finished, to walk about the 
 
 bay-tree. Then a maiden came out of the bay-tree, with the 
 
 words : 
 
 ••Bay-tree high, and bay-tree low. 
 Open to me. and out I go ! " 
 
 Then she would eat of all the dishes, and afterwards took a 
 handful of salt and sprinkled it on the eatables, and made them 
 salt. Again she said : 
 
 '• Bay-tree high, and bay-tree low, 
 Open to me. and in I go I " 
 
 At noon the Prince came and found the food so salt, that 
 there was no eating it ; so he seized the cook to cut off his head. 
 But the cook screamed, and cried, " Troth, master, it is none of 
 my doing ! " Then the other princes came and besought the 
 Prince not to slay him, but to have pity on him ; so he let 
 him go. 
 
 The next day the cook made the dinner without any salt at all. 
 But the Bay-tree Maiden played the same trick. The Prince 
 came to eat, but he found it Salter and worse than ever I Then 
 
86 THE JJA } '-BEUR I : 
 
 the Prince perceived that it was not the cook's doing, but that of 
 some one else. So he found no fault with him, but only said to 
 him, '' 'I'o-morrow, when you have cooked the dinner, get you 
 hence, and 1 will stay and see who does the mischief." And he 
 hid himself behind the bay-tree. Then he heard a voice from 
 the bay-tree, saying : 
 
 " Bay-tree high, and bay-tree low, 
 Open to me, and out I go." 
 
 And she came out of the bay-tree and began to eat of the 
 dishes. And when she took the salt, the Prince rushed out and 
 seized her, saying, "So it is you, who play me this prank I " 
 
 Then he took her and brought her into his tent, and embraced 
 her and kissed her ; and left her and went forth to walk. But 
 she went weeping to the bay-tree and said : 
 
 " Bay-tree high, bay-tree low. 
 Open to me, and in I go ! " 
 
 But the bay-tree said : 
 
 " Hugged and kissed, no maiden ma}' 
 Enter more the golden bay ! " 
 
 And when the bay-tree had uttered these words, it withered 
 away. When the princes saw what had happened, they fled 
 away in wonder at the withering of the bay-tree. 
 
 But the other Prince stayed with the maiden. 
 
 They cut down orange branches and locust-tree boughs, and 
 strewed them for a couch. 
 
 The maiden went to sleep, and the Prince departed. On the 
 morrow she awoke and found him not. So she started to go 
 away. 
 
 On the way she met a dervish, and said to him, "(lood 
 father, if I give you these clothes of mine, will you give me 
 yours, and your horse ? " 
 
 "I will," said he, and he gave them her. And straightway she 
 ]jut them on and bestrode the horse, and overtook the Prince. 
 
 Said the Prince to her, " Master, on the way by which you 
 went and came, tell me what you saw." Said he, "I saw a 
 
THE BAY-BEERY. 87 
 
 maiden weeping and sighing grievously, and saying, • Orange 
 branches, locust boughs, what have you done with niy lost 
 lover ? ' " 
 
 The Prince sighed. Then they went on again. 
 
 Again he asked the same question, and got the same answer. 
 The Prince then took the dervish as a friend to his house, and 
 said, " I am betrothed, and am about to celebrate my wedding, 
 and wish to have you among my guests." So they went together 
 and then he gave him a room to himself, and he stayed there. 
 
 The Prince began to make ready the feast. 
 
 They brought the bride, and just as they were about to crown 
 her with the wedding wreath, the dervish went into an ante- 
 chamber, and doffed the dervish dress, and donned the garment 
 of gold, and shone like the sun. 
 
 And when she came into the room, the room was filled with 
 light, and all were stricken with amazement. The Prince turned 
 and beheld, and wondered, and said to the bride's kindred, 
 " Take back the bride to her father's house, for I will live with 
 my bonny bird as I was wont to do.'' So he married the Bay- 
 tree maiden, and they lived a happy life. 
 
THE PRINCE AND THE FAIRY. 
 
 (Epirus.) 
 
 There was once a King who had an only son. When he had 
 grown up, his father made him a glass chamber, and put him 
 there with a teacher to learn his lessons. And when he had 
 learnt a great deal, one day they brought him home meat with a 
 bit of bone in it. Then the lad wondered, for he had heard 
 talk of bone, but had never seen a bone before. And he 
 made a plaything of it. As ill-hap would have it he broke a pane 
 of glass, and looked out and saw sky, hills, fields, rivers, and 
 much else besides. Then he asked his teacher to take him out 
 for a walk. 
 
 The teacher did not dare to do so for fear of the King, but 
 told the lad to ask his father's leave. He did so, and his father 
 gave him leave. 
 
 So he went out and paid visits to all the nobles. One day he 
 went with the nobles to the chase, and they killed a great many 
 hares. This pleased the lad much, and he took to going out 
 every day alone, without a dog or any one to bear him company. 
 One day he went a long way without finding anything. 
 
 But he met a Jew, and asked him, " Do you know of any 
 game anywhere ? " 
 
 " Yes," said the Jew, " on the toi) of yonder hill." 
 
 '• How shall I get up ? " said he. 
 
 " If you have money, I will get you up," said the other. 
 
 " I have," said he. 
 
 " Buy a buffalo's skin," said the Jew, " and I will j)ut you in it, 
 that the ravens may come and carry you uj)." 
 
 " And when I have got up, how am I to get down?" said he. 
 
 "Oh, there's a staircase to come down by," said the other. 
 'I'hcn the ravens took him up on to the mountain. And there he 
 
THE PRINCE AND THE FAIRY. 89 
 
 found an immense plain, with no game nor anything else. Then 
 he calls out, " Jew I you have cheated me ! there's nothing here. 
 Now, how am I to get down ? " 
 
 " Throw me down two stones, and then I will fetch you down." 
 
 He threw him the stones, and the Jew took them, for they 
 were of pure diamond, and ran away. Then the youth ran 
 hither and thither, feeding himself on herbs and roots. As he 
 was walking about he found a trap-door. He lifted it, and saw a 
 staircase, and began to descend it. He kept descending for a 
 whole day without reaching the bottom. At length he saw sky 
 and earth. Descending by the staircase, he espies some very 
 large palaces, and accordingly, his heart yearns to reach the 
 place. The poor fellow hurried on in hopes of getting bread to 
 eat. He continues his way till he comes upon an old man bound 
 in chains, whose beard had grown down to his knees. 
 
 Says he to the grey-beard, " Give me to eat 1 " 
 
 Says the grey-beard to him, " Loose me, and then I will give 
 you something." " How^ shall I loose you?" says he. "I am 
 perished wuth hunger." 
 
 Says the old man to him, " Open the cupboard and take out a 
 whip which is inside, and crack it, and whatever food you choose 
 will make its appearance." So he cracked it, and the food 
 appeared. He ate and regained his strength. He loosed the 
 old man, and cleansed him, for he had been for years unwashed 
 and without change of garments. One day the youth grew 
 weary, and the old man said to him, " What ails thee, my son ? 
 There are the keys, have a walk through the apartments." 
 
 But he kept back the keys belonging to one of the rooms. 
 The young man walked through all the rooms and enjoyed him- 
 self thoroughly. When he had seen all the rooms, he saw one 
 that was shut, and said to the old man, '' You treat me as your 
 son ; will you not open this room also for me ? " 
 
 "I open it for you?" said he, " Why, there are fairies inside I 
 But I can tell you one thing you may do. In the room there is 
 a hollow place filled with water, and when they come there they 
 will strip. And if you are only quick enough to seize their 
 ^■lothes, you will escape, for all their strength is in their clothes." 
 
 The youth did as the old man bade him. 
 
 G 
 
93 THE PlUyCE ASD THE EAIRY. 
 
 Then the eldest fairy went : she was afraid and did nothing. 
 Then came the second ; she, too, was afraid, and did nothing. At 
 last the youngest and fairest came, and made a few movements 
 in the water. He seizes her clothes and makes off with them. 
 
 » 
 
 Said she, in her cunning, " Yours I am and yours I remain. 
 Won't you give me- my clothes ? "■ 
 
 " No," said he. 
 
 " Ah, let me but get hold of the tip of my petticoat I "' and 
 she caught it and was about to pull it ; but he, too, was a match 
 for lier. He gives her a slap, and flings her far away. Then he 
 took lier and brought her to the old man, and said to him, " I am 
 going now to my father and motlier. Have you a horse to give 
 me ? " 
 
 " I have," said he. "Go to the stable and call out, 'Halloa, 
 halloa I winged steed come and take me to my father and 
 mother \ ' " 
 
 Straightway the winged steed ajjpeared, and he mounted it. 
 He set the fairy also on the saddle. On their way they stopped 
 at a certain place to eat bread : and there came by the brother 
 of the fairy disguised as a dervish. " Where did you find those 
 eatables? " he asked. 
 
 Then with divers cunning wiles the youth addressed him. 
 " Yours we are, and yours we remain : but sit down to eat '. 
 Where does your strength reside ? "' 
 
 " In this crook here," said he. " If I were but to say, 
 ' Crash crook,' it would slay you." 
 
 The other manages to get hold of the crook, and just cries, 
 " Crash crook 1 on the dervish's head I " and kills him. Tlien 
 they depart thence, the fairy in high dudgeon because he 
 had slain her brother. They went on, and snt down to 
 eat bread again, when her other brother came ; and his 
 strength resided in liis turban, which changed liim into air. 
 The youth so contrived as to get hold also of his turban. 
 He 'just cried, "Crash crook! on to the dervish's head ! '" and 
 killed him too. 
 
 'I'hen the fairy cried to herself, " I must work my own 
 deliverance ! No other heli) is left me." 
 
 They came to the young man's country. He says to a man 
 
THE PNIXCE AM) THE EA/in'. 91 
 
 they met, "Run to bring the good news to the King, for now his 
 son is coming I '' 
 
 "Why," said the other, " the King's son is dead and turned to 
 a skeleton long ago." 
 
 He went further, and sends another, who went and brought 
 the good news. 
 
 Then they fired guns and generally made a royal rejoicing. 
 They came to the palace. The King welcomed his son and his 
 bride with music and other signs of festivity ; and they held a 
 grand carousal. The bride came before the King and danced 
 with such grace that all were amazed. 
 
 The Prince would not give the fairy her clothes, for had she 
 regained her power she would have slain them all. 
 
 Therefore the young man gave them to his mother, saying, 
 '• Mind you don't give them to her, or she will eat us all up." 
 
 But the fairy was cunning enough to get them away from her 
 mother-in-law, and put them on. Then she said, " One I two I 
 and away I I am not for your son I "" and off she goes. The 
 young man learnt it. He shouts and calls, but what is the use ? 
 She had got away. 
 
 Then he takes the winged steed, the crook, and the turban, 
 and went to the place where he had found the fairy. 
 
 It so happened that her father was at war with another King, 
 and said, " Whoever conquers him I will give him my daughter 
 to wife." 
 
 Then he changed himself to air, for he had the turban of the 
 dervish. He took also the crook, rushed to the war, and slew 
 all the enemy. Then the King said to him, " Which of my 
 daughters pleases you best ? — take her." So he chose the 
 youngest. And he turned himself into air, and while the fairy 
 was eating bread he went and seized the morsels from her. Then 
 she said to him, " Now that you have won me by force of arms 
 and prowess, I can withstand you no longer." 
 
 So he married her, and took her away with him, and they went 
 to the King, and spent together such a life as none had ever 
 spent before. 
 
 G 2 
 
THE GOLDEN STEED. 
 
 (ASTYPAL/EA.) 
 
 :0:- 
 
 Onxe upon a time there was a King and a priest who loved one 
 another so much you would think they were brothers. They ate 
 together, they drank together, they amused themselves together, 
 and could not bear to be parted for a moment. They had every- 
 thing that heart could desire ; but, alas, their wives were child- 
 less, and they were always sad to think they had no heirs. 
 
 One day, while the two men were talking together, the King 
 said, " Bless my soul, good father, how well were it for us if our 
 wives had but children ; the one a boy, the other a girl, so that 
 we might always keep together." 
 
 " Well, indeed, O King," said the priest, " but this is not in 
 our power, and we cannot fight with God, glory be to His name ! " 
 
 But lo and behold, as the two were good men, and never did 
 
 wrong to any, but gave alms to the poor, God loved them and 
 
 listened to their words, and both their wives had children. Both 
 
 the King and the priest were beside themselves with joy to see 
 
 what they never expected — 
 
 Now when age has forged her fetters. 
 How the greybeard learns his letters. 
 
 But you see that no one should despair of the help of heaven. 
 AVell, what do you think ? The time came for their wives to bring 
 forth ; and lo, they had two boys ; not what they had looked for. 
 However, they did not so much complain after all, lest heaven 
 should be wroth with them, but they gave abundant glory to God 
 and made great rejoicings and festivities. And the King told 
 the priest not to be at all ]nit out, for he would look on both the 
 boys as his sons. 
 
 'jlie boys grew up like tender jjlants, so that it was a joy for 
 anyone to behold them ; and when they had got a good size, the 
 
THF. GOLBES STEED. 93 
 
 King built, at his own expense, a large and a very beautiful 
 castle, and in it he lodged the two lads, that they might be 
 brought up together, and be fond of one another from earliest 
 childhood. At once the children begun to love each other. 
 They would get up in the morning, wash, and take their coffee, 
 and go to school together like two little angels, full of grace and 
 beauty, and everyone rejoiced to see them. Only from time to 
 time their master used to scold them because they would come 
 late to school. For children as they were, when they had finished 
 their lessons in the evening, instead of lying down to sleep they 
 began to play, and so the night was far spent before they went off 
 to sleep. And in the morning they were not in a mood to go to 
 school. 
 
 And so from time to time they would get a scolding from 
 the master. So the son of the priest, who was the wider-awake 
 and the more resolute of the two, proposed a plan by which 
 both of them should not go to sleep at one and the same time, 
 but one should sleep half the night and the other the other half. 
 This plan pleased the King's son, and they settled that the 
 Prince should learn his lessons in the evening, so as to sleep in 
 the morning, for the morning sleep is the sweeter, and the Prince 
 was somewhat delicate. Well planned and well done I Both of 
 them slept safely and soundly, and woke up bright, and went to 
 school. 
 
 But now see what happens I We have said already that the 
 Prince learned his lessons at night while the priest's son slept. 
 One evening, then, as he was sitting and reading at his little 
 table, close upon midnight, the wall opened, and in flies a (xenie, 
 fit to frighten the life out of anyone who beheld him. He had 
 two great lips — one of which reached to heaven and the other to 
 the earth — a great nose, three yards long : but how could one 
 describe all his features I 
 
 The poor Prince was seized with trembling (for he was 
 a bit timid), and fell into a fainting fit. Our fine fiend of a 
 friend, the Genie, had no sooner appeared, then he opened 
 his stealthy hand, and left something on the table, and straight- 
 way vanished. 
 , When the Prince had a little recovered, he got up and 
 
94 THE GOLDEN STEED. 
 
 approached the table, and there he found a paper packet. He 
 took it up, but do you think his hands had the courage to 
 un\vra]3 it ? However, after mucli ado, he did so, and wliat 
 should he see ? Wonder of wonders ? He looked, and beheld 
 the portrait of a maiden, who seemed to challenge the sun which 
 should shine with the fairest sheen. Her beauty and her love- 
 liness were such as none besides possessed. From that moment 
 the Prince was seized with trembling, and gazed like one 
 distraught upon the picture, which had smitten a deep wound in 
 his heart. Far was the thought of sleep ! He did nothing but 
 fasten his eyes upon the picture. Alas, poor Prince, (rod help 
 thee in the toils in which thou art entangled ! 
 
 The priest's son wakes up, and asks him, " Why don't you go 
 to sleep to-night ? '' He hastily thrusts the picture into his 
 bosom, and makes believe that he had kept awake from over- 
 study, and was now unable to sleep. 
 
 'J'hey sat for some time talking together, and afterwards the 
 Prince gets up and goes to Ijed, but liow could sleep ever rest 
 upon his head ? 
 
 The day dawns and the young Prince pretends to be unwell. 
 and stays at home from school ; but shuts himself up in tlie 
 house, and sits without eating and drinking, gazing on the picture. 
 One day follows another, and our good Prince goes from bad to 
 worse. He grevv' weak and wan, and was almost at his wits" end. 
 His poor father saw him with concern, for although the two lads 
 were together and ate the same dishes, the priest's son was hale 
 and hearty, while the Prince was wasting away where lie stood 
 like a candle in its socket, without any one knowing what ailed 
 him. He asked him secretly, '' My dear good son, what ails 
 you, that you are always serious? Don't you get on well with the 
 priest's son? What are you grieving for. You will be the death of 
 me, if I see you so.'' But, bless me, he wouldn't speak a word, 
 save, " Naught ails me. 1 am all right." P)Ut his lieart told 
 another tale. As the King could learn nothing from his son, he 
 had recourse to the priest's son, and besought him to tell hini if 
 he knew anything about his child. lUit he knew nothing either. 
 Only from that hour he, was be.set with an itching curiosity to 
 sniff out the ( ause of the Prince's ailment, and how it was that 
 
THE GOLDEX STEED. 95 
 
 he could neither eat nor drink nor sleep, but was always sitting 
 shut up in the castle. 
 
 One day when he had taken him well to task, and could get 
 nothing out of him, he went off as though to go to school : but 
 took his seat out-side the door and watched. And he looked 
 through the chink and saw the Prince with the picture before him, 
 which he kept kissing, and saying, '' Tjght of my eyes, I shall 
 die for thy sake." 
 
 " Ah 1 " said the priest's son, " now I have caught you. 'The 
 cunning bird is taken by the beak,' "' he knocks at the door, goes 
 in and says to him, " Well done you 1 these many days I have 
 been at you, and you could not make up your mind to tell me 
 anything. What's that which you thrust into your bosom ? " 
 Then his tongue was tied, and he could not utter a word. 
 The other asked him where he found the thing in question. 
 Then he began and told him everything^ point by point, as we 
 have related it : and said finally, '"If I cannot get that maiden I 
 shall die, brother 1 I will take to the mountains, and run and 
 run till my eyes are dry with weeping : and, if you will, come you 
 along with me." He tries to quench the flame in his brother's 
 breast, but you might as well have talked to the air. 
 
 Says the Prince to him, '"If you wish to come with me, 
 tell my father that I am out of spirits, and that I wish to go 
 abroad that the melancholy which weighs on my heart may be 
 dispelled."' 
 
 The priest's son thought it well over and was afraid to tell it 
 the King ; but what could he do ? for he loved the Prince more 
 tlian anything. At hearing that his son wished to go a journey 
 the King was glad, and at once gave orders for a guard to as- 
 semble, to escort the Prince. But the two youths had their own 
 plans, and taking as many provisions as they judged fit, and two 
 good horses, they set off from the town with bands playing and 
 colours flying, How could the unfortunate King know what they 
 were up to ? I'hey marched all that day, and at eventide they 
 sat down to rest. Just as morning dawned the guard had eaten 
 and drunk and fallen asleep. When the two youths saw that 
 they were all asleep, they arose and gave them the slip. 
 
 Next morning the guard awoke, and looked for their leaders. 
 
96 THE GOLDEX STEED. 
 
 But where are they to be found? Far away and still on the 
 march. The poor soldiers weep and wail, for thev feared to meet 
 the Ivuig, If they left the Prince and the priest's son to perish 
 but alas, there was no help for it : so they returned to town 
 playmg a funeral march. On hearing the news, the King was 
 like to kill himself 7'he poor priest was nigh losing his wits. 
 AVhen was weeping, when was anguish like theirs ? The Kini^ 
 and the Priest wail and will not be comforted. They put on 
 mourning, they plucked their beards in grief at the affliction that 
 had befallen them : and all the country-side mourned with them • 
 no song, no laughter anywhere, but everywhere sorrow and 
 lamentation. 
 
 But let us leave them for the present, and follow the two 
 young men, who scoured over field and hill at random. At last 
 after the lapse of a month, they espied a castle, and said it were 
 well to repan- thither for a little rest. So they came to the castle. 
 They see that it is carpeted with strewn fir-boughs, and set with 
 tables on which were dishes still smoking hot, but not a sign of 
 any master or mistress of the house. They say to one another, 
 " Tet us sit down and eat and drink, come what will : "' 
 
 So our friends sit down, eat and drink their fill, and stretch 
 their hmbs. But lo ! the priest's son, who was a cunning fellow 
 as soon as he saw that the Prince was asleep, got up softly and 
 silently, and hid himself under the bed, saying to himself, " Some- 
 thing IS up here." Scarcely had he finished the sentence, when in 
 comes the good housewife, a sorceress, with her daughter. 
 
 As soon as the latter sees the young man lying there, she turns 
 to her mother and says : 
 
 " Mother, there are men come to our house." 
 
 " Mind you keep your counsel," she answers. " Leave them 
 alone, they do but beat the air." 
 
 " But why so, mother ? May you have no joy with me, imless 
 you tell me." 
 
 "Tush, daughter," says she, "there are two of them, and they 
 are after the fairest maiden in the world. Put it is to no purpose, 
 that they labour, for in our country is a sea ; could the fools but 
 have the wit to go down to the shore, where the pillars are, and 
 dig at the lower one, they would find a bridle : which, if the\- 
 
THE GOLDKX STEED. 97 
 
 dropped into the sea, it would become a winged steed, and thus 
 they would be able to mount it to cross the sea." 
 
 The priest's son opened his ears as wide as he could ; and 
 when they were gone he wakes the Prince, they eat a bit more, 
 and then, " Heart to the front, and feet to the rear,'' is the 
 word. 
 
 \\'hen they got down to the shore, the priest's son goes, as the 
 sorceress had said, to the lower pillar and digs. When he had 
 dug someway down, he unearths a bridle (what on earth is the 
 young priest up to !) ; he dips it in the sea, and lo and behold I 
 out there comes a horse with wings and says, " At your service, 
 master I " 
 
 Then the two mounted him, and in a twinkling of an eye, pass 
 over to the country of the Fair One. When they had landed, 
 the horse turns into a bridle again, which they take into the town 
 with them. They inquire of one or two of the people there, and 
 they tell them that this is where the Fair One dwells. Then the 
 Prince smiled, and did not trouble himself to think how they were 
 to accomplish their object. But lo I the priest's son had the wit 
 of a woman, and did business by the bushel. When they had 
 stayed two or three days, and no one so much as gave them a 
 look, he said to his companion one evening, " Well, brother, 
 what's to be done now ? " To which the Prince, in a languishing 
 voice, replied, " P'm sure I don't know." 
 
 "Well, brother,'' said his friend, "I have got a plan, that I 
 think of carrying out, and which I want you to listen to, and see 
 whether it meets your views as well. I have come to the con- 
 clusion that we should take a cunning artificer into our house, 
 and get him to make us a horse, that a man can get inside of, and 
 to fit it with screws and springs, so that it can be put through all 
 the paces of a live one, and that we should gild it outside, and 
 deck it here and there with a diamonds and other priceless gems, 
 so as to glitter and gleam, and make it a saddle of velvet with 
 golden tassels and a golden bridle, and then let's set it going. 
 Only speech will be lacking to it. And if God grant us success, 
 then shall our enterprise thrive, otherwise we shall ' lose both 
 the eggs and the basket.' " The Prince, who would have said, 
 "very good," to any proposal, on this occasion said it twice, "A 
 
98 THE GOLT)EX STEED. 
 
 ^•ery good i)lan, a very good plan indeed that of yours." So they 
 engage an artificer of the first rank; they pay him handsomely — 
 for they were boiling with impatience — and the rascal makes a 
 horse, which, if anyone had seen when fully caparisoned, he would 
 have said, " Good heavens I give me an extra pair of eyes to look 
 at him ! " So beautiful it was. But they had bound the artificer 
 on his oath, not to tell anyone the secret. 
 
 Accordingly, next day our good Prince gets into it, and the 
 priest's son starts off with it, and they come right into the cai)ital. 
 The sun was just rising, and the people see a sight which dazzled 
 everyone's eyes. Heart alive ! whatever had legs ran to see the 
 wonderful sight, and only to behold the way in which it greeted 
 the populace, curvetting and prancing about like mad I On tliat 
 day everyone turned out of doors to look at it. 
 
 The next day the King also heard of it, and gave orders to 
 bring it to the palace, that the Princess might enjoy the spectacle 
 too. No sooner had they heard this — a thing they scarcely hoped 
 for— than they take it to the palace. The King and the Princess 
 see it, and were almost beside themselves at its beauty. 'Hiey 
 overwhelmed the priest's son with gracious attentions, and told 
 him to leave it there, and come to fetch it on the morrow, so that 
 they might have a good look at it. AVhat could the young priest 
 do ? It was a king's command. 
 
 He rises to depart against his will. 
 
 All night long no slumber closed his eyes, for he was afraid 
 they would open it ; and while it was still (juite dark, he runs to 
 the palace and fetches it. When they had reached their little 
 house, he unscrews it, and out comes the Prince, and says. '• A\'e 
 ;^ot off cheai) last night I My heart went i)it-a-pat like a (-lock, 
 until you came to fetch me." " It fared the same with me, you 
 may be sure. Put I see we have got as far as the i)alace, and 
 my fears are i)assing away. All goes well and prosperously." 
 
 The Prince sang aloud for joy, and kept running at all Iiours 
 in his horse to the i)alace. 
 
 One day the ])rii'st"s son said to him : 
 
 " Eh, brother, how long shall we waf^te our time to no i)urpose. 
 This evening you must positively make up your mind to get out 
 of the horse, when they are all asleej) — and then let's see what 
 
THE GOLD EX STEED. 99 
 
 happens " — for the Princess was wont to take the horse into her 
 chamber and loved to look at it. 
 
 But do you think the other (who was very timid) could ever 
 make up his mind to any such thing ? 
 
 So the priest's son for that evening got inside and went to the 
 l)alace. Ah I but that evening the horse surpassed itself, for the 
 ])riest"s son knew a number of tricks, and made them all s}}lit 
 with laughter. At length when the Princess was sleepy she took 
 the darling horse into her room, and played with it again for 
 some time. At length she got into her golden bed, which was 
 filled with roses and other flowers, and just about the time when 
 she was going to close her sweet eyes, out comes the priest's 
 son and stands before her. He was seized with a fit of gasping 
 and could not speak. The Princess, who had not yet gone to 
 sleep, oi3ens and shuts her eyes and looks at him, and makes as 
 though she would call out. Then the priest's son begins with 
 tears in his eyes : 
 
 "In the name of God, lady, have i)ity on poor me 1 Don't 
 make them kill me without a cause. Ah, light of my eyes I what 
 pains do I suffer for your sake. You must take so/z/c young 
 man ; look at me. I am neither blind nor lame." 
 
 At this she stands and considers. She sees before her a 
 handsome youth : she sees him crying like a guileless child. 
 Partly she pities him, and partly she likes him, so she says to 
 herself : 
 
 "• Suppose now I set up a shouting, what shall I gain by it ? 
 While they are coming to catch him, he may kill me first, and 
 end by being killed himselfi On the other hand — as I must 
 marry some one — -I shall scarce get a better than he." 
 
 Then she says to him, " Well and what do you want ? " 
 
 The heart of the priest's son had recovered itself a little, as it 
 were, and he said to her, '• Let us arise, lady, and fly hence I " 
 
 "Swear to rne," says she, "that you are not taking me away 
 for another.'' 
 
 " Am I such a dolt, my darling, to run this risk for another ? '' 
 he asked. 
 
 But she seemed as though she smelt the trick ; however, what 
 could she do? So she gets up and gathers together all her 
 
loo THE GOLIJIlX STEED. 
 
 trinkets, and then they make tracks without any one getting 
 scent of them. They run to the house where the Prince was 
 hourly awaiting them, and without their entering at all, all three 
 take to their heels. 
 
 Day dawns : the hour came when the Princess was wont to 
 awake. She neither wakes nor stirs. 
 
 " Why what's the matter ? " says the King. "Why doesn't that 
 fellow come to fetch his horse ? " For he always came verv 
 early. 
 
 At last he seemed to get an inkling of the state of the case, 
 and shouted that they should break open the door. I'he doors 
 are broken in and what should they see. No princess I no 
 trinkets 1 only the golden horse lying open on the floor. 
 
 " Woe betide me I " shouts the King, " I have lost my only 
 solace I Run to the house of the owner of the horse I "" 
 
 But in vain is all their trouble 1 to no purpose all their toil ! 
 The bird was flown from the cage. 
 
 They muster an armed force, and start in pursuit. But the 
 others were close to the sea, and feared them not. 
 
 When the maiden saw so large an army, " See 1 '' said she, 
 " my father is after us, and where shall we go now ? " 
 
 Then the Prince dips the bridle into the sea and up comes 
 our good horse, and carries them across. Then her father, too, 
 comes to the edge of the shore, but how shall he pass over? 
 'J'lien he utters a curse upon his daughter. 
 
 " Daughter, look to it ! since you have deserted me and fled, 
 the first night you sleep with your husband may the wall be rent, 
 and a two-headed monster come and eat you up I "' 
 
 An evil thing is a parent's curse. 
 
 Let us now turn to the Prince, who is blithe as a bird on the 
 wing, and wanted at once to be off to his father's. ]]ut she was 
 not so well pleased with him. The son of the })riest proposed 
 that that they should first go to the castle of the witch, and 
 after\yards proceed to their own country, 'i'hey could not well do 
 otherwise. They come to the castle, they eat and drink, and 
 then he says to her : 
 
 " There is your husband, lady I He is a King's son, and I 
 the son of a priest." 
 
THE GOLDKN STEED. loi 
 
 She was like to make a wry face, but she gulped down her 
 vexation and says, " I must put up with him." 
 
 Then the two went to sleep and the priest's son again hid 
 himself to listen what the sorceress would say when she saw 
 them. The sorceress comes and straightway her daughter says 
 to her : 
 
 ''Do you see? they've managed it I They've got her." 
 
 Then the sorceress groaned, and her daughter asked, ''Why 
 do you groan, mother?" 
 
 ^ Why do you bother about the business of another ? I'hey 
 will find what they were seeking." 
 
 " Nay but tell me, mother darling, tell ine too, what is the 
 matter. I beg it as a favour." 
 
 " Well ! this girl's father invoked the following curse on her : 
 that the first night a monster should appear and eat them both 
 up, and whoever should hear and tell of it should be turned into 
 stone." 
 
 " Alas poor creatures ! what woes are in store for them." 
 
 Then they ate and departed. When they were gone, the poor 
 priest's son, with a heavy heart, wakes them up, and says to 
 them, "It's time to be off now." 
 
 They arise and look at the priest's son. His countenance 
 is fallen. They ask him what's the matter, but he only 
 answers : 
 
 " Bless you, brother, I could not sleej), and that has s])oilt my 
 humour." 
 
 Not to make a long tale of it, when they arrived on the outskirts 
 of the town, they saw the city all in mourning, and asked some of 
 the people they met in the way, why that town is so afflicted : 
 and they replied that the King had an only son, and sent him with 
 the son of a priest on an excursion with great pomp and escort, 
 and at night while the guard was asleep the two lads were lost, and 
 nothing had since been heard of their fate, or whether the wild 
 beasts had devoured them, and on this account the King and 
 the priest no longer desired to live. 
 
 Then the others said to them, " Go and bring the tidings that 
 the priest's son and the Prince are both on their way home, and 
 jire bringing with them the Fairest Lady in the World." 
 
102 THE GOLDKX STKKD. 
 
 So they flung up their heels shoulders high, each eager to run 
 first to the king, and get from him the reward of the good news 
 that his son was coming home. \\'lien the poor King heard it, 
 lie ran out into the road, and met them, and kissed them affec- 
 tionately, all three of them, and brought them into the jjalace. 
 The worthy })riest went on like a madman. At once mourning 
 was exchanged for mirth. Here was laughing I There dances 
 and songs I and the town from being a hell became a 
 paradise I 
 
 As soon as evening fell the King c-alls lords and priests, and 
 marries his son. They sat for some time at table eating and 
 drinking and merry-making, and afterwards got u}) to leave the 
 Ijridal pair to themselves. 
 
 But the priest's son said to the Prince, " My brother, you 
 know how hard I have toiled that you might win this success 
 that you Iiai'e won. Now therefore 1 have a favour to beg of 
 you, which is that I may sleep in the same room with you, and 
 give me your word, that you do not yet consider her as your 
 wife." 
 
 What was the Prince to do ? awkward as he felt it. 
 
 " By all means," he said, " be it as you will." 
 
 So the two lie down to sleep on the bed, and the i)riest's son 
 seats himself in the chair, with his sword in his hand. 
 
 When it was just close on midnight, the wall rent in twain, 
 and in flew a monster. Then the priest's son rushed towards 
 the bed with his sword, cut off the monster's heads, and flung 
 him out at the door, without making any me.ss. But, alas, at the 
 noise the Prince awoke, and seeing him standing over him with 
 drawn sword, supposes that he was going to slay him, and sets 
 u]t a loud alarm I There is a hubbub in the palace, they run 
 and ask what is the matter. The Prince cries and rends his 
 clothes, and says the priest's son was going to kill him from 
 jealousy. 'I'hey i)Ut every i)Ossible ])ressure on the priest's son 
 to tell them why he ai)proached the bed with his drawn sword, 
 but he was afraid to confess, for he knew he should be turned to 
 marble. 'I'he ])riest and the ])riest's wife entreat the King's 
 mercy but in vain. Then the ])riest"s son says : 
 
 " Oh, King live for ever I Behold now, since I have not slain 
 
THE GOLIJEy STEED. 103 
 
 your son, banish me to a wilderness. AN'hy do you wish me to 
 perish guiltless ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, but you shall tell us 1 " replies the Kuig. 
 
 Then the priest's son could bear it no longer, and said, '• 1 
 have but one life to lose 1 What odds does it make ? 1 am only 
 grieved for my father and mother. But you will be sorry after- 
 wards, and the guilt of my undoing be on your heads." So he 
 bedns to relate how everything had happened, and then how he 
 heard from the sorceress, that the girl's father had invoked a 
 curse to the effect that on the first night the wall should be rent 
 and a monster should appear to eat them both up. 
 
 " \nd this," he continued, " was why I rushed, sword m hand, 
 and slew it, and cast it forth, and if you don't beUeve me, come 
 and see for yourselves ; but why should I tell you, ingrates that 
 
 vou are. . ^ i^u ^ 
 
 - But, indeed, the sorceress said one thmg more, namely, that 
 whoever should overhear and repeat her words, should be turned 
 to stone ' ' •• And forthwith he changed to a marble block, and 
 fell flat on the floor. Then they all began to pull their beards 
 and moustaches, but they might as well have called for ram. 
 When some days had passed the Princess said to the Prmce, 
 - That unless he went to the sorceress to learn how to unmarble 
 the priest's son, she would not have him for her husband, but 
 would send him about his business." What was the Prmce to do> 
 He got up and started for the castle, sore against his will,. for 
 he was afraid. To make a short story of it, he reaches the castle, 
 and pretends to fall asleep. Again the sorceress and her daughter 
 enter, and behold him again outstretched. " Holloa 1 " says the 
 maiden, "What does he want now?" 
 
 " Eh ' don't you remember how I said that whoever overheard 
 and repeated those words of mine, would be turned to stone ? 
 l^here was another hidden, who went and told them, and now 
 this one has come to hear something, so that he may go and re- 
 store him. But the favour will not be granted him 1 ' 
 
 \t last after many entreaties on the part of her daughter, she 
 said " If he can only bring himself to slay the chfld which his 
 wife shall bear him upon the marble block, well-but otherwise 
 there is no cure." 
 
104 THE GOLBEX STEED. 
 
 The Prince heard it, and when they were gone, he got u}) and 
 went away too. He came back, and the Princess asked him, 
 ''What did she tell you?" 
 
 " What shall I say to you, good wife ? '' he answered, " I heard 
 that the only cure is to kill the child that you shall bear, on the 
 marble block, but I cannot do such a thing." 
 
 •' I'll do it myself I " says she, " that poor fellow saved us both 
 when the monster would have eaten us, and you would spare a 
 little i^uling brat ? " Her hour comes, she gives birth to a little 
 boy, an angel of a child, and she takes it and slays it on the 
 marble, as if it had been a chicken, such a heart of iron was hers. 
 
 I>isten there, trickle ! trickle 1 and the marble all melts away, 
 and the priest's son is left behind, and says, " Ah, what a heavy 
 sleep I had, and how lightly am I awaked ! Who showed me this 
 kindness ? " In a little while he was thoroughly aroused, and 
 sees the child slaughtered ; he asks, and learns how all had come 
 about. Then he pitied the little one, that it should have been 
 murdered on his account, and went off to the castle. 
 
 Now all this long while the priest's son had loved the daughter 
 of the sorceress, for she was the next in beauty to the Princess, 
 and now he went with the intention of fetching her. So he 
 arrives at the castle, and, on entering it, finds mother and 
 daughter sitting at table. Says he, " Good-day, ladies." " Wel- 
 come, young master," says the mother. But the daughter at once 
 fixed her eyes on the ground, as though she were ashamed. 
 Really, from the moment she first saw him, she had set him deep 
 in her heart. 
 
 " And why have you come ? " 
 
 " What shall I say ? I love your daughter, and that is the only 
 thing that brings me." 
 
 " Ah, you rascal ! " says she, '" with what wiles do you enslave 
 
 the world ? " 
 
 But the son eress had kejit him all along in her eye, and then 
 she said to him, " Well, son-in-law, my daughter just suits you, 
 and I loved you from the first moment you set foot in the castle. 
 Or do you suppose I did not notice you ? But take her and 
 depart with my blessing." 
 
 And without his saying a word to her, she continues, '''J\ike 
 
THE GOLDEN STEED. 105 
 
 too this string, and bind up the child's throat with it, that it may 
 recover." 
 
 Then they received the blessing of the old woman and kissed 
 her hand, and took as much treasure as they could carry away 
 from the castle, and departed. They came back to town, and the 
 priest's son went at once and bound up the child's throat with 
 the string, and restored it to life. And at eventide the priest 
 called together his brother priests, and they held the wedding. 
 
 Then there was no more sorrow nor suffering, but each lived 
 happily, yes, very happily with his darling wife, and may we live 
 here happier still. 
 
 H 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET. 
 
 (ASTYPAL-tA.) 
 
 -.O:- 
 
 Once on a time there was a King and a Queen who had an only 
 son. His father said to him, " My child, you see that we have 
 no other son ; all that I have de}jends on you. Therefore I 
 desire to see you married, with children growing up to console 
 me before I die, that I may have some joy in my old age, for you 
 are my only hope.'' 
 
 'J'he Prince was by no means willing to be married in sjMte of 
 all his father could say to him ; it simply went in at one ear and 
 out at the other. 
 
 About a week later, he said the same thing all over again. He 
 asked him whether he had peradventure, changed his mind : 
 whether he had chosen any one ; and promised to give him 
 whomsoever he should take a fancy to. 
 
 But you might as well have talked to a stone and ex])ected an 
 answer. His mind was not so easily swayed from its pur])ose. 
 What was the King to do? 
 
 He seeks the intercession of kinswomen ; they talk to hini 
 again and again ; but without avail. However, it was bruited 
 abroad that in a certain ])lace there dwelt a damsel passing fair : 
 and there was a wager that whomsoever she speaks to, him she 
 shall wed : but otherwise, whoever is the suitor, they are to slay 
 him. 
 
 Well, the fancy seized the Prince that he would essay the wager 
 to win the maiden in (piestion. 
 
 Accordingly, one day, when his father was repeating his en- 
 treaties, he answered, " A\'ell, Father, as you will have me married, 
 give me that fair maid ? "" 
 
 " Goodness gracious, my son, bethink you I " cried the King. 
 "Would that it were in my i)ower! Put have not you heard 
 
THE GOLDEX CASKET. 107 
 
 what wagers she lays, and how many fine young fellows she has 
 slain ? Do you want her to take your life as well ? Why there 
 are princesses and vizier's daughters jjlentiful as running waters, 
 and not one of them can be found to suit you I But so it is ! 
 It's a wise saying, 'Joy to the man, whose name is destined to 
 good luck 1 ' " 
 
 '' That's all fudge that you are talking, you only want to damp 
 my ardour I I tell you, father, I am not going to marry anyone 
 else. I am off in search of her, and if I get her — good I If 
 not, I will perish for her sake I '' 
 
 '• Alas, my son, how you torture my heart with your impious 
 words ! Have you no pity on me, have you no pity on your 
 mother, who had such pains, poor thing, ere she bare you ; at your 
 age, big lad as you are I Is that the return we had to look for at 
 your hands, that you should poison and embitter our old age ? 
 Alas, what shall we say to you, when you won't listen to your 
 elders, but rush upon your ruin I I only pray, my son, that my 
 evil forebodings may hot find fulfilment ! " 
 
 " Nonsense, nonsense ! father. There's no turning me from 
 my purpose." 
 
 Then, indeed, the King's eyes were dim with tears, as he wept 
 before him like a little child, and entreated him to have regard to 
 his own welfare : but the other, on his part, was as obstinate as 
 obstinate could be, so his father replied : 
 
 " Well, my son, I have said all I could say as your father, and 
 one who pities you, for I would not have a hair of your head 
 come to harm, but you are determined to have your own way. 
 ?klay God have mercy upon you. I offered you a thousand sheep, 
 and you won't so much as take a tail I '' 
 
 Then he arose and departed, his eyes running rivers of tears. 
 
 He went to the Queen, and said to her : 
 
 " What shall I tell you, mother dear ? 
 
 " 'Our crviel fate, with ruthless hand, has written the decree. 
 That winter storms and summer suns alike unkind shall be.' 
 
 One son alone w^as born to us, the light of our eyes, whom ever>'- 
 one was gladdened to behold, and now, even he has got beyond 
 our control, and is going to fling his life away." 
 
 H 2 
 
loS THE GOLDKX CASKET. 
 
 " What's tlic matter ? "' says the Queen. 
 
 Word for word, lie told her, and it was a sad hour when she 
 heard the story. The two mourn together Hke a i)air of ring- 
 doves, and cannot be consoled. 
 
 W^hen they see that with all their efforts they can make no ad- 
 vance, they say to one another, '' Come, come, what's the good 
 of behaving so childishly in the sight of everyone? He has said 
 it, and he will do it. Only let us give him our blessing, and bid 
 him farewell. ' None can escape his fate.' " 
 
 So they summon him on the day that he was preparing to 
 depart, and say to him : 
 
 " Darling of our hearts, we sought your welfare, but, 
 
 '• ' Since go thou wilt, then fare thee well, good luck betide each hour. 
 May roses fair bestrew thy path with many a fragrant flower. 
 Thou golden eaglet, this alone we crave from thee : wherever 
 Tliy lot be cast, may nothing us from, th}- remembrance sever.' " 
 
 Then the pair fall on his neck, and embrace him fondly, and 
 bedew him with their tears, and can hardly tear themselves away 
 from him. At length they let him go, and tell him he has full 
 power to take what he will along with him. 
 
 So he goes and chooses a good horse, takes a little money, and 
 other necessaries, receives the blessing of his father and mother, 
 and, with a " God bless you, dearest parents," is off and away. 
 
 The hapless King and Queen plunged themselves in mourning, 
 and so did the whole country. 
 
 The Prince journeyed on for several days, till at length he 
 reached a town. 
 
 fie dismounts, and goes to refresh himself at a little coffee- 
 house, in order that he may learn something about the place. 
 
 There enters a hawker with a beautiful golden casket, and cries 
 it, saying, " This casket for sale I whoever buys it will rue it ; and 
 again, whoever does not buy it, will rue it : the price is a thou- 
 sand ducats, no more and no less." 
 
 Then all who were in the coffee-house turned and looked at 
 the Prince, and he says to himself, "Halloa, here is a start: 'who- 
 soever buys it, shall rue it : and again, whosoever does not buy it 
 .shall rue it.'* Well, I'll try my luck with it, anyhow, as 1 see all 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET. 109 
 
 eyes are turned on me." Then he calls to the man : " Here, sir, 
 what is the ])rice of that casket ? " 
 
 " A thousand ducats, neither more nor less." 
 
 Then the Prince takes out his purse, and — chink, chink ! he 
 counts a thousand ducats into our good hawker's hands, and takes 
 the casket, and puts it in his pocket, with the words, "Time will 
 show its worth."'" 
 
 He sits a while in the coffee-house, then he gets up and goes, 
 after treating everyone all round, and that twice over. Well, 
 what do you think? What are you expecting? 
 
 To make a short tale of it, he came to the town where the Fair 
 One dwelt. He asks for information, and is told as follows : 
 " My brave lad, have you no care for your young life ? she is a 
 monster without her like. Her heart knows no relenting. Many 
 and many a fine young fellow has she slain, and think you she 
 will spare you ? However, as you are determmed, go to the 
 King, and let him tell you what to do.'" 
 
 So the Prince arose, and came to the King, and made his 
 obeisance to him : and the latter rises and bids him sit down 
 beside him. And at once he took a fancy to him, for he was a 
 fine-looking youth, and very accomplished. He asks him, what 
 is his pleasure ? 
 
 And the lad replies, " I have come for your daughter," 
 
 '• Ah, my son, that's a bad business. She's a witch, and wants 
 to devour the world. I pray you begone I " 
 
 " Nay, nay, nay I that's out of the question. Let me be slain." 
 
 But you see the King himself was weary of so much butchery ; 
 and he sware to the Prince, that if she did not speak this time, 
 he would kill her too. 
 
 Then the Prince's heart failed him, and he began to doubt of 
 what he had done. 
 
 " But,'" said he (in the words of the proverb) : 
 
 '• • Oh I last and latest thought of mine, why wast thou not ni}- earliest ? ' 
 
 Farewell, oh King I " 
 
 "Good-bye, my son." 
 
 He departs^ and goes to a coffee-house, full of thought, and 
 rests his head on his hand. 
 
no 77//; GOLDF.y CASKET. 
 
 As he did so, the casket was underneath; it struck against his 
 elbow, and bruised his arm, so that it smarted a good deal. Then 
 said he, ''It is good for me to suffer. Did I not hear the hawker 
 say, ' Whoever buys it, will rue it ? ' " 
 
 'I'hen the casket answers, and says to him, '"Tush, if you did 
 not want me, why did you take me? " 
 
 The Prince was like to lose his wits on hearing the casket talk, 
 
 " Don't be astonished," it continued, " I am your salvation. 
 Only listen to what I tell you, and never fear. In the evening 
 you will go to the Fair One's house. As soon as you enter, say, 
 'Good evening to you,' and see that you put me down some- 
 where, and afterwards begin to tell as many lies and stones as you 
 can. She, meanwhile, will be sitting aloft by the glass cupboard, 
 she sees you, and you don't see her, and she is as silent as a rock. 
 Then you must say, ' Well, as the Princess doesn't deign to 
 speak to us, won't you speak to us ? ' naming the object on which 
 you have placed me. 'I'hen I will begin to talk to you, and vou 
 must ask me to tell you a tale, and I shall answer, ' I will, but on 
 your honour, will you pronounce a right judgment thereon ? ' and 
 you must take good care and pronounce one that is altogether 
 wrong. Then she will be indignant, and will speak. 
 
 " These, my words, do you obe)', 
 Write on paper what 1 say."' 
 
 Then the Prince took heart, and longed for the evening to 
 come. Till night drevr on, the day seemed like a year, and when 
 it grew dark — before you could count two — he was witli the 
 Princess. 
 
 A crowd hurried thither to watch the result from outside, and 
 stood agape. The Prince entered with all })oliteness, and said, 
 " Ciood evening, fair lady, liglit of my eyes I How are vou? 
 ^^'on't you s])eak a word to me, the stranger? 
 
 " 'Open tiiy lip?. I pray thee, and s{)cak but two words unto nic. 
 
 'J'o ease me of these heartfelt pan2[^', that send their :\ii£:;uisli tlitou^h mc' 
 
 In vain I not a word was heard. 
 Alas I ])oor Prince, 
 
 " Fruitless arc all thy strivin<:^s, to no purpose all ihv pain. 
 The fish that tlioii art fishin;^ for, there is no way to ji^^ain." 
 
THE GOLBEX CASKET. in 
 
 However, while he was scraping and bowing, he managed to 
 place the casket on the shelf, and again began : 
 
 "But, in the name of Heaven, is there no one here, not a soul 
 to speak to me? I shall burst I I cannot stand it.'"' He makes 
 a cigarette ; he makes another. 
 No improvement ! 
 
 ''Hal what a heartless creature I " they shout -from outside. 
 ^' How many braves have perished, and she does not loose her 
 tongue I Why a saint under vow of silence would speak I '" 
 
 " Troth,'' continues the Prince, " was it not I that used to have 
 any number of men who would cudgel their brains to despair 
 and tax their conversational powers ro the utmost, just to amuse 
 me : and now I have come to this nest of savages, to lose my 
 life for nought I \Ve\\ spake my sire and my mother I But since 
 the Lady Princess will not speak with us — will not you, per 
 chance, little shelf, speak a word with us, who are here all alone, 
 and have no one to talk to ? " 
 
 "Gladly, master,'' answers the shelf; "if I would not speak 
 for your sake, do you think 1 would for the sake of yonder 
 wretch ? '' 
 
 " I'hanks, little shelf I " 
 
 " ^Vhat will you have ? — a song, a jest, or a little tale ? "' 
 ''Well, to pass the time, let's say — a tale." 
 " But allow me to sa}-, master, that I shall ask you to deliver a 
 fair judgment thereon ? " 
 
 "Now, little shelf, you have spoken a word that has stung me to 
 the (|uick. Such a Prince as I am, and you tell me to give a fair 
 judgment ? " 
 
 " Never mind I Now for my story. 
 
 " The tale begins with wishing your honour good evening. 
 Perish the witch over there," it adds aside. 
 
 It was torture to the Princess to behold all this, and to hear 
 such grievous words ; she was like to burst. Meanwhile I am 
 breaking the thread of our story, but no matter. 
 
 "'Once on a time. Prince, there were three fine young fellows, 
 and all three had the same sweetheart without knowing it, and 
 were also friends of one another. They agree, accordingly, one 
 day to go out into the country to a certain pleasure-garden to 
 
112 THE GOLDEN CASKET. 
 
 enjoy themselves. Do you heiu-, Prince ?"■ — and he bent himself 
 to listen, like a gipsy's billhook, and his eye was fixed upon it. 
 
 "Ah, I forgot ! where did we stop? Oh, I believe it was where 
 they were about to go out into the country. Well, — but thev 
 wanted a little relish — you understand — so each one sends a lad 
 to his sweetheart to bring him something to eat, without knowing 
 she was the same. Well, do I not tell my story prettily ? " 
 
 " Charmingly I " 
 
 " Now, the good girl had a fowl in the oven, so she takes it and 
 makes three portions of it. Does she know what she is doing? 
 
 " ' Beards of hair 
 
 Want comb and care.' 
 
 She also takes a little cheese and divides that, too, into three 
 pieces, and a little loaf as well. Then she summons the first lad, 
 takes one of the pieces of fowl, cheese, and bread, wraps it in a 
 handkerchiet^ ties it up, and gives it to the boy, and goes away. 
 Then she does the same with the next and the next, and the 
 thing is done. The boy.s— who alone were not the same — take 
 the handkerchiefs, they receive each a trifle for his trouble, and 
 the young men go their way. Then our three friends set off on 
 their journey, each with his handkerchief in his hand. Thev 
 arrive at the })leasure-garden, whither they were bound. Then, 
 when they had sat down comfortably, they open their handker- 
 chiefs, and what should they behold — but all three the same ! 
 ' Well, did I ever ? ' exclaimed each. 'I'hen all three were sore 
 perplexed to get at the bottom of the matter ; for they seemed 
 to smell the trick. ' Why, brother,' says the first, 'who is your 
 sweetheart ?' Says he, ' So and so.' At once the third exclaims, 
 ' Halloa, that's mine ! ' ' No,' says the other, ' she's mine." 
 
 "(roodness gracious, Avhat a noise! what words, Avhat shouting ! 
 'I'he three young men engage in a deadly (|uarrel ; they come to 
 blows. Here's fine fun 1 Then one of them, who was more 
 sensible than the others, said to them, 'Come, lads, is it not a 
 shame that we should kill one another for a wench like that? 
 What mischief has possessed us ? Some evil eve must have 
 looked at us to-day.' Then the wrath of the others seemed 
 allayed somewhat, and they said, accordingly, ' How shall we 
 settle this business?' ' Is it that whicli troubles xou ? Well, mv 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET. 113 
 
 proposal is that each should take off his ring ; that we put them 
 underneath this stone, and that then each one should journey forth, 
 and after so many years that we should return hither to the same 
 ]jlace, and that we should leave the rings as a pledge that we wait 
 for 'one another, until we all three meet together, and that then 
 the one who has learnt the best trade should marry her.' 'A good 
 ])lan that 1 " say they, and leave their rings and go. So away they 
 went, and each of them learnt a trade ; and after three years" 
 space the three meet again in the same place. ' Thank God I ' 
 say they, ' that we have met again. Now let us see what we have 
 been about." Says one, ' I, my lads, have become a famous 
 astrologer, and can tell all about everything.' ' Bravo I well 
 done!" say the rest. The second says, 'I have become an 
 eminent doctor, and can raise the very dead I " Says the third, 
 'I, in my turn, have learnt to run swifter than the wind ; and 
 wherever I wish to be, there T am in a trice.' (Mercy onus, what 
 clever devils I it makes one's hair stand on end I) Then the three 
 say, ' "\\'e are well : but come, astrologer, look how fares it with 
 our sweetheart ? " Then the astrologer goes and gazes at her 
 star, and trembles, and is like to fall (* For,' says he, 'some one's 
 light is being quenched — he or she is dying I ") ' Halloa, you 
 fellows ! ' he shouts, ' she is at her last gasp ! ' ' Come, doctor \ ' 
 tliey cry, ' physic, for God's sake, cjuick ! " The doctor gathers a 
 few herbs, and makes the medicine. ' Now you, who can go so 
 (juick, run for your life 1 ' In a minute he arrives, pours the 
 medicine down her mouth, and her soul, which had by this time 
 reached her teeth, went down her throat again. 
 
 " Bless me, what a lot I know I Wasn't that a fine story ? 
 Now it"s your turn to tell me (for I fain would know) which of the 
 three ought to marry her? and I wish you joy of your answer." 
 
 He pretends to reflect, and says at length, " Which should 
 marry her ? Which should marry her ? Why the astrologer 
 should marry her !" 
 
 Then the Princess was in such a torment of indignation, that 
 she uttered such shrieks as made the windows shake. It was, 
 " Spill egg, or burst I " 
 
 " I have you now I " says the Prince. 
 
 " I wish you joy of your just judgment. Sir Prince I" says she. 
 
114 THE GOLDEX CASKET. 
 
 "What are you thinking of? Why, if it had not been for that 
 swift runner, of what avail would have been the astrology and the 
 medicine? So let the last one take her I" And she was silent again. 
 
 Then you might have heard the clap I clap I clap I of many 
 liands. " The Princess has spoken I "" They run to the Kirtg. 
 On hearing the news, the King distributed bounties wholesale, 
 and cried, " (rlory be to Cxod for changing her mind ! "' 
 
 Then the Prince, on his part, secretly takes away the casket, 
 and with the words, " That scores one for us I " departs,- — for the 
 wager was to make lier speak three times. This was the condition 
 of success. I'he Prince goes to the King, who embraces him, and 
 says, " Henceforth you are my son. As she has spoken the first 
 time, the others will follow of themselves.'' And now there was 
 nothing but rejoicings and carousals. ^A'ell, what next ? The 
 second evening came ; but now he had more courage, and said 
 again, "• (jood evening to you I "' and much else, as on the first 
 occasion, and a great deal more beside. But I forgot to tell you 
 one curious circumstance. When they were all gone, and the 
 Princess was left alone, she got up and descended from her ])erch, 
 and was in such a passion that the very stones were an ofl'ence to 
 her. She v/ent to the shelf, and said to it, " Come, little shelf, 
 won't you sj^eak to me ? " But why expect words from wood ? 
 Then she nearly choked with passion. "■ You precious torment ! 
 I have had you all these years, and I never remember to have 
 heard you speak a single word to i)lease me ; and that fellow that 
 you only saw last night, VN'ith him you began fo chatter I — take 
 that for your pains, with my comj)liments."' And smash I smash ! 
 she breaks the shelf into a thousand si)linters, and all the things 
 upon it are sent al)out their business. You see it was enough to 
 put a saint into a fury. Confusion seize upon her, the silly 
 wench ! 
 
 On that evening lie placed the casket on a chair, and lie sj)oke 
 and spoke again, for his tongue was bolder than before. '''I'alk I 
 talk !" said he. "Ah, T shall burst with anger again this evening. 
 I ]ia\e no comjjany. Last night I liad my little shelf ; but this 
 evening I see it nowhere. Has that turned against me, too ? " 
 
 '' ' All wisli !iie ill I the stocks and stones their humnn malice aidinf^. 
 And if 1 lean aijainst a tree, the leaves do fall a fadins^.' 
 
THE GOLBKX CASKET. 115 
 
 Well, the "Princess will speak to me iirj more I But you, my 
 little chair, have not you a word to say to me ? " 
 
 " Right gladly, Master, I am at your service. What sort of 
 talk do you wish me to begin vrith you ? Shall I tell you a tale 
 to console you, so that the night may pass somewhat niore 
 (juickly? 1 will do so, Prince, but I desire a just decision on 
 what I tell you."' 
 
 '■ It's too bad to talk to me in that way. I am not a mere child 
 without sense. I am a full-grown Prin'^^e, and shall I not give 
 you a just judgment ? "' 
 
 •' Ah, pardon me, and let me begin my story. My story begins 
 by wishing you good evening, my pretty master. Once on a time 
 there were three companions, each of a different calling. One was 
 a monk, one was a carpenter, and one was a tailor. They decided 
 on leaving that country, as they could not get on there any 
 longer, and on going to another place, where there might be a 
 demand for their services. So our good friends arose, and set off 
 for the town in (|uestion. They walked all that day, and at 
 evening came to a farm. They decided that they must stay there 
 for that night and would go forward in pursuit of their business 
 on the following morning. But you see they were afraid of all 
 going to sleep at once, for in those parts robbers were known to 
 be about, and fears prevailed all around. AVhat then should they 
 do ? I'hey determined to cast lots, and that each should watch 
 in his turn, while the other two slept. The lots are cast, and the 
 first falls on the carpenter. The monk and the tailor slept, and 
 the carpenter kept watch. He sat and sat, but soon began to 
 nod. In order to enliven himself and to frighten the tailor, whose 
 turn came next, he took a block of wood which was near the 
 sheep-fold, got his tools, and carved it into the figure of a maiden, 
 and set it up in front of the fold. When his hour vcas past, he 
 woke the tailor, saying 'Wake up you, and watch a bit." So he 
 lay down himself, and the tailor got up. wSome time passed 
 before he saw anything in particular. At last, when his eyes were 
 thoroughly opened, he turned and beheld the figure. At first he 
 thought, in his terror, that the robbers were there, and shouted, 
 ■ To arms I to arms, lads I They have come to attack us I " But 
 he sees that it does not move from its place, and takes courage. 
 
ii6 THE GOLDEN CASKET. 
 
 "Then he throws a stone, which struck as though upon wood, 
 which it really was. ' A nice trick that devil of a carpenter has 
 ])layed me, and I was near making a fine mess of it in my fear. 
 However, he has made this figure, and now what shall / do ? ' 
 Tlien he opened his bag and took out some of the materials and 
 instruments of his trade, and made a dress for the figure, and 
 clothed it, so that if you had seen it, you would have said it was 
 alive. 
 
 " P]ut you see, it was not able to speak. 
 
 '• By the time he had done all this, his time had ])assed, and 
 he woke up the monk. 
 
 '• The poor monk gets up, and sees in the sheep-fold a girl in 
 full array, only one thing was wanting co her, and that was 
 life. 
 
 '' Now the monk understood this, and he put up a prayer 
 to (xod out of a pure heart. God heard him, and granted his 
 reijuest. Now attend ! In the morning, the other two get 
 up. and the three fight together as to who had the first claim to 
 her. 
 
 ''The carpenter said, 'She belongs to me, because she was a 
 wooden block, and I made her what she is.' 
 
 '• The tailor said, ' Nay, but she belongs to me, because I si)ent 
 so much on clothing her, who else would be naked." 
 
 " Finally, the monk begins to talk like a divine, ' God bless you, 
 my sons, will you not leave, her to me, who have no one, and am 
 all by myself? Vou have your wives, your children, all joy to you 
 with them I but whom have I ? " 
 
 '• They clamour, and refuse to hear him. 
 
 '• 1 want, therefore, to learn which of them ought by riglu to 
 take her? " 
 
 '• Bah I such a trifle need not ])uzzle your head ! The j^oor 
 tailor ought to have her, for he broke his needle, and made liis 
 fingers sore in sewing her clothes together." 
 
 At hearing this again, the Princess calls out, " I want to speak 
 once more 1 For I can't understand such absurdity. Alas, for 
 you, young man I I am sorry for the honour of your name, but 
 you don't seem to know how many davs there are in a year I 
 Why look at the absurdity of the thing \ While he doesn't know 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET. 117 
 
 the evil things his destiny has in store for him, he speaks big 
 boastful words ; but that's a wise saying : 
 
 " ' Where you hear of many cherries, 
 Hold small baskets for the berries.' 
 
 [/.e?. Much cry, little wool.] 
 
 " Only I beg you will not come near me again to vex my soul 
 with any more of your nonsense." 
 
 Then he says to her, " Since your ladyship has spoken, I am 
 content.'' 
 
 Sj he puts the casket in his bosom and — catch him if you can 
 — he's off in a jiffey to the King. Our fair damsel comes down 
 from her perch : and falls to fighting with the chair until she has 
 reduced it to atoms. Ah, well, let's see what happens on the 
 following evening ; as everything now depends on that, lest we 
 lose all our labour now, and the fruits of our labour in the past. 
 From early morn she washes herself, combs her hair, puts on her 
 best attire, and when evening w^as come — 
 
 " Tree of beaut}-, cypress tree, accept me for your peer I " 
 
 Again he says, " Good evening to you. Princess ! Peradventure 
 you are still angry with me from last evening. I made a mistake, 
 but afterwards I recognised it myself, so pray forgive me for 
 offending you. Only speak to me one word, to heal my wounded 
 heart. Nay, wait a bit. It is as though I understood to-night, 
 how to turn my very soul inside out. What shall I say to my 
 fate that wrote so many bitter things against me ! But here is 
 that will tell me." 
 
 He places the casket on the candle-stick and as he poured 
 forth these complaints the candle-stick replied, " Patience, 
 Prince ! " 
 
 " ' What patience, patience ever more ? how long is that to be ' 
 Boiiold the work of patience, what it has done to me ! '" 
 
 answers the Prince. 
 
 "Never mind her up there," it replies, "and I will sing and 
 dance for you the live-long night, and don't trouble yourself four 
 rushes about yonder witch, only tell me what I can do for you." 
 
ii8 THE GOLDKy CASKET. 
 
 " What shall 1 say ? \\\\\ you tell nie a talc to pass the night 
 away ? "' 
 
 " As you like master, but I want you to pass a just judgment 
 on it." 
 
 '' Never fear ! " 
 
 " Well then : once on a time (may the Holy \^irgin protect 
 \ou. Prince) there was a King' and a Queen. They had a 
 daughter, whom they gave to a foster mother to bring it up in a 
 castle. The girl grew up, and one day, when her wet-nurse was 
 combing her hair, she finds a lady-bird. Do you suppose such 
 as she would know a ladybird when they saw it ? 
 
 " 'What's that ? ' says she ? when the nurse showed it her. 
 
 " 'Why my darling it's a lady-bird.' 
 
 " ' Let's keep it, mama, to see if it will grow very large.' 
 
 " ' Oh, they don't grow child 1 ' 
 
 '• ' Well but I insist that you put it in that vessel that we may 
 see what it comes to.' 
 
 " So they put it in and kept it, aiKl lo and behold it got so big 
 it filled the whole jug, and they i)ut in a larger one ; then into a 
 cask — and to make a short tale of a long one — it grew into an 
 ox. Then they thought it was time to slaughter it and to pre- 
 serve its skin, so that no one would know what it was. They 
 call a butcher and say to him : 
 
 "'Slay this beast for us, and skin it, and throw the remains 
 away.' 
 
 "So he slaughters it and skins it without knov.-ing what manner 
 of beast it was. They pay him off, and he goes about his 
 business. They pickle, dry and preserve the skin. Some \ears 
 jjassed away, and the maiden was of age to marry. But the 
 Devil put it into her head that she would not marry, and in order 
 that her father might not bother her every day with proposals, 
 she tells him that she has a skin, and whoever can find out what 
 animal it belonged to, him she will marry : otherwise he must 
 l(jse his head. 
 
 " ' So be it,' said he. 
 
 " For he supi)osed that would be the easiest thing in the world, 
 and how was he to know what was in the wind ? So the King 
 issues a proclamation, ' Whoever shall be found to guess my 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET, . 119 
 
 daughter's riddle "" (a similar case to yours and that of this lady 
 now, who arches her neck like a gipsy's billhook I) ; but it re- 
 mained impossible for any one to guess it, and many and many 
 were slain daily, princes and sons of viziers. Neither Ciod nor the 
 Devil desired such bloodshed for the sake of one woman: but 
 the Devil took the shape of a handsome young fellow, and he 
 straightway goes and sues for the hand of the maiden ; a youth 
 so fair to look on that whoever beheld him, his eyes would be 
 enchained by his beauty. 
 
 " The King sees him, the Queen sees him, the nurse sees him. 
 
 " 'Oh, my eyes,' they cry, 'what a beautiful youth I Would that 
 he might guess the riddle, and wed our maiden, that she might 
 live with him to a good old age I ' 
 
 '' Never fear but he will succeed. You know they say, ' (xod 
 judges in His own good time ! ' And now she has shed such 
 torrents of blood — is it ever to be so ? ' What a man sows, that 
 shall he reap.' (These sayings don't belong to the story, but are 
 proverbs of my own, for I have seen and known their truth). So 
 the handsome youth goes, with all gravity, and asks what the 
 riddle is. A fluttering at the heart seized the Princess lest he- 
 guess it. Our friend says at once, 'Bah 1 why that's the skin of 
 a lady-bird 1 ' " 
 
 " Bravo I bravo ! he has guessed it I " assents the Princess. 
 
 " The very same evening they make ready to marry them.. 
 They ate, they drank, they caroused; the hour for bed-time came. 
 The Princess went to bed, while he turned to a black negro, and 
 slept in the further part of the room, without touching her with 
 his little finger. 
 
 " The greater part of the Princess' blood had congealed from 
 fright before daylight broke. When the dawn had come, he again. 
 became what he was before, and the girl, though overwhelmed 
 with grief, said nothing to her father, in order to see how matters, 
 would turn out : but when she sees how next night things were 
 the same, and worse, ' Eh 1 ' said she to herself, ' this caa 
 neither be eaten nor chewed ; ' and she runs to her father, and 
 tells him how matters stand, and begs him to call her husband, 
 and inquire into the case. 
 
 "So the King calls him, and asks him how it is ; and he answers, 
 
I20 THE GOLDKX CASKET. 
 
 that he is under a curse pronounced on him by his father, and 
 hence his affliction : he begged him to leave him the Princess, 
 that she might go and find his father, and win his blessing, that 
 so he might be delivered from the plague, after which he would 
 return. Then he obtains the Princess : the King gives him a 
 body-guard into the bargain, and he takes his leave. As they 
 were journeying in a wilderness, he changes into a demon, 
 and says, 'Wife, I am hungry I' and straightway he gobbles 
 up all the food they had. They go further, and again he 
 cries, ' Wife, I am hungry I " and he gobbles up all the men of 
 their escort, along with their horses, and only leaves his wife. 
 Then he brought her to a place, where he lifted up a marble slab, 
 and underneath there was a cave, and he put her inside, and 
 covered her up. Alas, unhappy Princess, what sights were there 
 to see I She sees slain beasts, she sees the flesh of men, she sees 
 things that filled her soul with horror. Afterwards the monster 
 comes and lifts the marble slab, and comes in and gives her human 
 flesh to eat, and turns into a snake, and winds himself round her 
 from her foot up to her head, and puts out his tongue, and thrusts 
 it into her mouth, and sucks her blood. When the night was 
 past he leaves her again, and departs. 
 
 " But she was at death's door. Now when she left the jjalace 
 she had taken with her, as a token of her mother's blessing, two 
 ring-doves, which she carried in her bosom ; and nothing else 
 remained to her for her solace but these two ring-doves ; and 
 she thought to take a piece of paper, and write a letter to her 
 mother, telling her the state of the case, and to tie it to the claw 
 of one of the ring-doves, and let it go when the monster should 
 leave, and if he did not discover it, hoped that something might 
 turn up. So she takes the ])iece of paper, and ties it to its claw, 
 and lets it go away along with the monster ; the poor dove tries 
 to fly out as he lifts the marble, but he perceives it, and swallows 
 the bird whole. The next day she lets the other bird go. 'I'hat 
 one, by her mother's blessing, escaj^ed, as luck would have it, and 
 flew, and flew, and flew, and perched at the window of the 
 i^rincess' castle. 
 
 " Then her mother sees it, and says, ' Halloa ! that is my 
 daughter's dove that has come back ! Run and bring it ifi.' It 
 
THE GOLDEX CASKE'f. 121 
 
 was as though the poor thing understood, for, instead of flying 
 away, it remained still, and they catch it, and bring it to the 
 Queen. She kissed it fondly, and caressed it, and asked it, 'How 
 fares your mistress ? ' As she was caressing and stroking it, she 
 sees the paper wrapped round its claw ; she unties it, and what 
 does she read ? Lamentation and woe I Her cry went down to 
 earth, and up to heaven. The King hastens to her side. 
 ' Whats the matter ? what'.s the matter ? " says he, and she 
 gives him the paper, and weeps, and groans, ' Ah, my daughter, 
 my daughter ! in what a sad plight art thou 1 and who shall rescue 
 thee ? ^ 
 
 ""Forthwith a proclamation goes forth into the town, that who- 
 soever shall be able to bring the King his daughter, shall take her 
 to wife. But no one can be heard of There is no room here 
 for deception 1 Lamentation and wailing resound through all the 
 town. There was there a certain poor old dame, and she had 
 seven sons, and, verily, every one of them was a hero. You must 
 know they had been absent for seven years, and, by good fortune 
 tliey chanced to come home that same year. They see the whole 
 place in mourning, and do not know the reason. They ask two 
 or three people, ' My friends, what's the matter here ? ' and 
 learn the state of affairs. They go home, and their first word 
 was that their mother must go to the King, and tell him her sons 
 are ecjual to the task of bringing him back his daughter. ' My 
 dear children,' says their mother, 'you have been all these years 
 away from me, and the grief of your absence consumed me ; and 
 scarcely have you come, when you want to go away again. It is 
 no proper business for you, that you are after. And she, they 
 say, is in a horrid place, where not even a gnat can enter." They 
 answer her, ' We told you to go to the King, and are you still 
 sitting there ? ' What could the poor woman do ? Willing, or 
 unwilling, she goes to the King and tells him. The King was 
 delighted to hear such good news, and loaded her with hand- 
 some gifts, and told her that if God grants them success, and they 
 get back his daughter, one of them shall have her to wife, and the 
 others shall share the half of his kingdom ; and whatever they 
 require for their journey, let them come and ask for it. She goes 
 and tells her sons, and they cannot be off soon enough. Now 
 
 I 
 
122 THE (iOLl)Ky CASKET. 
 
 you must understand that at the time of their absence they had 
 not remained idle, like some people, but each had learned a magic 
 art, and this was why they now felt no concern. Here is a list of 
 their accomplishments. One had learnt to i>ut his ear to the 
 ground and find out what was taking place in the under world. 
 The next could lift such a load with his hands, that if even the 
 earth had but a brass handle, he could raise it. The third was so 
 clever and dexterous that he could strip a man asleep without his 
 being aware of it. The fourth had such a pair of shoulders that 
 whatever weight you put upon them he did not feel it. Another 
 had the art of striking his hand upon the earth, so as to make an 
 iron castle spring u]), which did not care even for thunderbolts. 
 Another, again, could aim at an object no bigger than a midge 
 upon the devil's thigh, and bring it down. — Tm sure I don't know 
 how many we have now, — will you count them, Prince ? That's 
 a wise saying, 'I give the blows, and you count them,' for there's 
 no knowing what mistakes may hapi)en any hour. But I fancy 
 there is yet one left, yes, — the last, who, if anything fell from the 
 sky, and he opened his arms, it would tumble into them. He 
 made it come to him, like that thing that draws iron to itself, the 
 name of which I don't remember. My word, what a devil's brood \ 
 What arts they had picked \\\) among them 1 Rravo, old dame's 
 sons I 
 
 "Well, when they had set out on their journey, they said to the 
 one that could overhear the doings of the under world, ' Find 
 out where we are going, so that we may not journey in the dark : 
 but may arrive an hour in advance, lest the hare give us the slij). 
 and we lose all the fun 1 ' 
 
 " ' We are going on all right, ])ut we have not gone far enough 
 yet.' 
 
 "So they journey on and on, and again they ask, 'Now liave 
 another look I ' 
 
 " ' Eh, my lads, we are getting near,' said he : ' it's just behind 
 that mountain there.' Forward, forward I Our young heroes 
 behold the marble slab which was over the cave, and — Heaven 
 preserve us — it was two or three times the size of our house. 
 When they arrived at the spot, they cried, 'Now you who lift 
 the weights — raise \\\) that marl)le slab ! ' 
 
THE GOLDEN CASKET. 123 
 
 " So he took it up by a bmss ring which was attached to it and 
 lifted it clean off, but very softly, so that they might not hear him 
 down below\ 
 
 " Then the one who heard what was doing in the under world 
 said, that the monster was at pres.ent a snake, and was coiled 
 round the maiden and sucking her blood with its tongue. 
 
 "Then they said, ' Ho ! you, who cannot be seen; (juick, get 
 you down/ 
 
 "" So he went down below, took the serpent by his tail, and little 
 by little he uncoiled it from her body, without being perceived ; 
 but the girl was by this time half dead. Then he comes up and 
 says, 'She is now ready for raising,' and at once the one who 
 lifted heavy weights went down, and took her on his shoulders, 
 and made off with all haste. The day dawns, and then the snake 
 sees what has happened. 'Ha! you dogs I ' he shouts; 'the 
 Old woman's sons have carried her off! ' 
 
 " For it seems he knew that they were his fated foes ; and 
 straightway he changes to a cloud, and pursues them. Then 
 the long-eared one gets wind of his coming, and says, ' Oho my 
 lads ! he is awake and after us ! ' Scarcely had he uttered the 
 word when the black cloud loomed in sight. Then they cry, 
 ' Ho ! you who can rear a tower with a clap of your hands, 
 quick, or we have lost her ! " In a moment the fine fellow claps 
 down his hand, and a tower rose which was a terror to behold. 
 They all went into it ; and there came the cloud, and made a 
 noise and an uproar, that shook the tower to its base, but what 
 did they care ? By this time all the young heroes were wearied 
 out, and wished to take a little nap. to rest themselves. So they 
 said to the maiden, ' You see we are going to lie down to sleep. 
 Be well on your guard, and don't look out at the window, or woe 
 betide you ! It will be the worse for you.' 
 
 "■ It was as though they had said to her, ' As soon as we are gone 
 to sleep, mind you look out at the window,' for the foul fiend, 
 when he had tried every artifice and could accomplish nothing, 
 changed to an old woman, with a brood of golden birds, and kept 
 casting pearls to them, which tliey ate, and made such sweet 
 music it was ravishing to hear. 
 
 "Then had it been myself, I must have had a i)eep, to say 
 
 I 2 
 
124 THE GOLDEN CASKET. 
 
 notliing of the Princess ; who had been so many days in hell, and 
 longed to have a look at the world. But why do they call 
 them devils ? Because with their arts they deceive the world. 
 The poor girl goes to peep out, and see I The black cloud 
 seizes her, and mounts up alodft as high as it can. Then the 
 young braves wake up, they seek the maiden. Where is she ? 
 She can nowhere be seen or heard. The tower builder strikes 
 on the floor, the tower vanishes ; they look this way, they look 
 that — not a sign of her. Then they turn their eyes aloft, and behold 
 our friend the fiend carrying the girl up into the clouds, at such 
 a height that he now looked about the size of an onion. They 
 sliout, ' Ho there I you who have a good aim \ Quick, or we 
 shall lose them.' But he answers, ' Let them alone, let them get 
 a bit further.' They rose higher still, till they were scarcely seen 
 at all, and then he shoots his arrow, and it goa^p and strikes the 
 monster right in the breast just where the heart is, and in a 
 moment they see them come tumbling down together. 'I'hen the 
 other one opens his arms, and in a little while afterwards down 
 falls the fiend as well, and is dashed to pieces, and so they, too. 
 were rescued from his clutches. Then they cheer up the maiden 
 and bring her to her father. Now tlien, 1 prithee, tell me, master^ 
 wjio has a right to marry the maiden ?" 
 
 He thought and thouglit and at length he said, "It is riglit 
 that he should take her who carried her such a way." 
 
 At hearing this again the Princess took fire and was in a 
 burning rage. Then she said, "Now that is too bad! lam 
 doomed to lose my life for tliis brat of a foreign woman I (iood 
 sir, didn't 1 tell you not to ])resume to show your face again in 
 my presence to set my heart aflame? Why do you come and 
 drivel away in here, and s])oil other ])eople"s humour, for I'm 
 blessed if you know a lien's tail from its ])eak ! " 
 
 " All right, my ladv, now the whole thing is o\"er." 
 
 And wherever vou went you heard nothing else but. ""'I'lu 
 Princess has s]joken." Pet tlie Prince thank his casket for hi> 
 luck, for it was that whicli made a man of him. 'I'hen the King 
 orders his daughter to wash herself, and comb herself, and put on 
 lier best attire, for at eventide he would ha\-e her married. So 
 the maiden made ready, and in the evening he married lier to the 
 
THE Cr OLDEN CASKE7\ 125 
 
 Prince, and there was laughter and joy and grand carousal. A 
 few days later the Prince asks leave to go and see his father and 
 mother, to comfort them in their grief and anguish. "By all 
 means,"' says hris father-in-law, "and take your wife with you." So 
 the Prince sets off with the Princess, and they come to his father. 
 When the poor unhappy parents saw their son coming whom they 
 had long given up for lost, they were almost crazy with joy. Then 
 the King took off his crown and put it on his son's head, and the 
 mother did the same to the daughter, and henceforward, free 
 from torment and mishap they lived a right merry life ; and may 
 we live a better one still, for neither I nor you were there to know 
 whether it was true. 
 
THE CUNNING OLD MAN. 
 
 (Astvpal.1':a.) 
 
 Onxe on a time there was an old man and an old \woman, and 
 they had no son. 
 
 They were good managers : they had, in fact, vineyards, fields, 
 cattle, and, in short, were well provided with everything. 
 
 When the old man was very aged, and could no longer manage 
 his stock, they made up their minds to sell it, in order to live 
 comfortably in their declining years. So they take and sell every- 
 thing and leave only one j^retty heifer, which the old woman 
 wanted to cheer her, since they had no other company. So the 
 good dame kept the heifer for some time, and fed it, and gave it 
 to drink, as though it were her child. At length, when it had 
 grown big, and she was tired of it, she says to her husband : 
 
 " You had better find a customer for the cow, for I have had 
 enough of it." 
 
 "■ Whom am I to find," says he. " Since you wish to sell it, you 
 had better take it yourself, next Sunday morning, and bring it to 
 the village, where the people are gathered together, and find a 
 market for it." 
 
 The old man's advice was good, so she acted upon it accordingly. 
 Right early on the Sunday morning the good dame takes the cow 
 and drives it to the village. As she was driving it along, the 
 tithe- takers of the place saw her, and agreed among themselves 
 to cheat the old woman, and get the cow at the i)rice of a goat. 
 wSo they get u]) and go to the churcli. The old dame also takes 
 the cow and goes to the church door, and waits till the people 
 come out, that she may sell it. The three tithe-takers, ha\-ing 
 concerted their ]jlans to cheat the old woman, the first of them 
 comes out, and says to her : 
 
THK cryyixG old max. 127 
 
 " Good dame, what say )'ou ? How much do you want for 
 that goat ? " 
 
 "Good sir," quoth she, ''what do you mean, don't you see that 
 this is no goat, but a cow ; or are your eyes so dazed that you 
 cannot see well ? "" 
 
 " My dear good woman," says he, '' pray come to your right 
 senses, and don't talk such nonsense, unless you want people to 
 laugh at you. I'll give you thirty piastres, and you give me the 
 goat." 
 
 '' Kind sir, as you are a Christian, do not tease me thus," she 
 answers. 
 
 But before she had gone further, out comes the second. He 
 also addresses her in the same way : 
 
 '• Well, my good woman, will you let me have that goat ? '' 
 
 The old woman, who was more or less chuckle-headed, took a 
 good long look at the cow, to see whether it really was a goat 
 after all. 
 
 " My good sir," says she, " that's a cow, and you call it a goat." 
 
 " Nonsense," says he, " you're joking," 
 
 " And how much will you give me for it ? " says the old 
 woman. 
 
 '• How much will I give ? " he replied. " \Ye\\, for your sake, I 
 don't mind saying twenty-five piastres. You see it is rather past 
 its prime, old lady.*' 
 
 '' Nay, that will never do," says she, " why my husband would 
 be the death of me ; yonder fellow, who is waiting over there, 
 offered me thirty, and you offer me twenty-five." 
 
 " Well, you are welcome to keep it, good dame," said he, and 
 went and sat down beside the other, and the two waited for their 
 companion. In a short while he, too, came out. But the poor 
 old woman, hearing first one and then another say it was a goat, 
 almost began to believe it must be so. Then the third rogue also 
 began : 
 
 " Good day to you, mother, what are you sitting here for ? Do 
 you want to sell that goat of yours ? " 
 
 Ah, then the old woman believed outright, and simply said : 
 
 '' I do, my son." 
 
 " Well, I'll give you twenty piastres. Can I have it ? " 
 
128 THE CUyNIXG OLD MAN. 
 
 Says the old woman to herself, " If I ask too much, I shan't 
 get anything at all." So at length she says : 
 
 " Why the first one offered me thirty, and you offer me twenty. 
 Come, my good man, do you tak* it for thirty.'' 
 
 And so they get over the old woman, and take her cow at the 
 price of a goat. 
 
 Off goes the old woman to her husband, and gives him the 
 thirty piastres, and says : 
 
 " Eh, husband, only think what a laughing stock Tve made of 
 myselt to-day. Why I was the butt of all the people. As I was 
 going to the village, my cow turned out a goat, and there was 1 
 going and trying to cheat jjeople by selling it for a cow, when ic 
 was a goat all the while."' 
 
 At that hearing, the old man kindled with anger, and said to 
 her : 
 
 " Heart ali\-e, wife, who told you it was a goat ? " 
 
 "So-and-so,"' she replies; "and what's more, they've bought 
 it" 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! " said the old man. " Never mind, wife, Ijut I'll 
 have it out of them yet." 
 
 So the next day our old friend goes and finds another farmer, 
 and buys of him a venerable donkey, some hundred years old, 
 and takes and sticks three gold and three silver coins under his 
 tail, and drives him to the village- — to the very place where the 
 rascals lived. When they see the old man too, they cluster about 
 him like so many flies, thinking they have found another wind- 
 fall, and that here is a fine 0])portunity for cheating the old mm. 
 But the old man was a match for a thousand like them : so wlicn 
 they address him with : '' Well, old man, do you want to sell that 
 donkey?'' he -replies, "Why, my lads, I scarcely know what to 
 say. I never meant to sell that donkey at all, for there's not 
 another like it to be bought for love or monev. But, after all. 
 I've made my fortune out of it. Live and let live, say I.*' 
 
 " But why can't you buy its like ? " 
 
 "Well, it does not look a high-bred animal, I admit. But what 
 can you want more of it, when it keeps dropi)ing ducats ? " 
 
 " What ! you don't .say so, old man. Has it really that 
 advantage ? " 
 
THE CUXNIXG OLD MAX. 129 
 
 '•I should rather think so,"' he repHed, "and, if you don't 
 beUeve me, wait and see." 
 
 And therewith he began to belabour the wretched ass with his 
 stick. The poor beast got so uncomfortable and restless with 
 such a dose of cudgelling that it lifted its tail, and down comes a 
 ducat: and a little while afterwards, down comes a dollar, and so 
 on, till he had dropped all that the old man had put there. At 
 length the rogues cried out : 
 
 " Enough 1 enough I that \till do ! we believe you, old man \ '' 
 and they winked at each other, as much as to say, " Now we have 
 found our fortune."' 
 
 '' Come now, old man," they said, " what do you want for it ? 
 We'll give you five thousand inastres."' 
 
 Then he answered, '" What are you talking of ? Go about your 
 business. Didn"t I say it wasn't for sale ? " And he makes as 
 though he would go on. 
 
 " Don't go away,'' say they; ''we'll give you ten — fifteen thou- 
 sand, come I " 
 
 In the end he palms it off on them for twenty thousand 
 piastres. 
 
 " And what do you give it to eat, old man ? "' they ask 
 him. 
 
 " What do I give it to eat ? "" says he. " I did not feed it extra 
 well. I used to give it a bit of chaff, and a drop of water. Now 
 do you take it, shut it up in the stable, put plenty of food and 
 water before it, and in three days you may go and find the stable 
 well nigh full."" 
 
 vSo he takes his tidy little sum of piastres, and goes back to 
 his old wife. 
 
 Then our fine fellows walk off with the donkey, and shut it up, 
 as the old man told them, in a stable, and instead of giving it 
 chaff they give it barley, so that it may produce the more abund- 
 antly ; set water before it, and leave it. The good donkey 
 fastened on the barley, and ate and ate as much as ever he could, 
 for he was famished with hunger ; he drank water on the top of 
 that, so that the barley swelled, and the donkey burst. When the 
 three days were passed, the tithe-takers met together. And each 
 one of them takes a bag to fill it with the money. They come to the 
 
I30 THE CUyXIXG OLD MAX. 
 
 stable and turn the key in the lock, and jjush ai/ains!: the door ; 
 but it won't open. 
 
 " Eh, my lads I " cry they to one another, '' it seems he has 
 made a sight of money. Why, the door won"t open." How 
 should they know that the donkey was dead on the other side, 
 with his feet stretched out towards the door, and that was why it 
 would not open ? After a long time they break it open, and, 
 instead of finding the money they expected, they find the donkey 
 dead. Then they tore their hair, and cried, "Oh, the rascally old 
 wretch, a fine trick he has played us I " and they ran to find the 
 old man. 
 
 Now the old fellow was well aware that all tliis v/ould follow, 
 and so what do you think he did ? He went and bought two 
 hares as like as like could be, and the next day he said to his 
 wife : 
 
 '' (xood wife ! look you ; mind you cook me such and sucli 
 things for dinner to-day, and when I come with my guests I shall 
 say to you, ' Wife, have you cooked me anything to-day ? " and 
 you must answer, ' Yes, I've cooked what you sent me word by 
 the hare that I was to cook.' " 
 
 ^ Then he takes one of the liares and a pipe, and goes into the 
 village, and sits down in a tavern and begins to smoke his j^ipe. 
 
 It chanced that the tithe-takers passed by and saw him inside. 
 Then they enter and sit down near him, and say to him : 
 
 " Old man, do you know the donkey is dead, and now we don't 
 know what to do ? "" 
 
 The old man, cunning fellow that lie Avas, no sooner heard that 
 the donkey was dead, than he began to wee]) and wail, and cry 
 and groan. " Alas I my donkey, why did I sell you ? You who 
 made a man of me, and one who sports a ])ipc and all I And 
 I never kept you to provide for my old age I " 
 
 At this they were much astonished. " Why, old man ! '" said 
 they, " why do you go on like that? We have lost our very life's 
 blood, and we don't wee]j like you I " 
 
 " And what did you give it to eat ? " he asked them. 
 
 "Well, if you must know, old man, we gave it a bit of barley." 
 
 "Ah, murderers ! " he cried, '\vou have killed m)- jjoor beast I " 
 
 And the long and the short of it is, that he so bamboozled 
 
THE CUyy/XG OLD MAX. 131 
 
 them that they had to console /ii'm. In a while he says to the 
 liare : 
 
 '' Do you think you could go to the house, and tell your 
 mother to cook so. and so for dinner, for I am going to entertain 
 some friends to-day ? "' 
 
 And he let the hare run. Our friend, the hare, no sooner got 
 loose than it took to the^hills, and, for what I know, is running 
 still. Then the tithe-takers were much exercised in mind, and 
 wanted to go to the house, to see if the hare really went to take 
 the message home. The old man guessed what was in their 
 thoughts, and said to them : 
 
 " If you like, you may come to my house to-day, and have a 
 bit of something, and comfort mv old. woman when she hears 
 about the donkey.'* 
 
 '• (jladly, father," they replied, and rose and came to the old 
 man's house. 
 
 As soon as they arrived there, the old man called out : 
 
 '' Have you got anything for dinner to-day, wife ?"' 
 
 " I have cooked what you sent word by the hare I was to cook," 
 she answered. 
 
 And she put on the table the dishes that the old man had told 
 the hare to order. 
 
 They see also the other hare. Then they begin whispering- 
 together about asking the old man to sell them the hare. 
 
 " That's out of the (|uestion : " cried the old man ; " I've been 
 made a fool of once, and sold you the donkey, and you've killed 
 it for me." 
 
 When the old woman heard that the donkey was dead, she 
 wept and beat her breast, as the old man had instructed her to do. 
 
 '' What, and give you my hare too, the only comfort left me '. 
 No, no, husband, it cannot be I '' cried the old woman. 
 
 But they besieged the old man with entreaties. " Oh, give it 
 us, pray give it us 1 You shall have thousands on thousands of 
 piastres for it, if only we may have the chance of recovering our 
 loss.*' When the old woman heard that thev were willin<? to 2;ive 
 her husband ten thousand piastres, she said : 
 
 "Ah well, let them have it, husband, as they want it so much ; 
 and let us think we never had it." 
 
132 THE cryyiXG old ^fAX. 
 
 Then they pay him ten thousand piastres, and take the hare 
 and go. On the way, one of them observed, " I will now send 
 it to my wife, and tell it to order her to cook me such and such 
 dishes, and if you choose, send word by it at the same time to 
 your wives." So the second said, "Let it go to my wife also, and 
 tell her so and so;" and the third said, " Well, it may say so and 
 so to my wife as well." Then they said to the hare, "Well, did 
 you hear what we told you ? "' 
 
 The hare shook its ears, and they supposed it meant to say, 
 " Yes I " and let it go, and it took to the hills, and they cried, 
 " Eh, look at it 1 It's not going straight to the village. It wants 
 to take a turn first ! " 
 
 Never fear but the old man will make you open your eyes I 
 
 Not to make too long a tale of it, the day passed, and in the 
 evening each goes home. 
 
 "Well wife," says the first, "did the hare come and tell you 
 to cook ? " 
 
 When his wife heard him say that, she exclaimed, " Mercy 
 on us, husband, what are you thinking of? Are you mad?" 
 and she crossed herself. " Never a hare, nor a leveret did I see." 
 
 The same thing happened to the other two. 
 
 The first went to the house of the second one. " Well," said 
 he, " did the hare come to your house ? " 
 
 "Nota bit of it," he answered, "and I've been abusing my wife." 
 
 So he went to the third. 'I'he same tale ! 
 
 " Eh, my lads," they say to each other, " it's too late to-night, 
 Ijut early to-morrow morning we will meet and go together to 
 look up the old man." 
 
 Till the next day dawned they had a hard time of it, for not 
 one of them could slee]) for vexation ; and, as soon as the first 
 streak of light appeared, they got up and went to visit the old 
 man. But the evening before the old man had said to his wife, 
 " Good wife, those fellows will be sure to come to-morrow to look 
 after the hare. Now I am going to tie a bladder filled with blood 
 round your neck, and when they come, I shall pretend to be in a 
 passion, and cut the bladder so as to sjjill the blood, and you 
 must tumble down and not stir a limb, but ])retend to be dead ; 
 and when 1 play the tlute to you, you must get up again." 
 
THE CUNNING OLD MAN. 133 
 
 So early in the morning our friends came to the old man's 
 house, and angrily accosted him as follows : 
 
 " The hare you gave us never went home when we sent it, and 
 we have only lost it for our pains." 
 
 " Ah," answered the old man, " my child was vexed with me, 
 I suppose, and took to the hills : and it's all the fault of that old 
 wife of mine ; " and he got up, and. drew his knife, and plunged it 
 into the bladder, and out spurted a (juantity of blood, and the old 
 woman fell flat on the floor, and turned up her toes. 
 
 At this dreadful sight they were dumbfounded. At length 
 they said to the old man : 
 
 " Old man, old man ! have you no fear of (rod before your 
 eyes, to do such a murderous deed ? " 
 
 '• What, does that shock you ? " said he, and he takes his flute, 
 and, at the first note, the old woman gets up again. When they 
 saw her get up, they were astounded indeed, and said to the 
 old man : 
 
 '' Good father, will you let us have that flute ? We'll give you 
 thirty thousand piastres for it." 
 
 " Stuft" and nonsense 1 Do you think I am going to let you 
 have it, when I can kill my wife whenever I like, and raise her to 
 life again with it ? '" 
 
 Says one of them, " Nay, but you must give it to u.s." 
 
 And, to be short, he gives them the flute as well, and 
 they take their departure. As they walked along, they said 
 to one another, "Well, we've bamboozled the old man, and 
 now we'll go, wake the dead with our flute, and become famous 
 men." 
 
 So they come to the village, and the first one takes the flute: 
 and no sooner has he entered his house than he picks a (piarrel 
 with his wife, and then and there whips out his knife, and without 
 a moment's hesitation, he gives a playful stab in the breast and 
 stretches her dead on the floor. Then he takes his flute, and 
 ]jlays and plays, but in vain : so he weeps and beats his brow, 
 because he has killed his wife. Then he thinks to himself, "If I 
 tell them my wife did not come to life again, they will not kill 
 theirs, and they will take me for a madman. Nay, let them ha\e 
 the same experience as myself." So he went and found number 
 
134 THE CUlsSIXG OLD MAX. 
 
 two, and jnit a bright face on it; and the other asks him, "Well, 
 what success had you ? " 
 
 " Good, brother," says he, " no sooner did I play, than she 
 stood bolt upright at once." 
 
 Then the other seizes it, and goes to his wife, and, without any 
 ]jrovocation, finds some fault with her, and takes out his knife, 
 and kills her. Then he plays the flute, but he might as well 
 have piped to the stones, " Alas, what have I done ? " says he to 
 himself, " perhaps I don't know how to play it. How was it the 
 other told me he raised his wife? However, I had better say 
 nothing now, and afterwards I will get one of them to bring my 
 wife to life again." And so he brought it to the other, and he 
 treated his wife in the same way. And then they rush like mad- 
 men, the one to the other, begging one another to restore their 
 wives to life ; and they wept and bewailed the fate that had be- 
 fallen them, that they could not let well alone, but must go and 
 kill their wives. Then they went to the Cadi, and accused the 
 old man of having caused them this trouble. The Cadi summons 
 the old man. 
 
 " Old man," says he, " what is this business you have been 
 doing ? " 
 
 Then the old man replied, " Cadi, even as they cheated my 
 wife, and took from her her cow at the price of a goat, e\en 
 so have I cheated them. They should have kept their eyes well 
 opened I " 
 
 So our clever old man <iol the best of the bargain, and gave our 
 friends, the tithe-takers, a good dressing. And he lived with his 
 old woman a right merry life, and may we live a merrier still. 
 
 '' Set a thief to catch a thief." 
 
THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS. 
 
 (Astypal.i:a.) 
 
 O: 
 
 OxcE on a time there was a shoemaker, who, by following his 
 trade, managed to get rich. He built houses and stores ; he had 
 man-servants and maid-servants, and lived in style. But later on 
 he had three daughters, and they wasted his substance in riotous 
 living, and in a few years devoured all their father's possessions, 
 which he had amassed with the sweat of his brow, until he was 
 forced to go half shod, and, from being a master shoemaker, he 
 became a cobbler who was glad to earn a penny to feed his family 
 withal. One day there came by a Jew and asked him to mend a 
 shoe for him. And when he had mended it, he took out a ducat 
 and gave it him. 
 
 When the poor shoemaker saw the ducat, he said, '' Master, 
 you have made me your debtor ; my work is a penny's worth, and 
 3'ou give me a ducat ! '' 
 
 " My dear fellow," said the other, '' if I choose to give it you, 
 what need you care ? "' 
 
 " May God requite you then," he answered, " it will help me 
 and my children to live." 
 
 " So you have children ? " said the Jew. 
 
 "Ah, well, three girls, that's all." 
 
 " And how do you live ? " 
 
 " WcW, as poor men must — from hand to mouth : a day's work 
 for a day's meal." 
 
 " I am sorry for you, my man," says the other ; '' but come with 
 me, and I will give you a thousand ducats, if you will but leave 
 your home. Only I must make a bargain with you, that when 
 you see me open a paper and read, whatever you behold, you 
 must not speak," 
 
 At hearing taJk of a thousand ducats, the poor man, who, 
 
136 THE SHOEMAKER AXD THE PRINCESS. 
 
 wlicn he saw a groat, thought it was a pound, answered him. ''All 
 right, I'll come.'' 
 
 vSo our friend, the Jew, i)aid him the ducats down, and he takes 
 them, and brings them to his wife, and tells her how a man fell 
 ill with him, and gave him these ducats, but rec^uires him to 
 accompany him from home for a few days, and she is to take care 
 of the house until his return. 
 
 'Hien he takes what he wants from the house, and goes and 
 joins the Jew, and they start on their way. 
 
 They walked along, chaffing and laughing, until they came to a 
 high mountain. 
 
 'inhere the Jew takes out a piece of paper, and begins to read, 
 whereupon our friend, the shoemaker, is silent ; and, all of a 
 sudden, as the other reads, the mountain is cleft asunder and they 
 enter in. They go down till they come to a castle, where the Jew 
 gives a knock, and the door opens, and they behold a maiden 
 inside, fair as a fresh fountain, who straightway addresses th« Jew 
 with the words, "Alas I are you not yet weary of tormenting me ? "" 
 And with that she takes her kerchief oft' arid gives it him. And 
 as the Jew kejjt on reading, she took oft" one garment after another 
 and gave it hini. • 
 
 Now the shoemaker looked on but said nothing, waiting what 
 should ha|)pen ; but, at length, when he saw that the girl was 
 left with nothing on but her shirt, he could contain himself no 
 longer, but said to the Jew : '' Come, 1 say, this is too bad, why 
 you'll strip the girl 1 '' And that moment both Jew and maiden 
 \anished from liis eyes. 
 
 S(j when the cobbler was left alone, he walked about the castle, 
 and beheld ducats and dollars and all sorts of coin, and said to 
 hiir.self, '" Ah, if only it were ])()ssible to find my way out, I might 
 take some home." 
 
 At length he enters a chaml)er, where he fuuls a chandelier of 
 diamond. '' \ih I "' he cries, '' what a line chandelier."" 
 
 And he goes to take hold of it and fnuls that it will unscrew. 
 'I'hen he takes it and unsc:rews it and puts the pieces in his fob,, 
 and looks for a place where he can get out. After a long while 
 he sees a part of the building where the light comes througli a 
 little hole. S(j the poor shoemaker ran eagerl}- forwartl, and as 
 
THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS. 137 
 
 he drew nearer and nearer (it was his last hope, poor fellow 1) he 
 said, " Either I shall die here, or the lucky star of my children 
 will help me out." 
 
 So he made his way into the shaft and, little by little, he came 
 out at the foot of the mountain and said, " Glory be to God that 
 I am safe out of that hell ! " And he ran home as fast as he 
 could. When his wife saw him she said : 
 
 " Welcome back, husband I how have you fared ? " 
 
 " 111 and chill I good wife,"' he answered. " How I'm alive I 
 know not, but either I had more years yet to live, or my daughters' 
 good luck preserved me I " 
 
 Then he takes out the chandelier and screws it together and 
 hangs it up in the middle of his i)arlour. And in the evening, 
 when they sat down to supper, he says, " Well, my dear wife, let 
 us light up the chandelier, and make merry and rejoice. For I 
 was as good as lost, but God is gracious." 
 
 And when they had lit the chandelier, forty maidens, fair as 
 the fresh fountains, appear, loaded with treasure, and each one 
 with a musical instrument in her hand, and say to him : 
 
 " Take this, our mistress sends it for the favour you have 
 shown her ! " 
 
 And after supper, they begin to play, and to dance, that it was 
 a sight to see I That evening the vizier happened to be passing 
 in the street below, and he heard the dancing and the music, and 
 ran up-stairs to look ; and he sees the chandelier and forty damsels, 
 each one playing on an instrument and dancing like mad. 
 
 The next day he runs straight to the King, for he was jealous 
 of the shoemaker's joy, and says to him : 
 
 " Oh, King, I used to think that no one was so well off as you ; 
 but last night I went to the house of a shoemaker, and there are 
 such good things as you have not got." 
 
 " And what then did you see there ? " 
 
 "Why," said he, "there is a chandelier of diamond and forty 
 maidens, fair as the fresh fountains, singing and dancing in a way 
 which it's one thing to tell of and c^uite another thing to see I " 
 
 " Vizier, is it the truth you are telling me ? " 
 
 " Indeed, your majesty, it is : and if it please you, come with 
 me this evening and see for yourself." 
 
 K 
 
138 THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRIX CESS. 
 
 Well, on hearing such a tale, the King dons his mufti when 
 evening came, and goes with the vizier to the shoemaker's before 
 the chandelier was lighted. And the King was astonished at its 
 beauty. After a while the shoemaker proceeds to light it, and 
 that moment the forty maidens appear, each one with a bag 
 of money in her hand, and give it to him and say, "Take this 
 wath our lady's thanks for the favour you have shown her." 
 
 And then they begin to dance and sing, so that the King was 
 
 beside himself with w^onder, and sat and sat until the damsels had 
 
 gone away : and then he goes to the palace and straightway sends 
 
 w'ord to the cobbler to send him the diamond chandelier. What 
 
 could the poor man do ? 
 
 '' When kings proclaim the law- 
 No dog may stir a paw ! " 
 
 So he takes it and brings it to the King. And straightway they 
 seize the shoemaker and put him in prison. This then was the 
 favour shown him ! With his wealth he found misfortune I 
 
 In the evening, then, our friend the King and his vizier lighted 
 up the chandelier, and eagerly awaited the arrival of the maidens, 
 but instead of any maidens coming there came forty negroes with 
 their cudgels and begin to belabour the King and the vizier with, 
 "Here's for you 1 " and "There's for you!" till they felt the 
 vengeance of heaven on their heads : and they tell them that 
 they must without fail set free the shoemaker and give him his 
 chandelier, or they would be the death of them : and then they 
 went away. Next -day the vizier proposed to the King, not to 
 give up the chandelier, but only to get the shoemaker himself to 
 light it for them that evening. Accordingly when night fell they 
 fetch the shoemaker to the palace and tell him to light the 
 chandelier. But no sooner did he light it, than, lo, and behold ! 
 there came forty negroes, angrier than ever, and began to belabour 
 King and vizier again, till they were at their wits' end ; and cried, 
 " You dogs I what did we tell you ? " 
 
 " Let us alone ! " answered the vizier and the King : " and 
 to-morrow we will let him have it." 
 
 So the negroes went away again ; but when next day came 
 they still did not give it up, but decided he must fetch his wife 
 a.s well, that she ma)- light it with her own hand. As they 
 
THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS. 139 
 
 decided so they did. They summon the woman, and tell her to 
 light it. But that evening things went worse than ever. No 
 sooner does she light it, than behold the forty negroes, ready to 
 kill them outright and crying, " Nay, but you are past all bearing I 
 The first day you tell us, ' We'll give it him ! ' and the next day 
 you tell us, ' We'll give it him ! ' It seems you have not yet 
 enough taste of the cudgel." 
 
 And they set to work at once on the vizier and the King, until 
 no one could have seen them without compassion. They 
 drubbed them to that degree that they were in bed for a month. 
 Tht;n they take the chandelier out and bring it to the shoemaker's 
 house. And next night he lights it again, and the forty maidens 
 come. But when the vizier and the King were well of their 
 wounds, the vizier goes again one evening to the shoemaker's to 
 see if the maidens still visit him, and he comes and finds them 
 dancing. Then he runs to the King, and says to him, "This 
 will never do, that a shoemaker should have such enjoyment, 
 and your Majesty should be without it. But as he has daughters, 
 let your son take the eldest, and tell him he must give the 
 chandelier for her dowry." 
 
 "Well said, vizier," replies the King; and forthwith they send, 
 and call for the shoemaker, and tell him so. 
 
 " As your Majesty commands," answers the shoemaker, " not 
 only the chandelier but more besides." 
 
 So they decide that the wedding shall take place at once, and 
 they send and fetch the bride and the chandelier, and bring 
 them to the palace, and in the evening, when they proceed to 
 light the chandelier, the forty maidens come, and say to the 
 shoemaker, " Our lady bids us tell you not to marry your 
 daughter until she comes herself. Otherwise she will take away 
 both the chandelier, and all she has given you besides." 
 
 " Very good ! " says the King. " Let us not marry her to 
 night, but wait till she comes herself" 
 
 And the next evening, when] they lit the chandelier, they heard 
 from afar shouts and songs, and knew they were bringing their 
 lady. So she came into the palace, and they all gave her glad 
 welcome ; and then they kept the wedding, and there were 
 rejoicings and revels; and then the maiden told her story; how 
 
 K 2 
 
I40 THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS. 
 
 that she was a King's daughter, and the Jew had wooed her, and 
 she refused, and on that account the Jew had enchanted her, 
 and buried her in the mountain : and that when her father 
 learned that she was in the mountain, he went and dug there 
 and built the castle ; and the Jew used to go and torment her 
 every hour, and tried to compass her destruction, for which end, 
 she said, it was necessary that the Jew should have another man 
 with him, and if he held his peace until the maiden was stripped, 
 then she would be destroyed, and the third person as well : but 
 if on the other hand he spoke then only the Jew would be 
 destroyed : and this was why he took the shoemaker on the 
 understanding that he was not to speak; but he did speak, and 
 the Jew was delivered over to the vengeance of heaven. And 
 she went on to say that she would take up her abode with the 
 shoemaker's daughter. And he soon married his other two 
 daughters and they lived right happily, and we here happier still. 
 
THE TALE OF THE DRAGON. 
 
 (Tenos.) 
 
 Once on a time there was a man who, as he was walking along, 
 found a pea, and said to himself, " I will plant this pea and when 
 the pea-stalk grows up it will bear many peas, and so I shall be 
 able one day to lade ships with them, perhaps even the twelve 
 ships of the King. With that thought in his head he got up and 
 went to find the King and have an audience with him. So he 
 presented himself before him and asked him for his twelve ships, 
 that he might lade them — with his one pea ! which he had in his 
 shoe. When the King heard the words of this young hero, he 
 said to him, " If it please you I have a daughter whom I think 
 worthy of you." But I forgot to tell you that this man, as he was 
 going to see the King, met with a dragon, who said to him, 
 "Whither away ? " "To seek my fortune," he replied. "Your 
 fortune is made if you prove able to answer me ten questions," 
 answered the dragon, " but otherwise you are lost. And if on the 
 other hand you do answer the ten questions, you will be presented 
 with that palace that you see there, as it is, with all its belongings, 
 gardens and estates, and I shall burst asunder as soon as you 
 answer me all my questions." 
 
 Let us leave the dragon, then, who had made this bargain with 
 Penteclemas (for so the young man was called), and let us come 
 to speak of the King who desires him for a son-in-law. 
 
 Now poor Penteclemas thought if he were to say " No ! " the 
 King would not believe his word and would not let him have the 
 ships. So he thought he had better say " Yes ! " and see how 
 things turned out. When he had given his consent, the King, in 
 order to assure himself whether he was rich or poor, gave orders 
 to a servant to put ragged sheets and a torn coverlid on his bed, 
 for Penteclemas to pass the night on. And when night fell he said 
 to him, " Go to your chamber, for it is time to sleep." The King 
 
142 THE TALE OF THE DRAGON. 
 
 told the servant to watch all night long to see whether he went to 
 sleep or not, " For," said he, " if he sleep, it is a sign he is poor ; 
 but if he do not sleep it shows he has been accustomed to new 
 bed-clothes and cannot sleep on rags." In the morning the 
 servant tells him that Penteclemas was restless all the night and 
 never closed his eyes. Then the King orders him on the follow- 
 ing night to lay the bed properly and with due regard to comfort. 
 And not to make a long tale of it, in the good bed our young 
 hero sleeps as sound as sound could be, because he had no fear 
 of losing his pea in this bed. So the King was satisfied that he 
 was a youth of good birth, and married him to his daughter. 
 
 But the reason why he had not slept the first night was not 
 because of the ragged bed-clothes, but only because he was afraid 
 of losing the pea and not being able to find it. 
 
 After a time he began to think of what he should say to the dragon, 
 since the timewas drawingnear — forty days' grace havingbeen fixed. 
 
 When the wedding had taken place about three days, our 
 young hero wished to leave home, and the Princess desired to 
 accompany him. Accordingly a considerable retinue followed in 
 her train, and her husband, Penteclemas, went to the dragon's 
 castle in order to learn his fate, and see what would befall him. 
 He went on in front, and a short distance behind followed his 
 wife with her train of attendants. Penteclemas said to them, "If 
 the Princess asks whose are these estates, mind you tell her they 
 belong to Penteclemas. This can do you no harm. " And as 
 luck would have it the Princess actually did ask once or twice 
 about the estates, and when she heard they belonged to her 
 husband she was very much pleased. But the unfortunate 
 Penteclemas kept thinking over the words of the dragon, and 
 what sort of cjuestions he would ask him ; for the time allowed 
 was drawing to an end. 
 
 When they arrived at the dragon's castle, he and his wife went 
 up the steps, and the rest of the company took their leave. 
 Penteclemas was very thoughtful. His wife said to him, " A\'hat 
 .ails you? " " Nothing," said he, for what should he answer her, 
 and how was he to tell her what was going to happen, when the 
 time for the dragon's approach drew near ? At last an old woman 
 from the neighbourhood saw the wife of Penteclemas sorrowful. 
 
THE TALE OF THE DRAGON. 143 
 
 " What ails you ? " she asked. She answered, " Seeing my 
 husband sad and thoughtful, I am sad as well." 
 
 Then the old woman goes to Penteclemas and puts the same 
 question to him. What had he to hope from the old woman ? 
 So he hid his thoughts from her, till at last she got impatient, and 
 then he told her. The old woman consoled him, saying, that 
 when the dragon came she would answer the questions he put, 
 and that he was never to mind the dragon at all, but only to 
 comfort the Princess who was so sorrowful. 
 
 When the dragon came he called out, " Are you there ? " 
 " Glad to see you I " shouts the old woman, pretending to be 
 Penteclemas . Then they close the doors and the dragon and 
 the old woman are shut up together in the castle. 
 
 The dragon cries, " What does one stand for ? " 
 
 " One stands for God ! " cries the old woman 
 
 Dragon : " What does two stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : " Even-handed justice I " 
 
 Dragon : " What does three stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : " The three legs of the trivet that they put the 
 pot on." 
 
 Dragon : " What does four stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : " The four teats of the cow." 
 
 Dragon : " What does five stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : " The five fingers of our hands." 
 
 Dragon : " What does six stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : " The six stars in the constellation Pleiades." 
 
 Dragon : "What does seven stand for?" 
 
 Old Woman : " A dance of seven damsels." 
 
 Dragon : " What does eight stand for ? " 
 
 Old Woman : "The eight tentacles of the eight-footed octopus." 
 
 Dragon : " What does nine stnnd for? " 
 
 Old Woman : " Nine months your mother bare you." 
 
 Dragon : " What does ten stand for? " 
 
 Old Woman : " Why that's your own number. Burst, dragon, 
 burst ! " 
 
 So the dragon burst, and Penteclemas inherited the castle and 
 all its belongings, and lived happily with the Princess, and they 
 loaded the old woman with money. 
 
LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW'S SON. 
 
 ♦ (Upper Syra.) 
 
 O.vcE on a time there was a King who had a hunter in his employ. 
 He gave him his rations, his butter, and his oil, but all the game 
 he killed he had to bring to the King. One day, when he was 
 going to bring his game to the King, he had to pass by the vizier's. 
 The vizer wanted to get them from him, but he at once refused, 
 in accordance with the charge entrusted to him. The vizier was 
 very angry with him, and sought to compass his destruction in 
 every possible way. But the huntsman was very shrewd, and he 
 could find no occasion against him. 
 
 At length the time came when he grew old, and his end was 
 approaching. Then he called his wife to him and said, " Wife, I 
 am dying. Do you look after my boy and continue to keep him at 
 school, and if he asks you at any time what was his father's trade- 
 mind you do not tell him. For out of spite against me the vizier 
 might find some occasion to destroy him." And when he had 
 said these words to her he died. 
 
 Now the lad, as long as his father was alive, used to go 
 properly dressed to the school. But after his death, on the King 
 stopping the salary, he would go shoeless and ragged. 
 
 So he used to hear the neighbours say, " If that boy's father 
 were alive, do you think he would go badly dressed ? " 
 
 Next day, therefore, he asked his mother what trade his father 
 was. But she, remembering her father's charge, told him, in order 
 to ])ut him off, that his father was a tailor, ^^'hen he went again to 
 school he heard the same things said ; and then he asked of his 
 mother what trade his father had followed. 
 
 She devised a thou.sand tricks to .satisfy him, but when she 
 could not do so, at length she said, " Your father's profession was 
 
LiTTLK JOHX, THE nilxnVS SON. I45 
 
 the chase, and the King found us food and })ay, and we were 
 well off." 
 
 The boy went all that week to school, and on Sunday said to 
 his mother that she should give him his father's bow and arrows, 
 that he might go out for a walk. So he went away early in the 
 morning and set off to hunt. It was his luck to kill a number of 
 birds. He took them and brought them along to the King. He 
 then continued to go daily. Hunting suited him, and he killed a 
 (juantity of game, and always brought it straight to the King. 
 
 Then the Kingask.s, " What man is this that brings the game ? " 
 
 They tell him it is Little John, the widow's boy, the son of his 
 former huntsman. 
 
 Then the King called him and said, " Are you the son of the 
 huntsman I used to have ? " 
 
 He said, " I am,'' 
 
 Says the King, •' I will take you in your father's place." 
 
 And for every five pounds weight his father had brought him 
 he caught him twice as much. 
 
 So the lad used to come and go daily. But one day, as he 
 passed by the vizier's, to go to the King, the vizier saw him, and the 
 birds took his fancy, and he asked them of him. But the lad, 
 whose charge was even stricter than his father had received, 
 would not give them him but brought them to the King. The 
 vizier therefore conceived a great .spite against him, and strove 
 by every means in his power to find occasion against him to 
 destroy him. 
 
 One day the King sends word to him as follows : " This week 
 you must go into the country and remain out, not returning to town 
 until the Saturday ; and all the game you kill you must keep and 
 bring to me, for on the Sunday I shall give a bancjuet to my 
 minister. s." 
 
 So the boy went away on the Monday and sought the open 
 country. The whole of that day he ranged the fields up and 
 down and could find nothing. To be short, he kept searching 
 for game until the Saturday, and not only could he not find a 
 bird, but not even so much as a feather. 
 
 On the Saturday, then, when it was now about noon, he 
 despaired, and said, " Oh God, what misfortune is mine ! and 
 
146 LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW'S SON. 
 
 with what face shall I approach the King? Better that some 
 wild beast should come and eat me than that I should go empty- 
 handed to the King." 
 
 While he was thus speaking, on a sudden there appeared a wild 
 beast, like none other in the world. Its skin was all covered 
 with priceless jewels. When the lad saw it, he was seized with 
 great terror, and began to ply his arrows. For more than two 
 hours he fought with the beast, until he slew it ; and when at last 
 he had killed it he went close to it, and the skin of the monster 
 gleamed with the diamonds and precious stones which it had on it. 
 He takes it and skins it, and carries away the hide. And as he had 
 no birds, he makes off to the town with it and brings it to the King. 
 As he passed by the vizier's he at once demanded it of him. But 
 the lad refused to give it to him, though he offered him fifty 
 thousand piastres for it. But the lad was indignant, and went off 
 and brought it to the King. When the King beheld it— such a 
 sight as was never seen in the world before- — -he ordered the vizier 
 to pay him ten thousand piastres reward. But the vizier only 
 gave him one hundred. 
 
 The King then called his court together to ^how it to them. 
 On seeing it every one said that no kingdom under heaven had 
 such a thing to show. 
 
 But the vizier only said, "That hide is very handsome; but if 
 you had the bones of elephants to build a church with, all the 
 kings of the earth would come to admire it, and to see the hide 
 as well." 
 
 Says the King, " But how can we kill the elephants, when we 
 need a hundred thousand soldiers to keep watch against them lest 
 they come and devour us men ? " 
 
 The vizier answers, " Little John here was able to kill a monster 
 like that, and he will be able to bring us the elephants' bones." 
 
 Then the King calls him and tells him the matter. 
 
 Little John replies, " I will go home, and in a while I will give 
 you my answer." 
 
 So Little John goes home sorrowful. His mother observes him 
 and says, "Come, let us eat." 
 
 Says he, " I have no appetite." 
 
 Says she, " What is the matter with you ? " 
 
LITTLE JOHX, THE WIDOWS SOX. 147 
 
 He was unwilling to tell her, but she urged him so much, that 
 he sits down and relates it all to her. 
 
 She said, " Never fear, sit down to your supper and I will tell 
 what I have heard from your sire." 
 
 They sat down and ate, and when the meal was finished, his 
 mother says to him : 
 
 " Tell the King that he must give you a thousand men with 
 axes, and another thousand with buckets, and a thousand horses 
 loaded with wine, and another thousand loaded with gunpowder; 
 the expenses to be borne by the vizier." This he tells to the 
 King, and the King ordered the vizier, in three days' time, to 
 have the things ready at his own cost. The vizier said to himself, 
 " Let him go, if it's only that he may perish, and I will pay for it." 
 
 Then Little John went away to his mother, and asked her how 
 he was to slay the elephants. Says she, " My son, in the place 
 where you are going there are a hundred elephants, and every 
 midday, when they are thirsty, they come down into the plain 
 where the lake is, and drink water. You must go by night and 
 set the thousand men with buckets to empty the lake, and pour in 
 the wine and the gunpowder, stir it up well, and then bide your 
 time, and at midday they will come, thirsty with the heat, and will 
 rush into the lake to drink ; they will get drunk and dizzy, and 
 then fall asleep ; and then the men must be ready with their axes 
 to go in among them, and hew them to pieces, and take their 
 bones, and load their horses with them, that you may bring them 
 to the King." 
 
 Little John did as she told him, and when the King saw the 
 bones, he ordered the vizier to pay him fifteen thousand piastres. 
 But the vizier only paid him fifty. Then the King began to build 
 the church, and when he had finished it, he called the ministers, 
 the vizier and the courtiers to see it. Well, there was a church 
 such as was not to be found in any other kingdom. But the 
 vizier said to him : 
 
 " As for the church, men will come from all parts to see it ; but 
 let me tell you in such and such a place there is a dragon's 
 daughter, who has forty brothers that guard her, for besides her 
 beauty, she has the virtue that whoever shall kiss her becomes 
 of the age of twenty-two, and many kings have wished to get her ; 
 
148 LITTLE JOHX THE WIDOW'S SOX. 
 
 Russia alone has lost over five hundred thousand soldiers on her 
 account." 
 
 Says the King, " How is it possible that we should win her, 
 when Russia was unable to do so ? "' 
 
 " I wonder, your majesty, to hear you speak thus when you see 
 Little John, the widow's son, who went and got the elephants' 
 bones. Surely he is able to fetch the dragon's daughter, too." 
 
 The King, who was very old, and remembered the pleasure he 
 had in his youth, straightway summons Little John, and com- 
 mands him to go and fetch her. 
 
 Little John went away to his mother full of sadness. His 
 mother said to him : 
 
 " Why, my lad, what ails you ? won't you tell me ? " 
 
 " What shall I tell you, mother dear ? The King desires so- 
 and-so.'' 
 
 "Never mind," says she, I will instruct you what to do, for you 
 must know, these are tricks of the vizier. But go and tell the 
 King as follows : ' By force, we shall never get her, but let your 
 majesty give me a good steed, and I will go and try my best to 
 fetch her.' " 
 
 The King gave him leave to go into the stable, and choose 
 whichever pleased him best. Accordingly, he goes and equips 
 himself, and his mother says to him : 
 
 " My son, it is no use your coming back here again, for the 
 vizier will spoil everything for you, but take all the money we have 
 and go and settle in another country." 
 
 The lad kissed his mother's hand, received her blessing, and 
 departed. Then he walked along the high road five or six days' 
 journey. As he went, he came to a river which was very broad, 
 so that he could not cross it. There was a negro stooping down 
 with one of his lips on one side of the river, and the other at the 
 other- — ^a very devil of a mouth. He touches him with his foot 
 and says to him, " What are you doing here ? " 
 
 " Oh, I sit here till somebody comes by, and then I suck the 
 river dry, and let him cross." 
 
 " Well, then, suck away," says he. 
 
 In a moment he sucked it up, and Little John crossed to the 
 other side, and said to the negro : 
 
LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW'S SON. 149 
 
 " Well done, my brave, to suck up such a river as that I " 
 
 The negro answers him, " No brave am I, only Little John, the 
 widow's son deserves that name." 
 
 Says he, " I am Little John, the widow's son." 
 
 Says the other, " Welcome, master, have you any need of my 
 company ? " 
 
 When Little John saw what a man he was, he said, " Come 
 along. " 
 
 So the two got up, and went on their way together. As they 
 were going along, they saw a man who was carrying two hills in 
 his hands, and playing with them. They weren't so very large : 
 one was about the size of Pyrgos, and the other of Kappare [the 
 two highest mountains in Syra]. He says to him, " Holloa, what 
 are you doing there ? " 
 
 He answered, " My fingers are numb, and I want to unstiffen 
 them." 
 
 Said the other, " Well done, my brave fellow, to carry mountains 
 like that in order to relieve your fingers ! " 
 
 He replied in the same terms as the negro had, and Little John 
 took him along with him, and they went further. Some way on 
 they met another man, who had uprooted some hundred trees or 
 so, and was binding them in bundles. 
 
 Said Little John, " What are you doing there ? " 
 
 He replied, " I am making a little load of wood to carry to my 
 mother, for her to cook the dinner with." 
 
 Says he, " Well done, my brave fellow, to make a mountain of 
 wood serve as a single load." 
 
 He replies like the rest, and now there were four of them. 
 
 As they went on, they met another, a little man, who kept 
 running hither and thither, and they no sooner saw him than they 
 lost him from view, and then caught sight of him again, coming 
 towards them. When he came to a standstill. Little John asked 
 " What are you doing ? " 
 
 " Oh," he answered, " one moment L'm in Stamboul, the next 
 in Europe ; wherever I want, I go in a trice." 
 
 Says he, " Well done, my brave fellow." 
 
 " No brave am I," replies the other, " that is the name of Little 
 John, the widow's son." 
 
I50 LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW'S SON. 
 
 " Why, I am Little John, the widow's son," says he. 
 
 " Welcome, master," was the answer. " Do you want me to 
 come with you ? " 
 
 " Come along ! " said he. So they all went on together, till 
 they meet with one who was lying on the ground, with his ear 
 against the earth. Little John asks him, "Pray, what are you 
 doing there ? " 
 
 He motions him to be quiet. 
 
 Then he pushes him with his foot, and says, " What are you 
 after ? " 
 
 " I'm listening," he answers, " to hear what is taking place in 
 the under- world." 
 
 The same conversation then took place as before, and he tells 
 him to come along with them. They then journeyed on for a 
 month — two months — three months, and saw nothing but sky and 
 earth. At length, one day, they see something white, like a 
 pigeon. So they went on, and the nearer they came, the larger 
 it got. When they came up to it, they saw a castle, and, outside 
 it, a fountain ; and they sat down. In a little while, the earth 
 and the hills began to rumble, and they see forty dragons coming 
 towards them. When the dragons saw the men, they said, 
 "Here's luck for us. What do you want here ? " 
 
 Says Little John, "We have come to fetch the dragon's 
 daughter." 
 
 They answer, " If you are able to win three wagers which we 
 shall lay you, then you may take the dragon's daughter ; but, if 
 not, and you but lose one, then we shall eat you up." 
 
 " What is the first ? " 
 
 The dragons had a cauldron about half as large as our Market- 
 place, and it had forty handles round it : and in it they were boiling 
 forty oxen. So the dragons said, " If you are able to take that 
 cauldron down from the trivet, and eat the food that it contains, 
 you will win the first wager." 
 
 Then says Little John, " You that sucked up the river, are you 
 able to eat all that food ? " 
 
 Says he, " Of course I am ! " 
 
 So our friend the negro takes a step forward and puts one 
 finger into one ring, and another into the opposite one — for his 
 
LITTLE JOHS, THE WIDOW'S SON. 151 
 
 jDalms were not large enough to grasp the cauldron — raises it up 
 aloft, and holds it in mid-air, and says to Little John : 
 
 " Am I to swallow cauldron and all, or only the meat ? " 
 
 " Only the meat." 
 
 Then he opens his lips, and turns up the cauldron to his mouth, 
 and empties it completely out. 
 
 Then said the eldest dragon, " Well ! you've won the first 
 wager." 
 
 Says little John, " What is the next ? " 
 
 The tower had a brazen gate, and unless the whole forty 
 dragons went in at it, they could not open it. 
 
 " To open the gate, is the second wager," said the dragons. 
 
 Then said Little John, " Ho 1 you who were carrying moun- 
 tains to unstiffen your fingers, are you able to open that gate ? " 
 
 "Yes, master." But he rather thought he might not open it, 
 so he took a run at it. He gave it a push, and in it goes, hinges 
 and all ! 
 
 Then Little John asks once more, " What's the last wager ? " 
 
 Now the dragon's daughter had two accomplishments. She 
 could turn into a dove and fly in the air ; and she could also 
 become a garden of flowers, and lemon trees, and all sweet- 
 smelling shrubs. Accordingly the dragons tell them : 
 
 '' In such and such a place there is a spring. You must take 
 each a cup, and the one who gets there first has won the wager." 
 
 " But," says Little John, " who will be there to see ? " 
 
 They answer, "Whoever gets there first, the water that he 
 fetches will be clear ; afterwards it will be troubled, and turn 
 muddy." 
 
 Then says Little John to the one who could be wherever he 
 chose iu a trice, " Are you equal to this task ? " 
 
 " Of course I am," says he. 
 
 So they place the cup in his hands, and at once the dragon's 
 daughter turns into a dove, and she and the dwarf start off, and 
 are soon out of sight. When they had vanished, Little John 
 ordered him who put his ear to the ground in order to listen what 
 they were saying in the under world — to find out who was in 
 front. So he put down his ear to the ground, and said : 
 
 " The dragon's daughter has turned into a garden, and the 
 
152 LITTLE J OHS, THE WIDOW'S SOX. 
 
 dwarf has gone to sleep. Now the dragon's daughter is off 
 again ! " 
 
 Then Little John shouted, " Ho ! you who were uprooting the 
 cypress trees, blow a blast to make a noise, and see whether he 
 won't wake up." With that he tore up the cypress trees, and the 
 dwarf woke up, and set off running, and i)assed the dragon's 
 daughter, and reached the spring and filled his cup, before the 
 dragon's daughter and returns; so that the three wagers were 
 won 1 
 
 Then they took the dragon's daughter and went off with her. 
 When they had gone an hour's journey, the dragons say : 
 
 " Is it not a disgrace to us, forty brothers as we are, that seven 
 fellows should carry off our sister ? " 
 
 " Let's go and fetch her back ! "' So they started in pursuit to 
 devour them, and regain the dragon's daughter. Little John 
 hearing the uproar, turned round and saw the dragons running 
 after them. At his bidding, the one who tore up trees to make 
 bundles of them, blew down a few cypress trees, and they con- 
 tinued their march. When they came to the place where he had 
 been crouching who held his ear to the ground, he desired to 
 remain behind ; they leave him, and so on ; as they came to the 
 place where each had joined them they dismissed him, until only 
 Little John and the dragon's daughter were left. He begins to 
 tell her the story of his life. When he had done, the dragon's 
 daughter says to him, " Never fear 1 I will frustrate the designs 
 of your friend, the vizier." 
 
 When they arrived at the city, the King sent his musicians to 
 escort the dragon's daughter into town, and they brought her 
 before the King. Then she said to him : 
 
 " I am yours ; but I wish you to make a banquet, and to invite 
 your council, the vizier, the ministers and courtiers, for I have a 
 speech to make to them." 
 
 So the King summoned them all, and the dragon's daughter 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 " Suppose a man had a trusty servant, and when he orders his 
 clerk to give him a hundred ])iastres, he only gave him ten, what 
 would the clerk deserve ? " 
 
 Then they all declared and subscribed the sentence, that he 
 
LITTLE JOHN, THE WIDOW'S SON. 153 
 
 should be tied to four horses, and the horses should be set run- 
 ning and tear him in pieces. Then the dragon's daughter said 
 further, " This is the punishment due to the vizier, for thus and 
 thus has he behaved to Little John." So they fasten the 
 precious vizier to four horses, whip the horses, and he is rent into 
 four quarters. 
 
 Then the King kissed the dragon's daughter, and made our 
 friend Little John his vizier ; and then they kept 
 
 " Wedding feast with dance and song, 
 And carousals loud and long." 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 (ASTYPALiEA.) 
 
 :o:- 
 
 Once on a time there was a King and a Queen, and they had 
 three sons and one daughter. 
 
 One evening the King says to his sons : 
 
 " My lads, this evening when you go to sleep, whatever dream 
 each of you have, you must come to-morrow morning and tell it 
 me." 
 
 " Good, father," the boys answer, and each goes to his bed. 
 They fall asleep, and all three dream. Early in the morning the 
 King awakes, and waits to hear the dreams of his sons, for by 
 that means he desired to find out the fate of each. 
 
 First of all then, the eldest son comes and says to him, " Good 
 morning, father." 
 
 " The same to you, my son," he answers. 
 
 "Well, how did you pass the night? Did you have a dream?" 
 
 " I did indeed, father," he answered. 
 
 " Well, and what was it ike ? " 
 
 " I thought," said he, " that I held in my hands cities, lands, 
 manservants and maidservants, and the like." 
 
 " Well done, my son," he answers, and at once divided to him 
 his portion. 
 
 He goes away and the second comes. He too wishes his father 
 good day. "The same to you, my son," replies his father. 
 
 And what do you think ? He too had seen the same dream as 
 his brother, and the same hour he divided to him his portion. 
 
 Let us now come to the youngest of all. He had dreamt that 
 his father was carrying a pitcher and a towel, and poured him out 
 water to wash with. Now the lad, who had his wits about him, 
 considered with himself and said, " Well, seeing my father pouring 
 out water for me to wash with is as much as saying that I shall 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 155 
 
 be better than my father, and if he hears that perhaps he will slay 
 me ; and again, if 1 say that I had no dream at all, he will regard 
 me as born to bad luck, and it will be worse for me." So he 
 did not know what to do. He thought and thought, and after a 
 long time he said to himself, " I'll say I saw nothing, let come 
 what will ! " And he arose and came to his father. 
 
 "Good morning, father," says he. 
 
 " The same to you, my son. Did you dream aught last night ? " 
 
 " Nothing, father." 
 
 " Fie, for shame ! " 
 
 "Well, what can I tell you when I saw nothing? " 
 
 Then the King's countenance was changed, and he said to 
 himself, " Ah ! that bodes no good ; he is an illstarred youth 
 and I may come to bad luck some day on his account. But it is 
 better to get rid of him, for an unlucky man may do what he likes, 
 he will never get on." 
 
 And forthwith he calls his executioner and tells him to take the 
 lad into the pleasure-grounds for a walk (and this he said that 
 the lad might not suspect anything, but he reckoned without his 
 host). And afterwards he said in secret to the executioner, that 
 he should take him into a desert place and kill him, and bring 
 him as a token his shirt and his little finger. 
 
 Now the lad understood all this, but what could he do ? 
 
 So the executioner takes him and instead of leading him into 
 the pleasure grounds for a walk he takes him into the woods. 
 
 But you see the executioner had not the heart to kill such an 
 angel of a youth, whom his father was sending to an unmerited 
 death ; and his distress was so great that his eyes ran rivers of 
 tears. When the Prince saw that, he said, " What ails you that 
 you weep, my friend ? " 
 
 The other, unable to divulge so sad a secret, replied, " I 
 remembered past misfortune, and it made me weep." Then he 
 answered him, " Listen, my friend. Let me tell you I know very 
 well that my father told you to kill me, and wherefore should you 
 hide it from me ? If you don't tell, me now, you will have to tell 
 me some time. My father had no pity on me, and yet you pity 
 me?" 
 
 "Ah, Prince," he answers, "I cannot do such a thing, let 
 
 L 2 
 
156 THE SCAB-PATK. 
 
 your father do with me what he Ukes. But the worst of it is 
 that he required tokens at my hands, namely, your bloodstained 
 shirt and your little finger." 
 
 " Slay me not," answered the other, " and as for the tokens that 
 is an easy matter, and I will swear by heaven and earth to you 
 that I will not come down into the town." And he at once 
 stripped off his shirt and gave it to the executioner, then he 
 turned his face away and said to him, " Come, my friend, cut 
 off my finger ! " So he cuts his finger off and they dip the shirt 
 in the blood, and then the Prince says to him, " Take these 
 things and bring them to my father, and leave me that the wild 
 beasts may devour me, or I perish with hunger." 
 
 So they take leave of one another and each one goes his way, 
 the executioner to the King and the young man to the forest. 
 When the King saw the tokens he supposed without doubt that 
 the executioner had slain his son, and he had no further concern. 
 Kut God has vengeance even for the slain ! As for him he was 
 scouring the hills and dales and living only on herbs, so that, he 
 became weak and wan, and bis garments were tattered, and he 
 went he knew not whither. In six months' time he espied one 
 day a castle. Then said he to himself, " I may as well perish one 
 way as another, for as it is, either I shall die of hunger or the 
 beasts will eat me." So he arose and came to the castle. He 
 entered it, and looked this way and that, but neither man nor 
 anything else met his eye ; except only one or two pails and pots. 
 Says he, " Well, I'll stop here and see what happens. To suppose 
 that nobody lives here — dragons if not men — -is out of the 
 question." So he remained where he was, and close upon mid- 
 day he beholds a dragon, driving from pasture a thousand sheep, 
 which he was bringing towards the castle. At the sight of 
 such a monster the Prince's blood congealed in his veins, but 
 whither should he flee for safety ? Moreover, as the monster 
 came nearer to the castle the Prince's heart regained a little of 
 its courage, for he saw that the dragon was stone blind. Accord- 
 ingly he crept away into a corner, and the dragon comes and 
 takes a pail and begins to milk the sheep. Then the lad comes 
 along stealthily with a bottle and takes a little milk and drinks it, 
 for he was faint and famished. Afterwards he sees our friend 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 157 
 
 the dragon, who had finished milking, take the pail and quaff the 
 milk at a draught, and wipe his moustache and beard, and take a 
 pipe with a bowl, into which — heaven save us I — he put about 
 seven pounds of tobacco ; he sat down in his chair to smoke. 
 Then thought the lad, now is the time to play him a trick. So 
 he crept up to him, and said, " Father, behold your son, if you 
 are pleased to adopt me." 
 
 "Who is that talking to me," says the dragon. "But come, I will 
 soon see if you are my son. I will give you three blows with my 
 fist, and if you can stand them, I will call you my son. If not, 
 go about your business." 
 
 " All right," he answers, and quick as quick could be, he gets 
 three sacks, and fills them full of chaff and goes close to the 
 dragon, and calls out, " Strike away, father." The dragon, who 
 could not see, lifted his fist and struck the sack and burst it into 
 fragments, and says to him, " Well, are you alive ? " 
 
 "I'm alive, father ! " he answers. "Very good," he replied, 
 " you shall have two more." 
 
 And to make a short story of it, with his cunning he persuaded 
 the dragon to adopt him as his son, and he loved him like his life. 
 
 Then he said to him, " My son, you see how I fare upon milk, 
 but do you take this diamond wand, and when you are hungry, 
 wave it to one side, and there will appear before you a table 
 covered with all kinds of dishes and sweets, and all manner of 
 dainties, and when you have eaten your fill wave it in the other 
 direction, and it will vanish away from you. And you shall live 
 in the castle and eat and drink as you list, and lend me a helping 
 hand with the sheep, for alas ! I am blind." 
 
 " Good father," he answers, " whatsoever you bid me, I will do." 
 
 Then the dragon takes the sheep and leads them out to pasture. 
 At once the lad takes the wand in order to see if the dragon's 
 words are true. So he waves it one way, and forthwith there 
 appears a table spread with dishes, wines, sweets, and everything 
 required for a meal. So our friend the Prince sits down, for 
 mind you he was so hungry he could hardly see, and he tucked 
 in fit to burst. Then when he had eaten his fill he waved the 
 wand the other way, and the table vanished from before him. 
 Then said he, " Eh, well is me ! now I have made my fortune." 
 
1 58 THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 Then he goes and tidies up the castle, and puts everything into 
 its place, lights a fire, washes up the pails ; and when the dragon 
 comes and finds everything arranged to his liking, he was delighted 
 beyond measure. 
 
 So the two spent a pleasant life together, and the dragon now 
 began to thank God for sending him a son to look after him in 
 his old age.. 
 
 One day, as the Prince was minding the castle, he finds a little 
 flute in a little niche, and he began to play it, when everything 
 began to dance : the castle danced ; he looked out of the window, 
 the hills, the fields, the trees, all were dancing, so that it was a 
 treat for any one to see them. 
 
 Then the Prince puts it in his bosom, and the next day in the 
 morning, he says to the dragon : 
 
 " Father, I should like to go and feed our sheep to-day, in order 
 to reheve you, as you are blind." 
 
 "Nay, my son," said he, "you are not used to such matters; 
 do you but stay in the house, for I don't get tired." 
 
 Then the Prince said to him, "May you have no luck with me, 
 father, if you don't let me go just for once this day to enjoy my- 
 self; and if you don't wish. Til never go another time." 
 
 Then the dragon, not wishing to vex him, said to him : 
 
 " My lad, as you are so eager to do so, take our sheep ; but be 
 very careful not to go to that high hill, for up there there dwell 
 some water-fairies, and when any one comes into their quarters, 
 either they take his sight away, or do him some other mischief. 
 It is now thirty-two years since I have been blinded for going 
 there, and may you never know what I suffer ! " 
 
 " Good ! my father," he replies; " do you think me mad that I 
 should rush into the fire of my own accord, and burn myself ! " 
 
 So he takes the sheep and drives straight away to that very hill, 
 where the dragon had told him not to go. That was a region 
 whither no bird ever winged its way, but it was one mass of grass, 
 and the good sheep at the sight of it, buried their faces in it, and 
 ate and ate until they were tired, so that their udders were filled 
 with milk, and could contain it no longer, while he went into a 
 tree and played upon the flute. 
 
 At the top of the mountain the water-fairies had their castle. 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 159 
 
 and one of them looked out of the window and espies the sheep 
 and the Prince up in the tree, and then she says to her companion : 
 
 "Eh! here's a fine treat for us to-day, sister, look out and see!" 
 
 And both of them rush out and try to catch him. He, as we 
 said, was up in the tree, playing his flute. So they come up to 
 the foot of it, and tell him to come down. But he pipes away 
 at his tune. Well ! they try to catch him, but in vain, for one 
 moment they are low down, and the next they are high up, and at 
 length, just as one of them is going to grasp him, he makes a dart 
 and seizes her by the hair and twists them round a branch, and 
 hangs her up like a bunch of grapes. Then the other goes to the 
 rescue of her sister, and meets with the same fate. Then he says 
 to them : 
 
 " I have you nicely, wretches ! " 
 
 They entreat him to let them down, and they promise whatever 
 he desires. 
 
 Then he says, "If you will restore my father's sight, the dragon, 
 I will let you down, but not otherwise." 
 
 " By all means," said they, " only let us down, for we have got 
 it up there in the castle." 
 
 "No," said he, " tell me where you keep it, that I may go and 
 fetch it myself, and then I will set you free." 
 
 Then they point to the castle, and tell him he must go and find 
 two young water-fairies sitting by a fire and cooking, and he must 
 take care when he goes in not to say " Bo ! " or he will frighten 
 them away, but say " Chuck, chuck," and caress them, and then 
 ask them for his father's eyes, which are on the shelf in a box, in 
 the shape of two golden apples; "and then," they continued, 
 " come and take us down." 
 
 So the Prince sets off and reaches the castle. Now, on his way, 
 he thought to himself: 
 
 " Ah, but there's some trick here. For when they tell me not 
 to say ' Bo ! ' but only ' Chuck ! chuck ! ' to their daughters, I'll 
 be bo'und there's some dastardly plot at the bottom of it — by 
 your leave — so I shall not do as they tell me." 
 
 According on his arrival, he looks in and shouts " Bo ! " at 
 the top of his voice, and forthwith our friends, the water-fairies' 
 daughters, as they sat at the fire and warmed themselves, fell in 
 
i6o THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 and were burnt. Such it seems was their fate, and by this means, 
 too, the Prince was saved, as otherwise they would have eaten 
 him. Then he takes the box with the two golden apples in it, 
 and departs. 
 
 The water-fairies all this time supposed he would do as they 
 had bidden him, and that then their children would eat him; 
 when there ! all of a sudden, they espy him before them, and 
 they say to one another, " Alack ! the wretch has burned our 
 children ! " But what could they do ? They put a good face on 
 the matter, and said with a laugh — which was inwardly all venom 
 — " Have you got your father's eyes ? " 
 
 " I should rather think I had," he answers. 
 
 " Well, then, now let us down ! " 
 
 "Good," says he, "wait first until I send my father, and he 
 shall fetch you down ! " 
 
 So he takes his sheep and goes off to the castle. 
 
 " Well ! my lad, how did you fare," said the dragon. 
 
 " Right well, father." 
 
 Then the dragon milks half his flock, but he gets as much 
 milk as at other times he was wont to get from the whole lot. 
 The dragon was amazed, and said : 
 
 " Why, there's a good deal of milk to-day, my lad. All the 
 time I've kept them I never got such a quantity." 
 
 "Well, you see, father, I have my eyes," replied the youth, " and 
 I take them where I see plenty of grass, and that's the reason 
 they yield plenty of milk." 
 
 When he had milked the rest of the sheep, and quaffed the 
 milk, he sat down to smoke his pipe, and then the Prince said to 
 him : 
 
 " Father, would you like this apple ? " 
 
 And he gives him the golden apple. 
 
 " My son," says the dragon, " it's a strange thing where you 
 could have found that apple, for there's abundance of everything 
 else hereabouts, but I'm sure there are no apple-trees." 
 
 " Oh, father," he answers, " all these years that you have been 
 bereft of your eyes, the hills have been covered with apple-trees. 
 Do eat the apple." 
 
 " Nay ! eat it yourself, my son, I don't care for apples." 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. i5i 
 
 " But I've eaten already," he answers, " as many as you can 
 imagine." 
 
 So then the dragon eats the apple, and lo ! back comes one of 
 his eyes I 
 
 When the poor dragon found he had regained his sight and 
 could see the world, it seemed to him as though he had been 
 dead and come to life again, and he falls on the youth's neck and 
 embraces him, and covers him with kisses. " Oh, my son," he 
 cries, " you have saved my life ! " And with that he takes out 
 thirty-nine keys and gives them to him, and says, " My son, you 
 are steward of all my possessions, and all that I have is yours, 
 and I will serve you now as long as I live, and I will get you the 
 fairest woman in the world for your wife, on account of the kind- 
 ness which you have done me." 
 
 Then he gave him the other apple, and the dragon now had his 
 sight completely restored. Then he asked him, " How has this 
 good fortune befallen me, my son ? " 
 
 So the Prince proceeds to recount word by word what we need 
 not repeat — and ends by telling him how he had hung up the 
 water fairies and he might go and do what he liked with them. 
 At the sound of such good news the dragon's heart was glad, and 
 he exclaimed, 
 
 " Ah, at length the hour has come for me to work my will on 
 them : " 
 
 And he takes his sheep and goes straight to the place, and 
 finds them hanging, as he desired, and rends them to pieces. 
 When the dragon was gone the Prince took the keys and opened 
 thirty-nine chambers ', and was half beside himself with wonder 
 at the things he saw — money here ! diamonds and brilliants 
 there I In another room, gardens with golden trees and golden 
 leaves, with a bird to every leaf; then, fountains with golden fish 
 swimming about, so that you would think it was a second Paradise : 
 and his spirit was actually awe-struck at the marvels he beheld. 
 Last of all he came to a door covered with black cobwebs, and 
 tries first one key, and then another : not to detain you he tried 
 the whole nine-and-thirty, but none of them would open it ; and 
 at once he was out of humour because the dragon had not given 
 him the key of that chamber. 
 
i6^. THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 When the dragon returned he saw he was vexed. " What ails 
 you, my son, that you grieve ? " — But he knew well enough I — 
 " I hoped on my return to find you happy, after seeing so many 
 sights, and I find you out of humour ? '' 
 
 " Ah, father," he said, " I took it for as certain as my life that 
 you would give me all the keys ; and there's just one chamber, 
 where the cobwebs are, that you were afraid to give me the 
 key of." 
 
 "My lad," he answers, "to allay your suspicions let me tell 
 you there's nothing inside but coals and chaff. Therefore what 
 would you gain by opening it ? What do you expect to see 
 there ? " 
 
 The youth entreats him to give him the key, but the dragon 
 refuses : and what with his extreme vexation he falls ill. 
 
 The poor dragon found himself in an evil plight, for on the 
 one hand he loved the lad, and was fain to give him the key, but 
 on the other he was sore afraid lest he might soon lose him, if 
 he did ; for you must know he had there locked up a mare, the 
 like of which was not to be found in the whole world : in the 
 twinkling of an eye it would vanish from view, for it could run 
 like lightning ; and, besides that, the worst of it was, it was very 
 treacherous, and the dragon was afraid lest it might lead the lad 
 astray with its words — for it could speak and all — and might take 
 him and run off with him. But from the time when he had gone 
 blind he had shut it up, and never opened the stable since. 
 That was the reason why he did not wish to give the lad the key ; 
 but now that he saw how the youth was in danger of his life, he 
 made up his mind to give it him. He also told him the reason 
 of his unwillingness. 
 
 Then the Prince said to him, " Why, father, you treat me as if 
 I had no sense at all, and was likely to get up and go away 
 leaving so much enjoyment and such a mass of wealth behind 
 me ! " So the dragon gives him the key, and as the former goes 
 away with his flock, our friend the Prince runs at once, all 
 eagerness, to open the cobweb-covered door : and no sooner had 
 he opened it than he beholds a mare, which was worth any sum 
 you could name. But the poor beast was by this time in a sad 
 plight, from being shut up so long in that place, without any one^ 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 163 
 
 looking after it. The Prince, who was used to horses, was like to 
 leap with joy ; and at once takes it out, washes it, grooms it and 
 gives it to eat, and henceforth that mare was the very life and 
 soul of him. In the same chamber he found a little sword hung 
 up, with these words written on the sheath, " Whosoever grasps 
 this sword slays a thousand, and whosoever unsheathes it ten 
 thousand." Accordingly he took the little sword also, and girds 
 it on him. In the evening the dragon came, and at once sees 
 that the lad is happy, for he smiled and said, " Now, father, you 
 have granted the desire of my heart." 
 
 But he knew the serpent that was to devour him, and on that 
 account was always sorrowful. Not to make too long a tale of it, 
 for ten days or so, when the dragon was about to leave, the lad 
 would rush off to the chamber and stroke the mare, and she in 
 turn licked his hand, and played with him ; and so he passed his 
 time with the mare. When the ten days were over, while he was 
 stroking her, she said, " Prince do you know that your father is 
 in great danger ; come let us go to his rescue ! " 
 
 The Prince looked this way and that, and when he heard that 
 the mare could speak, he was beside himself with astonishment, 
 and said, " What, my mare, can you talk ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered ; " and I tell you your father is in danger, 
 for he wanted to give his sister in marriage, and he has laid a 
 wager which he who wins, is to marry her." 
 
 " And what may this wager be ? *' asks the Prince. 
 
 " He has made a lake and said, ' Whoever can cross this lake 
 shall take the Princess to wife.' And princes and dukes keep 
 coming and all perish ; and the end of it will be that the kings who 
 lose their children will wage war on him, and he will finish by 
 losing his life. But, if you are willing, we will go." 
 
 Now all children feel for their parents, and so the Prince, when 
 he heard these words, forgot all the sufferings his father had caused 
 him, and said to the mare, " Quick I let us run to his rescue ! '' 
 
 Then the mare tells him to take with him three saddles for 
 her, and three suits for himself, one was to be the sky and the 
 stars : the other the sea and the fishes, and the third the country 
 with its flowers ; also he was to take a hair-comb, a cake of soap, 
 and piece of salt and keep them all in readiness. She added 
 
1 64 THF SCAB-PATE. 
 
 moreover, " I have been for thirty-two years shut up, and have 
 got quite stiff, and cannot run well at all. But you must fill 
 three mattresses with chaff that I may jump about a little to get 
 over my stiffness : and mind you have everything ready that I 
 spoke of, for it may happen that while I am jumping, my shoe 
 may strike against the ground and the dragon will hear it at 
 once. You he will not harm, for he loves you ; but me he will 
 tear in pieces." 
 
 So the Prince takes and fetches all that the mare had bidden 
 him, and then stuffs the mattresses for the mare to jump on. 
 While she was leaping for the third time, her shoe struck against 
 the ground, and at once the dragon heard it and cried, " Ah, 
 my son is leaving me." 
 
 So he deserts his sheep and runs in order to overtake them. 
 But the mare, who knew it all, as soon as her shoe hit against the 
 ground, said to the Prince, "Come ! Have you got what I told 
 you ? Quick ! jump up ! " 
 
 And the Prince jumps on her back, and they fly as fast as 
 they can. 
 
 The dragon bursts into the castle. Neither mare nor boy 
 were to be seen. Then he runs at once and opens a chamber, 
 takes out a three-footed steed, mounts it and gives them 
 chase. This three-footed mare was the sister of the one with 
 four feet : and could run swifter than she, but she could not 
 leap like the four-footed one. So as they rode, the mare told the 
 Prince to be careful to look back from time to time, to see 
 whether they were following them. He turned back accordingly 
 on one occasion, and saw a black cloud, and told the mare. 
 " Quick ! " she cries, " throw down the comb, for they have 
 caught us up." 
 
 Then he throws it behind him, and it becomes a forest full of 
 trees and shrubs, and the three-footed mare could not run a bit. 
 And then they got a little ahead of them. But the poor three- 
 footed mare had the forest on this side and that. She passed 
 through it, and was after them again. 
 
 When she saw them near them again, the mare cried out that 
 he should throw down the soaj). So the Prince threw it, and it 
 became a sli})i)ery cliff, so that when the three-legged mare 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 165 
 
 attempted to run up she slipped and fell to the bottom ; but after 
 a long time she crossed the cliff also and came up with them 
 again. And just as she was about to catch them the four-legged 
 mare called to him to throw down the salt. The Prince, who was 
 by this time rather dazed, and did not well know what he was 
 about, throws the salt, indeed, but instead of throwing it behind 
 he threw it in front, and straightway it became a lake as large as 
 the sea. 
 
 Then the mare said to him, " Mercy on us, what have you 
 done ? But never mind, only stick tight to my back." 
 
 And she takes a leap and just managed to clear it, for her hind 
 legs touched the edge of the lake. And now the mare and the 
 Prince sat down to rest, and, exhausted by their great efforts, 
 stretched themselves on the ground as if they were dead. 
 
 The three-legged mare, with the dragon on her back, reaches 
 the shore of the lake and then comes to a standstill. For, as we 
 have said, she was a good runner, but she could not jump. 
 
 Then the dragon weeps and laments, crying, " Alack, my son ! 
 Have you no care for me ? Have you no care for the wealth 
 and happiness you have left behind you ? But, ah ! it is not 
 your fault, but that of the accursed mare ! I was looking for this 
 to happen some day. Go, my son, long life to you ; I trust you 
 will yet remember me, and come some day to see me. For I 
 shall never forget you ! " And much more in the same strain. 
 Then he arises and returns to his castle. 
 
 Afterwards our friend the mare gets up with the Prince as 
 soon as they were well rested, and they recommence their journey. 
 
 As they were going along they came to a fountain with two 
 spouts, the one ran gold and the other silver. And the mare 
 told the Prince to take and dip her mane, part of it in the gold, 
 and part in the silver, and lastly the whole of her body ; and also 
 to take and dip his finger into the silver. The Prince did as the 
 mare bade him, and his finger became silvered over ; and as for 
 the mare, she was a sight too dazzling to behold, all golden in one 
 place and all silver in another. 
 
 Afterwards he says to him, " Further on our way we shall meet 
 a man leading a lame horse to the market to sell. Now you are 
 to give him whatever he asks for it, so that you secure that horse 
 
'i«6 THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 for we have need of it. And you must give him your dress, and 
 make him give you his.'* 
 
 Accordingly on the road the met a peasant who was leading a 
 lame horse, as the mare had foretold. And the Prince said to 
 him, " Where is it you are going to, my good man ? " 
 
 " Where am I going ? " said he. " Alack ! alack ! this horse 
 of mine, here, was all my livelihood. And it fell down and broke 
 its leg, and I am now going to the town to sell it." 
 
 " Sell it to me," said the Prince. 
 
 At hearing this the poor man thought it very strange that a man 
 who had such a mare as was not to be equalled all the world over 
 should ask him to sell him his lame horse. 
 
 " Ah, sir," said he, " you want to make fun of me. What good 
 can this lame horse of mine do you ? But you fine gentlemen 
 are always ready to have your laugh at us poor men." 
 
 But the Prince answered him, " I am quite serious, my friend, 
 when I ask you what will you sell me that horse for." 
 
 Then says the other, " Well, give me what it is worth." 
 
 " Suppose I give you ten thousand piastres." 
 
 " Nay," said the peasant to himself, " did I not say he was 
 laughing at me ? and now he talks of giving me ten thousand 
 piastres. Well, but I'll have my joke at his expense." So he 
 replies again, "As much as it is worth." 
 
 " I'll give you twenty, thirty, fifty thousand piastres," says the 
 Prince. 
 
 By this time the poor peasant lost patience, and said, " Come, 
 give me the fifty thousand and take it." 
 
 Then the Prince pays him down the fifty thousand piastres, 
 and takes the horse, and afterwards takes from him his dress and 
 puts it on, and gives him his own for it and says, " Now get you 
 home." 
 
 The poor fellow still thought he was making fun of him, and 
 sat still. 
 
 " My good fellow," says the other, " get along with you ; those 
 things are yours." 
 
 Then he sets off on his way, and from time to time turned 
 and looked back to see whether they were not pursuing him, for he 
 still could not believe that the money and clothes were his. He 
 
THK SCAB-PATE. 167 
 
 came to his home attired like a king. His wife sees him and 
 does not know him and tries to drive him away. "Why, wife," 
 says he, " I am your husband." 
 
 She begins to tear her hair and cry, " Alack ! alack ! woe's 
 me ! my husband has turned Turk." 
 
 " Tush, wife," says he. " Be quiet, we have made our fortune." 
 
 And then he proceeds to tell her how it all happened. So the 
 peasant came to be the first squire in the village, with houses, and 
 estates, and vineyards, and had an easy time of it. 
 
 But let us now come back to the Prince, whom the mare bade 
 kill the horse and take off its skin, but give good heed that it 
 received no damage any^'here. So he slays the horse and 
 takes off the skin without making a rent in any part of it. And 
 then she bids him wrap her up in that skin, so that our fine mare 
 had the appearance of the lame horse, and her rider only that of 
 a peasant. Then she tells him when they come into the town that 
 he is to go to the butcher's and get a bladder and clap it on his 
 head, so that he would look like a man with a scab-pate, and no 
 one should know him. 
 
 Accordingly, when they entered his father's town he took a 
 bladder and clapped it, all uncleaned as it was, on the top of his 
 head, and was the funniest looking object in the world. Then 
 he mounts on his horse and goes to the place where his father 
 the King w^as living, and where there were so many princes come 
 to try their luck at the wager. 
 
 When the people saw him they were like to split for laughter, 
 and cry out to him, "Why you dear mangey old man, here are all 
 these sons of kings and viziers throwing their lives away — as 
 their hearts might tell even the beasts they ride on — and you 
 come here with your wretched lame old hack, and offer to enter 
 the lists with them ! " 
 
 However, that was the wager, it was open to high and low. So 
 he obtains leave to go, and goes to the lake ; and the hack gives a 
 bit of a neigh, and takes a jump and clears the lake, and thence 
 gives another leap and comes back again to the place where she 
 was before. 
 
 The King and the rest rolled their eyes in wonder, when they 
 saw how the scab-pate, whom they were laughing at, had won the 
 
1 68 THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 wager and gained the Princess. The King was ready to burst 
 with vexation at having to take such an object for his son-in-law, 
 and said, " Whoever calls him my son-in-law, I will cut off his 
 head." 
 
 And he rushes off to the palace and reproaches the Princess 
 with her ill luck, because so many princes and dukes had come 
 after her, and none had been able to win the wager but this dirty, 
 mangey old fellow. And he kicks her down stairs and puts her 
 down in the barn, and orders the cook to give her just enough 
 to eat to keep her alive. 
 
 The poor Queen, when she saw that, was full of sorrow and 
 grief ; she went and reasoned with him : 
 
 " What fault is it of the poor girl's ? " 
 
 But he drew his sword to smite her. However, when she had 
 left him, she went down and comforted the girl, and made a 
 couch for her with coverlids, and whatever else she wanted, and 
 went to the cook, and told him to give her daughter plenty to eat, 
 and not to mind what the King said. And had it not been for 
 her mother, the poor girl would have died from her misery. Well 
 in the evening, the scab-pate too entered the barn ; but the Prin- 
 cess would not turn round to look at him, and when they lay 
 down, he put the sword betwixt them, and they slept like brother 
 and sister, as, in fact, they were. The day dawns, and the mother 
 asks her how she got on with the scab-pate, and she tells her, " It 
 is not enough for him to be that, but he must be proud as well." 
 
 And how should she know he was her brother ? In five or 
 six days a king, who had lost a son in the wager, declared war, 
 and the forces mustered to fight. Then the scab-pate tells the 
 Princess to inform her father that, if he is willing, he will go to 
 the war. 
 
 " Why," says she, " how can I go and appear before my father, 
 he might kill me ? " 
 
 " Tell your mother, then," said he, "and let her tell him." 
 
 So the girl told it her mother, and she tells the King, who 
 answers her : 
 
 " What ! haven't I told you a thousand times never to mention 
 the fellow's name to me ? If he's not sick of it by the time it 
 comes to fighting, let him go ! " 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 169 
 
 For he wished him to be killed, so as to get rid of him. Then 
 the mother goes and tells him, " The King says you are to go to 
 the war too." 
 
 So he arose the same day that the army were to march, and 
 mounted his horse ; and as he went forward at the head of the 
 soldiers, with the King and all >.the great ones of the land, he 
 came to a puddle, and tumbled into it with his lame horse, and 
 struggled, and struggled, but could not get up again. The King, 
 for very shame, turned his face another way, and the others bit 
 their lips, for they were ashamed, and afraid of the King besides, 
 and said to themselves : 
 
 " Ah, the King was proud, and therefore God sent him such a 
 son-in-law as it makes him burn with shame to look on." 
 
 The army goes on, and he is still left sticking in the mud. At 
 length he gets up, and goea to a little hill, and takes off the skin 
 from his mare, and takes soap, and gives himself a good wash, 
 and puts on the saddle which is like the sky, and the stars, and 
 the corresponding suit of clothes, and mounts the steed, and the 
 mare flies like the wind and descends to the plain, and he goes under 
 a tree and dismounts, and sits down. Forthwith the King sends 
 messengers, and begs him to come to his tent ; but he does not 
 .stir from his place. The King comes himself and salutes him, 
 and embraces him, and entreats him to come to his tent that he 
 may entertain him. But he replies : 
 
 " I have only come here to look on : I am not a fighting 
 man.'' 
 
 Then the King departs, and goes and sends him a number of 
 presents. In a little while the battle begins, and he sees how his 
 father's forces are being destroyed, and the enemy are now 
 about to take him prisoner. Then he could abide it no longer, 
 but drew his sword, and mounted his horse, and rushed into the 
 battle, and hewed and hacked among the foreign troops, until he 
 fell in with their King, whom he captured, and brought to his 
 father. And he begged them to spare his life, and offered to pay 
 them tribute. So they let him live. Then his father falls and 
 embraces his son, and covers him with kisses, saying : 
 
 '• Ah, my saviour and deliverer of my land, come, let us go to 
 the palace, and you shall be King, and I will be your slave." 
 
 M 
 
I70 THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 And, as he was speaking to him, the mare flies away, and they 
 lose him from sight ; and then, indeed, tlie King exclaims : 
 
 " It is no man, but an angel of God : and it seems I must have 
 done some good deed, in reward for which he has sent him to 
 deliver me." 
 
 And they arise and come to the town with music and rejoicings. 
 Meanwhile, our friend, the Prince, went up on to the hill, and 
 took off the fine clothes, and donned again those of the scab-pate, 
 and went and tumbled into the mud, and pretended that he had 
 not yet been able to get up. The others see him, and begin to 
 laugh, and say, " Alas ! poor scab-pate, we have been and fought 
 and conquered, and come back again ; and you, you precious 
 villain, are still in the mud I " 
 
 But he answered never a word. They come into town, and 
 the Queen asked after the scab-pate, who was so anxious to be 
 killed, and they tell her he is still sticking in the mud. x-\fter- 
 wards the King comes, and tells her about the Prince, who came 
 to his rescue in the battle, and said : 
 
 " Ah, my dear wife, would that I had such a son-in-law, instead 
 of a scab-pate ; I would give my life for him." 
 
 Then the mother went and .told her daughter ; and thereupon, 
 the Princess says : 
 
 " He ought to have a present. Let us just embroider him a 
 golden turban, and make him a present of it next time he comes 
 out to battle," and she immediately engages workwomen and they 
 began to embroider the splendid head-dress. 
 
 A few days afterwards another king declares war ; and, to make 
 a short story of it, the same thing happened as before : the scab 
 ])ate fell again into the mire, then he went, put on his second suit 
 — this time the sea with the fishes — and went down to the plain 
 again, and conquered the foe, and again went and tumbled in the 
 mud. Once more the King came and told the Queen about the 
 hero, and said to her : 
 
 " If it had not been for him, we should all have been sold into. 
 slavery." 
 
 In five or six days later there was another war, greater than the 
 rest. By that time the golden turban was ready : so the Queen 
 takes it, and brings it to the King, and says : 
 
THE SCAB-PATE. 171 
 
 '• Here is the golden turban, which you must give to the hero 
 who helps you." 
 
 And the King was exceedingly pleased. The same things 
 happened in that war as had happened in the former ones. 
 However, this time he did not at once descend to the plain, but 
 only after three days, and now he acted so that his father's blood 
 nearly congealed in his veins for fear — for all his hopes hung on 
 the issue — and at the end of the three days, when his father was 
 all but taken prisoner, he put on his third change of raiment 
 — the green fields v/ith the flowers — and descended into the plain. 
 Then indeed was the time when he caused great mourning, for 
 while his mare slew and devoured some, he dispatched others. 
 But there was one warrior who wounded him in the hand, so that 
 the blood flowed. And the King, who was near him, forthwith 
 took out the golden turban and wrapped it round his hand. And 
 they continued the fight until they had taken the other King, and 
 him, too, they forced to pay tribute. 
 
 Then once more the mare rushed from their midst, v/ith the 
 Prince ; but he went no more to tumble in the mire. And the 
 troops returned in triumph and joy, because they had won all the 
 battles. But they owed their victory to the scab-pate. They 
 came to the mud. There is no scab-pate to be seen, and they 
 declare that the scab-pate has got the happy dispatch in that 
 battle, and they go and bring the news to -the Queen and to the 
 Princess, and they too rejoice. But that evening, when night fell, 
 behold our friend the Prince mounted on his golden mare, in 
 his rich attire, appears, with his sword, and goes into the barn and 
 finds the Princess, who at the sight of such a comely hero is 
 beside herself with admiration, and at once recognises him for the 
 same man of whom her mother had told her ; and she at 
 once regained her spirits, and began to laugh as her brother 
 conversed with her. 
 
 Now the King heard the laughter of his daughter, and was 
 wroth, and said, "The scab-pate is fondling her, and she 
 dares to giggle ! She fancies she has got a Prince before her."' 
 But she kept on laughing until he got into a towering rage, and 
 took his sword and went to slay her. Then the Queen falls on 
 his neck, and says to him, " In God's nam.e, what are about ? 
 
 M 2 
 
172 THE SCAB-PATE. 
 
 Who knows ? she maybe laughing from excess of grief?" So 
 they send the maidservant to tell her to be quiet. The maid 
 goes and beholds the mare with the Prince, and stands aghast, 
 and keeps gazing, and never returns to bring back any tidings. 
 Then the King is angry indeed, and seizes his sword and goes to 
 kill all four of them ; but when he comes into their presence, he 
 beholds in the barn his deliverer instead of the poor scab-pate. 
 Then he flings away his sword and falls on his neck and covers 
 him with kisses. " Ah, my life and soul ! " he exclaims, " have 
 you deigned to enter the barn? Come let us go upstairs." 
 
 " No," he replies ; " to-night I will stay here, but I will come to- 
 morrow. " 
 
 So they sat for some time laughing and joking, and at length 
 the King bids them good night, and departs, and goes up-stairs 
 and orders them to prfepare the palace, and spread fresh dine 
 branches everywhere, for to-morrow he means to keep his 
 daughter's wedding. 
 
 And below, the Prince was laughing and joking all night long 
 with the Princess. 
 
 Early in the morning the King rises and brings him upstairs, 
 lifted aloft by his slave, so that his feet might not touch the 
 ground, and goes and calls his council and all his grandees and 
 friends to his daughter's wedding. When they were all assembled 
 they spread the tables for the feast. And the Prince goes to 
 wash himself, and then the King, in his joy at getting such a son- 
 in-law, takes the towel on his shoulder, and the jug in his hand 
 and goes and pours out water, and the Prince washes himself. The 
 Prince stood there; and he poured out the water for him to wash, 
 in order that his dream might be fulfilled. Then they sat down 
 at table, and the eyes of all were fastened on the Prince. 
 
 When they had finished eating, the Prince addresses them as 
 follows : " Sirs, I am going to tell you a tale ; but I must insist 
 that no one interrupts me in my story." 
 
 All shouted with one voice, " No, no ! noble Prince ! " 
 
 Then he began and related the story which we have told. 
 
 When the King heard the words, "There was once a King who 
 
 had three sons, and he told them to go to sleep, and to tell him 
 
 what each one dreamt " — he called out, " I am the King who did 
 
THE SCAB- PATE. 173 
 
 that : " " Nay, but I beg,'' said the Prince, " that you will not 
 interrupt my story. Well," he continued, " two of his sons had a 
 dream, and at once he divided with them their inheritance. The 
 youngest of all cried that he had not had any dream . . . . " 
 Again the King was unable to keep silence, and said, " Why, 
 my good sir ! that's what happened to me ! " 
 
 Then the council said to him, " Nay but, oh King, your 
 mother bore with you for nine months, and you cannot bear one 
 hour with the young man's story I " 
 
 Then the King again was silent, and the Prince goes on with 
 his tale, telling how the youngest, who said he had no dream, had 
 indeed had one, but feared to tell it, because he had seen how his 
 father had poured out water for him to wash ; " And what does 
 that mean, my lords ? " he asked. They reply that it meant that 
 he would turn out better than his father. "That was the reason," 
 he continued, " why he feared he would kill him ; and so he said 
 he had seen nothing. Wherefore he thought him a luckless 
 wight, and gave him to the executioner to slay, and required as 
 a token his little finger. And if you don't believe — look there 1 I 
 am the Prince in question." x^nd he showed his little finger : and 
 he added further, " I too am the scab-pate, whom you ridicule I " 
 And therewith he falls on the neck of the executioner and 
 embraces him (for he too was at the table), and he says to him, 
 " You are my father, for you saved my life ! " And he gives him 
 a present and made him grand vizier. Then indeed, there were 
 great rejoicings, now that he that had been slain was found. And 
 afterwards the Princess was married, and the Prince married also 
 and they lived a very happy life, and we a happier one still. 
 
CONST ANTES AND THE DRAGON. 
 
 (Tenos.) 
 
 Once on a time th^re was an old man who had three sons, and 
 all three determined to go and learn a trade. So they went out 
 among the uplands to find work, and as they were sojourning 
 there they found a field unreapt, and said to each other, " Come 
 brothers, let us go in and reap it, and whosever it is he will pay 
 us."' So they set to and reaped, and v/hile they were reaping they 
 saw the mountains trembling and beheld a dragon coming, and 
 they said to each other, " Come, brothers, let's work away, for 
 here comes the owner." 
 
 When the dragon comes up, he said, " Good morrow to ycu, 
 my lads." 
 
 "Good morrow, master," they answered. 
 
 " What are you doing there ? " They said, " ^^'e found the 
 field unreapt, and went in to reap it, for we said, ' Whoever it 
 belongs to will pay us.' " 
 
 When they had reaped half of it, the dragon said to the 
 youngest, whom they called Constantes, " Do you see yonder 
 mountain ? There lives my wife, the dragoness. You see this 
 letter, take it to her." 
 
 Po Constantes took the letter, but he was a cunning fellow, and 
 ii-, he went along it struck him he might as well open the letter 
 and read it. So he oi^ened the letter and it ran as follows : 
 "The man I send you you must slaughter, and jjut in the oven 
 and cook so as to have him ready for me to gobble up to-night 
 when I come home." 
 
 So he tore u}) the letter, and wrote another as follows. " My 
 dear dragoness, — When the bearer of this arrives, I beg ycu to 
 kill the best turkey for him, and stuff it, and fill him a basket 
 
CONSTAXTES AXD THE DBAGON. 175 
 
 with loaves, and send him here with food for the labourers." 
 A\'hen the dragon saw from afar Constantes returning with his 
 beast of burden laden, he said : 
 
 " Ah, that fellow is a cleverer rogue then I ! Come, friends, 
 let's get out of this quickly, and go to supper this evening at my 
 house, that I may pay you ! " 
 
 So they finished their reaping, and the dragon took them away 
 with him. On their way, the little Constantes said to his 
 brothers : 
 
 '' Ho, brothers ! you have four eyes among you. Let us keep 
 wide awake at the place where we are going." 
 
 At night, when the dragon and his wdfe had gone to sleep, Con- 
 stantes gets up and wakes his brothers, and goes softly up to the 
 dragoness and takes her ring from her finger, and takes his 
 brothers w'ith him and makes off, and within an hour or two they 
 are in the tow^n. The dragon wakes up and looks for the men to 
 eat them. Then the dragoness sees that her ring is gone from 
 her finger, and says : 
 
 " Why dragon I my ring is gone ! " 
 
 vSo the dragon arose and mounted his horse, and w^ent in search 
 of them. As he was riding along, he spied them before him 
 approaching the confines of the town, and called after them : 
 
 " Constantes, stop and let me pay you ! " 
 
 But they reply that they want no pay. 
 
 Again the dragon calls to them, " Come back I " 
 
 But they return no answer, and thus they reach the town. 
 They come right into it, and commence business, the eldest as a 
 draper, the second as a carpenter, and Constantes, the youngest, 
 as a tailor. The eldest brother was jealous of the youngest, 
 because he had the ring, and he wished to kill him. 
 
 So he goes and says to the King : 
 
 " Please your Majesty, you have plenty of good things, but if 
 \'ou had but the diamond coverlid of the dragon in your palace ^ 
 you would be alone among the monarchs of the earth." 
 
 Says the King, "But how am I to get it? Who is able to fetch 
 it for me ? " 
 
 Then he answered, " Let your Majesty issue a proclamation 
 saying, that whoever will fetch the dragon's coverlid, you will 
 
176 COXS TANTES AND THE DBA G OX. 
 
 make a. great and mighty man of him. Then send and summon 
 my youngest brother, who is a tailor, and tell him to go and get it 
 for you, and if he refuses, threaten to destroy him." 
 
 Accordingly the King issued a proclamation, but no one was 
 found who dared to go. Then he sends a summons by his vizier 
 to Constantes, and tells him to go and bring the diamond cover- 
 lid of the dragon, and threatens to destroy him if he refuses. 
 What could Constantes do ? He set out on his journey, and 
 said: 
 
 "May the blessing of my mother and my sire stand me in good 
 stead ! " 
 
 So he journeyed forth and went on his way, and as he went he 
 met an old woman, and said to her : 
 
 " Good morrow, mother." 
 
 "The same to you, my son I" says she. "Whither away ? Who- 
 ever goes this way never comes back again.'" 
 
 Says he, "The King has sent me to go and fetch him the 
 diamond coverlid of the dragon." 
 
 " Alas ! my son, you will be lost I " 
 
 " But what can I do ? " he answers. 
 
 " Go back and tell those who sent you to give you three reeds, 
 the one to be filled with lice, the other with bugs, and the other 
 with fleas, and you must to the back of the house by night, when 
 the dragon is asleep, and quietly make a hole in the wall, and 
 empty the reeds upon the dragon's bed. Then the dragon and 
 the dragoness will not be able to endure all these insects, and 
 they will seize the coverlid and fling it out of the window, and 
 leave it hanging there. Then you must seize the coverlid and 
 make off as fast as you can, for if the dragon catches you, he will 
 eat you." 
 
 So the lad did all the old woman had told him, and took the 
 coverlid and ran off with it. Now let us leave Constantes for a 
 time, and come to the dragon, who got u}) and found the cover- 
 lid missing. 
 
 " Why dragoness ! what's become of the coverlid ? " he said. 
 
 " I don't know," said the dragoness. 
 
 "Ah, wife," said the dragon, "no one can have taken it but 
 Constantes." Then he goes down to his stable, and chooses out 
 
CONSTAXTES AXD THE BE AGON. I77 
 
 his best horse, mounts it, and in an hour or two comes up with 
 Constantes, and says to him : 
 
 " Give me the coverUd ! What trick have you been playing 
 me, you dog ? "' 
 
 Constantes repUes, "What I have done so far is nothing: 
 wait what I shall do to you soon." 
 
 The dragon could not get at Constantes, for he was on the 
 borders of the King s territory, so he had to return. Constantes 
 brought the coverlid to the King, and the King ordered them to 
 cut him two suits of clothes ; so Constantes went his way. After 
 the lapse of twenty days, the eldest brother went to the King and 
 said : 
 
 " King, has Constantes brought you the coverlid ? " 
 
 And the King answered, " Yes, and a very fine one it is." 
 
 '• Ah, your Majesty," he said, " but if you had the horse and 
 the bell which belong to the dragon, you would have nothing 
 more to desire." 
 
 So the King issued another proclamation, and no one was 
 found who dared to go. 
 
 Then Constantes' employer called him, and said, " Constantes, 
 the King wants you." So Constantes goes to the King, who says 
 to him : 
 
 " You must go and fetch me the horse and bell that belong to 
 the dragon, and if you don't go, I shall kill you." 
 
 What was poor Constantes to do ? 
 
 He went away and pondered how he was to obtain the horse 
 and the bell, for the horse would neigh, and the bell would ring. 
 and the dragon would wake and come down and eat him. 
 
 But what could he do against the King's command ? So he 
 sets off on his journey. As he travelled, he again met the same 
 old woman whom he had met before. 
 
 " Good day," says he. 
 
 "The same to you, my son," says she. "Whither away again?" 
 
 "Don't ask me !" he says. "The King has sent me to bring him 
 the dragon's horse and bell, and if I don't go he will kill me." 
 
 Then the old woman said to him, " Go down to town and tell 
 them to give you forty-one plugs, for the bell has forty-one holes; 
 and then make haste hence to the dragon's den, and when you 
 
lyS COXSTAXTES AXI) THE BE AG OX. 
 
 arrive at night, lose no time in stopping all the holes in the bell, 
 for if you leave one unstopped it will ring, and the dragon will 
 come out to eat you. But in that case, as soon as you hear the 
 bell ring, you must run and hide yourself in the barn among the 
 chaff, and the dragon \vill come and call, ' I smell man's flesh,' 
 but you must be concealed among the chaff, and when you hear 
 that he is gone upstairs again, you must plug the remaining hole, 
 and take the horse and mount it, and put the bell on it, and fly." 
 
 Constantes did all that the old woman told him, so he got the 
 bell and the horse, and ran away with them. The dragon imme- 
 diately mounts another horse and comes up with Constantes, 
 close to the borders of the King's land. He calls to him : 
 
 " You villain, bring mo my horse and bell, and I will do you no 
 harm.'' 
 
 pjut Constantes replies, " What I have done so far is nothing : 
 v/ait what I will do to you next." 
 
 Then the dragon ran ; and Constantes ran, so that the dragon 
 could not catch him, and Constantes came to the King and 
 brought him the horse and the bell. So the King cut him two 
 more suits, and Constantes went off about his business. 
 
 After twenty days more the eldest brother went again to the 
 King and asked him, saying, " Oh, King, has my brother brought 
 you the horse and bell ? " 
 
 And the King answered, "Yes." 
 
 " Ah, your Majesty I now you've got everything else ; but if 
 you had the dragon himself to exhibit, then you v.-ould v/anr 
 nothing more." 
 
 So the King issued a i)roclamation, " \Vhoever is able to bring 
 me the dragon, that I may shov\' him in jjublic, 1 will give him a 
 large kingdom." 
 
 Then his employer came and said to Constantes : " Do you hear 
 Iiow they are sending word for you, to go and fetch the dragon?" 
 
 And Constantes said, " How can I go and fetch the dragon, 
 who will then make an end of me any wav ? " 
 
 l^ut his master said, '' You cannot refuse to go." 
 
 So the lad arose and went his way. And as he went he met 
 the same old woman again ; and said to her, " (rood morrow, 
 mother." 
 
COXSTAXTES AXD THE DRAGOX. i-jc, 
 
 " Good day, my son I Whither away this time ? " 
 
 " I am going to fetch the dragon, for if I don't bring him the 
 King will kill me. And I wish you would tell me what to do, 
 for now 1 am sure I shall lose my life." 
 
 Then she answered him, " Don't be dismayed ; but go back 
 and tell the King they must provide you with a tattered suit : a 
 hatchet, and a saw, an awl, ten nails and four ropes. And when 
 lie has given you these things, you must go the place and put on 
 the tattered garments and begin to hew the plane-tree, which is 
 outside the dragon's castle. And he, when he hears the noise, 
 will come out to you, and say, ' Good day to you I What are 
 you labouring away at there, old man ? ' ' What do you think, 
 my friend ? ' you must answer, ' I am working at a coffin for 
 Constantes, who has died, and I have been at work all this time, 
 and can"t cut the tree down.' " 
 
 Then Constantes went back and got all the necessaries, and 
 went close outside the dragon's castle, and began to hew away at 
 the plane-tree. The dragon heard the noise, and came out and 
 said to him : 
 
 " What are you doing here, old man ? " 
 
 " I am working at a coffin for Constantes," he replied ; " Con- 
 stantes, the man who has just died, and I can't cut the plane-tree 
 down." 
 
 At this the dragon was so pleased that he said, " Ah, the dog ! 
 ril soon manage it." 
 
 So when the old man, and the dragon had nailed the coffin 
 together between them, the former said to the latter, " Get in 
 and let's see whether it's right. For you are the same size as he." 
 
 So the dragon got into the coffin, and lay down on his face : 
 but the old man said, " Turn on your back, I can't see your 
 figure properly." 
 
 So the dragon turned his face uppermost, and the old man 
 got up to try on the lid, to see whether it fitted, and when he 
 had put it on, he nailed it down and tied it tight ; and he had 
 his horse hidden behind a wall ; and went and brought the horse, 
 and tied the dragon on its back and rode off with him. 
 
 Then the dragon began to call out, " Old man, let me out : 
 for the coffin fits I " 
 
I So COXSTAXTES AXD THE DRAGON. 
 
 But the old man answered him, " Constante.s has got you 
 right and tight now, and is talcing you to the King, that he may 
 exhibit you in public I '" 
 
 So he carried off the coffin and brought it to the King and 
 said, " Now I have brought him to you, take care of him., and 
 fetch my eldest brother to open the coffin." 
 
 The next day the eldest brother came and asked the King if 
 Constantes had brought the dragon, and the King answered him, 
 " Yes : ■■' 
 
 Then he said to the King, "Well, as he has brought you the 
 dragon, he can bring you the dragoness' diamond ring."' 
 
 So the King issued yet another proclamation, to the effect that 
 whoever was able to bring him the dragoness" diamond ring, he 
 vrould give him a great kingdom. But no one was found who 
 would venture. 
 
 Then again the employer of Constantes says to him, '• In order 
 to be quit of the affair, you must yet go and fetch the diamond 
 ring of the dragoness, that they may leave you in peace.'' 
 
 Then said the lad, "Well, as my fate so wills it, I may as well 
 go ! " 
 
 And he set forth upon his errand; and on his way he again met 
 thj old woman, and wished her good day. 
 
 "The same to you, my son," she answers. "What brings you 
 this way again ? " 
 
 " Oh, don't ask me ! " he answers. " They have sent me once 
 more — this time for the dragoness' ring. What am I to do ? " 
 
 "I'll tell you what to do," says she. "You must forge a 
 letter, and write as follows : ' Dragoness, you are to kill the 
 bearer, and put him in the oven and bake him, and hang his teet 
 outside the gate ; and when I come back I will eat him.' "" 
 
 So Constantes went and saluted her thus : 
 
 "(iood day to you, Mistress Dragon \ '' 
 
 "The same to you, young man. What is your pleasure? " 
 
 " Here is a letter for you which the dragon gave me." 
 
 The dragoness read tlie letter and said, '' Sit down, young 
 man while I make ready." 
 
 So the dragoness went away and proceeded to prepare the 
 oven, and when she had got it ready she called Constantes and 
 
CONSTANTES AND THE DBAGOX. i8i 
 
 said, " Come, get up on that shovel, and cast a shadow that we 
 may judge whether the oven is hot enough." 
 
 So Constantes pretended to get up, and kept tumbling down 
 again, which he did on purpose. At length he said to the dragoness, 
 " Do you go up, and show me how to do it, for I don't know." 
 
 So the dragoness got up to show Constantes the way ; but 
 Constantes was cunning, and when the dragoness got up on to 
 the shovel to show him, he gave her a push, and flung her into 
 the oven, and took and cut off her two breasts and hung them 
 outside the gate, and took the ring from her finger, and then 
 departed. 
 
 When he had given it to the King, he said to him, "Now, 
 please your Majesty, it is time to open the coffin and exhibit the 
 dragon for the enjoyment of your Majesty and all the people. 
 But call my eldest brother to open it." 
 
 Then the King summoned the eldest brother of Constantes to 
 come and o]3en the coflin, in order to take the dragon out. 
 Meanwhile all the people were gathered at casement and balcony 
 to look at the dragon. 
 
 So the eldest brother came, and opened the coftin to fetch out 
 the dragon. And when he had opened it, the dragon, seeing 
 such a crowd at the casements and balconies, but no one else 
 near him except the man who had opened the lid, swallowed 
 him at a gulp. Then the King let the dragon go, and the 
 dragon ran off home. The first thing he saw when he reached 
 the gate was the two breasts hanging there. He goes in and 
 looks for the dragoness, but cannot find her. At last he croes 
 down to the oven and opens it, and sees the dragoness inside 
 burnt to a cinder. 
 
THE CRAZY PRIESTESS WITH HER CRAZY 
 
 DAUGHTERS. 
 
 (ASTYPALyEA.) 
 
 OxcE on a time there was a priest who had a wife and three 
 daughters. But I must tell you that all four of them were an 
 even match for each other in point of folly. One day, the eldest 
 daughter, the pride of the family, went outside the town, as 
 soon as church was over, to take a walk. She espies a steej) 
 cliff, and at once goes forward and sits on the edge of the cliff, 
 and begins to weep and wail : 
 
 " Alas, to think that I shall marry, and have a little child, and 
 he shall come and look over here, and fall over the edge, and get 
 killed. Alas, my darling, my darling !" 
 
 The others were waiting for her, and said, " Why, wliat can 
 have become of our sister ? " 
 
 The second one goes to fetch her, and sees her sitting on a 
 rock, and lamenting. 
 
 "My dear," she says, "what's the matter with you that you wee])? "" 
 
 " Alas I " replies the other, "don't you see this steep cliff? 
 where — when I am married, and get a little nephew for you, he'll 
 come and tumble down, and be killed ? '' 
 
 Then the other sits down and cries. Lastly, they send the 
 youngest of all. She, too, does the same; so, to avoid re'petition, 
 we will add, the mother also comes and bewails the sad fate of 
 her grandson. 
 
 'i'he worthy i)riest runs to look for them, and finds the good 
 women weejjing and wailing. When he asks them what's the 
 matter that they are crying in this fashion, they reply that the 
 eldest daughter is going to marry and have a little baby, and it 
 will tumble down that steep cliff! 
 
 H'j replies, " Bless me ! bad luck take you all I how long am 
 
THE CRAZY PJx'IESTESS WITH HFJi CRAZY DAVGHTKRS. 1S3 
 
 I to put u}) with your folly. You never will learn sense I Heaven 
 is my witness that I will get away from here, and leave you to 
 your fate, or you will be the death of me." 
 
 So he packs up and departs, saying to them, " If fortune is 
 kind to you, you most unhajjpy women, and I chance to find any 
 who are worse fools than you, it may be I shall see you again ; 
 otherwise your eyes will los^e their lustre, ere ever you look on me 
 again.'* 
 
 Then the priest journeys on and on, until he comes to 
 another village, and in a certain house he hears lamentations, and 
 peeps in to see what is going on ; and beholds a woman who had 
 a child in a cradle, and over it against a wall there was a hatchet 
 hanging, and she did nothing but cry : 
 
 " Alack 1 my baby, my baby, killed by a hatchet 1 " 
 
 "Good woman," says the priest, addressing her, "what are you 
 weeping about ? " 
 
 " Why, don't you see, your reverence, that that hatchet will fall 
 and kill my child ? And you ask me why I am weeping ? " 
 
 " Ah, then I'm not the only one 1 " said the priest to himself: 
 and added aloud, " What will you give me to save it from so sad a 
 fate ? " 
 
 " Whatever you please, your reverence ; my very life, if it was 
 my own to give ! " 
 
 Thereupon, he moves the cradle to another part of the room. 
 "There, good woman," he says, " nov/ don't cry any more." 
 
 Then the good priest receives a handsome fee, and travels 
 further, and soon he comes to a place where he sees a crowd 
 gathered. There were shouts and lamentations. So the priest 
 v;ent to see what was up. And what should he behold but a tall 
 man who was to be married, and the door of the house was rather 
 low, and he would not stoop to enter. But they were considering 
 v\-hat they should do, whether they should cut off his feet or his 
 head. For these seemed the only alternatives. At this sight the 
 priest shook his sides with laughter, and then addressed them 
 thus : 
 
 "Fellow Christians, what ails you that you weep?" 
 
 Then they explain to him the state of the case. "Oh," says he, 
 " 111 get him in for you. What will you give me ? " 
 
i84 THE CRAZY PBIESTESS WITH HER CRAZY DAUGHTERS. 
 
 " Take whatever you will. Only do us that favour ?" 
 • Then the priest takes hold of his head. " Stoop a bit, my son," 
 he says, " a little more, a little more," he repeated, until he got 
 him in. Then said he, " There 1 now lift up your head again, and 
 as often as you go in and out, you must do the same; do you 
 see ? " 
 
 Then he takes and marries him into "the bargain, after which he 
 takes leave of the company, and goes further. Some way on he 
 sees an old woman who had a sow, which she was washing and 
 decking with diamonds and spangles to go to the wedding ; for 
 this, said she, was her daughter. 
 
 At length she espies the priest. "Oh, my son," she cries, "pray 
 take my girl to the wedding, for you see I am old and can't go ; 
 ril pay you for the trouble of walking so far ? " 
 
 " Willingly, mother, I shall regard it as a favour to myself," he 
 replied; and here again he had an eye to the main chance. So 
 the good priest takes the sow and drives it on before him. But 
 when he had gone a little way, the old woman seemed uneasy, for 
 she called after the priest : 
 
 " Oh, my son, turn round and let me look at you, that I may 
 know you again ? " 
 
 Whereupon the good priest, without more ado, presented his 
 back to her. 
 
 "Oh, thank you, thank you I " she cried. "What a handsome 
 round face, and what expressive features ! Yes, now I shall know 
 you again. Only please bring me a cake from the feast I " 
 
 ^^1len the priest had turned the corner, he stripped the sow 
 and took all the gold and silver ornaments, and thus laden with 
 treasures he returned to his wife. 
 
 "Welcome home, father," they cried, "where have you been 
 wandering all this long time ? Why we were almost in despair ? " 
 
 " I thought," said he, " there were none like you in the world ; 
 but, as I see, there are others who outstrij) you. Henceforth I 
 shall jHit u}) with you for better, for worse." 
 
 And with the profits he brought home he got his daughters 
 dowered and married, and lived happily with his wife ever after, 
 although she did i)lay a mad freak or two from time to time. And 
 may we be hajjpier still. 
 
THE MAN WITHOUT A BEARD. 
 
 (Tenos.) 
 
 Good evening to your lord and ladyships ! 
 
 There was once a beardless man, who had a wife, who asked 
 him to get her some new cheese. So Mr. Beardless meets a 
 shepherd on the road, and asks him whether he has any fresh 
 cheese? 
 
 " No, my poor smooth-face, indeed I have not, and know not 
 how to get it. For no sooner do I milk my sheep and curdle the 
 milk, than there comes along a dragon and steals the curds, and 
 eats them, and it's a long time since I made anything of the sort, 
 may the curse of Christ light on the brute." 
 
 "Is that a true story and no lie? Then I am the man who 
 will avenge you of the dragon. As soon as you have milked your 
 ewes, and set the milk to curdle, call me ! " 
 
 The poor shepherd answered, "If you will but rid me of him, 
 I will bring you plenty of milk and cheese gratis, and will be 
 thankful to you ever afterwards." 
 
 When the hour drew near, the dragon prepared again to visit 
 the shepherd's fold. The Beardless One went earlier, and shut 
 himself in and stood at the entrance, and looked out for the 
 dragon's arrival. He put some live ashes before the door, and 
 strewed them on the ground. Then he takes some of the curds 
 in his hands, and put on iron shoes with nails underneath. When 
 the dragon comes, he looks round on the side he was accustomed 
 to enter, to see whether the shepherd had made his curds, that 
 he might come in and eat them. Then the Man without a Beard, 
 shouts to him : 
 
 " Who are you ? " 
 
 And the dragon answers, " A dragon 1 " 
 
1 86 THE MAN WITHOUT A BEARD. 
 
 " Dragon, indeed," says the other; ''why you seem Hke a fly 
 to me, and you call yourself a dragon." 
 
 The dragon now tried to enter, but the other, who was looking 
 through the opening, cried, 
 
 " Ah, ill-fated dragon, I swear by this stone, which drops water 
 when I squeeze it, and by this earth which vomits fire when I 
 tread on it, that I will swallow you through the opening, for 
 you're but as a fly in my eyes." 
 
 The poor dragon was terribly frightened, and said, " Let us be 
 brothers from henceforward." 
 
 Whereupon they at once make friends. The shepherd from 
 that time had his milk and cheese to himself, and the dragon fol- 
 lowed the Man without a Beard. 
 
 The dragon said, "Let us go a-hunting, and cook and eat. Do 
 you take one way, and I the other, and we will see who brings 
 home most." 
 
 As the Beardless One was walking along he espied a wild boar, 
 who tried to gore him with his tusks. The poor fellow was in 
 great distress, so he climbed up a tree, and the boar tried to rend 
 the tree with his tusks, and to fling the Beardless One down. 
 But in his eff"orts to break down the tree, he got his tusks so 
 firmly fixed in the trunk that he died and hung dead upon the 
 tree. 
 
 Then the Beardless One sees that the wild boar is dead and 
 comes down from the tree. He considers a moment, and then 
 runs to find the dragon. 
 
 " Dragon," he shouts, "come here ; come and see what I have 
 caught. Have you caught anything yet ? " 
 
 " I have not found anything at present," replied the dragon. 
 " And you ? " 
 
 " Oh, just a trifle of a pigling that I have caught and fastened 
 to the tree. Go you, and fetch it for us to cook, and Til come 
 directly." 
 
 This he said, because he was quite unable to lift such a heavy 
 wild boar, so this was why he excused himself. The dragon took 
 the boar and skinned it, and when the Beardless One came up, 
 the dragon said : 
 
 " Well, what are you doing ? Where have you been all this 
 
THE MAX WITHOUT A BEARD. 187 
 
 time ; go and fill this skin with water, and bring it, that we may 
 dress and cook the beast." 
 
 The Beardless One took the skin and filled it with water. 
 Then he tries to lift it, but in vain. Thereupon he begins to 
 thump the full skin with a stick, and to call out himself, "Oh, oh, 
 oh 1 who is beating me ? " 
 
 The dragon hears the shouts and thumps, and runs to see what 
 the Beardless One is after all this time. 
 
 Then the Beardless One says to him, " See, you've missed them. 
 Some ten rascals came to carry off our water, and I gave them a 
 thrashing, and killed some and lamed others, and they ran away. 
 Take up this skin with the water in it^ and I'll go after them and 
 give them another thrashing, for I took pity on them, and now 
 I'm sorry I let them off so easily." 
 
 The dragon believed him, and said : 
 
 " Oh, my good fellow, let them alone, now ; I'll take the skin 
 of water, and do you go and fetch wood to cook with, for I'm 
 hungry." 
 
 " All right, I'll go ; but give me a long rope to tie them up 
 with." 
 
 So he goes off and ties the rope round about ten trees, and 
 pulls at them, crying, " Pull-y-oh, haul-y-oh ! " 
 
 When the dragon found he was so long in returning, he went 
 to find him. He sees him in the distance with the rope round 
 the trees, beckoning to him not to speak. 
 
 " Hush, hush ; " he whispered. The dragon was amazed, and 
 cried, " Look at the madman I He can't lift one, and he wants 
 ten:" 
 
 " You stupid dragon I " says the other, " I told you not to 
 speak, and not to come near me. Now see what you've done." 
 
 Then the Beardless One works himself into a passion, and says 
 to the dragon : 
 
 " There, now, I was going to bring the whole hill as it stands, 
 with all the trees on it, to your den. But as you wouldn't get 
 out of the way, and would come and talk to me, you may now do 
 as you please. I won't consent to lift a single tree. I am like to 
 lose the prowess I inherited from my sire." 
 
 And the dragon believed him. But the Man without a Beard 
 
1 88 THE MAN WITHOUT A BE ABB. 
 
 tried every device to escape from the dragon, for he saw he 
 should not get on well with him. 
 
 The dragon pulls up a tree by the roots, takes it on his 
 shoulder, and departs. When he reached home, he cooked the 
 dinner, arid sat down, and ate. Then it struck him that the Man 
 without a Beard was a humbug, and he thought he would put him to 
 the test. So he said to him, " My Beardless friend, what say you, 
 shall we go and have a wrestHng bout in the market place, and 
 see which can master the other ? " 
 
 "We will," said he. 
 
 So they set off, and on the way they begin to fight, and, with a 
 single push from the dragon, the Beardless One falls to the 
 ground. 
 
 "Ah, Beardless, where's the valour that you have from your 
 sire ? " said the dragon. 
 
 " Why, you silly dragon, I slipped," said his companion. 
 
 Another push, and down goes Beardless again, with the dragon 
 kneeling on top of him. 
 
 "Ha, Beardless," says he, "where's your sire's valour now? 
 How you roll your eyes ! " 
 
 " Roll my eyes," says the Beardless One (for his eyes were 
 starting from their sockets with the weight of the dragon on his 
 chest), "yes, I'm rolling my eyes, and considering whither I shall 
 throw you, whether to the east or to the west, for you are just 
 like a fly to me." 
 
 Again the dragon believes him, and gets up, and cries, " No, 
 no, my brother (for are we not brothers ?), don't throw me any- 
 where ; only teach me, too, how your sire made such a hero of 
 you ! " 
 
 "Come along," says he, " and I'll tell you." 
 
 Then the Beardless One begins as follows : 
 
 " My father buried me in the earth, digging a deep hole, and 
 said to me, ' Now, jump.' But as I could not jump out, he told 
 me to turn my ear towards him, and he let a droj) of water trickle 
 in it, and told me to say, as the water trickled in ' Wobble-ty-wob, 
 wobble-ty-wob, wobble-ty-wob,' and then I began to gain my 
 strength, and succeeded in jumping out of the hole, which before 
 was much too deep for me." 
 
THE MAN WITHOUT A BEARD. 189 
 
 The dragon wished to acquire the same strength, and so the 
 Man without a Beard began to dig a deep hole. Then he said to 
 the dragon, " Get in," and the dragon got in. 
 
 " Jump," he cried, and the dragon jumped out immediately. 
 
 Then said the Beardless One, " I must dig it deeper." 
 
 And when he had dug it again, and the dragon could no longer 
 leap such a height, the Beardless One said to him : 
 
 " Now turn your ear towards me, and I'll dribble the water in, 
 and you must say, ' Wobble-ty-wob.' " 
 
 Now the Beardless One had some boiling water at hand. The 
 dragon turned up his ear, and the Beardless One at first let fall a 
 tiny little drop into his ear from the edge of the hole. The 
 dragon kept saying, "Wobble-ty-wob;" but after a time the water 
 scalded him so severely, that he called out, " Oh, Beardless, 
 Beardless ! " and instead of saying, " Wobble-ty-wob, wobble-ty- 
 wob, my master," he began to say, " Bobble-ty-bob, Bobble-ty-bob, 
 my Beardless," till he died, and there was an end of him, for the 
 water was scalding hot, and he could not jump out. So at last he 
 understood that the Beardless One had cheated him; and thus the 
 former got rid of the dragon. Then the Man without a Beard 
 departed, and went to find the shepherd. 
 
 " Now," said he, " that I have rid you of the dragon, what will 
 you give me ? " 
 
 " Whatever you please. One of my best ewes. Go out and 
 pick for yourself," said the shepherd. So the Beardless One takes 
 a fine fat ewe, and sets off home in haste. On' the way there 
 comes a fox, and runs off with his ewe. The Beardless One gives 
 chase to her, but the fox goes and hides in her hole. The Beard- 
 less One could not get into the hole. So he considered, and 
 said, " You shall see, Madame Reynard (Madame Reynard was 
 the name of the fox) how Til manage you." 
 
 So he takes a pair of gourds and hangs them on a stick over 
 the hole of the fox. A strong north wind blew, and the gourds 
 sighed in the breeze, and called out, "Whoo, whoo, whoo." The 
 fox thought it was the Man without a Beard, and gnawed away at 
 the ewe, in her hole, tortured with thirst, without daring to come 
 out. But, at length, she said, " Sooner than perish with thirst, I 
 might as well go out, and see what is moaning like that." Instead 
 
190 THE MAX WITHOVr A BEAED. 
 
 of the Beardless One, she sees the gourds, and ties them to her 
 tail, in a rage, and takes them to throw them into the sea. When 
 she attempted to turn round, to fling the gourds from her, they 
 overbalanced her, and she fell into the sea, gourds and all, and 
 they pulled her down ; so Madame Reynard was drowned and the 
 tale is finished. 
 
 FINIS.