“I wish that when she cries her tears may change to lizards.”
“I,” said the second, “wish that when she laughs, hideous toads may fall
from her lips.”
“And I,” said the third, “wish that when she touches water with her hand
it may be filled with serpents.”
“It shall be as you wish,” said the old man, and he and his companions
disappeared.
The girl was terrified, and ran into the house to tell her mother what
had happened. All occurred as had been said. When she laughed toads
sprang from her lips, when she cried her tears changed to lizards, and
when she touched water it became full of serpents.
The step-mother did not know what to do. She paid greater attention than
ever to her daughter, and hated the orphans more and more, and so
tormented them that the lad, not being able to put up with it, took
leave of his sister, praying Heaven to guard her, and, leaving his
step-mother’s house, set out to seek his fortune. The wide world was
before him. He knew not where to go, but he knew that Heaven, that sees
all men, watches over the orphans. He prayed, and then walking down to
the burial-ground where slept his father and mother, he knelt at the
grave. He wept and prayed for a time, and having kissed the earth which
covered them three times, he rose and prepared to set out on his
journey. All of a sudden he felt, in the folds of his dress on his
bosom, something he had not perceived there before. He put his hand up,
and was so astonished that he could scarcely believe his eyes, for he
found there a charming little picture of his much-loved sister,
surrounded by pearls, roses, and little golden fish. Delighted at the
sight, he kissed the picture, looked around the burial-ground once more,
made the sign of the cross, and set out on his way.
A story is soon told, but events move slowly.
After many adventures of little importance he came to the capital of a
kingdom situated on the sea-shore. There he sought to obtain a living,
and he was not unsuccessful, for he was engaged to look after the king’s
garden, and was both well fed and well paid. This good fortune did not,
however, make him forget his poor sister, about whom he was much
troubled. When he had a moment to himself, he would sit down in some
quiet spot and look at his picture, sometimes melting into tears, for he
looked upon the portrait of his sister as a precious legacy given to him
by his parents at their grave.
One day while the lad sat thus by a brook, the king saw him, and
creeping up to him from behind very softly, he looked over his shoulder
at the likeness that the young man was regarding so attentively.
“Give me the portrait,” said the king.
The lad gave it to him.
The king looked at it and was delighted.
“Never,” said he, “in all my life did I see such a beautiful girl, never
have I heard of such a one, never did I dream there was such. Tell me,
does she live?”
The lad burst into tears, and told the king that the picture was the
portrait of his sister, who some time ago had been so favoured by Heaven
that when she cried her tears became pearls, when she laughed roses
sprang from her lips, and when she touched water it was filled with
golden fish.
The king ordered him to write at once to his step-mother, to tell her to
send her lovely step-daughter to his palace, where the king waited to
make her his wife. On the occasion of his marriage he declared he would
heap rewards on the step-mother and on the brother of his bride. The lad
wrote the letter, and the king sent a servant with it.
A story is quickly told, but events move slowly.
After she had read the letter, the step-mother did not show it to the
orphan, but to her own daughter.
So they plotted together, and the step-mother went to an old sorceress
to consult her, and to be instructed in magic. She then set out with her
two daughters. As they came near to the capital of the king’s dominions,
in a place near to the sea, the step-mother suddenly threw the
step-daughter out of the carriage, muttered some magic words, and spat
three times behind her. All at once the poor girl became very little,
covered with feathers, and changed into a wild duck. She commenced to
cackle, threw herself into the sea, just as ducks do, and began to swim
about there. The step-mother dismissed her with these words: “By the
force of my hate, I have done what I wished! Swim away upon the shore
like a duck, happy in liberty, and in the meantime my daughter, clothed
in your beauty, shall marry the king, and enjoy all that was meant for
you.”
Hardly had she finished these words when her daughter found herself
clothed in all the charms of the unfortunate girl. So they went on their
way, came to the palace, which they reached at the time named in the
letter, and there the king received the daughter from the hands of the
treacherous step-mother, in place of the orphan. After the marriage, the
step-mother, loaded with presents, returned to her home. The king,
looking upon his wife, could not imagine how it was that he did not feel
that love and tenderness that had been aroused in him at the sight of
the portrait. However, there was no remedy, what was done was done.
Heaven sees one, and knows of what malady one shall die, and what woman
one shall marry! The king admired his wife’s beauty, and thought of the
pleasure he would have when he saw the pearls drop from her eyes, the
roses from her lips, and the golden fish spring up in the water she
touched. During the feast, however, the queen chanced to laugh at her
husband, and a mass of hideous toads sprang forth! The king ran off
quickly. Then the queen commenced to cry, and instead of pearls, lizards
dropped from her eyes. An attendant presented a basin of water to her,
but she had no sooner dipped the tip of her finger in the water than it
became a mass of serpents, which began to hiss and dart into the middle
of the wedding party. Every one was afraid, and all was in confusion.
The guards were at last called in, and by their aid the hall was cleared
of the horrible reptiles.
The king had gone into the garden, where he met with the orphan lad; and
so enraged was the king at the trick that he thought had been played
him, that he gave the lad a blow on the head with his stick. The poor
lad, falling down upon the ground, died at once.
The queen came running to the king, sobbing, and, taking him by the
hand, said—
“What have you done? You have killed my brother, who was altogether
guiltless. Is it his fault or mine that, since I have been married to
you, I have lost the wonderful powers I once had? They will come back
again in time, but time will not bring my brother to me more.”
“Pardon me, my dear wife,” said the king. “In a moment of rage I thought
he had betrayed me, and I wished to punish him. I am sorry for what I
have done; now, however, it is beyond recall. Forgive me, and I forgive
you with all my heart.”
“I pardon you,” said the queen, “but I beg you to order that my brother
shall be honourably buried.”
The queen’s wish was carried out. The poor lad, who was thought to be
the queen’s brother, was put in a fine coffin, and laid on a magnificent
catafalque in the church. When night came on a guard of honour was
placed around the coffin and at the gates to watch till morning. Towards
midnight the doors of the church opened of their own accord and without
any noise, and, at the same moment, an irresistible drowsiness came over
the soldiers, who all went to sleep. A pretty little wild duck entered,
stopped in the middle of the church, shook its feathers, of which it
freed itself one by one, and there stood the orphan girl in her former
shape. She approached the coffin of her brother, and shed very many
tears over him, which all changed to pearls. After she had wept for some
time, she reassumed the feathers once more, and went out. When the
guards awoke, great was their surprise to find a number of beautiful
pearls on the coffin. The next day they told the king how the gates of
the church had opened of themselves at midnight, how an irresistible
desire to sleep had overtaken them, and how the pearls had been
discovered upon the coffin. The king was surprised at their story, and
more so when he saw the pearls. He doubled the guard, and told them to
watch more carefully the second night.
At the same time the doors opened again of themselves, and the soldiers
again fell asleep. The wild duck entered, shook off its feathers, and
became the lovely girl. At the sight of the double guard, all of them
fast asleep, she could not help laughing, and beautiful roses fell from
her lips. As she approached her brother her tears broke forth and fell
in a shower of pearls to the ground. At length she took her feathers
again and flew away. When the guards awoke they collected the roses and
pearls and took them to the king, who was now more surprised than
before, seeing not only the pearls but the roses also. He again doubled
the guards, and he threatened them with the most severe punishment if
they did not keep awake. They did their best, but all was of no use. At
the end of their nap on the third night they found not only pearls and
roses, but also golden fish swimming in the church font. The king was
now very much astonished, and began to think that there must be some
magic in the matter. When night came on he again doubled the number of
the guards, and hid himself in the chapel, after having put up a mirror
in which he could see everything reflected without being himself seen.
At midnight the doors opened of themselves, the soldiers dropt their
arms, lay down on the ground, and fell fast asleep. The king did not
take his eyes off the mirror, and he saw a little wild duck enter, and
look timidly around it. When it saw the guards all asleep it seemed to
take courage, and came into the middle of the church. Then it cast off
its feathers and became a girl of extraordinary loveliness. The king was
transported with joy and wonder, and felt that this must be his true
bride. When she had come to the coffin the king rushed forward with a
wax taper in his hand and set fire to the feathers, the flame leaping up
and waking the guards. When the girl saw what was done she ran to the
king wringing her hands, while pearls dropped from her eyes.
“What have you done?” she cried. “How shall I now escape the fury of my
step-mother, by whose magic arts I was turned into a wild duck?”
Then she told the king all, and he at once ordered some of his guards to
seize the woman who had so treacherously married him, and to conduct her
out of the kingdom. He also sent some soldiers to take the step-mother
and burn her as a sorceress. While the king gave these orders the girl
took from her bosom three little vessels, which she had brought with her
from the sea, full of different liquids. She sprinkled the liquid in one
of them over her brother, and he became supple and warm; his cheeks took
their colour again, and the warm red blood began to run from his wound.
His sister sprinkled him again with the second liquid, which had the
property of healing, and his wound at once closed. She sprinkled him the
third time with the water which had the property of calling back to
life. The young man opened his eyes, looked on his sister with
astonishment, and threw himself, full of happiness, into her arms.
At the sight of this the king was overjoyed. He took the young man by
the hand, and, leading his sister, the three went to the palace.
In a short time he married his true bride, and he lived happily with her
and her brother for many years.
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