There was once upon a time an old king who had an only son. This son
he one day summoned before him, and spoke to him thus: 'My son, you
see that my head has become white; ere long I shall close my eyes,
and I do not yet know in what condition I shall leave you. Take a
wife, my son! Let me bless you in good time, before I close my
eyes.' The son made no reply, but became lost in thought; he would
gladly with all his heart have fulfilled his father's wish, but
there was no damsel in whom his heart could take delight.
Once upon a time, when he was sitting in the garden, and just
considering what to do, all of a sudden an old woman appeared before
him--where she came, there she came. 'Go to the glass hill, pluck
the three lemons, and you will have a wife in whom your heart will
take delight,' said she, and as she had appeared so she disappeared.
Like a bright flash did these words dart through the prince's soul.
At that moment he determined, come what might, to seek the glass
hill and pluck the three lemons. He made known his determination to
his father, and his father gave him for the journey a horse, arms
and armour, and his fatherly blessing.
Through forest-covered mountains, through desert plains, went our
prince on his pilgrimage, for a very, very great distance; but there
was nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard of the glass hill and
the three lemons. Once, quite wearied out with his long journey, he
threw himself down under the cool shade of a broad lime-tree. As he
threw himself down, his father's sword, which he wore at his side,
clanged against the ground, and a dozen ravens began croaking at the
top of the tree. Frightened by the clang of the sword, they rose on
their wings, and flew into the air above the lofty tree. 'Hem! till
now I haven't seen a living creature for a long while,' said the
prince to himself, springing from the ground. 'I will go in the
direction in which the ravens have flown; maybe some hope will
disclose itself to me.'
He went on--he went on anew for three whole days and three nights,
till at last a lofty castle displayed itself to him at a distance.
'Praise be to God! I shall now at any rate come to human beings,'
cried he, and proceeded further.
The castle was of pure lead; round it flew the twelve ravens, and in
front of it stood an old woman--it was Jezibaba[2]--leaning on a
long leaden staff. 'Ah, my son! whither have you come? Here there is
neither bird nor insect to be seen, much less a human being,' said
Jezibaba to the prince. 'Flee, if life is dear to you; for, if my
son comes, he will devour you.' 'Ah! not so, old mother, not so!'
entreated the prince. 'I have come to you for counsel as to whether
you cannot let me have some information about the glass hill and the
three lemons.' 'I have never heard of the glass hill; but stay! when
my son comes home, maybe he will be able to let you have the
information. But I will now conceal you somewhat; you will hide
yourself under the besom, and wait there concealed till I call you.'
[2] Jezibaba is said to represent winter.
The mountains echoed, the castle quaked, and Jezibaba whispered to
the prince that her son was coming. 'Foh! foh! there is a smell of
human flesh; I am going to eat it!' shouted Jezibaba's son, while
still in the doorway, and thumped on the ground with a huge leaden
club, so that the whole castle quaked. 'Ah, not so, my son, not so!'
said Jezibaba, soothing him. 'There has come a handsome youth who
wants to consult you about something.' 'Well, if he wants to consult
me, let him come here.' 'Yes, indeed, my son, he shall come, but
only on condition that you promise to do nothing to him.' 'Well,
I'll do nothing to him, only let him come.'
The prince was trembling like an aspen under the besom, for he saw
before him through the twigs an ogre, up to whose knees he didn't
reach. Happily his life was safeguarded, when Jezibaba bade him come
out from under the besom. 'Well, you beetle, why are you afraid?'
shouted the giant. 'Whence are you? What do you want?' 'What do I
want?' replied the prince. 'I've long been wandering in these
mountains, and can't find that which I am seeking. Now I've come to
ask you whether you can't give me information about the glass hill
and the three lemons.' Jezibaba's son wrinkled his brow, but, after
a while, said in a somewhat gentler voice: 'There's nothing to be
seen here of the glass hill; but go to my brother in the silver
castle, maybe he'll be able to tell you something. But stay, I won't
let you go away hungry. Mother, here with the dumplings!' Old
Jezibaba set a large dish upon the table, and her gigantic son sat
down to it. 'Come and eat!' shouted he to the prince. The prince
took the first dumpling and began to eat, but two of his teeth
broke, for they were dumplings of lead. 'Well, why don't you eat?
maybe you don't like them?' inquired Jezibaba's son. 'Yes, they are
good; but I don't want any just now.' 'Well, if you don't want any
just now, pocket some, and go your way.' The good prince--would he,
nould he--was obliged to put some of the leaden dumplings into his
pocket. He then took leave and proceeded further.
On he went and on he went for three whole days and three nights, and
the further he went, the deeper he wandered into a thickly wooded
and gloomy range of mountains. Before him it was desolate, behind
him it was desolate; there wasn't a single living creature to be
seen. All wearied from his long journey, he threw himself on the
ground. The clang of his silver-mounted sword spread far and wide.
Above him four and twenty ravens, frightened by the clash of his
sword, began to croak, and, rising on their wings, flew into the
air. 'A good sign!' cried the prince. 'I will go in the direction in
which the birds have flown.'
And on he went in that direction, on he went as fast as his feet
could carry him, till all at once a lofty castle displayed itself to
him! He was still far from the castle, and already its walls were
glistening in his eyes, for the castle was of pure silver. In front
of the castle stood an old woman bent with age, leaning on a long
silver staff, and this was Jezibaba. 'Ah, my son! How is it that you
have come here? Here there is neither bird nor insect, much less a
human being!' cried Jezibaba to the prince; 'if life is dear to you,
flee away, for if my son comes, he will devour you!' 'Nay, old
mother, he will hardly eat me. I bring him a greeting from his
brother in the leaden castle.' 'Well, if you bring a greeting from
the leaden castle, then come into the parlour, my son, and tell me
what you are seeking.' 'What I am seeking, old mother? For ever so
long a time I've been seeking the glass hill and the three lemons,
and cannot find them; now I've come to inquire whether you can't
give me information about them.' 'I know nothing about the glass
hill; but stay! when my son comes, maybe he will be able to give you
the information. Hide yourself under the bed, and don't make
yourself known unless I call you.'
The mountains echoed with a mighty voice, the castle quaked, and the
prince knew that Jezibaba's son was coming home. 'Foh! foh! there's
a smell of human flesh; I'm going to eat it!' roared a horrible ogre
already in the doorway, and thumped upon the ground with a silver
club, so that the whole castle quaked. 'Ah! not so, my son, not so;
but a handsome youth has come and has brought you a greeting from
your brother in the leaden castle.' 'Well, if he's been at my
brother's, and if he has done nothing to him, let him have no fear
of me either; let him come out.' The prince sprang out from under
the bed, and went up to him, looking beside him as if he had placed
himself under a very tall pine. 'Well, beetle, have you been at my
brother's?' 'Indeed, I have; and here I've still the dumplings,
which he gave me for the journey.' 'Well, I believe you; now tell me
what it is you want.' 'What I want? I am come to ask you whether you
can't give me information about the glass hill or the three lemons.'
'Hem! I've heard formerly about it, but I don't know how to direct
you. Meanwhile, do you know what? Go to my brother in the golden
castle, he will direct you. But stay, I won't let you go away
hungry. Mother, here with the dumplings!' Jezibaba brought the
dumplings on a large silver dish, and set them on the table. 'Eat!'
shouted her son. The prince, seeing that they were silver dumplings,
said that he didn't want to eat just then, but would take some for
his journey, if he would give him them. 'Take as many as you like,
and greet my brother and aunt.' The prince took the dumplings,
thanked him courteously, and proceeded further.
Three days had already passed since he quitted the silver castle,
wandering continuously through densely wooded mountains, not knowing
which way to go, whether to the right hand or to the left. All
wearied out, he threw himself down under a wide-spreading beech, to
take a little breath. His silver-mounted sword clanged on the
ground, and the sound spread far and wide. 'Krr, krr, krr!' croaked
a flock of ravens over the traveller, scared by the clash of his
sword, and flew into the air. 'Praise be to God! the golden castle
won't be far off now,' cried the prince, and proceeded, encouraged,
onwards in the direction in which the ravens showed him the road.
Scarcely had he come out of the valley on to a small hill, when he
saw a beautiful and wide meadow, and in the midst of the meadow
stood a golden castle, just as if he were gazing at the sun; and
before the gate of the castle stood an old bent Jezibaba, leaning on
a golden staff. 'Ah! my son! what do you seek for here?' cried she
to the prince. 'Here there is neither bird nor insect to be seen,
much less a human being! If your life is dear to you, flee, for if
my son comes, he will devour you!' 'Nay, old mother, he'll hardly
eat me,' replied he. 'I bring him a greeting from his brother in the
silver castle.' 'Well, if you bring him a greeting from the silver
castle, come into the parlour and tell me what has brought you to
us.' 'What has brought me to you, old mother? I have long been
wandering in this mountain range, and haven't been able to find out
where are the glass hill and the three lemons. I was directed to
you, because haply you might be able to give me information about
it.' 'Where is the glass hill? I cannot tell you that; but stay!
when my son comes, he will counsel you which way you must go, and
what you must do. Hide yourself under the table, and stay there till
I call you.'
The mountains echoed, the castle quaked, and Jezibaba's son stepped
into the parlour. 'Foh! foh! there's a smell of human flesh; I'm
going to eat it!' shouted he, while still in the doorway, and
thumped with a golden club upon the ground, so that the whole castle
quaked. 'Gently, my son, gently!' said Jezibaba, soothing him;
'there is a handsome youth come, who brings you a greeting from your
brother in the silver castle. If you will do nothing to him, I will
call him at once.' 'Well, if my brother has done nothing to him,
neither will I do anything to him.' The prince came out from under
the table and placed himself beside him, looking, in comparison, as
if he had placed himself beside a lofty tower, and showed him the
silver dumplings in token that he had really been at the silver
castle. 'Well, tell me, you beetle, what you want!' shouted the
monstrous ogre; 'if I can counsel you, counsel you I will; don't
fear!' Then the prince explained to him the aim of his long journey,
and begged him to advise him which way to go to the glass hill, and
what he must do to obtain the three lemons. 'Do you see that black
knoll that looms yonder?' said he, pointing with his golden club;
'that is the glass hill; on the top of the hill stands a tree, and
on the tree hang three lemons, whose scent spreads seven miles
round. You will go up the glass hill, kneel under the tree, and hold
up your hands; if the lemons are destined for you, they will fall
off into your hands of themselves; but, if they are not destined for
you, you will not pluck them, whatever you do. When you are on your
return, and are hungry or thirsty, cut one of the lemons into
halves, and you will eat and drink your fill. And now go, and God be
with you! But stay, I won't let you go hungry. Mother, here with the
dumplings!' Jezibaba set a large golden dish on the table. 'Eat!'
said her son to the prince, 'or, if you don't want to do so now, put
some into your pocket; you will eat them on the road.' The prince
had no desire to eat, but put some into his pocket, saying that he
would eat them on the road. He then thanked him courteously for his
hospitality and counsel, and proceeded further.
Swiftly he paced from hill into dale, from dale on to a fresh hill,
and never stopped till he was beneath the glass hill itself. There
he stopped, as if turned to a stone. The hill was high and smooth;
there wasn't a single crack in it. On the top spread the branches of
a wondrous tree, and on the tree swung three lemons, whose scent was
so powerful that the prince almost fainted. 'God help me! Now, as it
shall be, so it will be. Now that I'm once here, I will at any rate
make the attempt,' thought he to himself, and began to climb up the
smooth glass; but scarcely had he ascended a few fathoms when his
foot slipped, and he himself, pop! down the hill, so that he didn't
know where he was, or what he was, till he found himself on the
ground at the bottom. Wearied out, he began to throw away the
dumplings, thinking that their weight was a hindrance to him. He
threw away the first, and lo! the dumpling fixed itself on the glass
hill. He threw a second and a third, and saw before him three steps,
on which he could stand with safety. The prince was overjoyed. He
kept throwing the dumplings before him, and in every case steps
formed themselves from them for him. First he threw the leaden ones,
then the silver, and then the golden ones. By the steps thus
constructed he ascended higher and higher till he happily attained
the topmost ridge of the glass hill. Here he knelt down under the
tree and held up his hands. And lo! the three beautiful lemons flew
down of themselves into the palms of his hands. The tree
disappeared, the glass hill crashed and vanished, and when the
prince came to himself, there was no tree, no hill, but a wide plain
lay extended before him.
He commenced his return homeward with delight. He neither ate nor
drank, nor saw nor heard, for very joy. But when the third day came,
a vacuum began to make itself felt in his stomach. He was so hungry
that he would gladly have then and there betaken himself to the
leaden dumplings if his pocket hadn't been empty. His pocket was
empty, and all around was just as bare as the palm of his hand. Then
he took a lemon out of his pocket and cut it into halves; and what
came to pass? Out of the lemon sprang a beautiful damsel, who made a
reverence before him, and cried out: 'Have you made ready for me to
eat? Have you made ready for me to drink? Have you made pretty
dresses ready for me?' 'I have nothing, beautiful creature, for you
to eat, nothing for you to drink, nothing for you to put on,' said
the prince, in a sorrowful voice, and the beautiful damsel clapped
her white hands thrice before him, made a reverence and vanished.
'Aha! now I know what sort of lemons these are,' said the prince;
'stay! I won't cut them up so lightly.' From the cut one he ate and
drank to his satisfaction, and thus refreshed, proceeded onwards.
But on the third day a hunger three times worse than the preceding,
assailed him. 'God help me!' said he; 'I have still one remaining
over. I'll cut it up.' He then took out the second lemon, cut it in
halves, and lo! a damsel still more beautiful than the preceding one
placed herself before him. 'Have you made ready for me to eat? Have
you made ready for me to drink? Have you made pretty dresses ready
for me?' 'I have not, dear soul! I have not!' and the beautiful
damsel clapped her hands thrice before him, made a reverence, and
vanished.
Now he had only one lemon remaining; he took it in his hand and
said: 'I will not cut you open save in my father's house,' and
therewith proceeded onwards. On the third day he saw, after long
absence, his native town. He didn't know himself how he got there,
when he found himself at once in his father's castle. Tears of joy
bedewed his old father's cheeks: 'Welcome, my son! welcome a hundred
times!' he cried, and fell upon his neck. The prince related how it
had gone with him on his journey, and the members of the household
how anxiously they had waited for him.
On the next day a grand entertainment was prepared; lords and ladies
were invited from all quarters; and beautiful dresses, embroidered
with gold and studded with pearls were got ready. The lords and
ladies assembled, took their seats at the tables, and waited
expectantly to see what would happen. Then the prince took out the
last lemon, cut it in halves, and out of the lemon sprang a lady
thrice as beautiful as had been the preceding ones. 'Have you made
ready for me to eat? Have you made ready for me to drink? Have you
got pretty dresses ready for me?' 'I have, my dear soul, got
everything ready for you,' answered the prince, and presented the
handsome dresses to her. The beautiful damsel put on the beautiful
clothes, and all rejoiced at her extraordinary beauty. Ere long the
betrothal took place, and after the betrothal a magnificent wedding.
Now was fulfilled the old king's wish; he blessed his son, resigned
the kingdom into his hands, and ere long died.
The first thing that occurred to the new king after his father's
death was a war, which a neighbouring king excited against him. Now
he was constrained for the first time to part from his hard-earned
wife. Lest, therefore, anything should happen to her in his absence,
he caused a throne to be erected for her in a garden beside a lake,
which no one could ascend, save the person to whom she let down a
silken cord, and drew that person up to her.
Not far from the royal castle lived an old woman, the same that had
given the prince the counsel about the three lemons. She had a
servant, a gipsy, whom she was in the habit of sending to the lake
for water. She knew very well that the young king had obtained a
wife, and it annoyed her excessively that he had not invited her to
the wedding, nay, had not even thanked her for her good advice. One
day she sent her maidservant to the lake for water. She went, drew
water, and saw a beautiful image in the water. Under the impression
that this was her own reflection, she banged her pitcher on the
ground, so that it flew into a thousand pieces. 'Are you worthy,'
said she, 'that so beautiful a person as myself should carry water
for an old witch like you?' As she uttered this she looked up, and
lo! it wasn't her own reflection that she saw in the water, but that
of the beautiful queen. Ashamed, she picked up the pieces and
returned home. The old woman, who knew beforehand what had occurred,
went out to meet her with a fresh pitcher, and asked her servant,
for appearance' sake, what had happened to her. The servant related
all as it had occurred. 'Well, that's nothing!' said the old woman.
'But, do you know what? Go you once more to the lake, and ask the
lady to let down the silken cord and draw you up, promising to comb
and dress her hair. If she draws you up, you will comb her hair, and
when she falls asleep, stick this pin into her head. Then dress
yourself in her clothes and sit there as queen.'
It wasn't necessary to use much persuasion to the gipsy; she took
the pin, took the pitcher, and returned to the lake. She drew water
and looked at the beautiful queen. 'Dear me! how beautiful you are!
Ah! you are beautiful!' she screamed, and looked with coaxing
gestures into her eyes. 'Yes,' said she; 'but you would be a hundred
times more beautiful if you would let me comb and dress your hair;
in truth, I would so twine those golden locks that your lord could
not help being delighted.' And thus she jabbered, thus she coaxed,
till the queen let down the silken cord and drew her up.
The nasty gipsy combed, separated, and plaited the golden hair till
the beautiful queen fell sound asleep. Then the gipsy drew out the
pin, and stuck it into the sleeping queen's head. At that moment a
beautiful white dove flew off the golden throne, and not a vestige
remained of the lovely queen save her handsome clothes, in which the
gipsy speedily dressed herself, took her seat in the place where the
queen sat before, and gazed into the lake; but the beautiful
reflection displayed itself no more in the lake, for even in the
queen's clothes the gipsy nevertheless remained a gipsy.
The young king was successful in overcoming his enemies, and made
peace with them. Scarcely had he returned to the town, when he went
to the garden to seek his delight, and to see whether anything had
happened to her. But who shall express his astonishment and horror,
when, instead of his beautiful queen, he beheld a sorry gipsy. 'Ah,
my dear, my very dear one, how you have altered!' sighed he, and
tears bedewed his cheeks. 'I have altered, my beloved! I have
altered; for anxiety for you has tortured me,' answered the gipsy,
and wanted to fall upon his neck; but the king turned away from her
and departed in anger. From that time forth he had no settled abode,
no rest; he knew neither day nor night; but merely mourned over the
lost beauty of his wife, and nothing could comfort him.
Thus agitated and melancholy, he was walking one day in the garden.
Here, as he moved about at haphazard, a beautiful white dove flew on
to his hand from a high tree, and looked with mournful gaze into his
bloodshot eyes. 'Ah, my dove! why are you so sad? Has your mate been
transformed like my beautiful wife?' said the young king, talking to
it and caressingly stroking its head and back. But feeling a kind of
protuberance on its head, he blew the feathers apart, and behold!
the head of a pin! Touched with compassion, the king extracted the
pin; that instant the beautiful mourning dove was changed into his
beautiful wife. She narrated to him all that had happened to her,
and how it had happened; how the gipsy had deluded her, and how she
had stuck the pin into her head. The king immediately caused the
gipsy and the old woman to be apprehended and burnt without further
ado.
From that time forth nothing interfered with his happiness, neither
the might of his enemies nor the spite of wicked people. He lived
with his beautiful wife in peace and love; he reigned prosperously,
and is reigning yet, if he be yet alive.