to the seashore to look for the clothing that the Siren had promised
them. They heard her singing in the distance, and soon they saw her
glide over the waves and come near them, always singing her sweet and
melodious song. She flapped the water with her fins; a large wave
broke into foam on the strand, and rolled back, leaving at the feet of
the wooden-shoe maker a very large and tightly closed chest. Then the
Siren leaped three times out of the water and said to the wooden-shoe
maker,--
“You will find in this chest what I promised you; good-by, till I see
you again, you who have been so good to me! When you want some fish, do
not forget this shore.”
They took the chest away with them to their house; it contained good
clothing made to fit them; and every time that they or their children
wanted to catch fish, they went to the seashore, and in a few moments
they caught an abundance.
For a whole year they did not see the Siren; their purse grew lighter
meanwhile, and the lighter it grew, the more they thought of the Siren.
They often went to the seashore, listening and hoping to hear her voice.
One day they heard her singing in the distance; they ran at once to the
shore, and were very glad to see her gliding over the waves; all along
where she had passed, the sea gleamed like a pathway of fire.
When she came within a little distance, the wooden-shoe maker said to
her,--
“My Siren, I am very glad to see you again; if you will, you can do me
a great service, for I have no longer either bread or money.”
“I will give you,” said the Siren, “enough to fill your purse again.”
After saying these words, she unfolded her fins, and beating the water
around her, she sent to the shore a wave of gold and silver.
“With that,” said she, “you can buy all you need; but if you wish to
keep it, use it well. Hereafter you will see me no more; I am going to
leave this country and go to India.”
The Siren went away after having said this; since then no one has ever
seen her, or heard her sing in the bay of Fresnaye.
PAUL SEBILLOT, “Contes des Paysans et des Pêcheurs.”
[Illustration: ALL THAT WENT UP IN THE AIR BECAME GOLD.]
THE LITTLE HUNCHBACK
A LORRAINE STORY
Once there was a king who had three sons; but he treated only the first
two as his sons: the youngest was a hunchback; only his mother loved
him.
One day the king called the oldest to him and said to him,--
“My son, I should like to have the water which restores youth.”
“My father, I will go after it.”
The king gave him a beautiful carriage drawn by four horses, and as
much gold and silver as he wanted, and the young man started on his
journey.
He had gone two hundred leagues on the way, when he met a shepherd, who
said to him,--
“Prince, my handsome prince, would you help me to set free one of my
sheep which is caught in a thicket?”
“You should not have let it go there,” replied the prince; “I have no
time to lose.”
When he arrived at Pekin, he went to a fine hotel, had his horses taken
out, and ordered a good dinner. He soon made friends, and thought no
more of continuing his journey.
At the end of six months the king, seeing that he did not return,
called his second son, and asked him to go and seek for the water that
restored youth. He gave him a handsome carriage drawn by four horses,
covered with pearls and diamonds. The young man got into it and started
off. After having gone two hundred leagues, he met the shepherd, who
said to him,--
“Prince, my handsome prince, would you help me to set free one of my
sheep which is caught in a thicket?”
“For whom do you take me?” answered the prince. “You should not have
let it go there.”
He arrived at Pekin, where he lodged in the same hotel as his brother.
He also soon made friends and did not think of going any farther. The
king waited a year, and seeing that he did not return, he said to
himself: “I have no more children! Who, then, will wear my crown?” He
thought no more of the little hunchback than if he had not been in the
world.
Meanwhile the latter fell sick. They sent for a physician; the young
prince told him that he was ill of grief seeing that his father did
not love him, and that he wished very much to travel. The physician
repeated these words to the king, who came to see his son.
“My father,” said the little hunchback to him, “I would like to go
after the water that restores youth, and I will not do as my brothers
did; I will bring it back with me.”
“You can go if you wish,” said the king.
He gave him an old carriage that had only three wheels, an old horse
that had only three legs, very little money,--though the queen added
something to that,--and the prince set out.
After having gone two hundred leagues, he met the shepherd, who said to
him,--
“Prince, my handsome prince, would you help me to set free one of my
sheep which is caught in a thicket?”
“Willingly,” said the prince.
And he helped the shepherd to set free his sheep. When he had gone
away, the shepherd, remembering that he had given him nothing for his
trouble, called him back and said to him,--
“Prince, I forgot to reward you. Here, take these arrows; all that
these arrows pierce will be well pierced. Here is a flageolet; all who
hear it will dance.”
The prince went on his way and arrived at Pekin. When he passed by the
hotel where his brothers lodged, the latter, who were on the steps,
were ashamed of him and went into the house. The poor little hunchback
alighted at a miserable inn, where he unhitched his horse himself;
then he took with him a guide to show him the city. As he was walking
along he saw a dead man who had been left unburied.
“Why do they not bury this man?” asked he.
“Because he had a great many creditors and could not pay them.”
“If they were paid for him, would they have him buried?”
“Yes, certainly.”
The prince sent for the creditors, paid the dead man’s debts, and gave
the money to have him buried. After that he continued his journey. One
day a good old woman received him in her little house and gave him
something to eat and drink; he paid her generously and then went on
farther.
When he had gone two hundred leagues more, he found that all his money
was gone and he had no longer anything to eat. His horse was more
fortunate than himself; he could browse a little on the grass along
the road. A fox passed by; the prince was about to let fly one of his
arrows at him, when the fox cried to him,--
“Wretch! what are you going to do? would you kill me?”
The prince, seized with fright, put his arrow back into the quiver.
Then the fox gave him a napkin in which he found something to eat and
drink, and said to him,--
“You are looking for the water that restores youth? It is in that
castle very far below there. The castle is guarded by an ogre, by
tigers, and by lions. To reach it, it is necessary to cross a river;
on this river you will see a boat, which the same man has steered
for eighteen hundred years. Be very careful to enter the boat feet
foremost; for if you should get in backwards, you would take the man’s
place forever. When you reach the castle, do not allow yourself to be
charmed by the magnificence that you will find there. You will see in
the stables mules adorned with plates of gold: take the ugliest one:
you will see also two green birds: take the ugliest one.”
The prince was careful to enter the boat feet foremost, and arrived at
the castle; he was just going to take the mule and the bird when the
ogre came in.
“What are you doing here?” said the ogre to him.
The prince excused himself, bowed to him, and asked his pardon. The
ogre said to him,--
“I will not eat you; you are too thin.”
He gave him something to eat and to drink, and the prince remained
at the castle, where he had everything he wanted. The ogre sent him
to fight his enemies, beasts like himself; the prince, thanks to his
arrows, won the fight and brought back the skins. He fought five or six
times and was always conqueror.
Now there was in the castle a princess whom the ogre wished to marry,
but who did not want him. One day, when the prince had won a great
fight, he took a notion to play a tune on his flageolet. The princess
was at table with the ogre; as they heard the marvelous flageolet, they
began to dance together, without knowing at first whence the music
came. When the ogre saw that it was the prince who was playing, he made
him come to the table, and said to him,--
“Ask me what you will; I will grant it.”
He thought surely that the prince would ask of him permission to go
away.
“I ask,” said the prince, “for what is most beautiful here, and for
permission to go over the castle three times.”
The ogre consented to it. There was so much gold in the castle that
they did not know what to do with it; but the prince did not touch it:
he took the uglier of the two green birds, and the ugliest mule, which
stepped seven leagues at a time, and did not forget a vial of the water
which restores youth; then he put the princess, who was a party to the
whole thing, on the mule. Instead of going over the castle three times,
he only went twice and ran off with the princess. As soon as the ogre
found it out, he went in pursuit of them, but he could not catch them.
The young man met the fox the second time; and the fox said to him,--
“If you see any one in trouble, be sure not to help them out.”
A little farther on, he was very kindly received by the good old woman
in her little house. At last he arrived at Pekin with the princess. On
one of the squares there was a gallows erected.
“For whom is that gallows?” asked the prince.
He was told that it was for two young strangers who were to be hung
that day. At that moment the condemned men were brought out; he
recognized his brothers. He asked what their crime was.
He was told that they had contracted debts which they were not able to
pay.
The young man assembled the creditors, paid them, and set his brothers
free; then they set out together on the road to their father’s kingdom.
The little hunchback had given the mule to his oldest brother; to the
other, the green bird; and the water which restores youth, he kept
for himself and the princess. Still his brothers were not satisfied;
together they sought out opportunities to get rid of him, and the
princess, who saw their jealousy, was distressed on account of it.
One day as they were passing by a well which was three hundred feet
deep, the two elder brothers said to the youngest,--
“Look at that beautiful well!”
And as he leaned over to look, they pushed him in and carried off the
princess, the mule, and the bird. When they arrived at the castle,
the princess was in a fainting condition; the mule and the bird were
dejected. They put the mule in an old stable, the bird in an old cage.
The water could not restore the king’s youth: they put it in a corner
among the old rugs.
Meanwhile the poor prince sent up loud cries from the bottom of the
well; the fox hastened to him and went down into the well.
“I charged you especially not to help any one out of trouble. However,
I am going to help you to get out of this place; hold fast to my tail.”
The young man did as he was told, and the fox climbed up; he had almost
reached the top when his tail broke, and the young man fell back to the
bottom of the well. The fox tied his tail on again, rubbing it with
grease, and took the prince on his back. Once more in the open air,
he straightened him up, and the young man; disburdened of his hunch,
became an elegant prince.
He went to the castle of the king, his father, and had himself
announced as a great physician, saying that he could cure the king
and the princess. At first he went into the stable; at once the mule
took on a handsome hide and began to neigh: he approached the bird; it
resumed its beautiful plumage and began to sing. He gave his father
some of the water which restores youth; the king became young again
immediately and got up out of his sick-bed. The princess was restored
to health as soon as she saw the young man. Then the prince made
himself known to his father and told him what had happened; then the
bird spoke in its turn and told the whole story over again.
The elder sons of the king were out hunting. The king had their young
brother concealed behind the door; and when they came in, he said to
them,--
“I have just heard of a strange adventure which took place in one of
the cities of my kingdom. Three young men were walking together on the
shore of the lake; two of them threw their companion into the lake.
Give Solomon’s judgment; what punishment do these men deserve?”
“They deserve death.”
“Miserable creatures! then you also deserve it. You shall not be thrown
into the water, but you shall be burned.”
The sentence was executed. Afterwards they made a great feast, and the
young prince married the princess.
EMMANUEL COSQUIN, “Contes Populaires Lorrains.”
THE PRINCESS OF TRONKOLAINE
A STORY OF LOWER BRITANNY
Once upon a time there was a poor coal-man who had already had
twenty-five children baptized. God sent him the twenty-sixth, and he
set out to look for a godfather and godmother for it. He saw the king
pass in his carriage, and knelt down in the mud to greet him. The king
threw him a piece of gold.
“This is not what I am in search of at this moment, although I am in
great need of it,” said the coal-man; “I want a godfather for the
twenty-sixth child that my wife has just presented me.”
“Twenty-six children, my poor man!” exclaimed the king. “Ah! well! come
to the church to-morrow with your child and a godmother, and I will be
the godfather, myself.”
The coal-man was promptly at the appointed place; he took with him the
godmother, and the king arrived also at the hour agreed upon.
The child was baptized, and named Louis. The godfather gave the father
a purse full of gold and told him to send his son to school when he
was ten years old. He gave him also half of a platine, keeping the
other half himself, and charging him to give it to his son when he
should have reached the age of eighteen, to bring it back to him at his
court at Paris. He would recognize him by this sign. Then he went away.
The child was put to school when he was ten years old, and as he was
intelligent, he made rapid progress. When he was eighteen, his father
gave him the half-platine, and told him to go and take it to his
godfather, the king of France, at his palace in Paris. Until then he
had concealed from him who his godfather was. He gave him also one of
his horses, a jade used for hauling coal, and the young man set out.
As he was going along a long and narrow street, he met a little old
woman, bending over her stick, who said to him,--
“Good morning, Louis, godson of the king of France.”
“Good morning, grandmother,” answered Louis, astonished at being known
to the old woman.
“Almost immediately, my child,” said the latter, “you will come to a
spring by the roadside, and you will see some one there who will invite
you to get down from your horse and quench your thirst; do not listen
to him, but go on your way.”
“Thanks, grandmother,” answered the young man. And he passed along.
Sure enough, a moment after, he came to a spring near which there was a
person of disagreeable countenance, who cried to him,--
“Come, Louis! stop a moment, and get down from your horse.”
“I have not time,” answered Louis; “I am in a hurry.”
“Come, I tell you, quench your thirst at this spring,--the water is
delicious,--and converse a little; you do not recognize me, then--one
of your schoolmates?”
Louis, hearing these last words, got down from his horse; but he did
not recognize the pretended schoolmate. Nevertheless, he started
to drink from the spring, and as he was leaning over the water to
drink out of the hollow of his hand, the other, with one hunch of
his shoulder, threw him into it; then he took away his half-platine,
mounted his horse and departed. Poor Louis got out of the water as
well as he could and began to run after the thief. The horse was old
and foundered, so that at last he overtook him, and they entered the
courtyard of the king’s palace together. The king, at sight of the
half-platine, had no doubt that the bearer of it was his godson, and
welcomed him heartily, although he thought him ill-looking. He asked
him also, who the young man was who accompanied him.
“That is a young countryman, godfather,” replied he, “who followed me,
hoping to find employment at your court.”
“Very well,” answered the king; “occupation shall be found for him.”
He was, in fact, employed as a stable-boy, while the other followed the
king everywhere, dressed like a prince, and had nothing to do every day
but eat, drink, and go out walking.
Very soon the pretended godson, wishing to get rid of Louis, the sight
of whom annoyed him, said to the king one day,--
“If you could only know, godfather, what the stable-boy from my country
boasts that he will do!”
“What does he boast that he will do?” asked the king.
“That he will go and ask the sun why he is red when he rises in the
morning.”
“Indeed? Very well; let him go, for I am really very curious to know
why.”
And poor Louis was obliged to start off to go to see the sun, although
he declared that he had never said anything of the sort.
As he was going sadly along by the seashore, he met a venerable old
man, who asked him,--
“Where are you going, my son?”
“Truly, grandfather,” he replied, “I do not know at all. I was told
that, under pain of death, I should find out from the sun why he is so
red when he rises in the morning, and I do not know where to find the
sun.”
“Well! my son, I will help you to find him.” And showing him a wooden
horse, he said,--
“Jump on this horse, which will rise in the air, at your command, and
carry you to the foot of a mountain on the summit of which is the
castle of the sun. Leave the horse at the foot of the mountain, where
you will find it again on your return, and go alone to the castle.”
Louis mounted the wooden horse, which rose at once into the air and put
him down at the foot of a high mountain. He climbed the mountain with
difficulty, and when at last he reached the summit, he saw a place so
fine, so resplendent, that he was dazzled by it. It was the palace of
the sun. He knocked at the door. An old woman came and opened it for
him.
“Is my lord the sun at home?” asked he.
“No, my child; but he will soon return,” answered the old woman.
“I will wait for him, then.”
“But, my poor child, my son will be very hungry when he comes; he might
very likely eat you up.”
“I beg you, madam, do not let him eat me, for I must speak to him.”
“Very well! come in at any rate, my boy, and I will try to manage it.”
And he went in. The sun arrived a little while after, calling out,--
“I am hungry, I am very hungry, mother!” Then having sniffed the air;
“I smell the smell of a Christian. There is a Christian here, and I am
going to eat him.”
“Oh, yes,” said his mother; “it’s very likely that I should give you
_this_ poor, pretty child to eat. _There_ is your supper all ready; eat
it quickly and keep silent, or look out for my stick!”
The sun hung his head, at this threat, like a timid child, and began to
eat in silence. When he had finished, Louis, emboldened by seeing him
so gentle, put this question to him,--
“I should like very much to know, my lord the sun, why you are so red,
so handsome, when you rise in the morning.”
“I will tell you willingly,” answered the sun; “it is because the
castle of the princess of Tronkolaine is near here, and she is so
beautiful that I have to show myself in all my splendor so as not to be
surpassed by her.”
“I am very much obliged, my lord, the sun,” answered Louis.
And he bowed low and went away. He went down the mountain again,
mounted his wooden horse, which was waiting for him, and quickly
returned to the king’s court.
“Well?” said the latter to him, “have you really been all the way to
the sun, and can you tell me now why he is red when he rises in the
morning?”
“Yes, sire; I can tell you why.”
“Let us hear it, then.”
“It is in order not to be eclipsed by the Princess Tronkolaine, whose
castle is near his own, and who is the most wonderful beauty in
existence.” The king appeared satisfied with the explanation.
But some time after that the false godson said again,--
“If you could know, godfather, how this stable-boy still brags!”
“What does he brag about?” asked the king.
“Of being able to bring the Princess Tronkolaine herself to your court
so that you can marry her.”
“Indeed! has he boasted of that? Very well! he must do it, or death is
his only portion.”
And poor Louis was obliged to attempt this adventure, in spite of all
his protestations of never having said any such thing. Fortunately for
him, he met again on the road the unknown old man, who said to him,--
“Go back to the king, and tell him that in order to accomplish your
enterprise you must have a ship loaded with wheat, bacon, and beef,
that you may distribute these provisions among the kings of the ants,
the sparrow-hawks, and the lions which you will meet on your way, and
which, if you feast them well, will be useful to you later.”
He obtained the ship loaded with provisions. Then the old man gave him
besides a white stick, by means of which he could obtain a favorable
wind from whatever direction he should turn it toward. He set sail,
passed by the kingdoms of the ants, the sparrow-hawks, and the lions,
and regaled all these animals as well as he could, and they all
promised to come to his help as soon as he called them.
Then he landed on an island. In the middle of the island there was
a magnificent castle. It was there that the princess of Tronkolaine
dwelt. He saw her, beside a fountain, combing her blond hair with a
golden comb, and a large-toothed comb of ivory. He plucked an orange
from an orange-tree near by and threw it into the fountain. The
princess turned, saw him, smiled at him, and told him to come forward.
Then she led him to her castle, feasted him on exquisite meats and
delicious fruits, and invited him to remain with her. At the end of a
fortnight’s stay at the castle Louis asked the princess if she would
agree to follow him to the court of France.
“Willingly,” she answered, “when you shall have done all the work there
is to do here.”
“Tell me, princess, what you wish me to do, and if it is possible, I
will do it.”
The next morning the princess took him to the barn of the castle, and
showed him a great heap of mixed grain.
“There,” said she, “is a heap of mixed grain,--wheat, rye, and barley.
You must put each kind of grain in a pile by itself, without making a
mistake in a single grain, and it must be done by sunset.” Then she
went away.
Louis called the ant to his assistance, and the sorting was done
perfectly by the appointed hour. So when the princess came at sunset,
she was very much astonished. She examined carefully, and not finding a
single grain of a different sort in any one of the three piles,--
“It is very well done,” said she.
“Will you come with me now, princess?” asked Louis of her again.
“Not yet; I have something else to ask of you first.”
Accordingly, the next morning, she gave him a wooden axe, and having
led him into the great avenue of the castle, she said to him, showing
him the great oaks,--
“You must cut down all these trees before sunset, with your wooden
axe.” Then she went away.
As soon as the princess was gone, Louis called the lions to his
assistance, and when she returned at sunset, there was not a single
tree left standing in the avenue. Her astonishment was greater than
before.
“Will you follow me now, princess?” asked Louis.
“I have still another task--a last test to give you,” she answered;
“and if you get through it as successfully as the others, nothing shall
then prevent me from following you.”
The next morning the princess led him to the foot of a high mountain,
and said to him,--
“Here is a mountain which obscures my palace and prevents my seeing at
a distance, and I desire that it shall disappear by the setting of the
sun.” And she went away again.
This time Louis called the sparrow-hawks to his assistance, and they
were so numerous that with their beaks and claws they soon made the
mountain disappear, and leveled down the earth. When the princess
returned at sunset,--
“Well, princess, are you satisfied?” said Louis.
“Yes,” she replied, “you have not your equal on the earth; and now I
will follow you where you will.”
Then she gave him a kiss. They went towards the sea after that. The
ship in which Louis had come to the island was there waiting for him.
They went aboard of her and reached the continent without hindrance.
During the voyage, the princess let the key of her castle fall into the
sea, without saying anything of it to Louis.
The old man was waiting for them on the other side of the water.
“Well, my son,” said he to Louis, “did you succeed?”
“Yes, grandfather, thanks to you, and may God bless you.”