There was once a King who had in his gardens an apple-tree that bore
golden apples. Every day the King went out to count the apples, and no
one was allowed to touch them but himself.
One morning, when the King went out to count them as usual he found
that one of them was gone. He was very much vexed, and ordered that at
night a guard should be set around the garden, that no one might steal
the apples, but the very next morning still another one was missing.
So it happened day after day. Every gate to the garden was carefully
guarded, and yet every morning another apple was gone from the tree,
and they could not tell who had taken it.
Now the King had three sons, and one day the eldest came to his father
and said, “Father, to-night I will watch under the apple-tree, and you
may be sure that no one will be able to come near it without my seeing
him.”
The King was quite willing for his son to keep watch, so that night the
Prince took his place under the tree.
For some hours he sat there and watched, and scarcely winked an eyelid;
but in the middle of the night a light shone around him and he heard a
sound of music. Then, in spite of himself, he fell into a deep sleep,
and when he awoke in the morning another apple had been stolen.
That day the second son came to the King and asked that he might be
allowed to watch the apple-tree that night.
Again the King consented, and as soon as night came the second son went
out and sat under the apple-tree just as his brother had done. Then
just the same thing happened as had happened before. Toward midnight a
light shone around the tree, and there was a sound of music, and then,
do what he would, he could not stay awake. He slept, and while he
slept another apple was taken.
The third day it was the turn of the third son to ask to be allowed to
watch under the apple-tree. But the King refused. “Do you think that
you are cleverer than your brothers?” he asked. “Why should you succeed
when they have failed?” But the Prince begged and entreated until at
last the King gave him permission to watch under the tree.
Now the third Prince was a wise youth; he had heard what happened to
his brothers on the other two nights, so when evening came he stuffed
his ears with cotton, and then he went out and took his place under
the apple-tree. There he sat, and just before midnight a light shone
through the branches, and there was a sound of music. But the young
Prince had stuffed his ears with cotton so he could not hear the music,
and he did not go to sleep.
After the music came a sound of wings, though this, too, the Prince
could not hear, and a golden bird alighted on the apple-tree. The bird
was about to pick one of the apples when the Prince raised his crossbow
and shot a bolt at it.
The bird escaped, but one of its golden feathers fluttered down and
fell at the Prince’s feet. He picked it up, and the next morning he
took it to his father and told him what he had seen in the night.
As soon as the King saw the feather he was filled with the greatest
desire to have the bird. “Life is worth nothing to me without that
bird,” said he. “I would give my kingdom to possess it.”
When the eldest brother heard that, he at once made up his mind to set
out in search of the bird, for he thought it would be a fine thing to
gain the kingdom for himself. He went by himself, taking no one with
him, for he did not wish anyone else to have a hand in the search.
He journeyed on for some distance and then he came to a cross-road, and
there at the cross-roads he saw a little red fox sitting. The Prince
drew his bow to shoot, but the animal called to him, “Do not shoot me,
Prince, and I will give you a piece of good advice that is worth more
than my skin.”
“What can a beast tell me that is worth hearing?” asked the Prince.
“Listen!” said the fox. “I know where you are going, that it is in
search of the Golden Bird, but unless you do as I say you will never
find it. To-night you will reach a village. In this village there are
two inns that stand opposite to each other. One is a fine place. It
will be lighted up, and there will be music and dancing inside. But do
not enter there. The other inn is poor and miserable looking, but that
is where you must stay if you hope to find the Golden Bird.”
“That is foolish talk, and I would be even more foolish to heed it,”
cried the Prince, and again drawing his bow he shot a bolt at the fox.
The bolt missed the mark, and the fox ran away unharmed.
The King’s son rode on, and at nightfall he entered a village. There
on each side of the street stood an inn, and they were just such inns
as the fox had told him of. One was a fine place, well-lighted, and
with dancing and music going on inside. The other was dark and poor and
miserable-looking.
The Prince never gave another thought to the fox’s advice. He turned in
to the fine inn, and there he ate and drank and laughed with those who
were there before him, and forgot all about the Golden Bird, and his
father and the kingdom, too.
Time passed on, and still the eldest son did not return home, and no
one knew what had become of him. Then the second son wished to try his
luck at finding the Golden Bird. The King did not wish him to go, but
the Prince was so eager that at last the father gave his consent.
The Prince journeyed on until he came to the cross-roads, and there sat
the fox, just as it had before. The second son was about to shoot it,
but the little animal called to him to spare its life and it would give
him a piece of good advice.
The Prince was curious to hear what the fox had to say, but after he
had heard of the two inns, and that it was the poor mean-looking one he
must choose, he laughed aloud.
“A pretty piece of advice,” he cried, “and I would be a great simpleton
to follow it.” Then he shot a bolt at the fox, but he missed his aim,
and the little animal ran away unharmed.
Then it happened with the second Prince just as it had with his elder
brother. He came to the two inns just at nightfall, and it was at the
fine well-lighted inn that he stopped. There he spent the night in
feasting and merry-making, and by the next day he had forgotten all
about the Golden Bird, and his father, and the kingdom he had hoped to
gain.
Now when time passed and the second son did not return either, it was
the third Prince who wished to set out upon the search. But, “No, no,”
said his father, “that I cannot allow. I have lost two sons already,
and am I to lose my third son also?”
But the Prince had set his heart on going.
He begged and entreated until the King could no longer refuse him.
The Prince set out upon his journey, and it was not long before he
reached the cross-roads, and found the fox sitting there, just as his
brothers had before him. The Prince had his bow slung at his back, but
he did not draw it.
“Do not shoot me, Prince,” cried the fox, “and I will give you a piece
of good advice.”
“Why should I shoot you?” answered the Prince. “I have no quarrel with
you. And as for your advice, who knows but what it may be well worth
having?”
“Then listen,” said the fox; and he told the Prince about the two inns,
just as he had told the other brothers.
“That may or may not be good advice,” said the Prince, “but at least it
will do me no harm to follow it.”
So when he entered the village he did not go to the fine inn as his
brothers had done. Instead he turned in at the poor, mean-looking inn,
and there he spent the night quietly, and the next day he arose, and
went on his way.
Just outside the village he came across the fox sitting in a field and
waiting for him.
“Prince,” said the fox, “you did well indeed to follow my advice. Now
seat yourself upon my tail and I will carry you on your journey far
faster than you can walk.”
The Prince did as the fox bade him. He seated himself upon its tail and
then away they went, so fast that the wind whistled past the Prince’s
ears. Presently they came within sight of a great castle, and there the
fox stopped. “In that castle is the Golden Bird,” said the fox, “but
now you must go on alone. Follow this road, and it will lead you to
the gate of the castle. All around you will see soldiers lying asleep
on the ground, but do not fear them. They will not awake unless you
disobey what I am about to tell you.”
The fox then told the Prince in which room of the castle he would
find the Golden Bird. “It is in an ugly, mean-looking cage,” said he,
“and close by hangs a handsome golden cage that is empty. But do not
by any means put the bird in the golden cage. Bring it away in the
mean-looking cage, for unless you do this some great misfortune will
come upon you.”
The Prince was so happy to think he was soon to find the Golden Bird
that he scarcely listened to anything else the fox told him.
He sprang from the fox’s tail and hastened along the road to the
castle, and soon he came to the soldiers lying asleep upon the ground.
He went past them safely and they did not wake. He entered the
castle and it did not take him long to find the Golden Bird. There
it was in the very room the fox had told him of. It was in a mean,
common-looking cage, and beside it hung a handsome golden cage that
was empty.
“It is a foolish thing,” thought the Prince, “to put a golden bird in
a cage like that. It would be much better to put it in the cage that
suits it.” So thinking, he took the bird from the ugly cage and put it
in the handsome one. As soon as he did this the bird began to shriek.
This sound awakened the soldiers. They ran in and seized the Prince,
and carried him before the King of the country.
When the King heard how the Prince had tried to steal the Golden Bird
he was very angry. “You deserve to be put to death,” said he, “but I
will spare your life on one condition. If you will bring me the Golden
Horse that goes swifter than the wind, you shall be pardoned, and I
will give you the Golden Bird into the bargain.”
Well, there was no help for it; the Prince had to set out to find the
Golden Horse, but he was very sad, for he did not know where to look
for it, and unless he found it he would have to return and lose his
life.
He went along the road and he had not gone far when he saw the fox
sitting in a field and waiting for him.
“Why did you not follow my advice?” said the fox. “Now you are in a
pretty scrape. But mount upon my tail and I will see what I can do to
help you.”
The Prince seated himself upon the fox’s tail and away they went, over
bush and brake, over rock and brier, so fast the wind whistled by the
Prince’s ears.
Presently they came within sight of another castle, and there the fox
stopped. “Light down,” said he, “for I can carry you no farther. In
the stable of that castle is the Golden Horse you are in search of.
Go on boldly and open the stable door. No one will stop you, for the
stableman is asleep. Only when you find the Golden Horse do not take
the golden saddle that hangs beside the stall. Take the worn old saddle
that lies in the corner. Unless you do as I tell you misfortune will
surely come upon you.”
The Prince scarcely listened to the fox, he was in such a hurry to find
the Golden Horse. He hurried up the road to the stable and opened the
stable door, and no one stopped nor stayed him. There in the stall
stood the Golden Horse, and it shone so that the light from it filled
the whole place. Hanging beside the stall was a golden saddle set
with precious stones, and in the corner lay an old worn-out saddle of
leather. “This golden saddle is the saddle that belongs with the Golden
Horse,” thought the Prince. “It would be a shame to put the other upon
its back.”
So he took down the golden saddle and laid it on the horse. As soon
as he did so, the horse began to neigh and stamp. The sound awoke the
stableman, and he called the guard. The soldiers came running in haste
and seized the Prince and carried him before the King and told him the
youth had been trying to steal the Golden Horse.
“You deserve to die for this,” said the King, “but I will forgive you
on one condition. If you will bring me the Princess of the Golden
Castle for a wife then you shall not only receive my pardon, but the
Golden Horse into the bargain.”
Well, the Prince did not see how he was to find the Princess of the
Golden Castle, but he promised to do his best. He set out and he had
not gone far when he found the fox waiting for him.
“You do not deserve my help,” said the fox. “Why did you disobey me and
put the golden saddle upon the horse? But mount upon my tail. I suppose
I must do the best I can to pull you out of this scrape also.”
The Prince set himself upon the fox’s tail, and away they went again so
fast that the wind whistled through his hair.
On and on they went, and after a time they came to another castle, and
this castle was all of shining gold. “Now listen,” said the fox. “In
this castle lives the beautiful Princess we are in search of. Do you go
and hide yourself by the bathhouse down by the lake. Every night, when
all in the castle are asleep, the Princess comes down to the lake to
bathe. When she comes near the bathhouse you must seize her and kiss
her. Then she will willingly follow you wherever you lead. But whatever
you do do not allow her to go back to bid farewell to her parents. If
you do you may answer for it with your life.”
The Prince promised to do as the fox told him, and then he went away
and hid himself behind the bathhouse.
That night, as soon as all in the castle were asleep, the Princess
came down to the lake to bathe as usual. As soon as she came near the
bathhouse the Prince sprang out from behind it and caught her in his
arms and kissed her. Then the Princess loved him, and was quite willing
to leave her home and her father and mother and follow him.
“But before I follow you, let me go and say good-by to my parents,” she
said, “for they love me dearly, and their hearts will surely break if I
leave them without one word.”
It seemed to the Prince that it would be cruel to refuse what she
asked. Beside, what harm could it do for her to see her parents once
more?
“Very well,” said he. “Go, but return quickly, for we must be off
before the day breaks.”
The Princess hurried away to the room where the King, her father, lay
asleep, and she stooped and kissed him on the forehead. At once the
King awoke and asked her where she was going.
When he heard she was going out into the world to follow an unknown
youth, he sent out and had the Prince brought into the palace. There
the King said to him, “You have come here to steal the Princess from
me, and for this you deserve to die. But I will give you one chance for
your life. Outside my windows is a mountain so high and dark that not
a ray of sunlight ever comes into the castle. If in three days you can
level down this mountain, then I will grant you your life, and give you
my daughter for a bride.”
When the Prince heard this he was in despair, for he did not see how he
could possibly level down a mountain in three years, let alone three
days. However, he took a pick and shovel and set to work. For two days
he dug and shoveled, and at the end of that time he had scarcely dug
away enough to fill a ditch.
At the end of that time the fox came to him. “Now you see how little
you can do,” said he. “You do not deserve that I should help you again,
but I have a soft heart. Do you lie down and rest awhile, and I will do
the work for you.”
The Prince trusted the fox, and he was very tired. He flung himself
down upon the ground, and fell into a deep sleep.
When he awoke the next morning the mountain had disappeared. The place
where it had stood was as flat as the palm of the hand.
When the King looked from his windows and found the mountain gone
he was filled with joy and wonder. “You have indeed fairly won the
Princess,” said he to the Prince, “and I will not say you nay.”
So he gave his daughter to the stranger youth, and much treasure as
well. He also gave them each a horse trapped out in gold and precious
stones, and then the two set out together, riding side by side.
They had not gone far when they met the little red fox, and he was on
the watch for them.
“Now you have indeed won the best of all,” said he. “But it is you and
you alone who should have the Princess for a wife. But in order to keep
her for yourself you must do exactly as I say. First of all you must go
to the King who sent you to the golden castle. When he sees you have
brought the Princess to him, he will gladly give you the Golden Horse.
Mount upon the horse, and when you say farewell to the King and his
court, take the hand of each one in turn. Last of all you must take the
hand of the Princess. Grasp it firmly, and draw her up into the saddle
in front of you, and then ride away for your life. They may pursue you,
but none can overtake you, for the Golden Horse goes faster than the
wind.”
The Prince did exactly as the fox bade him. He took the Princess to the
palace of the King who had sent him to find her. When the King saw her
he gladly gave the Golden Horse to the Prince. The Prince said farewell
to all and then at the last he caught the Princess by the hand and drew
her up in front of him, and away they went faster than the wind, and
none pursed them, for they knew they could never catch them.
After awhile the Prince and Princess came to the fox seated by the road
waiting for them.
“That is well,” said the fox. “You have now the beautiful Princess and
the Golden Horse, but you must have the Golden Bird also.”
The fox then told the Prince what he must do. He must leave the
Princess there to wait for him, and ride on to the palace alone. “When
you reach the palace of the King,” said the fox, “he will gladly give
you the Golden Bird in exchange for the horse. Take the cage in your
hand and then spring upon the horse and ride away with it till you
come to where the Princess is. They will not try to overtake you, for
they know how fast the horse goes. Then you will have all three, the
Princess, the horse, and the bird.”
The Prince did exactly as the little animal bade him. He left the
Princess there with the fox, and rode on to the palace, and it was not
long before he was back again with the Golden Bird in his hand.
“Now you have all your heart desires,” said the fox, “and it is time I
had my reward for serving you.”
“That is true,” said the Prince. “Tell me how to reward you, and if I
can do it, I will.”
“Then take your bow,” said the fox, “and shoot me dead, and after that
cut off my head and paws.”
The Prince was filled with horror. “No, no,” he cried, “that I can
never do.”
“Very well,” said the fox. “If you will not do that, then you can do
nothing for me. I must leave you, but before I go there is one more
piece of advice that I will give you. Beware of two things. Buy no
human flesh and bones, and do not sit on the edge of a well.” Then the
fox left him and ran away into the forest near by.
But the Prince and Princess rode on together. “That was a curious piece
of advice,” said the Prince. “Why should I want to buy human flesh and
bones, and why should I not sit on the edge of a well if it pleases me?”
“Why indeed?” said the Princess.
The two journeyed on until they came to the village where the two inns
stood, and there the Prince stopped at the larger inn to water his
horse, and who should come out to fetch water for the horse but the
Prince’s second brother, and he was all in rags.
“Oh, my dear brother,” cried the Prince, “what has happened to you? Why
are you all in rags?”
“It is because I am in debt to the landlord,” answered the second
Prince. “I spent all my own money and more beside in feasting and
drinking, and now he keeps me as a servant and will not let me go.”
“And our eldest brother—is he here also?”
Yes, he was there also. He too was in debt to the landlord, and was
obliged to work about in the kitchen.
When the youngest brother heard this the tears ran down his cheeks. He
called the landlord to him and paid him all that the two brothers owed,
and bought them free. He also bought for each of them proper clothes
and fine horses to ride upon.
Then they all started home together. But the elder brothers were not
grateful to him. They envied and hated him because he had won the
Princess and the Golden Horse and the bird, and because he would have
their father’s kingdom, too. So they plotted together as to how they
could get rid of him.
They journeyed on for some hours until it was midday and the sun was
hot. Then they came to a place where there was a well with trees around
it.
“Let us sit here and rest awhile,” said the elder brothers, and the
youngest was willing.
They all lighted down from their horses, and then the two elder
brothers seized the younger one and threw him into the well.
After that they took the Princess, the horse, and the bird, and rode on
with them.
When at last they reached the palace of their father there was the
greatest rejoicing. Not only had the princes brought home with them the
Golden Bird, but they had brought the Golden Horse, and the beautiful
Princess as well, and now the kingdom was to be divided between them.
As for the youngest Prince no one knew what had become of him except
his brothers and the Princess.
But the Princess took no part in any of the rejoicings. She sat and
grieved and grieved. The horse would not eat and the bird would not
sing. The King was greatly distressed over all this. He could not guess
what ailed them all.
But though the brothers had thrown the youngest brother into a well,
that was not the last of him by any means. The well was a dry one, and
the Prince fell softly on the moss at the bottom of it, and was not
hurt at all except for a few bruises. But the sides of the well were so
steep that he could not climb out of it, and there in the well he might
have stayed had it not been for the faithful fox. The Prince had not
been long in the well when the fox looked down over the edge of it and
spoke to him.
“You little deserve that I should help you again,” said the fox. “If
you had heeded my warnings all this trouble would not have come upon
you. Nevertheless, I cannot leave you here to perish. Catch hold of my
tail, and I will pull you out.”
The fox then let its tail hang down in the well, the Prince caught hold
of it, and the fox managed to drag him out of the well and up into the
sunlight.
The Prince thanked the fox with tears in his eyes, and then he
journeyed on toward his father’s palace. On the way he met an old
beggar-man, and exchanged clothes with him. He put on the beggar’s
rags, and stained his hands and face so that he was as dark as a gypsy,
and when he came at last into the palace not even his father knew him.
No sooner did he enter the gate of the palace, however, than the bird
began to sing, the horse began to eat, and the Princess wiped away her
tears, and laughed aloud with joy.
The King was amazed. “How is this?” he asked the Princess. “How is it
that you have so suddenly ceased grieving and become cheerful?”
“I know not,” answered the Princess. “Only this morning I was so sad
that my heart was like lead, and now suddenly I feel quite happy, just
as though my own dear promised husband had come home again.”
The Princess then told the King the whole story, how it was the
youngest Prince who had won the bird and the horse, and her also for
his bride; how he had bought his brothers’ lives from the landlord at
the inn, and how they had afterward thrown him into a dry well and left
him there.
“It may be,” said the King, “that my son has in truth come home, and is
here in the palace, and that that is why you feel so happy.”
He then gave orders that everyone in the palace was to come before him.
This was done, and among all the rest came the young Prince disguised
as an old beggar-man.
But though he was disguised the Princess knew him at once. She ran to
him and threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. “You are my own
dear one,” she cried, “and to you and you only do I belong.”
Then there was great rejoicing all through the palace because the
Prince had come home again. But as for the elder brothers they were
sent out from before the King’s presence and punished as they deserved.
Now some time after this as the young Prince was hunting in the forest
he met the little red fox, and it looked very sad and thin and worn.
“Alas!” said he to the Prince, “now you are happy and have everything
your heart can wish, but I am hunted about the world, miserable and
forlorn.”
Then the Prince was filled with pity. “Whatever I can do for you I
will,” he said, “for everything I have I owe to you.”
Then again the fox begged and implored the Prince to shoot it and cut
off its head and its paws. At last the Prince consented.
No sooner had he done as the fox asked him, than instead of the little
animal a handsome young man stood before him. This young man was the
brother of the Princess Beautiful. He had been enchanted, and obliged
to wander about the world in the shape of a fox, but now the young
Prince had broken the enchantment.
The two princes embraced each other tenderly, and returned to the
palace together, and after that they all lived together in the greatest
happiness.
[Illustration]