(23) From the Bukowinaer. Von Wliolocki.
A young Prince was riding one day through a meadow that stretched for
miles in front of him, when he came to a deep open ditch. He was turning
aside to avoid it, when he heard the sound of someone crying in the
ditch. He dismounted from his horse, and stepped along in the direction
the sound came from. To his astonishment he found an old woman, who
begged him to help her out of the ditch. The Prince bent down and lifted
her out of her living grave, asking her at the same time how she had
managed to get there.
‘My son,’ answered the old woman, ‘I am a very poor woman, and soon
after midnight I set out for the neighbouring town in order to sell my
eggs in the market on the following morning; but I lost my way in the
dark, and fell into this deep ditch, where I might have remained for
ever but for your kindness.’
Then the Prince said to her, ‘You can hardly walk; I will put you on my
horse and lead you home. Where do you live?’
‘Over there, at the edge of the forest in the little hut you see in the
distance,’ replied the old woman.
The Prince lifted her on to his horse, and soon they reached the hut,
where the old woman got down, and turning to the Prince said, ‘Just wait
a moment, and I will give you something.’ And she disappeared into her
hut, but returned very soon and said, ‘You are a mighty Prince, but
at the same time you have a kind heart, which deserves to be rewarded.
Would you like to have the most beautiful woman in the world for your
wife?’
‘Most certainly I would,’ replied the Prince.
So the old woman continued, ‘The most beautiful woman in the whole world
is the daughter of the Queen of the Flowers, who has been captured by a
dragon. If you wish to marry her, you must first set her free, and this
I will help you to do. I will give you this little bell: if you ring it
once, the King of the Eagles will appear; if you ring it twice, the King
of the Foxes will come to you; and if you ring it three times, you will
see the King of the Fishes by your side. These will help you if you are
in any difficulty. Now farewell, and heaven prosper your undertaking.’
She handed him the little bell, and there disappeared hut and all, as
though the earth had swallowed her up.
Then it dawned on the Prince that he had been speaking to a good fairy,
and putting the little bell carefully in his pocket, he rode home and
told his father that he meant to set the daughter of the Flower Queen
free, and intended setting out on the following day into the wide world
in search of the maid.
So the next morning the Prince mounted his fine horse and left his home.
He had roamed round the world for a whole year, and his horse had died
of exhaustion, while he himself had suffered much from want and misery,
but still he had come on no trace of her he was in search of. At last
one day he came to a hut, in front of which sat a very old man. The
Prince asked him, ‘Do you not know where the Dragon lives who keeps the
daughter of the Flower Queen prisoner?’
‘No, I do not,’ answered the old man. ‘But if you go straight along
this road for a year, you will reach a hut where my father lives, and
possibly he may be able to tell you.’
The Prince thanked him for his information, and continued his journey
for a whole year along the same road, and at the end of it came to
the little hut, where he found a very old man. He asked him the same
question, and the old man answered, ‘No, I do not know where the Dragon
lives. But go straight along this road for another year, and you will
come to a hut in which my father lives. I know he can tell you.’
And so the Prince wandered on for another year, always on the same road,
and at last reached the hut where he found the third old man. He put
the same question to him as he had put to his son and grandson; but this
time the old man answered, ‘The Dragon lives up there on the mountain,
and he has just begun his year of sleep. For one whole year he is always
awake, and the next he sleeps. But if you wish to see the Flower Queen’s
daughter go up the second mountain: the Dragon’s old mother lives there,
and she has a ball every night, to which the Flower Queen’s daughter
goes regularly.’
So the Prince went up the second mountain, where he found a castle all
made of gold with diamond windows. He opened the big gate leading into
the courtyard, and was just going to walk in, when seven dragons rushed
on him and asked him what he wanted?
The Prince replied, ‘I have heard so much of the beauty and kindness of
the Dragon’s Mother, and would like to enter her service.’
This flattering speech pleased the dragons, and the eldest of them said,
‘Well, you may come with me, and I will take you to the Mother Dragon.’
They entered the castle and walked through twelve splendid halls, all
made of gold and diamonds. In the twelfth room they found the Mother
Dragon seated on a diamond throne. She was the ugliest woman under the
sun, and, added to it all, she had three heads. Her appearance was a
great shock to the Prince, and so was her voice, which was like the
croaking of many ravens. She asked him, ‘Why have you come here?’
The Prince answered at once, ‘I have heard so much of your beauty and
kindness, that I would very much like to enter your service.’
‘Very well,’ said the Mother Dragon; ‘but if you wish to enter my
service, you must first lead my mare out to the meadow and look after
her for three days; but if you don’t bring her home safely every
evening, we will eat you up.’
The Prince undertook the task and led the mare out to the meadow.
But no sooner had they reached the grass than she vanished. The Prince
sought for her in vain, and at last in despair sat down on a big stone
and contemplated his sad fate. As he sat thus lost in thought, he
noticed an eagle flying over his head. Then he suddenly bethought him of
his little bell, and taking it out of his pocket he rang it once. In a
moment he heard a rustling sound in the air beside him, and the King of
the Eagles sank at his feet.
‘I know what you want of me,’ the bird said. ‘You are looking for the
Mother Dragon’s mare who is galloping about among the clouds. I will
summon all the eagles of the air together, and order them to catch the
mare and bring her to you.’ And with these words the King of the Eagles
flew away. Towards evening the Prince heard a mighty rushing sound in
the air, and when he looked up he saw thousands of eagles driving the
mare before them. They sank at his feet on to the ground and gave the
mare over to him. Then the Prince rode home to the old Mother Dragon,
who was full of wonder when she saw him, and said, ‘You have succeeded
to-day in looking after my mare, and as a reward you shall come to my
ball to-night.’ She gave him at the same time a cloak made of copper,
and led him to a big room where several young he-dragons and she-dragons
were dancing together. Here, too, was the Flower Queen’s beautiful
daughter. Her dress was woven out of the most lovely flowers in the
world, and her complexion was like lilies and roses. As the Prince was
dancing with her he managed to whisper in her ear, ‘I have come to set
you free!’
Then the beautiful girl said to him, ‘If you succeed in bringing the
mare back safely the third day, ask the Mother Dragon to give you a foal
of the mare as a reward.’
The ball came to an end at midnight, and early next morning the Prince
again led the Mother Dragon’s mare out into the meadow. But again she
vanished before his eyes. Then he took out his little bell and rang it
twice.
In a moment the King of the Foxes stood before him and said: ‘I know
already what you want, and will summon all the foxes of the world
together to find the mare who has hidden herself in a hill.’
With these words the King of the Foxes disappeared, and in the evening
many thousand foxes brought the mare to the Prince.
Then he rode home to the Mother-Dragon, from whom he received this time
a cloak made of silver, and again she led him to the ball-room.
The Flower Queen’s daughter was delighted to see him safe and sound,
and when they were dancing together she whispered in his ear: ‘If you
succeed again to-morrow, wait for me with the foal in the meadow. After
the ball we will fly away together.’
On the third day the Prince led the mare to the meadow again; but once
more she vanished before his eyes. Then the Prince took out his little
bell and rang it three times.
In a moment the King of the Fishes appeared, and said to him: ‘I know
quite well what you want me to do, and I will summon all the fishes
of the sea together, and tell them to bring you back the mare, who is
hiding herself in a river.’
Towards evening the mare was returned to him, and when he led her home
to the Mother Dragon she said to him:
‘You are a brave youth, and I will make you my body-servant. But what
shall I give you as a reward to begin with?’
The Prince begged for a foal of the mare, which the Mother Dragon at
once gave him, and over and above, a cloak made of gold, for she had
fallen in love with him because he had praised her beauty.
So in the evening he appeared at the ball in his golden cloak; but
before the entertainment was over he slipped away, and went straight to
the stables, where he mounted his foal and rode out into the meadow to
wait for the Flower Queen’s daughter. Towards midnight the beautiful
girl appeared, and placing her in front of him on his horse, the
Prince and she flew like the wind till they reached the Flower Queen’s
dwelling. But the dragons had noticed their flight, and woke their
brother out of his year’s sleep. He flew into a terrible rage when
he heard what had happened, and determined to lay siege to the Flower
Queen’s palace; but the Queen caused a forest of flowers as high as the
sky to grow up round her dwelling, through which no one could force a
way.
When the Flower Queen heard that her daughter wanted to marry the
Prince, she said to him: ‘I will give my consent to your marriage
gladly, but my daughter can only stay with you in summer. In winter,
when everything is dead and the ground covered with snow, she must come
and live with me in my palace underground.’ The Prince consented to
this, and led his beautiful bride home, where the wedding was held with
great pomp and magnificence. The young couple lived happily together
till winter came, when the Flower Queen’s daughter departed and went
home to her mother. In summer she returned to her husband, and their
life of joy and happiness began again, and lasted till the approach of
winter, when the Flower Queen’s daughter went back again to her mother.
This coming and going continued all her life long, and in spite of it
they always lived happily together.