and I! What a foolish young man that Prince of yours is to think I'd let
him carry you off! Urrh! Urrh! Urrh!"
"Yes," the Princess agreed, "he is foolish or he would never suppose his
horse could outrace yours."
"Urrh! Urrh!" the dragon purred. "You're right! He seems to think my
horse is an ordinary horse. Why, I got my horse from the Old Woman of
the Mountain and the only other horse in the world that can outstrip him
is another horse that the Old Woman still has. The Prince would have a
hard time getting him!"
The Princess still scratching the dragon behind his ears, just where he
loved it most, asked softly:
"Why?"
"Urrh! Urrh! Urrh! Because the Old Woman will never give that horse away
until a man comes along who is able to guard for three nights in
succession the Old Woman's mare and foal. Any one who attempts this and
fails she kills. But even if a man were to succeed he would never get
the right horse for the old witch would palm off another on him. Urrh!
Urrh! Urrh! Oh, that feels good, my dear!"
"How would she do that?" the Princess asked.
"Urrh! Urrh! Urrh! You see she says to every man who undertakes to guard
the mare: 'If you succeed you may have any horse in my stable.' Then she
shows him twelve beautiful stallions with shiny coats, but she doesn't
show him a scrawny miserable looking beast that lies neglected on the
dung heap. Yet this is the magic horse and brother to mine."
Now the Princess knew all she needed to know and the next day when the
Prince came she told him what the dragon had said. So the Prince at once
set out to find the Old Woman of the Mountain.
He traveled three days over waste places and through strange lands. On
the first day as he was riding along the shores of a lake he heard a
little voice crying out:
"Help me, brother, help me and--who knows?--some day I may help you!"
The Prince looked down and saw a fish that was floundering on the sand.
He dismounted to get the fish and throw it back into the water.
"Take one of my scales," the fish said. "Then if ever you need my help
just rub the scale."
So the Prince, before he threw the fish into the lake, scraped off a
scale and tied it in a corner of his handkerchief. Then he rode on.
The second day a fox that had been caught in a trap called out to him:
"Help me, brother, help me and--who knows?--some day I may help you!"
The Prince opened the trap and the fox, before it limped away, gave the
Prince one of its hairs and said:
"If ever you need me, rub this hair."
The third day he met a raven that had fallen on a thorn and was pinned
to the ground.
"Help me, brother, help me!" the raven begged, "and--who knows?--some
day I may help you!"
The Prince lifted the raven off the thorn and the raven, before it flew
away, gave the Prince one of its feathers saying:
"If ever you need me, rub this feather."
So the Prince reached the house of the Old Woman of the Mountain with
the fish's scale, the fox's hair, and the raven's feather each safely
tied in a corner of his handkerchief.
The Old Woman of the Mountain was an ugly old witch with a long nose
that hooked down and a long chin that hooked up.
"Ha! Ha!" she cackled when she saw the Prince. "Another one that wants
service with the Old Woman, eh?"
"Yes," said the Prince.
"You know the conditions?" the Old Woman said. "Guard my mare and her
foal for three nights in succession and you may have any horse in my
stable. But if she escapes you, then your head is mine and I'll stick it
up there as a warning to other rash young men."
The Old Woman pointed to a high picket fence that surrounded the
courtyard. On every picket but one there was a grinning human skull. The
Prince looked and the only picket that had no skull called out:
"I want my skull, granny! I want my skull!"
The Old Woman gave a wicked laugh.
"You see," she said, "we were expecting you!"
When night fell the Prince led out the mare and her foal to a grassy
meadow. To make sure that she would not escape him, he mounted her.
Midnight came and he must have fallen asleep for suddenly he awoke to
find himself astride a rail with an empty bridle in his hand. In despair
he looked in all directions. At one end of the meadow was a pond.
"She may have gone there to drink," he said to himself.
At the pond he saw a hoofprint.
[Illustration: _The Old Woman of the Mountain and the Wonder Horse_]
"Ah," he thought, "if my fish were here, it could tell me."
He untied the corner of the handkerchief that had the fish scale, rubbed
the scale gently, and at once a little voice called out from the water:
"What is it, brother? Can I help you?"
"Can you tell me what has become of the Old Woman's mare and foal?"
"Aye, brother, that I can! She and the foal are turned into fish and are
down here in the water hiding amongst us. Strike the water three times
with the bridle and say: 'Mare of the Old Woman, come out!' That will
bring her!"
The Prince did this. There was a commotion in the water, a big fish and
a little fish leaped high in the air, fell on shore, and instantly
changed to mare and foal. When morning came the Prince drove them back
to the Old Woman.
She grinned and pretended to be pleased but, when she had the mare alone
in the stable, the Prince heard her beating the poor creature and
saying:
"Why didn't you do as I told you and hide among the fishes?"
"I did," whinnied the mare, "but the fishes are his friends and he found
me!"
"To-night," the Old Woman snarled, "hide among the foxes and this time
don't let him find you! Do you hear me? The foxes!"
The Prince remembered this and the second night when he awoke to find
himself again sitting astride a rail and holding an empty bridle in his
hand, he untied the second corner of his handkerchief, took out the
fox's hair, and rubbed it gently.
Instantly he heard a little bark and the fox's voice said:
"What is it, brother? Can I help you?"
"Can you tell me," the Prince asked, "what has become of the Old Woman's
mare and foal?"
"Aye, brother, that I can! She and the foal are turned into foxes and
are over in yonder woods now hiding among my people. Strike the earth
three times with the bridle and say: 'Mare of the Old Woman, come back!'
That will bring her!"
The Prince did this and instantly two foxes, a vixen and a cub, came
trotting out of the woods and when they reached the Prince they changed
back to mare and foal.
In the morning the Prince drove them home to the Old Woman. As before
she grinned and pretended to be pleased but when she had the mare alone
in the stable the Prince heard her giving the poor creature another
beating and saying:
"Why didn't you do as I told you and hide among the foxes?"
"I did," whinnied the mare, "but the foxes are his friends, too, and he
found me!"
"To-night," the Old Woman ordered, "hide among the ravens and this time
don't let him find you!"
The third night the Prince tried hard to stay awake but sleep again
overcame him and when he woke he found himself for the third time
sitting astride a rail and holding the empty bridle in his hand. But he
remembered the Old Woman's words and at once opened the third corner of
his handkerchief and taking out the raven's feather rubbed it gently.
There was a flutter of wings and a raven's hoarse voice said:
"Caw! Caw! What is it, brother? Can I help you?"
"Can you tell me what has become of the Old Woman's mare and foal?"
"Aye, brother, that I can! She and the foal are turned into ravens and
are perched in yonder tall fir tree hiding among my folk. Strike the
trunk of the tree three times with your bridle and say: 'Mare of the
Old Woman, come down!' That will bring her!"
The Prince went over to the fir tree, struck it three times with the
bridle and said:
"Mare of the Old Woman, come down!"
Instantly two ravens, a big one and a fledgling, fluttered to earth and
changed to mare and foal. So when morning came the Prince was able to
drive them back to the Old Woman and claim his reward.
The Old Woman was angry enough to kill him but she pretended to be
pleased and she smiled and grinned and she patted the Prince on the arm
and said:
"Aye, my son, but you are a hero! You have won the reward and you are
worthy of it. Choose now the finest horse in my stable. It is yours."
She drove the twelve handsome stallions out into the courtyard and urged
them on the Prince one after the other. But at each the Prince shook his
head.
"I am only a poor adventurer," he said. "Such horses as these are too
fine for me. Give me rather that poor mangy creature that lies over
yonder on the dung heap. That is the one I choose."
Then the Old Woman fell into an awful rage and shook and chattered and
begged the Prince not to take that horse.
"It would shame me," she said, "to have you ride off on that poor beast
which is half dead already! No, no, my son, you mustn't take him!"
"But that's the one I'm going to take," the Prince said firmly, "that
and none other!" He drew his sword and lifted it threateningly. "I have
won whatever horse I choose and now, Old Woman, if you do not keep your
bargain I shall strike you dead with this sword and stick up your
grinning skull on that empty picket!"
At that the empty picket began to shout:
"I want my skull! I want my skull!"
When the Old Woman of the Mountain saw that the Prince knew what he was
about, she gave up trying to deceive him and let him lead off the horse
he wanted. So the Prince walked away dragging the poor mangy creature
after him. When he was out of sight of the Old Woman's house, he turned
to the horse and began rubbing down his rough coat and patting his
wobbly legs.
"Now, my beauty," he said, "we'll see what you're made of!"
Under his hand the mangy beast changed to a glorious animal--one of
those wonder horses of the olden days that rise on the wind and gallop
with the clouds. Soon his coat shone like burnished gold and his tail
and mane streamed out like flames of fire.
"Ah, my master," the horse said, "I have been waiting for you this many
a day! We shall have glorious adventures together!"
Then the Prince mounted him and he rose on the wind and went so swiftly
that he covered in three minutes all the distance that it had taken the
Prince three days to go on an ordinary horse. Whiff! and there they were
at the dragon's castle and there was the Princess running out to welcome
them.
"Now, my dear one," the Prince said, lifting the Princess up in front of
him, "this time the dragon will not overtake us!"
The wonder horse rose on the wind and off they went.
When the dragon got home and found that the Princess had fled again, he
said to his horse:
"Shall we follow her at once or shall we eat supper first?"
"It's all one what we do," the horse said, "for we shall never overtake
her."
At that the dragon leaped upon his horse and, mounting on the wind,
started off in hot pursuit. Presently they caught sight of the other
horse carrying the Prince and the Princess but, try as he would, the
dragon's horse could not overtake the other. The dragon beat his horse
unmercifully and dug his sharp claws into the horse's tender flanks
until the horse in agony called out to the Prince's horse:
"Hold, brother, hold! Let me overtake you or this monster will kill me
with his cruelty!"
"Why do you carry such a monster?" the Prince's horse called back.
"Throw him from you and be rid of him forever!"
At that the dragon's horse reared suddenly and the dragon, losing his
balance, fell and was dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
And that was the end of that dragon!
Then the Princess wept but her tears were tears of joy for she knew now
that the enchantment that had bound her was broken forever. Never again
would she be changed into a peafowl at the whim of a wicked dragon,
never again be separated from her loved one. Presently she mounted the
dragon's horse and together she and the Prince returned to the beautiful
city. The people came out to meet them and when they heard of the
dragon's death a holiday was proclaimed and amidst music and dancing and
merrymaking the Princess married the Prince. Then she was made Queen of
that beautiful city and the Prince was made King. They ruled long and
wisely and better than that they lived happily for they loved each
other.
_So now you know the story of the Peafowl who became a Queen and of the
Tsar's Youngest Son who married her._
[Illustration]
THE DRAGON'S STRENGTH
[Illustration]
_The Story of the Youngest Prince Who Killed the Sparrow_
THE DRAGON'S STRENGTH
There was once a King who had three sons. One day the oldest son went
hunting and when night fell his huntsmen came riding home without him.
"Where is the prince?" the King asked.
"Isn't he here?" the huntsmen said. "He left us in midafternoon chasing
a hare near the Old Mill up the river. We haven't seen him since and we
supposed he must have come home alone."
When he hadn't returned the following day his brother, the second
prince, went out to search for him.
"I'll go to the Old Mill," he said to the King, "and see what's become
of him."
So he mounted his horse and rode up the river. As he neared the Old Mill
a hare crossed his path and the second prince being a hunter like his
brother at once gave chase. His attendant waited for his return but
waited in vain. Night fell and still there was no sign of the second
prince.
The attendant returned to the palace and told the King what had
happened. The King was surprised but not unduly alarmed and the
following day when the Youngest Prince asked to go hunting alone the
King suggested that he go in the direction of the Old Mill to find out
if he could what was keeping his brothers.
The Youngest Prince who had listened carefully to what his brothers'
attendants had reported decided to act cautiously. So when a hare
crossed his path as he approached the Old Mill, instead of giving it
chase, he rode off as though he were hunting other game. Later he
returned to the Old Mill from another direction.
He found an old woman sitting in front of it.
"Good evening, granny," he said in a friendly tone, pulling up his horse
for a moment's chat. "Do you live here? You know I thought the Old Mill
was deserted."
The old woman looked at him and shook her head gloomily.
"Deserted indeed! My boy, take an old woman's advice and don't have
anything to do with this old mill! It's an evil place!"
"Why, granny," the Prince said, "what's the matter with it?"
The old woman peered cautiously around and when she saw they were alone
she beckoned the Prince to come near. Then she whispered:
"A dragon lives here! A horrible monster! He takes the form of a hare
and lures people into the mill. Then he captures them. Some of them he
kills and eats and others he holds as prisoners in an underground
dungeon. I'm one of his prisoners and he keeps me here to work for him."
"Granny," the Youngest Prince said, "would you like me to rescue you?"
"My boy, you couldn't do it! You have no idea what a strong evil monster
the dragon is."
"If you found out something for me, granny, I think I might be able to
overcome the dragon and rescue you."
The old woman was doubtful but she promised to do anything the Youngest
Prince asked.
"Well then, granny, find out from the dragon where his strength is,
whether in his own body or somewhere else. Find out to-night and I'll
come back to-morrow at this same hour to see you."
So that night when the dragon came home, after he had supped and when
she was scratching his head to make him drowsy for bed, the old woman
said to him:
"Master, I think you're the strongest dragon in the world! Tell me now,
where does your strength lie--in your own beautiful body or somewhere
else?"
"You're right, old woman," the dragon grunted: "I am pretty strong as
dragons go. But I don't keep my strength in my own body. No, indeed!
That would be too dangerous. I keep it in the hearth yonder."
At that the old woman ran over to the hearth and, stooping down, she
kissed it and caressed it.
"O beautiful hearth!" she said, "where my master's strength is hidden!
How happy are the ashes that cover your stones!"
The dragon laughed with amusement.
"That's the time I fooled you, old woman! My strength isn't in the
hearth at all! It's in the tree in front of the mill."
The old woman at once ran out of the mill and threw her arms about the
tree.
"O tree!" she cried, "most beautiful tree in the world, guard carefully
our master's strength and let no harm come to it!"
Again the dragon laughed.
"I've fooled you another time, old woman! Come here and scratch my head
some more and this time I'll tell you the truth for I see you really
love your master."
So the old woman went back and scratched the dragon's head and the
dragon told her the truth about his strength.
"I keep it far away," he said. "In the third kingdom from here near the
Tsar's own city there is a deep lake. A dragon lives at the bottom of
the lake. In the dragon there is a wild boar; in the boar a hare; in the
hare a pigeon; in the pigeon a sparrow. My strength is in the sparrow.
Let any one kill the sparrow and I should die that instant. But I am
safe. No one but shepherds ever come to the lake and even they don't
come any more for the dragon has eaten up so many of them that the lake
has got a bad name. Indeed, nowadays even the Tsar himself is hard put
to it to find a shepherd. Oh, I tell you, old woman, your master is a
clever one!"
So now the old woman had the dragon's secret and the next day she told
it to the Youngest Prince. He at once devised a plan whereby he hoped to
overcome the dragon. He dressed himself as a shepherd and with crook in
hand started off on foot for the third kingdom. He traveled through
villages and towns, across rivers and over mountains, and reached at
last the third kingdom and the Tsar's own city. He presented himself at
the palace and asked employment as a shepherd.
The guards looked at him in surprise and said:
"A shepherd! Are you sure you want to be a shepherd?"
Then they called to their companions: "Here's a youth who wants to be a
shepherd!" And the word went through the palace and even the Tsar heard
it.
"Send the youth to me," he ordered.
"Do you really want to be my shepherd?" he asked the Youngest Prince.
The Youngest Prince said yes, he did.
"If I put you in charge of the sheep, where would you pasture them?"
"Isn't there a lake beyond the city," the Prince asked, "where the
grazing is good?"
"H'm!" said the Tsar. "So you know about that lake, too! What else do
you know?"
"I've heard the shepherds disappear."
"And still you want to try your luck?" the Tsar exclaimed.
Just then the Tsar's only daughter, a lovely Princess, who had been
looking at the young stranger, slipped over to her father and whispered:
"But, father, you can't let such a handsome young man as that go off
with the sheep! It would be dreadful if he never returned!"
The Tsar whispered back:
"Hush, child! Your concern for the young man's safety does credit to
your noble feelings. But this is not the time or the place for
sentiment. We must consider first the welfare of the royal sheep."
He turned to the Youngest Prince:
"Very well, young man, you may consider yourself engaged as shepherd.
Provide yourself with whatever you need and assume your duties at once."
"There is one thing," the Youngest Prince said; "when I start out
to-morrow morning with the sheep I should like to take with me two
strong boarhounds, a falcon, and a set of bagpipes."
"You shall have them all," the Tsar promised.
Early the next morning when the Princess peeped out of her bedroom
window she saw the new shepherd driving the royal flocks to pasture. A
falcon was perched on his shoulder; he had a set of bagpipes under his
arm; and he was leading two powerful boarhounds on a leash.
"It's a shame!" the Princess said to herself. "He'll probably never
return and he's such a handsome young man, too!" And she was so unhappy
at thought of never again seeing the new shepherd that she couldn't go
back to sleep.
Well, the Youngest Prince reached the lake and turned out his sheep to
graze. He perched the falcon on a log, tied the dogs beside it, and laid
his bagpipes on the ground. Then he took off his smock, rolled up his
hose, and wading boldly into the lake called out in a loud voice:
"Ho, dragon, come out and we'll try a wrestling match! That is, if
you're not afraid!"
"Afraid?" bellowed an awful voice. "Who's afraid?"
The water of the lake churned this way and that and a horrible scaly
monster came to the surface. He crawled out on shore and clutched the
Prince around the waist. And the Prince clutched him in a grip just as
strong and there they swayed back and forth, and rolled over, and
wrestled together on the shore of the lake without either getting the
better of the other. By midafternoon when the sun was hot, the dragon
grew faint and cried out:
"Oh, if I could but dip my burning head in the cool water, then I could
toss you as high as the sky!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" the Prince said. "If the Tsar's daughter would
kiss my forehead, then I could toss you twice as high!"
After that the dragon slipped out of the Prince's grasp, plunged into
the water, and disappeared. The Prince waited for him but he didn't show
his scaly head again that day.
When evening came, the Prince washed off the grime of the fight, dressed
himself carefully, and then looking as fresh and handsome as ever drove
home his sheep. With the falcon on his shoulder and the two hounds at
his heels he came playing a merry tune on his bagpipes.
The townspeople hearing the bagpipes ran out of their houses and cried
to each other:
"The shepherd's come back!"
The Princess ran to her window and, when she saw the shepherd alive and
well, she put her hand to her heart and said:
"Oh!"
Even the Tsar was pleased.
"I'm not a bit surprised that he's back!" he said. "There's something
about this youth that I like!"
The next day the Tsar sent two of his trusted servants to the lake to
see what was happening there. They hid themselves behind some bushes on
a little hill that commanded the lake. They were there when the shepherd
arrived and they watched him as he waded out into the water and
challenged the dragon as on the day before.
They heard the shepherd call out in a loud voice:
"Ho, dragon, come out and we'll try a wrestling match! That is, if
you're not afraid!"
And from the water they heard an awful voice bellow back:
"Afraid? Who's afraid?"
Then they saw the water of the lake churn this way and that and a
horrible scaly monster come to the surface. They saw him crawl out on
shore and clutch the shepherd around the waist. And they saw the
shepherd clutch him in a grip just as strong. And they watched the two
as they swayed back and forth and rolled over and wrestled together
without either getting the better of the other. By midafternoon when the
sun grew hot they saw the dragon grow faint and they heard him cry out:
"Oh, if I could only dip my burning head in the cool water, then I could
toss you as high as the sky!"
And they heard the shepherd reply:
"Don't talk nonsense! If the Tsar's daughter would kiss my forehead,
then I could toss you twice as high!"
Then they saw the dragon slip out of the shepherd's grasp, plunge into
the water, and disappear. They waited but he didn't show his scaly head
again that day.
So the Tsar's servants hurried home before the shepherd and told the
Tsar all they had seen and heard. The Tsar was mightily impressed with
the bravery of the shepherd and he declared that if he killed that
horrid dragon he should have the Princess herself for wife!
He sent for his daughter and told her all that his servants had reported
and he said to her:
"My daughter, you, too, can help rid your country of this monster if you
go out with the shepherd to-morrow and when the time comes kiss him on
the forehead. You will do this, will you not, for your country's sake?"
The Princess blushed and trembled and the Tsar, looking at her in
surprise, said:
"What! Shall a humble shepherd face a dragon unafraid and the daughter
of the Tsar tremble!"
"Father," the Princess cried, "it isn't the dragon that I'm afraid of!"
"What then?" the Tsar asked.
But what it was she was afraid of the Princess would not confess.
Instead she said:
"If the welfare of my country require that I kiss the shepherd on the
forehead, I shall do so."
So the next morning when the shepherd started out with his sheep, the
falcon on his shoulder, the dogs at his heels, the bagpipes under his
arm, the Princess walked beside him.
Her eyes were downcast and he saw that she was trembling.
"Do not be afraid, dear Princess," he said to her. "Nothing shall harm
you--I promise that!"