It is a well-known fact that the cruel man is generally his own
hangman; and he who throws stones at Heaven frequently comes off with a
broken head. But the reverse of the medal shows us that innocence is a
shield of fig-tree wood, upon which the sword of malice is broken, or
blunts its point; so that, when a poor man fancies himself already dead
and buried, he revives again in bone and flesh, as you shall hear in
the story which I am going to draw from the cask of memory with the tap
of my tongue.
There was once a great Lord, who, having a daughter born to him named
Talia, commanded the seers and wise men of his kingdom to come and tell
him her fortune; and after various counsellings they came to the
conclusion, that a great peril awaited her from a piece of stalk in
some flax. Thereupon he issued a command, prohibiting any flax or hemp,
or such-like thing, to be brought into his house, hoping thus to avoid
the danger.
When Talia was grown up, and was standing one day at the window, she
saw an old woman pass by who was spinning. She had never seen a distaff
or a spindle, and being vastly pleased with the twisting and twirling
of the thread, her curiosity was so great that she made the old woman
come upstairs. Then, taking the distaff in her hand, Talia began to
draw out the thread, when, by mischance, a piece of stalk in the flax
getting under her finger-nail, she fell dead upon the ground; at which
sight the old woman hobbled downstairs as quickly as she could.
When the unhappy father heard of the disaster that had befallen Talia,
after weeping bitterly, he placed her in that palace in the country,
upon a velvet seat under a canopy of brocade; and fastening the doors,
he quitted for ever the place which had been the cause of such
misfortune to him, in order to drive all remembrance of it from his
mind.
Now, a certain King happened to go one day to the chase, and a falcon
escaping from him flew in at the window of that palace. When the King
found that the bird did not return at his call, he ordered his
attendants to knock at the door, thinking that the palace was
inhabited; and after knocking for some time, the King ordered them to
fetch a vine-dresser's ladder, wishing himself to scale the house and
see what was inside. Then he mounted the ladder, and going through the
whole palace, he stood aghast at not finding there any living person.
At last he came to the room where Talia was lying, as if enchanted; and
when the King saw her, he called to her, thinking that she was asleep,
but in vain, for she still slept on, however loud he called. So, after
admiring her beauty awhile, the King returned home to his kingdom,
where for a long time he forgot all that had happened.
Meanwhile, two little twins, one a boy and the other a girl, who looked
like two little jewels, wandered, from I know not where, into the
palace and found Talia in a trance. At first they were afraid because
they tried in vain to awaken her; but, becoming bolder, the girl gently
took Talia's finger into her mouth, to bite it and wake her up by this
means; and so it happened that the splinter of flax came out. Thereupon
she seemed to awake as from a deep sleep; and when she saw those little
jewels at her side, she took them to her heart, and loved them more
than her life; but she wondered greatly at seeing herself quite alone
in the palace with two children, and food and refreshment brought her
by unseen hands.
After a time the King, calling Talia to mind, took occasion one day
when he went to the chase to go and see her; and when he found her
awakened, and with two beautiful little creatures by her side, he was
struck dumb with rapture. Then the King told Talia who he was, and they
formed a great league and friendship, and he remained there for several
days, promising, as he took leave, to return and fetch her.
When the King went back to his own kingdom he was for ever repeating
the names of Talia and the little ones, insomuch that, when he was
eating he had Talia in his mouth, and Sun and Moon (for so he named the
children); nay, even when he went to rest he did not leave off calling
on them, first one and then the other.
Now the King's stepmother had grown suspicious at his long absence at
the chase, and when she heard him calling thus on Talia, Sun, and Moon,
she waxed wroth, and said to the King's secretary, "Hark ye, friend,
you stand in great danger, between the axe and the block; tell me who
it is that my stepson is enamoured of, and I will make you rich; but if
you conceal the truth from me, I'll make you rue it."
The man, moved on the one side by fear, and on the other pricked by
interest, which is a bandage to the eyes of honour, the blind of
justice, and an old horse-shoe to trip up good faith, told the Queen
the whole truth. Whereupon she sent the secretary in the King's name to
Talia, saying that he wished to see the children. Then Talia sent them
with great joy, but the Queen commanded the cook to kill them, and
serve them up in various ways for her wretched stepson to eat.
Now the cook, who had a tender heart, seeing the two pretty little
golden pippins, took compassion on them, and gave them to his wife,
bidding her keep them concealed; then he killed and dressed two little
kids in a hundred different ways. When the King came, the Queen quickly
ordered the dishes served up; and the King fell to eating with great
delight, exclaiming, "How good this is! Oh, how excellent, by the soul
of my grandfather!" And the old Queen all the while kept saying, "Eat
away, for you know what you eat." At first the King paid no attention
to what she said; but at last, hearing the music continue, he replied,
"Ay, I know well enough what I eat, for YOU brought nothing to the
house." And at last, getting up in a rage, he went off to a villa at a
little distance to cool his anger.
Meanwhile the Queen, not satisfied with what she had done, called the
secretary again, and sent him to fetch Talia, pretending that the King
wished to see her. At this summons Talia went that very instant,
longing to see the light of her eyes, and not knowing that only the
smoke awaited her. But when she came before the Queen, the latter said
to her, with the face of a Nero, and full of poison as a viper,
"Welcome, Madam Sly-cheat! Are you indeed the pretty mischief-maker?
Are you the weed that has caught my son's eye and given me all this
trouble."
When Talia heard this she began to excuse herself; but the Queen would
not listen to a word; and having a large fire lighted in the courtyard,
she commanded that Talia should be thrown into the flames. Poor Talia,
seeing matters come to a bad pass, fell on her knees before the Queen,
and besought her at least to grant her time to take the clothes from
off her back. Whereupon the Queen, not so much out of pity for the
unhappy girl, as to get possession of her dress, which was embroidered
all over with gold and pearls, said to her, "Undress yourself--I allow
you." Then Talia began to undress, and as she took off each garment she
uttered an exclamation of grief; and when she had stripped off her
cloak, her gown, and her jacket, and was proceeding to take off her
petticoat, they seized her and were dragging her away. At that moment
the King came up, and seeing the spectacle he demanded to know the
whole truth; and when he asked also for the children, and heard that
his stepmother had ordered them to be killed, the unhappy King gave
himself up to despair.
He then ordered her to be thrown into the same fire which had been
lighted for Talia, and the secretary with her, who was the handle of
this cruel game and the weaver of this wicked web. Then he was going to
do the same with the cook, thinking that he had killed the children;
but the cook threw himself at the King's feet and said, "Truly, sir
King, I would desire no other sinecure in return for the service I have
done you than to be thrown into a furnace full of live coals; I would
ask no other gratuity than the thrust of a spike; I would wish for no
other amusement than to be roasted in the fire; I would desire no other
privilege than to have the ashes of the cook mingled with those of a
Queen. But I look for no such great reward for having saved the
children, and brought them back to you in spite of that wicked creature
who wished to kill them."
When the King heard these words he was quite beside himself; he
appeared to dream, and could not believe what his ears had heard. Then
he said to the cook, "If it is true that you have saved the children,
be assured I will take you from turning the spit, and reward you so
that you shall call yourself the happiest man in the world."
As the King was speaking these words, the wife of the cook, seeing the
dilemma her husband was in, brought Sun and Moon before the King, who,
playing at the game of three with Talia and the other children, went
round and round kissing first one and then another. Then giving the
cook a large reward, he made him his chamberlain; and he took Talia to
wife, who enjoyed a long life with her husband and the children,
acknowledging that--
"He who has luck may go to bed,
And bliss will rain upon his head."