Once upon a time a man had a shepherd who served him many years
faithfully and honestly. One day, whilst herding his flock, this
shepherd heard a hissing sound, coming out of the forest near by, which
he could not account for. So he went into the wood in the direction of
the noise to try to discover the cause. When he approached the place he
found that the dry grass and leaves were on fire, and on a tree,
surrounded by flames, a snake was coiled, hissing with terror.
The shepherd stood wondering how the poor snake could escape, for the
wind was blowing the flames that way, and soon that tree would be
burning like the rest. Suddenly the snake cried: “O shepherd! for the
love of heaven save me from this fire!”
Then the shepherd stretched his staff out over the flames and the snake
wound itself round the staff and up to his hand, and from his hand it
crept up his arm, and twined itself about his neck. The shepherd
trembled with fright, expecting every instant to be stung to death, and
said: “What an unlucky man I am! Did I rescue you only to be destroyed
myself?” But the snake answered: “Have no fear; only carry me home to
my father who is the King of the Snakes.” The shepherd, however, was
much too frightened to listen, and said that he could not go away and
leave his flock alone; but the snake said: “You need not be afraid to
leave your flock, no evil shall befall them; but make all the haste you
can.”
So he set off through the wood carrying the snake, and after a time he
came to a great gateway, made entirely of snakes intertwined one with
another. The shepherd stood still with surprise, but the snake round
his neck whistled, and immediately all the arch unwound itself.
“When we are come to my father’s house,” said his own snake to him, “he
will reward you with anything you like to ask—silver, gold, jewels, or
whatever on this earth is most precious; but take none of all these
things, ask rather to understand the language of beasts. He will refuse
it to you a long time, but in the end he will grant it to you.”
Soon after that they arrived at the house of the King of the Snakes,
who burst into tears of joy at the sight of his daughter, as he had
given her up for dead. “Where have you been all this time?” he asked,
directly he could speak, and she told him that she had been caught in a
forest fire, and had been rescued from the flames by the shepherd. The
King of the Snakes, then turning to the shepherd, said to him: “What
reward will you choose for saving my child?”
“Make me to know the language of beasts,” answered the shepherd, “that
is all I desire.”
The king replied: “Such knowledge would be of no benefit to you, for if
I granted it to you and you told any one of it, you would immediately
die; ask me rather for whatever else you would most like to possess,
and it shall be yours.”
But the shepherd answered him: “Sir, if you wish to reward me for
saving your daughter, grant me, I pray you, to know the language of
beasts. I desire nothing else”; and he turned as if to depart.
Then the king called him back, saying: “If nothing else will satisfy
you, open your mouth.” The man obeyed, and the king spat into it, and
said: “Now spit into my mouth.” The shepherd did as he was told, then
the King of the Snakes spat again into the shepherd’s mouth. When they
had spat into each other’s mouths three times, the king said:
“Now you know the language of beasts, go in peace; but, if you value
your life, beware lest you tell any one of it, else you will
immediately die.”
So the shepherd set out for home, and on his way through the wood he
heard and understood all that was said by the birds, and by every
living creature. When he got back to his sheep he found the flock
grazing peacefully, and as he was very tired he laid himself down by
them to rest a little. Hardly had he done so when two ravens flew down
and perched on a tree near by, and began to talk to each other in their
own language: “If that shepherd only knew that there is a vault full of
gold and silver beneath where that lamb is lying, what would he not
do?” When the shepherd heard these words he went straight to his master
and told him, and the master at once took a waggon, and broke open the
door of the vault, and they carried off the treasure. But instead of
keeping it for himself, the master, who was an honourable man, gave it
all up to the shepherd, saying: “Take it, it is yours. The gods have
given it to you.” So the shepherd took the treasure and built himself a
house. He married a wife, and they lived in great peace and happiness,
and he was acknowledged to be the richest man, not only of his native
village, but of all the country-side. He had flocks of sheep, and
cattle, and horses without end, as well as beautiful clothes and
jewels.
One day, just before Christmas, he said to his wife: “Prepare
everything for a great feast, to-morrow we will take things with us to
the farm that the shepherds there may make merry.” The wife obeyed, and
all was prepared as he desired. Next day they both went to the farm,
and in the evening the master said to the shepherds: “Now come, all of
you, eat, drink, and make merry. I will watch the flocks myself
to-night in your stead.” Then he went out to spend the night with the
flocks.
When midnight struck the wolves howled and the dogs barked, and the
wolves spoke in their own tongue, saying:
“Shall we come in and work havoc, and you too shall eat flesh?” And the
dogs answered in their tongue: “Come in, and for once we shall have
enough to eat.”
Now amongst the dogs there was one so old that he had only two teeth
left in his head, and he spoke to the wolves, saying: “So long as I
have my two teeth still in my head, I will let no harm be done to my
master.”
All this the master heard and understood, and as soon as morning dawned
he ordered all the dogs to be killed excepting the old dog. The farm
servants wondered at this order, and exclaimed: “But surely, sir, that
would be a pity?”
The master answered: “Do as I bid you”; and made ready to return home
with his wife, and they mounted their horses, her steed being a mare.
As they went on their way, it happened that the husband rode on ahead,
while the wife was a little way behind. The husband’s horse, seeing
this, neighed, and said to the mare: “Come along, make haste; why are
you so slow?” And the mare answered: “It is very easy for you, you
carry only your master, who is a thin man, but I carry my mistress, who
is so fat that she weights as much as three.” When the husband heard
that he looked back and laughed, which the wife perceiving, she urged
on the mare till she caught up with her husband, and asked him why he
laughed. “For nothing at all,” he answered; “just because it came into
my head.” She would not be satisfied with this answer, and urged him
more and more to tell her why he had laughed. But he controlled himself
and said: “Let me be, wife; what ails you? I do not know myself why I
laughed.” But the more he put her off, the more she tormented him to
tell her the cause of his laughter. At length he said to her: “Know,
then, that if I tell it you I shall immediately and surely die.” But
even this did not quiet her; she only besought him the more to tell
her.
Meanwhile they had reached home, and before getting down from his horse
the man called for a coffin to be brought; and when it was there he
placed it in front of the house, and said to his wife:
“See, I will lay myself down in this coffin, and will then tell you why
I laughed, for as soon as I have told you I shall surely die.” So he
lay down in the coffin, and while he took a last look around him, his
old dog came out from the farm and sat down by him, and whined. When
the master saw this, he called to his wife: “Bring a piece of bread to
give to the dog.” The wife brought some bread and threw it to the dog,
but he would not look at it. Then the farm cock came and pecked at the
bread; but the dog said to it: “Wretched glutton, you can eat like that
when you see that your master is dying?” The cock answered: “Let him
die, if he is so stupid. I have a hundred wives, which I call together
when I find a grain of corn, and as soon as they are there I swallow it
myself; should one of them dare to be angry, I would give her a lesson
with my beak. He has only one wife, and he cannot keep her in order.”
As soon as the man understood this, he got up out of the coffin, seized
a stick, and called his wife into the room, saying: “Come, and I will
tell you what you so much want to know”; and then he began to beat her
with the stick, saying with each blow: “It is that, wife, it is that!”
And in this way he taught her never again to ask why he had laughed.