So he served him for a year. He was treated very well, and he was
a faithful servant to his master. The master was a sorcerer, but he
didn't do any harm to the lad. He had a big pond, and three doves used
to come there to bathe. Each of them had three golden feathers. These
three doves were three enchanted princesses.
When the year's service was ended, the sorcerer said: "What wages
shall I give you?"
The lad said he left it to him.
"You're a good lad," said the sorcerer. "Come with me to my cellar
and take as much money as you like, gold or silver, just as you wish."
So the lad took as much as he could carry, and the sorcerer gave him
one of the three doves too, saying:
"When you get home, if you haven't got a house of your own, have one
built, and then pluck those three feathers out of the dove, and hide
them away so carefully that no human eye can see them. The dove will
turn into a lovely princess and you may marry her."
So he took the dove and returned home. He had a house built and made
a secret place in one of the walls for the three feathers. When he
plucked out the feathers the dove became a beautiful princess, but she
did not know where the feathers were. But his mother knew quite well,
for he had told her all and showed her where the feathers were hidden.
When they had been living together for three years he went a-hunting
one day with another lord, and his mother stayed at home with her
daughter-in-law. The mother said to her: "Dear daughter-in-law,
I can't tell you how beautiful I think you. If one were to search
the whole world through, one couldn't find so beautiful a woman."
The daughter-in-law answered: "Dear lady, the beauty I have now is
nothing to what I should have had I but one of my golden feathers."
The mother went straight off, fetched one of the feathers, and gave
it to her.
She thrust it into her skin, and she was immediately far more beautiful
than before. The mother kept looking at her, and said: "If you had the
others as well, you would be even more beautiful." Then she fetched
the other two feathers and gave them to her.
She thrust them into her skin, and behold! she was a dove again. She
flew off through the window, thanking her mother-in-law: "Thank you,
dearest mother, for giving me these three feathers. I will wait a
little for my husband, to say good-bye to him."
So she perched on the roof to wait till her husband should return
from the forest.
Now, the husband's nose fell to bleeding violently. He grew frightened,
and began to wonder what great misfortune had befallen him at home. He
mounted his horse and hastened home. As he was approaching the door
the dove called out: "Good-bye, dear husband. I thank you for your
true love, but you will never see me more."
Then the dove flew away, and the husband began to weep and to wail. Of
course, he was very angry with his mother, and he decided to go away
again and follow wherever his eyes might lead him. So he started
off, and he went back to the sorcerer in whose service he had been
before. As soon as he entered the sorcerer said:
"Aha! you have not followed my advice. I won't help you this time;
the three doves are gone from here. But go to my brother, for all
the birds and animals are under his power, and perhaps some of them
might know where the doves are. I will give you a ball, and when you
roll it three times, you will get there this evening. You must ask
him whether he knows anything about the doves, and you must tell him,
too, that I sent you to him."
The lad thanked him heartily and went on his way. He rolled the
ball thrice and reached the other brother's by evening. He told him
that his brother had asked to be remembered kindly to him, and then
he asked whether he knew where the doves that used to bathe in his
brother's pond were.
The brother answered: "My good lad, I know nothing at all about
them. You must wait till morning. All the birds and animals are under
my power, and if they know anything about it, it will be all right."
In the morning they went to the forest. The brother blew a whistle,
and instantly swarms of birds gathered round, asking what was their
master's will.
He said: "Tell me, does any one of you know about those three golden
doves which used to bathe in my brother's pond?"
None of them knew, so he blew his whistle again and all manner of
animals gathered round him: bears, lions, squirrels, wolves, every
kind of wild animal, and they asked what was their master's will.
He said: "I would know whether any one of you knows anything about
three golden doves which used to bathe in my brother's pond."
None of them knew. So he said:
"My dear lad, I cannot help you any more in this matter, but I have
another brother, and, if he cannot tell you anything about them,
then you will never hear of them any more. He dwells twice seventy
miles from here, and all the devils of Hell are subjected to him. I
will give you another ball like the one you had yesterday, and,
when you have rolled it thrice, you will get there before evening."
He rolled the ball thrice and got there the same evening. The sorcerer
was sitting in his garden on the grass. His hair was all dishevelled
like a mop, his paunch was bare like a pail, his nose reached to
his middle, and was as bare as a stick--in fact, his appearance
was terrible.
The lad was terrified, but the sorcerer said: "Don't be frightened,
my boy; though I look so hideous, yet I have a good heart. What do
you want?"
"I have come from your brother to ask whether you can tell me about
the three doves which used to bathe in your brother's pond."
"My dear lad, I know nothing about them, but as soon as you get up
in the morning I will call my apprentices, to find if any one of them
knows anything about the doves."
In the morning they got up and went into the forest. The sorcerer
blew a whistle, and at once hosts of devils appeared, such a multitude
that they darkened the whole forest.
The lad was frightened, but the sorcerer said: "Don't be afraid;
not a hair of your head shall be harmed."
The devils asked what was their master's will.
He said: "Does any one of you know anything, about the three doves
which used to bathe in my brother's pond?"
None of them knew anything. The sorcerer looked about him and asked:
"Where is the lame one?"
The lame one had been left behind, but he was hurrying up for fear he
should be too late. He came and asked what was his master's will. The
sorcerer answered: "I want to find out whether you know anything
about those three doves that used to bathe in my brother's pond."
"Of course I know about them, for I have been driving them before
me. They are bathing in the Red Sea now."
The sorcerer said: "You must take up this man and carry him as far
as their gold-roofed palace," and he took the lad aside and whispered
in his ear:
"When the devil asks you how quick he is to take you, if he says:
'As quickly as the wind blows?' say 'No'; and if he says, 'As quickly
as the step goes?' say 'No' again. But if he says, 'As quickly as the
air goes?' say 'Even so.' If your cap falls, do not look after it,
and don't tell the devil about it, or he will let you fall and won't
carry you to the palace. When you are seven miles from the palace you
will see it, and the devil will ask you if you see it; but shut your
eyes tight and say that you can't see it. When you are three miles from
it, you will see it quite plainly, and he will ask you again whether
you see it. But you must shut your eyes tight and say that you can't
see it. Then you will be above the palace roof, and he will ask you
again whether you see it. You must say again that you can't see it,
or he will let you drop on the roof and you won't be able to get down."
The devil took the man and flew with him as the air goes. When they
were seven miles from the palace, the devil asked: "Do you see the
palace now? It is quite plain to see now."
The lad shut his eyes tight and said that he couldn't see it. So they
flew on, and when they were three miles from the castle the devil
asked him did he see it now. He shut his eyes tight and said that he
couldn't see it. When they were right over the roof, the devil asked:
"Surely you must see it now; we are just over the roof."