There was a chicory-seller, with a wife and a son, all of them dying
of hunger, and sleeping on the floor because they couldn't afford
a bed. Once when they went out in the morning to gather chicory,
the son found such a large plant of it, never was such a plant seen,
it took them an hour, working at it together, to pull it up, and it
filled two great bags. What is more, when they had got it all up,
there was a great hole in the ground.
'What can there be down in that hole?' said the son. 'I must go and
see!' In he jumped, [115] and down he went.
Suddenly he found himself in the midst of a splendid palace, and a
number of obsequious servants gathered round him. They all bowed to
the ground, and said,
'Your lordship! your lordship!' and asked him what he 'pleased
to want.'
So there he was, dressed like a clodhopper, and all these servants
dressed like princes, bowing and scraping to him.
'What do I want?' said the lad; 'most of all, I want a dinner.'
Immediately they brought him a banquet of a dinner, and waited on
him all the time. Dinner over, they dressed him like a prince.
By-and-by there came in an ugly old hag, as ugly as a witch, who said,
'Good morning, Prince; are you come to marry me?'
'I'm no prince; and I'm not come to marry you most certainly!' replied
the youth.
But all the servants standing round made all sorts of gesticulations
that he should say 'yes.'
'It's no use mouthing at me,' said the lad; 'I shall never say "yes"
to that!'
But they went on making signs all round that he should say 'yes,'
till at last they bewildered him so, that, almost without knowing
what he did, he said 'yes.'
Directly he had said 'yes,' there were thunder and lightning, and
thunderbolts, and meteors, and howling of wind, and storm of hail. The
youth felt in great fear; but the servants said:
'It is all right. She you thought an old hag is indeed a beautiful
princess of eighteen, but she was under a spell; by consenting to
marry her you have ended that spell, if you can only stand through
the fear of this storm for three days and three nights, no harm can
come to you, and we also shall all be set free.'
The whole apartment now seemed on fire, and when that ceased for a
time, it seemed to rain fire all around.
For two days he managed to endure, but on the third day he got so
frightened that he ran away. He had not much bettered his condition,
however; for, if he had got away from the magic storms of the under
world, he had come into real storms in the actual world, and there
he was alone in the Campagna, starving and destitute again.
At last an old man appeared, who said to him:
'Why were you so foolish as to run away? You were told no harm could
happen to you. Now you have nearly lost all. There is, however,
one remedy left. Go on to the top of that high mountain, and gather
the grass that grows there, and bring back a large bundle of it,
and give it to these people to eat, and that will finish what you
have begun. You will marry the princess, and share her kingdom; and
all her people will be set free. For all those who waited on you as
servants are noblemen of her court, who are under a spell.'
'How am I to get up to the top of that high mountain?' said the youth;
'it would take me a life of weariness to arrive there!'
'Take this divining-rod,' said the old man, 'and whatever difficulty
comes in your way, touch it with this wand, and it will disappear.'
The youth took the wand, and bent his steps towards the mountain. There
were rivers to be crossed, and steep places to be climbed, and many
perils to be encountered, but the wand overcame them all. Arrived at
the top, he saw a plat of fine, long grass growing, which he made no
doubt was the grass he had to take. But he thought within himself,
'If this wand can do so much, it can surely give me also a house and a
dinner; and, then, why should I toil down this mountain again at all!'
'Rod! rod! give me a nice little house!' he commanded; [116] and
there was a nice little house on the top of the mountain.
'Rod! rod! give me a good dinner!' and a good dinner was spread on
the table.
And thus it was with everything he wanted; so he went on living on
the top of the mountain, without thinking of those he had to deliver
in the hole under the earth.
Suddenly, there stood the old man. [117] 'You were not sent here to
amuse yourself,' said he, severely. 'You were sent to fetch the means
of delivering others;' and he took the wand away from him, and touched
the casino, and it disappeared, and he was once more left destitute.
'If you would repair the past,' said the old man, as he went away,
'gather even now a bundle of grass and take it, and perhaps you will be
in time yet; but you will have to toil alone, for you have forfeited
the rod. And now, remember this counsel: whoever meets you by the
way and asks to buy that grass, sell it to no man, or you are undone.'
As there was nothing else to be done, the youth set to work and cut
some grass, and then terrible was the way he had to walk to get down
again. Storms of fire broke continually over him, and every moment
it seemed as though he would be precipitated to the bottom.
As he reached the plain a traveller met him.
'Oh, you have some of that grass,' said he. 'I was just going up the
mountain to get some. If you will give it me, and save my journey,
I will give you a prancing horse, all covered with gold trappings
studded with precious stones.'
But this time the youth began to pay more attention to the injunctions
laid upon him, and he shook his head, and walked on.
'Give it me,' continued the stranger, 'and I will give you in return
for it a casino of your own in the Campagna, where you may live all
your life.'
But the youth shook his head, and continued his way, without so much
as answering him.
'Give it me,' said the stranger the third time, 'and I will give you
gold enough to make you rich all your days.'
But the youth stood out the third temptation as well as the other two,
and then the stranger disappeared.
Without further hindrance he arrived at the chicory-hole, let himself
down, and gave the grass to all the people to eat, who were half dead
with waiting so long for him; and as they ate, the spell ceased. Only
as he had cut the grass in an indolent sort of way, he had not brought
so large a quantity as he ought, and there was one poor maiden left
for whose deliverance the provision sufficed not.
Meantime the whole face of the country was changed. The plain was
covered with flourishing cities; over the chicory-hole was a splendid
palace, where the maiden, who had under the spell looked like an old
hag, took up her abode, and where the old man had promised that he
should live with her for his reward.
This reward he now came to claim.
'But you have not completed your task,' said the princess.
'I think I have done a pretty good deal,' answered the youth.
'But there is that one who is yet undelivered.'
'Oh, I can't help about one. She must manage the best way she can.'
'That won't do,' said the princess. 'If you want to have me, you must
complete your work.'
So he had to toil all the way up to the top of the mountain, and all
the way down again, and at last the work was complete.