So Relya went on without stopping. He strode on by day, and by night he
did not rest; both great and small got out of his way.
It is far to Mount Kitesh, but Relya had no difficulty in finding out
the way, because Mount Kitesh was known throughout seven kingdoms for
its terrors.
On St. John’s Day Relya bade farewell to his mother, and on St. Peter’s
Day he reached the foot of the Mountain.
When he reached the foot of the Mountain, he inquired after the willow
cabin, the shepherdess Miloika, and the Golden Girdle and Cross.
“There is the cabin in the valley. Miloika we buried the first Sunday
after Easter, and her children have the Girdle and Cross. As for the
children, the Fairies have carried them off to Mount Kitesh,” replied
the villagers.
Very wroth was Relya when he heard that the Girdle and Cross had been
carried off to Mount Kitesh. He was so angry that he could not make up
his mind which to do first—hasten up the Mountain or find out about the
castle, since that was uppermost in his desires.
“And where is the princess’s castle?” shouted Relya.
“Over there, a day’s journey from here,” answered the villagers.
“And how stands it with the castle?” asked Relya, and his hand played
with his sword. “Tell me all you know about it!”
“None of us has been in the castle, because the lords of it are hard of
heart. Round the castle they have placed mutes for guards and savage
bloodhounds. We cannot force our way past the bloodhounds, and we do not
know how to persuade the guards,” answered the villagers. “And within
the castle are fine lords, drinking red wine in the halls, playing upon
silver lutes, and tossing golden balls to each other over a silken
carpet. In the outer hall are two hundred workmen cutting hearts out of
mother-o’-pearl for targets for the lords. And when the lords make a
great feast, they load their guns with precious stones and shoot at the
hearts of mother-o’-pearl.”
When the villagers told him this, a mist swam before Relya’s eyes, so
furious was he when he heard how wantonly the treasure in his mother’s
vaults was being squandered.
[Illustration]
For a while Relya hesitated, and then he cried:
“I am going up the Mountain to win the Cross and Girdle, and then I
shall return to thee, O my castle.”
Thus cried Relya; he made the sword sing through the air above his head,
and then strode swiftly up into Mount Kitesh. There he found the great
Dragon asleep in the deep gully. You see, the Dragon had tired himself
out with belching so much fire at Primrose, and now he had gone fast
asleep to gather fresh strength.
But Relya was all impatience to fight someone so as to cool his anger
and to prove his strength. He was tired of seeing everybody, both great
and small, get out of his way all the time, so now he rushed up to the
Fiery Dragon to rouse and dare him to mortal combat.
Relya was a Doughty Hero, and the Fiery Dragon was a Terrible Monster,
and so their combat must be sung in verse, beginning where Relya rushed
up to the Dragon:
Childe Relya smote the Dragon on the side
With the flat blade, to rouse him from his sleep.
The Beast looked up, raising his grisly head,
Beheld the hero Relya standing by.
Up leapt the Dragon, with a rending blow
O’erturns the cliff and widens out the gap
To make a fitting space wherein to fight!
Anon unto the clouds he rears him up;
Anon on Relya pounces from the clouds,
And so with Relya joins in mortal fray.
Now groans the earth and splits the solid rock.
With tooth and flame the Dragon turns to bay,
And thrusts at Relya with his fiery head.
But Relya waits him with a ready sword,
And meets the onslaught with a ready sword;
And with his weapon beating down the flame
Seeks for the sword an undefended spot,
Where he may smite the Dragon on the head.
Deep bites the brand—so mighty was the shock
That brand and bone no more will come apart.
From dawn till noontide did the battle rage,
And weaker grew the Dragon all the while,
With brooding on the shame that galled his heart,
Because the babe, young Primrose, had escaped.
And stronger grew Childe Relya all the while,
For he did battle for his heritage.
When at high noon the sun burned overhead,
Childe Relya swung his gleaming brand aloft
Towards the sun, and called on Heaven for aid.
Down fell the sword betwixt the Dragon’s eyes—
Full swiftly fell, yet lightly struck the blade,
Yet with such force, it cleft the Beast in twain.
Into the hollow falls the Dragon, slain,
And as stretched him in his dying spasm,
The monstrous limbs block up the ancient chasm.
Thus did the doughty Relya overcome the Fiery Dragon. But his brave arms
and shoulders ached terribly. So Relya said to himself: “I shall never
get over the Mountain at this rate. I must consider what I had better
do.” And Relya went back to the foot of the Mountain, and there the hero
sat down on a stone and considered how he was to get across the
Mountain, and how he was to overcome the monsters, and where he might
find Miloika’s children and with them the Golden Girdle and Cross.
Relya was deep in thought, but all of a sudden he heard somebody weeping
and sobbing near him. Relya turned, and there was a Fairy sitting on a
stone, her hair all unbound, and crying her heart out.
“What ails you, pretty maiden? Why do you weep?” asked Relya.
“I weep, O hero, because I cannot get the Golden Girdle from the child
on the Lake,” answered the Fairy.
When Relya heard that he was overjoyed.
“Tell me, maiden, how can I get to that Lake?” asked Relya.
“And who may you be, unknown hero?” returned the Fairy.
“I am Prince Relya, and I seek a Golden Girdle and a Cross on a red
ribbon,” replied Relya.
When the Fairy heard that, she thought within her evil heart: “How lucky
for me! Let Relya get the Girdle away from the Lake and on to the
Mountain, and I will soon destroy Relya and keep the Girdle for myself.”
So the cunning Fairy spoke these honeyed words to Relya:
“Let us go, noble Prince! I will guide you across the Mountain. No harm
will come to you, and I will show you where the children are. Why should
you not have what is yours by inheritance?”
Thus sweetly did the Fairy speak, but in her heart she thought
otherwise. Relya, however, was mightily pleased, and at once agreed to
go with the Fairy.
So they went across the Mountain. Neither Fairies nor monsters touched
Relya, because he was being guided by the young Votaress Fairy.
On the way the Fairy advised Relya and tried to fill his heart with
anger.
“You should but see, noble Prince, how insolent these children are! Not
even to you will they give the Girdle. But you are a hero above all
heroes, Relya, so do not let them put you to shame.”
Relya laughed at the idea that two children should withstand him—_him_
who had cleft in twain the Fiery Dragon!
The Fairy then went on to tell him how the children had come up into the
Mountain, and how they did not know how to get away from it again.
In her joy at the prospect of getting the Girdle, the Fairy talked so
much that her cunning deserted her, and she chattered to Relya and
boasted to him of her knowledge.
“They are silly children, without any cunning. Yet if they knew what
_we_ know they would have escaped us already. There is a taper in the
chapel and a censer. If they would start the fire that is not lit with
hands, and then light the taper and censer, they could go with taper and
censer across the whole Mountain as if it were a church. Paths would
open before them and trees bow down as they passed. But for us this
would be the worst thing possible, because all we Fairies and Goblins in
Mount Kitesh would perish wherever the smoke from the taper and censer
spread. But what do these silly, insolent children know?”
If the Votaress had not been so overjoyed, she would surely never have
told Relya about the taper and censer, but would have kept the secret of
the Votaresses.
So they came to the furrow, and there was the Holy Lake before them.