Pearl Princess and Silverboy, and the Moon Lady and the Gentle Giant
sat down together on the soft grass just outside the cottage. Such
stories as they had to tell of the search for the silver door! They
told about the Wizard Squirrel, the All-Alone Axe, the Wonder Palace,
the Slippery Spider, and no one can say how many other folk. They
talked and talked and talked; and while they were talking, they heard a
funny little chattering over their heads. They all looked up, and there
on the bough of a pine tree sat the Wizard Squirrel and the All-Alone
Axe, hobnobbing in the most sociable way, while the Friendly Glowworm
and the Thoughtful Snail, who had come, of course, with the rest of the
company and were now sitting on the moss at the foot of the tree, were
staring at them with all their eyes, for they had never before seen an
axe and a squirrel dancing together on a branch.
For three days and three nights the happy people talked of the
wonderful things that had happened. Then Silvergirl said:--
“But, father and mother, you haven’t asked for the silver door.”
“Little we care for silver doors,” they cried, “now that we have our
children back again.”
“But we have one for you. It is in the country of the Moon King; and
when you go through the silver door, you come into a golden palace.
Will you come with us and stay all your lives long?”
“Yes, we will come,” said the father and the mother, and they stepped
joyfully into the golden chariot that had been empty before.
Then the knights came back and lifted their plumed hats and bowed
before the father and the mother. They all rode away and away and away
from the gloomy forest to the happy country of the Moon King; and when
a messenger last came from that country, they were all living together
in the greatest peace and happiness in the beautiful golden palace with
the silver door.
KING HANSEL THE FIRST
KING HANSEL THE FIRST
There was once a boy named Hansel who had lost his father, mother, and
sister. Some people thought that they had been stolen by trolls, but
no one knew certainly. Everybody’s house was full, and there was no
room for the lonely little boy. “There is nothing for you to do but to
go out into the world and seek your fortune,” people said to him; so
Hansel put on his little cap and started out.
He walked along the highway until he came to a place where four roads
met. The first went through a forest; the second went down a steep
hill; the third led over a sunny plain; and the fourth wound up a
bleak, rocky mountainside. “When one has nowhere to go, one road is
as good as another,” said Hansel to himself, and he looked at each
in turn. The sun was warm and the forest looked cool and shady, so he
decided to go through the forest.
The road was soft and mossy. There were many flowers along the way.
Every little while there were open glades that were red with sweet wild
strawberries. He often stopped to pick them, and as he went along, he
said to himself, “It isn’t so bad a thing, after all, to have to seek
one’s fortune--if I only had a father and mother to go back to after I
have found it. Such a pleasant road as this must lead to some beautiful
place. Maybe I shall come to a palace. It will be made of gold, of
course, and the windows will sparkle like diamonds. I will go around to
the smallest back door and ask, ‘Do you want a boy to herd the sheep or
the cattle?’ The king’s man will answer, ‘Yes, we do. Come in and we
will pay you a silver penny every month.’ I can grow up fast, and some
day, when the king’s daughter is crossing the river, she will fall in
and I--”
These thoughts were broken in upon by a pitiful noise of a sort that
the boy had never heard before. It sounded a little like the crowing
of a cock, but it was hoarse and half-stifled. “Some creature is in
trouble,” said Hans to himself. “I’ll hurry on and see what it is.” He
ran down the road, and every minute the crying sounded louder and more
distressed. At last he came to a tiny clearing where a little hut was
standing. The door was closed and the owner had evidently gone from
home. Not far from the house was a coop, and in the coop was one lone
cock.
“Please give me some water,” he begged; “I am dying of thirst.”
“Where shall I find it?” Hansel asked.
“Indeed, I don’t know,” the cock gasped. “The brook said it was tired
of having creatures drink it. ‘I don’t drink them,’ it said, ‘and why
should I let them drink me?’ and then it ran off downhill as fast as it
could go. But do find me some water. I am choking.”
Hansel began to search for water, but not a pool or a pond or a river
or a brook or a spring or a swamp could be found. There was not even a
drop of dew to carry to the suffering cock, for the sun was warm and
even the dew had vanished. Then Hansel went back and said:--
“I have searched the country through, and not a drop of water can I
find.”
“Then I shall die,” the cock groaned.
“No, you won’t,” said the boy cheerily, “for I’m going to dig a well
for you.”
Hansel looked all around the little place and at last he found a spade.
Then he pulled off his jacket and began to dig. The sun grew hotter
and hotter, but still he kept at it.
“Have you found water yet?” cried the cock, after a little while.
“Not yet,” answered Hansel, “but the farther I dig, the nearer I am to
it,” and he dug faster than ever.
“Have you found it yet?” asked the cock again, a little later.
“The earth is moist,” Hansel answered; but he was now so deep down in
the hole that his voice could hardly be heard.
“Have you found it yet?” the cock gasped faintly, after a few minutes.
“I can’t stand up any longer. I think I am dying.”
Hansel was now so deep down that he could not hear the cock’s question;
but he gave it a good answer, nevertheless, for he climbed out of the
well as fast as ever he could. The water was coming in by pailfuls,
and he carried his cap all full and dripping to the thirsty cock.
It was not long before the cock was as well as ever. Hansel made a
little trench from the well to the coop so that the poor thing should
not suffer from thirst again. Then he said:--
“Good-bye, Friend Cock. I must go on my way now, for I am seeking my
fortune.”
“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” said the cock. “How shall I pay you
for what you have done for me?”
“Oh, I don’t want any pay,” called Hansel over his shoulder, for he was
already on his way.
“But I have a gift for you,” cried the cock, and Hansel went back. The
cock stretched his neck through the bars of the coop. Something was in
his bill.
“This is for you,” he said, and he dropped a little black seed into
the boy’s hand. “When you are in trouble, plant that seed.”
“Thank you very much,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,”
and he dropped it into his pocket. “Good-bye again,” he called.
“Oh, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cock. “I have some advice for you.”
“All right,” replied the boy good-naturedly. “What is it? Advice isn’t
heavy, and I can carry it in the same pocket with the seed.”
“The first time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer
‘Yes.’”
“I hope I’ll not meet any giants, but if I do, I’ll not forget,” Hansel
promised. “All good things are three, so good-bye again.”
“Then gifts should be three,” declared the cock, “and the third is yet
to come. This is a bit of advice, too. There’s no good fortune down
this road. Whoever walks beyond this house comes to trouble. Turn back
and choose another way.”
Hansel hesitated, for he remembered how hot and sandy or rocky the
other roads looked; but he remembered, too, what his old nurse used
to say, “There’s many and many a thing that the beasts and birds know
which men and women have yet to learn.”
“I’ll go back,” he said; “and now good-bye for the last time.”
“Good-bye,” called the cock, with a cheery crow. “Don’t lose the seed
and don’t forget to say ‘Yes’ to the first question that a giant asks
you.”
Then Hansel went back through the forest, and it was not long before
he came to the place where the four roads met. “One is as good as
another,” he said to himself again, “and I may as well take the
second.”
At first it was not an easy road, for it went down a steep hill covered
with round stones. The boy had to pick his way among them as gingerly
as if they had been eggs. But when he was once at the foot of the hill,
it became a very pleasant road, for it went along beside the shore of
a pretty lake. The tiny waves rippled up against the yellow sand as
if they thought the little lake was a real ocean and themselves real
breakers. Pearly shells lay on the shore. Hansel picked up a handful
and walked along tossing them up in the air and catching them. Then he
began to talk to himself. He said:--
“Nurse used to tell me about the King of the Water World. He lives in
a cave far down in the ocean. He wears a crown of pearls and he sits
on a throne. The sun never shines there, but the walls of the cave
are covered with rubies and emeralds, and they sparkle so that it is
as light as day. When I come near his palace, I will ask if he has any
work that a boy can do. He will say, ‘Yes, one of my mermaids has been
stolen away from me, and I will give you half of my kingdom if you will
bring her back.’ Then I will go far and far and farther than far. I
will go through groves of coral, over beds of green and blue and yellow
sea-mosses. I shall see shells of crimson and silver and gold; but I
won’t stop for one of them. I’ll go on and on and on till I come to the
den of the sea-monster that stole the mermaid. There’ll be a little
hole in her dungeon, and she will stretch out her white hand and beckon
me. I’ll kill the dragon and--”
“Meow, meow!” came to his ears; “help me, help me!”
“I know what that is, anyhow,” said the boy to himself; and he called,
“Pussy, pussy, what’s the matter? I’m coming to help you. But where are
you?” he cried, for no cat was in sight.
“Meow, meow!” wailed the cat, and Hansel began to search for her. Far
out in the lake was a tiny green island, and the cries seemed to come
from that, though nothing was to be seen on it but a sandy beach, a
rock, and a tall tree. Hansel waded out into the lake, but the water
grew deep so fast that he had to go back to the shore. Still the
pitiful cries continued. The boy threw off his clothes and swam out to
the island. Behind the rock lay a heavy bag, tied with seven knots; and
it was from the bag that the cries were coming.
“Hold on, pussy, I’ll get you out,” he said, and he set to work to
untie the seven knots. Each one was more difficult than the ones
before it, but at last the seventh had been untied, and a poor,
forlorn, yellow-and-black cat crept out. Hansel stroked her wet fur and
rubbed it dry with some bits of dead grass. The cat purred and arched
her back and rubbed her head against his hand.
“How did you happen to be in that bag?” he asked.
“Some one gave my master a pretty gray cat,” she replied. “He said he
did not want two, and so he tied me up in the bag and threw me into the
lake.”
“I’m glad I came along in time to get you out,” said Hansel heartily.
“If you will sit on my shoulder, I will swim ashore and carry you.”
The cat sprang eagerly to his shoulder, and he started to swim ashore.
At first she was as light as a feather, but before they had gone
far from the island, she began to grow heavy. She grew heavier and
heavier, but the boy would not throw her off to drown. He struggled on
and came at last to the shore, but he was so tired that he could hardly
stand. As he lay on the shore resting, the cat scrambled about among
the bushes, and seemed to be searching for something.
After a little, the boy cried:--
“Good-bye, pussy, good-bye. When a boy is seeking his fortune, he must
seek it,” and he started to go on farther.
“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” cried the cat, running out of the
bushes. “What shall I give you for what you have done for me?”
“Oh, I don’t want any reward,” cried Hansel. “I’m glad I got you out.”
“But I have a gift for you,” called the cat, and Hansel went back. The
cat dropped a tiny white seed into his hand. “When you are in trouble,
plant that,” she said.
“Thank you, thank you,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,”
and he put it into his pocket to lie beside the little black seed.
“Good-bye again,” he cried.
“Ah, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cat. “I have some advice for you.”
“I am getting so much advice,” thought Hansel, “that I am afraid I
shall be a wise man before I have made my fortune”; but he said aloud,
“All right, what is it? I can carry it in another pocket.”
“The second time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer,
‘With salt.’”
“With salt, with salt,” repeated the boy. “To the first question I am
to answer ‘Yes,’ and to the second I must say, ‘With salt.’ I certainly
hope I shan’t meet any giants, but if there’s nothing harder to do than
to answer a few questions, I can surely do that. Good-bye again, I’m
going on till I find my fortune.”
“But there’s no good fortune down this road,” said the cat. “Whoever
passes this lake comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another road.”
The thought of that long, long hill with the rolling stones was not
very pleasant, and Hansel hesitated; but the cat looked at him so
earnestly that at last he answered:--
“All right, pussy, I’ll go back and I won’t lose the little white seed.”
“And don’t forget to say ‘With salt’ to the second question,” cried the
cat.
“No, I won’t. Good-bye, pussy, good-bye.”
Climbing the long hill was not nearly so hard as he had expected, for
he had rolled so many of the round stones from the path as he went
down. Then, too, the sun was no longer directly overhead. Indeed, the
air grew cooler and cooler, and when he came to where the four roads
met, it was so cold that he had to blow on his fingers to keep them
from being stiff and numb.
“I suppose a boy can seek his fortune whether it is hot or cold,”
thought Hansel, and he set off bravely to walk in the third road.
This seemed to lead directly across a vast plain; but he could not
see very far, for there were thick clouds of dust blowing in little
whirlwinds. “All this dust must come from some great city,” thought the
boy. “Perhaps I shall come to it before long. I will go straight to
the Lord Mayor, and say, ‘Sir Lord Mayor, is there anything for a boy
to do to make his fortune?’ He will answer, ‘Yes, one of my ships is
all ready to sail. You may sail with her, and if you have anything to
venture, perhaps you will make your fortune in one voyage. What have
you to send?’ Then I’ll say, ‘Sir Lord Mayor, I have a black seed and
a white one.’ No, I forget, if he happens to be a giant, I must say
‘Yes’ to the first question. That will be such nonsense that he will
think I am a philosopher, and he will say, ‘I need another counselor,
and I’ll take you. You shall have a long red gown and a white wig, and
every morning before breakfast you shall have a great piece of red, red
gold.’ I will say ‘Thank you, I--’”
Without thinking what he was about, Hansel had been talking aloud; and
now the words were fairly blown from his lips, for a great storm had
suddenly arisen. Big hailstones beat upon him. He was thrown into the
brambles and against the stones. His cap was lost, his clothes were
torn, and he was almost exhausted when at last he managed to get into
the shelter of a high rock that kept the biting wind from him.
It seemed to him that he had hardly taken three long breaths before he
heard a loud buzzing. “Come and help us,” it said; “come and help us.”
“I knew cocks could talk,” thought Hansel in surprise, “and cats can,
of course, but I never heard bees talk before. They must be in some
great trouble. I can’t do anything to help them, that’s sure, for it is
all I can do to get my breath.”
“Come and help us,” buzzed the bees, until Hansel could not bear to
hear their pleading any longer and he asked:--
“What is the matter?”
“Our hive is blown over,” they replied. “The storm came up so suddenly
that many bees are away, and when they come back, they will not know
where to go if the hive is not in its place. Do put it back for us.”
“Surely, I can do so much for them if I am tired,” thought Hansel; and
he asked, “Where does your hive belong?”
“On top of this high rock,” they replied.
“I shouldn’t think it would stay there in this wind,” said Hansel to
himself, “but I suppose they know best. People say that bees are wise,
and maybe they know some way of making it firm.”--“I don’t know whether
I can climb the rock in this storm,” he said aloud, “but at least I can
try.”
So Hansel took up the beehive carefully and began to climb. It seemed
at every step as if the wind would surely blow him away; but he kept on
and on, and at last he was at the top of the rock and had put the hive
into the place that the bees pointed out. The storm grew worse and
worse until it almost seemed as if the rock itself would be blown over.
“I don’t see how your hive is going to stay there,” said Hansel. “The
moment I let go, it will fall down and be blown to nobody knows where.”
“Please stay and hold it for us,” the bees pleaded anxiously.
“It’s all I can do to hold my head on my shoulders,” replied Hansel.
But the bees still begged, “Do stay and help us, do help us.”
“All right, I’ll try it,” said Hansel, “but it looks as if the hive and
the rock and myself would all blow away together.”
The wind blew as if it feared it would never have another chance and
meant to make the best of this one. The rain fell, not in drops, it
seemed to Hansel, or in pailfuls, but in whole pondfuls, in oceanfuls.
He threw one arm around the hive and the other around a jagged point
of rock, and there he clung for dear life. It was a hard pull for the
tired boy, but after a while the storm cleared as suddenly as it had
arisen. Many of the wandering bees returned and made their way into the
hive and were safe. The other bees buzzed a welcome to them, and Hansel
could not help being glad that he had saved their home. They clustered
around Hansel and buzzed their thanks into his ear. They gave him all
the honey he could eat and a fine large piece of comb to carry away
with him.
“But where are you going?” they asked.
“Everywhere and nowhere,” answered Hansel. “I haven’t any father or any
mother or any place to stay in, and I am going out into the world to
seek my fortune.”
“There’s no good fortune to be found on this road,” declared the bees.
“You must go back to where the four roads meet and choose another.”
“There are roads enough in the world,” said Hansel with a laugh, “but
somehow none of them seem to be the right ones.”
“Every one has his own road,” said the bees. “Some find it in one day,
some in two days, and some in three days, but there is surely a road.”
“All right, I’ll go back and try the road uphill,” Hansel said. “Bees
are wise, I know. Can you tell me whether I shall find my fortune on
that road? The mountain is so steep that I am sure I should break my
neck if I had to come down it by night; and then, too, there are no
more roads to try.”
“We must not say any more,” buzzed the bees, “but we can make you a
gift that will be of help in time of need”; and they brought out from
the farthest corner of the hive a tiny seed as yellow as their own
honey. “Take good care of this,” they said, “for the time will come
when you will have need of it. And there is one thing more; we have
some advice for you.”
“I’ve had two pieces already,” rejoined Hansel, laughing, “and yet I
don’t seem to be wise enough to find the right road.”
“At least, we can tell you something that will keep you from going
where you do not wish to go,” buzzed the bees.
“Thank you kindly,” said Hansel. “I will put it into my jacket pocket
with the other pieces. When one has not much else to carry, he can
surely carry a piece of advice. What is it, then?”
“To the third question that a giant asks you, be sure to answer, ‘In
the land and in the sea,’” replied the bees earnestly. “Do not forget.”
“No, I’ll remember,” Hansel promised. “To the first question I am to
say ‘Yes’; to the second, ‘With salt’; and to the third, ‘In the land
and in the sea.’ I hope no one will ask me a fourth question, for I’d
have to answer that all out of my own wit. Now good-bye. Thank you
kindly for the honey and the seed and the bit of advice. I’ll turn back
and go up the mountain if I can see to find the road.” He waved his
hand in farewell, turned back, and crossed the plain once more.
Before long he was at the place where the four roads met. He could
not exactly “choose” which one to take, for there was only one left
that he had not tried; but he gazed for at least three minutes at the
long, winding way that disappeared in the shadows. He fancied that
there was a heavy stone castle at the top of the mountain, but it was
fast growing dusky and he could not be sure whether what he saw was
not a gray cloud. It was a lonely road to follow in the twilight, and
Hansel could not help thinking of the other boys who were safe in their
own homes; but he was a stout-hearted little fellow, and he said to
himself, “I suppose that if a boy is seeking his fortune, he must seek
it; and since the end of the road won’t come to me, why, then, I’ll go
to the end of the road.” And he set off bravely to climb the mountain.
The road wound about and went in many zigzags, but at last Hansel was
at the top of the mountain. Sure enough, there was a great stone castle
that towered up till the battlements really seemed to reach the clouds.
Hansel walked timidly up to the gate and knocked. No one answered. He
knocked again, for it was so dark and wild on the hill that he began
to feel afraid. “If they will only let me come in,” he thought, “and
give me a bit of straw to lie on, I don’t care for any grand fortune”;
and he knocked a third time.
Then the gate was opened a little way, and a great coarse hand as large
as Hansel’s whole body was stretched out and pulled him in through the
opening. Of course, the hand belonged to a giant, who was almost as
tall as the walls of the castle. The boy ventured to put his head back
and take one look at the giant’s face. It would have been frightful
enough in any case, for it looked so hateful; but it was especially
startling because it had three eyes, one above each ear and one on
the top of the head. The giant could see best with that, and now he
bent his head over and glared at Hansel with it. This eye was red and
fiery, and at its flashing the boy felt as though the lightning was
about to strike him. The giant gazed a minute or two and then called:--
[Illustration: A GREAT COARSE HAND PULLED HIM IN]
“Brothers Humpkin and Lumpkin, here’s a boy.”
“Let’s eat him, Brother Mumpkin,” cried two harsh voices, and
immediately two more dreadful giants came shambling out of the castle
keep. One had three ears, and the other had three mouths. This third
giant was Lumpkin, and he was the most horrible of the three, for he
was continually grating his teeth and mumbling his heavy lips.
“We’ll eat him, well eat him,” they cried; but when they caught sight
of the boy and saw how small and thin he was, they laughed scornfully.
“He’ll be only a mouthful apiece for us,” said Humpkin. Lumpkin,
however, began to feel the boy’s ribs and thighs, pinching him now and
then to see if the flesh was firm and solid.
“Maybe he’ll not be so bad,” said Lumpkin. “Well put him into one of
the dungeons, and in a day or two we’ll have a feast. These little
creatures are small, but they are tender.”
Now one giant would have been enough to frighten anybody, but with
three such monsters before him it is no wonder that Hansel was white
with terror. Mumpkin held him up by the back of the neck as if he was a
kitten and demanded:--
“Do they eat boys in the land of the Pogglywogs?”
If Hansel had answered, “I don’t know,” the giant would probably have
retorted, “You’ll find out that we do here,” and perhaps have taken a
bite on the instant, but Hansel in all his terror had not forgotten
his promise to the cock, and he faltered, “Yes.”
“Listen to that!” cried Humpkin. “Now we’ll know how the Pogglywogs do
it, for we must do like them if we want to grow any taller.”
Then Mumpkin gave the boy a pinch to make sure that he was attending
and asked in a voice that sounded like distant thunder:--
“How do they eat them?”
“With salt,” answered the boy faintly.
“He says, ‘With salt,’” repeated Mumpkin. “What’s salt? I never saw
any. You boy, where do they find salt?”
“In the sea and in the land,” answered the boy.
“‘In the sea and in the land,’” repeated Mumpkin. “There’s one thing
sure, we must have some salt, whatever it may be. Humpkin, if you will
take the boy to the dungeon, I’ll go out and look the land through for
some salt.”
So poor Hansel was taken to the dungeon and left there. Giants are
usually dull, and although these monsters wanted him to grow fat, it
never entered their stupid heads that they must give him anything to
eat. They shut the door, locked and bolted it, and went away, thinking
what a dainty morsel would be ready for them when Mumpkin came back
with the salt.
“It won’t take him long to find it,” said Humpkin. “That third eye of
his can see all there is to see.”
“I wonder where he will go,” said Lumpkin.
“Oh, not farther than the foot of the hill,” declared Humpkin. “There
isn’t much land beyond.”