country, where, in a mighty forest so dense they could see neither the
sun by day nor the stars by night, they lost their way. But still they
pushed on, hoping to find an outlet. At last, after wandering for days,
they came at sunset to a small lake, where they prepared to pass the
night.
The eldest watched while the two younger brothers slept.
In the middle of the night, while his brothers slept soundly, he was
gazing upon the waters of the lake, watching the moonbeams play with the
ripples stirred by the soft night wind, when he saw a great black head
appear on the surface and rapidly approach the shore where he was
standing. Presently, as the monster emerged from the water, he found
himself face to face with a great alligator rushing upon him to devour
him.
Like lightning he drew his sword and smote the alligator between the
eyes, cleaving its head in one mighty stroke. Then, when it had ceased
its death struggles, he cut off both its ears and placed them in his
haversack.
As his brothers still slept he resolved to say nothing about the matter,
and, to this end, he rolled the carcase of the alligator down the
shelving shore into the water, where it sank like lead. At sunrise he
roused his brothers, and, with few words, they resumed their wandering.
After three days struggling through the forest, they came to another
lake, where they camped for the night. This time the second brother
watched, while the eldest and the youngest slept.
And he, too, had a strange adventure, but more terrible than that the
eldest brother had encountered. At midnight the waters of the lake began
to move, and a great alligator with two heads emerged and came up on the
shore. Then, with both mouths wide open and his long sharp teeth
gleaming in the moonlight, the monster rushed at the watcher and the
sleepers. But the watcher sprang forward, sword in hand, and dealt two
terrific blows, one on each head, killing the alligator instantly. Then
he cut off the four ears and placed them in his haversack, and rolled
the huge carcase back into the lake. As the eldest brother had done, he
kept the matter to himself, and let his brothers sleep on.
In the morning he aroused them, and they all set out again on their
wandering.
During that day they came to the edge of the forest, but only to find a
vast desert before them. Their hearts sank within them, but, nothing
daunted, they set forth, saying one to the other, 'There is no desert
that has no boundaries. We shall come to the other side.'
But for three whole days they journeyed on, and all was still desert as
far as the eye could see; and their food and water were exhausted, and
they were sore distressed. Then, as they saw that the desert had no end,
they cried to God to deliver them. And it seemed that the haze of the
desert lifted, and they saw before them a lake, calm and peaceful. On
its shore they would spend the night.
Having refreshed themselves from its waters, and eaten of some luscious
fruits that grew upon its margin, they made their camp; and this time
the youngest brother watched while the other two slept.
And he, also, had an adventure, but far more terrible than either of his
brothers had encountered. As they were sleeping soundly, and he was
looking at the still surface of the lake, something heaved up out of the
depths and swam rapidly towards him. When it came up out of the water he
saw that it was a monstrous alligator, with three heads. As it advanced
upon him, with all three mouths wide open, ready to devour him and his
sleeping brothers, he sprang to meet it, and, with three mighty strokes
like flashes of lightning, severed the three heads from the body. Then
he cut off the six ears and placed them in his haversack. As the other
two brothers had done, he, also, kept the matter to himself.
It was not yet dawn, and the fire was burning low. In order to replenish
it the young Prince went into the surrounding desert to look for fuel.
After searching for some time in vain, he mounted a rock and looked
around; and there, not very far away, he saw the gleam of a fire. He ran
towards it, knowing he should find some fuel. But, when he arrived at
the place where the fire was burning, he found the glare of it came from
within a large cave. Creeping forward cautiously, he peered in, and saw
a strange sight. The fire was blazing in the middle of the floor, and
round it sat nine giants, eating the flesh of human beings, whose limbs
they drew from a huge cauldron over the fire.
Horrifying was this sight to the Prince. He made up his mind to trick
the giants. He advanced boldly into the cave and gave them greeting.
'Good-morrow, my friends,' he cried jauntily; 'I've been searching for
you everywhere.'
'Good-morrow, friend!' replied the biggest of the giants. 'And, if
you're indeed one of us, you will, of course, join us in our feast, and
then help us in our search for more.'
'With every pleasure!' cried the Prince; 'indeed, I need hardly thank
you for the kind invitation, since I am at all times ready to assist you
in your hunting expeditions. I have a rare tooth for the flesh of
mortals, and the bigger they are the better I like them.'
The giants looked at one another and grunted approvingly. Then said the
chief: 'Since you are with us, what is your name?'
'I am Nine Man Mord,' replied the Prince, taking the name of that hero
of a far land who had slain nine men in so many strokes of his sword. 'I
have journeyed from the North and have come to dwell among you, and be
one of you.'
They were all astonished, for they had heard wonderful stories of Nine
Man Mord; and they seemed to forget that they themselves were nine.
'Come, Nine Man Mord!' they cried; 'come, sit and eat with us.'
Readily the Prince took his place among them; but, though it seemed to
them that he ate of the human flesh, he did not really do so. While
pretending to eat, he told them such tales of his adventures in the far
country that none of them noticed he was not eating, but disposing of
the flesh cunningly, sometimes by throwing it behind him, and again by
offering a tit-bit to one or another in token of friendship.
When the feast was over, the giants rose and stretched themselves.
'Now,' said the biggest one, 'we'll go a-hunting. There's always
to-morrow's feast to be thought of. We go, O Nine Man Mord, to the
Tsar's city. There is still good flesh to be got there, though we have
been feeding on it for many, many years. And, I may tell you, as the
prey is not so plentiful as it used to be, it affords all the better
sport in the taking.'
'I'm with you,' replied the Prince, 'and, maybe, I can show you a trick
or two.'
So they set out and journeyed together--the nine giants and the
Prince--till they came to the outskirts of a large and beautiful city.
Here, in the surrounding forest, the giants plucked up two great trees
by the roots, and took them to the city walls, where they placed one
tree as a ladder.
Then the chief giant said to the Prince: 'O Nine Man Mord, climb by this
to the top of the wall, and then we will pass the other tree up to you
so that you can fix it as a ladder on the other side for all of us to
descend by.'
The Prince climbed the tree-ladder; and, when he had reached the top of
the wall they pushed the other tree up to him.
'Now,' he called down, 'I don't quite know how you want it placed. Will
one of you come up and show me?'
In answer to this the chief himself climbed up and swung the tree over
roots first, while he held and steadied it by its topmost branches. At
this moment the Prince, unseen by the others, drew his sword, and, with
one stroke, hewed off the giant's head. It fell within the city walls,
and, in another second, the headless body went tumbling after it.
'Now,' he cried down to the others, 'it's all fixed, and your chief has
gone down. Come up one by one, and I will hold the tree for you, and
steady it, so that you can reach the ground quickly.'
And they came up one by one; and, one by one, off went their heads; and
they, and their bodies after them, reached the ground very quickly. Then
he climbed down the tree, and over the piled carcases of the nine
giants, and made his way into the city.
It was true what the giants had said; for, although the sun had not yet
risen, signs were not wanting that the city, if not deserted, was very
thinly inhabited. The streets were neglected; the houses for the most
part were falling to decay; and though, no doubt, those who remained--if
any--feared a visit from the man-eating giants, still no watch was set,
and the Prince, as he made his way through the streets, saw no one.
At last, as he went on, he espied a high tower, and, at one of its
windows, there was a light. He made his way to this tower, and quickly
ran up the stairs leading to the room that contained the light. At last,
seeing its rays through the crack of the door, he turned the handle and
entered.
A strange sight met his gaze as he stood a moment on the threshold. It
was a splendid apartment of velvet and gold, magnificently decorated;
but what immediately riveted his eyes was the figure of a beautiful
princess sleeping upon a richly furnished couch. She was lovely to look
upon; and, as he advanced into the room, he could see nothing but her.
Presently, however, a hiss greeted his ears; and, looking up, he was
startled to see a huge snake lying on the ledge above the couch, with
its arched neck bent down ready to strike the sleeping girl.
With a loud cry the Prince tried to attract its attention; then, as it
raised its head, he snatched his dagger from his belt, and, with one
blow, pinned its head to the wall.
'Hold wood! Hold dagger!' he cried, releasing the hilt. 'None can draw
that blade from the wall but him who planted it there!'
Then, without waking the beautiful maiden, he stole from the room and
went back over the city wall, and beyond, till he came again to the
giants' cave, where he quickly gathered some fuel and hurried back to
his brothers, whom he found still sleeping. When he had set the fire in
a blaze, he watched till the hour of sunrise, and then woke them with a
loud cry:
'Arouse ye, my brothers; the day is here!'
But he told them nothing of his adventures of the night.
When they set out they came very soon to a high-road that led to the
gates of the Tsar's city. Now it was the daily practice of the Tsar to
walk in the ways of the city for an hour after sunrise, and bewail the
death of those of his people who had perished by the hands of the
giants, and also to pray fervently that his own daughter would never so
perish. So it was that on this same morning he came, by his wanderings
through empty streets, to the part of the wall where the tall
tree-ladder was standing; and, as he drew near, he saw with amazement
the great bodies of the giants lying on the ground, each with his head
severed from his body.
When the Tsar saw this he raised his hands to high heaven and cried,
'This is a great day, for the giants are all slain!' And the people, who
still remained to him, hearing his cry of joy, came running, and
gathered about him, praying that God would preserve the mighty one who
had done this astonishing deed. They were still praising the unknown
hero, when some attendants came running swiftly from the palace, to tell
the Tsar that a great snake had almost succeeded in killing the
Princess.
At this he hastened back and made his way to the room in the tower where
the Princess was lying asleep; and there he found the snake pinned to
the wall by a dagger. At once he took the hilt in his hand and tried to
drag it from the wall, but, to his great wonder, it resisted all his
efforts.
On this, seeing the great strength of the hero who had planted the
dagger there, and knowing that none but he could have the strength to
remove it, he ordered a proclamation to be issued throughout the whole
kingdom: that, if the man who had killed the nine giants and pinned the
head of the snake to the wall with his dagger, would come and draw his
dagger forth again, he would be rewarded with splendid gifts and receive
the Princess in marriage.
Far and wide went this proclamation, but the Tsar, to make doubly sure,
posted a thousand officials at as many inns on the great high-roads that
connected the city with the outlying parts of the kingdom. And these
officials' duty was to question travellers, and learn whether they had
met, or heard of, any such hero as he who had killed the giants and
transfixed the snake. Rewards were offered to any who could supply
information, and punishments were held out to those who concealed it.
Now it so happened that the three Princes, in their search for their
sisters, chanced to rest at an inn on one of the high-roads; and, when
they had finished supper, they fell into conversation with an
interesting stranger--a courtly man of cities, with manners that are
only learnt in kings' palaces. He begged to be allowed to call for
wine,--which in those days was no offence,--and, as they drank their
toasts, he fell to narrating his wonderful exploits in a far-off
kingdom--so far-off, indeed, that imagination alone could reach it, and
no other traveller could ever return to tell a different tale.
After describing some heroic combats the stranger at last remarked, 'And
what may be the doughty deeds that you young heroes have set to your
credit?'
At this the eldest brother told how he had slain the alligator; and, to
vouch for the truth of his story, showed the two ears he had preserved,
placing them before the stranger.
When the unknown had applauded his story the younger brother told how he
had slain the alligator with _two_ heads, and threw down on the table
the four ears as evidence.
The stranger applauded more loudly than before, and then turned to the
youngest brother; but he remained silent.
'Come,' said the stranger, coaxing him; 'your brothers have performed
great exploits: have you not followed their example?'
Then the young Prince replied: 'I am only young; but, now I think of it,
I _did_ kill an alligator once, myself. It was a rather ferocious beast
in its way, and had _three_ heads; but I managed to--well, here are its
ears.' And he threw the six ears on the table.
At this his two brothers were as much astonished as the stranger; for,
though he was the youngest, he had done the bravest deed. The
official--for such was the stranger--then begged the young Prince to
tell of his other exploits. So the hero told how he had slain the
giants. This was enough for the official: he sprang up and hastened away
to the palace, where he informed the Tsar that he had found the mighty
hero for whom every one was searching.
[Illustration: THE STORY OF BASHTCHELIK
The Prince, looking out, saw him snatch up the Princess ... and soar
rapidly away.
_See page 108_]
The Tsar was delighted; and having rewarded the official, sent for the
Princes in all haste. When they arrived, he bade them tell all they had
been through, and listened to their adventures with all attention. And,
when they had finished, he turned to the youngest brother and said:
'Your exploits, young sir, are the most extraordinary of all I have
heard. But all of you follow me to the tower; I would make
certain--_quite_ certain!'
Beckoning the three brothers to follow him, he led the way; and,
finally, they reached the room where the youngest had pinned the snake's
head to the wall.
The couch was empty, but the snake and the dagger were still there, just
as the young Prince had left them.
Then said the Tsar, addressing the eldest: 'Draw forth the dagger!'
The eldest brother seized the hilt, and put forth all his strength; but
the dagger did not move.
Then said the Tsar: 'It is so. Let your younger brother try.'
His words were obeyed; but the dagger was immovable.
Then said the Tsar: 'It is so. Let the youngest try.'
His words were obeyed. The youngest Prince took the hilt, and, with a
mighty wrench, tore it from the wall; then, as he restored it to its
sheath at his side, the snake fell at his feet.
'It is so!' said the Tsar. 'It was your hand saved my daughter's life. I
will give her to you in marriage, and you shall be my Prime Minister.'
Then, to the two elder Princes, he said: 'If you would prefer to remain
with your brother in my country I will bestow two ladies of the land
upon you for wives, and give you suitable castles to live in.'
But, though the youngest accepted the Tsar's offer with a proud
pleasure, the other two excused themselves with thanks, saying that it
was only right for their brother to remain, but, for themselves, their
duty was to carry out the quest for their lost sisters.
The Tsar honoured their refusal, and, having given orders that they
should be escorted from the city with every mark of royal favour, bade
them farewell; and they departed the richer by two asses laden with
gifts of gold and silver and precious stones. Shortly afterwards, the
youngest Prince and the Princess were married; and the whole city
rejoiced for three days with great celebrations.
But the Prince, much as he loved his wife, soon began to blame himself
for accepting this great happiness so easily when the quest of his lost
sisters was his first duty. On this account he began to pine, and the
Princess could not comfort him.
One day, when his grief threatened to sink him in remorse, the Tsar came
to him with a bunch of nine keys in his hand, and said: 'My son; I am
going forth to the hunt; but you remain, and, with these keys, you may
open some delights while I am absent.'
Then he took him and showed him the doors of nine rooms of the palace,
assuring him he would find great joy in the first four, a more hidden
joy in the next three, and, in the eighth, a summing up of all the joys
in the four and the three; but--the ninth he must not enter; for, what
was there, no man could endure.
When the Tsar had gone to the hunt, the young Prince opened the doors
one by one, and he was truly amazed at what was revealed to him. The
first four led him to all the delights of earth; the next three to all
the delights of heaven; and the eighth to the Great Joy of Earth and
Heaven in one.
And now he stood at the door of the ninth.
'What is here?' said he. 'What is here that is denied me? I have slain
the three-headed alligator; I have hewed off the heads of nine giants; I
have vanquished the serpent that encircles the world, and rescued the
Princess from his lowering fangs. Surely the Tsar is testing me! Come
what may, I will enter at this door; for he who does not go on, slides
back.'
With this he selected the key; and, inserting it in the lock, opened the
ninth door, and entered. What an unexpected sight was there! The joys of
the four, the three, and the eighth--were they at last bound up in
this?--this man with the strength of the under-world in his limbs, the
strength of the mid-world in his set face, and the strength of the skies
in his calm gaze beneath tortured brows?
There, before him, was a man, bound, it seemed, by all the bonds of the
universe. His legs were encircled with bands of iron, which, at their
fastenings into the floor, were rusted. His hips and loins were bound
with lead. A copper girdle held his breast. A silver band enthralled his
tongue and hands, and what seemed like a spider's web of thin,
light-blue wire encircled his body and gathered itself in a circlet of
the same woven material upon his brows. Truly, if ever a man was fast
bound, this man was; for, in addition to all these things, there was a
ring of gold round his neck, and from it extended thick cables of
platinum, which were firmly riveted into four strong beams, one in each
corner of the room. Around him, on the eight sides of the room, were
open windows revealing all the joys of the eight chambers; but the man
was bound in the centre.
And, as the Prince looked upon him, the captive gasped, 'O young man,
for the love of God, bring me a cup of water from yonder fountain; and
I, in return, will give thee another life.'
The Prince at once drew him the draught from the nearest fountain,
thinking the while that it would be good to have a life to spare. Then,
when the chained captive had drunk the water eagerly, the two looked at
one another.
'What is your name?' asked the Prince.
'My name is Bashtchelik, which, as you know, means "real steel."'
'Farewell, then, Bashtchelik; I hear the hoof-beats of the Tsar's horses
in the distance.' And he turned towards the door.
'Nay, leave me not!' cried Bashtchelik, and then he implored him: 'Give
me a second cup of water, and I will give you a second life.'
The Prince drew him another cup of water and handed it to him with a
good heart, thinking, as it was returned to him empty, that a second
life was well worth having. Then, hearing the approach of the Tsar more
distinctly, he bade farewell a second time and turned away; but the
captive again besought him.
'O mighty one!' he cried; 'do not leave me. I know thee, I know thy
name; I know thy noble deeds. Twice hast thou given me to drink; I pray
thee, do it yet a third time and I will give thee a third life.'
Hastily the Prince filled the cup and gave him to drink, for the Tsar
and his company were now at the gates, and he knew not how to face him.
But, before he could gain the door, he heard a crash behind him; and,
looking back, he saw that the captive had broken his bonds and stood
free. Then, before one could say it had happened, he had loosed a great
pair of wings from his sides, and rushed through the doorway. The
Prince, looking out, saw him snatch up the Princess, his wife, from the
terrace of the Palace, and soar rapidly away.
Ere the beating of wings was lost in the distance, the Tsar came in and
demanded to know why the ninth room was open and the captive gone. The
Prince then explained everything, and begged the Tsar not to be angry.
'He broke his bonds,' he said, 'and has gone, taking my wife--the
daughter that you gave me--away with him. But give me leave, and I will
find her and kill Bashtchelik.'
'Alas!' replied the Tsar, 'you have done a rash thing. You know not this
man. I lost the best part of a whole army in capturing him. What can you
do, my son?'
'I will go forth and seek him,' replied the Prince without wavering. 'If
he is stronger than I, then you will see neither me nor my wife again;
but, if I prevail, we will return to you.'
* * * * *
So the Prince set forth on his quest; and after three days' journey, he
came to a beautiful city. And, as he rode beneath the walls of a
castle, he heard a voice from a window high in the tower, calling to
him. He drew rein and dismounted; then, as he advanced into the
courtyard, a girl came running towards him.
'O my brother!' she cried; 'you have come at last!'
It was his eldest sister whom he had found so easily. They embraced and
kissed, and then she led him into the castle.
'And your husband?' he asked as they stepped aside into a dimly-lighted
antechamber; 'who and what is he?'
'He is the Dragon King,' she replied in a whisper; 'and he is no friend
of my brothers. Yet I will hide you, and then ask him what he would do
if you sought me out.'
That evening, when the Dragon King came home on whirring wings, there
was no sign of either the Prince or his charger. Yet he raised his
nostrils in the air and sniffed.
'I smell a human being,' he said. 'Confess, woman; who is it?'
'No one,' replied she. But he was certain about the matter, saying that
his senses had never yet deceived him, though a woman might.
'That is nought,' said she. 'But, tell me; if my brothers came to look
for me, how would you take it?'
'If your eldest brother came here,' replied the Dragon King, 'I would
eat him raw. Your second brother I would stew gently over a slow fire,
or, if he were nice and fat, I should roast him to a turn; but your
youngest brother--him I would spare.'
Then said she, 'O King, my youngest brother, who is your brother-in-law,
is here in your castle. I will summon him.'
It was a great meeting between the young Prince and the Dragon King. One
would have thought that they had known each other for years. They
embraced and wished each other health and long life; and then they sat
down to a sumptuous banquet quickly brought in by winged attendants, who
were evidently of the uneducated dragon classes;--indeed, though richly
attired, they looked like slaves.
In the course of conversation the Prince happened to mention that he was
on the track of one Bashtchelik, who had run off with his wife against
her will.