So the princess gave her the spinning-wheel. And that night, winding
the shawl all round her, so that no one could recognise her, she lay
down on the mat outside the white wolf's door. And when everyone in the
palace was asleep she began to tell the whole of her story. She told how
she had been one of three sisters, and that she had been the youngest
and the fairest of the three, and that her father had betrothed her to a
white wolf. And she told how she had gone first to the wedding of one
sister, and then with her husband to the wedding of the other sister,
and how her mother had ordered the servant to throw the white fur skin
into the kitchen fire. And then she told of her wanderings through the
forest; and of how she had sought the white wolf weeping; and how the
wind and star and moon and sun had befriended her, and had helped her to
reach his palace. And when the white wolf heard all the story, he knew
that it was his first wife, who had sought him, and had found him, after
such great dangers and difficulties.
But he said nothing, for he waited till the next day, when many
guests--kings and princes from far countries--were coming to his
wedding. Then, when all the guests were assembled in the banqueting
hall, he spoke to them and said: 'Hearken to me, ye kings and princes,
for I have something to tell you. I had lost the key of my treasure
casket, so I ordered a new one to be made; but I have since found the
old one. Now, which of these keys is the better?'
Then all the kings and royal guests answered: 'Certainly the old key is
better than the new one.'
'Then,' said the wolf, 'if that is so, my former bride is better than my
new one.'
And he sent for the new bride, and he gave her in marriage to one of the
princes who was present, and then he turned to his guests, and said:
'And here is my former bride'--and the beautiful princess was led into
the room and seated beside him on his throne. 'I thought she had
forgotten me, and that she would never return. But she has sought me
everywhere, and now we are together once more we shall never part
again.'
_MOHAMMED WITH THE MAGIC FINGER_
Once upon a time, there lived a woman who had a son and a daughter. One
morning she said to them: 'I have heard of a town where there is no such
thing as death: let us go and dwell there.' So she broke up her house,
and went away with her son and daughter.
When she reached the city, the first thing she did was to look about and
see if there was any churchyard, and when she found none, she exclaimed,
'This is a delightful spot. We will stay here for ever.'
By-and-by, her son grew to be a man, and he took for a wife a girl who
had been born in the town. But after a little while he grew restless,
and went away on his travels, leaving his mother, his wife, and his
sister behind him.
He had not been gone many weeks when one evening his mother said, 'I am
not well, my head aches dreadfully.'
'What did you say?' inquired her daughter-in-law.
'My head feels ready to split,' replied the old woman.
The daughter-in-law asked no more questions, but left the house, and
went in haste to some butchers in the next street.
'I have got a woman to sell; what will you give me for her?' said she.
The butchers answered that they must see the woman first, and they all
returned together.
Then the butchers took the woman and told her they must kill her.
'But why?' she asked.
'Because,' they said, 'it is always our custom that when persons are ill
and complain of their head they should be killed at once. It is a much
better way than leaving them to die a natural death.'
'Very well,' replied the woman. 'But leave, I pray you, my lungs and my
liver untouched, till my son comes back. Then give both to him.'
But the men took them out at once, and gave them to the daughter-in-law,
saying: 'Put away these things till your husband returns.' And the
daughter-in-law took them, and hid them in a secret place.
When the old woman's daughter, who had been in the woods, heard that her
mother had been killed while she was out, she was filled with fright,
and ran away as fast as she could. At last she reached a lonely spot far
from the town, where she thought she was safe, and sat down on a stone,
and wept bitterly. As she was sitting, sobbing, a man passed by.
'What is the matter, little girl? Answer me! I will be your friend.'
'Ah, sir, they have killed my mother; my brother is far away, and I have
nobody.'
'Will you come with me?' asked the man.
'Thankfully,' said she, and he led her down, down, under the earth, till
they reached a great city. Then he married her, and in course of time
she had a son. And the baby was known throughout the city as 'Mohammed
with the magic finger,' because, whenever he stuck out his little
finger, he was able to see anything that was happening for as far as
two days' distance.
By-and-by, as the boy was growing bigger, his uncle returned from his
long journey, and went straight to his wife.
'Where are my mother and sister?' he asked; but his wife answered; 'Have
something to eat first, and then I will tell you.'