invisible. Now, my good man, you see our difficulty: there are but two
of us, and we are fighting to decide how these three lots may be
divided into two equal parts."
"I can help you," said the fisherman, "provided you will do as I tell
you. Leave the three lots here just as they are--the carpet, the club,
and the magic cap. I will roll a stone from the top of this hill to
the bottom--whoever catches it first shall have two lots for his
share. What do you say?"
"Agreed!" cried the demons, racing after the stone that rolled and
bounded on its way down.
In the meantime the fisherman hastily put on the cap, seized the club,
and sitting down on the carpet, repeated the magic formula without
forgetting a single word.
He was already high up in the air when the demons returned carrying
the stone and calling out to him to come and reward the winner.
"Come down and divide those things between us," they cried after him.
The fisherman's only answer was the magic address to his club. This
enchanted weapon then fell upon them and struck so hard that the
country round echoed to the sound thereof. In the midst of screams and
cries and clouds of dust they escaped at last, and the club, of its
own accord, came back and placed itself at the fisherman's orders. He,
in spite of the rapid motion, sat comfortably on the carpet with the
cap under his arm and the club in his hand. Thus they flew over
forests, under clouds, and so high that seen from the earth they
looked like a tiny white cloud.
Within two or three days they stopped at the king's capital. The
fisherman, with his cap on, descended into the middle of the
courtyard.
The whole place was in confusion and trouble, for the commander of the
foreign army, encouraged by having so easily received such a large sum
of money, had returned to the attack and again held the town in siege,
declaring that he would destroy every house and slay all the
inhabitants, not sparing even the king himself, unless he agreed to
give him his only daughter in marriage.
The terrified citizens crowded to the palace and besought his majesty
to do as they asked him, and so save them from such a fate. The king,
standing on the balcony, addressed them thus: "Faithful and devoted
people, listen to me. Nothing but a miracle can save us from this
fearful calamity; yet it has happened that the most powerful
assailants have been forced to ask mercy of the most feeble. I will
never consent to the marriage of my only daughter with my most hated
and cruel foe. Within a few moments my guards will be ready for
combat, and I myself will lead them against the enemy. If there be any
among you who can win the victory, to him will I give my only daughter
in marriage, the half of my kingdom for her dowry, and the heirship to
the throne."
When he had finished speaking the fisherman ordered his club to fall
on the foe, while the country round echoed and re-echoed to the blows
by means of which it destroyed the besieging army. It was in vain that
the brave commander shouted to his soldiers not to run away, for when
he himself received three blows from the club he was obliged to make
off as fast as possible.
[Illustration]
When the club had destroyed or driven away into the desert all the
troops it came back to its master; he, still wearing the magic cap,
and with his carpet folded up under his arm and his club in his hand,
made his way to the king's apartment.
In the palace shouts of joy had succeeded the cries of fear which had
been heard but a short while ago. Every one was happy, and every one
congratulated the king upon his victory, as sudden and complete as it
was unexpected. But the monarch, turning to his warriors, addressed
them thus: "Victory! Let us rather return thanks to God. He who has
won for us the victory has but to present himself and receive the
reward he so richly deserves, that is, my beautiful daughter in
marriage, the half of my kingdom, and the right of succession to my
throne. These are the gifts that await this victorious hero. Where is
he?"
They all stood silent and looked from one to the other. Then the
fisherman, who had taken off his cap, appeared before the assembly and
said, "Behold, it was I who destroyed your enemies, O king. This is
the second time that I have been promised the hand of the princess in
marriage, the half of the kingdom, and the right of succession to the
throne."
The king, struck dumb with amazement, looked inquiringly at his
chamberlain, then recovering his presence of mind he shook hands with
the fisherman.
"Your good health, my friend. By what happy fortune do you return safe
and sound to my court? The chamberlain told me that through your own
carelessness you had fallen out of the tower window; in truth, we
mourned you as dead."
"I should not have fallen out of the window if I had not been thrown
down by your chamberlain; there is the traitor. I only escaped death
through God's help, and I have just come to the palace in my air-car."
The king made a pretence of being angry with the guilty chamberlain,
and ordered his guards to take him away to the donjon cell; then, with
pretended friendship, he embraced the fisherman and led him to his own
apartments. All the while he was thinking and thinking what he could
do to get rid of him. The idea of having him, a mere peasant and one
of his own subjects, for a son-in-law was most repugnant to him, and
hurt his kingly pride. At last he said, "The chamberlain will most
certainly be punished for his crime. As for you, who have twice been
my saviour, you shall be my son-in-law. Now the customs observed at
court demand that you should send your bride a wedding gift, a jewel,
or some other trifle of value. When this has been observed I promise
to give my blessing on the marriage, and may you both be happy and
live long."
"I have no jewel worthy of the princess's acceptance. I might have
given her as much gold as she wished, but your chamberlain took my
magic golden ring from me."
"Before insisting upon its return something else might be done. I
thoroughly appreciate the value of your marvellous flying carpet--why
should not we both sit on it and make an excursion to the Valley of
Diamonds? There we can obtain stones of the finest water, such as no
one in the world has ever possessed. Afterwards we will return here
with your wedding present for my daughter."
The king then opened the window, and the fisherman, spreading out his
carpet, repeated the magic words.
Thus they took flight into the air, and after travelling one or two
hours began to descend at their destination. It was a valley
surrounded on all sides by rocks so steep and so difficult of access,
that, except by God's special grace, no mortal man imprisoned there
could possibly escape. The ground was strewn with diamonds of the
finest quality. The king and fisherman found it easy to make a large
collection, picking and choosing, gathering and arranging them upon
the carpet. When they had put together all there was room for, the
king sat down, and pointing to a large diamond shining at a little
distance, said to the fisherman, "There is yet a more splendid one by
the stream yonder; run, my son-in-law, and bring it here, it would be
a pity to leave it."
The man went for it, while the king, taking advantage of his absence
to pronounce the magic words, seated himself on the carpet, which
lifted itself up, and floating like an air-car above the forest and
under the clouds, descended by one of the palace windows.
His joy knew no bounds, for he now found himself not only free from
his enemies and rid of the embarrassing presence of the fisherman, but
also the possessor of the richest and most beautiful collection of
diamonds in the world;--by his orders they were put away in the caves
of the royal treasure-house, and with them the magic ring and the
flying carpet.
Meantime the fisherman had returned with the diamond, and had stood
aghast to see the carpet vanishing away in the distance.
Wounded at the ingratitude and indignant at the perversity of a prince
for whom he had done so much, he burst into tears.
And, indeed, he had good reason to weep. For he had but to look at the
enormous height of the polished rocks to be convinced of the
impossibility of climbing them. The vegetation, too, was so scanty
that it could only provide him with food for a very short time. He saw
but two courses open to him: either to die from starvation, or to be
devoured by the monstrous serpents that crawled about in great
numbers. Night was now coming on, and the poor fellow was obliged to
plan some way of escaping the frightful reptiles which were leaving
their hiding-places. At last he climbed up a tree, the highest he
could find, and there, with his magic cap on and his club in his hand,
passed the night without even closing his eyes.
Next morning when the sun rose the serpents went back to their holes,
and the fisherman got down from his tree feeling stiff with cold and
very hungry. For some time he walked about the valley in search of
food, turning over the diamonds now so useless to him. There he found
a few worthless mushrooms, and with such poor food as berries and
sorrel leaves, and the water of the valley stream for drink, he lived
for some days.
One night when he went to sleep it happened that his cap came off and
fell to the ground, whereupon all the reptiles of the place
immediately gathered round him. Aroused by their hisses, he awoke to
find himself surrounded on all sides and almost in reach of their
stings. He immediately seized his club, and had scarcely begun to
repeat the magic formula before the weapon set to work to destroy the
snakes, while the rocks resounded right and left with the blows. It
was as if the monsters were being covered with boiling water, and the
noise they made was like that produced by a flock of birds overtaken
by a storm. They roared and hissed and twisted themselves into a
thousand knots, gradually disappearing one by one. Then the club
returned of its own accord to the fisherman's hands, while he returned
thanks to God for having delivered him from such a horrible death. At
that moment there appeared upon the top of a steep rock his friend,
the old man. Overcome with joy at the sight of him, the fisherman
called out, "Save me! come to me, my divine protector."
The old man spread out his arms towards him, and having blessed him
drew him up, saying, "Now you are free again, hasten to save your
king, his daughter your bride, and their kingdom. After he had left
you in the valley as food for serpents he was punished for his great
crimes by the return of the enemy, who again laid siege to the
capital. This happened at the very moment when he was surrounded by
his guests, and was boasting of his possession of the air-car, the
magic golden ring, and the rest of his evilly acquired riches.
"His foes had consulted Yaga, a wicked sorceress; she advised them to
obtain the help of Kostey the magician, who promised his aid in
carrying off the princess. When he came he fell in love with the
beautiful maiden at first sight, and determined to marry her himself.
In order to bring this about he threw the king, the courtiers, and all
the inhabitants of the land into a heavy sleep. Then he bore off the
princess to his own palace, where she has been shut up and ill-treated
because she refuses to have anything to do with him. His castle is
situated at the very end of the world, to the west. There is nothing
to hinder you from taking possession of your carpet and ring, they are
hidden in the king's treasure-house. Then go with your cap and club
and conquer Kostey, rescue the princess, and deliver the king and his
subjects."
The fisherman would have thrown himself at the old man's feet to pour
out his gratitude, but he suddenly vanished. So he thanked God for all
His mercies, put on his invisible cap, and taking his club, made his
way towards the capital.
At the end of three days he entered the royal city. All the
inhabitants were sleeping the enchanted sleep, from which they were
powerless to rouse themselves. The fisherman went straight to the
royal treasure-house, took the magic ring and carpet, then seating
himself upon the latter and repeating the magic words, away he went
like a bird, over rustling forests and under clouds, floating across
the blue sky.
After some days of travel he alighted in Kostey's courtyard. Without a
moment's delay he folded up his carpet, put the magic cap on his head,
and with club in hand entered Kostey's room. There, to his
astonishment, stood the magician himself, admiring the wondrous beauty
of the princess. For she was perfectly beautiful; eye had never seen
nor ear heard of such loveliness. With a low bow full of pride and an
ironical smile he was saying to her: "Beauteous princess, you have
sworn a most solemn oath to marry none but that man who can solve your
six riddles. It is in vain that I strive to guess them. Now there are
only two courses open to you: either to release yourself from your
vow, putting the riddles aside and consenting to be my wife; or to
persist in your vow and thus deliver yourself up to my anger, which
you will bitterly regret. I give you three minutes to decide."
[Illustration]
Upon hearing these threats the fisherman trembled with rage, and in a
low voice whispered the magic words to his club.
This good weapon did not wait for the order to be repeated, but with
one bound came down full upon Kostey's forehead. Stunned for a moment
by the violence of the blow, the terrible creature rolled upon the
ground. Sparks like fireworks sprang from his eyes, and the noise as
of a hundred mills seemed to go through his head. Any ordinary mortal
would never have opened his eyes again, but Kostey was immortal.
Getting on his feet he pulled himself together, and tried to find out
who had thus attacked him. Then the club began to hit him again, and
the sound thereof was like unto blows on an empty vault. It seemed to
the magician as if showers of boiling water were being poured upon
him. He twisted himself about in awful convulsions, and would have
liked to bury himself in his palace walls and be turned to stone.
At last, crippled with wounds, he began to hiss like a serpent, and
springing forwards breathed upon the princess, filling the air with
the poisonous blast.
The maiden tottered and fell, as if dead. Kostey changed himself into
a wreath of smoke, and floating out of the window, disappeared in a
hurricane.
The fisherman, still invisible, carried the princess into the
courtyard of the castle, hoping that the fresh air might restore her
to consciousness. He laid her upon the grass, his heart throbbing with
hope and fear, and waited anxiously. Suddenly a raven and his
nestlings, attracted by the sight of a dead body, and not being able
to see the fisherman, came by croaking. The parent bird said to his
young ones:
"Come, children, sharpen claws and beak, krak, krak,
For here's a feast not far to seek, krak, krak,
This young girl's corse so white and sleek, krak, krak."
One small bird at once settled down on the princess, but the fisherman
seized it and took off his cap, so that he could be seen.
"Fisherman," said the father raven, "let go my dear birdling and I
will give you anything you want."
"Then bring me some of the Life-Giving Water."
The raven flew away and returned in about an hour, carrying in his
beak a tiny bottle of the water. Then he again begged to have his
nestling back.
"You shall have it as soon as I have proved that the water is of the
right sort."
So saying, he sprinkled the pale face of the princess. She sighed,
opened her eyes, and blushing at the sight of a stranger, got up and
said, "Where am I? Why, how soundly I have slept!"
"Lovely princess, your sleep might have lasted for ever."
Then he told her his story, how he had been thrown into the river,
abandoned in the Valley of Diamonds, and so on, relating at full
length all the marvellous events that had taken place.
She listened attentively, then, thanking him for all he had done for
her, placed her hand in his and said, "In the garden behind the palace
is an apple-tree that bears golden fruit. A guzla that plays of its
own accord hangs on its branches, and is guarded day and night by four
negroes. Now the music from this guzla has the wonderful power of
restoring health to invalids who listen to it, and happiness to those
who are sad. That which is ugly becomes beautiful, and charms and
enchantments of all kinds are broken and destroyed for ever."
The fisherman put on his invisible cap and went into the garden in
search of the negroes. Before going up to them he addressed the magic
words to his golden ring, and after a short thunderstorm a shower of
gold covered the ground. The negroes, greedy of wealth, threw
themselves upon it, snatching from each other handfuls of the golden
rain. While thus engaged the fisherman unhooked the guzla from the
branches and hurried off into the courtyard with it. There he unfolded
his carpet, and sitting down upon it with the princess at his side,
flew high up into the air. He had not forgotten to bring with him the
cap, the club, and the ring; the princess took care of the guzla.
They floated across the blue sky, above the rustling forests and under
the clouds, and in a few days arrived at the palace. There they
descended, but the people still lay wrapped in the enchanted sleep,
from which they seemed to have no power of awakening.
The silence of the tomb reigned around. Some of the officers were
sitting, others standing, all motionless and rigid, and each one in
the position he occupied when last awake. The king held a goblet
filled with wine, for he had been giving a toast. The chamberlain had
his throat half filled with a lying tale, which there had been no time
to finish. One had the end of a joke upon his lips, another a dainty
morsel between his teeth, or a tale ready cooked upon his tongue.
And it was the same in all the villages throughout the length and
breadth of the land. All the inhabitants lay under the enchanted
spell. The labourer held his whip in the air, for he had been about to
strike his oxen. The harvesters with their sickles had stopped short
in their work. The shepherds slept by their sheep in the middle of the
road. The huntsman stood with the powder still alight on the pan of
his gun. The birds, arrested in their flight, hung in mid-air. The
animals in the woods were motionless. The water in the streams was
still. Even the wind slept. Everywhere men had been overtaken in their
occupations or amusements. It was a soundless land, without voice or
movement; on all sides calm, death, sleep.
The fisherman stood with the princess at his side in the
banqueting-hall where slept the king and his guests. Taking the magic
guzla from the maid, he pronounced these words:
"O guzla, play, and let thy sweetest harmonies resound
Through hall and cot, o'er hill and dale, and all the country round;
That by the power and beauty of thy heavenly tones and song
Awakened may these sleepers be who sleep too well, too long."
When the first tones of music burst forth everything began to move and
live again. The king finished proposing his toast. The chamberlain
ended his tale. The guests continued to feast and enjoy themselves.
The servants waited at their posts. In short, everything went on just
as before, and as if nothing had happened to interrupt it.
And it was just the same in all the country round. Everything suddenly
awoke to life. The labourer finished ploughing his furrow. The
haymakers built up the hay in ricks. The reapers cut down the golden
grain. The hunter's gun went off and shot the duck. The trees rustled.
The gardener went on with his work and his song. The rich, who thought
only of enjoyment, entertained one another in luxury and splendour.
Now when the king caught sight of his daughter leaning on the
fisherman's arm he could hardly believe his own eyes, and it made him
very angry. But the princess ran to him, and throwing herself in his
arms, related all that he had accomplished. The monarch's heart was
softened, and he felt ashamed. With tears in his eyes he drew the
fisherman towards him, and before the assembled company thanked him
for having the third time saved his life.
"God has punished me for my ill-treatment of you," said he. "Yet He is
generous and forgives; I will fulfil all your wishes."
He then added that the wedding feast should be held that very day, and
that his only daughter would be married to the fisherman.
The princess was filled with gladness, and standing with her father's
arms round her, said, "I cannot, however, break my word. When in
Kostey's palace I made a vow to bestow my hand only on that man who
should guess the six riddles I put to him. I am sure the heroic man,
who has done so much, will not refuse to submit to this last trial for
my sake."
To this the fisherman bowed a willing assent.
The first riddle was: "Without legs it walks. Without arms it strikes.
Without life it moves continually."
"A clock," he answered promptly, and to the great satisfaction of the
princess, to whom this good beginning seemed to presage a happy
ending.
The second riddle ran thus: "Without being either bird, reptile,
insect, or any animal whatsoever, it ensures the safety of the whole
house."
"A bolt," said her lover.
"Good! Now this is the third: 'Who is that pedestrian who walks fully
armed, seasons dishes, and in his sides has two darts? He swims across
the water without the help of a boatman.'"
"A lobster."
The princess clapped her hands and begged him to guess the fourth.
"It runs, it moves along on two sides, it has but one eye, an overcoat
of polished steel, and a tail of thread."
"A needle."
"Well guessed. Now listen to the fifth: 'It walks without feet,
beckons without hands, and moves without a body.'"
"It must be a shadow."
"Exactly," said she, well pleased. "Now you have succeeded so well
with these five you will soon guess the sixth: 'It has four feet, but
is not an animal. It is provided with feathers and down, but is no
bird. It has a body, and gives warmth, but is not alive.'"
"It is certainly a bed," exclaimed the fisherman.
The princess gave him her hand. They both knelt at the king's feet and
received his fatherly blessing, after which he with a large wedding
party accompanied them to the church. At the same time messengers were
sent to bring the fisherman's mother to the palace.
The marvellous guzla played the sweetest music at the marriage feast,
while the old king ate and drank and enjoyed himself, and danced like
a madman. He treated his guests with so much kindness and generosity
that to this very hour the happiness of those who were present is a
thing to be talked about and envied.
Now you see what it is to love virtue and pursue it with energy and
courage. For by so doing a mere peasant, a poor simple fisherman,
married the most lovely and enchanting princess in the whole world. He
received, besides, half the kingdom on his wedding day, and the right
of succession to the throne after the old king's death.
THE BROAD MAN, THE TALL MAN, AND THE MAN WITH EYES OF FLAME
[Illustration]
THE BROAD MAN, THE TALL MAN, AND THE MAN WITH EYES OF FLAME
It was in those days when cats wore shoes, when frogs croaked in
grandmothers' chairs, when donkeys clanked their spurs on the
pavements like brave knights, and when hares chased dogs. So you see
it must have been a very very long time ago.
In those days the king of a certain country had a daughter, who was
not only exceedingly beautiful but also remarkably clever. Many kings
and princes travelled from far distant lands, each one with the hope
of making her his wife. But she would have nothing to do with any one
of them. Finally, it was proclaimed that she would marry that man who
for three successive nights should keep such strict watch upon her
that she could not escape unnoticed. Those who failed were to have
their heads cut off.
The news of this offer was noised about in all parts of the world. A
great many kings and princes hastened to make the trial, taking their
turn and keeping watch. But each one lost his life in the attempt, for
they could not prevent, indeed they were not even able to see, the
princess take her flight.