The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (heaven official's blessing novel english txt) ๐
'Good evening, mother. I see you have lived long in this world; doyou know anything about the three bulrushes?'
'Yes, indeed, I've lived long and been much about in the world, butI have never seen or heard anything of what you ask. Still, if youwill wait till to-morrow I may be able to tell you something.'
Well, he waited till the morning, and quite early the old womanappeared and took out a little pipe and blew in it, and in a momentall the crows in the world were flying about her. Not one wasmissing. Then she asked if they knew anything about the threebulrushes, but not one of them did.
The prince went on his way, and a little further on he found anotherhut in which lived an old man. On being questioned the old mansaid he knew nothing, but begged the prince to stay overnight, andthe next morning the old man called all the ravens together, butthey too had nothing to tell.
The prince bade him farewell and set out. He wandered so far thathe crossed seven kingdoms, an
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The prince promised to inquire, and went on his way.
Then he came to a great forest and wandered about in it from morning to night and from night to morning before he got near the other end. Here he found a pretty stream which was different from other streams as, instead of flowing, it stood still and began to talk: โSir prince, tell me what brings you into these wilds? I must have been flowing here a hundred years and more and no one has ever yet come by.โ
โI will tell you,โ answered the prince, โif you will divide yourself so that I may walk through.โ
The stream parted at once, and the prince walked through without wetting his feet; and directly he got to the other side he told his story as he had promised.
โOh, do ask Lucky Luck,โ cried the brook, โwhy, though I am such a clear, bright, rapid stream I never have a fish or any other living creature in my waters.โ
The prince said he would do so, and continued his journey.
When he got quite clear of the forest he walked on through a lovely valley till he reached a little house thatched with rushes, and he went in to rest for he was very tired.
Everything in the house was beautifully clean and tidy, and a cheerful honest-looking old woman was sitting by the fire.
โGood-morning, mother,โ said the prince.
โMay Luck be with you, my son. What brings you into these parts?โ
โI am looking for Lucky Luck,โ replied the prince.
โThen you have come to the right place, my son, for I am his mother. He is not at home just now, he is out digging in the vineyard. Do you go too. Here are two spades. When you find him begin to dig, but donโt speak a word to him. It is now eleven oโclock. When he sits down to eat his dinner sit beside him and eat with him. After dinner he will question you, and then tell him all your troubles freely. He will answer whatever you may ask.โ
With that she showed him the way, and the prince went and did just as she had told him. After dinner they lay down to rest.
All of a sudden Lucky Luck began to speak and said: โTell me, what sort of man are you, for since you came here you have not spoken a word?โ
โI am not dumb,โ replied the young man, โbut I am that unhappy prince whose faithful servant has been turned to stone, and I want to know how to help him.โ
โAnd you do well, for he deserves everything. Go back, and when you get home your wife will just have had a little boy. Take three drops of blood from the childโs little finger, rub them on your servantโs wrists with a blade of grass and he will return to life.โ
โI have another thing to ask,โ said the prince, when he had thanked him. โIn the forest near here is a fine stream but not a fish or other living creature in it. Why is this?โ
โBecause no one has ever been drowned in the stream. But take care, in crossing, to get as near the other side as you can before you say so, or you may be the first victim yourself.โ
โAnother question, please, before I go. On my way here I lodged one night in the house of three maidens. All were well-mannered, hard-working, and pretty, and yet none has had a wooer. Why was this?โ
โBecause they always throw out their sweepings in the face of the sun.โ
โAnd why is it that a miller, who has a large mill with all the best machinery and gets plenty of corn to grind is so poor that he can hardly live from day to day?โ
โBecause the miller keeps everything for himself, and does not give to those who need it.โ
The prince wrote down the answers to his questions, took a friendly leave of Lucky Luck, and set off for home.
When he reached the stream it asked if he brought it any good news. โWhen I get across I will tell you,โ said he. So the stream parted; he walked through and on to the highest part of the bank. He stopped and shouted out:
โListen, oh stream! Lucky Luck says you will never have any living creature in your waters until someone is drowned in you.โ
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the stream swelled and overflowed till it reached the rock up which he had climbed, and dashed so far up it that the spray flew over him. But he clung on tight, and after failing to reach him three times the stream returned to its proper course. Then the prince climbed down, dried himself in the sun, and set out on his march home.
He spent the night once more at the mill and gave the miller his answer, and by-and-by he told the three sisters not to throw out all their sweepings in the face of the sun.
The prince had hardly arrived at home when some thieves tried to ford the stream with a fine horse they had stolen. When they were half-way across, the stream rose so suddenly that it swept them all away. From that time it became the best fishing stream in the country-side.
The miller, too, began to give alms and became a very good man, and in time grew so rich that he hardly knew how much he had.
And the three sisters, now that they no longer insulted the sun, had each a wooer within a week.
When the prince got home he found that his wife had just got a fine little boy. He did not lose a moment in pricking the babyโs finger till the blood ran, and he brushed it on the wrists of the stone figure, which shuddered all over and split with a loud noise in seven parts and there was the faithful servant alive and well.
When the old king saw this he foamed with rage, stared wildly about, flung himself on the ground and died.
The servant stayed on with his royal master and served him faithfully all the rest of his life; and, if neither of them is dead, he is serving him still.
[From Ungarische Mahrchen.]
The Hairy Man
Somewhere or other, but I donโt know where, there lived a king who owned two remarkably fine fields of rape, but every night two of the rape heaps were burnt down in one of the fields. The king was extremely angry at this, and sent out soldiers to catch whoever had set fire to the ricks; but it was all of no useโnot a soul could they see. Then he offered nine hundred crowns to anyone who caught the evil-doer, and at the same time ordered that whoever did not keep proper watch over the fields should be killed; but though there were a great many people, none seemed able to protect the fields.
The king had already put ninety-nine people to death, when a little swineherd came to him who had two dogs; one was called โPsst,โ and the other โHushโ; and the boy told the king that he would watch over the ricks.
When it grew dark he climbed up on the top of the fourth rick, from where he could see the whole field. About eleven oโclock he thought he saw someone going to a rick and putting a light to it. โJust you wait,โ thought he, and called out to his dogs: โHi! Psst, Hush, catch him! โ But Psst and Hush had not waited for orders, and in five minutes the man was caught.
Next morning he was brought bound before the king, who was so pleased with the boy that he gave him a thousand crowns at once. The prisoner was all covered with hair, almost like an animal; and altogether he was so curious to look at that the king locked him up in a strong room and sent out letters of invitation to all the other kings and princes asking them to come and see this wonder.
That was all very well; but the king had a little boy of ten years old who went to look at the hairy man also, and the man begged so hard to be set free that the boy took pity on him. He stole the key of the strong room from his mother and opened the door. Then he took the key back, but the hairy man escaped and went off into the world.
Then the kings and princes began to arrive one after another, and all were most anxious to see the hairy man; but he was gone! The king nearly burst with rage and with the shame he felt. He questioned his wife sharply, and told her that if she could not find and bring back the hairy man he would put her in a hut made of rushes and burn her there. The queen declared she had had nothing to do with the matter; if her son had happened to take the key it had not been with her knowledge.
So they fetched the little prince and asked him all sorts of questions, and at last he owned that he had let the hairy man out. The king ordered his servants to take the boy into the forest and to kill him there, and to bring back part of his liver and lungs.
There was grief all over the palace when the kingโs command was known, for he was a great favourite. But there was no help for it, and they took the boy out into the forest. But the man was sorry for him, and shot a dog and carried pieces of his lungs and liver to the king, who was satisfied, and did not trouble himself any more.
The prince wandered about in the forest and lived as best he could for five years. One day he came upon a poor little cottage in which was an old man. They began to talk, and the prince told his story and sad fate. Then they recognised each other, for the old fellow was no other than the hairy man whom the prince had set free, and who had lived ever since in the forest.
The prince stayed here for two years; then he wished to go further. The old man begged him hard to stay, but he would not, so his hairy friend gave him a golden apple out of which came a horse with a golden mane, and a golden staff with which to guide the horse. The old man also gave him a silver apple out of which came the most beautiful hussars and a silver staff; and a copper apple from which he could draw as many foot soldiers as ever he wished, and a copper staff. He made the prince swear solemnly to take the greatest care of these presents, and then he let him go.
The boy wandered on and on till he came to a large town. Here he took service in the kingโs palace, and as no one troubled themselves about him he lived quietly on.
One day news was brought to the king that he must go out to war. He was horribly frightened for he had a very small army, but he had to go all the same.
When they had all left, the prince said to the housekeeper:
โGive me leave to go to the next villageโI owe a small bill there, and I want to go and pay itโ; and as there was nothing
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