Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (30 page)

What she said, she did. The next morning when the prince left his
room he saw before him a palace more beautiful than his fancy had
ever pictured. Kostiei for his part could hardly believe his
eyes, and pondered deeply how it had got there.

'Well, this time you have certainly won; but you are not going to
be let off so easily. To-morrow all my twelve daughters shall
stand in a row before you, and if you cannot tell me which of
them is the youngest, off goes your head.'

'What! Not recognise the youngest princess!' said the Prince to
himself, as he entered his room, 'a likely story!'

'It is such a difficult matter that you will never be able to do
it without my help,' replied the bee, who was buzzing about the
ceiling. 'We are all so exactly alike, that even our father
scarcely knows the difference between us.'

'Then what must I do?'

'This. The youngest is she who will have a ladybird on her
eyelid. Be very careful. Now good-bye.'

Next morning King Kostiei again sent for the prince. The young
princesses were all drawn up in a row, dressed precisely in the
same manner, and with their eyes all cast down. As the prince
looked at them, he was amazed at their likeness. Twice he walked
along the line, without being able to detect the sign agreed
upon. The third time his heart beat fast at the sight of a tiny
speck upon the eyelid of one of the girls.

'This one is the youngest,' he said.

'How in the world did you guess?' cried Kostiei in a fury. 'There
is some jugglery about it! But you are not going to escape me so
easily. In three hours you shall come here and give me another
proof of your cleverness. I shall set alight a handful of straw,
and before it is burnt up you will have turned it into a pair of
boots. If not, off goes your head.'

So the prince returned sadly into his room, but the bee was there
before him.

'Why do you look so melancholy, my handsome Prince?'

'How can I help looking melancholy when your father has ordered
me to make him a pair of boots? Does he take me for a shoemaker?'

'What do you think of doing?'

'Not of making boots, at any rate! I am not afraid of death. One
can only die once after all.'

'No, Prince, you shall not die. I will try to save you. And we
will fly together or die together.'

As she spoke she spat upon the ground, and then drawing the
prince after her out of the room, she locked the door behind her
and threw away the key. Holding each other tight by the hand,
they made their way up into the sunlight, and found themselves by
the side of the same sea, while the prince's horse was still
quietly feeding in the neighbouring meadow. The moment he saw his
master, the horse whinnied and galloped towards him. Without
losing an instant the prince sprang into the saddle, swung the
princess behind him, and away they went like an arrow from a bow.

When the hour arrived which Kostiei had fixed for the prince's
last trial, and there were no signs of him, the king sent to his
room to ask why he delayed so long. The servants, finding the
door locked, knocked loudly and received for answer, 'In one
moment.' It was the spittle, which was imitating the voice of the
prince.

The answer was taken back to Kostiei. He waited; still no prince.
He sent the servants back again, and the same voice replied,
'Immediately.'

'He is making fun of me!' shrieked Kostiei in a rage. 'Break in
the door, and bring him to me!'

The servants hurried to do his bidding. The door was broken open.
Nobody inside; but just the spittle in fits of laughter! Kostiei
was beside himself with rage, and commanded his guards to ride
after the fugitives. If the guards returned without the
fugitives, their heads should pay for it.

By this time the prince and princess had got a good start, and
were feeling quite happy, when suddenly they heard the sound of a
gallop far behind them. The prince sprang from the saddle, and
laid his ear to the ground.

'They are pursuing us,' he said.

'Then there is no time to be lost,' answered the princess; and as
she spoke she changed herself into a river, the prince into a
bridge, the horse into a crow, and divided the wide road beyond
the bridge into three little ones. When the soldiers came up to
the bridge, they paused uncertainly. How were they to know which
of the three roads the fugitives had taken? They gave it up in
despair and returned in trembling to Kostiei.

'Idiots!' he exclaimed, in a passion. 'They were the bridge and
the river, of course! Do you mean to say you never thought of
that? Go back at once!' and off they galloped like lightning.

But time had been lost, and the prince and princess were far on
their way.

'I hear a horse,' cried the princess.

The prince jumped down and laid his ear to the ground.

'Yes,' he said, 'they are not far off now.'

In an instant prince, princess, and horse had all disappeared,
and instead was a dense forest, crossed and recrossed by
countless paths. Kostiei's soldiers dashed hastily into the
forest, believing they saw before them the flying horse with its
double burden. They seemed close upon them, when suddenly horse,
wood, everything disappeared, and they found themselves at the
place where they started. There was nothing for it but to return
to Kostiei, and tell him of this fresh disaster.

'A horse! a horse!' cried the king. 'I will go after them myself.
This time they shall not escape.' And he galloped off, foaming
with anger.

'I think I hear someone pursuing us,' said the princess

'Yes, so do I.'

'And this time it is Kostiei himself. But his power only reaches
as far as the first church, and he can go no farther. Give me
your golden cross.' So the prince unfastened the cross which was
his mother's gift, and the princess hastily changed herself into
a church, the prince into a priest, and the horse into a belfry.

It was hardly done when Kostiei came up.

'Greeting, monk. Have you seen some travellers on horseback pass
this way?'

'Yes, the prince and Kostiei's daughter have just gone by. They
have entered the church, and told me to give you their greetings
if I met you.'

Then Kostiei knew that he had been hopelessly beaten, and the
prince and princess continued their journey without any more
adventures.

(Contes Populaires Slaves. Traduits par Louis Léger. Paris:
Leroux, éditeur.)

There lived, once upon a time, a man who was as rich as he could
be; but as no happiness in this world is ever quite complete, he
had an only son who was such a simpleton that he could barely add
two and two together. At last his father determined to put up
with his stupidity no longer, and giving him a purse full of
gold, he sent him off to seek his fortune in foreign lands,
mindful of the adage:

How much a fool that's sent to roam
Excels a fool that stays at home.

Moscione, for this was the youth's name, mounted a horse, and set
out for Venice, hoping to find a ship there that would take him
to Cairo. After he had ridden for some time he saw a man standing
at the foot of a poplar tree, and said to him: 'What's your name,
my friend; where do you come from, and what can you do?'

The man replied, 'My name is Quick-as-Thought, I come from
Fleet-town, and I can run like lightning.'

'I should like to see you,' returned Moscione.

'Just wait a minute, then,' said Quick-as-Thought, 'and I will
soon show you that I am speaking the truth.'

The words were hardly out of his mouth when a young doe ran right
across the field they were standing in.

Quick-as-Thought let her run on a short distance, in order to
give her a start, and then pursued her so quickly and so lightly
that you could not have tracked his footsteps if the field had
been strewn with flour. In a very few springs he had overtaken
the doe, and had so impressed Moscione with his fleetness of foot
that he begged Quick-as-Thought to go with him, promising at the
same time to reward him handsomely.

Quick-as-Thought agreed to his proposal, and they continued on
their journey together. They had hardly gone a mile when they met
a young man, and Moscione stopped and asked him: 'What's your
name, my friend; where do you come from, and what can you do?'

The man thus addressed answered promptly, 'I am called
Hare's-ear, I come from Curiosity Valley, and if I lay my ear on
the ground, without moving from the spot, I can hear everything
that goes on in the world, the plots and intrigues of court and
cottage, and all the plans of mice and men.'

'If that's the case,' replied Moscione, 'just tell me what's
going on in my own home at present.'

The youth laid his ear to the ground and at once reported: 'An
old man is saying to his wife, "Heaven be praised that we have
got rid of Moscione, for perhaps, when he has been out in the
world a little, he may gain some common sense, and return home
less of a fool than when he set out."'

'Enough, enough,' cried Moscione. 'You speak the truth, and I
believe you. Come with us, and your fortune's made.'

The young man consented; and after they had gone about ten miles,
they met a third man, to whom Moscione said: 'What's your name,
my brave fellow; where were you born, and what can you do?'

The man replied, 'I am called Hit-the-Point, I come from the city
of Perfect-aim, and I draw my bow so exactly that I can shoot a
pea off a stone.'

'I should like to see you do it, if you've no objection,' said
Moscione.

The man at once placed a pea on a stone, and, drawing his bow, he
shot it in the middle with the greatest possible ease.

When Moscione saw that he had spoken the truth, he immediately
asked Hit-the-Point to join his party.

After they had all travelled together for some days, they came
upon a number of people who were digging a trench in the blazing
sun.

Moscione felt so sorry for them, that he said: 'My dear friends,
how can you endure working so hard in heat that would cook an egg
in a minute?'

But one of the workmen answered: 'We are as fresh as daisies, for
we have a young man among us who blows on our backs like the west
wind.'

'Let me see him,' said Moscione.

The youth was called, and Moscione asked him: 'What's your name;
where do you come from, and what can you do?'

He answered: 'I am called Blow-Blast, I come from Wind-town, and
with my mouth I can make any winds you please. If you wish a west
wind I can raise it for you in a second, but if you prefer a
north wind I can blow these houses down before your eyes.'

'Seeing is believing,' returned the cautious Moscione.

Blow-Blast at once began to convince him of the truth of his
assertion. First he blew so softly that it seemed like the gentle
breeze at evening, and then he turned round and raised such a
mighty storm, that he blew down a whole row of oak trees.

When Moscione saw this he was delighted, and begged Blow-Blast to
join his company. And as they went on their way they met another
man, whom Moscione addressed as usual: 'What's your name: where
do you come from, and what can you do?'

'I am called Strong-Back; I come from Power-borough, and I
possess such strength that I can take a mountain on my back, and
it seems a feather to me.'

'If that's the case,' said Moscione, 'you are a clever fellow;
but I should like some proof of your strength.'

Then Strong-Back loaded himself with great boulders of rock and
trunks of trees, so that a hundred waggons could not have taken
away all that he carried on his back.

When Moscione saw this he prevailed on Strong-Back to join his
troop, and they all continued their journey till they came to a
country called Flower Vale. Here there reigned a king whose only
daughter ran as quickly as the wind, and so lightly that she
could run over a field of young oats without bending a single
blade. The king had given out a proclamation that anyone who
could beat the princess in a race should have her for a wife, but
that all who failed in the competition should lose their head.

As soon as Moscione heard of the Royal Proclamation, he hastened
to the king and challenged the princess to race with him. But on
the morning appointed for the trial he sent word to the king that
he was not feeling well, and that as he could not run himself he
would supply someone to take his place.

'It's just the same to me,' said Canetella, the princess; 'let
anyone come forward that likes, I am quite prepared to meet him.'

At the time appointed for the race the whole place was crowded
with people anxious to see the contest, and, punctual to the
moment, Quick-as-Thought, and Canetella dressed in a short skirt
and very lightly shod, appeared at the starting-point.

Then a silver trumpet sounded, and the two rivals started on
their race, looking for all the world like a greyhound chasing a
hare.

But Quick-as-Thought, true to his name, outran the princess, and
when the goal was reached the people all clapped their hands and
shouted, 'Long live the stranger!'

Canetella was much depressed by her defeat; but, as the race had
to be run a second time, she determined she would not be beaten
again. Accordingly she went home and sent Quick-as-Thought a
magic ring, which prevented the person who wore it, not only from
running, but even from walking, and begged that he would wear it
for her sake.

Early next morning the crowd assembled on the race-course, and
Canetella and Quick as-Thought began their trial afresh. The
princess ran as quickly as ever, but poor Quick-as-Thought was
like an overloaded donkey, and could not go a step.

Then Hit-the-Point, who had heard all about the princess's
deception from Hare's-ear, when he saw the danger his friend was
in, seized his bow and arrow and shot the stone out of the ring
Quick-as-Thought was wearing. In a moment the youth's legs became
free again, and in five bounds he had overtaken Canetella and won
the race.