Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (32 page)

Then the stranger withdrew, and returned to the house of the old
woman sore distressed, for he could believe nothing but that next
day he must atone to the king with his head. And so full was he
of the idea of how to set about cleaving the log that he forgot
even his zither.

In the evening came the princess to the window to listen to his
playing, and behold all was still. Then she called to him: 'Why
are you so cast down this evening, that you do not play on your
zither?'

And he told her his trouble.

But she laughed at it, and called to him: 'And you grieve over
that? Bring quickly your zither, and play something for my
amusement, and early to-morrow come to me.'

Then the stranger took his zither and played the whole evening
for the amusement of the princess.

Next morning she took a hair from her locks and gave it to him,
saying: 'Take this hair, and wind it round your sword, then you
will be able to cleave the log in two.'

Then the stranger went forth, and with one blow cleft the log in
two.

But the king said: 'I will impose another task upon you, before
you can wed my daughter.'

'Speak on,' said the stranger.

'Listen, then,' answered the king; 'you must mount a horse and
ride three miles at full gallop, holding in each hand a goblet
full of water. If you spill no drop then I shall give you my
daughter to wife, but should you not succeed then I will take
your life.'

Then the stranger returned to the house of the old woman, and
again he was so troubled as to forget his zither.

In the evening the princess came to the window as before to
listen to the music, but again all was still; and she called to
him: 'What is the matter that you do not play on your zither?'

Then he related all that the king had ordered him to do, and the
princess answered: 'Do not let yourself be disturbed, only play
now, and come to me to-morrow morning.'

Then next morning he went to her, and she gave him her ring,
saying: 'Throw this ring into the water and it will immediately
freeze, so that you will not spill any.'

The stranger did as the princess bade him, and carried the water
all the way.

Then the king said: 'Now I will give you a third task, and this
shall be the last. I have a negro who will fight with you
to-morrow, and if you are the conqueror you shall wed my
daughter.'

The stranger returned, full of joy, to the house of the old
woman, and that evening was so merry that the princess called to
him;: 'You seem very cheerful this evening; what has my father
told you that makes you so glad?'

He answered: 'Your father has told me that to-morrow I must fight
with his negro. He is only another man like myself, and I hope to
subdue him, and to gain the contest.'

But the princess answered: 'This is the hardest of all. I myself
am the black man, for I swallow a drink that changes me into a
negro of unconquerable strength. Go to-morrow morning to the
market, buy twelve buffalo hides and wrap them round your horse;
fasten this cloth round you, and when I am let loose upon you
to-morrow show it to me, that I may hold myself back and may not
kill you. Then when you fight me you must try to hit my horse
between the eyes, for when you have killed it you have conquered
me.'

Next morning, therefore, he went to the market and bought the
twelve buffalo hides which he wrapped round his horse. Then he
began to fight with the black man, and when the combat had
already lasted a long time, and eleven hides were torn, then the
stranger hit the negro's horse between the eyes, so that it fell
dead, and the black man was defeated.

Then said the king: 'Because you have solved the three problems I
take you for my son-in-law.'

But the stranger answered: 'I have some business to conclude
first; in fourteen days I will return and bring the bride home.'

So he arose and went into another country, where he came to a
great town, and alighted at the house of an old woman. When he
had had supper he begged of her some water to drink, but she
answered: 'My son, I have no water; a giant has taken possession
of the spring, and only lets us draw from it once a year, when we
bring him a maiden. He eats her up, and then he lets us draw
water; just now it is the lot of the king's daughter, and
to-morrow she will be led forth.'

The next day accordingly the princess was led forth to the
spring, and bound there with a golden chain. After that all the
people went away and she was left alone.

When they had gone the stranger went to the maiden and asked her
what ailed her that she lamented so much, and she answered that
the reason was because the giant would come and eat her up. And
the stranger promised that he would set her free if she would
take him for her husband, and the princess joyfully consented.

When the giant appeared the stranger set his dog at him, and it
took him by the throat and throttled him till he died; so the
princess was set free.

Now when the king heard of it he gladly consented to the
marriage, and the wedding took place with great rejoicings. The
young bridegroom abode in the palace one hundred and one weeks.
Then he began to find it too dull, and he desired to go out
hunting. The king would fain have prevented it, but in this he
could not succeed. Then he begged his son-in-law at least to take
sufficient escort with him, but this, too, the young man evaded,
and took only his horse and his dog.

He had ridden already a long way, when he saw in the distance a
hut, and rode straight towards it in order to get some water to
drink. There he found an old woman from whom he begged the water.
She answered that first he should allow her to beat his dog with
her little wand, that it might not bite her while she fetched the
water. The hunter consented; and as soon as she had touched the
dog with her wand it immediately turned to stone. Thereupon she
touched the hunter and also his horse, and both turned to stone.
As soon as that had happened, the cypress trees in front of his
father's house began to wither. And when the other brother saw
this, he immediately set out in search of his twin. He came first
to the town where his brother had slain the giant, and there fate
led him to the same old woman where his brother had lodged. When
she saw him she took him for his twin brother, and said to him:
'Do not take it amiss of me, my son, that I did not come to wish
you joy on your marriage with the king's daughter.'

The stranger perceived what mistake she had made, but only said:
'That does not matter, old woman,' and rode on, without further
speech, to the king's palace, where the king and the princess
both took him for his twin brother, and called out: 'Why have you
tarried so long away? We thought something evil had befallen
you.'

When night came and he slept with the princess, who still
believed him to be her husband, he laid his sword between them,
and when morning came he rose early and went out to hunt. Fate
led him by the same way which his brother had taken, and from a
distance he saw him and knew that he was turned to stone. Then he
entered the hut and ordered the old woman to disenchant his
brother. But she answered: 'Let me first touch your dog with my
wand, and then I will free your brother.'

He ordered the dog, however, to take hold of her, and bite her up
to the knee, till she cried out: 'Tell your dog to let me go and
I will set your brother free!'

But he only answered: 'Tell me the magic words that I may
disenchant him myself;' and as she would not he ordered his dog
to bite her up to the hip.

Then the old woman cried out: 'I have two wands, with the green
one I turn to stone, and with the red one I bring to life again.'

So the hunter took the red wand and disenchanted his brother,
also his brother's horse, and his dog, and ordered his own dog to
eat the old woman up altogether.

While the brothers went on their way back to the castle of the
king, the one brother related to the other how the cypress tree
had all at once dried up and withered, how he had immediately set
out in search of his twin, and how he had come to the castle of
his father-in-law, and had claimed the princess as his wife. But
the other brother became furious on hearing this, and smote him
over the forehead till he died, and returned alone to the house
of his father-in-law.

When night came and he was in bed the princess asked him: 'What
was the matter with you last night, that you never spoke a word
to me?'

Then he cried out: 'That was not me, but my brother, and I have
slain him, because he told me by the way that he had claimed you
for his wife!'

'Do you know the place where you slew him?' asked the princess,
'and can you find the body?'

'I know the place exactly.'

'Then to-morrow we shall ride thither,' said the princess. Next
morning accordingly they set out together, and when they had come
to the place, the princess drew forth a small bottle that she had
brought with her, and sprinkled the body with some drops of the
water so that immediately he became alive again.

When he stood up, his brother said to him: 'Forgive me, dear
brother, that I slew you in my anger.' Then they embraced and
went together to the Fairest in the Land, whom the unmarried
brother took to wife.

Then the brothers brought their parents to live with them, and
all dwelt together in joy and happiness.

There was once upon a time a king who reigned over a country
called 'Bello Puojo.' He was very rich and powerful, and had
everything in the world he could desire except a child. But at
last, after he had been married for many years, and was quite an
old man, his wife Renzolla presented him with a fine daughter,
whom they called Cannetella.

She grew up into a beautiful girl, and was as tall and straight
as a young fir-tree. When she was eighteen years old her father
called her to him and said: 'You are of an age now, my daughter,
to marry and settle down; but as I love you more than anything
else in the world, and desire nothing but your happiness, I am
determined to leave the choice of a husband to yourself. Choose a
man after your own heart, and you are sure to satisfy me.'
Cannetella thanked her father very much for his kindness and
consideration, but told him that she had not the slightest wish
to marry, and was quite determined to remain single.

The king, who felt himself growing old and feeble, and longed to
see an heir to the throne before he died, was very unhappy at her
words, and begged her earnestly not to disappoint him.

When Cannetella saw that the king had set his heart on her
marriage, she said: 'Very well, dear father, I will marry to
please you, for I do not wish to appear ungrateful for all your
love and kindness; but you must find me a husband handsomer,
cleverer, and more charming than anyone else in the world.'

The king was overjoyed by her words, and from early in the
morning till late at night he sat at the window and looked
carefully at all the passers-by, in the hopes of finding a
son-in-law among them.

One day, seeing a very good-looking man crossing the street, the
king called his daughter and said: 'Come quickly, dear
Cannetella, and look at this man, for I think he might suit you
as a husband.'

They called the young man into the palace, and set a sumptuous
feast before him, with every sort of delicacy you can imagine. In
the middle of the meal the youth let an almond fall out of his
mouth, which, however, he picked up again very quickly and hid
under the table-cloth.

When the feast was over the stranger went away, and the king
asked Cannetella: 'Well, what did you think of the youth?'

'I think he was a clumsy wretch,' replied Cannetella. 'Fancy a
man of his age letting an almond fall out of his mouth!'

When the king heard her answer he returned to his watch at the
window, and shortly afterwards a very handsome young man passed
by. The king instantly called his daughter to come and see what
she thought of the new comer.

'Call him in,' said Cannetella, 'that we may see him close.'

Another splendid feast was prepared, and when the stranger had
eaten and drunk as much as he was able, and had taken his
departure, the king asked Cannetella how she liked him.

'Not at all,' replied his daughter; 'what could you do with a man
who requires at least two servants to help him on with his cloak,
because he is too awkward to put it on properly himself?'

'If that's all you have against him,' said the king, 'I see how
the land lies. You are determined not to have a husband at all;
but marry someone you shall, for I do not mean my name and house
to die out.'

'Well, then, my dear parent,' said Cannetella, 'I must tell you
at once that you had better not count upon me, for I never mean
to marry unless I can find a man with a gold head and gold
teeth.'

The king was very angry at finding his daughter so obstinate; but
as he always gave the girl her own way in everything, he issued a
proclamation to the effect that any man with a gold head and gold
teeth might come forward and claim the princess as his bride, and
the kingdom of Bello Puojo as a wedding gift.

Now the king had a deadly enemy called Scioravante, who was a
very powerful magician. No sooner had this man heard of the
proclamation than he summoned his attendant spirits and commanded
them to gild his head and teeth. The spirits said, at first, that
the task was beyond their powers, and suggested that a pair of
golden horns attached to his forehead would both be easier to
make and more comfortable to wear; but Scioravante would allow no
compromise, and insisted on having a head and teeth made of the
finest gold. When it was fixed on his shoulders he went for a
stroll in front of the palace. And the king, seeing the very man
he was in search of, called his daughter, and said: 'Just look
out of the window, and you will find exactly what you want.'