The Violet Fairy Book (10 page)

'To morrow I have got an idiot's work,' said he; 'nothing but to
take the white-headed calf to the meadow.'

'Oh, you unlucky being!' sighed she. 'Do you know that this calf
is so swift that in a single day he can run three times round the
world? Take heed to what I tell you. Bind one end of this silk
thread to the left fore-leg of the calf, and the other end to the
little toe of your left foot, so that the calf will never be able
to leave your side, whether you walk, stand, or lie.' After this
the prince went to bed and slept soundly.

The next morning he did exactly what the maiden had told him, and
led the calf with the silken thread to the meadow, where it stuck
to his side like a faithful dog.

By sunset, it was back again in its stall, and then came the
master and said, with a frown, 'Were you really so clever
yourself, or did somebody tell you what to do?'

'Oh, I have only my own poor head,' answered the prince, and the
old man went away growling, 'I don't believe a word of it! I am
sure you have found some clever friend!'

In the evening he called the prince and said: 'To- morrow I have
no work for you, but when I wake you must come before my bed, and
give me your hand in greeting.'

The young man wondered at this strange freak, and went laughing
in search of the maiden.

'Ah, it is no laughing matter,' sighed she. 'He means to eat
you, and there is only one way in which I can help you. You must
heat an iron shovel red hot, and hold it out to him instead of
your hand.'

So next morning he wakened very early, and had heated the shovel
before the old man was awake. At length he heard him calling,
'You lazy fellow, where are you? Come and wish me good morning.'

But when the prince entered with the red-hot shovel his master
only said, 'I am very ill to-day, and too weak even to touch your
hand. You must return this evening, when I may be better.'

The prince loitered about all day, and in the evening went back
to the old man's room. He was received in the most; friendly
manner, and, to his surprise, his master exclaimed, 'I am very
well satisfied with you. Come to me at dawn and bring the maiden
with you. I know you have long loved each other, and I wish to
make you man and wife.'

The young man nearly jumped into the air for joy, but,
remembering the rules of the house, he managed to keep still.
When he told the maiden, he saw to his astonishment that she had
become as white as a sheet, and she was quite dumb.

'The old man has found out who was your counsellor,' she said
when she could speak, 'and he means to destroy us both.' We must
escape somehow, or else we shall be lost. Take an axe, and cut
off the head of the calf with one blow. With a second, split its
head in two, and in its brain you will see a bright red ball.
Bring that to me. Meanwhile, I will do what is needful here.

And the prince thought to himself, 'Better kill the calf than be
killed ourselves. If we can once escape, we will go back home.
The peas which I strewed about must have sprouted, so that we
shall not miss the way.'

Then he went into the stall, and with one blow of the axe killed
the calf, and with the second split its brain. In an instant the
place was filled with light, as the red ball fell from the brain
of the calf. The prince picked it up, and, wrapping it round
with a thick cloth, hid it in his bosom. Mercifully, the cow
slept through it all, or by her cries she would have awakened the
master.

He looked round, and at the door stood the maiden, holding a
little bundle in her arms.

'Where is the ball?' she asked.

'Here,' answered he.

'We must lose no time in escaping,' she went on, and uncovered a
tiny bit of the shining ball, to light them on their way.

As the prince had expected the peas had taken root, and grown
into a little hedge, so that they were sure they would not lose
the path. As they fled, the girl told him that she had overheard
a conversation between the old man and his grandmother, saying
that she was a king's daughter, whom the old fellow had obtained
by cunning from her parents. The prince, who knew all about the
affair, was silent, though he was glad from his heart that it
had fallen to his lot to set her free. So they went on till the
day began to dawn.

The old man slept very late that morning, and rubbed his eyes
till he was properly awake. Then he remembered that very soon
the couple were to present themselves before him. After waiting
and waiting till quite a long time had passed, he said to
himself, with a grin, 'Well, they are not in much hurry to be
married,' and waited again.

At last he grew a little uneasy, and cried loudly, 'Man and maid!
what has become of you?'

After repeating this many times, he became quite frightened, but,
call as he would, neither man nor maid appeared. At last he
jumped angrily out of bed to go in search of the culprits, but
only found an empty house, and beds that had never been slept in.

Then he went straight to the stable, where the sight of the dead
calf told him all. Swearing loudly, he opened the door of the
third stall quickly, and cried to his goblin servants to go and
chase the fugitives. 'Bring them to me, however you may find
them, for have them I must!' he said. So spake the old man, and
the servants fled like the wind.

The runaways were crossing a great plain, when the maiden
stopped. 'Something has happened!' she said. 'The ball moves in
my hand, and I'm sure we are being followed!' and behind them
they saw a black cloud flying before the wind. Then the maiden
turned the ball thrice in her hand, and cried,

'Listen to me, my ball, my ball.
Be quick and change me into a brook,
And my lover into a little fish.'

And in an instant there was a brook with a fish swimming in it.
The goblins arrived just after, but, seeing nobody, waited for a
little, then hurried home, leaving the brook and the fish
undisturbed. When they were quite out of sight, the brook and
the fish returned to their usual shapes and proceeded on their
journey.

When the goblins, tired and with empty hands, returned, their
master inquired what they had seen, and if nothing strange had
befallen them.

'Nothing,' said they; 'the plain was quite empty, save for a
brook and a fish swimming in it.'

'Idiots!' roared the master; 'of course it was they!' And dashing
open the door of the fifth stall, he told the goblins inside that
they must go and drink up the brook, and catch the fish. And the
goblins jumped up, and flew like the wind.

The young pair had almost reached the edge of the wood, when the
maiden stopped again. 'Something has happened,' said she. 'The
ball is moving in my hand,' and looking round she beheld a cloud
flying towards them, large and blacker than the first, and
striped with red. 'Those are our pursuers,' cried she, and
turning the ball three times in her hand she spoke to it thus:

'Listen to me, my ball, my ball.
Be quick and change us both.
Me into a wild rose bush,
And him into a rose on my stem.'

And in the twinkling of an eye it was done. Only just in time
too, for the goblins were close at hand, and looked round eagerly
for the stream and the fish. But neither stream nor fish was to
be seen; nothing but a rose bush. So they went sorrowing home,
and when they were out of sight the rose bush and rose returned
to their proper shapes and walked all the faster for the little
rest they had had.

'Well, did you find them?' asked the old man when his goblins
came back.

'No,' replied the leader of the goblins, 'we found neither brook
nor fish in the desert.'

'And did you find nothing else at all?'

'Oh, nothing but a rose tree on the edge of a wood, with a rose
hanging on it.'

'Idiots!' cried he. 'Why, that was they.' And he threw open the
door of the seventh stall, where his mightiest goblins were
locked in. 'Bring them to me, however you find them, dead or
alive!' thundered he, 'for I will have them! Tear up the rose
tree and the roots too, and don't leave anything behind, however
strange it may be!'

The fugitives were resting in the shade of a wood, and were
refreshing themselves with food and drink. Suddenly the maiden
looked up. 'Something has happened,' said she. 'The ball has
nearly jumped out of my bosom! Some one is certainly following
us, and the danger is near, but the trees hide our enemies from
us.'

As she spoke she took the ball in her hand, and said:

'Listen to me, my ball, my ball.
Be quick and change me into a breeze,
And make my lover into a midge.'

An instant, and the girl was dissolved into thin air, while the
prince darted about like a midge. The next moment a crowd of
goblins rushed up, and looked about in search of something
strange, for neither a rose bush nor anything else was to be
seen. But they had hardly turned their backs to go home
empty-handed when the prince and the maiden stood on the earth
again.

'We must make all the haste we can,' said she, 'before the old
man himself comes to seek us, for he will know us under any
disguise.'

They ran on till they reached such a dark part of the forest
that, if it had not been for the light shed by the ball, they
could not have made their way at all. Worn out and breathless,
they came at length to a large stone, and here the ball began to
move restlessly. The maiden, seeing this, exclaimed:

'Listen to me, my ball, my ball.
Roll the stone quickly to one side,
That we may find a door.'

And in a moment the stone had rolled away, and they had passed
through the door to the world again.

'Now we are safe,' cried she. 'Here the old wizard has no more
power over us, and we can guard ourselves from his spells. But,
my friend, we have to part! You will return to your parents, and
I must go in search of mine.'

'No! no!' exclaimed the prince. 'I will never part from you.
You must come with me and be my wife. We have gone through many
troubles together, and now we will share our joys. The maiden
resisted his words for some time, but at last she went with him.

In the forest they met a woodcutter, who told them that in the
palace, as well as in all the land, there had been great sorrow
over the loss of the prince, and many years had now passed away
during which they had found no traces of him. So, by the help of
the magic ball, the maiden managed that he should put on the same
clothes that he had been wearing at the time he had vanished, so
that his father might know him more quickly. She herself stayed
behind in a peasant's hut, so that father and son might meet
alone.

But the father was no longer there, for the loss of his son had
killed him; and on his deathbed he confessed to his people how he
had contrived that the old wizard should carry away a peasant's
child instead of the prince, wherefore this punishment had fallen
upon him.

The prince wept bitterly when he heard this news, for he had
loved his father well, and for three days he ate and drank
nothing. But on the fourth day he stood in the presence of his
people as their new king, and, calling his councillors, he told
them all the strange things that had befallen him, and how the
maiden had borne him safe through all.

And the councillors cried with one voice, 'Let her be your wife,
and our liege lady.'

And that is the end of the story.

(Ehstnische Marchen.)

Once upon a time there lived a queen whose heart was sore because
she had no children. She was sad enough when her husband was at
home with her, but when he was away she would see nobody, but sat
and wept all day long.

Now it happened that a war broke out with the king of a
neighbouring country, and the queen was left in the palace alone.

She was so unhappy that she felt as if the walls would stifle
her, so she wandered out into the garden, and threw herself down
on a grassy bank, under the shade of a lime tree. She had been
there for some time, when a rustle among the leaves caused her to
look up, and she saw an old woman limping on her crutches towards
the stream that flowed through the grounds.

When she had quenched her thirst, she came straight up to the
queen, and said to her: 'Do not take it evil, noble lady, that I
dare to speak to you, and do not be afraid of me, for it may be
that I shall bring you good luck.'

The queen looked at her doubtfully, and answered: 'You do not
seem as if you had been very lucky yourself, or to have much good
fortune to spare for anyone else.'

'Under rough bark lies smooth wood and sweet kernel,' replied the
old woman. 'Let me see your hand, that I may read the future.'

The queen held out her hand, and the old woman examined its lines
closely. Then she said, 'Your heart is heavy with two sorrows,
one old and one new. The new sorrow is for your husband, who is
fighting far away from you; but, believe me, he is well, and will
soon bring you joyful news. But your other sorrow is much older
than this. Your happiness is spoilt because you have no
children.' At these words the queen became scarlet, and tried to
draw away her hand, but the old woman said:

'Have a little patience, for there are some things I want to see
more clearly.'

'But who are you?' asked the queen, 'for you seem to be able to
read my heart.'

'Never mind my name,' answered she, 'but rejoice that it is
permitted to me to show you a way to lessen your grief. You
must, however, promise to do exactly what I tell you, if any good
is to come of it.'

'Oh, I will obey you exactly,' cried the queen, 'and if you can
help me you shall have in return anything you ask for.'

The old woman stood thinking for a little: then she drew
something from the folds of her dress, and, undoing a number of
wrappings, brought out a tiny basket made of birch-bark. She
held it out to the queen, saying, 'In the basket you will find a
bird's egg. This you must be careful to keep in a warm place for
three months, when it will turn into a doll. Lay the doll in a
basket lined with soft wool, and leave it alone, for it will not
need any food, and by-and-by you will find it has grown to be the
size of a baby. Then you will have a baby of your own, and you
must put it by the side of the other child, and bring your
husband to see his son and daughter. The boy you will bring up
yourself, but you must entrust the little girl to a nurse. When
the time comes to have them christened you will invite me to be
godmother to the princess, and this is how you must send the
invitation. Hidden in the cradle, you will find a goose's wing:
throw this out of the window, and I will be with you directly;
but be sure you tell no one of all the things that have befallen
you.'