The Violet Fairy Book (20 page)

She is hideous, more hideous than anything you can imagine, with
owl's eyes, foxy face, and cat's claws. Do you hear? do you
hear? Be sure you never look at her.'

Petru thanked her, and managed to get off at last.

Far, far away, where the heavens touch the earth, where the stars
kiss the flowers, a soft red light was seen, such as the sky
sometimes has in spring, only lovelier, more wonderful.

That light was behind the palace of the Fairy of the Dawn, and it
took Petru two days and nights through flowery meadows to reach
it. And besides, it was neither hot nor cold, bright nor dark,
but something of them all, and Petru did not find the way a step
too long.

After some time Petru saw something white rise up out of the red
of the sky, and when he drew nearer he saw it was a castle, and
so splendid that his eyes were dazzled when they looked at it.
He did not know there was such a beautiful castle in the world.

But no time was to be lost, so he shook himself, jumped down from
his horse, and, leaving him on the dewy grass, began to play on
his flute as he walked along.

He had hardly gone many steps when he stumbled over a huge giant,
who had been lulled to sleep by the music. This was one of the
guards of the castle! As he lay there on his back, he seemed so
big that in spite of Petru's haste he stopped to measure him.

The further went Petru, the more strange and terrible were the
sights he saw—lions, tigers, dragons with seven heads, all
stretched out in the sun fast asleep. It is needless to say what
the dragons were like, for nowadays everyone knows, and dragons
are not things to joke about. Petru ran through them like the
wind. Was it haste or fear that spurred him on?

At last he came to a river, but let nobody think for a moment
that this river was like other rivers? Instead of water, there
flowed milk, and the bottom was of precious stones and pearls,
instead of sand and pebbles. And it ran neither fast nor slow,
but both fast and slow together. And the river flowed round the
castle, and on its banks slept lions with iron teeth and claws;
and beyond were gardens such as only the Fairy of the Dawn can
have, and on the flowers slept a fairy! All this saw Petru from
the other side.

But how was he to get over? To be sure there was a bridge, but,
even if it had not been guarded by sleeping lions, it was plainly
not meant for man to walk on. Who could tell what it was made
of? It looked like soft little woolly clouds!

So he stood thinking what was to be done, for get across he must.

After a while, he determined to take the risk, and strode back to
the sleeping giant. 'Wake up, my brave man!' he cried, giving
him a shake.

The giant woke and stretched out his hand to pick up Petru, just
as we should catch a fly. But Petru played on his flute, and the
giant fell back again. Petru tried this three times, and when he
was satisfied that the giant was really in his power he took out
a handkerchief, bound the two little fingers of the giant
together, drew his sword, and cried for the fourth time, 'Wake
up, my brave man.'

When the giant saw the trick which had been played on him he said
to Petru. 'Do you call this a fair fight? Fight according to
rules, if you really are a hero!'

'I will by-and-by, but first I want to ask you a question! Will
you swear that you will carry me over the river if I fight
honourably with you?' And the giant swore.

When his hands were freed, the giant flung himself upon Petru,
hoping to crush him by his weight. But he had met his match. It
was not yesterday, nor the day before, that Petru had fought his
first battle, and he bore himself bravely.

For three days and three nights the battle raged, and sometimes
one had the upper hand, and sometimes the other, till at length
they both lay struggling on the ground, but Petru was on top,
with the point of his sword at the giant's throat.

'Let me go! let me go!' shrieked he. 'I own that I am beaten!'

'Will you take me over the river?' asked Petru.

'I will,' gasped the giant.

'What shall I do to you if you break your word?'

'Kill me, any way you like! But let me live now.'

'Very well,' said Petru, and he bound the giant's left hand to
his right foot, tied one handkerchief round his mouth to prevent
him crying out, and another round his eyes, and led him to the
river.

Once they had reached the bank he stretched one leg over to the
other side, and, catching up Petru in the palm of his hand, set
him down on the further shore.

'That is all right,' said Petru. Then he played a few notes on
his flute, and the giant went to sleep again. Even the fairies
who had been bathing a little lower down heard the music and fell
asleep among the flowers on the bank. Petru saw them as he
passed, and thought, 'If they are so beautiful, why should the
Fairy of the Dawn be so ugly?' But he dared not linger, and
pushed on.

And now he was in the wonderful gardens, which seemed more
wonderful still than they had done from afar. But Petru could
see no faded flowers, nor any birds, as he hastened through them
to the castle. No one was there to bar his way, for all were
asleep. Even the leaves had ceased to move.

He passed through the courtyard, and entered the castle itself.

What he beheld there need not be told, for all the world knows
that the palace of the Fairy of the Dawn is no ordinary place.
Gold and precious stones were as common as wood with us, and the
stables where the horses of the sun were kept were more splendid
than the palace of the greatest emperor in the world.

Petru went up the stairs and walked quickly through
eight-and-forty rooms, hung with silken stuffs, and all empty.
In the forty-ninth he found the Fairy of the Dawn herself.

In the middle of this room, which was as large as a church, Petru
saw the celebrated well that he had come so far to seek. It was
a well just like other wells, and it seemed strange that the
Fairy of the Dawn should have it in her own chamber; yet anyone
could tell it had been there for hundreds of years. And by the
well slept the Fairy of the Dawn—the Fairy of the Dawn—herself!

And as Petru looked at her the magic flute dropped by his side,
and he held his breath.

Near the well was a table, on which stood bread made with does'
milk, and a flagon of wine. It was the bread of strength and the
wine of youth, and Petru longed for them. He looked once at the
bread and once at the wine, and then at the Fairy of the Dawn,
still sleeping on her silken cushions.

As he looked a mist came over his senses. The fairy opened her
eyes slowly and looked at Petru, who lost his head still further;
but he just managed to remember his flute, and a few notes of it
sent the Fairy to sleep again, and he kissed her thrice. Then he
stooped and laid his golden wreath upon her forehead, ate a piece
of the bread and drank a cupful of the wine of youth, and this he
did three times over. Then he filled a flask with water from the
well, and vanished swiftly.

As he passed through the garden it seemed quite different from
what it was before. The flowers were lovelier, the streams ran
quicker, the sunbeams shone brighter, and the fairies seemed
gayer. And all this had been caused by the three kisses Petru
had given the Fairy of the Dawn.

He passed everything safely by, and was soon seated in his saddle
again. Faster than the wind, faster than thought, faster than
longing, faster than hatred rode Petru. At length he dismounted,
and, leaving his horses at the roadside, went on foot to the
house of Venus.

The goddess Venus knew that he was coming, and went to meet him,
bearing with her white bread and red wine.

'Welcome back, my prince,' said she.

'Good day, and many thanks,' replied the young man, holding out
the flask containing the magic water. She received it with joy,
and after a short rest Petru set forth, for he had no time to
lose.

He stopped a few minutes, as he had promised, with the Goddess of
Thunder, and was taking a hasty farewell of her, when she called
him back.

'Stay, I have a warning to give you,' said she. 'Beware of your
life; make friends with no man; do not ride fast, or let the
water go out of your hand; believe no one, and flee flattering
tongues. Go, and take care, for the way is long, the world is
bad, and you hold something very precious. But I will give you
this cloth to help you. It is not much to look at, but it is
enchanted, and whoever carries it will never be struck by
lightning, pierced by a lance, or smitten with a sword, and the
arrows will glance off his body.'

Petru thanked her and rode off, and, taking out his treasure box,
inquired how matters were going at home. Not well, it said. The
emperor was blind altogether now, and Florea and Costan had
besought him to give the government of the kingdom into their
hands; but he would not, saying that he did not mean to resign
the government till he had washed his eyes from the well of the
Fairy of the Dawn. Then the brothers had gone to consult old
Birscha, who told them that Petru was already on his way home
bearing the water. They had set out to meet him, and would try
to take the magic water from him, and then claim as their reward
the government of the emperor.

'You are lying!' cried Petru angrily, throwing the box on the
ground, where it broke into a thousand pieces.

It was not long before he began to catch glimpses of his native
land, and he drew rein near a bridge, the better to look at it.
He was still gazing, when he heard a sound in the distance as if
some one was calling hit by his name.

'You, Petru!' it said.

'On! on!' cried the horse; 'it will fare ill with you if you
stop.'

'No, let us stop, and see who and what it is!' answered Petru,
turning his horse round, and coming face to face with his two
brothers. He had forgotten the warning given him by the Goddess
of Thunder, and when Costan and Florea drew near with soft and
flattering words he jumped straight off his horse, and rushed to
embrace them. He had a thousand questions to ask, and a thousand
things to tell. But his brown horse stood sadly hanging his
head.

'Petru, my dear brother,' at length said Florea, 'would it not be
better if we carried the water for you? Some one might try to
take it from you on the road, while no one would suspect us.'

'So it would,' added Costan. 'Florea speaks well.' But Petru
shook his head, and told them what the Goddess of Thunder had
said, and about the cloth she had given him. And both brothers
understood there was only one way in which they could kill him.

At a stone's throw from where they stood ran a rushing stream,
with clear deep pools.

'Don't you feel thirsty, Costan?' asked Florea, winking at him.

'Yes,' replied Costan, understanding directly what was wanted.
'Come, Petru, let us drink now we have the chance, and then we
will set out on our way home. It is a good thing you have us
with you, to protect you from harm.'

The horse neighed, and Petru knew what it meant, and did not go
with his brothers.

No, he went home to his father, and cured his blindness; and as
for his brothers, they never returned again.

(From Rumanische Marchen.)

Once upon a time there lived a young man who vowed that he would
never marry any girl who had not royal blood in her veins. One
day he plucked up all his courage and went to the palace to ask
the emperor for his daughter. The emperor was not much pleased
at the thought of such a match for his only child, but being very
polite, he only said:

'Very well, my son, if you can win the princess you shall have
her, and the conditions are these. In eight days you must manage
to tame and bring to me three horses that have never felt a
master. The first is pure white, the second a foxy-red with a
black head, the third coal black with a white head and feet. And
besides that, you must also bring as a present to the empress, my
wife, as much gold as the three horses can carry.'

The young man listened in dismay to these words, but with an
effort he thanked the emperor for his kindness and left the
palace, wondering how he was to fulfil the task allotted to him.
Luckily for him, the emperor's daughter had overheard everything
her father had said, and peeping through a curtain had seen the
youth, and thought him handsomer than anyone she had ever beheld.

So returning hastily to her own room, she wrote him a letter
which she gave to a trusty servant to deliver, begging her wooer
to come to her rooms early the next day, and to undertake nothing
without her advice, if he ever wished her to be his wife.

That night, when her father was asleep, she crept softly into his
chamber and took out an enchanted knife from the chest where he
kept his treasures, and hid it carefully in a safe place before
she went to bed.

The sun had hardly risen the following morning when the
princess's nurse brought the young man to her apartments.
Neither spoke for some minutes, but stood holding each other's
hands for joy, till at last they both cried out that nothing but
death should part them. Then the maiden said:

'Take my horse, and ride straight through the wood towards the
sunset till you come to a hill with three peaks. When you get
there, turn first to the right and then to the left, and you will
find yourself in a sun meadow, where many horses are feeding.
Out of these you must pick out the three described to you by my
father. If they prove shy, and refuse to let you get near them,
draw out your knife, and let the sun shine on it so that the
whole meadow is lit up by its rays, and the horses will then
approach you of their own accord, and will let you lead them
away. When you have them safely, look about till you see a
cypress tree, whose roots are of brass, whose boughs are of
silver, and whose leaves are of gold. Go to it, and cut away the
roots with your knife, and you will come to countless bags of
gold. Load the horses with all they can carry, and return to my
father, and tell him that you have done your task, and can claim
me for your wife.'