The Violet Fairy Book (35 page)

The fight was so fierce that it seemed as if the earth would give
way under them, and for twenty miles round the beasts in the
forests fled to their caves for shelter. At last, when her
strength was almost gone, the genius lowered his sword for an
instant. The princess saw her chance, and, with one swoop of her
arm, severed her enemy's head from his body. Still trembling
from the long struggle, she turned away, and went to the meadow
where the stud were feeding.

By the advice of Sunlight, she took care not to let them see her,
and climbed a thick tree, where she could see and hear without
being seen herself. Then he neighed, and the mares came
galloping up, eager to see the new comer—all but one horse, who
did not like strangers, and thought they were very well as they
were. As Sunlight stood his ground, well pleased with the
attention paid him, this sulky creature suddenly advanced to the
charge, and bit so violently that had it not been for the nine
buffalo skins Sunlight's last moment would have come. When the
fight was ended, the buffalo skins were in ribbons, and the
beaten animal writhing with pain on the grass.

Nothing now remained to be done but to drive the whole stud to
the emperor's court. So the princess came down from the tree and
mounted Sunlight, while the stud followed meekly after, the
wounded horse bringing up the rear. On reaching the palace, she
drove them into a yard, and went to inform the emperor of her
arrival.

The news was told at once to Iliane, who ran down directly and
called them to her one by one, each mare by its name. And at the
first sight of her the wounded animal shook itself quickly, and
in a moment its wounds were healed, and there was not even a mark
on its glossy skin.

By this time the emperor, on hearing where she was, joined her in
the yard, and at her request ordered the mares to be milked, so
that both he and she might bathe in the milk and keep young for
ever. But they would suffer no one to come near them, and the
princess was commanded to perform this service also.

At this, the heart of the girl swelled within her. The hardest
tasks were always given to her, and long before the two years
were up, she would be worn out and useless. But while these
thoughts passed through her mind, a fearful rain fell, such as no
man remembered before, and rose till the mares were standing up
to their knees in water. Then as suddenly it stopped, and,
behold! the water was ice, which held the animals firmly in its
grasp. And the princess's heart grew light again, and she sat
down gaily to milk them, as if she had done it every morning of
her life.

The love of the emperor for Iliane waxed greater day by day, but
she paid no heed to him, and always had an excuse ready to put
off their marriage. At length, when she had come to the end of
everything she could think of, she said to him one day: 'Grant
me, Sire, just one request more, and then I will really marry
you; for you have waited patiently this long time.'

'My beautiful dove,' replied the emperor, 'both I and all I
possess are yours, so ask your will, and you shall have it.'

'Get me, then,' she said, 'a flask of the holy water that is kept
in a little church beyond the river Jordan, and I will be your
wife.'

Then the emperor ordered Fet-Fruners to ride without delay to the
river Jordan, and to bring back, at whatever cost, the holy water
for Iliane.

'This, my mistress,' said Sunlight, when she was saddling him,
'is the last and most difficult of your tasks. But fear nothing,
for the hour of the emperor has struck.'

So they started; and the horse, who was not a wizard for nothing,
told the princess exactly where she was to look for the holy
water.

'It stands,' he said, 'on the altar of a little church, and is
guarded by a troop of nuns. They never sleep, night or day, but
every now and then a hermit comes to visit them, and from him
they learn certain things it is needful for them to know. When
this happens, only one of the nuns remains on guard at a time,
and if we are lucky enough to hit upon this moment, we may get
hold of the vase at once; if not, we shall have to wait the
arrival of the hermit, however long it may be; for there is no
other means of obtaining the holy water.'

They came in sight of the church beyond the Jordan, and, to their
great joy, beheld the hermit just arriving at the door. They
could hear him calling the nuns around him, and saw them settle
themselves under a tree, with the hermit in their midst—all but
one, who remained on guard, as was the custom.

The hermit had a great deal to say, and the day was very hot, so
the nun, tired of sitting by herself, lay down right across the
threshold, and fell sound asleep.

Then Sunlight told the princess what she was to do, and the girl
stepped softly over the sleeping nun, and crept like a cat along
the dark aisle, feeling the wall with her fingers, lest she
should fall over something and ruin it all by a noise. But she
reached the altar in safety, and found the vase of holy water
standing on it. This she thrust into her dress, and went back
with the same care as she came. With a bound she was in the
saddle, and seizing the reins bade Sunlight take her home as fast
as his legs could carry him.

The sound of the flying hoofs aroused the nun, who understood
instantly that the precious treasure was stolen, and her shrieks
were so loud and piercing that all the rest came flying to see
what was the matter. The hermit followed at their heels, but
seeing it was impossible to overtake the thief, he fell on his
knees and called his most deadly curse down on her head, praying
that if the thief was a man, he might become a woman; and if she
was a woman, that she might become a man. In either case he
thought that the punishment would be severe.

But punishments are things about which people do not always
agree, and when the princess suddenly felt she was really the man
she had pretended to be, she was delighted, and if the hermit had
only been within reach she would have thanked him from her heart.

By the time she reached the emperor's court, Fet-Fruners looked
a young man all over in the eyes of everyone; and even the mother
of the genius would now have had her doubts set at rest. He drew
forth the vase from his tunic and held it up to the emperor,
saying: 'Mighty Sovereign, all hail! I have fulfilled this task
also, and I hope it is the last you have for me; let another now
take his turn.'

'I am content, Fet-Fruners,' replied the emperor, 'and when I am
dead it is you who will sit upon my throne; for I have yet no son
to come after me. But if one is given me, and my dearest wish is
accomplished, then you shall be his right hand, and guide him
with your counsels.'

But though the emperor was satisfied, Iliane was not, and she
determined to revenge herself on the emperor for the dangers
which he had caused Fet-Fruners to run. And as for the vase of
holy water, she thought that, in common politeness, her suitor
ought to have fetched it himself, which he could have done
without any risk at all.

So she ordered the great bath to be filled with the milk of her
mares, and begged the emperor to clothe himself in white robes,
and enter the bath with her, an invitation he accepted with joy.
Then, when both were standing with the milk reaching to their
necks, she sent for the horse which had fought Sunlight, and made
a secret sign to him. The horse understood what he was to do,
and from one nostril he breathed fresh air over Iliane, and from
the other, he snorted a burning wind which shrivelled up the
emperor where he stood, leaving only a little heap of ashes.

His strange death, which no one could explain, made a great
sensation throughout the country, and the funeral his people gave
him was the most splendid ever known. When it was over, Iliane
summoned Fet-Fruners before her, and addressed him thus:

'Fet-Fruners! it is you who brought me and have saved my life,
and obeyed my wishes. It is you who gave me back my stud; you
who killed the genius, and the old witch his mother; you who
brought me the holy water. And you, and none other, shall be my
husband.'

'Yes, I will marry you,' said the young man, with a voice almost
as soft as when he was a princess. 'But know that in OUR house,
it will be the cock who sings and not the hen!'

(From Sept Contes Roumains, Jules Brun and Leo Bachelin.)

In a certain town there lived a judge who was married but had no
children. One day he was standing lost in thought before his
house, when an old man passed by.

'What is the matter, sir, said he, 'you look troubled?'

'Oh, leave me alone, my good man!'

'But what is it?' persisted the other.

'Well, I am successful in my profession and a person of
importance, but I care nothing for it all, as I have no
children.'

Then the old man said, 'Here are twelve apples. If your wife
eats them, she will have twelve sons.'

The judge thanked him joyfully as he took the apples, and went to
seek his wife. 'Eat these apples at once,' he cried, 'and you
will have twelve sons.'

So she sat down and ate eleven of them, but just as she was in
the middle of the twelfth her sister came in, and she gave her
the half that was left.

The eleven sons came into the world, strong and handsome boys;
but when the twelfth was born, there was only half of him.

By-and-by they all grew into men, and one day they told their
father it was high time he found wives for them. 'I have a
brother,' he answered, 'who lives away in the East, and he has
twelve daughters; go and marry them.' So the twelve sons saddled
their horses and rode for twelve days, till they met an old
woman.

'Good greeting to you, young men!' said she, 'we have waited long
for you, your uncle and I. The girls have become women, and are
sought, in marriage by many, but I knew you would come one day,
and I have kept them for you. Follow me into my house.'

And the twelve brothers followed her gladly, and their father's
brother stood at the door, and gave them meat and drink. But at
night, when every one was asleep, Halfman crept softly to his
brothers, and said to them, 'Listen, all of you! This man is no
uncle of ours, but an ogre.'

'Nonsense; of course he is our uncle,' answered they.

'Well, this very night you will see!' said Halfman. And he did
not go to bed, but hid himself and watched.

Now in a little while he saw the wife of the ogre steal into the
room on tiptoe and spread a red cloth over the brothers and then
go and cover her daughters with a white cloth. After that she
lay down and was soon snoring loudly. When Halfman was quite
sure she was sound asleep, he took the red cloth from his
brothers and put it on the girls, and laid their white cloth over
his brothers. Next he drew their scarlet caps from their heads
and exchanged them for the veils which the ogre's daughters were
wearing. This was hardly done when he heard steps coming along
the floor, so he hid himself quickly in the folds of a curtain.
There was only half of him!

The ogress came slowly and gently along, stretching out her hands
before her, so that she might not fall against anything unawares,
for she had only a tiny lantern slung at her waist, which did not
give much light. And when she reached the place where the
sisters were lying, she stooped down and held a corner of the
cloth up to the lantern. Yes! it certainly was red! Still, to
make sure that there was no mistake, she passed her hands lightly
over their heads, and felt the caps that covered them. Then she
was quite certain the brothers lay sleeping before her, and began
to kill them one by one. And Halfman whispered to his brothers,
'Get up and run for your lives, as the ogress is killing her
daughters.' The brothers needed no second bidding, and in a
moment were out of the house.

By this time the ogress had slain all her daughters but one, who
awoke suddenly and saw what had happened. 'Mother, what are you
doing?' cried she. 'Do you know that you have killed my
sisters?'

'Oh, woe is me!' wailed the ogress. 'Halfman has outwitted me
after all!' And she turned to wreak vengeance on him, but he and
his brothers were far away.

They rode all day till they got to the town where their real
uncle lived, and inquired the way to his house.

'Why have you been so long in coming?' asked he, when they had
found him.

'Oh, dear uncle, we were very nearly not coming at all!' replied
they. 'We fell in with an ogress who took us home and would have
killed us if it had not been for Halfman. He knew what was in
her mind and saved us, and here we are. Now give us each a
daughter to wife, and let us return whence we came.'

'Take them!' said the uncle; 'the eldest for the eldest, the
second for the second, and so on to the youngest.'

But the wife of Halfman was the prettiest of them all, and the
other brothers were jealous and said to each other: 'What, is he
who is only half a man to get the best? Let us put him to death
and give his wife to our eldest brother!' And they waited for a
chance.

After they had all ridden, in company with their brides, for some
distance, they arrived at a brook, and one of them asked, 'Now,
who will go and fetch water from the brook?'

'Halfman is the youngest,' said the elder brother, 'he must go.'

So Halfman got down and filled a skin with water, and they drew
it up by a rope and drank. When they had done drinking, Halfman,
who was standing in the middle of the stream, called out: 'Throw
me the rope and draw me up, for I cannot get out alone.' And the
brothers threw him a rope to draw him up the steep bank; but when
he was half-way up they cut the rope, and he fell back into the
stream. Then the brothers rode away as fast as they could, with
his bride.