The Violet Fairy Book (6 page)

So the youngest prince set out to look for his brother, and he
too lost his way in the wood and night overtook him. Then he
came to the clearing among the trees, where the fire was burning
and where the old woman was raking sticks and leaves into the
flames. And he asked her if he might spend the night beside her
fire, as it was too late and too dark to go back to the town.

And she answered: 'Certainly you may. But I am afraid of your
beasts. May I give them a stroke with my rod, then I shall not
be afraid of them.'

And he said she might, for he did not know that she was a witch.
So she stretched out her rod, and in a moment the beasts and
their master were turned into stone.

It happened soon after that the second brother returned from his
wanderings and came to the cross-roads where the three birches
grew. As he went round the trees he saw that blood poured from
the cuts in the bark of two of the trees. Then he wept and said:

'Alas! both my brothers are dead.' And he too set out towards
the town in which his brother had ruled, and his faithful beasts
followed him. When he entered the town, all the people thought
it was their own prince come back to them, and they gathered
round him, as they had gathered round his youngest brother, and
asked him where he had been and why he had not returned. And
they led him to the king's palace, but the princess knew that he
was not her husband. So when they were alone together she
besought him to go and seek for his brother and bring him home.
Calling his beasts round him, he set out and wandered through the
woods. And he put his ear down to the earth, to listen if he
could hear the sound of his brother's beasts. And it seemed to
him as if he heard a faint sound far off, but he did not know
from what direction it came. So he blew on his hunting horn and
listened again. And again he heard the sound, and this time it
seemed to come from the direction of a fire burning in the wood.
So he went towards the fire, and there the old woman was raking
sticks and leaves into the embers. And he asked her if he might
spend the night beside her fire. But she told him she was afraid
of his beasts, and he must first allow her to give each of them a
stroke with her rod.

But he answered her:

'Certainly not. I am their master, and no one shall strike them
but I myself. Give me the rod'; and he touched the fox with it,
and in a moment it was turned into stone. Then he knew that the
old woman was a witch, and he turned to her and said:

'Unless you restore my brothers and their beasts back to life at
once, my lion will tear you in pieces.'

Then the witch was terrified, and taking a young oak tree she
burnt it into white ashes, and sprinkled the ashes on the stones
that stood around. And in a moment the two princes stood before
their brother, and their beasts stood round them.

Then the three princes set off together to the town. And the
king did not know which was his son-in-law, but the princess knew
which was her husband, and there were great rejoicings throughout
the land.

Once upon a time there lived an emperor whose name was Trojan,
and he had ears like a goat. Every morning, when he was shaved,
he asked if the man saw anything odd about him, and as each fresh
barber always replied that the emperor had goat's ears, he was at
once ordered to be put to death.

Now after this state of things had lasted a good while, there was
hardly a barber left in the town that could shave the emperor,
and it came to be the turn of the Master of the Company of
Barbers to go up to the palace. But, unluckily, at the very
moment that he should have set out, the master fell suddenly ill,
and told one of his apprentices that he must go in his stead.

When the youth was taken to the emperor's bedroom, he was asked
why he had come and not his master. The young man replied that
the master was ill, and there was no one but himself who could be
trusted with the honour. The emperor was satisfied with the
answer, and sat down, and let a sheet of fine linen be put round
him. Directly the young barber began his work, he, like the
rest, remarked the goat's ears of the emperor, but when he had
finished and the emperor asked his usual question as to whether
the youth had noticed anything odd about him, the young man
replied calmly, 'No, nothing at all.' This pleased the emperor
so much that he gave him twelve ducats, and said, 'Henceforth you
shall come every day to shave me.'

So when the apprentice returned home, and the master inquired how
he had got on with the emperor, the young man answered, 'Oh, very
well, and he says I am to shave him every day, and he has given
me these twelve ducats'; but he said nothing about the goat's
ears of the emperor.

From this time the apprentice went regularly up to the palace,
receiving each morning twelve ducats in payment. But after a
while, his secret, which he had carefully kept, burnt within him,
and he longed to tell it to somebody. His master saw there was
something on his mind, and asked what it was. The youth replied
that he had been tormenting himself for some months, and should
never feel easy until some one shared his secret.

'Well, trust me,' said the master, 'I will keep it to myself; or,
if you do not like to do that, confess it to your pastor, or go
into some field outside the town and dig a hole, and, after you
have dug it, kneel down and whisper your secret three times into
the hole. Then put back the earth and come away.'

The apprentice thought that this seemed the best plan, and that
very afternoon went to a meadow outside the town, dug a deep
hole, then knelt and whispered to it three times over, 'The
Emperor Trojan has goat's ears.' And as he said so a great
burden seemed to roll off him, and he shovelled the earth
carefully back and ran lightly home.

Weeks passed away, and there sprang up in the hole an elder tree
which had three stems, all as straight as poplars. Some
shepherds, tending their flocks near by, noticed the tree growing
there, and one of them cut down a stem to make flutes of; but,
directly he began to play, the flute would do nothing but sing:
'The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears.' Of course, it was not long
before the whole town knew of this wonderful flute and what it
said; and, at last, the news reached the emperor in his palace.
He instantly sent for the apprentice and said to him:

'What have you been saying about me to all my people?'

The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never
told anyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of
listening, only drew his sword from its sheath, which so
frightened the poor fellow that he confessed exactly what he had
done, and how he had whispered the truth three times to the
earth, and how in that very place an elder tree had sprung up,
and flutes had been cut from it, which would only repeat the
words he had said. Then the emperor commanded his coach to be
made ready, and he took the youth with him, and they drove to the
spot, for he wished to see for himself whether the young man's
confession was true; but when they reached the place only one
stem was left. So the emperor desired his attendants to cut him
a flute from the remaining stem, and, when it was ready, he
ordered his chamberlain to play on it. But no tune could the
chamberlain play, though he was the best flute player about the
court—nothing came but the words, 'The Emperor Trojan has goat's
ears.' Then the emperor knew that even the earth gave up its
secrets, and he granted the young man his life, but he never
allowed him to be his barber any more.

(Volksmarchen der Serben.)

Once upon a time there stood before the palace of an emperor a
golden apple tree, which blossomed and bore fruit each night.
But every morning the fruit was gone, and the boughs were bare of
blossom, without anyone being able to discover who was the thief.

At last the emperor said to his eldest son, 'If only I could
prevent those robbers from stealing my fruit, how happy I should
be!'

And his son replied, 'I will sit up to-night and watch the tree,
and I shall soon see who it is!'

So directly it grew dark the young man went and hid himself near
the apple tree to begin his watch, but the apples had scarcely
begun to ripen before he fell asleep, and when he awoke at
sunrise the apples were gone. He felt very much ashamed of
himself, and went with lagging feet to tell his father!

Of course, though the eldest son had failed, the second made sure
that he would do better, and set out gaily at nightfall to watch
the apple tree. But no sooner had he lain himself down than his
eyes grew heavy, and when the sunbeams roused him from his
slumbers there was not an apple left on the tree.

Next came the turn of the youngest son, who made himself a
comfortable bed under the apple tree, and prepared himself to
sleep. Towards midnight he awoke, and sat up to look at the
tree. And behold! the apples were beginning to ripen, and lit
up the whole palace with their brightness. At the same moment
nine golden pea-hens flew swiftly through the air, and while
eight alighted upon the boughs laden with fruit, the ninth
fluttered to the ground where the prince lay, and instantly was
changed into a beautiful maiden, more beautiful far than any lady
in the emperor's court. The prince at once fell in love with
her, and they talked together for some time, till the maiden said
her sisters had finished plucking the apples, and now they must
all go home again. The prince, however, begged her so hard to
leave him a little of the fruit that the maiden gave him two
apples, one for himself and one for his father. Then she changed
herself back into a pea-hen, and the whole nine flew away.

As soon as the sun rose the prince entered the palace, and held
out the apple to his father, who was rejoiced to see it, and
praised his youngest son heartily for his cleverness. That
evening the prince returned to the apple tree, and everything
passed as before, and so it happened for several nights. At
length the other brothers grew angry at seeing that he never came
back without bringing two golden apples with him, and they went
to consult an old witch, who promised to spy after him, and
discover how he managed to get the apples. So, when the evening
came, the old woman hid herself under the tree and waited for the
prince. Before long he arrived and laid down on his bed, and was
soon fast asleep. Towards midnight there was a rush of wings,
and the eight pea-hens settled on the tree, while the ninth
became a maiden, and ran to greet the prince. Then the witch
stretched out her hand, and cut off a lock of the maiden's hair,
and in an instant the girl sprang up, a pea-hen once more, spread
her wings and flew away, while her sisters, who were busily
stripping the boughs, flew after her.

When he had recovered from his surprise at the unexpected
disappearance of the maiden, the prince exclaimed, 'What can be
the matter?' and, looking about him, discovered the old witch
hidden under the bed. He dragged her out, and in his fury called
his guards, and ordered them to put her to death as fast as
possible. But that did no good as far as the pea-hens went.
They never came back any more, though the prince returned to the
tree every night, and wept his heart out for his lost love. This
went on for some time, till the prince could bear it no longer,
and made up his mind he would search the world through for her.
In vain his father tried to persuade him that his task was
hopeless, and that other girls were to be found as beautiful as
this one. The prince would listen to nothing, and, accompanied
by only one servant, set out on his quest.

After travelling for many days, he arrived at length before a
large gate, and through the bars he could see the streets of a
town, and even the palace. The prince tried to pass in, but the
way was barred by the keeper of the gate, who wanted to know who
he was, why he was there, and how he had learnt the way, and he
was not allowed to enter unless the empress herself came and gave
him leave. A message was sent to her, and when she stood at the
gate the prince thought he had lost his wits, for there was the
maiden he had left his home to seek. And she hastened to him,
and took his hand, and drew him into the palace. In a few days
they were married, and the prince forgot his father and his
brothers, and made up his mind that he would live and die in the
castle.

One morning the empress told him that she was going to take a
walk by herself, and that she would leave the keys of twelve
cellars to his care. 'If you wish to enter the first eleven
cellars,' said she, 'you can; but beware of even unlocking the
door of the twelfth, or it will be the worse for you.'

The prince, who was left alone in the castle, soon got tired of
being by himself, and began to look about for something to amuse
him.

'What CAN there be in that twelfth cellar,' he thought to
himself, 'which I must not see?' And he went downstairs and
unlocked the doors, one after the other. When he got to the
twelfth he paused, but his curiosity was too much for him, and in
another instant the key was turned and the cellar lay open before
him. It was empty, save for a large cask, bound with iron hoops,
and out of the cask a voice was saying entreatingly, 'For
goodness' sake, brother, fetch me some water; I am dying of
thirst!'

The prince, who was very tender-hearted, brought some water at
once, and pushed it through a hole in the barrel; and as he did
so one of the iron hoops burst.

He was turning away, when a voice cried the second time,
'Brother, for pity's sake fetch me some water; I'm dying of
thirst!'