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German Tales |
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A long time ago
there lived a king who was famed for his wisdom through all the
land. Nothing was hidden from him, and it seemed
as if news of the most secret things was brought to him through
the air. But he had a strange custom, every day after dinner,
when the table was cleared, and no one else was present, a
trusty servant had to bring him one more dish. It was covered,
however, and even the servant did not know what was in it, neither did
anyone know, for the king never took off the cover to eat of it
until he was quite alone. This had gone on for a long
time, when one day the servant, who took away the dish, was
overcome with such curiosity that he could |
not help carrying the dish into his
room. When he had carefully locked the door, he lifted up the
cover, and saw a white snake lying on the dish. But when he saw
it he could not deny himself the pleasure of tasting it, so he
cut off a little bit and put it into his mouth. No sooner had it
touched his tongue than he heard a strange whispering of little
voices outside his window. He went and listened, and then noticed that it was the
sparrows who were chattering together, and telling one
another of all kinds of things which they had seen in the fields
and woods. Eating the snake had given him power of understanding
the language of animals. Now it so happened that on this very
day the queen lost her most beautiful ring, and suspicion of
having stolen it fell upon this trusty servant, who was allowed
to go everywhere. The king ordered the man to be brought before
him, and threatened with angry words that unless he could before
the morrow point out the thief, he himself should be looked upon
as guilty and executed. In vain he declared his innocence, he
was dismissed with no better answer. In his trouble and fear he
went down into the courtyard and took thought how to help
himself out of his trouble. Now some ducks were sitting together
quietly by a brook and taking their rest, and, whilst they were
making their feathers smooth with their bills, they were having
a confidential conversation together. The servant stood by and listened. They were telling
one another of all the places where they had been waddling about
all the morning, and what good food they had found, and one said
in a pitiful tone, something lies heavy on my stomach, as I was
eating in haste I swallowed a ring which lay under the queen's
window. The servant at once seized her by the neck, carried her
to the kitchen, and said to the cook, here is a fine duck, pray,
kill her. Yes, said the cook, and weighed her in his hand, she
has spared no trouble to fatten herself, and has been waiting to
be roasted long enough. So he cut off her head, and as she was
being dressed for the spit, the queen's ring was found inside
her.
The servant could now easily prove his innocence, and the king,
to make amends for the wrong, allowed him to ask a favor, and
promised him the best place in the court that he could wish for.
The servant refused everything, and only asked for a horse and
some money for traveling, as he had a mind to see the world and
go about a little. When his request was granted he set out on
his way, and one day came to a pond, where he saw three fishes
caught in the reeds and gasping for water. Now, though it is
said that fishes are dumb, he heard them lamenting that they
must perish so miserably, and, as he had a kind heart, he got
off his horse and put the three prisoners back into the water.
They leapt with delight, put out their heads, and cried to him,
we will remember you and repay you for saving us. He rode on,
and after a while it seemed to him that he heard a voice in the
sand at his feet. He listened, and heard an ant-king complain,
why cannot folks, with their clumsy beasts, keep off our bodies.
That stupid horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down
my people without mercy. So he turned on to a side path and the
ant-king cried out to him, we will remember you - one good turn
deserves another. The path led him into a wood, and here he saw
two old ravens standing by their nest, and throwing out their
young ones. Out with you, you idle, good-for-nothing creatures,
cried they, we cannot find food for you any longer, you are big
enough, and can provide for yourselves. But the poor young
ravens lay upon the ground, flapping their wings, and crying,
oh, what helpless chicks we are. We must shift for ourselves,
and yet we cannot fly. What can we do, but lie here and starve.
So the good young fellow alighted and killed his horse with his sword,
and gave it to them for food. Then they came hopping up to it,
satisfied their hunger, and cried, we will remember you - one
good turn deserves another. And now he had to use his own legs,
and when he had walked a long way, he came to a large city.
There was a great noise and crowd in the streets, and a man rode
up on horseback, crying aloud, the king's daughter wants a
husband, but whoever seeks her hand must perform a hard task,
and if he does not succeed he will forfeit his life. Many had
already made the attempt, but in vain, nevertheless when the
youth saw the king's daughter he was so overcome by her great
beauty that he forgot all danger, went before the king, and
declared himself a suitor. So he was led out to the sea, and a
gold ring was thrown into it, before his eyes, then the king
ordered him to fetch this ring up from the bottom of the sea,
and added, if you come up again without it you will be thrown in
again and again until you perish amid the waves. All the people
grieved for the handsome youth, then they went away, leaving him
alone by the sea. He stood on the shore and considered what he
should do, when suddenly he saw three fishes come swimming
towards him, and they were the very fishes whose lives he had
saved. The one in the middle held a mussel in its mouth, which
it laid on the shore at the youth's feet, and when he had taken
it up and opened it, there lay the gold ring in the shell. Full
of joy he took it to the king, and expected that he would grant
him the promised reward. But when the proud princess perceived
that he was not her equal in birth, she scorned him, and
required him first to perform another task. She went down into the garden and strewed with her
own hands ten sacks-full of millet-seed on the grass, then she
said, tomorrow morning before sunrise these must be picked up,
and not a single grain be wanting. The youth sat down in the
garden and considered how it might be possible to perform this
task, but he could think of nothing, and there he sat
sorrowfully awaiting the break of day, when he should be led to
death. But as soon as the first rays of the sun shone into the
garden he saw all the ten sacks standing side y side, quite
full, and not a single grain was missing. The ant-king had come
in the night with thousands and thousands of ants, and the
grateful creatures had by great industry picked up all the
millet-seed and gathered them into the sacks. Presently the
king's daughter herself came down into the garden, and was
amazed to see that the young man had done the task she had given
him. But she could not yet conquer her proud heart, and said,
although he has performed both the tasks, he shall not be my
husband until he has brought me an apple from the tree of life.
The youth did not know where the tree of life stood, but he set
out, and would have gone on for ever, as long as his legs would
carry him, though he had no hope of finding it. After he had
wandered through three kingdoms, he came one evening to a wood,
and lay down under a tree to sleep. But he heard a rustling in
the branches, and a golden apple fell into his hand. At the same
time three ravens flew down to him, perched themselves upon his
knee, and said, we are the three young ravens whom you saved
from starving, when we had grown big, and heard that you were
seeking the golden apple, we flew over the sea to the end of the
world, where the tree of life stands, and have brought you the
apple. The youth, full of joy, set out homewards, and took the
golden apple to the king's beautiful daughter, who had no more
excuses left to make. They cut the apple of life in two and ate
it together, and then her heart became full of love for him, and
they lived in undisturbed happiness to a great age. |
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