Part 4
Next day he took her to his father’s palace and married her. After some time she begged to be allowed to go to see her father. So her husband allowed her to go, and she dressed herself all in gold and went to her father’s house. The father happened to be away from home, and the stepmother, seeing her coming, was afraid lest she had come to revenge herself. So she hurried to meet her and said, “You see that it was I who sent you on the road to happiness.” The stepdaughter kissed her and embraced her stepsister. Then the girl said she was very sorry that she had not found her father at home, and, on her going away, she gave plenty of money to her stepmother. When, however, she had gone away the stepmother shook her fist after her and cried, “Wait a little, you shall not be the only one so dressed out; to-morrow I will send my own daughter after you the same way.”
When her husband came home at night she told him all that had happened, and said, “What do you think, husband? would it not be a good thing to send my girl also into the wood to try her fortune; for your girl, whom we sent there, never came back until now, and now she has come glittering in gold?”
The man sighed and agreed to the proposal. Next day the stepmother prepared for her daughter plenty of cakes and roasted meats, and then sent her with the father into the forest. The man led her deep into the forest, as he had done his own daughter, and there left her. Finding the father did not return, she began to seek a way to get home, and soon came in sight of the house in the forest. She entered it, and seeing no one, fastened the door inside. Then she took out of her bag the baked meats and cakes and began to eat. Whilst she was eating the cock, the dog, and the cat came in suddenly, and began to play about her affectionately, hoping she would give them something; but she became quite angry, and exclaimed, “The devil take you! I have hardly enough for myself; do you think I will give any to you?” Then she began to beat them, whereat the dog howled, and the lion, hearing it, rushed in furiously, caught the girl and killed her.
Next day the king’s son came with his wife to hunt. She immediately recognised her sister’s dress, and gathered together the fragments of the body, which she took to her stepmother. She found her father at home this time, and he was greatly pleased to hear that his daughter was married to the king’s son. When, however, he heard what had happened to the daughter of his wife, he was very sorry, but said, “Her mother has deserved this from the hand of God, because she hated you without a cause. There she is at the well. I will go and tell her.”
When the stepmother heard what had happened to her daughter, she said to her husband, “I cannot bear your daughter. I cannot bear to look at her. Let us kill her and her husband. If you will not consent, I will jump down into this well.” “I cannot kill my own child,” returned he. “Well, then,” cried she, “if you will not kill her, I cannot endure her,” and so she jumped down into the well.
BIRD GIRL
Once upon a time lived a king, who had only one son; and when this son grew up, his father sent him to travel about the world, in order that he might find a maiden who would make him a suitable wife.
The king’s son started on his journey, and travelled through the whole world without finding anywhere a maiden whom he loved well enough to marry. Seeing then that he had taken so much trouble, and had spent so much time and money, and all to no purpose, he resolved to kill himself. With this intention he climbed to the top of a high mountain, that he might throw himself from its summit; for he wished that even his bones might never be found. Having arrived at the top of the mountain, he saw a sharp rock jutting out from one side of it, and was climbing up to throw himself from it, when he heard a voice behind him calling, “Stop! stop! O, man! Stop for the sake of three hundred and sixty-five which are in the year!” He looked back, and seeing no one, asked, “Who are you that speak to me? Let me see you. When you know how miserable I am, you will not prevent my killing myself.”
He had scarcely said these words when there appeared to him an old man, with hair as white as wool, who said, “I know all about you. But listen! Do you see that high hill?” “Yes, I do,” said the prince. “And do you see the multitude of marble blocks which are on it?” said the old man. “Yes, I do,” rejoined the prince. “Well, then,” continued the old man, “on the summit of that hill there is an old woman with golden hair, who sits night and day on that very spot, and holds a bird in her bosom. Whoever can get this bird into his hands will be the happiest man in the world. But be careful. If you are willing to try to get the bird, you must take the old woman by her hair before she sees you. If she sees you before you catch her by her hair, you will be changed into a stone on the spot. Thus it happened to all those young men you see standing there, as if they were blocks of marble.”
When the king’s son heard this he thought, “It is all one to me whether I die here or there. If I succeed, so much the better for me; if I fail, I can but die as I had resolved.” So he went up the hill. When he arrived near the old woman he walked very cautiously towards her, hoping to reach her unseen; for, luckily, the old woman was lying with her back towards him, sunning herself, and playing with the bird.
When near enough he sprang suddenly and caught her by the hair. Then the old woman cried out, so that the whole hill shook as with a great earthquake; but the king’s son held fast by her hair, and when she found that she could not escape she said, “What do you desire from me?” He replied, “That you should give me the bird in your bosom, and that you call back to life all these Christian souls.” The old woman consented, and gave him the bird. Then from her mouth she breathed a blue wind towards the men of stone, and immediately they again became alive. The king’s son, having the bird in his hands, was so rejoiced that he began to kiss it; and as he kissed it the bird was transformed into a most beautiful maiden.
This girl the enchantress had turned into a bird, in order that she might allure the young men to her. The girl pleased the king’s son exceedingly, and he took her with him, and prepared to return home. As he was going down the hill the girl gave him a stick, and told him the stick would do everything that he desired of it. So the king’s son struck with it once upon the rock, and in a moment there came out a mass of golden coin, of which they took plenty for use on their journey.
As they were travelling they came to a great river, and could find no place by which they could pass over; so the king’s son touched the surface of the river with his stick, and the water divided, so that a dry path lay before them, and they were able to cross over the river dryshod. A little farther they came to a herd of wolves, and the wolves attacked them, and seemed about to tear them to pieces; but the prince struck at them with his stick, and one by one the wolves were turned into ants. Thus, at length, the king’s son reached home safely with his beloved, and they were shortly after married, and lived long and happily together.
SIR PEPPERCORN
Three brothers once upon a time went out into the neighbouring forest to choose some trees fit for building. Before going, however, they told their mother not to forget to send their sister into the wood after them with their dinners. The mother sent the girl as she had been told to do; but as the girl was on her way a giant met her in the wood, and carried her off to a cave, where he lived.
All day long the brothers waited, expecting their sister, and wondering why their mother had forgotten to send them food. At length, after remaining two days in the forest, and becoming anxious and angry at the delay, they went home. When they arrived there they asked their mother why she had not sent their sister with their food, as she had promised to do; she replied that she had sent the girl three days ago, and had been wondering greatly why she had not come back.
When the three brothers heard this they were exceedingly troubled, and the eldest said, “I will go back into the forest and look for my sister.” Accordingly he went. After wandering about some time he came to a shepherdess, who was minding a flock of sheep. He asked her anxiously if she had seen his sister in the wood, or whether she could tell him anything about her. The shepherdess replied that she had indeed seen a girl carrying food, but a giant had met her and carried her off to his cave. Then the young man asked her to tell him the way to the giant’s cave, which she did. The cave was hidden in a deep ravine. The brother at once went down, and called aloud on his sister by name. In a short time the girl came to the mouth of the cave, and, seeing her eldest brother, invited him to come in. This he did, and was exceedingly surprised to see that the seeming cave was in reality a magnificent palace. Whilst he stood there talking to his sister and inquiring how she liked her new home, he heard a loud whirring in the air overhead, and, immediately afterwards, saw a heavy mace fall on the ground just in front of the cave. Greatly terrified and astonished, he asked his sister what this meant, and she told him not to be afraid, for it was only the way the giant let her know of his return three hours before he came, that she might begin to prepare his supper.
When it grew dark the giant came home, and was at once aware that a stranger was in his place. In reply to his angry questions, his wife told him it was “only her brother, who had come to visit them.” When the giant heard this he went to the mouth of the cave, and, calling a shepherd, ordered him to kill the largest sheep in his flock and roast it.
When the meat was ready the giant called his brother-in-law and said, as he cut the sheep in two equal parts, “My dear brother-in-law, listen well to what I say; if you eat your half of the meat sooner than I eat mine, I will give you leave to kill me; but if I eat my half quicker than you eat yours, I shall certainly kill you.”
Thereupon the poor brother-in-law began to shake all over with fright; and, fearing the worst, tried to eat as fast as he could. But he had hardly swallowed three mouthfuls before the giant finished his share of the sheep, and killed him, according to his threat.
For some time the other two brothers and their old mother waited impatiently to see if the elder brother would come back. At last, hearing nothing either of the brother or of the sister, the second son said, “I will go and look after them.” So he went into the same forest where his brother had gone, and, meeting there the same shepherdess minding her sheep, he inquired if she had seen his brother or sister. The shepherdess answered him as she had answered the elder brother, and he, too, asked the way to the giant’s cave, and, on being told, went down the ravine until he reached the place. There he called on his sister by name, and she came out and invited him to enter the cave. This he did, and shared the fate of his brother; for, being unable to eat his part of the sheep as quickly as the giant ate his, he also was killed.
Not long after the third brother went forth the same road, to look after his two elder brothers and sister, and having found the giant’s cave, was likewise invited to eat half a sheep, or be put to death. He, however, failed like his brothers had done before him, and, being unable to eat his part of the sheep as quickly as the giant ate his, he was also killed.
Now the parents, being alone in their house, prayed that God would give them another son, even were he no bigger than a peppercorn. As they prayed so it came to pass, and not very long after a little boy was born to them, who was so extremely small that they christened him “Peppercorn.”
When the boy was old enough he went out to play with other boys; and one day, in a quarrel, one of these said to him, “May you share the fate of your elder brothers.” Hearing this, Peppercorn ran off home at once, and asked his mother what these words meant. So the mother was forced to tell him how his three brothers had gone into the forest to look after their lost sister, and had never come back again. As soon as he heard this, Peppercorn began to search the house for pieces of old iron, and, having found some scraps, carried them off in the evening to a blacksmith, that with them he might make him a mace. Next morning Peppercorn went to the smith to ask for his mace, which the man gave him, saying at the same time, “Now pay me for making it.” To this Peppercorn replied, “First let me see if it is strong enough”; and he threw it up in the air and held his head so that the mace might fall upon it. As soon as the mace struck his head, it broke into pieces; and Peppercorn, seeing how badly it was made, fell into a passion and killed the smith. Then he gathered up the pieces of iron and went off to look for a better workman. He soon found another blacksmith who was willing to make him a mace, but demanded a ducat for the work. Peppercorn said he would willingly pay the ducat if the smith made him a really strong, serviceable mace. So next morning he went to ask if it was ready, and the smith said “Yes; but you must first pay me the ducat, and then I will give it you.” Peppercorn, however, answered, “The ducat is ready in my pocket, but I must first see if the mace is good before I pay for it.” Thereupon he caught it, flung it up in the air, and held his head under it as it fell. As soon as the mace struck his head it broke into pieces; and he, again falling into a great passion, killed this smith also.
Gathering up the pieces of iron, he now carried them to a third smith, who undertook to make him a good strong mace, and demanded a ducat for doing so. Next morning Peppercorn went for the mace and, after trying it three times, each time throwing it up higher in the air and letting it fall on his head, where it raised great bumps, he owned that he was satisfied with it, and accordingly paid the smith the ducat as he had promised.
Having now a good strong mace, Peppercorn started off at once for the forest, in which his three elder brothers and his sister had been lost. After wandering about for some time, he came to the place where the shepherdess sat watching her sheep, and, in reply to his questions, she told him that she had seen his three brothers go down the ravine in search of their sister, but had never seen them come up again.
Notwithstanding this, Peppercorn went resolutely down the ravine, calling aloud upon his sister by name. When she heard this she was exceedingly surprised, and said to herself, “Who can this be calling me by name, now that all my brothers are killed? I have no other relations to come and look for me.” Then she went to the entrance of the cave and called out, “Who is it that calls me; I have no longer any brothers?”
Peppercorn said to her, “I am your brother who was born after you left home, and my name is Peppercorn.”
On hearing this, his sister led him into the palace, but he had hardly had time to say a few words to her before a loud whirring was heard in the air, and the giant’s mace fell to the ground. For a moment Peppercorn was terrified at this, but he recovered himself quickly, and, pulling the mace out of the ground, flung it back to the giant, who, in astonishment, said to himself, “Who is this who throws my mace back to me? Methinks I have at last found someone able to fight with me.”
When the giant came home he immediately asked his wife who had been in the cave, and she answered him, “It is my youngest brother.” Thereupon the giant ordered the shepherd to bring the largest sheep in his flock. When this was brought the giant killed it himself, and, whilst preparing it for roasting, said to Peppercorn, “Will you turn the meat, or will you take care of the fire?” Peppercorn said he would rather gather wood and make the fire; so he went out and tumbled down some large trees with his mace. These he carried to the mouth of the cave, and made a large fire ready for the meat.
When the sheep was roasted the giant cut it in two parts, and gave one half to Peppercorn, saying, “Take this half, and if you eat it before I eat my half you are free to kill me; but if you don’t, I shall surely kill you.” So Peppercorn and the giant began to eat as fast as they could, swallowing down large pieces of meat, and, in their haste, almost choking themselves. At last Peppercorn, by trickery, managed to get rid of his share of the sheep, and, according to the arrangement, killed the giant. This done, with the help of his sister, he collected all the treasures the giant had heaped up in his palace, and, taking them with him, returned home with his sister, to the great joy of their parents.
Peppercorn remained some time after this with his father, mother, and sister, and they lived very merrily on the treasures he had brought from the giant’s cave. At length, however, he saw that the riches were coming to an end, so he resolved to go into the world to seek his fortune.
After travelling about a good while he came one day to a large city, where he saw a great crowd gathered about a man who held an iron pike in his hand, and every now and then squeezed drops of water out of the iron. Whilst the people watched, wondering and admiring his great strength, Peppercorn went up and asked him, “Do you think there is any man in the world stronger than yourself?”
“There is only one man alive who is stronger than myself, and that one is a certain person called Peppercorn,” answered he. “Peppercorn can receive a mace on his head without being hurt.”
Thereupon Peppercorn told the man who he was, and proposed to him that they should travel about the world together.
“That will I right gladly,” said the Pikeman. “How can I help being glad to go with a trusty fellow like you!”
Travelling together they came one day to a certain city, and, finding a concourse of people assembled, they went to see what was the matter. They found a man sitting on the bank of a river turning the wheels of nine mills with his little finger. So they said to him, “Is there anyone stronger than you in the world?”
And he answered them, “There are only two men stronger than I am—a certain person named Peppercorn and a certain Pikeman.” Hearing this, Peppercorn and the Pikeman told him who they were, and proposed that he should join them in their travels about the world.
The Mill-turner very gladly accepted the offer, and so all three continued their journey together.
After travelling some time they came to a city where they found all the people greatly excited because some one had stolen the three daughters of the king, and, notwithstanding the immense rewards his majesty had offered, no one had as yet dared to go out to look for the princesses. As soon as Peppercorn and his two comrades heard this they went to the king and offered to search for his three daughters. But in order to accomplish the task they demanded that the king should give them a hundred thousand loads of wood. The king gave them what they wanted, and they made a fence all around the city with the timber. This done they began to watch.
The first morning they prepared a whole ox for their dinners, and discussed the question which of the three should stay behind to mind the meat whilst the other two watched the fence. The Pikeman said, “I think I will stay here and take care of the meat, and I will have dinner ready for you when you come back from looking after the fence.” So it was thus settled. Just, however, as the Pikeman thought the ox was well roasted he was frightened by the sudden approach of a man with a forehead a yard high and a beard a span long. This man said to the Pikeman, “Good morning!” but the latter ran away instead of answering, he was so shocked by the strange appearance of the man.
Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard was quite content at this, and, sitting down, soon finished the whole ox. When he had ended his dinner he got up and went away.
Shortly afterwards Sir Peppercorn and the Mill-turner came for their dinners, and, being very hungry, shouted from afar to the Pikeman, “Let us dine at once!” But the Pikeman, keeping himself hidden among the bushes, called out to them, “There is nothing left for us to eat! A little while ago Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard came up and ate up the whole ox to the very last morsel! I was afraid of him, and so I did not say one word against it.”
Peppercorn and the Mill-turner reproached their companion bitterly for allowing all their dinner to be stolen without once trying to prevent it, and the Mill-turner said scornfully, “Well, I will stop to-morrow and look after the meat, and Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard may come if he likes!”
So the next day the Mill-turner stayed to roast the ox, and his two comrades went to look after the fence they had built round about the city.
Just before dinner-time Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard came out of the forest and walked straight up to the ox, and stretched his hands out greedily to grasp it. The Mill-turner was so frightened by his strange appearance that he ran off as hard as he could to look for a place to hide in.
By-and-by Peppercorn and the Pikeman came for their dinners and asked angrily where the meat was. Whereupon the Mill-turner answered, “There is no meat! It has all been eaten by that horrible Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, and his looks frightened me so that I dared not say a single word to him.”
It was no use complaining, so Peppercorn only said, “To-morrow I will stay to mind the ox, and you two shall go and look after the fence. I will see if we are to remain the third day without dinner.”
The next morning the Pikeman and the Mill-turner went to see if all was right round about the city, and Peppercorn remained to roast the ox. Exactly as on the two former days, just before dinner was ready, Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard made his appearance, and went up to seize the meat. But Peppercorn pushed him roughly back, saying, “Two days I have been dinnerless on your account, but the third day I will not be so, as long as my head stands on my shoulders!”
Much astonished at his boldness, Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard exclaimed, “Take care you don’t begin to quarrel with me. There is no one in all the world who can conquer me, except a fellow called Peppercorn!”
Peppercorn was very pleased to hear this, and, without more hesitation, sprang at once on Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, and, after some struggling, pulled him down to the earth and bound him. This done, he tied him fast to a tall pine-tree. Now the Pikeman and Mill-turner came up and were exceedingly glad to find their dinners safe. Just as they were in the middle of their dinners, however, Yard-high-forehead-and-span-long-beard, with a sudden jerk, pulled up the pine-tree by the roots and ran off with tree and all, making furrows in the earth with it just as if three ploughs had been passing over the ground.