Fairy Tales From all Nations Part 18

The herdsman thanked his patron and returned to his swine, in order to pa.s.s the night near them on his bed of straw.

Just about midnight the friendly boar awakened him as on the preceding night, and said, "Pista must provide himself with bread and wine for the coming day also, as he would have to do with a still larger dragon than the former."

He advised him to double the measure of provisions, and told him he would have nothing to fear if he encountered the monster as courageously as he did that of the day before.

Before day-break Pista supplied himself with two loaves and two flasks of wine, and went as usual with the swine to the heath. Arrived there, the boar again approached him and said:--

"Up and mount me without fear, Swift on my back I will thee bear; This day thou must higher go, And still higher fortune know."

The youth obeyed the boar, and sooner than if on a racer's back he found himself by an inclosure, considerably beyond the place where he stopped the day before. The boar again deposited him under an oak, repeated several times what he had before enforced, and left him to his destiny.

Pista had not long to wait; he soon heard a terrible rustling descending from the tops of the trees. By degrees it grew darker around him, and at once a monstrous dragon, much larger than the first, came sailing through the air, whose out-spread wings shaded, like a thunder-cloud, the district beneath, as with furious haste he seemed descending on the herdsman. But Pista lost no time in offering him the two loaves and the two flasks, which so fortunately appeased the monster that he immediately stretched himself on the gra.s.s, and, much at his ease, swallowed the provisions, and then fell asleep and snored like thunder. Pista again seized the favourable moment and cut the dragon's throat, from whose jaws fell a silver key, which he put at once into his pocket.

Then he went, as on the preceding day, into the interior of the forest, and soon saw a palace built entirely of silver, which dazzled his eyes from afar by its brilliancy. All that he saw and did in the Copper Palace, he saw and did here; only the magnificence of the one far exceeded that of the other, and caused him to linger here much longer. After a very obsequious dragon had shown him all the treasures, and at last led him into the garden, he plucked there a silver rose, of which there were great numbers, and stuck it in his cap. He then locked the gates of his beautiful palace with the silver key, returned to his herd, and as the day was declining, drove them quietly home.

As before, the king's daughters came familiarly to meet him, and the youngest s.n.a.t.c.hed the silver rose from him, and ran playfully with it to her father. The king sent for him as before, questioned him of all that had occurred, and having received satisfactory answers, expressed his entire approbation.

The same adventure occurred on the third day, with the sole difference that the herdsman this time entered a Golden Palace, and brought from the garden a golden rose, which the fair princess appropriated as before.

It happened that a festival which the king had long resolved to give to the suitors of his daughters, was just about to be held. He caused three golden apples of the same size to be made, on each of which he had inscribed the name of one of the princesses. These he ordered to be suspended by golden threads in the front court of his castle, as the prize of a trial of skill, for which the victor was to receive the hand of one of the princesses. Whoever, at full gallop, should succeed in striking down with his lance one of these apples, was to receive the golden fruit and the princess whose name it bore. As the three sisters were no less extraordinarily beautiful than rich, it may easily be guessed that the number of their suitors was not small. A countless number of princes from far and near were a.s.sembled in the royal city, and the king's brother was also present with his nine daughters. The whole kingdom took a lively interest in this festival, and young and old rejoiced at its commencement. Whatever the royal treasures could produce was exhibited there, and all the rich and n.o.ble flocked thither to contribute their share towards enhancing the pomp of the long looked for feast.

As it was to be supposed that Pista would not willingly be absent from such a grand sight, the youngest princess, out of grat.i.tude for her three roses, invited him to witness it; advising him not to stay away if he had any curiosity to see all the most precious of her father's possessions, in horses, clothes, and jewels. But to the no small surprise of the princess, the herdsman thanked her for her invitation, but said he preferred remaining with his equals, and would tend the swine as usual.

The morning arrived, and all within and around the city was in motion.

The streets swarmed with countless people: even the most helpless cripples dragged themselves along, anxious to see the show. Pista alone drove forth his swine with the utmost indifference, and did not evince the slightest curiosity.

Who could have guessed, however, what the homely youth had secretly determined, and what a trick he had resolved to play on all the princely suitors? He no sooner reached the heath than he hastened to the forest where his late adventures had occurred. He went to the Copper Palace, entered the hall, and with a stroke of the golden wand commanded the serviceable dragon to provide for him the most magnificent attire and the finest courser. The dragon rapidly obeyed his master's order, dressed him as expeditiously and handily as the most experienced valet could have done, and then as quickly cantered up a splendidly caparisoned steed, who seemed to breathe fire as he neighed with desire for the combat.

Pista mounted his horse, and the courts of the castle thundered beneath his tramp. He flew, as if borne on the lightning's wing, over the heath and road, and suddenly appeared in the lists of the royal disputants. The brilliancy of his attire, the swiftness and strength of his horse, and the costly jewels that adorned him, dazzled all eyes, and it could not have occurred to any one that in him they beheld the swineherd. The king himself thought he must be his equal in dignity, and offered him the honour of precedence. But Pista declined this distinction, and requested, on the contrary, to be allowed to be the last on the list of suitors.

At last the signal was given. All pressed to the lists, and the race began. Riders and horses flew emulously towards the prize, but not one succeeded in even touching either of the apples with his lance.

Suddenly the unknown guest darted over the course like an arrow, and hit the first of the three apples so dexterously, that it, together with the golden thread to which it was fastened, remained hanging on his lance. The gaze of all was fixed upon him; but without vouchsafing a look on any, he flew with his prize straight across the lists and disappeared.

This unexpected circ.u.mstance created universal embarra.s.sment amongst the disconcerted suitors, and determined the king to postpone the remainder of the festival until the following day. Meanwhile he sent some of his swiftest riders in search of the strange fugitive, in order to discover, if possible, whence he came. But before these were ready to start, our knight had already become invisible, and, in his herdsman's dress, had again rejoined his swine.

In the evening, as usual, he brought them home, and attended to them in the customary manner. But before he retired to rest, the youngest of the princesses descried him, and hastening to him, related in great agitation the untoward event which had that day deprived her of the apple destined to her, and at the same time of him who should have been her bridegroom. The herdsman expressed his great sympathy, and tried to console her, by saying that no one could tell whether the misfortune that had happened might not in the end turn out to her advantage.

The next day, before the ceremonies recommenced, Pista was again on the heath with his herd. This day he went to the Silver Palace, attired himself still more splendidly, and mounted a yet finer horse.

Swift as the wind, and resplendent in gold and jewels, he again sprang to the lists. All were astonished at this second apparition. All inclined themselves before him, and no one recognised in him the same guest who had so distinguished himself on the preceding day.

But, as yesterday, all eyes were riveted on him; he set spurs to his horse, and sprang with hanging bridle to the prize, then flew like an arrow, bearing the second apple across the lists, and disappeared from the sight of the astonished mult.i.tude.

The king and his ill.u.s.trious guests now began to apprehend that some supernatural power influenced these events, and they had nearly determined not to renew the trial of skill till the following year.

But as already two of the golden apples were lost, they could not resist their curiosity respecting the third and last. The king therefore appointed the conclusion of the festival for the next morning, and in the meantime endeavoured to tranquillise himself as well as he could.

As before, so was it on this third occasion. The herdsman had gone early to the heath, and now appeared in an attire, and mounted on a horse, this time procured from the Golden Palace, both of which infinitely surpa.s.sed the two former. He carried off the third apple, and fled, to the wonder of all, swift as the wind, far out of sight.

The festival was now over; the a.s.sembly separated; the suitors returned to their homes, and the king lamented the fate of his beloved daughters. The daughters shed many tears, and mourned over their fate as an appointment of Heaven, forbidding them ever to have a bridegroom.

As the very first of these occurrences had caused the king entirely to forget to pay the herdsman his daily wages, the latter had now three days' hire due to him. Pista therefore availed himself of the pretext of demanding his wages as a good opportunity to learn what impression his three adventures had made at court. That same evening, when he brought home his herd, he presented himself before the king, but apprehending that, if he left his three apples in the stall, they might be purloined, he concealed them in his hat, which he retained on his head, although in presence of his monarch.

The king perceived this disrespectful conduct of his herdsman not without surprise; but, as he was exceedingly well disposed towards him, on account of his great services, he indulgently asked him what he required. Pista had scarcely prepared himself to make his request, when the youngest, and now exceedingly discontented princess entered, and with an air of highly offended pride, s.n.a.t.c.hed his hat off his head.

The golden apples fell out of it, and rolled to the monarch's feet.

What was the astonishment of the whole court! The princesses recognised their names, and could not express their delight at finding their apples. The king pressed the youth in the most gracious terms to explain how he had come by them.

Pista replied, with the utmost frankness, that he was the winner of the three apples, and therefore thought he had a full right to one of the princesses for his bride.

Now, as the king, mindful of the unexampled splendour, as also the extraordinary good fortune by which the stranger had distinguished himself in the lists, antic.i.p.ated some still greater advantage behind the darkness of this mysterious occurrence, he admitted the herdsman's claim with very little hesitation.

The youngest of the princesses felt herself suddenly cheered, and so powerfully attracted to the metamorphosed swineherd, that in spite of his peasant's dress she threw her arms around his neck. The king immediately decided that he should become her husband, and the following morning the wedding was celebrated with the utmost magnificence, in presence of the whole court, at the Golden Palace in the forest, which Pista immediately selected for his residence.

When the banquet was over, the bridegroom commanded his faithful dragon, who had already the day before provided a numerous establishment of domestics of his own winged race, immediately to bring hither his eleven brothers, whose respective names he had furnished him with, and had described their persons as accurately as he could.

Before the sun went down the eleven brothers were seen coming at full gallop to the Golden Palace. By the care of the ever active dragon they were all splendidly dressed, and they rejoiced and wondered not a little at the unexpected change in their destiny.

Two of them married the sisters of their royal sister-in-law, and the rest married the nine daughters of the other king. They soon conquered for themselves as many kingdoms, and lived happily together till their dying day.

THE LUCKY DAYS.

[Italian.]

At Casena, in Romagna, lived a poor widow, a very worthy, industrious woman, by name Lucietta. She unfortunately had an only son, who, for stupidity and laziness, had yet to find his equal. He would lie in bed till noon, and when he did resolve to rise, he took a full hour to rub his eyes, and then he would be nearly as long stretching his arms and legs; in short, he behaved like the veriest sluggard upon earth.

This grieved his mother very much, for she had once hoped that he would some day become the support of her old age; and she never ceased to urge and advise him, in order to make him a little more active and industrious.

"My son," she often said to him, "he who would see good days in this world must exert himself, be industrious, and rise at break of day; for good fortune favours the industrious and the vigilant, but never comes to the lazy and sluggardly. Therefore, my son, if you will believe my counsel, and follow it, then you shall see good days, and all will fall out to your heart's content."

Lucilio--that was the young man's name--the silliest of the silly, unquestionably heard what his mother said, but he did not understand the meaning of her words. He got up as if he were waking out of a deep and heavy sleep, and sauntered along the road before the city gate, where he stretched himself, in order to finish his nap, right across the pathway, so that all entering or leaving the city could not avoid stumbling over him.

It so happened that the very night before, three inhabitants of the city had gone out to bury a treasure which they had accidentally discovered. They had succeeded in finding it again, and were in the act of carrying it home, when they came upon Lucilio, who still lay across the road, but no longer sleeping. He had just waked up, and was looking round him for one of the good days his mother had prophesied to him.

"Heaven send you a good day, friend," said the first of the three men, as he walked over him.

"Heaven be praised!" said Lucilio, when he heard the words. "Now I shall have a good day!"

The man who had buried the treasure, conscious of his fault, fancied directly that these words bore reference to him, and that the secret had been betrayed. This was quite natural; for whoever has a bad conscience, always interprets the most indifferent words as an allusion to himself.

The second man then stumbled over Lucilio, likewise wis.h.i.+ng him, as his predecessor had done, a good day. Whereupon Lucilio, still dwelling on the good days, said to himself, but half loud, "Now I have two of them!"

The third followed and saluted him as the two others had done, also wis.h.i.+ng that Heaven might send him a good day. Up started Lucilio, overjoyed, and exclaiming, "Oh! delightful! Now I have got all three of them! I am fortunate!"