Tales from the Lands of Nuts and Grapes Part 7

"'Hurry, then,' said I, 'or else we shall all be lost.'

"'It is a very good thing to be in a hurry when you know what to do,'

answered the student; 'but we must be cautious. Therefore, step lightly that way until you reach yonder lofty tree and get up it; but, before doing so, fill your pockets with stones.'

"I can a.s.sure you that I was not long in carrying out the student's instructions, and never have I trod so lightly on the ground as I did that day. The student, as soon as he saw me half-way up the tree, shouted out, 'Here it comes! Oh, this is awful-just as I told her all about it! Oh dear, oh dear!'

"I now noticed that the student was taking long jumps in the direction of the tree up which I had climbed, and at every jump he would call out, 'Shut your eyes, or you will become blind!'

"Then I heard a most dreadful noise, as if the end of the world had come; but I could still hear the student crying out, 'Shut your eyes, good friend, or you will be blinded!'

"I have never been so terrified either before or since that day, and I was also in considerable pain, as the stones which I had placed in the pockets of my pants had, with climbing, almost sunk into me.

"After having kept my eyes closed for some time, I ventured on opening them, and then I saw a sight which told me I was a ruined man. My mules were rolling about in the dust, and all my pots and pans were wrecked.

The mouse-coloured mule, moreover, seemed to be demented; she rolled and writhed so that it seemed as if she were in awful distress, and there was no doubt but that she had dragged the others down with her.

"Suddenly I heard the voice of the student, and, looking down, I saw that he was seated on a branch just below me. 'Ah, poor creature,' said he, 'how terribly she feels the bereavement! Let us descend,' continued he, 'for the danger is now over, and we must, as Christian men, render aid to the poor dumb animals.' Saying which he slid down the tree, and I after him as well as I could; and as soon as we again got on the road, he bid me try to pacify the mouse-coloured mule, while he would do his utmost to get the leader to get up.

"I saw that all my earthenware was broken, and I gave myself up to grief. 'Unlucky man that I am!' I exclaimed. 'What harm can I have done to have deserved so great a punishment, and what, sir student, did you say to yon mule to make her act so?'

"'Alas, friend Jose,' said he, 'we of the educated cla.s.s understand resignation, but to such as you, as well as to the irrational creation, is this virtue denied. You bemoan the loss of your earthenware; and yonder dumb creature, with perhaps a glimmering of humanity about her, but certainly with more reason than you, deplores the loss of a good and beloved parent, who, on his death-bed, implored me to inform his daughter when I should next see her that he had died thinking of her, and that he bequeathed to her all he had to give, namely, the right of pasturage over all the lands in Spain and Portugal, and as much more as she could s.n.a.t.c.h from her neighbour when in the stable. Good-bye, friend Jose; my vow is accomplished, and I leave you in peace with your mules.'

"'And with the broken earthenware,' said I, 'and with my fortunes blasted, and with my legs bleeding; and all because I met you!'

"'Say not so, friend Jose, for had it not been for me you would most a.s.suredly have been swallowed up by the underground abyss. No, say not so, nor yet complain of your mouse-coloured mule, for to lament the death of a father is but natural.'

"The student walked quietly away, and I then set to making the mules get up, which, after much trouble, I succeeded in doing; but noticing that the mouse-coloured mule kept her head on one side as if in pain, I examined her, and on looking into her ear I discovered the end of a cigarette which that vile student had purposely dropped into it. I now knew that I had been deceived; but the cheat had already disappeared, so, like a wise man, I trudged home, sold my animals to pay my debts, and, having nothing better to do, I married Joanna and became, as you know, the church clown and auctioneer."

THE WISE KING OF LEON.

There was a rich n.o.bleman who had three sons; and the king, being very fond of him, appointed the eldest son his page, the second his butler, and the youngest his barber.

The barber fell in love with the king's only daughter, who was equally fond of him; and when this came to the ears of the king, he decided on putting a stop to it; so he called for the princess, and said-

"I know that you are in love with my barber, and if you insist on marrying him I will have you killed."

The princess, on hearing her father say this, became very sorrowful, and asked him to allow her one day for consideration, to which the king acceded.

She then went to her room, and getting together some of her finest dresses, she made them up into a bundle, and left the palace by a secret door.

For seven days and nights did the princess walk through the forest, subsisting on wild fruit and the water from the rivulets. For seven days and nights did her father seek for her, and, not finding her, he sent for the barber, and told him that he must immediately go in search of the princess, and if he did not bring her back within a year he should die.

At the end of the seventh day the princess was so tired that she could not continue her journey; and being afraid of the wolves, she managed to climb on to the first branch of a large oak-tree; and when there, discovering that the trunk was hollow, she let herself slip down into the hollow, and there rested.

She had not been long in her hiding-place when her lover, the barber, approached, sighing, and saying to himself-

"Woe is me, for I shall never find the princess! There are so many lovely damsels in Castille, and yet I must fall in love with the king's only daughter."

The princess, hearing him speak, said in a disguised voice-

"Woe is the king's daughter! There are so many gallants in Spain, and yet she must fall in love with her father's barber!"

The barber was much surprised to hear this apt rejoinder; but he could not find out from whence the voice came. He looked about everywhere, and at last, feeling sleepy, he lay down under the oak-tree where the princess was hidden.

In a very short time the barber was fast asleep; and the princess, hearing him breathe heavily, got out of her hiding-place, mounted the barber's horse, which the king had given him, and rode away with the barber's bundle of clothes, leaving her own in its place.

When she had ridden at full speed for some hours she dismounted, and opening the barber's bundle, she then disrobed herself and put on male attire.

Next day she had arrived in the kingdom of Leon, and she rode up to the king's palace and offered her services to the king as barber.

The king, being much struck by the stately bearing of the stranger, willingly accepted the proffered services.

When the real barber awoke and found his horse and clothes gone he was much alarmed; but seeing a bundle close to him he opened it, and was delighted to find his lover's dresses in it.

Being a beardless youth, and very handsome, he bethought him of putting on the princess's finest dress; and as his hair was very long and curly, according to the fas.h.i.+on of the day, he made a very pretty woman.

Foot-sore and weary, he at last arrived at the palace of the King of Leon, and was admitted to the king's presence as the daughter of the neighbouring King of Castille.

The King of Leon was so charmed with the beauty of the new arrival that he could not sleep, and so he sent for the barber, to whom he confided his love.

The real princess was much astonished to hear that her lover was in the palace, for she guessed it was he in female attire; but she kept quiet until her lover was asleep in bed, and then she stole into his room, put back his clothes, and took her own away.

Next morning when the real barber awoke and found his magnificent dresses gone and his male attire restored to him he was indeed surprised; but there was no help for it-he must again become a man and a barber.

The princess put on her own clothes, and hid in a cupboard of the room.

When she saw her lover leave the room, and heard him go down the staircase, she closed the door behind him and finished her toilet.

The king got up earlier than usual, for he was so anxious to see the new arrival; but before doing so he sent for the barber to shave him.

They looked everywhere for him, but without success; and at last, in despair, they went to the bedroom of the new arrival, and, knocking at the door, intimated the king's command that she should present herself.

The princess was ready; and, slipping past the courtiers, presented herself before the king.

"Who are you?" inquired the king.

"I am the daughter of the King of Castille, as I informed your mercy yesterday," answered the princess.

"But where, then, is my barber?" rejoined the king.

"What does one king's daughter know about another king's barber?" said the princess.

At this moment the real barber presented himself, and humbly begged the king's pardon for having deceived him.

"But who are you?" roared the king. "Are you a barber or a thief?"