Tales of Folk and Fairies Part 6

The man was very glad when he heard that, and made haste to obey. He carried the beans home and then took the eggs and brought them back to the palace of the King.

After the King had received the eggs he gave the man a handful of flax. "Take this to your clever daughter," he said, "and bid her make for me within the week a full set of sails for a large s.h.i.+p. If she does this she shall receive the half of my kingdom as a reward, but if she fails you shall have a drubbing that you will not soon forget."

The man returned to his home, loudly lamenting his hard lot.

"What is the matter?" asked his daughter. "Has the King set another task that I must do?"

Yes, that he had; and her father showed her the flax the King had sent her and gave her the message.

"Do not be troubled," said the girl. "No harm shall come to you. Go to bed and sleep quietly, and to-morrow I will send the King an answer that will satisfy him."

The man believed what his daughter said. He went to bed and slept quietly.

The next day the girl gave her father a small piece of wood. "Carry this to the King," said she. "Tell him I am ready to make the sails, but first let him make me of this wood a large s.h.i.+p that I may fit the sails to it."

The father did as the girl bade him, and the King was surprised at the cleverness of the girl in returning him such an answer.

"That is all very well," said he, "and I will excuse her from this task. But here! Here is a gla.s.s mug. Take it home to your clever daughter. Tell her it is my command that she dip out the waters from the ocean bed so that I can ride over the bottom dry shod. If she does this, I will take her for my wife, but if she fails you shall be beaten within an inch of your life."

The man took the mug and hastened home, weeping aloud and bemoaning his fate.

"Well, and what is it?" asked his daughter. "What does the King demand of me now?"

The man gave her the gla.s.s mug and told her what the King had said.

"Do not be troubled," said the girl. "Go to bed and sleep in peace.

You shall not be beaten, and soon I shall be reigning as Queen over all this land."

The man had trust in her. He went to bed and slept and dreamed he saw her sitting by the King with a crown on her head.

The next day the girl gave her father a bunch of tow. "Take this to the King," she said. "Tell him you have given me the mug, and I am willing to dip the sea dry, but first let him take this tow and stop up all the rivers that flow into the ocean."

The man did as his daughter bade him. He took the tow to the King and told him exactly what the girl had said.

Then the King saw that the girl was indeed a clever one, and he sent for her to come before him.

She came just as she was, in her homespun dress and her rough shoes and with a cap on her head, but for all her mean clothing she was as pretty and fine as a flower, and the King was not slow to see it.

Still he wanted to make sure for himself that she was as clever as her messages had been.

"Tell me," said he, "what sound can be heard the farthest throughout the world?"

"The thunder that echoes through heaven and earth," answered the girl, "and your own royal commands that go from lip to lip."

This reply pleased the King greatly. "And now tell me," said he, "exactly what is my royal sceptre worth?"

"It is worth exactly as much as the power for which it stands," the girl replied.

The King was so well satisfied with the way the girl answered that he no longer hesitated; he determined that she should be his Queen, and that they should be married at once.

The girl had something to say to this, however. "I am but a poor girl," said she, "and my ways are not your ways. It may well be that you will tire of me, or that you may be angry with me sometime, and send me back to my father's house to live. Promise that if this should happen you will allow me to carry back with me from the castle the thing that has grown most precious to me."

The King was willing to agree to this, but the girl was not satisfied until he had written down his promise and signed it with his own royal hand. Then she and the King were married with the greatest magnificence, and she came to live in the palace and reign over the land.

Now while the girl was still only a peasant she had been well content to dress in homespun and live as a peasant should, but after she became Queen she would wear nothing but the most magnificent robes and jewels and ornaments, for that seemed to her only right and proper for a Queen. But the King, who was of a very jealous nature, thought his wife did not care at all for him, but only for the fine things he could give her.

One time the King and Queen were to ride abroad together, and the Queen spent so much time in dressing herself that the King was kept waiting, and he became very angry. When she appeared before him, he would not even look at her. "You care nothing for me, but only for the jewels and fine clothes you wear," he cried. "Take with you those that are the most precious to you, as I promised you, and return to your father's house. I will no longer have a wife who cares only for my possessions and not at all for me."

Very well; the girl was willing to go. "And I will be happier in my father's house than I was when I first met you," said she. Nevertheless she begged that she might spend one more night in the palace, and that she and the King might sup together once again before she returned home.

To this the King agreed, for he still loved her, even though he was so angry with her.

So he and his wife supped together that evening, and just at the last the Queen took a golden cup and filled it with wine. Then, when the King was not looking, she put a sleeping potion in the wine and gave it to him to drink.

He took it and drank to the very last drop, suspecting nothing, but soon after he sank down among the cus.h.i.+ons in a deep sleep. Then the Queen caused him to be carried to her father's house and laid in the bed there.

When the King awoke the next morning he was very much surprised to find himself in the peasant's cottage. He raised himself upon his elbow to look about him, and at once the girl came to the bedside, and she was again dressed in the coa.r.s.e and common clothes she had worn before she was married.

"What means this?" asked the King, "and how came I here?"

"My dear husband," said the girl, "your promise was that if you ever sent me back to my father's house I might carry with me the thing that had become most precious to me in the castle. You are that most precious thing, and I care for nothing else except as it makes me pleasing in your sight."

Then the King could no longer feel jealous or angry with her. He clasped her in his arms, and they kissed each other tenderly. That same day they returned to the palace, and from that time on the King and his peasant Queen lived together in the greatest love and happiness.

THE HISTORY OF ALI COGIA

FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

In the city of Bagdad there once lived a merchant named Ali Cogia.

This merchant was faithful and honest in all his dealings, but he had never made the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. He often felt troubled over this, for he knew he was neglecting a religious duty, but he was so occupied with his business affairs that it was difficult for him to leave home. Year after year he planned to make the pilgrimage, but always he postponed it, hoping for some more convenient time.

One night the merchant had a dream so vivid that it was more like a vision than a dream. In this dream or vision an old man appeared before him and, regarding him with a severe and reproachful look, said, "Why have you not made the pilgrimage to Mecca?"

When Ali Cogia awoke he felt greatly troubled. He feared this dream had been sent him as a reproach and a warning from heaven. He was still more troubled when the next night he dreamed the same dream; and when upon the third night the old man again appeared before him and asked the same question, he determined to delay no longer, but to set out upon the pilgrimage as soon as possible.

To this end he sold off all his goods except some that he decided to carry with him to Mecca and to dispose of there. He settled all his debts and rented his shop and his house to a friend, and as he had neither wife nor family, he was now free to set out at any time.

The sale of his goods had brought in quite a large sum of money, so that after he had set aside as much as was needed for the journey he found he had still a thousand gold pieces left over.

These he determined to leave in some safe place until his return. He put the money in an olive jar and covered it over with olives and sealed it carefully. He then carried the jar to a friend named Abul Ha.s.san, who was the owner of a large warehouse.

"Abul Ha.s.san," said he, "I am about to make the journey to Mecca, as you perhaps know. I have here a jar of olives that I would like to leave in your warehouse until my return, if you will allow me to do so."

Abul Ha.s.san was quite willing that his friend should do this and gave him the keys of the warehouse, bidding him place the jar wherever he wished. "I will gladly keep it until you return," said he, "and you may rest a.s.sured the jar will not be disturbed until such time as you shall come and claim it."

Ali Cogia thanked his friend and carried the jar into the warehouse, placing it in the farthest and darkest corner where it would not be in the way. Soon after he set out upon his journey to Mecca.