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.
In his trouble and fear he went
down into the courtyard and though long and hard. Now some ducks weresitting
together quietly by a brook and taking their rest; and, whilst they were making
their feathers smooth with their bills, they were having a confidentia
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, carried her to the
kitchen, and said to the cook, “Here is a fine duck; roast her for dinner.”
“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.” And as he prepared the duck for dinner, he
found the ring inside.
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 complaining 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 quivered 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 climbed down, and gave them his own food
which he had been carrying for his lunch.
Then they came hopping up to it,
satisfied their hunger, and cried, “We will remember you—one good turn deserves
another!”
And when he had gone on a long
way further, 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 sues for 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, in his sight; 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 saw
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, “To-morrow
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 by 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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