Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 03 (32 page)

In the morning the old woman gave him milk and bread for his
breakfast, which he ate contentedly, rejoicing that there was
nothing to be gathered, or counted, or cooked, and when he had
finished he begged her to tell him who she was.

'That I will, with pleasure,' she replied. 'But it will be a long
story.'

'Oh! if it's long, I can't listen,' cried the Prince.

'But,' said she, 'at your age, you should attend to what old
people say, and learn to have patience.'

'But, but,' said the Prince, in his most impatient tone, 'old
people should not be so long-winded! Tell me what country I have
got into, and nothing else.'

'With all my heart,' said she. 'You are in the Forest of the Black
Bird; it is here that he utters his oracles.'

'An Oracle,' cried the Prince. 'Oh! I must go and consult him.'
Thereupon he drew a handful of gold from his pocket, and offered
it to the old woman, and when she would not take it, he threw it
down upon the table and was off like a flash of lightning, without
even staying to ask the way. He took the first path that presented
itself and followed it at the top of his speed, often losing his
way, or stumbling over some stone, or running up against a tree,
and leaving behind him without regret the cottage which had been
as little to his taste as the character of its possessor. After
some time he saw in the distance a huge black castle which
commanded a view of the whole forest. The Prince felt certain that
this must be the abode of the Oracle, and just as the sun was
setting he reached its outermost gates. The whole castle was
surrounded by a deep moat, and the drawbridge and the gates, and
even the water in the moat, were all of the same sombre hue as the
walls and towers. Upon the gate hung a huge bell, upon which was
written in red letters:

'Mortal, if thou art curious to know thy fate, strike this bell,
and submit to what shall befall thee.'

The Prince, without the smallest hesitation, snatched up a great
stone, and hammered vigorously upon the bell, which gave forth a
deep and terrible sound, the gate flew open, and closed again with
a thundering clang the moment the Prince had passed through it,
while from every tower and battlement rose a wheeling, screaming
crowd of bats which darkened the whole sky with their multitudes.
Anyone but Prince Vivien would have been terrified by such an
uncanny sight, but he strode stoutly forward till he reached the
second gate, which was opened to him by sixty black slaves covered
from head to foot in long mantles.

He wished to speak to them, but soon discovered that they spoke an
utterly unknown language, and did not seem to understand a word he
said. This was a great aggravation to the Prince, who vas not
accustomed to keep his ideas to himself, and he positively found
himself wishing for his old friend Patience. However, he had to
follow his guides in silence, and they led him into a magnificent
hall; the floor was of ebony, the walls of jet, and all the
hangings were of black velvet, but the Prince looked round it in
vain for something to eat, and then made signs that he was hungry.
In the same manner he was respectfully given to understand that he
must wait, and after several hours the sixty hooded and shrouded
figures re-appeared, and conducted him with great ceremony, and
also very very slowly, to a banqueting hall, where they all placed
themselves at a long table. The dishes were arranged down the
centre of it, and with his usual impetuosity the Prince seized the
one that stood in front of him to draw it nearer, but soon found
that it was firmly fixed in its place. Then he looked at his
solemn and lugubrious neighbours, and saw that each one was
supplied with a long hollow reed through which he slowly sucked up
his portion, and the Prince was obliged to do the same, though he
found it a frightfully tedious process. After supper, they
returned as they had come to the ebony room, where he was
compelled to look on while his companions played interminable
games of chess, and not until he was nearly dying of weariness did
they, slowly and ceremoniously as before, conduct him to his
sleeping apartment. The hope of consulting the Oracle woke him
very early the next morning, and his first demand was to be
allowed to present himself before it, but, without replying, his
attendants conducted him to a huge marble bath, very shallow at
one end, and quite deep at the other, and gave him to understand
that he was to go into it. The Prince, nothing loth, was for
springing at once into deep water, but he was gently but forcibly
held back and only allowed to stand where it was about an inch
deep, and he was nearly wild with impatience when he found that
this process was to be repeated every day in spite of all he could
say or do, the water rising higher and higher by inches, so that
for sixty days he had to live in perpetual silence, ceremoniously
conducted to and fro, supping all his meals through the long reed,
and looking on at innumerable games of chess, the game of all
others which he detested most. But at last the water rose as high
as his chin, and his bath was complete. And that day the slaves in
their black robes, and each having a large bat perched upon his
head, marched in slow procession with the Prince in their midst,
chanting a melancholy song, to the iron gate that led into a kind
of Temple. At the sound of their chanting, another band of slaves
appeared, and took possession of the unhappy Vivien.

They looked to him exactly like the ones he had left, except that
they moved more slowly still, and each one held a raven upon his
wrist, and their harsh croakings re-echoed through the dismal
place. Holding the Prince by the arms, not so much to do him
honour as to restrain his impatience, they proceeded by slow
degrees up the steps of the Temple, and when they at last reached
the top he thought his long waiting must be at an end. But on the
contrary, after slowly enshrouding him in a long black robe like
their own, they led him into the Temple itself, where he was
forced to witness numbers of lengthy rites and ceremonies. By this
time Vivien's active impatience had subsided into passive
weariness, his yawns were continual and scandalous, but nobody
heeded him, he stared hopelessly at the thick black curtain which
hung down straight in front of him, and could hardly believe his
eyes when it presently began to slide back, and he saw before him
the Black Bird. It was of enormous size, and was perched upon a
thick bar of iron which ran across from one side of the Temple to
the other. At the sight of it all the slaves fell upon their knees
and hid their faces, and when it had three times flapped its
mighty wings it uttered distinctly in Prince Vivien's own language
the words:

'Prince, your only chance of happiness depends upon that which is
most opposed to your own nature.'

Then the curtain fell before it once more, and the Prince, after
many ceremonies, was presented with a raven which perched upon his
wrist, and was conducted slowly back to the iron gate. Here the
raven left him and he was handed over once more to the care of the
first band of slaves, while a large bat flickered down and settled
upon his head of its own accord, and so he was taken back to the
marble bath, and had to go through the whole process again, only
this time he began in deep water which receded daily inch by inch.
When this was over the slaves escorted him to the outer gate, and
took leave of him with every mark of esteem and politeness, to
which it is to be feared he responded but indifferently, since the
gate was no sooner opened than he took to his heels, and fled away
with all his might, his one idea being to put as much space as
possible between himself and the dreary place into which he had
ventured so rashly, just to consult a tedious Oracle who after all
had told him nothing. He actually reflected for about five seconds
on his folly, and came to the conclusion that it might sometimes
be advisable to think before one acted.

After wandering about for several days until he was weary and
hungry, he at last succeeded in finding a way out of the forest,
and soon came to a wide and rapid river, which he followed, hoping
to find some means of crossing it, and it happened that as the sun
rose the next morning he saw something of a dazzling whiteness
moored out in the middle of the stream. Upon looking more
attentively at it he found that it was one of the prettiest little
ships he had ever seen, and the boat that belonged to it was made
fast to the bank quite close to him. The Prince was immediately
seized with the most ardent desire to go on board the ship, and
shouted loudly to attract the notice of her crew, but no one
answered. So he sprang into the little boat and rowed away without
finding it at all hard work, for the boat was made all of white
paper and was as light as a rose leaf. The ship was made of white
paper too, as the Prince presently discovered when he reached it.
He found not a soul on board, but there was a very cosy little bed
in the cabin, and an ample supply of all sorts of good things to
eat and drink, which he made up his mind to enjoy until something
new happened. Having been thoroughly well brought up at the court
of King Gridelin, of course he understood the art of navigation,
but when once he had started, the current carried the vessel down
at such a pace that before he knew where he was the Prince found
himself out at sea, and a wind springing up behind him just at
this moment soon drove him out of sight of land. By this time he
was somewhat alarmed, and did his best to put the ship about and
get back to the river, but wind and tide were too strong for him,
and he began to think of the number of times, from his childhood
up, that he had been warned not to meddle with water. But it was
too late now to do anything but wish vainly that he had stayed on
shore, and to grow heartily weary of the boat and the sea and
everything connected with it. These two things, however, he did
most thoroughly. To put the finishing touch to his misfortunes he
presently found himself becalmed in mid-ocean, a state of affairs
which would be considered trying by the most patient of men, so
you may imagine how it affected Prince Vivien! He even came to
wishing himself back at the Castle of the Black Bird, for there at
least he saw some living beings, whereas on board the white-paper
ship he was absolutely alone, and could not imagine how he was
ever to get away from his wearisome prison. However, after a very
long time, he did see land, and his impatience to be on shore was
so great that he at once flung himself over the ship's side that
he might reach it sooner by swimming. But this was quite useless,
for spring as far as he might from the vessel, it was always under
his feet again before he reached the water, and he had to resign
himself to his fate, and wait with what patience he could muster
until the winds and waves carried the ship into a kind of natural
harbour which ran far into the land. After his long imprisonment
at sea the Prince was delighted with the sight of the great trees
which grew down to the very edge of the water, and leaping lightly
on shore he speedily lost himself in the thick forest. When he had
wandered a long way he stopped to rest beside a clear spring of
water, but scarcely had he thrown himself down upon the mossy bank
when there was a great rustling in the bushes close by, and out
sprang a pretty little gazelle panting and exhausted, which fell
at his feet gasping out—

'Oh! Vivien, save me!'

The Prince in great astonishment leapt to his feet, and had just
time to draw his sword before he found himself face to face with a
large green lion which had been hotly pursuing the poor little
gazelle. Prince Vivien attacked it gallantly and a fierce combat
ensued, which, however, ended before long in the Prince's dealing
his adversary a terrific blow which felled him to the earth. As he
fell the lion whistled loudly three times with such force that the
forest rang again, and the sound must have been heard for more
than two leagues round, after which having apparently nothing more
to do in the world he rolled over on his side and died. The Prince
without paying any further heed to him or to his whistling
returned to the pretty gazelle, saying:

'Well! are you satisfied now? Since you can talk, pray tell me
instantly what all this is about, and how you happen to know my
name.'

'Oh, I must rest for a long time before I can talk,' she replied,
'and beside, I very much doubt if you will have leisure to listen,
for the affair is by no means finished. In fact,' she continued in
the same languid tone, 'you had better look behind you now.'

The Prince turned sharply round and to his horror saw a huge Giant
approaching with mighty strides, crying fiercely—

'Who has made my lion whistle I should like to know?'

'I have,' replied Prince Vivien boldly, 'but I can answer for it
that he will not do it again!'

At these words the Giant began to howl and lament.

'Alas, my poor Tiny, my sweet little pet,' he cried, 'but at least
I can avenge thy death.'

Thereupon he rushed at the Prince, brandishing an immense serpent
which was coiled about his wrist. Vivien, without losing his
coolness, aimed a terrific blow at it with his sword, but no
sooner did he touch the snake than it changed into a Giant and the
Giant into a snake, with such rapidity that the Prince felt
perfectly giddy, and this happened at least half-a-dozen times,
until at last with a fortunate stroke he cut the serpent in
halves, and picking up one morsel flung it with all his force at
the nose of the Giant, who fell insensible on top of the lion, and
in an instant a thick black cloud rolled up which hid them from
view, and when it cleared away they had all disappeared.

Then the Prince, without even waiting to sheathe his sword, rushed
back to the gazelle, crying: