Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 08 (12 page)

It is needless to say that for some days he took no more apples back
to the palace, but kept well away on the other side of the town,
wearing other clothes, and disguised by a long black beard, so that
even his own mother would not have known him.

The morning after his visit to the castle the whole city was in an
uproar about the dreadful misfortune that had happened to the
Royal Family, for not only the king but his wife and children, had
eaten of the stranger's apples, and all, so said the rumour, were very
ill. The most famous doctors and the greatest magicians were
hastily summoned to the palace, but they shook their heads and
came away again; never had they met with such a disease in all the
course of their experience. By-and-bye a story went round the
town, started no one knew how, that the malady was in some way
connected with the nose; and men rubbed their own anxiously, to
be sure that nothing catching was in the air.

Matters had been in this state for more than a week when it reached
the ears of the king that a man was living in an inn on the other side
of the town who declared himself able to cure all manner of
diseases. Instantly the royal carriage was commanded to drive with
all speed and bring back this magician, offering him riches untold if
he could restore their noses to their former length. Tiidu had
expected this summons, and had sat up all night changing his
appearance, and so well had he succeeded that not a trace remained
either of the piper or of the apple seller. He stepped into the
carriage, and was driven post haste to the king, who was feverishly
counting every moment, for both his nose and the queen's were by
this time more than a yard long, and they did not know where they
would stop.

Now Tiidu thought it would not look well to cure the royal family
by giving them the raw nuts; he felt that it might arouse suspicion.
So he had carefully pounded them into a powder, and divided the
powder up into small doses, which were to be put on the tongue
and swallowed at once. He gave one of these to the king and
another to the queen, and told them that before taking them they
were to get into bed in a dark room and not to move for some
hours, after which they might be sure that they would come out
cured.

The king's joy was so great at this news that he would gladly have
given Tiidu half of his kingdom; but the piper was no longer so
greedy of money as he once was, before he had been shipwrecked
on the island. If he could get enough to buy a small estate and live
comfortably on it for the rest of his life, that was all he now cared
for. However, the king ordered his treasure to pay him three times
as much as he asked, and with this Tiidu went down to the harbour
and engaged a small ship to carry him back to his native country.
The wind was fair, and in ten days the coast, which he had almost
forgotten, stood clear before him. In a few hours he was standing
in his old home, where his father, three sisters, and two brothers
gave him a hearty welcome. His mother and his other brothers had
died some years before.

When the meeting was over, he began to make inquiries about a
small estate that was for sale near the town, and after he had bought
it the next thing was to find a wife to share it with him. This did
not take long either; and people who were at the wedding feast
declared that the best part of the whole day was the hour when
Tiidu played to them on the pipes before they bade each other
farewell and returned to their homes.

(From Esthnische Mahrchen.)

Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen who had one son.
The king loved the boy very much, but the queen, who was a
wicked woman, hated the sight of him; and this was the more
unlucky for, when he was twelve years old, his father died, and he
was left alone in the world.

Now the queen was very angry because the people, who knew how
bad she was, seated her son on the throne instead of herself, and
she never rested till she had formed a plan to get him out of the
way. Fortunately, however, the young king was wise and prudent,
and knew her too well to trust her.

One day, when his mourning was over, he gave orders that
everything should be made ready for a grand hunt. The queen
pretended to be greatly delighted that he was going to amuse
himself once more, and declared that she would accompany him.
'No, mother, I cannot let you come,' he answered; 'the ground is
rough, and you are not strong.' But he might as well have spoken
to the winds: when the horn was sounded at daybreak the queen
was there with the rest.

All that day they rode, for game was plentiful, but towards evening
the mother and son found themselves alone in a part of the country
that was strange to them. They wandered on for some time,
without knowing where they were going, till they met with a man
whom they begged to give them shelter. 'Come with me,' said the
man gladly, for he was an ogre, and fed on human flesh; and the
king and his mother went with him, and he led them to his house.
When they got there they found to what a dreadful place they had
come, and, falling on their knees, they offered him great sums of
money, if he would only spare their lives. The ogre's heart was
moved at the sight of the queen's beauty, and he promised that he
would do her no harm; but he stabbed the boy at once, and binding
his body on a horse, turned him loose in the forest.

The ogre had happened to choose a horse which he had bought
only the day before, and he did not know it was a magician, or he
would not have been so foolish as to fix upon it on this occasion.
The horse no sooner had been driven off with the prince's body on
its back than it galloped straight to the home of the fairies, and
knocked at the door with its hoof. The fairies heard the knock, but
were afraid to open till they had peeped from an upper window to
see that it was no giant or ogre who could do them harm. 'Oh,
look, sister!' cried the first to reach the window, 'it is a horse that
has knocked, and on its back there is bound a dead boy, the most
beautiful boy in all the world!' Then the fairies ran to open the
door, and let in the horse and unbound the ropes which fastened the
young king on its back. And they gathered round to admire his
beauty, and whispered one to the other: 'We will make him alive
again, and will keep him for our brother.' And so they did, and for
many years they all lived together as brothers and sisters.

By-and-by the boy grew into a man, as boys will, and then the
oldest of the fairies said to her sisters: 'Now I will marry him, and
he shall be really your brother.' So the young king married the
fairy, and they lived happily together in the castle; but though he
loved his wife he still longed to see the world.

At length this longing grew so strong on him that he could bear it
no more; and, calling the fairies together, he said to them: 'Dear
wife and sisters, I must leave you for a time, and go out and see the
world. But I shall think of you often, and one day I shall come
back to you.'

The fairies wept and begged him to stay, but he would not listen,
and at last the eldest, who was his wife, said to him: 'If you really
will abandon us, take this lock of my hair with you; you will find it
useful in time of need.' So she cut off a long curl, and handed it to
him.

The prince mounted his horse, and rode on all day without stopping
once. Towards evening he found himself in a desert, and, look
where he would, there was no such thing as a house or a man to be
seen. 'What am I to do now?' he thought. 'If I go to sleep here
wild beasts will come and eat me! Yet both I and my horse are
worn out, and can go no further.' Then suddenly he remembered
the fairy's gift, and taking out the curl he said to it: 'I want a castle
here, and servants, and dinner, and everything to make me
comfortable tonight; and besides that, I must have a stable and
fodder for my horse.' And in a moment the castle was before him
just as he had wished.

In this way he travelled through many countries, till at last he came
to a land that was ruled over by a great king. Leaving his horse
outside the walls, he clad himself in the dress of a poor man, and
went up to the palace. The queen, who was looking out of the
window, saw him approaching, and filled with pity sent a servant to
ask who he was and what he wanted. 'I am a stranger here,'
answered the young king, 'and very poor. I have come to beg for
some work.' 'We have everybody we want,' said the queen, when
the servant told her the young man's reply. 'We have a gate-keeper,
and a hall porter, and servants of all sorts in the palace; the only
person we have not got is a goose-boy. Tell him that he can he our
goose-boy if he likes.' The youth answered that he was quite
content to be goose-boy; and that was how he got his nickname of
Paperarello. And in order that no one should guess that he was any
better than a goose-boy should be, he rubbed his face and his rags
over with mud, and made himself altogether such a disgusting
object that every one crossed over to the other side of the road
when he was seen coming.

'Do go and wash yourself, Paperarello!' said the queen sometimes,
for he did his work so well that she took an interest in him. 'Oh, I
should not feel comfortable if I was clean, your Majesty,' answered
he, and went whistling after his geese.

It happened one day that, owing to some accident to the great flour
mills which supplied the city, there was no bread to be had, and the
king's army had to do without. When the king heard of it, he sent
for the cook, and told him that by the next morning he must have all
the bread that the oven, heated seven times over, could bake. 'But,
your Majesty, it is not possible,' cried the poor man in despair.
'The mills have only just begun working, and the flour will not be
ground till evening, and how can I heat the oven seven times in one
night?' 'That is your affair,' answered the King, who, when he took
anything into his head, would listen to nothing. 'If you succeed in
baking the bread you shall have my daughter to wife, but if you fail
your head will pay for it.'

Now Paperarello, who was passing through the hall where the king
was giving his orders, heard these words, and said: 'Your Majesty,
have no fears; I will bake your bread.' 'Very well,' answered the
king; 'but if you fail, you will pay for it with your head!' and signed
that both should leave his presence.

The cook was still trembling with the thought of what he had
escaped, but to his surprise Paperarello did not seem disturbed at
all, and when night came he went to sleep as usual. 'Paperarello,'
cried the other servants, when they saw him quietly taking off his
clothes, 'you cannot go to bed; you will need every moment of the
night for your work. Remember, the king is not to be played with!'

'I really must have some sleep first,' replied Paperarello, stretching
himself and yawning; and he flung himself on his bed, and was fast
asleep in a moment. In an hour's time, the servants came and shook
him by the shoulder. 'Paperarello, are you mad?' said they. 'Get up,
or you will lose your head.' 'Oh, do let me sleep a little more,
answered he. And this was all he would say, though the servants
returned to wake him many times in the night.

At last the dawn broke, and the servants rushed to his room, crying:
'Paperarello! Paperarello! get up, the king is coming. You have
baked no bread, and of a surety he will have your head.'

'Oh, don't scream so,' replied Paperarello, jumping out of bed as he
spoke; and taking the lock of hair in his hand, he went into the
kitchen. And, behold! there stood the bread piled high—four, five,
six ovens full, and the seventh still waiting to be taken out of the
oven. The servants stood and stared in surprise, and the king said:
'Well done, Paperarello, you have won my daughter.' And he
thought to himself: 'This fellow must really be a magician.'

But when the princess heard what was in store for her she wept
bitterly, and declared that never, never would she marry that dirty
Paperarello! However, the king paid no heed to her tears and
prayers, and before many days were over the wedding was
celebrated with great splendour, though the bridegroom had not
taken the trouble to wash himself, and was as dirty as before.

When night came he went as usual to sleep among his geese, and
the princess went to the king and said: 'Father, I entreat you to have
that horrible Paperarello put to death.' 'No, no!' replied her father,
'he is a great magician, and before I put him to death, I must first
find out the secret of his power, and then—we shall see.'

Soon after this a war broke out, and everybody about the palace
was very busy polishing up armour and sharpening swords, for the
king and his sons were to ride at the head of the army. Then
Paperarello left his geese, and came and told the king that he
wished to go to fight also. The king gave him leave, and told him
that he might go to the stable and take any horse he liked from the
stables. So Paperarello examined the horses carefully, but instead
of picking out one of the splendid well-groomed creatures, whose
skin shone like satin, he chose a poor lame thing, put a saddle on it,
and rode after the other men-at-arms who were attending the king.
In a short time he stopped, and said to them: 'My horse can go no
further; you must go on to the war without me, and I will stay here,
and make some little clay soldiers, and will play at a battle.' The
men laughed at him for being so childish, and rode on after their
master.

Scarcely were they out of sight than Paperarello took out his curl,
and wished himself the best armour, the sharpest sword, and the
swiftest horse in the world, and the next minute was riding as fast
as he could to the field of battle. The fight had already begun, and
the enemy was getting the best of it, when Paperarello rode up, and
in a moment the fortunes of the day had changed. Right and left
this strange knight laid about him, and his sword pierced the
stoutest breast-plate, and the strongest shield. He was indeed 'a
host in himself,' and his foes fled before him thinking he was only
the first of a troop of such warriors, whom no one could withstand.
When the battle was over, the king sent for him to thank him for his
timely help, and to ask what reward he should give him. 'Nothing
but your little finger, your Majesty,' was his answer; and the king
cut off his little finger and gave it to Paperarello, who bowed and
hid it in his surcoat. Then he left the field, and when the soldiers
rode back they found him still sitting in the road making whole
rows of little clay dolls.