Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (21 page)

'Quick! quick! get up as fast as you can. Our two mules have
returned with sacks on their backs, so heavily laden with
something or other that the poor beasts can hardly stand up.'

'Wife, I have told you a dozen times already that I am not going
to get up. Why can't you leave me in peace?'

As she found she could get no help from her husband the woman
took a large knife and cut the cords which bound the sacks on to
the animals' backs. They fell at once to the ground, and out
poured a rain of gold pieces, till the little court-yard shone
like the sun.

'A treasure!' gasped the woman, as soon as she could speak from
surprise. 'A treasure!' And she ran off to tell her husband.

'Get up! get up!' she cried. 'You were quite right not to go to
the forest, and to await Fortune in your bed; she has come at
last! Our mules have returned home laden with all the gold in the
world, and it is now lying in the court. No one in the whole
country can be as rich as we are!'

In an instant the wood-cutter was on his feet, and running to the
court, where he paused dazzled by the glitter of the coins which
lay around him.

'You see, my dear wife, that I was right,' he said at last.
'Fortune is so capricious, you can never count on her. Run after
her, and she is sure to fly from you; stay still, and she is sure
to come.'

(Traditions Populaires de l'Asie Mineure.)

Once upon a time an old woman lived in a small cottage near the
sea with her two daughters. They were very poor, and the girls
seldom left the house, as they worked all day long making veils
for the ladies to wear over their faces, and every morning, when
the veils were finished, the other took them over the bridge and
sold them in the city. Then she bought the food that they needed
for the day, and returned home to do her share of veil-making.

One morning the old woman rose even earlier than usual, and set
off for the city with her wares. She was just crossing the
bridge when, suddenly, she knocked up against a human head, which
she had never seen there before. The woman started back in
horror; but what was her surprise when the head spoke, exactly as
if it had a body joined on to it.

'Take me with you, good mother!' it said imploringly; 'take me
with you back to your house.'

At the sound of these words the poor woman nearly went mad with
terror. Have that horrible thing always at home? Never! never!
And she turned and ran back as fast as she could, not knowing
that the head was jumping, dancing, and rolling after her. But
when she reached her own door it bounded in before her, and
stopped in front of the fire, begging and praying to be allowed
to stay.

All that day there was no food in the house, for the veils had
not been sold, and they had no money to buy anything with. So
they all sat silent at their work, inwardly cursing the head
which was the cause of their misfortunes.

When evening came, and there was no sign of supper, the head
spoke, for the first time that day:

'Good mother, does no one ever eat here? During all the hours I
have spent in your house not a creature has touched anything.'

'No,' answered the old woman, 'we are not eating anything.'

'And why not, good mother?'

'Because we have no money to buy any food.'

'Is it your custom never to eat?'

'No, for every morning I go into the city to sell my veils, and
with the few shillings I get for them I buy all we want. To-day
I did not cross the bridge, so of course I had nothing for food.'

'Then I am the cause of your having gone hungry all day?' asked
the head.

'Yes, you are,' answered the old woman.

'Well, then, I will give you money and plenty of it, if you will
only do as I tell you. In an hour, as the clock strikes twelve,
you must be on the bridge at the place where you met me. When
you get there call out "Ahmed," three times, as loud as you can.
Then a negro will appear, and you must say to him: "The head,
your master, desires you to open the trunk, and to give me the
green purse which you will find in it."'

'Very well, my lord,' said the old woman, 'I will set off at once
for the bridge.' And wrapping her veil round her she went out.

Midnight was striking as she reached the spot where she had met
the head so many hours before.

'Ahmed! Ahmed! Ahmed!' cried she, and immediately a huge negro,
as tall as a giant, stood on the bridge before her.

'What do you want?' asked he.

'The head, your master, desires you to open the trunk, and to
give me the green purse which you will find in it.'

'I will be back in a moment, good mother,' said he. And three
minutes later he placed a purse full of sequins in the old
woman's hand.

No one can imagine the joy of the whole family at the sight of
all this wealth. The tiny, tumble-down cottage was rebuilt, the
girls had new dresses, and their mother ceased selling veils. It
was such a new thing to them to have money to spend, that they
were not as careful as they might have been, and by-and-by there
was not a single coin left in the purse. When this happened
their hearts sank within them, and their faces fell.

'Have you spent your fortune?' asked the head from its corner,
when it saw how sad they looked. 'Well, then, go at midnight,
good mother, to the bridge, and call out "Mahomet!" three times,
as loud as you can. A negro will appear in answer, and you must
tell him to open the trunk, and to give you the red purse which
he will find there.'

The old woman did not need twice telling, but set off at once for
the bridge.

'Mahomet! Mahomet! Mahomet!' cried she, with all her might; and
in an instant a negro, still larger than the last, stood before
her.

'What do you want?' asked he.

'The head, your master, bids you open the trunk, and to give me
the red purse which you will find in it.'

'Very well, good mother, I will do so,' answered the negro, and,
the moment after he had vanished, he reappeared with the purse in
his hand.

This time the money seemed so endless that the old woman built
herself a new house, and filled it with the most beautiful things
that were to be found in the shops. Her daughters were always
wrapped in veils that looked as if they were woven out of
sunbeams, and their dresses shone with precious stones. The
neighbours wondered where all this sudden wealth had sprung from,
but nobody knew about the head.

'Good mother,' said the head, one day, 'this morning you are to
go to the city and ask the sultan to give me his daughter for my
bride.'

'Do what?' asked the old woman in amazement. 'How can I tell the
sultan that a head without a body wishes to become his son-in-
law? They will think that I am mad, and I shall be hooted from
the palace and stoned by the children.'

'Do as I bid you,' replied the head; 'it is my will.'

The old woman was afraid to say anything more, and, putting on
her richest clothes, started for the palace. The sultan granted
her an audience at once, and, in a trembling voice, she made her
request.

'Are you mad, old woman?' said the sultan, staring at her.

'The wooer is powerful, O Sultan, and nothing is impossible to
him.'

'Is that true?'

'It is, O Sultan; I swear it,' answered she.

'Then let him show his power by doing three things, and I will
give him my daughter.'

'Command, O gracious prince,' said she.

'Do you see that hill in front of the palace?' asked the sultan.

'I see it,' answered she.

'Well, in forty days the man who has sent you must make that hill
vanish, and plant a beautiful garden in its place. That is the
first thing. Now go, and tell him what I say.'

So the old woman returned and told the head the sultan's first
condition.

'It is well,' he replied; and said no more about it.

For thirty-nine days the head remained in its favourite corner.
The old woman thought that the task set before was beyond his
powers, and that no more would be heard about the sultan's
daughter. But on the thirty-ninth evening after her visit to the
palace, the head suddenly spoke.

'Good mother,' he said, 'you must go to-night to the bridge, and
when you are there cry "Ali! Ali! Ali!" as loud as you can. A
negro will appear before you, and you will tell him that he is to
level the hill, and to make, in its place, the most beautiful
garden that ever was seen.'

'I will go at once,' answered she.

It did not take her long to reach the bridge which led to the
city, and she took up her position on the spot where she had
first seen the head, and called loudly 'Ali! Ali! Ali.' In an
instant a negro appeared before her, of such a huge size that the
old woman was half frightened; but his voice was mild and gentle
as he said: 'What is it that you want?'

'Your master bids you level the hill that stands in front of the
sultan's palace and in its place to make the most beautiful
garden in the world.'

'Tell my master he shall be obeyed,' replied Ali; 'it shall be
done this moment.' And the old woman went home and gave Ali's
message to the head.

Meanwhile the sultan was in his palace waiting till the fortieth
day should dawn, and wondering that not one spadeful of earth
should have been dug out of the hill.

'If that old woman has been playing me a trick,' thought he, 'I
will hang her! And I will put up a gallows to-morrow on the hill
itself.'

But when to-morrow came there was no hill, and when the sultan
opened his eyes he could not imagine why the room was so much
lighter than usual, and what was the reason of the sweet smell of
flowers that filled the air.

'Can there be a fire?' he said to himself; 'the sun never came in
at this window before. I must get up and see.' So he rose and
looked out, and underneath him flowers from every part of the
world were blooming, and creepers of every colour hung in chains
from tree to tree.

Then he remembered. 'Certainly that old woman's son is a clever
magician!' cried he; 'I never met anyone as clever as that. What
shall I give him to do next? Let me think. Ah! I know.' And he
sent for the old woman, who by the orders of the head, was
waiting below.

'Your son has carried out my wishes very nicely,' he said. 'The
garden is larger and better than that of any other king. But
when I walk across it I shall need some place to rest on the
other side. In forty days he must build me a palace, in which
every room shall be filled with different furniture from a
different country, and each more magnificent than any room that
ever was seen.' And having said this he turned round and went
away.

'Oh! he will never be able to do that,' thought she; 'it is much
more difficult than the hill.' And she walked home slowly, with
her head bent.

'Well, what am I to do next?' asked the head cheerfully. And the
old woman told her story.

'Dear me! is that all? why it is child's play,' answered the
head; and troubled no more about the palace for thirty-nine days.
Then he told the old woman to go to the bridge and call for
Hassan.

'What do you want, old woman?' asked Hassan, when he appeared,
for he was not as polite as the others had been.

'Your master commands you to build the most magnificent palace
that ever was seen,' replied she; 'and you are to place it on the
borders of the new garden.'

'He shall be obeyed,' answered Hassan. And when the sultan woke
he saw, in the distance, a palace built of soft blue marble,
resting on slender pillars of pure gold.

'That old woman's son is certainly all-powerful,' cried he; 'what
shall I bid him do now?' And after thinking some time he sent for
the old woman, who was expecting the summons.

'The garden is wonderful, and the palace the finest in the
world,' said he, 'so fine, that my servants would cut but a sorry
figure in it. Let your son fill it with forty slaves whose
beauty shall be unequalled, all exactly like each other, and of
the same height.'

This time the king thought he had invented something totally
impossible, and was quite pleased with himself for his
cleverness.

Thirty-nine days passed, and at midnight on the night of the last
the old woman was standing on the bridge.

'Bekir! Bekir! Bekir!' cried she. And a negro appeared, and
inquired what she wanted.

'The head, your master, bids you find forty slaves of unequalled
beauty, and of the same height, and place them in the sultan's
palace on the other side of the garden.'

And when, on the morning of the fortieth day, the sultan went to
the blue palace, and was received by the forty slaves, he nearly
lost his wits from surprise.

'I will assuredly give my daughter to the old woman's son,'
thought he. 'If I were to search all the world through I could
never find a more powerful son-in-law.'

And when the old woman entered his presence he informed her that
he was ready to fulfil his promise, and she was to bid her son
appear at the palace without delay.

This command did not at all please the old woman, though, of
course, she made no objections to the sultan.

'All has gone well so far,' she grumbled, when she told her story
to the head,' but what do you suppose the sultan will say, when
he sees his daughter's husband?'

'Never mind what he says! Put me on a silver dish and carry me to
the palace.'

So it was done, though the old woman's heart beat as she laid
down the dish with the head upon it.

At the sight before him the king flew into a violent rage.

'I will never marry my daughter to such a monster,' he cried.
But the princess placed her head gently on his arm.

'You have given your word, my father, and you cannot break it,'
said she.