Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (37 page)

This time the Knight of the Fish did not stop to hear more, but
ran off as fast as he could, and found the princess bathed in
tears, and trembling from head to foot.

She turned as she heard the sound of his sword, and removed her
handkerchief from his eyes.

'Fly,' she cried; 'fly while you have yet time, before that
monster sees you.'

She said it, and she mean it; yet, when he had turned his back,
she felt more forsaken than before. But in reality it was not
more than a few minutes before he came back, galloping furiously
on a horse he had borrowed, and carrying a huge mirror across its
neck.

'I am in time, then,' he cried, dismounting very carefully, and
placing the mirror against the trunk of a tree.

'Give me your veil,' he said hastily to the princess. And when
she had unwound it from her head he covered the mirror with it.

'The moment the dragon comes near you, you must tear off the
veil,' cried he; 'and be sure you hide behind the mirror. Have
no fear; I shall be at hand.'

He and his horse had scarcely found shelter amongst some rocks,
when the flap of the dragon's wings could be plainly heard. He
tossed his head with delight at the sight of her, and approached
slowly to the place where she stood, a little in front of the
mirror. Then, still looking the monster steadily in the face,
she passed one hand behind her back and snatched off the veil,
stepping swiftly behind the tree as she did so.

The princess had not known, when she obeyed the orders of the
Knight of the Fish, what she expected to happen. Would the
dragon with snaky locks be turned to stone, she wondered, like
the dragon in an old story her nurse had told her; or would some
fiery spark dart from the heart of the mirror, and strike him
dead? Neither of these things occurred, but, instead, the dragon
stopped short with surprise and rage when he saw a monster before
him as big and strong as himself. He shook his mane with rage
and fury; the enemy in front did exactly the same. He lashed his
tail, and rolled his red eyes, and the dragon opposite was no
whit behind him. Opening his mouth to its very widest, he gave
an awful roar; but the other dragon only roared back. This was
too much, and with another roar which made the princess shake in
her shoes, he flung himself upon his foe. In an instant the
mirror lay at his feet broken into a thousand pieces, but as
every piece reflected part of himself, the dragon thought that he
too had been smashed into atoms.

It was the moment for which the Knight of the Fish had watched
and waited, and before the dragon could find out that he was not
hurt at all, the young man's lance was down his throat, and he
was rolling, dead, on the grass.

Oh! what shouts of joy rang through the great city, when the
youth came riding back with the princess sitting behind him, and
dragging the horrible monster by a cord. Everybody cried out
that the king must give the victor the hand of the princess; and
so he did, and no one had ever seen such balls and feasts and
sports before. And when they were all over the young couple went
to the palace prepared for them, which was so large that it was
three miles round.

The first wet day after their marriage the bridegroom begged the
bride to show him all the rooms in the palace, and it was so big
and took so long that the sun was shining brightly again before
they stepped on to the roof to see the view.

'What castle is that out there,' asked the knight; 'it seems to
be made of black marble?'

'It is called the castle of Albatroz,' answered the princess.
'It is enchanted, and no one that has tried to enter it has ever
come back.'

Her husband said nothing, and began to talk of something else;
but the next morning he ordered his horse, took his spear, called
his bloodhound, and set off for the castle.

It needed a brave man to approach it, for it made your hair stand
on end merely to look at it; it was as dark as the night of a
storm, and as silent as the grave. But the Knight of the Fish
knew no fear, and had never turned his back on an enemy; so he
drew out his horn, and blew a blast.

The sound awoke all the sleeping echoes in the castle, and was
repeated now loudly, now softly; now near, and now far. But
nobody stirred for all that.

'Is there anyone inside?' cried the young man in his loudest
voice; 'anyone who will give a knight hospitality? Neither
governor, nor squire, not even a page?'

'Not even a page!' answered the echoes. But the young man did
not heed them, and only struck a furious blow at the gate.

Then a small grating opened, and there appeared the tip of a huge
nose, which belonged to the ugliest old woman that ever was seen.

'What do you want?' said she.

'To enter,' he answered shortly. 'Can I rest here this night?
Yes or No?'

'No, No, No!' repeated the echoes.

Between the fierce sun and his anger at being kept waiting, the
Knight of the Fish had grown so hot that he lifted his visor, and
when the old woman saw how handsome he was, she began fumbling
with the lock of the gate.

'Come in, come in,' said she, 'so fine a gentleman will do us no
harm.'

'Harm!' repeated the echoes, but again the young man paid no
heed.

'Let us go in, ancient dame,' but she interrupted him.

'You must call me the Lady Berberisca,' she answered, sharply;
'and this is my castle, to which I bid you welcome. You shall
live here with me and be my husband.' But at these words the
knight let his spear fall, so surprised was he.

'I marry YOU? why you must be a hundred at least!' cried he.
'You are mad! All I desire is to inspect the castle and then go.'
As he spoke he heard the voices give a mocking laugh; but the old
woman took no notice, and only bade the knight follow her.

Old though she was, it seemed impossible to tire her. There was
no room, however small, she did not lead him into, and each room
was full of curious things he had never seen before.

At length they came to a stone staircase, which was so dark that
you could not see your hand if you held it up before your face.

'I have kept my most precious treasure till the last,' said the
old woman; 'but let me go first, for the stairs are steep, and
you might easily break your leg.' So on she went, now and then
calling back to the young man in the darkness. But he did not
know that she had slipped aside into a recess, till suddenly he
put his foot on a trap door which gave way under him, and he fell
down, down, as many good knights had done before him, and his
voice joined the echoes of theirs.

'So you would not marry me!' chuckled the old witch. 'Ha! ha!
Ha! ha!'

Meanwhile his brother had wandered far and wide, and at last he
wandered back to the same great city where the other young knight
had met with so many adventures. He noticed, with amazement,
that as he walked through the streets the guards drew themselves
up in line, and saluted him, and the drummers played the royal
march; but he was still more bewildered when several servants in
livery ran up to him and told him that the princess was sure
something terrible had befallen him, and had made herself ill
with weeping. At last it occurred to him that once more he had
been taken for his brother. 'I had better say nothing,' thought
he; 'perhaps I shall be able to help him after all.'

So he suffered himself to be borne in triumph to the palace,
where the princess threw herself into his arms.

'And so you did go to the castle?' she asked.

'Yes, of course I did,' answered he.

'And what did you see there?'

'I am forbidden to tell you anything about it, until I have
returned there once more,' replied he.

'Must you really go back to that dreadful place?' she asked
wistfully. 'You are the only man who has ever come back from
it.'

'I must,' was all he answered. And the princess, who was a wise
woman, only said: 'Well, go to bed now, for I am sure you must be
very tired.'

But the knight shook his head. 'I have sworn never to lie in a
bed as long as my work in the castle remains standing.' And the
princess again sighed, and was silent.

Early next day the young man started for the castle, feeling sure
that some terrible thing must have happened to his brother.

At the blast of his horn the long nose of the old woman appeared
at the grating, but the moment she caught sight of his face, she
nearly fainted from fright, as she thought it was the ghost of
the youth whose bones were lying in the dungeon of the castle.

'Lady of all the ages,' cried the new comer, 'did you not give
hospitality to a young knight but a short time ago?'

'A short time ago!' wailed the voices.

'And how have you ill-treated him?' he went on.

'Ill-treated him!' answered the voices. The woman did not stop
to hear more; she turned to fly; but the knight's sword entered
her body.

'Where is my brother, cruel hag?' asked he sternly.

'I will tell you,' said she; 'but as I feel that I am going to
die I shall keep that piece of news to myself, till you have
brought me to life again.'

The young man laughed scornfully. 'How do you propose that I
should work that miracle?'

'Oh, it is quite easy. Go into the garden and gather the flowers
of the everlasting plant and some of dragon's blood. Crush them
together and boil them in a large tub of water, and then put me
into it.'

The knight did as the old witch bade him, and, sure enough, she
came out quite whole, but uglier than ever. She then told the
young man what had become of his brother, and he went down into
the dungeon, and brought up his body and the bodies of the other
victims who lay there, and when they were all washed in the magic
water their strength was restored to them.

And, besides these, he found in another cavern the bodies of the
girls who had been sacrificed to the dragon, and brought them
back to life also.

As to the old witch, in the end she died of rage at seeing her
prey escape her; and at the moment she drew her last breath the
castle of Albatroz fell into ruins with a great noise.

(From Cuentos, Oraciones, Adivinas recogidos por Fernan
Caballaro.)

[1]
Translated from two Persian MSS. in the possession of
the British Museum and the India Office, and adapted, with some
reservations, by Annette S. Beveridge.

[2]
Jessamine, ruby-decked.

[3]
Life-giving diamond.

[4]
World-gripper.

[5]
Love-enkindler.

[6]
Rose-cheek.

[7]
Heartsease.

[8]
Elias.

[9]
Pleasure.

[10]
Thirty-birds.

[11]
Pomp and Pride.

[12]
Of happy omen.