Favorite Folktales From Around the World

by Jane Yolen

  Then the nobles sat in judgment over Rabbi Adam, to decide if he had sinned in bringing about the death of the sorcerer. They considered this matter for some time, and concluded that Rabbi Adam had only performed his part of the wonder, by returning the flourishing tree to a staff, and that it was the evil sorcerer’s fault for putting himself at risk. The Rabbi left the nobles with great honor, and they sent him home in peace.

  And the merchant, who had witnessed all that had taken place, rejoiced greatly over the miracle, and thanked Rabbi Adam for saving him from the hands of the powerful sorcerer. But Rabbi Adam told him to give thanks to God, for all great miracles come from Him. After that the merchant went with his wife to a rabbinical court and divorced her. The wife left her husband’s house, but in her heart were thoughts of repentance. She began to fast and pray, and eventually she returned to God with her whole heart. And the Lord, who does not desire the death of the wicked but only that they return to the ways of the righteous, accepted her repentance. But the evil sorcerer who sinned and led her to sin was lost and cut off from the earth for all time.

  THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A VINEGAR BOTTLE

  England

  Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in a vinegar bottle. One day a fairy was passing that way, and she heard the old woman talking to herself.

  “It is a shame, it is a shame, it is a shame,” said the old woman. “I didn’t ought to live in a vinegar bottle. I ought to live in a nice little cottage with a thatched roof, and roses growing all up the wall, that I ought.”

  So the fairy said, “Very well, when you go to bed tonight you turn round three times, and shut your eyes, and in the morning you’ll see what you will see.”

  So the old woman went to bed, and turned round three times and shut her eyes, and in the morning there she was, in a pretty little cottage with a thatched roof, and roses growing up the walls. And she was very surprised, and very pleased, but she quite forgot to thank the fairy.

  And the fairy went north, and she went south, and she went east, and she went west, all about the business she had to do. And presently she thought, “I’ll go and see how that old woman is getting on. She must be very happy in her little cottage.”

  And as she got up to the front door, she heard the old woman talking to herself.

  “It is a shame, it is a shame, it is a shame,” said the old woman. “I didn’t ought to live in a little cottage like this, all by myself. I ought to live in a nice little house in a row of houses, with lace curtains at the windows, and a brass knocker on the door, and people calling mussels and cockles outside, all merry and cheerful.”

  The fairy was rather surprised; but she said, “Very well. You go to bed tonight, and turn round three times, and shut your eyes, and in the morning you shall see what you shall see.”

  So the old woman went to bed, and turned round three times and shut her eyes, and in the morning there she was in a nice little house, in a row of little houses, with lace curtains at the windows, and a brass knocker on the door, and people calling mussels and cockles outside, all merry and cheerful. And she was very much surprised, and very much pleased. But she quite forgot to thank the fairy.

  And the fairy went north, and she went south, and she went east, and she went west, all about the business she had to do; and after a time she thought to herself, “I’ll go and see how that old woman is getting on. Surely she must be happy now.”

  And when she got to the little row of houses, she heard the old woman talking to herself. “It is a shame, it is a shame,” said the old woman. “I didn’t ought to live in a row of houses like this, with common people on each side of me. I ought to live in a great mansion in the country, with a big garden all round it, and servants to answer the bell.”

  And the fairy was very surprised, and rather annoyed, but she said, “Very well, go to bed and turn round three times, and shut your eyes, and in the morning you will see what you will see.”

  And the old woman went to bed and turned round three times, and shut her eyes, and in the morning there she was, in a great mansion in the country, surrounded by a fine garden, and servants to answer the bell. And she was very pleased and very surprised, and she learned how to speak genteelly, but she quite forgot to thank the fairy.

  And the fairy went north, and she went south, and she went east, and she went west, all about the business she had to do; and after a time she thought to herself, “I’ll go and see how that old woman is getting on. Surely she must be happy now.”

  But no sooner had she got near the old woman’s drawing-room window than she heard the old woman talking to herself in a genteel voice.

  “It certainly is a very great shame,” said the old woman, “that I should be living alone here, where there is no society. I ought to be a duchess, driving in my own coach to wait on the queen, with footmen running beside me.”

  The fairy was very much surprised, and very much disappointed, but she said, “Very well. Go to bed tonight, and turn round three times and shut your eyes, and in the morning you shall see what you shall see.”

  So the old woman went to bed, and turned round three times, and shut her eyes, and in the morning, there she was, a duchess with a coach of her own, to wait on the queen, and footmen running beside her. And she was very much surprised, and very much pleased. BUT she quite forgot to thank the fairy.

  And the fairy went north, and she went south, and she went east, and she went west, all about the business she had to do; and after a while she thought to herself, “I’d better go and see how that old woman is getting on. Surely she is happy, now she’s a duchess.”

  But no sooner had she come to the window of the old woman’s great town mansion, than she heard her saying in a more genteel tone than ever, “It is indeed a very great shame that I should be a mere duchess, and have to curtsey to the queen. Why can’t I be a queen myself, and sit on a golden throne, with a golden crown on my head, and courtiers all around me?”

  The fairy was very much disappointed and very angry; but she said, “Very well. Go to bed and turn round three times, and shut your eyes, and in the morning you shall see what you shall see.”

  So the old woman went to bed, and turned round three times, and shut her eyes, and in the morning there she was in a royal palace, a queen in her own right, sitting on a golden throne, with a golden crown on her head, and her courtiers all around her. And she was highly delighted, and ordered them right and left. BUT she quite forgot to thank the fairy.

  And the fairy went north, and she went south, and she went east, and she went west, all about the business she had to do; and after a while she thought to herself, “I’ll go and see how that old woman is getting on. Surely she must be satisfied now!”

  But as soon as she got near the throne room, she heard the old woman talking.

  “It is a great shame, a very great shame,” she said, “that I should be queen of a paltry little country like this instead of ruling the whole round world. What I am really fitted for is to be Pope, to govern the minds of everyone on earth.”

  “Very well,” said the fairy. “Go to bed. Turn round three times, and shut your eyes, and in the morning you shall see what you shall see.”

  So the old woman went to bed, full of proud thoughts. She turned round three times and shut her eyes. And in the morning she was back in her vinegar bottle.

  THE MAGIC PEAR TREE

  China

  A farmer came from the country to sell his pears in the market. They were juicy and fragrant, and his sales were booming, when a Taoist priest wearing tattered scarves and coarse cotton clothes appeared at the wagon and begged for some fruit. The farmer shooed him away, but he refused to leave. The farmer’s voice rose until he was screaming and cursing.

  “Your wagon holds hundreds of pears,” said the priest, “and I ask for only one. That’s no great loss, sir. Why get so angry?”

  The crowd tried to persuade the farmer to part with a bruised pear and be rid of the man, but the farmer
indignantly refused. At last a market guard saw that the uproar was getting out of hand and put up a few coins for a piece of fruit to throw to the priest.

  Hands clasped above his head, the priest thanked the guard. Then he turned to the crowd and said, “We who have left the world find man’s greed hard to understand. Let me offer some choice pears to all you good customers.”

  “Now that you have your pear,” someone said, “why don’t you eat it yourself?”

  “All I needed was a seed for planting,” replied the priest. And holding the fruit in both hands, he gobbled it up. Then he took the little shovel that he carried on his back and dug several inches into the ground. He placed the seed in the hole and covered it with earth.

  The priest called for hot water, and a bystander with a taste for mischief fetched some from a nearby shop. The priest poured the water over the seed he had planted. Every eye was now on him.

  Behold! a tiny shoot appeared. Steadily it increased in size until it became a full-grown tree, with twigs and leaves in unruly profusion. In a flash it burst into bloom and then into fruit. Masses of large, luscious pears filled its branches.

  The priest turned to the tree, plucked the pears, and began presenting them to the onlookers. In a short while the fruit was gone. Then with his shovel the priest started to chop the tree. Teng! Teng! the blows rang out in the air until finally the tree fell. Taking the upper part of the tree onto his shoulders, the priest departed with a relaxed gait and untroubled air.

  During all this the farmer had been part of the crowd, gaping with outstretched neck and forgetting his business. But when the priest departed the farmer noticed that his wagon was empty. And then the suspicion came to him that it was his own pears which had been presented to the crowd. Looking more carefully, he saw that a handle had been chopped off the wagon. In vexation he searched until he found it lying discarded at the foot of a wall. And now he realized that the pear tree he had seen cut down was the handle of his wagon.

  Of the priest there was no sign at all, but the marketplace was in an uproar of laughter.

  FAITHFUL JOHN

  Germany

  There was once upon a time an old king who was ill, and thought to himself, “I am lying on what must be my deathbed.” Then said he, “Tell Faithful John to come to me.” Faithful John was his favorite servant, and was so called, because he had for his whole life long been so true to him. When therefore he came beside the bed, the king said to him, “Most faithful John, I feel my end approaching, and have no anxiety except about my son. He is still of tender age, and cannot always know how to guide himself. If you do not promise me to teach him everything that he ought to know, and to be his foster-father, I cannot close my eyes in peace.”

  Then answered Faithful John, “I will not forsake him, and will serve him with fidelity, even if it should cost me my life.”

  At this, the old king said, “Now I die in comfort and peace.” Then he added, “After my death, you shall show him the whole castle: all the chambers, halls, and vaults, and all the treasures which lie therein, but the last chamber in the long gallery, in which is the picture of the princess of the Golden Dwelling, shall you not show. If he sees that picture, he will fall violently in love with her, and will drop down in a swoon, and go through great danger for her sake. Therefore you must protect him from that.” And when Faithful John had once more given his promise to the old king about this, the king said no more, but laid his head on his pillow and died.

  When the old king had been carried to his grave, Faithful John told the younger king all that he had promised his father on his deathbed, and said, “This will I assuredly keep, and will be faithful to you as I have been faithful to him, even if it should cost me my life.”

  When the mourning was over, Faithful John said to him, “It is now time that you should see your inheritance. I will show you your father’s palace.” Then he took him about everywhere, up and down, and let him see all the riches, and the magnificent apartments, only there was one room which he did not open, that in which hung the dangerous picture. The picture, however, was so placed that when the door was opened you looked straight on it, and it was so admirably painted that it seemed to breathe and live, and there was nothing more charming or more beautiful in the whole world.

  The young king noticed, however, that Faithful John always walked past this one door, and said, “Why do you never open this one for me?”

  “There is something within it,” he replied, “which would terrify you.”

  But the king answered, “I have seen all the palace, and I want to know what is in this room also,” and he went and tried to break open the door by force.

  Then Faithful John held him back and said, “I promised your father before his death that you should not see that which is in this chamber, it might bring the greatest misfortune on you and on me.”

  “Ah, no,” replied the young king, “if I do not go in, it will be my certain destruction. I should have no rest day or night until I had seen it with my own eyes. I shall not leave the place now until you have unlocked the door.”

  Then Faithful John saw that there was no help for it now, and with a heavy heart and many sighs, sought out the key from the great bunch. When he had opened the door, he went in first, and thought by standing before him he could hide the portrait so that the king should not see it in front of him. But what good was this? The king stood on tiptoe and saw it over his shoulder. And when he saw the portrait of the maiden, which was so magnificent and shone with gold and precious stones, he fell fainting to the ground. Faithful John took him up, carried him to his bed, and sorrowfully thought, “The misfortune has befallen us. Lord God, what will be the end of it?” Then he strengthened him with wine, until he came to himself again.

  The first words the king said were, “Ah, the beautiful portrait! whose is it?”

  “That is the princess of the Golden Dwelling,” answered Faithful John.

  Then the king continued, “My love for her is so great, that if all the leaves on all the trees were tongues, they could not declare it. I will give my life to win her. You are my most faithful John, you must help me.”

  The faithful servant considered within himself for a long time how to set about the matter, for it was difficult even to obtain a sight of the king’s daughter. At length he thought of a way, and said to the king, “Everything which she has about her is of gold—tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, bowls, and household furniture. Among your treasures are five tons of gold; let one of the goldsmiths of the kingdom fashion these into all manner of vessels and utensils, into all kinds of birds, wild beasts, and strange animals, such as may please her, and we will go there with them and try our luck.”

  The king ordered all the goldsmiths to be brought to him, and they had to work night and day until at last the most splendid things were prepared. When everything was stowed on board a ship, Faithful John put on the dress of a merchant, and the king was forced to do the same in order to make himself quite unrecognizable. Then they sailed across the sea, and sailed on until they came to the town wherein dwelt the princess of the Golden Dwelling.

  Faithful John bade the king stay behind on the ship, and wait for him. “Perhaps I shall bring the princess with me,” said he, “therefore see that everything is in order; have the golden vessels set out and the whole ship decorated.” Then he gathered together in his apron all kinds of golden things, went on shore and walked straight to the royal palace. When he entered the courtyard of the palace, a beautiful girl was standing there by the well with two golden buckets in her hand, drawing water with them. And when she was just turning round to carry away the sparkling water she saw the stranger, and asked who he was. So he answered, “I am a merchant,” and opened his apron, and let her look in.

  Then she cried, “Oh, what beautiful golden things!” and put her pails down and looked at the golden wares one after the other. Then said the girl, “The princess must see these. She has such great pleasure in golden things that
she will buy all you have.” She took him by the hand and led him upstairs, for she was the waiting maid.

  When the king’s daughter saw the wares, she was quite delighted and said, “They are so beautifully worked that I will buy them all from you.”

  But Faithful John said, “I am only the servant of a rich merchant. The things I have here are not to be compared with those my master has in his ship. They are the most beautiful and valuable things that have ever been made in gold.” When she wanted to have everything brought up to her, he said, “There are so many of them that it would take a great many days to do that, and so many rooms would be required to exhibit them, that your house is not big enough.”

  Then her curiosity and longing were still more excited, until at last she said, “Conduct me to the ship, I will go there myself, and behold the treasures of your master.”

  At this Faithful John was quite delighted, and led her to the ship, and when the king saw her, he perceived that her beauty was even greater than the picture had represented it to be, and thought no other than that his heart would burst in twain. Then she boarded the ship, and the king led her within. Faithful John, however, remained with the helmsman, and ordered the ship to be pushed off, saying, “Set all sail, till it fly like a bird in the air.”

  Within, the king showed her the golden vessels, every one of them, also the wild beasts and strange animals. Many hours went by whilst she was seeing everything, and in her delight she did not observe that the ship was sailing away. After she had looked at the last, she thanked the merchant and wanted to go home, but when she came to the side of the ship, she saw that it was on the high seas far from land, and hurrying onwards with all sail set. “Ah,” cried she in her alarm, “I am betrayed! I am carried away and have fallen into the power of a merchant—I would rather die!”