He returned to the city where the king ruled, disguised as a fruit peddler this time. He had picked the most beautiful apples from the first tree and set them out for display right beneath the princess’s chambers. She happened to look out the window and saw those wondrously beautiful apples and was determined to buy some no matter what they cost. The peddler quickly sold his wares and had a nice piece of change in his pocket. Just as quickly he raced off to the city to buy new clothes so that he would not be recognized.
The princess tasted the apples with her chambermaid. As soon as they finished eating just one, each sprouted an ugly horn on her forehead. Sobs and screams could be heard coming from the princess’s chambers. None of the doctors, who had been summoned from all over, knew what to do. Proclamations were issued, offering a royal reward for the person who could find a remedy to cure the evil. No one showed up. The news reached Fortunatus at last, and he was overjoyed that his trick had worked. He returned to the city in which the king was living and declared at the castle that he possessed the means to rid the princess of the deformity on her forehead. Disguising himself as a priest practiced in the art of healing, he arrived at the castle. The king went to test the “priest” by asking him to heal the chambermaid first. The “doctor” handed her the apple from the second tree, and the horn fell off.
The king was elated and took the priest to his daughter. When he stood before the princess, he told the kneeling girl, just as if he were a priest, to confess anything that was on her conscience; otherwise he would not have the power to cure her. The princess obeyed and told him about the man who had scorned her love several times now and how she had found revenge. The priest told her to give him everything she had stolen from the man. The unhappy princess gave him the purse, the hat, and the horn, and he in turn gave her the apple. As soon as she finished eating it, a second horn sprouted from her forehead.
Quickly, he put on the hat and wished himself to the top of a mountain near the city. Then he blew on the horn, and before long he had an army as strong as the previous one. He used it to attack the city. Once he had conquered it, he burned it to the ground. The king and his daughter perished in the flames, as did everyone in the court.
The victor ruled over the entire country and for a long time he reigned as king.
PART II
ENCHANTED ANIMALS
THE TALKING BIRD, THE SINGING TREE, AND THE SPARKLING STREAM
A nobleman had three daughters, each more beautiful than the next. One day the girls were sitting in the royal gardens, chattering away about their wishes and dreams. The eldest wanted to marry the king’s counselor, the second hoped to marry his chamberlain, and the third declared that she would be quite satisfied with the king himself. It happened that the king was also in the gardens, and he overheard the entire conversation. He summoned the three sisters to ask them what they had been talking about in the garden. The first two confessed everything; the youngest was less eager to do so. But then all at once the king declared: “Your three wishes will be granted.”
Even though his mother was opposed to the wedding, the king decided to marry the youngest of the three daughters of the nobleman. While he was with his troops, the queen gave birth to a beautiful boy.
The king’s mother and a wicked confidante put the queen’s child into a basket and set it out on the water. They told the king that his wife had given birth to a small dog. The king was so upset that he had his wife locked up in a tower. When he returned, however, he relented and was glad to take her back.
The king’s wife gave birth to a second beautiful boy, once again while the king was away. That boy suffered the same fate as his brother. The king was told that his wife had given birth to a cat. Enraged, he ordered his wife imprisoned. But once again, when he returned, he was willing to forgive her right away, for he loved her dearly. The queen gave birth a third time, now to a wondrously beautiful girl, who suffered the same fate at the hands of the evil queen. Yet again the king forgave his wife, and she was back in his good graces.
The three baskets with the children in them washed up, one after another, on the shores, near where a fisherman made his home. The fisherman and his wife were happy to raise the three orphans, for they had no children of their own. When the foster parents died, the three siblings inherited the land and the house on it.
One day an old man came to visit them. He told them that they could make their fortune by going to a distant mountain and fetching a talking bird, a singing tree, and water from a sparkling stream the color of gold. The eldest of the brothers decided to go, and when he arrived at the mountain, the old man was already waiting for him. “Take the bird first, then a branch from the tree, and finally water from the stream. But don’t turn around, because if you do, you will be turned into a pillar of stone.” The young man was too curious for his own good. He turned around and was changed into stone.
The second brother followed the advice of the man and refused to turn around, no matter how much screaming and shouting he heard behind him. He took the bird, clipped a branch from the tree, and filled a flask with water from the sparkling stream. And that’s when the curse was lifted from his brother and all the others who had been turned into stone.
When he returned home he put the bird into a beautiful cage, planted the branch in the garden, and made a little hole in the ground for the water. The branch quickly grew into a tree, and its leaves played melodious tunes that wafted in the breezes. The king and the queen heard the sounds and followed them to the house of the siblings. “Now you can jump for joy; your father and mother are here,” the bird sang. When the king heard those words, he went into the garden, saw his beautiful children, and learned everything that had happened from the bird. The king was overjoyed to discover his very own children, and he returned home with them. The queen’s confidante was burned at the stake. The old queen herself was already dead, and so she escaped the punishment she deserved.
THE WEASEL
A weasel, white as snow, was frolicking about in a meadow, moving around as quickly and gracefully as a will-o’-the-wisp. Some boys ran by with their dogs and started chasing the little animal, until it collapsed, exhausted and surrounded by the dogs. A little girl was standing nearby, and she felt so sorry for the small creature that she picked it up, held it tight, and made those nasty boys run away. All she had with her was an egg, and she offered it to the weasel, who gobbled up the whole thing, even licking out the shell. As soon as the little animal had finished its meal, it disappeared, perky and happy. The eggshell left behind, as it turned out, was as heavy as the inside of the egg. And it had a dull sheen as if made of silver, and it was.
At home the girl kept a hen, and every day it laid one egg. After the girl’s trip to the meadow, the hen started laying two eggs a day, right on a rocky slope where the weasel made its home. When those eggs were cracked, their shells turned into silver in the course of the day. The girl soon became wealthy. She became more and more beautiful and would have had many proposals, but she had no interest in marrying any of the oafish farmhands who came around to see her.
One day the girl brought the little animal an Easter egg that had been blessed by the priest. When the weasel crawled out of its hole and started nibbling on the egg in the girl’s hand, the egg burst into flames that shot up as high as a palace. The dazed girl came to her senses and awoke as if from a deep sleep. Suddenly, she was in a grand palace, and next to her was a handsome young prince, holding her in his arms.
Through compassion, and with the help of the consecrated egg, the courageous girl had lifted the curse put on the weasel and turned him back into a prince. Before long she became his wife.
THE KNIGHT’S SASH
A hunter’s widow had a son named Hans, and the two were without a home and always on the move. One day they were lost in the woods, but in the distance they could see a castle. It turned out that a giant was living there. He took them in and eventually married t
he widow. The little boy was quite happy, and when he grew older, he went out every day to hunt deer.
While looking for game one day, Hans discovered a clearing. He saw a tree with no branches at all, and hanging from its tippy-top was a sash, the kind worn by knights. The boy shinnied up the tree and took it back down with him. On it he could read the words: “Whoever puts me on and wears me will have superhuman strength.” He put the sash on, shot a deer, and carried it home on his back. His mother and the giant could not believe their eyes. They started worrying about the boy’s amazing strength and began to plot to get rid of him.
The two hatched a scheme that started with the giant feigning an illness, for which the only cure was milk from a lion. Not so far away there was a mother lion living in a cave, and she was nursing her cubs. Hans was so obliging that he decided to try to bring back some milk from her for his stepfather, the giant. When he reached the cave, the lion was standing on her back paws, and her front paws were clasped together as if she were pleading for something. Hans threw his weapons aside, and he playfully stroked the cat’s fur. The lion followed him to the castle. When the parents saw Hans strolling along with the lion, they decided they would have to send him on a more dangerous mission.
Not far away from where they lived was another castle, belonging to another giant. A tree was growing on his property, and it had special apples on its branches. Hans was supposed to fetch a few of them, because they would cure his stepfather. This time Hans left without the slightest idea about how to bring back those apples. He reached the castle, which was built right by the seaside. It was locked up tightly, for the giant was out with his friends, robbing and looting wherever he could. First Hans grabbed some of the apples from the tree in the garden and then he picked the lock on the castle door, entered the castle, and discovered a woman there. She was stark naked and tied up. She told Hans that she was a princess and that the giants had kidnapped her. Hans started a huge fire and the smoke from it drew the attention of the army in the princess’s country, revealing her location. Before long, ships landed, and men from the neighboring country made preparations to bring the princess back home. They asked Hans to come with them, but he explained that he had to bring the special apples back to his father.
Hans was no longer in favor with his own family. His mother began trying to figure out the source of his strength. One day she noticed the sash he was wearing. She prepared a bath for her son and persuaded him to take the sash off and put it where it would stay dry. Then she took the sash to the giant, who wasted no time at all making sure that he was rid of Hans. He poked both his eyes out and threw him out of the castle. The lion was right there at the door and served her blind master as a guide.
Exhausted from his travels, Hans paused to rest for a while. Just when he was about to die of thirst, a wine merchant happened to be traveling down the road. The lion jumped up on his wagon, shoved a barrel down from it, and took it over to Hans. The merchant saw what had happened, and he felt so sorry for the blind man that he offered him a ride. When they entered the city, the princess happened to be looking out her window and recognized the man who had rescued her. She dashed down the stairs, embraced him, and took him to an artist for a pair of artificial eyes. Then she and Hans went to see her father, the king, who was so happy to have the young man as a son-in-law that he named him his successor.
During the festivities after the wedding, someone noticed that Hans was blind. The news about his blindness traveled quickly among the people, and they decided that they did not want a blind man as their king. There was rioting in the streets and, along with the princess, Hans was sent into exile.
The two were forced to lead a nomadic life. The princess loved her husband and took good care of him. They sat down one day, by a brook, to rest from their travels. Out of nowhere two mice appeared, one blind, the other able to see. The one that could see guided the blind one to the brook and sprinkled some water from it on its eyes. The other mouse was suddenly able to see. The princess did not hesitate for a moment to repeat what the mouse had done, and suddenly Hans could see again. And so the two returned to their kingdom, where they received a rousing welcome. They lived together happily for a long time, and when Hans died, the lion lay down on his grave and stayed there until she, too, was dead.
THE GIRL AND THE COW
There was once a rich miller with three daughters. He kept some cows in a stable, and one of them would leave every day at noon and return late at night. No one knew where she had gone or what she had been doing.
The eldest of the three daughters said to the cow one day, just as it was about to leave: “Let me go with you!”
“You can come along,” the cow replied. And so the girl followed behind the cow. They reached a small lake. The girl was terrified when she saw the cow wading into the water and preparing to swim across the lake. The cow told her to hold on to its tail and to come across with her. Before long they reached the other side, and the two were standing before a wondrously beautiful castle. The girl was eager to go inside, and the cow called out: “Don’t stay too long! I’ll shout your name out three times. If you don’t return when I call your name the third time, it means that you will have to stay in the castle.”
The eldest daughter walked around in the castle and was astonished by the beauty of the rooms and the precious objects housed in them. She was especially taken by some magnificently beautiful clothes spread out in one room, and she feasted her eyes on everything. She stayed inside until the cow called out her name a second time. Then she quickly grabbed a few of the splendid garments and rushed down to where the cow was standing. The cow took her across the water in the same way that they had come, and they returned home.
When the girl showed her sisters her fabulous clothes and told them everything that had happened, the middle sister wanted to swim across the lake with the cow to the castle. The cow agreed, and everything happened just as it had with the first sister. She returned home, laden with beautiful clothes.
On the third day, the youngest and most beautiful of the three girls said: “My dear cow! My sisters went off with you, and each brought home precious things. Now it’s my turn!” She followed the cow, and the two crossed the lake and reached the castle. The princess went into the castle without heeding the cow’s warning.
Once she was inside the castle, the youngest passed through hallways and rooms, dazzled by the beauty of the place and all the precious things in it. But she was perfectly satisfied with doing nothing but looking at all the wonderful things everywhere she turned. She was so absorbed in contemplating them that she did not hear the cow call her name a second time. The third time she ran downstairs, but the cow had already left and was swimming back across the lake. The youngest of the miller’s daughters had to stay right where she was. She consoled herself with the thought that the cow would probably return the next day. And she walked up the staircase into the castle and went to bed.
At midnight, her sleep was interrupted by a ghastly screech. Suddenly the door to her bedroom opened, and a big black cat stepped into the room. It lay down right next to her and ordered her to cut off its tail when the clock struck twelve. The girl didn’t want to do that, but the cat threatened to kill her if she would not.
The poor girl had to go down to the basement with the cat. There was a chopping block and an ax down there. When the clock struck midnight, the girl took the ax and used it to chop off the cat’s tail. The cat immediately disappeared. The girl went back up to her room, lay down in bed, and was hoping to get back to sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, a handsome man was sleeping next to her. He owned the castle, and a wicked witch had turned him into a cat. He thanked her for lifting the curse, and then he showed her everything in the castle and offered to make it hers. He asked for her hand in marriage. The girl agreed, and the two enjoyed a long and happy life together.
THE CALL OF THE SHEPHERD’S HORN
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bsp; A white calf trotted over to a princess one day and settled down to live with her from that day on. The calf played with her every day and slept by her side. The princess grew up to be a beautiful young woman, and many men sought her hand in marriage, but none could separate her from that white cow. Whenever the cow was endangered in any way at all, the princess would let out a scream, as if someone had punched her. One very persistent suitor went so far as to draw his sword and threaten to kill the cow. He scratched a spot on its hide, and the princess began to bleed in the exact same place. The king finally decided to make an announcement: “Whoever can free my daughter from this monster will have her as his wife!”
Not far from the castle there lived a poor woman with her son. She owned a flock of sheep, too. She sent the boy to the king with a horn. As soon as the young shepherd blew on the horn, the cow perked up its ears, leaped into the air, and ran over to him. The king was delighted. He told the boy to return home, and he began making preparations for a royal wedding to a prince. The shepherd felt humiliated and blew on his horn again. At that, the cow returned to the castle and trampled everything within sight of the princess. A second try to get rid of the cow failed, and the king had to make peace with the fact that the cow was there to stay.
One day the king lost his way in the woods while hunting. He discovered a cottage in ruins. Next to its entrance there was a big rock with a shepherd’s horn on it. The king sat down on the rock. He wanted to give the other hunters a signal, and so he blew on the horn.
The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics) Page 8
