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Once upon
a time...
Long, long ago, there lived a king who ruled over a country
by the sea. When he had been married about a year, some of his
subjects, inhabiting a distant group of islands, revolted against
his laws, and it became needful for him to leave his wife and go in
person to settle their disputes. The queen feared that some ill
would come of it, and implored him to stay at home, but he told her
that nobody could do his work for him, and the next morning the
sails were spread, and the king started on his voyage.
The vessel had not gone very far when she ran upon a rock, and stuck
so fast in a cleft that the strength of the whole crew could not get
her off again. To make matters worse, the wind was rising too, and
it was quite plain that in a few hours the ship would be dashed to
pieces and everybody would be drowned, when suddenly the form of a
mermaid was seen dancing on the waves which threatened every moment
to overwhelm them.
'There is only one way to free yourselves,' she said to the king,
bobbing up and down in the water as she spoke, 'and that is to give
me your solemn word that you will deliver to me the first child that
is born to you.'
The king hesitated at this proposal. He hoped that some day he might
have children in his home, and the thought that he must yield up the
heir to his crown was very bitter to him; but just then a huge wave
broke with great force on the ship's side, and his men fell on their
knees and entreated him to save them.
So he promised, and this time a wave lifted the vessel clean off the
rocks, and she was in the open sea once more.
The affairs of the islands took longer to settle than the king had
expected, and some months passed away before he returned to his
palace. In his absence a son had been born to him, and so great was
his joy that he quite forgot the mermaid and the price he had paid
for the safety of his ship. But as the years went on, and the baby
grew into a fine big boy, the remembrance of it came back, and one
day he told the queen the whole story. From that moment the
happiness of both their lives was ruined. Every night they went to
bed wondering if they should find his room empty in the morning, and
every day they kept him by their sides, expecting him to be snatched
away before their very eyes.
At last the king felt that this state of things could not continue,
and he said to his wife:
'After all, the most foolish thing in the world one can do is to
keep the boy here in exactly the place in which the mermaid will
seek him. Let us give him food and send him on his travels, and
perhaps, if the mermaid ever blocs come to seek him, she may be
content with some other child.' And the queen agreed that his plan
seemed the wisest.
So the boy was called, and his father told him the story of the
voyage, as he had told his mother before him. The prince listened
eagerly, and was delighted to think that he was to go away all by
himself to see the world, and was not in the least frightened; for
though he was now sixteen, he had scarcely been allowed to walk
alone beyond the palace gardens. He began busily to make his
preparations, and took off his smart velvet coat, putting on instead
one of green cloth, while he refused a beautiful bag which the queen
offered him to hold his food, and slung a leather knapsack over his
shoulders instead, just as he had seen other travellers do. Then he
bade farewell to his parents and went his way.
All through the day he walked, watching with interest the strange
birds and animals that darted across his path in the forest or
peeped at him from behind a bush. But as evening drew on he became
tired, and looked about as he walked for some place where he could
sleep. At length he reached a soft mossy bank under a tree, and was
just about to stretch himself out on it, when a fearful roar made
him start and tremble all over. In another moment something passed
swiftly through the air and a lion stood before him.
'What are you doing here?' asked the lion, his eyes glaring fiercely
at the boy.
'I am flying from the mermaid,' the prince answered, in a quaking
voice.
'Give me some food then,' said the lion, 'it is past my supper time,
and I am very hungry.'
The boy was so thankful that the lion did not want to eat him, that
he gladly picked up his knapsack which lay on the ground, and held
out some bread and a flask of wine.
'I feel better now,' said the lion when he had done, 'so now I shall
go to sleep on this nice soft moss, and if you like you can lie down
beside me.' So the boy and the lion slept soundly side by side, till
the sun rose.
'I must be off now,' remarked the lion, shaking the boy as he spoke;
'but cut off the tip of my ear, and keep it carefully, and if you
are in any danger just wish yourself a lion and you will become one
on the spot. One good turn deserves another, you know.'
The prince thanked him for his kindness, and did as he was bid, and
the two then bade each other farewell.
'I wonder how it feels to be a lion,' thought the boy, after he had
gone a little way; and he took out the tip of the ear from the
breast of his jacket and wished with all his might. In an instant
his head had swollen to several times its usual size, and his neck
seemed very hot and heavy; and, somehow, his hands became paws, and
his skin grew hairy and yellow. But what pleased him most was his
long tail with a tuft at the end, which he lashed and switched
proudly. 'I like being a lion very much,' he said to himself, and
trotted gaily along the road.
After a while, however, he got tired of walking in this unaccustomed
way--it made his back ache and his front paws felt sore. So he
wished himself a boy again, and in the twinkling of an eye his tail
disappeared and his head shrank, and the long thick mane became
short and curly. Then he looked out for a sleeping place, and found
some dry ferns, which he gathered and heaped up.
But before he had time to close his eyes there was a great noise in
the trees near by, as if a big heavy body was crashing through them.
The boy rose and turned his head, and saw a huge black bear coming
towards him.
'What are you doing here?' cried the bear.
'I am running away from the mermaid,' answered the boy; but the bear
took no interest in the mermaid, and only said: 'I am hungry; give
me something to eat.'
The knapsack was lying on the ground among the fern, but the prince
picked it up, and, unfastening the strap, took out his second flask
of wine and another loaf of bread. 'We will have supper together,'
he remarked politely; but the bear, who had never been taught
manners, made no reply, and ate as fast as he could. When he had
quite finished, he got up and stretched himself.
'You have got a comfortable-looking bed there,' he observed. 'I
really think that, bad sleeper as I am, I might have a good night on
it. I can manage to squeeze you in,' he added; 'you don't take up a
great deal of room.' The boy was rather indignant at the bear's cool
way of talking; but as he was too tired to gather more fern, they
lay down side by side, and never stirred till sunrise next morning.
'I must go now,' said the bear, pulling the sleepy prince on to his
feet; 'but first you shall cut off the tip of my ear, and when you
are in any danger just wish yourself a bear and you will become one.
One good turn deserves another, you know.' And the boy did as he was
bid, and he and the bear bade each other farewell.
'I wonder how it feels to be a bear,' thought he to himself when he
had walked a little way; and he took out the tip from the breast of
his coat and wished hard that he might become a bear. The next
moment his body stretched out and thick black fur covered him all
over. As before, his hands were changed into paws, but when he tried
to switch his tail he found to his disgust that it would not go any
distance. 'Why it is hardly worth calling a tail!' said he. For the
rest of the day he remained a bear and continued his journey, but as
evening came on the bear-skin, which had been so useful when
plunging through brambles in the forest, felt rather heavy, and he
wished himself a boy again. He was too much exhausted to take the
trouble of cutting any fern or seeking for moss, but just threw
himself down under a tree, when exactly above his head he heard a
great buzzing as a bumble-bee alighted on a honeysuckle branch.
'What are you doing here?' asked the bee in a cross voice; 'at your
age you ought to be safe at home.'
'I am running away from the mermaid,' replied the boy; but the bee,
like the lion and the bear, was one of those people who never listen
to the answers to their questions, and only said: 'I am hungry. Give
me something to eat.'
The boy took his last loaf and flask out of his knapsack and laid
them on the ground, and they had supper together. 'Well, now I am
going to sleep,' observed the bee when the last crumb was gone, 'but
as you are not very big I can make room for you beside me,' and he
curled up his wings, and tucked in his legs, and he and the prince
both slept soundly till morning. Then the bee got up and carefully
brushed every scrap of dust off his velvet coat and buzzed loudly in
the boy's ear to waken him.
'Take a single hair from one of my wings,' said he, 'and if you are
in danger just wish yourself a bee and you will become one. One good
turn deserves another, so farewell, and thank you for your supper.'
And the bee departed after the boy had pulled out the hair and
wrapped it carefully in a leaf.
'It must feel quite different to be a bee from what it does to be a
lion or bear,' thought the boy to himself when he had walked for an
hour or two. 'I dare say I should get on a great deal faster,' so he
pulled out his hair and wished himself a bee.
In a moment the strangest thing happened to him. All his limbs
seemed to draw together, and his body to become very short and
round; his head grew quite tiny, and instead of his white skin he
was covered with the richest, softest velvet. Better than all, he
had two lovely gauze wings which carried him the whole day without
getting tired.
Late in the afternoon the boy fancied he saw a vast heap of stones a
long way off, and he flew straight towards it. But when he reached
the gates he saw that it was really a great town, so he wished
himself back in his own shape and entered the city.
He found the palace doors wide open and went boldly into a sort of
hall which was full of people, and where men and maids were
gossiping together. He joined their talk and soon learned from them
that the king had only one daughter who had such a hatred to men
that she would never suffer one to enter her presence. Her father
was in despair, and had had pictures painted of the handsomest
princes of all the courts in the world, in the hope that she might
fall in love with one of them; but it was no use; the princess would
not even allow the pictures to be brought into her room.
'It is late,' remarked one of the women at last; 'I must go to my
mistress.' And, turning to one of the lackeys, she bade him find a
bed for the youth.
'It is not necessary,' answered the prince, 'this bench is good
enough for me. I am used to nothing better.' And when the hall was
empty he lay down for a few minutes. But as soon as everything was
quiet in the palace he took out the hair and wished himself a bee,
and in this shape he flew upstairs, past the guards, and through the
keyhole into the princess's chamber. Then he turned himself into a
man again.
At this dreadful sight the princess, who was broad awake, began to
scream loudly. 'A man! a man!' cried she; but when the guards rushed
in there was only a bumble-bee buzzing about the room. They looked
under the bed, and behind the curtains, and into the cupboards, then
came to the conclusion that the princess had had a bad dream, and
bowed themselves out. The door had scarcely closed on them than the
bee disappeared, and a handsome youth stood in his place.
'I knew a man was hidden somewhere,' cried the princess, and
screamed more loudly than before. Her shrieks brought back the
guards, but though they looked in all kinds of impossible places no
man was to be seen, and so they told the princess.
'He was here a moment ago--I saw him with my own eyes,' and the
guards dared not contradict her, though they shook their heads and
whispered to each other that the princess had gone mad on this
subject, and saw a man in every table and chair. And they made up
their minds that--let her scream as loudly as she might-- they would
take no notice.
Now the princess saw clearly what they were thinking, and that in
future her guards would give her no help, and would perhaps,
besides, tell some stories about her to the king, who would shut her
up in a lonely tower and prevent her walking in the gardens among
her birds and flowers. So when, for the third time, she beheld the
prince standing before her, she did not scream but sat up in bed
gazing at him in silent terror.
'Do not be afraid,' he said, 'I shall not hurt you'; and he began to
praise her gardens, of which he had heard the servants speak, and
the birds and flowers which she loved, till the princess's anger
softened, and she answered him with gentle words. Indeed, they soon
became so friendly that she vowed she would marry no one else, and
confided to him that in three days her father would be off to the
wars, leaving his sword in her room. If any man could find it and
bring it to him he would receive her hand as a reward. At this point
a cock crew, and the youth jumped up hastily saying: 'Of course I
shall ride with the king to the war, and if I do not return, take
your violin every evening to the seashore and play on it, so that
the very sea-kobolds who live at the bottom of the ocean may hear it
and come to you.'
Just as the princess had foretold, in three days the king set out
for the war with a large following, and among them was the young
prince, who had presented himself at court as a young noble in
search of adventures. They had left the city many miles behind them,
when the king suddenly discovered that he had forgotten his sword,
and though all his attendants instantly offered theirs, he declared
that he could fight with none but his own.
'The first man who brings it to me from my daughter's room,' cried
he, 'shall not only have her to wife, but after my death shall reign
in my stead.'
At this the Red Knight, the young prince, and several more turned
their horses to ride as fast as the wind back to the palace. But
suddenly a better plan entered the prince's head, and, letting the
others pass him, he took his precious parcel from his breast and
wished himself a lion. Then on he bounded, uttering such dreadful
roars that the horses were frightened and grew unmanageable, and he
easily outstripped them, and soon reached the gates of the palace.
Here he hastily changed himself into a bee, and flew straight into
the princess's room, where he became a man again. She showed him
where the sword hung concealed behind a curtain, and he took it
down, saying as he did so: 'Be sure not to forget what you have
promised to do.'
The princess made no reply, but smiled sweetly, and slipping a
golden ring from her finger she broke it in two and held half out
silently to the prince, while the other half she put in her own
pocket. He kissed it, and ran down the stairs bearing the sword with
him. Some way off he met the Red Knight and the rest, and the Red
Knight at first tried to take the sword from him by force. But as
the youth proved too strong for him, he gave it up, and resolved to
wait for a better opportunity.
This soon came, for the day was hot and the prince was thirsty.
Perceiving a little stream that ran into the sea, he turned aside,
and, unbuckling the sword, flung himself on the ground for a long
drink. Unluckily, the mermaid happened at that moment to be floating
on the water not very far off, and knew he was the boy who had been
given her before he was born. So she floated gently in to where he
was lying, she seized him by the arm, and the waves closed over them
both. Hardly had they disappeared, when the Red Knight stole
cautiously up, and could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the
king's sword on the bank. He wondered what had become of the youth,
who an hour before had guarded his treasure so fiercely; but, after
all, that was no affair of his! So, fastening the sword to his belt,
he carried it to the king.
The war was soon over, and the king returned to his people, who
welcomed him with shouts of joy. But when the princess from her
window saw that her betrothed was not among the attendants riding
behind her father, her heart sank, for she knew that some evil must
have befallen him. and she feared the Red Knight. She had long ago
learned how clever and how wicked he was, and something whispered to
her that it was he who would gain the credit of having carried back
the sword, and would claim her as his bride, though he had never
even entered her chamber. And she could do nothing; for although the
king loved her, he never let her stand in the way of his plans.
The poor princess was only too right, and everything came to pass
exactly as she had foreseen it. The king told her that the Red
Knight had won her fairly, and that the wedding would take place
next day, and there would be a great feast after it.
In those days feasts were much longer and more splendid than they
are now; and it was growing dark when the princess, tired out with
all she had gone through, stole up to her own room for a little
quiet. But the moon was shining so brightly over the sea that it
seemed to draw her towards it, and taking her violin under her arm,
she crept down to the shore.
'Listen! listen! said the mermaid to the prince, who was lying
stretched on a bed of seaweeds at the bottom of the sea. 'Listen!
that is your old love playing, for mermaids know everything that
happens upon earth.'
'I hear nothing,' answered the youth, who did not look happy. ' Take
me up higher, where the sounds can reach me.'
So the mermaid took him on her shoulders and bore him up midway to
the surface. 'Can you hear now?' she asked.
'No,' answered the prince, 'I hear nothing but the water rushing; I
must go higher still.'
Then the mermaid carried him to the very top. 'You must surely be
able to hear now?' said she.
'Nothing but the water,' repeated the youth. So she took him right
to the land.
'At any rate you can hear now?' she said again.
'The water is still rushing in my ears,' answered he; ' but wait a
little, that will soon pass off.' And as he spoke he put his hand
into his breast, and seizing the hair wished himself a bee, and flew
straight into the pocket of the princess. The mermaid looked in vain
for him, and coated all night upon the sea; but he never came back,
and never more did he gladden her eyes. But the princess felt that
something strange was about her, though she knew not what, and
returned quickly to the palace, where the young man at once resumed
his own shape. Oh, what joy filled her heart at the sight of him!
But there was no time to be lost, and she led him right into the
hall, where the king and his nobles were still sitting at the feast.
'Here is a man who boasts that he can do wonderful tricks,' said
she, ' better even than the Red Knight's! That cannot be true, of
course, but it might be well to give this impostor a lesson. He
pretends, for instance, that he can turn himself into a lion; but
that I do not believe. I know that you have studied the art of
magic,' she went on, turning to the Red Knight, 'so suppose you just
show him how it is done, and bring shame upon him.'
Now the Red Knight had never opened a book of magic in his life; but
he was accustomed to think that he could do everything better than
other people without any teaching at all. So he turned and twisted
himself about, and bellowed and made faces; but he did not become a
lion for all that.
'Well, perhaps it is very difficult to change into a lion. Make
yourself a bear,' said the princess. But the Red Knight found it no
easier to become a bear than a lion.
'Try a bee,' suggested she. 'I have always read that anyone who can
do magic at all can do that.' And the old knight buzzed and hummed,
but he remained a man and not a bee.
'Now it is your turn,' said the princess to the youth. 'Let us see
if you can change yourself into a lion.' And in a moment such a
fierce creature stood before them, that all the guests rushed out of
the hall, treading each other underfoot in their fright. The lion
sprang at the Red Knight, and would have torn him in pieces had not
the princess held him back, and bidden him to change himself into a
man again. And in a second a man took the place of the lion.
'Now become a bear,' said she; and a bear advanced panting and
stretching out his arms to the Red Knight, who shrank behind the
princess.
By this time some of the guests had regained their courage, and
returned as far as the door, thinking that if it was safe for the
princess perhaps it was safe for them. The king, who was braver than
they, and felt it needful to set them a good example besides, had
never left his seat, and when at a new command of the princess the
bear once more turned into a man, he was silent from astonishment,
and a suspicion of the truth began to dawn on him. 'Was it he who
fetched the sword?' asked the king.
'Yes, it was,' answered the princess; and she told him the whole
story, and how she had broken her gold ring and given him half of
it. And the prince took out his half of the ring, and the princess
took out hers, and they fitted exactly. Next day the Red Knight was
hanged, as he richly deserved, and there was a new marriage feast
for the prince and princess.
The Mermaid and the Boy
from the Brown Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
