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Once upon
a time...
There was once a king's son who told his father that he
wished to marry.
'No, no!' said the king; 'you must not be in such a hurry. Wait till
you have done some great deed. My father did not let me marry till I
had won the golden sword you see me wear.'
The prince was much disappointed, but he never dreamed of disobeying
his father, and he began to think with all his might what he could
do. It was no use staying at home, so one day he wandered out into
the world to try his luck, and as he walked along he came to a
little hut in which he found an old woman crouching over the fire.
'Good evening, mother. I see you have lived long in this world; do
you know anything about the three bulrushes?'
'Yes, indeed, I've lived long and been much about in the world, but
I have never seen or heard anything of what you ask. Still, if you
will wait till to-morrow I may be able to tell you something.'
Well, he waited till the morning, and quite early the old woman
appeared and took out a little pipe and blew in it, and in a moment
all the crows in the world were flying about her. Not one was
missing. Then she asked if they knew anything about the three
bulrushes, but not one of them did.
The prince went on his way, and a little further on he found another
hut in which lived an old man. On being questioned the old man said
he knew nothing, but begged the prince to stay overnight, and the
next morning the old man called all the ravens together, but they
too had nothing to tell.
The prince bade him farewell and set out. He wandered so far that he
crossed seven kingdoms, and at last, one evening, he came to a
little house in which was an old woman.
'Good evening, dear mother,' said he politely.
'Good evening to you, my dear son,' answered the old woman. 'It is
lucky for you that you spoke to me or you would have met with a
horrible death. But may I ask where are you going?'
'I am seeking the three bulrushes. Do you know anything about them?'
'I don't know anything myself, but wait till to-morrow. Perhaps I
can tell you then.' So the next morning she blew on her pipe, and
lo! and behold every magpie in the world flew up. That is to say,
all the magpies except one who had broken a leg and a wing. The old
woman sent after it at once, and when she questioned the magpies the
crippled one was the only one who knew where the three bulrushes
were.
Then the prince started off with the lame magpie. They went on and
on till they reached a great stone wall, many, many feet high.
'Now, prince,' said the magpie, 'the three bulrushes are behind that
wall.'
The prince wasted no time. He set his horse at the wall and leaped
over it. Then he looked about for the three bulrushes, pulled them
up and set off with them on his way home. As he rode along one of
the bulrushes happened to knock against something. It split open
and, only think! out sprang a lovely girl, who said: 'My heart's
love, you are mine and I am yours; do give me a glass of water.'
But how could the prince give it her when there was no water at
hand? So the lovely maiden flew away. He split the second bulrush as
an experiment and just the same thing happened.
How careful he was of the third bulrush! He waited till he came to a
well, and there he split it open, and out sprang a maiden seven
times lovelier than either of the others, and she too said: 'My
heart's love, I am yours and you are mine; do give me a glass of
water.'
This time the water was ready and the girl did not fly away, but she
and the prince promised to love each other always. Then they set out
for home.
They soon reached the prince's country, and as he wished to bring
his promised bride back in a fine coach he went on to the town to
fetch one. In the field where the well was, the king's swineherds
and cowherds were feeding their droves, and the prince left Ilonka
(for that was her name) in their care.
Unluckily the chief swineherd had an ugly old daughter, and whilst
the prince was away he dressed her up in fine clothes, and threw
Ilonka into the well.
The prince returned before long, bringing with him his father and
mother and a great train of courtiers to escort Ilonka home. But how
they all stared when they saw the swineherd's ugly daughter!
However, there was nothing for it but to take her home; and, two
days later, the prince married her, and his father gave up the crown
to him.
But he had no peace! He knew very well he had been cheated, though
he could not think how. Once he desired to have some water brought
him from the well into which Ilonka had been thrown. The coachman
went for it and, in the bucket he pulled up, a pretty little duck
was swimming. He looked wonderingly at it, and all of a sudden it
disappeared and he found a dirty looking girl standing near him. The
girl returned with him and managed to get a place as housemaid in
the palace.
Of course she was very busy all day long, but whenever she had a
little spare time she sat down to spin. Her distaff turned of itself
and her spindle span by itself and the flax wound itself off; and
however much she might use there was always plenty left.
When the queen--or, rather, the swineherd's daughter--heard of this,
she very much wished to have the distaff, but the girl flatly
refused to give it to her. However, at last she consented on
condition that she might sleep one night in the king's room. The
queen was very angry, and scolded her well; but as she longed to
have the distaff she consented, though she gave the king a sleeping
draught at supper.
Then the girl went to the king's room looking seven times lovelier
than ever. She bent over the sleeper and said: 'My heart's love, I
am yours and you are mine. Speak to me but once; I am your Ilonka.'
But the king was so sound asleep he neither heard nor spoke, and
Ilonka left the room, sadly thinking he was ashamed to own her.
Soon after the queen again sent to say that she wanted to buy the
spindle. The girl agreed to let her have it on the same conditions
as before; but this time, also, the queen took care to give the king
a sleeping draught. And once more Ilonka went to the king's room and
spoke to him; whisper as sweetly as she might she could get no
answer.
Now some of the king's servants had taken note of the matter, and
warned their master not to eat and drink anything that the queen
offered him, as for two nights running she had given him a sleeping
draught. The queen had no idea that her doings had been discovered;
and when, a few days later, she wanted the flax, and had to pay the
same price for it, she felt no fears at all.
At supper that night the queen offered the king all sorts of nice
things to eat and drink, but he declared he was not hungry, and went
early to bed.
The queen repented bitterly her promise to the girl, but it was too
late to recall it; for Ilonka had already entered the king's room,
where he lay anxiously waiting for something, he knew not what. All
of a sudden he saw a lovely maiden who bent over him and said: 'My
dearest love, I am yours and you are mine. Speak to me, for I am
your Ilonka.'
At these words the king's heart bounded within him. He sprang up and
embraced and kissed her, and she told him all her adventures since
the moment he had left her. And when he heard all that Ilonka had
suffered, and how he had been deceived, he vowed he would be
revenged; so he gave orders that the swineherd, his wife and
daughter should all be hanged; and so they were.
The next day the king was married, with great rejoicings, to the
fair Ilonka; and if they are not yet dead--why, they are still
living.
Lovely Ilonka
from the Crimson Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
