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Once upon
a time...
There was once upon a time a poor woman who had one little
daughter called 'Parsley.' She was so called because she liked
eating parsley better than any other food, indeed she would hardly
eat anything else. Her poor mother hadn't enough money always to be
buying parsley for her, but the child was so beautiful that she
could refuse her nothing, and so she went every night to the garden
of an old witch who lived near and stole great branches of the
coveted vegetable, in order to satisfy her daughter.
This remarkable taste of the fair Parsley soon became known, and the
theft was discovered. The witch called the girl's mother to her, and
proposed that she should let her daughter come and live with her,
and then she could eat as much parsley as she liked. The mother was
quite pleased with this suggestion, and so the beautiful Parsley
took up her abode with the old witch.
One day three Princes, whom their father had sent abroad to travel,
came to the town where Parsley lived and perceived the beautiful
girl combing and plaiting her long black hair at the window. In one
moment they all fell hopelessly in love with her, and longed
ardently to have the girl for their wife; but hardly had they with
one breath expressed their desire than, mad with jealousy, they drew
their swords and all three set upon each other. The struggle was so
violent and the noise so loud that the old witch heard it, and said
at once 'Of course Parsley is at the bottom of all this.'
And when she had convinced herself that this was so, she stepped
forward, and, full of wrath over the quarrels and feuds Parsley's
beauty gave rise to, she cursed the girl and said, 'I wish you were
an ugly toad, sitting under a bridge at the other end of the world.'
Hardly were the words out of her mouth than Parsley was changed into
a toad and vanished from their sight. The Princes, now that the
cause of their dispute was removed, put up their swords, kissed each
other affectionately, and returned to their father.
The King was growing old and feeble, and wished to yield his sceptre
and crown in favour of one of his sons, but he couldn't make up his
mind which of the three he should appoint as his successor. He
determined that fate should decide for him. So he called his three
children to him and said, 'My dear sons, I am growing old, and am
weary of reigning, but I can't make up my mind to which of you three
I should yield my crown, for I love you all equally. At the same
time I would like the best and cleverest of you to rule over my
people. I have, therefore, determined to set you three tasks to do,
and the one that performs them best shall be my heir. The first
thing I shall ask you to do is to bring me a piece of linen a
hundred yards long, so fine that it will go through a gold ring.'
The sons bowed low, and, promising to do their best, they started on
their journey without further delay.
The two elder brothers took many servants and carriages with them,
but the youngest set out quite alone. In a short time they came to
three cross roads; two of them were gay and crowded, but the third
was dark and lonely.
The two elder brothers chose the more frequented ways, but the
youngest, bidding them farewell, set out on the dreary road.
Wherever linen was to be bought, there the two elder brothers
hastened. They loaded their carriages with bales of the finest linen
they could find and then returned home.
The youngest brother, on the other hand, went on his weary way for
many days, and nowhere did he come across any linen that would have
done. So he journeyed on, and his spirits sank with every step. At
last he came to a bridge which stretched over a deep river flowing
through a flat and marshy land. Before crossing the bridge he sat
down on the banks of the stream and sighed dismally over his sad
fate. Suddenly a misshapen toad crawled out of the swamp, and,
sitting down opposite him, asked: 'What's the matter with you, my
dear Prince?'
The Prince answered impatiently, 'There's not much good my telling
you, Puddocky, for you couldn't help me if I did.'
'Don't be too sure of that,' replied the toad; 'tell me your trouble
and we'll see.'
Then the Prince became most confidential and told the little
creature why he had been sent out of his father's kingdom.
'Prince, I will certainly help you,' said the toad, and, crawling
back into her swamp, she returned dragging after her a piece of
linen not bigger than a finger, which she lay before the Prince,
saying, 'Take this home, and you'll see it will help you.'
The Prince had no wish to take such an insignificant bundle with
him; but he didn't like to hurt Puddocky's feelings by refusing it,
so he took up the little packet, put it in his pocket, and bade the
little toad farewell. Puddocky watched the Prince till he was out of
sight and then crept back into the water.
The further the Prince went the more he noticed that the pocket in
which the little roll of linen lay became heavier, and in proportion
his heart grew lighter. And so, greatly comforted, he returned to
the Court of his father, and arrived home just at the same time as
his brothers with their caravans. The King was delighted to see them
all again, and at once drew the ring from his finger and the trial
began. In all the waggon-loads there was not one piece of linen the
tenth part of which would go through the ring, and the two elder
brothers, who had at first sneered at their youngest brother for
returning with no baggage, began to feel rather small. But what were
their feelings when he drew a bale of linen out of his pocket which
in fineness, softness, and purity of colour was unsurpassable! The
threads were hardly visible, and it went through the ring without
the smallest difficulty, at the same time measuring a hundred yards
quite correctly.
The father embraced his fortunate son, and commanded the rest of the
linen to be thrown into the water; then, turning to his children he
said, 'Now, dear Princes, prepare yourselves for the second task.
You must bring me back a little dog that will go comfortably into a
walnut-shell.'
The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each
wished to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and after
a very few days set out on their travels again.
At the cross roads they separated once more. The youngest went by
himself along his lonely way, but this time he felt much more
cheerful. Hardly had he sat down under the bridge and heaved a sigh,
than Puddocky came out; and, sitting down opposite him, asked,
'What's wrong with you now, dear Prince?'
The Prince, who this time never doubted the little toad's power to
help him, told her his difficulty at once. 'Prince, I will help
you,' said the toad again, and crawled back into her swamp as fast
as her short little legs would carry her. She returned, dragging a
hazel nut behind her, which she laid at the Prince's feet and said,
'Take this nut home with you and tell your father to crack it very
carefully, and you'll see then what will happen.' The Prince thanked
her heartily and went on his way in the best of spirits, while the
little puddock crept slowly back into the water.
When the Prince got home he found his brothers had just arrived with
great waggon-loads of little dogs of all sorts. The King had a
walnut shell ready, and the trial began; but not one of the dogs the
two eldest sons had brought with them would in the least fit into
the shell. When they had tried all their little dogs, the youngest
son handed his father the hazel-nut, with a modest bow, and begged
him to crack it carefully. Hardly had the old King done so than a
lovely tiny dog sprang out of the nutshell, and ran about on the
King's hand, wagging its tail and barking lustily at all the other
little dogs. The joy of the Court was great. The father again
embraced his fortunate son, commanded the rest of the small dogs to
be thrown into the water and drowned, and once more addressed his
sons. 'The two most difficult tasks have been performed. Now listen
to the third and last: whoever brings the fairest wife home with him
shall be my heir.'
This demand seemed so easy and agreeable and the reward was so
great, that the Princes lost no time in setting forth on their
travels. At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they
should go the same way as the youngest, but when they saw how dreary
and deserted it looked they made up their minds that it would be
impossible to find what they sought in these wilds, and so they
stuck to their former paths.
The youngest was very depressed this time and said to himself,
'Anything else Puddocky could have helped me in, but this task is
quite beyond her power. How could she ever find a beautiful wife for
me? Her swamps are wide and empty, and no human beings dwell there;
only frogs and toads and other creatures of that sort.' However, he
sat down as usual under the bridge, and this time he sighed from the
bottom of his heart.
In a few minutes the toad stood in front of him and asked, 'What's
the matter with you now, my dear Prince?'
'Oh, Puddocky, this time you can't help me, for the task is beyond
even your power,' replied the Prince.
'Still,' answered the toad, 'you may as well tell me your
difficulty, for who knows but I mayn't be able to help you this time
also.'
The Prince then told her the task they had been set to do. 'I'll
help you right enough, my dear Prince,' said the little toad; 'just
you go home, and I'll soon follow you.' With these words, Puddocky,
with a spring quite unlike her usual slow movements, jumped into the
water and disappeared.
The Prince rose up and went sadly on his way, for he didn't believe
it possible that the little toad could really help him in his
present difficulty. He had hardly gone a few steps when he heard a
sound behind him, and, looking round, he saw a carriage made of
cardboard, drawn by six big rats, coming towards him. Two hedgehogs
rode in front as outriders, and on the box sat a fat mouse as
coachman, and behind stood two little frogs as footmen. In the
carriage itself sat Puddocky, who kissed her hand to the Prince out
of the window as she passed by.
Sunk deep in thought over the fickleness of fortune that had granted
him two of his wishes and now seemed about to deny him the last and
best, the Prince hardly noticed the absurd equipage, and still less
did he feel inclined to laugh at its comic appearance.
The carriage drove on in front of him for some time and then turned
a corner. But what was his joy and surprise when suddenly, round the
same corner, but coming towards him, there appeared a beautiful
coach drawn by six splendid horses, with outriders, coachmen,
footmen and other servants all in the most gorgeous liveries, and
seated in the carriage was the most beautiful woman the Prince had
ever seen, and in whom he at once recognised the beautiful Parsley,
for whom his heart had formerly burned. The carriage stopped when it
reached him, and the footmen sprang down and opened the door for
him. He got in and sat down beside the beautiful Parsley, and
thanked her heartily for her help, and told her how much he loved
her.
And so he arrived at his father's capital, at the same moment as his
brothers who had returned with many carriage-loads of beautiful
women. But when they were all led before the King, the whole Court
with one consent awarded the prize of beauty to the fair Parsley.
The old King was delighted, and embraced his thrice fortunate son
and his new daughter-in-law tenderly, and appointed them as his
successors to the throne. But he commanded the other women to be
thrown into the water and drowned, like the bales of linen and the
little dogs. The Prince married Puddocky and reigned long and
happily with her, and if they aren't dead I suppose they are living
still.
Puddocky
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
