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Once upon
a time...
A King's son once had a great desire to travel through the
world, so he started off, taking no one with him but one trusty
servant. One day he came to a great forest, and as evening drew on
he could find no shelter, and could not think where to spend the
night. All of a sudden he saw a girl going towards a little house,
and as he drew nearer he remarked that she was both young and
pretty. He spoke to her, and said, 'Dear child, could I and my
servant spend the night in this house?'
'Oh yes,' said the girl in a sad tone, 'you can if you like, but I
should not advise you to do so. Better not go in.'
'Why not?' asked the King's son.
The girl sighed and answered, 'My stepmother deals in black arts,
and she is not very friendly to strangers.'
The Prince guessed easily that he had fallen on a witch's house, but
as by this time it was quite dark and he could go no further, and as
moreover he was not at all afraid, he stepped in.
An old woman sat in an armchair near the fire, and as the strangers
entered she turned her red eyes on them. 'Good evening,' she
muttered, and pretending to be quite friendly. 'Won't you sit down?'
She blew up the fire on which she was cooking something in a little
pot, and her daughter secretly warned the travellers to be very
careful not to eat or drink anything, as the old woman's brews were
apt to be dangerous.
They went to bed, and slept soundly till morning. When they were
ready to start and the King's son had already mounted his horse the
old woman said: 'Wait a minute, I must give you a stirrup cup.'
Whilst she went to fetch it the King's son rode off, and the servant
who had waited to tighten his saddle-girths was alone when the witch
returned.
'Take that to your master,' she said; but as she spoke the glass
cracked and the poison spurted over the horse, and it was so
powerful that the poor creature sank down dead. The servant ran
after his master and told him what had happened, and then, not
wishing to lose the saddle as well as the horse, he went back to
fetch it. When he got to the spot he saw that a raven had perched on
the carcase and was pecking at it. 'Who knows whether we shall get
anything better to eat to-day!' said the servant, and he shot the
raven and carried it off.
Then they rode on all day through the forest without coming to the
end. At nightfall they reached an inn, which they entered, and the
servant gave the landlord the raven to dress for their supper. Now,
as it happened, this inn was a regular resort of a band of
murderers, and the old witch too was in the habit of frequenting it.
As soon as it was dark twelve murderers arrived, with the full
intention of killing and robbing the strangers. Before they set to
work, however, they sat down to table, and the landlord and the old
witch joined them, and they all ate some broth in which the flesh of
the raven had been stewed down. They had hardly taken a couple of
spoonfuls when they all fell down dead, for the poison had passed
from the horse to the raven and so into the broth. So there was no
one left belonging to the house but the landlord's daughter, who was
a good, well-meaning girl, and had taken no part in all the evil
doings.
She opened all the doors, and showed the strangers the treasures the
robbers had gathered together; but the Prince bade her keep them all
for herself, as he wanted none of them, and so he rode further with
his servant.
After travelling about for some length of time they reached a town
where lived a lovely but most arrogant Princess. She had given out
that anyone who asked her a riddle which she found herself unable to
guess should be her husband, but should she guess it he must forfeit
his head. She claimed three days in which to think over the riddles,
but she was so very clever that she invariably guessed them in a
much shorter time. Nine suitors had already lost their lives when
the King's son arrived, and, dazzled by her beauty, determined to
risk his life in hopes of winning her.
So he came before her and propounded his riddle. 'What is this?' he
asked. 'One slew none and yet killed twelve.'
She could not think what it was! She thought, and thought, and
looked through all her books of riddles and puzzles, but she found
nothing to help her, and could not guess; in fact, she was at her
wits' end. As she could think of no way to guess the riddle, she
ordered her maid to steal at night into the Prince's bedroom and to
listen, for she thought that he might perhaps talk aloud in his
dreams and so betray the secret. But the clever servant had taken
his master's place, and when the maid came he tore off the cloak she
had wrapped herself in and hunted her off with a whip.
On the second night the Princess sent her lady-in-waiting, hoping
that she might succeed better, but the servant took away her mantle
and chased her away also.
On the third night the King's son thought he really might feel safe,
so he went to bed. But in the middle of the night the Princess came
herself, all huddled up in a misty grey mantle, and sat down near
him. When she thought he was fast asleep, she spoke to him, hoping
he would answer in the midst of his dreams, as many people do; but
he was wide awake all the time, and heard and understood everything
very well.
Then she asked: 'One slew none--what is that?' and he answered: 'A
raven which fed on the carcase of a poisoned horse.'
She went on: 'And yet killed twelve--what is that?' 'Those are
twelve murderers who ate the raven and died of it.'
As soon as she knew the riddle she tried to slip away, but he held
her mantle so tightly that she was obliged to leave it behind.
Next morning the Princess announced that she had guessed the riddle,
and sent for the twelve judges, before whom she declared it. But the
young man begged to be heard, too, and said: 'She came by night to
question me, otherwise she never could have guessed it.'
The judges said: 'Bring us some proof.' So the servant brought out
the three cloaks, and when the judges saw the grey one, which the
Princess was in the habit of wearing, they said: 'Let it be
embroidered with gold and silver; it shall be your wedding mantle.'
The Riddle
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
