|
Once upon
a time...
Once upon a time there was a great lord who had three sons.
He fell very ill, sent for doctors of every kind, even bonesetters,
but they, none of them, could find out what was the matter with him,
or even give him any relief. At last there came a foreign doctor,
who declared that the Golden Blackbird alone could cure the sick
man.
So the old lord despatched his eldest son to look for the wonderful
bird, and promised him great riches if he managed to find it and
bring it back.
The young man began his journey, and soon arrived at a place where
four roads met. He did not know which to choose, and tossed his cap
in the air, determining that the direction of its fall should decide
him. After travelling for two or three days, he grew tired of
walking without knowing where or for how long, and he stopped at an
inn which was filled with merrymakers and ordered something to eat
and drink.
'My faith,' said he, 'it is sheer folly to waste more time hunting
for this bird. My father is old, and if he dies I shall inherit his
goods.'
The old man, after waiting patiently for some time, sent his second
son to seek the Golden Blackbird. The youth took the same direction
as his brother, and when he came to the cross roads, he too tossed
up which road he should take. The cap fell in the same place as
before, and he walked on till he came to the spot where his brother
had halted. The latter, who was leaning out of the window of the
inn, called to him to stay where he was and amuse himself.
'You are right,' replied the youth. 'Who knows if I should ever find
the Golden Blackbird, even if I sought the whole world through for
it. At the worst, if the old man dies, we shall have his property.'
He entered the inn and the two brothers made merry and feasted, till
very soon their money was all spent. They even owed something to
their landlord, who kept them as hostages till they could pay their
debts.
The youngest son set forth in his turn, and he arrived at the place
where his brothers were still prisoners. They called to him to stop,
and did all they could to prevent his going further.
'No,' he replied, 'my father trusted me, and I will go all over the
world till I find the Golden Blackbird.'
'Bah,' said his brothers, 'you will never succeed any better than we
did. Let him die if he wants to; we will divide the property.'
As he went his way he met a little hare, who stopped to look at him,
and asked:
'Where are you going, my friend?'
'I really don't quite know,' answered he. 'My father is ill, and he
cannot be cured unless I bring him back the Golden Blackbird. It is
a long time since I set out, but no one can tell me where to find
it.'
'Ah,' said the hare, 'you have a long way to go yet. You will have
to walk at least seven hundred miles before you get to it.'
'And how am I to travel such a distance?'
'Mount on my back,' said the little hare, 'and I will conduct you.'
The young man obeyed: at each bound the little hare went seven
miles, and it was not long before they reached a castle that was as
large and beautiful as a castle could be.
'The Golden Blackbird is in a little cabin near by,' said the little
hare, 'and you will easily find it. It lives in a little cage, with
another cage beside it made all of gold. But whatever you do, be
sure not to put it in the beautiful cage, or everybody in the castle
will know that you have stolen it.'
The youth found the Golden Blackbird standing on a wooden perch, but
as stiff and rigid as if he was dead. And beside the beautiful cage
was the cage of gold.
'Perhaps he would revive if I were to put him in that lovely cage,'
thought the youth.
The moment that Golden Bird had touched the bars of the splendid
cage he awoke, and began to whistle, so that all the servants of the
castle ran to see what was the matter, saying that he was a thief
and must be put in prison.
'No,' he answered, 'I am not a thief. If I have taken the Golden
Blackbird, it is only that it may cure my father, who is ill, and I
have travelled more than seven hundred miles in order to find it.'
'Well,' they replied, 'we will let you go, and will even give you
the Golden Bird, if you are able to bring us the Porcelain Maiden.'
The youth departed, weeping, and met the little hare, who was
munching wild thyme.
'What are you crying for, my friend?' asked the hare.
'It is because,' he answered, 'the castle people will not allow me
to carry off the Golden Blackbird without giving them the Porcelain
Maiden in exchange.'
'You have not followed my advice,' said the little hare. 'And you
have put the Golden Bird into the fine cage.'
'Alas! yes!'
'Don't despair! the Porcelain Maiden is a young girl, beautiful as
Venus, who dwells two hundred miles from here. Jump on my back and I
will take you there.'
The little hare, who took seven miles in a stride, was there in no
time at all, and he stopped on the borders of a lake.
'The Porcelain Maiden,' said the hare to the youth, 'will come here
to bathe with her friends, while I just eat a mouthful of thyme to
refresh me. When she is in the lake, be sure you hide her clothes,
which are of dazzling whiteness, and do not give them back to her
unless she consents to follow you.'
The little hare left him, and almost immediately the Porcelain
Maiden arrived with her friends. She undressed herself and got into
the water. Then the young man glided up noiselessly and laid hold of
her clothes, which he hid under a rock at some distance.
When the Porcelain Maiden was tired of playing in the water she came
out to dress herself, but, though she hunted for her clothes high
and low, she could find them nowhere. Her friends helped her in the
search, but, seeing at last that it was of no use, they left her,
alone on the bank, weeping bitterly.
'Why do you cry?' said the young man, approaching her.
'Alas!' answered she, 'while I was bathing someone stole my clothes,
and my friends have abandoned me.'
'I will find your clothes if you will only come with me.'
And the Porcelain Maiden agreed to follow him, and after having
given up her clothes, the young man bought a small horse for her,
which went like the wind. The little hare brought them both back to
seek for the Golden Blackbird, and when they drew near to the castle
where it lived the little hero said to the young man:
'Now, do be a little sharper than you were before, and you will
manage to carry off both the Golden Blackbird and the Porcelain
Maiden. Take the golden cage in one hand, and leave the bird in the
old cage where he is, and bring that away too.'
The little hare then vanished; the youth did as he was bid, and the
castle servants never noticed that he was carrying off the Golden
Bird. When he reached the inn where his brothers were detained, he
delivered them by paying their debt. They set out all together, but
as the two elder brothers were jealous of the success of the
youngest, they took the opportunity as they were passing by the
shores of a lake to throw themselves upon him, seize the Golden
Bird, and fling him in the water. Then they continued their journey,
taking with them the Porcelain Maiden, in the firm belief that their
brother was drowned. But, happily, he had snatched in falling at a
tuft of rushes and called loudly for help. The little hare came
running to him, and said 'Take hold of my leg and pull yourself out
of the water.'
When he was safe on shore the little hare said to him:
'Now this is what you have to do: dress yourself like a Breton
seeking a place as stable-boy, and go and offer your services to
your father. Once there, you will easily be able to make him
understand the truth.'
The young man did as the little hare bade him, and he went to his
father's castle and enquired if they were not in want of a stable-
boy.
'Yes,' replied his father, 'very much indeed. But it is not an easy
place. There is a little horse in the stable which will not let
anyone go near it, and it has already kicked to death several people
who have tried to groom it.'
'I will undertake to groom it,' said the youth. 'I never saw the
horse I was afraid of yet.' The little horse allowed itself to be
rubbed down without a toss of its head and without a kick.
'Good gracious!' exclaimed the master; 'how is it that he lets you
touch him, when no one else can go near him?'
'Perhaps he knows me,' answered the stable-boy.
Two or three days later the master said to him: 'The Porcelain
Maiden is here: but, though she is as lovely as the dawn, she is so
wicked that she scratches everyone that approaches her. Try if she
will accept your services.'
When the youth entered the room where she was, the Golden Blackbird
broke forth into a joyful song, and the Porcelain Maiden sang too,
and jumped for joy.
'Good gracious!' cried the master. 'The Porcelain Maiden and the
Golden Blackbird know you too?'
'Yes,' replied the youth, 'and the Porcelain Maiden can tell you the
whole truth, if she only will.'
Then she told all that had happened, and how she had consented to
follow the young man who had captured the Golden Blackbird.
'Yes,' added the youth, 'I delivered my brothers, who were kept
prisoners in an inn, and, as a reward, they threw me into a lake. So
I disguised myself and came here, in order to prove the truth to
you.'
So the old lord embraced his son, and promised that he should
inherit all his possessions, and he put to death the two elder ones,
who had deceived him and had tried to slay their own brother.
The young man married the Porcelain Maiden, and had a splendid
wedding-feast.
The Golden Blackbird
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
