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Once upon
a time...
Not very long ago there lived a King, the fame of whose
wisdom was spread far and wide. Nothing appeared to be unknown to
him, and it really seemed as if tidings of the most secret matters
must be borne to him by the winds. He had one very peculiar habit.
Every day, after the dinner table had been cleared, and everyone had
retired, a confidential servant brought in a dish. It was covered,
and neither the servant nor anyone else had any idea what was on it,
for the King never removed the cover or partook of the dish, till he
was quite alone.
This went on for some time till, one day, the servant who removed
the dish was so overcome with curiosity, that he could not resist
carrying it off to his own room. After carefully locking the door,
he lifted the cover, and there he saw a white snake lying on the
dish. On seeing it he could not restrain his desire to taste it, so
he cut off a small piece and put it in his mouth.
Hardly had it touched his tongue than he heard a strange sort of
whispering of tiny voices outside his window. He stepped to the
casement to listen, and found that the sound proceeded from the
sparrows, who were talking together and telling each other all they
had seen in the fields and woods. The piece of the white snake which
he had eaten had enabled him to understand the language of animals.
Now on this particular day, it so happened that the Queen lost her
favourite ring, and suspicion fell on the confidential servant who
had access to all parts of the palace. The King sent for him, and
threatened him angrily, saying that if he had not found the thief by
the next day, he should himself be taken up and tried.
It was useless to assert his innocence; he was dismissed without
ceremony. In his agitation and distress, he went down to the yard to
think over what he could do in this trouble. Here were a number of
ducks resting near a little stream, and pluming, themselves with
their bills, whilst they kept up an animated conversation amongst
themselves. The servant stood still listening to them. They were
talking of where they had been waddling about all the morning, and
of the good food they had found, but one of them remarked rather
sadly, 'There's something lying very heavy on my stomach, for in my
haste I've swallowed a ring, which was lying just under the Queen's
window.'
No sooner did the servant hear this than he seized the duck by the
neck, carried it off to the kitchen, and said to the cook, 'Suppose
you kill this duck; you see she's nice and fat.'
'Yes, indeed,' said the cook, weighing the duck in his hand, 'she
certainly has spared no pains to stuff herself well, and must have
been waiting for the spit for some time.' So he chopped off her
head, and when she was opened there was the Queen's ring in her
stomach.
It was easy enough now for the servant to prove his innocence, and
the King, feeling he had done him an injustice, and anxious to make
some amends, desired him to ask any favour he chose, and promised to
give him the highest post at Court he could wish for.
The servant, however, declined everything, and only begged for a
horse and some money to enable him to travel, as he was anxious to
see something of the world.
When his request was granted, he set off on his journey, and in the
course of it he one day came to a large pond, on the edge of which
he noticed three fishes which had got entangled in the reeds and
were gasping for water. Though fish are generally supposed to be
quite mute, he heard them grieving aloud at the prospect of dying in
this wretched manner. Having a very kind heart he dismounted and
soon set the prisoners free, and in the water once more. They
flapped with joy, and stretching up their heads cried to him: 'We
will remember, and reward you for saving us.'
He rode further, and after a while he thought he heard a voice in
the sand under his feet. He paused to listen, and heard the King of
the Ants complaining: 'If only men with their awkward beasts would
keep clear of us! That stupid horse is crushing my people
mercilessly to death with his great hoofs.' The servant at once
turned into a side path, and the Ant-King called after him, 'We'll
remember and reward you.'
The road next led through a wood, where he saw a father and a mother
raven standing by their nest and throwing out their young: 'Away
with you, you young rascals!' they cried, 'we can't feed you any
longer. You are quite big enough to support yourselves now.' The
poor little birds lay on the ground flapping and beating their
wings, and shrieked, 'We poor helpless children, feed ourselves
indeed! Why, we can't even fly yet; what can we do but die of
hunger?' Then the kind youth dismounted, drew his sword, and killing
his horse left it there as food for the young ravens. They hopped
up, satisfied their hunger, and piped: 'We'll remember, and reward
you!'
He was now obliged to trust to his own legs, and after walking a
long way he reached a big town. Here he found a great crowd and much
commotion in the streets, and a herald rode about announcing, 'The
King's daughter seeks a husband, but whoever would woo her must
first execute a difficult task, and if he does not succeed he must
be content to forfeit his life.' Many had risked their lives, but in
vain. When the youth saw the King's daughter, he was so dazzled by
her beauty, that he forgot all idea of danger, and went to the King
to announce himself a suitor.
On this he was led out to a large lake, and a gold ring was thrown
into it before his eyes. The King desired him to dive after it,
adding, 'If you return without it you will be thrown back into the
lake time after time, till you are drowned in its depths.'
Everyone felt sorry for the handsome young fellow and left him alone
on the shore. There he stood thinking and wondering what he could
do, when all of a sudden he saw three fishes swimming along, and
recognised them as the very same whose lives he had saved. The
middle fish held a mussel in its mouth, which it laid at the young
man's feet, and when he picked it up and opened it, there was the
golden ring inside.
Full of delight he brought it to the King's daughter, expecting to
receive his promised reward. The haughty Princess, however, on
hearing that he was not her equal by birth despised him, and exacted
the fulfilment of a second task.
She went into the garden, and with her own hands she strewed ten
sacks full of millet all over the grass. 'He must pick all that up
to-morrow morning before sunrise,' she said; 'not a grain must be
lost.'
The youth sat down in the garden and wondered how it would be
possible for him to accomplish such a task, but he could think of no
expedient, and sat there sadly expecting to meet his death at
daybreak.
But when the first rays of the rising sun fell on the garden, he saw
the ten sacks all completely filled, standing there in a row, and
not a single grain missing. The Ant-King, with his thousands and
thousands of followers, had come during the night, and the grateful
creatures had industriously gathered all the millet together and put
it in the sacks.
The King's daughter came down to the garden herself, and saw to her
amazement that her suitor had accomplished the task she had given
him. But even now she could not bend her proud heart, and she said,
'Though he has executed these two tasks, yet he shall not be my
husband till he brings me an apple from the tree of life.'
The young man did not even know where the tree of life grew, but he
set off, determined to walk as far as his legs would carry him,
though he had no hope of ever finding it.
After journeying through three different kingdoms he reached a wood
one night, and lying down under a tree prepared to go to sleep
there. Suddenly he heard a sound in the boughs, and a golden apple
fell right into his hand. At the same moment three ravens flew down
to him, perched on his knee and said, 'We are the three young ravens
whom you saved from starvation. When we grew up and heard you were
searching for the golden apple, we flew far away over the seas to
the end of the world, where the tree of life grows, and fetched the
golden apple for you.'
Full of joy the young man started on his way back and brought the
golden apple to the lovely Princess, whose objections were now
entirely silenced. They divided the apple of life and ate it
together, and her heart grew full of love for him, so they lived
together to a great age in undisturbed happiness.
The White Snake
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
