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Once upon
a time...
A young Prince was riding one day through a meadow that
stretched for miles in front of him, when he came to a deep open
ditch. He was turning aside to avoid it, when he heard the sound of
someone crying in the ditch. He dismounted from his horse, and
stepped along in the direction the sound came from. To his
astonishment he found an old woman, who begged him to help her out
of the ditch. The Prince bent down and lifted her out of her living
grave, asking her at the same time how she had managed to get there.
'My son,' answered the old woman, 'I am a very poor woman, and soon
after midnight I set out for the neighbouring town in order to sell
my eggs in the market on the following morning; but I lost my way in
the dark, and fell into this deep ditch, where I might have remained
for ever but for your kindness.'
Then the Prince said to her, 'You can hardly walk; I will put you on
my horse and lead you home. Where do you live?'
'Over there, at the edge of the forest in the little hut you see in
the distance,' replied the old woman.
The Prince lifted her on to his horse, and soon they reached the
hut, where the old woman got down, and turning to the Prince said,
'Just wait a moment, and I will give you something.' And she
disappeared into her hut, but returned very soon and said, 'You are
a mighty Prince, but at the same time you have a kind heart, which
deserves to be rewarded. Would you like to have the most beautiful
woman in the world for your wife?'
'Most certainly I would,' replied the Prince.
So the old woman continued, 'The most beautiful woman in the whole
world is the daughter of the Queen of the Flowers, who has been
captured by a dragon. If you wish to marry her, you must first set
her free, and this I will help you to do. I will give you this
little bell: if you ring it once, the King of the Eagles will
appear; if you ring it twice, the King of the Foxes will come to
you; and if you ring it three times, you will see the King of the
Fishes by your side. These will help you if you are in any
difficulty. Now farewell, and heaven prosper your undertaking.' She
handed him the little bell, and there disappeared hut and all, as
though the earth had swallowed her up.
Then it dawned on the Prince that he had been speaking to a good
fairy, and putting the little bell carefully in his pocket, he rode
home and told his father that he meant to set the daughter of the
Flower Queen free, and intended setting out on the following day
into the wide world in search of the maid.
So the next morning the Prince mounted his fine horse and left his
home. He had roamed round the world for a whole year, and his horse
had died of exhaustion, while he himself had suffered much from want
and misery, but still he had come on no trace of her he was in
search of. At last one day he came to a hut, in front of which sat a
very old man. The Prince asked him, 'Do you not know where the
Dragon lives who keeps the daughter of the Flower Queen prisoner?'
'No, I do not,' answered the old man. 'But if you go straight along
this road for a year, you will reach a hut where my father lives,
and possibly he may be able to tell you.'
The Prince thanked him for his information, and continued his
journey for a whole year along the same road, and at the end of it
came to the little hut, where he found a very old man. He asked him
the same question, and the old man answered, 'No, I do not know
where the Dragon lives. But go straight along this road for another
year, and you will come to a hut in which my father lives. I know he
can tell you.'
And so the Prince wandered on for another year, always on the same
road, and at last reached the hut where he found the third old man.
He put the same question to him as he had put to his son and
grandson; but this time the old man answered, 'The Dragon lives up
there on the mountain, and he has just begun his year of sleep. For
one whole year he is always awake, and the next he sleeps. But if
you wish to see the Flower Queen's daughter go up the second
mountain: the Dragon's old mother lives there, and she has a ball
every night, to which the Flower Queen's daughter goes regularly.'
So the Prince went up the second mountain, where he found a castle
all made of gold with diamond windows. He opened the big gate
leading into the courtyard, and was just going to walk in, when
seven dragons rushed on him and asked him what he wanted?
The Prince replied, 'I have heard so much of the beauty and kindness
of the Dragon's Mother, and would like to enter her service.'
This flattering speech pleased the dragons, and the eldest of them
said, 'Well, you may come with me, and I will take you to the Mother
Dragon.'
They entered the castle and walked through twelve splendid halls,
all made of gold and diamonds. In the twelfth room they found the
Mother Dragon seated on a diamond throne. She was the ugliest woman
under the sun, and, added to it all, she had three heads. Her
appearance was a great shock to the Prince, and so was her voice,
which was like the croaking of many ravens. She asked him, 'Why have
you come here?'
The Prince answered at once, 'I have heard so much of your beauty
and kindness, that I would very much like to enter your service.'
'Very well,' said the Mother Dragon; 'but if you wish to enter my
service, you must first lead my mare out to the meadow and look
after her for three days; but if you don't bring her home safely
every evening, we will eat you up.'
The Prince undertook the task and led the mare out to the meadow.
But no sooner had they reached the grass than she vanished. The
Prince sought for her in vain, and at last in despair sat down on a
big stone and contemplated his sad fate. As he sat thus lost in
thought, he noticed an eagle flying over his head. Then he suddenly
bethought him of his little bell, and taking it out of his pocket he
rang it once. In a moment he heard a rustling sound in the air
beside him, and the King of the Eagles sank at his feet.
'I know what you want of me,' the bird said. 'You are looking for
the Mother Dragon's mare who is galloping about among the clouds. I
will summon all the eagles of the air together, and order them to
catch the mare and bring her to you.' And with these words the King
of the Eagles flew away. Towards evening the Prince heard a mighty
rushing sound in the air, and when he looked up he saw thousands of
eagles driving the mare before them. They sank at his feet on to the
ground and gave the mare over to him. Then the Prince rode home to
the old Mother Dragon, who was full of wonder when she saw him, and
said, 'You have succeeded to-day in looking after my mare, and as a
reward you shall come to my ball to-night.' She gave him at the same
time a cloak made of copper, and led him to a big room where several
young he-dragons and she-dragons were dancing together. Here, too,
was the Flower Queen's beautiful daughter. Her dress was woven out
of the most lovely flowers in the world, and her complexion was like
lilies and roses. As the Prince was dancing with her he managed to
whisper in her ear, 'I have come to set you free!'
Then the beautiful girl said to him, 'If you succeed in bringing the
mare back safely the third day, ask the Mother Dragon to give you a
foal of the mare as a reward.'
The ball came to an end at midnight, and early next morning the
Prince again led the Mother Dragon's mare out into the meadow. But
again she vanished before his eyes. Then he took out his little bell
and rang it twice.
In a moment the King of the Foxes stood before him and said: 'I know
already what you want, and will summon all the foxes of the world
together to find the mare who has hidden herself in a hill.'
With these words the King of the Foxes disappeared, and in the
evening many thousand foxes brought the mare to the Prince.
Then he rode home to the Mother-Dragon, from whom he received this
time a cloak made of silver, and again she led him to the ball-room.
The Flower Queen's daughter was delighted to see him safe and sound,
and when they were dancing together she whispered in his ear: 'If
you succeed again to-morrow, wait for me with the foal in the
meadow. After the ball we will fly away together.'
On the third day the Prince led the mare to the meadow again; but
once more she vanished before his eyes. Then the Prince took out his
little bell and rang it three times.
In a moment the King of the Fishes appeared, and said to him: 'I
know quite well what you want me to do, and I will summon all the
fishes of the sea together, and tell them to bring you back the
mare, who is hiding herself in a river.'
Towards evening the mare was returned to him, and when he led her
home to the Mother Dragon she said to him:
'You are a brave youth, and I will make you my body-servant. But
what shall I give you as a reward to begin with?'
The Prince begged for a foal of the mare, which the Mother Dragon at
once gave him, and over and above, a cloak made of gold, for she had
fallen in love with him because he had praised her beauty.
So in the evening he appeared at the ball in his golden cloak; but
before the entertainment was over he slipped away, and went straight
to the stables, where he mounted his foal and rode out into the
meadow to wait for the Flower Queen's daughter. Towards midnight the
beautiful girl appeared, and placing her in front of him on his
horse, the Prince and she flew like the wind till they reached the
Flower Queen's dwelling. But the dragons had noticed their flight,
and woke their brother out of his year's sleep. He flew into a
terrible rage when he heard what had happened, and determined to lay
siege to the Flower Queen's palace; but the Queen caused a forest of
flowers as high as the sky to grow up round her dwelling, through
which no one could force a way.
When the Flower Queen heard that her daughter wanted to marry the
Prince, she said to him: 'I will give my consent to your marriage
gladly, but my daughter can only stay with you in summer. In winter,
when everything is dead and the ground covered with snow, she must
come and live with me in my palace underground.' The Prince
consented to this, and led his beautiful bride home, where the
wedding was held with great pomp and magnificence. The young couple
lived happily together till winter came, when the Flower Queen's
daughter departed and went home to her mother. In summer she
returned to her husband, and their life of joy and happiness began
again, and lasted till the approach of winter, when the Flower
Queen's daughter went back again to her mother. This coming and
going continued all her life long, and in spite of it they always
lived happily together.
The Flower Queen's
Daughter
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
