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Once upon
a time...
Once upon a time there was a king who determined to take a
long voyage. He assembled his fleet and all the seamen, and set out.
They went straight on night and day, until they came to an island
which was covered with large trees, and under every tree lay a lion.
As soon as the King had landed his men, the lions all rose up
together and tried to devour them. After a long battle they managed
to overcome the wild beasts, but the greater number of the men were
killed. Those who remained alive now went on through the forest and
found on the other side of it a beautiful garden, in which all the
plants of the world flourished together.
There were also in the garden three springs: the first flowed with
silver, the second with gold, and the third with pearls. The men
unbuckled their knapsacks and filled them with those precious
things. In the middle of the garden they found a large lake, and
when they reached the edge of it the Lake began to speak, and said
to them, 'What men are you, and what brings you here? Are you come
to visit our king?' But they were too much frightened to answer.
Then the Lake said, 'You do well to be afraid, for it is at your
peril that you are come hither. Our king, who has seven heads, is
now asleep, but in a few minutes he will wake up and come to me to
take his bath! Woe to anyone who meets him in the garden, for it is
impossible to escape from him. This is what you must do if you wish
to save your lives. Take off your clothes and spread them on the
path which leads from here to the castle. The King will then glide
over something soft, which he likes very much, and he will be so
pleased with that that he will not devour you. He will give you some
punishment, but then he will let you go.'
The men did as the Lake advised them, and waited for a time. At noon
the earth began to quake, and opened in many places, and out of the
openings appeared lions, tigers, and other wild beasts, which
surrounded the castle, and thousands and thousands of beasts came
out of the castle following their king, the Seven-headed Serpent.
The Serpent glided over the clothes which were spread for him, came
to the Lake, and asked it who had strewed those soft things on the
path? The Lake answered that it had been done by people who had come
to do him homage. The King commanded that the men should be brought
before him. They came humbly on their knees, and in a few words told
him their story. Then he spoke to them with a mighty and terrible
voice, and said, 'Because you have dared to come here, I lay upon
you the punishment. Every year you must bring me from among your
people twelve youths and twelve maidens, that I may devour them. If
you do not do this, I will destroy your whole nation.'
Then he desired one of his beasts to show the men the way out of the
garden, and dismissed them. They then left the island and went back
to their own country, where they related what had happened to them.
Soon the time came round when the king of the beasts would expect
the youths and maidens to be brought to him. The King therefore
issued a proclamation inviting twelve youths and twelve maidens to
offer themselves up to save their country; and immediately many
young people, far more than enough, hastened to do so. A new ship
was built, and set with black sails, and in it the youths and
maidens who were appointed for the king of the beasts embarked and
set out for his country. When they arrived there they went at once
to the Lake, and this time the lions did not stir, nor did the
springs flow, and neither did the Lake speak. So they waited then,
and it was not long before the earth quaked even more terribly than
the first time. The Seven-headed Serpent came without his train of
beasts, saw his prey waiting for him, and devoured it at one
mouthful. Then the ship's crew returned home, and the same thing
happened yearly until many years had passed.
Now the King of this unhappy country was growing old, and so was the
Queen, and they had no children. One day the Queen was sitting at
the window weeping bitterly because she was childless, and knew that
the crown would therefore pass to strangers after the King's death.
Suddenly a little old woman appeared before her, holding an apple in
her hand, and said, 'Why do you weep, my Queen, and what makes you
so unhappy?'
'Alas, good mother,' answered the Queen, 'I am unhappy because I
have no children.'
'Is that what vexes you?' said the old woman. 'Listen to me. I am a
nun from the Spinning Convent, and my mother when she died left me
this apple. Whoever eats this apple shall have a child.'
The Queen gave money to the old woman, and bought the apple from
her. Then she peeled it, ate it, and threw the rind out of the
window, and it so happened that a mare that was running loose in the
court below ate up the rind. After a time the Queen had a little
boy, and the mare also had a male foal. The boy and the foal grew up
together and loved each other like brothers. In course of time the
King died, and so did the Queen, and their son, who was now nineteen
years old, was left alone. One day, when he and his horse were
talking together, the Horse said to him, 'Listen to me, for I love
you and wish for your good and that of the country. If you go on
every year sending twelve youths and twelve maidens to the King of
the Beasts, your country will very soon be ruined. Mount upon my
back: I will take you to a woman who can direct you how to kill the
Seven-headed Serpent.'
Then the youth mounted his horse, who carried him far away to a
mountain which was hollow, for in its side was a great underground
cavern. In the cavern sat an old woman spinning. This was the
cloister of the nuns, and the old woman was the Abbess. They all
spent their time in spinning, and that is why the convent has this
name. All round the walls of the cavern there were beds cut out of
the solid rock, upon which the nuns slept, and in the middle a light
was burning. It was the duty of the nuns to watch the light in
turns, that it might never go out, and if anyone of them let it go
out the others put her to death.
As soon as the King's son saw the old Abbess spinning he threw
himself at her feet and entreated her to tell him how he could kill
the Seven-headed Serpent.
She made the youth rise, embraced him, and said, 'Know, my son, that
it is I who sent the nun to your mother and caused you to be born,
and with you the horse, with whose help you will be able to free the
world from the monster. I will tell you what you have to do. Load
your horse with cotton, and go by a secret passage which I will show
you, which is hidden from the wild beasts, to the Serpent's palace.
You will find the King asleep upon his bed, which is all hung round
with bells, and over his bed you will see a sword hanging. With this
sword only it is possible to kill the Serpent, because even if its
blade breaks a new one will grow again for every head the monster
has. Thus you will be able to cut off all his seven heads. And this
you must also do in order to deceive the King: you must slip into
his bed-chamber very softly, and stop up all the bells which are
round his bed with cotton. Then take down the sword gently, and
quickly give the monster a blow on his tail with it. This will make
him waken up, and if he catches sight of you he will seize you. But
you must quickly cut off his first head, and then wait till the next
one comes up. Then strike it off also, and so go on till you have
cut off all his seven heads.'
The old Abbess then gave the Prince her blessing, and he set out
upon his enterprise, arrived at the Serpent's castle by following
the secret passage which she had shown him, and by carefully
attending to all her directions he happily succeeded in killing the
monster. As soon as the wild beasts heard of their king's death,
they all hastened to the castle, but the youth had long since
mounted his horse and was already far out of their reach. They
pursued him as fast as they could, but they found it impossible to
overtake him, and he reached home in safety. Thus he freed his
country from this terrible oppression.
The Seven-Headed
Serpent
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
