But how the princess opened her eyes when she saw the ring which she had given to Bearskin up on the hill! For she saw, as plain as the nose on her face, that he who had saved her from the dragon was not so far away as she had thought. Down she went into the kitchen herself to see that the very best bread and meat were sent, and the swineherd marched off with a great basket full.
"Yes," says Bearskin, "that is very well so far, but I am for having some of the red and white wine that they are to drink. Just take this kerchief over to the castle yonder, and let the princess know that the lad to whom she gave it upon the hill back of the town would like to have a taste of the wine that she and the king are to have at the feast to-day."
Well, the swineherd was for saying "no" to this as he had to the other, but Bearskin just reached his hand over toward the stout stick that he had used before, and the other started off as though the ground was hot under his feet. And what was the swineherd wanting this time--that was what they said over at the castle.
"The lad with the pigs in the woods yonder," says the swineherd, "must have gone crazy, for he has sent this kerchief to the princess and says that he should like to have a bottle or two of the wine that she and the king are to drink to-day."
When the princess saw her kerchief again her heart leaped for joy. She made no two words about the wine, but went down into the cellar and brought it up with her own hands, and the swineherd marched off with it tucked under his coat.
"Yes, that was all very well," said Bearskin, "I am satisfied so far as the wine is concerned, but now I would like to have some of the sweetmeats that they are to eat at the castle to-day. See, here is a necklace of golden beads; just take it to the princess and ask for some of those sweetmeats, for I will have them," and this time he had only to look towards the stick, and the other started off as fast as he could travel.
The swineherd had no more trouble with this asking than with the others, for the princess went down-stairs and brought the sweetmeats from the pantry with her own hands, and the swineherd carried them to Bearskin where he sat out in the woods with the pigs.
Then Bearskin spread out the good things, and he and the swineherd sat down to the feast together. and a fine one it was, I can tell you.
"And now," says Bearskin, when they had eaten all that they could, "it is time for me to leave you, for I must go and marry the princess." So off he started, and the swineherd did nothing but stand and gape after him, with his mouth open, as though he were set to catch flies. But Bearskin went straight to the woods, and there he blew upon his horn, and the bear was with him as quickly this time as the last.
"Well, what do you want now," said she.
"This time," said Bearskin, "I want a fine suit of clothes made of gold and-silver cloth, and a horse to ride on up to the king's house, for I am going to marry the princess."
Very well; there was what he wanted back of the tree yonder; and it was a suit of clothes fit for a great king to wear, and a splendid dapple-gray horse with a golden saddle and bridle studded all over with precious stones. So Bearskin put on the clothes and rode away, and a fine sight he was to see, I can tell you.
And how the folks stared when he rode up to the king's castle. Out came the king along with the rest, for he thought that Bearskin was some great lord. But the princess knew him the moment she set eyes upon him, for she was not likely to forget him so soon as all that.
The king brought Bearskin into where they were feasting, and had a place set for him alongside of himself.
The steward was there along with the rest. "See," said Bearskin to him, "I have a question to put. One killed a dragon and saved a princess, but another came and swore falsely that he did it. Now, what should be done to such a one?"
"Why this," said the steward, speaking up as bold as brass, for he thought to face the matter down, "he should be put in a cask stuck all round with nails, and dragged behind three wild horses."
"Very well," said Bearskin, "you have spoken for yourself. For I killed the dragon up on the hill behind the town, and you stole the glory of the doing."
"That is not so," said the steward, "for it was I who brought home the three heads of the dragon in my own hand, and how can that be with the rest?"
Then Bearskin stepped to the wall, where hung the three heads of the dragon. He opened the mouth of each. "And where are the tongues?" said he.
At this the steward grew as pale as death, nevertheless he still spoke up as boldly as ever: "Dragons have no tongues," said he. But Bearskin only laughed; he untied his handkerchief before them all, and there were the three tongues. He put one in each mouth, and they fitted exactly, and after that no one could doubt that he was the hero who had really killed the dragon. So when the wedding came it was Bearskin, and not the steward, who married the princess; what was done to him you may guess for yourselves.
And so they had a grand wedding, but in the very midst of the feast one came running in and said there was a great brown bear without, who would come in, willy-nilly. Yes, and you have guessed it right, it was the great she-bear, and if nobody else was made much of at that wedding you can depend upon it that she was.
As for the king, he was satisfied that the princess had married a great hero. So she had, only he was the miller's son after all, though the king knew no more of that than my grandfather's little dog, and no more did anybody but the wise man for the matter of that, and he said nothing of it, for wise folk don't tell all they know.
II
Two O'clock.
Two O'clock.
The Black Cock crowed;
The Moon was bright;
The Red Cock answered
Through the night.
Big Gretchen, sleeping,
Turned in bed,
And tossed her arms
Above her head.
The old Hound stretched.
And, breathing deep,
He settled down
Again to sleep.
The Water of Life.
II.
ONCE upon a time there was an old king who had a faithful servant. There was nobody in the whole world like him, and this was why: around his wrist he wore an armlet that fitted as close as the skin. There were words on the golden band; on one side they said:
"WHO THINKS TO WEAR ME ON HIS ARM
MUST LACK BOTH GUILE AND THOUGHT OF HARM."
And on the other side they said:
"I AM FOR ONLY ONE AND HE
SHALL BE AS STRONG AS TEN CAN BE.
At last the old king felt that his end was near, and he called the faithful servant to him and besought him to serve and aid the young king who was to come as he had served and aided the old king who was to go. The faithful servant promised that which was asked, and then the old king closed his eyes and folded his hands and went the way that those had travelled who had gone before him.
Well, one day a stranger came to that town from over the hills and far away. With him he brought a painted picture, but it was all covered with a curtain so that nobody could see what it was.
He drew aside the curtain and showed the picture to the young king, and it was a likeness of the most beautiful princess in the whole world; for her eyes were as black as a crow's wing, her cheeks were as red as apples, and her skin as white as snow. Moreover, the picture was so natural that it seemed as though it had nothing to do but to open its lips and speak.
The young king just sat and looked and looked. "Oh me!" said he, "I will never rest content until I have such a one as that for my own."
"Then listen!" said the stranger, "this is a likeness of the princess that lives over beyond the three rivers. A while ago she had a wise bird on which she doted, for it knew everything that happened in the world, so that it could tell the princess whatever she wanted to know. But now the bird is dead, and the princess does nothing but grieve for it day and night. She keeps the dead bird in a glass casket, and has promised to marry whoever will bring a cup of water from the Fountain of Life, so that the bird may
be brought back to life again." That was the story the stranger told, and then he jogged on the way he was going, and I, for one, do not know whither it led.
But the young king had no peace or comfort in life for thinking of the princess who lived over beyond the three rivers. At last he called the faithful servant to him. "And can you not," said he, "get me a cup of the Water of Life?"
"I know not, but I will try," said the faithful servant, for he bore in mind what he had promised to the old king.
So out he went into the wide world, to seek for what the young king wanted, though the way there is both rough and thorny. On he went and on, until his shoes were dusty, and his feet were sore, and after a while he came to the end of the earth, and there was nothing more over the hill. There he found a little tumbled-down hut, and within the hut sat an old, old woman with a distaff, spinning a lump of flax.
"Good-morning, mother," said the faithful servant.
"Good-morning, son," says the old woman, "and where are you travelling that you have come so far?"
"Oh!" says the faithful servant, "I am hunting for the Water of Life, and have come as far as this without finding a drop of it."
"Hoity, toity," says the old woman, "if that is what you are after, you have a long way to go yet. The fountain is in the country that lies east of the Sun and west of the Moon, and it is few that have gone there and come back again, I can tell you. Besides that there is a great dragon that keeps watch over the water, and you will have to get the better of him before you can touch a drop of it. All the same, if you have made up your mind to go you may stay here until my sons come home, and perhaps they can put you in the way of getting there, for I am the Mother of the Four Winds of Heaven, and it is few places that they have not seen."
So the faithful servant came in and sat down by the fire to wait till the Winds came home.
The first that came was the East Wind; but he knew nothing of the Water of Life and the land that lay east of the Sun and west of the Moon; he had heard folks talk of them both now and then, but he had never seen them with his own eyes.
The next that came was the South Wind, but he knew no more of it than his brother, and neither did the West Wind for the matter of that.
Last of all came the North Wind, and dear, dear, what a hubbub he made outside of the door, stamping the dust off of his feet before he came into the house.
"And do you know where the Fountain of Life is, and the country that lies east of the Sun and west of the Moon?" said the old woman.
Oh, yes, the North Wind knew where it was. He had been there once upon a time, but it was a long, long distance away.
"So; good! then perhaps you will give this lad a lift over there tomorrow," said the old woman.
At this the North Wind grumbled and shook his head; but at last he said "yes," for he is a good-hearted fellow at bottom, is the North Wind, though his ways are a trifle rough perhaps.
So the next morning he took the faithful servant on his back, and away he flew till the man's hair whistled behind him. On they went and on they went and on they went, until at last they came to the country that lay east of the Sun and west of the Moon; and they were none too soon getting there either, I can tell you, for when the North Wind tumbled the faithful servant off his back he was so weak that he could not have lifted a feather.
"Thank you," said the faithful servant, and then he was for starting away to find what he came for.
"Stop a bit," says the North Wind, "you will be wanting to come away again after a while. I cannot wait here, for I have other business to look after. But here is a feather; when you want me, cast it into the air, and I will not be long in coming."
Then away he bustled, for he had caught his breath again, and time was none too long for him.
The faithful servant walked along a great distance until by and by, he came to a field covered all over with sharp rocks and white bones, for he was not the first by many who had been that way for a cup of the Water of Life.
There lay the great fiery dragon in the sun, sound asleep, and so the faithful servant had time to look about him. Not far away was a great deep trench like a drain in a swampy field; that was a path that the dragon had made by going to the river for a drink of water every day. The faithful servant dug a hole in the bottom of this trench, and there he hid himself as snugly as a cricket in the crack in the kitchen floor. By and by the dragon awoke and found that he was thirsty, and then started down to the river to get a drink. The faithful servant lay as still as a mouse until the dragon was just above where he was hidden, then he thrust his sword through its heart, and there it lay, after a turn or two, as dead as a stone.
After that he had only to fill the cup at the fountain, for there was nobody to say nay to him. Then he cast the feather into the air, and there was the North Wind, as fresh and as sound as ever. The North Wind took him upon its back, and away it flew until it came home again.
The faithful servant thanked them all around--the Four Winds and the old woman--and as they would take nothing else, he gave them a few drops of the Water of Life, and that is the reason that the Four Winds and their mother are as fresh and young now as they were when the world began.
Then the faithful servant set off home again, right foot foremost, and he was not as long in getting there as in coming.
As soon as the king saw the cup of the Water of Life he had the horses saddled, and off he and the faithful servant rode to find the princess who lived over beyond the three rivers. By and by they came to the town, and there was the princess mourning and grieving over her bird just as she had done from the first. But when she heard that the king had brought the Water of Life she welcomed him as though he were a flower in March.
They sprinkled a few drops upon the dead bird, and up it sprang as lively and as well as ever.
But now, before the princess would marry the king she must have a talk with the bird, and there came the hitch, for the Wise Bird knew as well as you and I that it was not the king who had brought the Water of Life. "Go and tell him," said the Wise Bird, "that you are ready to marry him as soon as he saddles and bridles the Wild Black Horse in the forest over yonder, for if he is the hero who found the Water of Life he can do that and more easily enough."
The princess did as the bird told her, and so the king missed getting what he wanted after all. But off he went to the faithful servant. "And can you not saddle and bridle the Wild Black Horse for me?" said he.
"I do not know," said the faithful servant, "but I will try."
So off he went to the forest to hunt up the Wild Black Horse, the saddle over his shoulder and the bridle over his arm. By and by came the Wild Black Horse galloping through the woods like a thunder gust in summer, so that the ground shook under his feet. But the faithful servant was ready for him; he caught him by the mane and forelock, and the Wild Black Horse had never had such a one to catch hold of him before.
But how they did stamp and wrestle! Up and down and here and there, until the fire flew from the stones under their feet. But the Wild Black Horse could not stand against the strength of ten men, such as the faithful servant had, so by and by he fell on his knees, and the faithful servant clapped the saddle on his back and slipped the bridle over his ears.
"Listen now," says he; "to-morrow my master, the king, will ride you up to the princess's house, and if you do not do just as I tell you, it will be the worse for you; when the king mounts upon your back you must stagger and groan, as though you carried a mountain."
The horse promised to do as the other bade, and then the faithful servant jumped on his back and away to the king, who had been waiting at home for all this time.
The next day the king rode up to the princess's castle, and the Wild Black Horse did just as the faithful servant told him to do; he staggered and groaned, so that everybody cried out, "Look at the great hero riding upon the Wild Black Horse!"
And when the princess saw him she also thought that he was a great hero. But the Wise Bird was of
a different mind from her, for when the princess came to talk to him about marrying the king he shook his head. "No, no," said he, "there is something wrong here, and the king has baked his cake in somebody else's oven. He never saddled and bridled the Wild Black Horse by himself. Listen, you must say to him that you will marry nobody but the man who wears such and such a golden armlet with this and that written on it."
So the princess told the king what the Wise Bird had bidden her to say, and the king went straightway to the faithful servant.
"You must let me have your armlet," said he.
"Alas, master," said the faithful servant, "that is a woful thing for me, for the one and only way to take the armlet off of my wrist is to cut my hand from off my body."
"So!" says the king, "that is a great pity, but the princess will not have me without the armlet."
"Then you shall have it," says the faithful servant; but the king had to cut the hand off, for the faithful servant could not do it himself.
But, bless your heart! the armlet was ever so much too large for the king to wear! Nevertheless he tied it to his wrist with a bit of ribbon, and off he marched to the princess's castle.
"Here is the armlet of gold," said he, "and now will you marry me!"
But the Wise Bird sat on the princess's chair. "Hut! tut!" says he, "it does not fit the man."
Yes, that was so; everybody who was there could see it easily enough; and as for marrying him, the princess would marry nobody but the man who could wear the armlet.
What a hubbub there was then! Every one who was there was sure that the armlet would fit him if it fitted nobody else. But no; it was far too large for the best of them. The faithful servant was very sad, and stood back of the rest, over by the wall, with his arm tied up in a napkin. "You shall try it too," says the princess; but the faithful servant only shook his head, for he could not try it on as the rest had done, because he had no hand. But the Wise Bird was there and knew what he was about; "See now," says he, "maybe the Water of Life will cure one thing as well as another."