Wonder Tales from Many Lands 1

Wonder Tales from Many Lands 1

Wonder Tales from Many Lands

: Katharine Pyle

 

CONTENTS

 

 

PAGE

LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT 9

_A Story from Bohemia_

 

THE DWARF WITH THE GOLDEN BEARD 30

_A Slavonic Fairy Tale_

 

THE GREAT WHITE BEAR AND THE TROLLS 55

_A Story from the Norse_

 

THE STORY OF THE THREE BILLY GOAT GRUFFS 61

_A Story from the Norse_

 

THE STONES OF PLOUVINEC 67

_A Tale from Brittany_

 

THE KING OF THE BUFFALOES 81

_An American Indian Tale_

 

THE JACKAL AND THE ALLIGATOR 88

_A Hindu Fairy Tale_

 

THE BABA YAGA 93

_A Russian Fairy Tale_

 

TAMLANE 99

_A Story from an Old Scotch Ballad_

 

THE FARMER AND THE PIXY 104

_An English Fairy Tale_

 

RABBIT’S EYES 109

_A Korean Fairy Tale_

 

MUDJEE MONEDO 114

_An American Indian Tale_

 

DAPPLEGRIM 126

_A Tale adapted from the Norse_

 

THE FISH PRINCE 146

_A Hindu Folk Tale_

 

THE MAGIC RICE KETTLE 161

_A Korean Story_

 

THE CROW PERI 178

_A Persian Story_

 

THE FOUR WISHES 199

_A German Story_

 

WHY THE ANIMALS NO LONGER FEAR THE SHEEP 229

_A French Creole Story_

 

PRINCESS ROSETTA 240

_A French Fairy Tale_

 

 

 

 

ILLUSTRATIONS

 

 

PAGE

THE BABA YAGA AND PETER _Frontispiece_

 

THERE WAS A GREAT BLACK RAVEN IN THE ROOM WITH THEM 28

 

HE SPOKE TO HER IN THE SOFTEST VOICE HE COULD MANAGE 82

 

THEN IT WAS A SWAN THAT BEAT ITS WINGS IN HER FACE 102

 

“NOT SO FAST, MY FINE LITTLE FELLOW,” HE SAID 106

 

SHE MANAGED TO THROW THE THIRD STONE AT HIM 152

 

“DO NOT BE AFRAID, MY CHILD,” SAID THE NIXIE TO MATILDA 202

 

THE MATTRESS UPON WHICH SHE LAY HAD FLOATED ON AND ON 248

 

 

 

 

WONDER TALES FROM MANY LANDS

 

 

 

 

LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT

 

A STORY FROM BOHEMIA

 

 

THERE was once a King who had one only son, and him he loved better

than anything in the whole world—better even than his own life. The

King’s greatest desire was to see his son married, but though the

Prince had travelled in many lands, and had seen many noble and

beautiful ladies, there was not one among them all whom he wished to

have for a wife.

 

One day the King called his son to him and said, “My son, for a long

time now I have hoped to see you choose a bride, but you have desired

no one. Take now this silver key. Go to the top of the castle, and

there you will see a steel door. This key will unlock it. Open the door

and enter. Look carefully at everything in the room, and then return

and tell me what you have seen. But, whatever you do, do not touch nor

draw aside the curtain that hangs at the right of the door. If you

should disobey me and do this thing, you will suffer the greatest

dangers, and may even pay for it with your life.”

 

The Prince wondered greatly at his father’s words, but he took the key

and went to the top of the castle, and there he found the steel door

his father had described. He unlocked it with the silver key, stepped

inside, and looked about him. When he had done so, he was filled with

amazement at what he saw. The room had twelve sides, and on eleven of

these sides were pictures of eleven princesses more beautiful than

any the Prince had ever seen in all his life before. Moreover, these

pictures were as though they were alive. When the Prince looked at

them, they moved and smiled and blushed and beckoned to him. He went

from one to the other, and they were so beautiful that each one he

looked upon seemed lovelier than the last. But lovely though they were,

there was not one of them whom the Prince wished to have for a wife.

 

Last of all, the Prince came to the twelfth side of the room, and it

was covered over with a curtain, and the curtain was of velvet richly

embroidered with gold and precious stones. The Prince stood before it

and looked at it and looked at it. He tried to peer under its edges,

but he could see nothing; never in all his life had he longed for

anything as he longed to lift that curtain and see what was behind it.

 

At last his longing grew so great that he could withstand it no

longer. He laid his hand upon the folds and drew it aside, and when he

had done so, his heart melted within him for love and joy. For there

was the portrait of a maiden so fair and lovely that all the other

eleven beauties were as nothing beside her.

 

The Prince stood and looked at her, and she looked back at him, and she

did not blush or beckon to him as the others had done, but rather she

grew pale.

 

“Yes,” said the Prince at last, “you and you only shall be my bride,

even though I should have to go to the ends of the world to find you.”

 

When he said that, the picture bowed its head gravely.

 

Then the Prince dropped the curtain and left the room and went down to

where the old King was waiting for him. As soon as he came before his

father, the old man asked whether he had found the room and entered it.

 

“I did,” answered the Prince.

 

“And what did you see in the room, my son?”

 

“I saw a picture of the maiden whom I wish to have for a wife.”

 

“And which of the eleven was it?”

 

“It was none of the eleven; it was the twelfth—she whose portrait hangs

behind the curtain.”

 

When the old King heard this, he gave a cry of grief. “Alas, alas, my

son! What have you done! Did I not warn you not to lift the curtain

and not to look behind it?”

 

“You warned me, my father, and yet I could not but look, and now I have

seen the only one whom I will ever marry. Tell me, I pray of you, who

she is, that I may go in search of her.”

 

“Well did I know that misfortune would come upon you if ever you

entered that room. That Princess whom you have seen is indeed the

most beautiful Princess in all the world, but she is also the most

unfortunate. Because of her beauty, she was carried away by a wicked

and powerful Magician who wished to marry her. To this, however, she

would not consent. He still keeps her a prisoner in an iron castle far

away beyond forest, plain, and mountain at the very end of the world.

Many princes and heroes and brave men have tried to rescue her, but

none has ever succeeded. They have lost their lives in the attempt,

and the Magician has turned them all into stone statues to adorn his

castle. And now you are determined to throw away your life also.”

 

“That may be,” said the Prince; “and yet it may also be that I shall

succeed even though others have failed. At any rate, I must try, for I

cannot live without her.”

 

When the King found that his son was determined to go, and that nothing

could stay him, he gave him a jewelled sword and the finest steed in

his stable and bade him God-speed.

 

So the Prince set out with his father’s blessing, and he rode along and

rode along until at last he came to a forest that was so vast there

seemed to be no end to it. In this forest he quite lost his way. He was

therefore very glad when he saw some one trudging along in front of him.

 

The Prince rode on until he overtook the man, and then he reined in his

horse and bade him good day.

 

“Good day,” answered the man.

 

“Do you know the ways through this forest?” asked the Prince.

 

“No, I know nothing about them, but that never bothers me. If at any

time I think I am going in the wrong direction, it is easy to right

myself.”

 

“How is that?” said the Prince.

 

“Oh, I have the power of stretching myself out to any length, and if

I lose my way I have only to make myself tall enough to see over the

tree-tops, and then I can easily tell where I am.”

 

“That must be very curious. I should like to see that,” said the Prince.

 

Well, that was easy enough, and the man would be glad enough to oblige

him. So he began to stretch himself. He stretched and stretched and

stretched until he was taller than the tallest tree in the forest. His

head and body were quite lost to sight among the branches, and all that

the Prince could see were his legs and feet.

 

“Is that enough?” the man called down to the Prince.

 

“Yes, that is enough,” answered the Prince, and he had to shout to make

himself heard, the man’s head was so far away.

 

Then the man began to shrink. He shrank and shrank until he was no

taller than the Prince himself.

 

“You are a wonderful fellow,” said the Prince. “What is your name?”

 

The man’s name was Long.

 

“And what did you see up there?”

 

“I saw a plain and great mountains beyond, and still beyond that an

iron castle, and it was so far away that it must be at the very end of

the world.”

 

“It is that castle that I am seeking,” said the Prince, “and now I see

that you are the very man to guide me there. Tell me, Long, will you

take service with me? If you will, I will pay you well.”

 

Yes, Long would do that, and not for the sake of the money either, but

because he had taken a fancy to the Prince.

 

So the Prince and his new servant travelled along together, and

presently they came out of the forest on to a plain, and there, far

in front of them, was another man also travelling along toward the

mountains.

 

“Look, Master!” said Long. “Do you see that man? His name is Broad.

You ought to have him for a servant too, for he is even more wonderful

than I am.”

 

“Call him, then,” said the Prince, “and I will speak with him.”

 

No, Long could not call him, for Broad was too far away to hear him,

but he could soon overtake him. So Long stretched himself out until he

was tall enough to go half a mile at every step. In this way he soon

overtook Broad and stopped him, and then he and Broad waited until the

Prince had caught up to them.

 

“Good day,” said the Prince to Broad.

 

“Good day,” answered Broad.

 

“My servant here tells me that you are a very wonderful person,” said

the Prince. “What can you do that is so wonderful?”

 

What Broad could do was to spread himself out until he was as broad

across as he wished to be.

 

“I should like to see that,” said the Prince.

 

Very well! Nothing was easier, and Broad was willing to show him.

“But first,” said Broad, “do you get behind those rocks over yonder.

Otherwise you may get hurt. And now I will begin.”

 

“Quick! quick, Master!” cried Long, in a voice of fear. “We have not

a moment to lose,” and he ran at full speed and crouched down behind

the rocks. The Prince followed him, and he also got behind the rocks,

but he did not know why Long was in such a hurry, nor why he seemed so

frightened. He soon saw, however, for when Broad began to spread, he

spread so fast and with such force that unless the Prince and Long had

been behind the rocks, they would certainly have been pushed against

them and crushed.

 

“Is that enough?” cried Broad, after he had spread out so wide that the

Prince could scarcely see across him.

 

“Yes, that is enough.”

 

So Broad began to shrink, and soon he was no fatter than he had been

before.

 

“Yes, you are certainly a very wonderful fellow, and I should like to

have you for a servant,” said the Prince. “Will you come with me also?”

 

Yes, Broad would come, for a master who was good enough for Long was

good enough for him too. So now the Prince had two servants. He rode on

across the plain toward the mountains, and the two followed him.

 

After a while they came to a man sitting by the way with a bandage over

his eyes. The Prince stopped and spoke to him.

 

“Are you blind, my poor fellow, that you wear a bandage over your eyes?”

 

“No,” answered the man, “I am not blind. I wear the bandage because

I see too well without it. Even now, with this bandage, I can see as

clearly as you ever can. If I take it off, I can see for hundreds of

miles, and when I look at anything steadily my sight is so strong that

the thing is riven to pieces, or bursts into flame and is burned.”

 

“That is a very curious thing,” said the Prince. “Could you break

yonder rock to pieces merely by looking at it?”

 

“Yes, I could do that.”

 

“I would like to see it done,” said the Prince.

 

Well, the man was ready to oblige him. So he took the bandage from

his eyes and fixed his gaze on the rock. First the rock grew hot, and

then it smoked, and then, with a great noise, it exploded into tiny

fragments, so that the pieces flew about through the air.

 

“Yes, you are even more wonderful than these other two,” said the

Prince, “and they are wonderful enough. How are you called?”

 

“My name is Sharpsight.”

 

“Well, Sharpsight, will you take service with me, for I need just such

a servant as you?”

 

Yes, Sharpsight would do that; so now the Prince had three servants,

and they were such servants as no one in the world ever had before.

 

They travelled along over the plain, and at last they came to the foot

of the mountain that lay between them and the iron castle.

 

“Now we must either go over it or round it,” said the Prince; “and

which shall it be?”

 

“No need for that, Master,” answered Sharpsight. “Just let me

unbandage my eyes, but be careful you are not struck by any of the

flying pieces when the mountain begins to split.”

 

So the Prince and Broad and Long took shelter behind a clump of

trees, and then Sharpsight uncovered his eyes. He fixed his eyes on

the mountain, and presently it began to groan and split and splinter.

Pieces of sharp rock and stones flew through the air. It was not long

before Sharpsight’s gaze had bored a way straight through the mountain

and out on the other side. Then he put back the bandage over his eyes

and called to the Prince that the way was clear.

 

The Prince and his companions came out from their shelter, and when

they saw the way that Sharpsight had made through the mountain they

could not wonder enough. It was so broad and clear that ten men could

have ridden through it abreast.

 

With such a way before them it did not take them long to go through the

mountain, and then they found themselves in the country beyond, and a

black and terrible land it was too. Nowhere was there any sound or sign

of life. There were fields, but no grass. There were trees, but they

bore neither leaves nor fruit. There was a river, but it did not flow,

and there was light, and yet they saw no sun. But darker and gloomier

than all the rest was the castle which rose before them. It was the

iron castle where the Black Magician lived.

 

There was a moat round the castle and an iron bridge across it. The

companions rode across the bridge, and no sooner were they over than

the bridge rose behind them and they were prisoners.

 

They could not have turned back even if they had wished to, but none of

them had any thought of such a thing.

 

The Prince struck with his sword upon the great door of the castle,

and at once it opened before him, but when he entered he saw no one.

Before him was a great hall, and on either side of it was a long row

of stone figures. These statues were all figures of knights and kings

and princes. The Prince looked at them and wondered, for they were so

lifelike that it seemed scarcely possible to believe that they were of

stone.

 

He and his companions went on farther into the castle, and everywhere

they found rooms magnificently furnished, but silent and deserted.

Nowhere was there any sign of life.

 

Last of all they entered what seemed to be a dining-hall. Here was a

table set with the most delicious things to eat and drink. There were

four places about the table, and one of them was somewhat higher than the others, as though intended for the prince or king.