The Green Fairy Book

A >> Andrew Lang, Ed. >> The Green Fairy Book

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Cola-Mattheo, who was, as I have said before, a great simpleton,
made no reply; but before sunrise next morning he went to the wood
and gathered a bunch of St. John's Wort, and rosemary, and
suchlike herbs, and rubbed them, as he had been told, on the floor
of the palace. Hardly had he done so than the walls immediately
turned into ivory, so richly inlaid with gold and silver that they
dazzled the eyes of all beholders. The King, when he rose and saw
the miracle that had been performed, was beside himself with
amazement, and didn't know what in the world he was to do.

But when Cola-Mattheo came next day, and, in the name of the
snake, demanded the hand of the Princess, the King replied, 'Don't
be in such a hurry; if the snake really wants to marry my
daughter, he must do some more things first, and one of these is
to turn all the paths and walls of my garden into pure gold before
noon to-morrow.'

When the snake was told of this new condition, he replied, 'To-
morrow morning, early, you must go and collect all the odds and
ends of rubbish you can find in the streets, and then take them
and throw them on the paths and walls of the garden, and you'll
see then if we won't be more than a match for the old King.'

So Cola-Mattheo rose at cock-crow, took a large basket under his
arm, and carefully collected all the broken fragments of pots and
pans, and jugs and lamps, and other trash of that sort. No sooner
had he scattered them over the paths and walls of the King's
garden than they became one blaze of glittering gold, so that
everyone's eyes were dazzled with the brilliancy, and everyone's
soul was filled with wonder. The King, too, was amazed at the
sight, but still he couldn't make up his mind to part with his
daughter, so when Cola-Mattheo came to remind him of his promise
he replied, 'I have still a third demand to make. If the snake can
turn all the trees and fruit of my garden into precious stones,
then I promise him my daughter in marriage.'

When the peasant informed the snake what the King had said, he
replied, 'To-morrow morning, early, you must go to the market and
buy all the fruit you see there, and then sow all the stones and
seeds in the palace garden, and, if I'm not mistaken, the King
will be satisfied with the result.'

Cola-Mattheo rose at dawn, and taking a basket on his arm, he went
to the market, and bought all the pomegranates, apricots,
cherries, and other fruit he could find there, and sowed the seeds
and stones in the palace garden. In one moment, the trees were all
ablaze with rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and every other precious
stone you can think of.

This time the King felt obliged to keep his promise, and calling
his daughter to him, he said, 'My dear Grannonia,' for that was
the Princess's name, 'more as a joke than anything else, I
demanded what seemed to me impossibilities from your bridegroom,
but now that he has done all I required, I am bound to stick to my
part of the bargain. Be a good child, and as you love me, do not
force me to break my word, but give yourself up with as good grace
as you can to a most unhappy fate.'

'Do with me what you like, my lord and father, for your will is my
law,' answered Grannonia.

When the King heard this, he told Cola-Mattheo to bring the snake
to the palace, and said that he was prepared to receive the
creature as his son-in-law.

The snake arrived at court in a carriage made of gold and drawn by
six white elephants; but wherever it appeared on the way, the
people fled in terror at the sight of the fearful reptile.

When the snake reached the palace, all the courtiers shook and
trembled with fear down to the very scullion, and the King and
Queen were in such a state of nervous collapse that they hid
themselves in a far-away turret. Grannonia alone kept her presence
of mind, and although both her father and mother implored her to
fly for her life, she wouldn't move a step, saying, 'I'm certainly
not going to fly from the man you have chosen for my husband.'

As soon as the snake saw Grannonia, it wound its tail round her
and kissed her. Then, leading her into a room, it shut the door,
and throwing off its skin, it changed into a beautiful young man
with golden locks, and flashing eyes, who embraced Grannonia
tenderly, and said all sorts of pretty things to her.

When the King saw the snake shut itself into a room with his
daughter, he said to his wife, 'Heaven be merciful to our child,
for I fear it is all over with her now. This cursed snake has most
likely swallowed her up.' Then they put their eyes to the keyhole
to see what had happened.

Their amazement knew no bounds when they saw a beautiful youth
standing before their daughter with the snake's skin lying on the
floor beside him. In their excitement they burst open the door,
and seizing the skin they threw it into the fire. But no sooner
had they done this than the young man called out, 'Oh, wretched
people! what have you done?' and before they had time to look
round he had changed himself into a dove, and dashing against the
window he broke a pane of glass, and flew away from their sight.

But Grannonia, who in one and the same moment saw herself merry
and sad, cheerful and despairing, rich and beggared, complained
bitterly over this robbery of her happiness, this poisoning of her
cup of joy, this unlucky stroke of fortune, and laid all the blame
on her parents, though they assured her that they had meant no
harm. But the Princess refused to be comforted, and at night, when
all the inhabitants of the palace were asleep, she stole out by a
back door, disguised as a peasant woman, determined to seek for
her lost happiness till she found it. When she got to the
outskirts of the town, led by the light of the moon, she met a
fox, who offered to accompany her, an offer which Grannonia gladly
accepted, saying 'You are most heartily welcome, for I don't know
my way at all about the neighbourhood.'

So they went on their way together, and came at last to a wood,
where, being tired with walking, they paused to rest under the
shade of a tree, where a spring of water sported with the tender
grass, refreshing it with its crystal spray.

They laid themselves down on the green carpet and soon fell fast
asleep, and did not waken again till the sun was high in the
heavens. They rose up and stood for some time listening to the
birds singing, because Grannonia delighted in their songs.

When the fox perceived this, he said: 'If you only understood, as
I do, what these little birds are saying, your pleasure would be
even greater.'

Provoked by his words--for we all know that curiosity is as deeply
inborn in every woman as even the love of talking--Grannonia
implored the fox to tell her what the birds had said.

At first the wily fox refused to tell her what he had gathered
from the conversation of the birds, but at last he gave way to her
entreaties, and told her that they had spoken of the misfortunes
of a beautiful young Prince, whom a wicked enchantress had turned
into a snake for the period of seven years. At the end of this
time he had fallen in love with a charming Princess, but that when
he had shut himself up into a room with her, and had thrown off
his snake's skin, her parents had forced their way into the room
and had burnt the skin, whereupon the Prince, changed into the
likeness of a dove, had broken a pane of glass in trying to fly
out of the window, and had wounded himself so badly that the
doctors despaired of his life.

Grannonia, when she learnt that they were talking of her lover,
asked at once whose son he was, and if there was any hope of his
recovery; to which the fox made answer that the birds had said he
was the son of the King of Vallone Grosso, and that the only thing
that could cure him was to rub the wounds on his head with the
blood of the very birds who had told the tale.

Then Grannonia knelt down before the fox, and begged him in her
sweetest way to catch the birds for her and procure their blood,
promising at the same time to reward him richly.

'All right,' said the fox, 'only don't be in such a hurry; let's
wait till night, when the little birds have gone to roost, then
I'll climb up and catch them all for you.'

So they passed the day, talking now of the beauty of the Prince,
now of the father of the Princess, and then of the misfortune that
had happened. At last the night arrived, and all the little birds
were asleep high up on the branches of a big tree. The fox climbed
up stealthily and caught the little creatures with his paws one
after the other; and when he had killed them all he put their
blood into a little bottle which he wore at his side and returned
with it to Grannonia, who was beside herself with joy at the
result of the fox's raid. But the fox said, 'My dear daughter,
your joy is in vain, because, let me tell you, this blood is of no
earthly use to you unless you add some of mine to it,' and with
these words he took to his heels.

Grannonia, who saw her hopes dashed to the ground in this cruel
way, had recourse to flattery and cunning, weapons which have
often stood the sex in good stead, and called out after the fox,
'Father Fox, you would be quite right to save your skin, if, in
the first place, I didn't feel I owed so much to you, and if, in
the second, there weren't other foxes in the world; but as you
know how grateful I feel to you, and as there are heaps of other
foxes about, you can trust yourself to me. Don't behave like the
cow that kicks the pail over after it has filled it with milk, but
continue your journey with me, and when we get to the capital you
can sell me to the King as a servant girl.'

It never entered the fox's head that even foxes can be outwitted,
so after a bit he consented to go with her; but he hadn't gone far
before the cunning girl seized a stick, and gave him such a blow
with it on the head, that he dropped down dead on the spot. Then
Grannonia took some of his blood and poured it into her little
bottle; and went on her way as fast as she could to Vallone
Grosso.

When she arrived there she went straight to the Royal palace, and
let the King be told she had come to cure the young Prince.

The King commanded her to be brought before him at once, and was
much astonished when he saw that it was a girl who undertook to do
what all the cleverest doctors of his kingdom had failed in. As an
attempt hurts no one, he willingly consented that she should do
what she could.

'All I ask,' said Grannonia, 'is that, should I succeed in what
you desire, you will give me your son in marriage.'

The King, who had given up all hopes of his son's recovery,
replied: 'Only restore him to life and health and he shall be
yours. It is only fair to give her a husband who gives me a son.'

And so they went into the Prince's room. The moment Grannonia had
rubbed the blood on his wounds the illness left him, and he was as
sound and well as ever. When the King saw his son thus
marvellously restored to life and health, he turned to him and
said: 'My dear son, I thought of you as dead, and now, to my great
joy and amazement, you are alive again. I promised this young
woman that if she should cure you, to bestow your hand and heart
on her, and seeing that Heaven has been gracious, you must fulfil
the promise I made her; for gratitude alone forces me to pay this
debt.'

But the Prince answered: 'My lord and father, I would that my will
were as free as my love for you is great. But as I have plighted
my word to another maiden, you will see yourself, and so will this
young woman, that I cannot go back from my word, and be faithless
to her whom I love.'

When Grannonia heard these words, and saw how deeply rooted the
Prince's love for her was, she felt very happy, and blushing rosy
red, she said: 'But should I get the other lady to give up her
rights, would you then consent to marry me?'

'Far be it from me,' replied the Prince, 'to banish the beautiful
picture of my love from my heart. Whatever she may say, my heart
and desire will remain the same, and though I were to lose my life
for it, I couldn't consent to this exchange.'

Grannonia could keep silence no longer, and throwing off her
peasant's disguise, she discovered herself to the Prince, who was
nearly beside himself with joy when he recognised his fair lady-
love. He then told his father at once who she was, and what she
had done and suffered for his sake.

Then they invited the King and Queen of Starza-Longa to their
Court, and had a great wedding feast, and proved once more that
there is no better seasoning for the joys of true love than a few
pangs of grief.

THE BITER BIT

Once upon a time there lived a man called Simon, who was very
rich, but at the same time as stingy and miserly as he could be.
He had a housekeeper called Nina, a clever capable woman, and as
she did her work carefully and conscientiously, her master had the
greatest respect for her.

In his young days Simon had been one of the gayest and most active
youths of the neighbourhood, but as he grew old and stiff he found
it very difficult to walk, and his faithful servant urged him to
get a horse so as to save his poor old bones. At last Simon gave
way to the request and persuasive eloquence of his housekeeper,
and betook himself one day to the market where he had seen a mule,
which he thought would just suit him, and which he bought for
seven gold pieces.

Now it happened that there were three merry rascals hanging about
the market-place, who much preferred living on other people's
goods to working for their own living. As soon as they saw that
Simon had bought a mule, one of them said to his two boon
companions, 'My friends, this mule must be ours before we are many
hours older.'

'But how shall we manage it,' asked one of them.

'We must all three station ourselves at different intervals along
the old man's homeward way, and must each in his turn declare that
the mule he has bought is a donkey. If we only stick to it you'll
see the mule will soon be ours.' This proposal quite satisfied the
others, and they all separated as they had agreed.

Now when Simon came by, the first rogue said to him, 'God bless
you, my fine gentleman.'

'Thanks for your courtesy,' replied Simon.

'Where have you been?' asked the thief.

'To the market,' was the reply.

'And what did you buy there?' continued the rogue.

'This mule.'

'Which mule?'

'The one I'm sitting upon, to be sure,' replied Simon.

'Are you in earnest, or only joking?'

'What do you mean?'

'Because it seems to me you've got hold of a donkey, and not of a
mule.'

'A donkey? Rubbish!' screamed Simon, and without another word he
rode on his way. After a few hundred yards he met the second
confederate, who addressed him, 'Good day, dear sir, where are you
coming from?'

'From the market,' answered Simon.

'Did things go pretty cheap?' asked the other.

'I should just think so,' said Simon.

'And did you make any good bargain yourself?'

'I bought this mule on which you see me.'

'Is it possible that you really bought that beast for a mule?'

'Why certainly.'

'But, good heavens, it's nothing but a donkey!'

'A donkey!' repeated Simon, 'you don't mean to say so; if a single
other person tells me that, I'll make him a present of the
wretched animal.'

With these words he continued his way, and very soon met the third
knave, who said to him, 'God bless you, sir; are you by any chance
coming from the market?'

'Yes, I am,' replied Simon.

'And what bargain did you drive there?' asked the cunning fellow.

'I bought this mule on which I am riding.'

'A mule! Are you speaking seriously, or do you wish to make a fool
of me?'

'I'm speaking in sober earnest,' said Simon; 'it wouldn't occur to
me to make a joke of it.'

'Oh, my poor friend,' cried the rascal, 'don't you see that is a
donkey and not a mule? you have been taken in by some wretched
cheats.'

'You are the third person in the last two hours who has told me
the same thing,' said Simon, 'but I couldn't believe it,' and
dismounting from the mule he spoke: 'Keep the animal, I make you a
present of it.' The rascal took the beast, thanked him kindly, and
rode on to join his comrades, while Simon continued his journey on
foot.

As soon as the old man got home, he told his housekeeper that he
had bought a beast under the belief that it was a mule, but that
it had turned out to be a donkey--at least, so he had been assured
by several people he had met on the road, and that in disgust he
had at last given it away.

'Oh, you simpleton!' cried Nina; 'didn't you see that they were
only playing you a trick? Really, I thought you'd have had more
gumption than that; they wouldn't have taken me in in that way.'

'Never mind,' replied Simon, 'I'll play them one worth two of
that; for depend upon it they won't be contented with having got
the donkey out of me, but they'll try by some new dodge to get
something more, or I'm much mistaken.'

Now there lived in the village not far from Simon's house, a
peasant who had two goats, so alike in every respect that it was
impossible to distinguish one from the other. Simon bought them
both, paid as small a price as he could for them, and leading them
home with him, he told Nina to prepare a good meal, as he was
going to invite some friends to dinner. He ordered her to roast
some veal, and to boil a pair of chickens, and gave her some herbs
to make a good savoury, and told her to bake the best tart she
could make. Then he took one of the goats and tied it to a post in
the courtyard, and gave it some grass to eat; but he bound a cord
round the neck of the other goat and led it to the market.

Hardly had he arrived there, than the three gentlemen who had got
his mule perceived him, and coming up to him said: 'Welcome, Mr.
Simon, what brings you here; are you on the look out for a
bargain?'

'I've come to get some provisions,' he answered, 'because some
friends are coming to dine with me today, and it would give me
much pleasure if you were to honour me with your company also.'

The accomplices willingly accepted this invitation; and after
Simon had made all his purchases, he tied them on to the goat's
back, and said to it, in the presence of the three cheats, 'Go
home now, and tell Nina to roast the veal, and boil the chickens,
and tell her to prepare a savoury with herbs, and to bake the best
tart she can make. Have you followed me? Then go, and Heaven's
blessing go with you.'

As soon as it felt itself free, the laden goat trotted off as
quickly as it could, and to this day nobody knows what became of
it. But Simon, after wandering about the market for some time with
his three friends and some others he had picked up, returned home
to his house.

When he and his guests entered the courtyard, they noticed the
goat tied to the post quietly chewing the cud. They were not a
little astonished at this, for of course they thought it was the
same goat that Simon had sent home laden with provisions. As soon
as they reached the house Mr. Simon said to his housekeeper,
'Well, Nina, have you done what I told the goat to tell you to
do?' The artful woman, who at once understood her master,
answered, 'Certainly I have. The veal is roasted, and the chickens
boiled.'

'That's all right,' said Simon.

When the three rogues saw the cooked meats, and the tart in the
oven, and heard Nina's words, they were nearly beside themselves
with amazement, and began to consult at once how they were to get
the goat into their own possession. At last, towards the end of
the meal, having sought in vain for some cunning dodge to get the
goat away from Mr. Simon, one of them said to him, 'My worthy
host, you must sell your goat to us.'

Simon replied that he was most unwilling to part with the
creature, as no amount of money would make up to him for its loss;
still, if they were quite set on it, he would let them have the
goat for fifty gold pieces.

The knaves, who thought they were doing a capital piece of
business, paid down the fifty gold pieces at once, and left the
house quite happily, leading the goat with them. When they got
home they said to their wives, 'You needn't begin to cook the
dinner to-morrow till we send the provisions home.'

The following day they went to the market and bought chickens and
other eatables, and after they had packed them on the back of the
goat (which they had brought with them), they told it all the
dishes they wished their wives to prepare. As soon as the goat
felt itself free, it ran as quickly as it could, and was very soon
lost to sight, and, as far as I know, was never heard of again.

When the dinner hour approached all three went home and asked
their wives if the goat had returned with the necessary
provisions, and had told them what they wished prepared for their
meal.

'Oh, you fools and blockheads!' cried their wives, 'how could you
ever believe for a moment that a goat would do the work of a
servant-maid? You have been finely deceived for once in a way. Of
course, if you are always taking in other people, your turn to be
taken in comes too, and this time you've been made to look pretty
foolish.'

When the three comrades saw that Mr. Simon had got the better of
them, and done them out of fifty gold pieces, they flew into such
a rage that they made up their minds to kill him, and, seizing
their weapons for this purpose, went to his house.

But the sly old man, who was terrified for his life that the three
rogues might do him some harm, was on his guard, and said to his
housekeeper, 'Nina, take this bladder, which is filled with blood,
and hide it under your cloak; then when these thieves come I'll
lay all the blame on you, and will pretend to be so angry with you
that I will run at you with my knife, and pierce the bladder with
it; then you must fall on the ground as if you were dead, and
leave the rest to me.'

Hardly had Simon said these words when the three rogues appeared
and fell on him to kill him.

'My friends,' called out Simon to then, 'what do you accuse me of?
I am in no way to blame; perhaps my housekeeper has done you some
injury of which I know nothing.' And with these words, he turned
on Nina with his knife, and stuck it right into her, so that he
pierced the bladder filled with blood. Instantly the housekeeper
fell down as if she were dead, and the blood streamed all over the
ground.

Simon then pretended to be seized with remorse at the sight of
this dreadful catastrophe, and cried out in a loud voice, 'Unhappy
wretch that I am! What have I done? Like a madman I have killed
the woman who is the prop and stay of my old age. How could I ever
go on living without her?' Then he seized a pipe, and when he had
blown into it for some time Nina sprang up alive and well.

The rogues were more amazed than ever; they forgot their anger,
and buying the pipe for two hundred gold pieces, they went
joyfully home.

Not long after this one of them quarrelled with his wife, and in
his rage he thrust his knife into her breast so that she fell dead
on the ground. Then he took Simon's pipe and blew into it with all
his might, in the hopes of calling his wife back to life. But he
blew in vain, for the poor soul was as dead as a door-nail.

When one of his comrades heard what had happened, he said, 'You
blockhead, you can't have done it properly; just let me have a
try,' and with these words he seized his wife by the roots of her
hair, cut her throat with a razor, and then took the pipe and blew
into it with all his might but he couldn't bring her back to life.
The same thing happened to the third rogue, so that they were now
all three without wives.

Full of wrath they ran to Simon's house, and, refusing to listen
to a word of explanation or excuse, they seized the old man and
put him into a sack, meaning to drown him in the neighbouring
river. On their way there, however, a sudden noise threw them into
such a panic that they dropped the sack with Simon in it and ran
for their lives.

Soon after this a shepherd happened to pass by with his flock, and
while he was slowly following the sheep, who paused here and there
by the wayside to browse on the tender grass, he heard a pitiful
voice wailing, 'They insist on my taking her, and I don't want
her, for I am too old, and I really can't have her.' The shepherd
was much startled, for he couldn't make out where these words,
which were repeated more than once, came from, and looked about
him to the right and left; at last he perceived the sack in which
Simon was hidden, and going up to it he opened it and discovered
Simon repeating his dismal complaint. The shepherd asked him why
he had been left there tied up in a sack.

Simon replied that the king of the country had insisted on giving
him one of his daughters as a wife, but that he had refused the
honour because he was too old and too frail. The simple-minded
shepherd, who believed his story implicitly, asked him, 'Do you
think the king of the country would give his daughter to me?'

'Yes, certainly, I know he would,' answered Simon, 'if you were
tied up in this sack instead of me.' Then getting out of the sack,
he tied the confiding shepherd up in it instead, and at his
request fastened it securely and drove the sheep on himself.

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