Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (17 page)

And the star answered: 'I have been shining all night, and I have
not seen him.'

But the star gave her a pair of shoes, and told her that if she
put them on she would be able to walk two hundred miles at a
stride. So she drew them on, and she walked to the moon, and she
said: 'Dear moon, have you not seen the white wolf?'

But the moon answered, 'All night long I have been sailing
through the heavens, and I have only just come home; but I did
not see him.'

But he gave her a pair of shoes, in which she would be able to
cover four hundred miles with every stride. So she went to the
sun, and said: 'Dear sun, have you seen the white wolf?'

And the sun answered, 'Yes, I have seen him, and he has chosen
another bride, for he thought you had left him, and would never
return, and he is preparing for the wedding. But I will help you.
Here are a pair of shoes. If you put these on you will be able to
walk on glass or ice, and to climb the steepest places. And here
is a spinning-wheel, with which you will be able to spin moss
into silk. When you leave me you will reach a glass mountain. Put
on the shoes that I have given you and with them you will be able
to climb it quite easily. At the summit you will find the palace
of the white wolf.'

Then the princess set out, and before long she reached the glass
mountain, and at the summit she found the white wolf's palace, as
the sun had said.

But no one recognised her, as she had disguised herself as an old
woman, and had wound a shawl round her head. Great preparations
were going on in the palace for the wedding, which was to take
place next day. Then the princess, still disguised as an old
woman, took out her spinning-wheel, and began to spin moss into
silk. And as she spun the new bride passed by, and seeing the
moss turn into silk, she said to the old woman: 'Little mother, I
wish you would give me that spinning-wheel.'

And the princess answered, 'I will give it to you if you will
allow me to sleep to-night on the mat outside the prince's door.'

And the bride replied, 'Yes, you may sleep on the mat outside the
door.'

So the princess gave her the spinning-wheel. And that night,
winding the shawl all round her, so that no one could recognise
her, she lay down on the mat outside the white wolf's door. And
when everyone in the palace was asleep she began to tell the
whole of her story. She told how she had been one of three
sisters, and that she had been the youngest and the fairest of
the three, and that her father had betrothed her to a white wolf.
And she told how she had gone first to the wedding of one sister,
and then with her husband to the wedding of the other sister, and
how her mother had ordered the servant to throw the white fur
skin into the kitchen fire. And then she told of her wanderings
through the forest; and of how she had sought the white wolf
weeping; and how the wind and star and moon and sun had
befriended her, and had helped her to reach his palace. And when
the white wolf heard all the story, he knew that it was his first
wife, who had sought him, and had found him, after such great
dangers and difficulties.

But he said nothing, for he waited till the next day, when many
guests—kings and princes from far countries —were coming to his
wedding. Then, when all the guests were assembled in the
banqueting hall, he spoke to them and said: 'Hearken to me, ye
kings and princes, for I have something to tell you. I had lost
the key of my treasure casket, so I ordered a new one to be made;
but I have since found the old one. Now, which of these keys is
the better?'

Then all the kings and royal guests answered: 'Certainly the old
key is better than the new one.'

'Then,' said the wolf, 'if that is so, my former bride is better
than my new one.'

And he sent for the new bride, and he gave her in marriage to one
of the princes who was present, and then he turned to his guests,
and said: 'And here is my former bride'—and the beautiful
princess was led into the room and seated beside him on his
throne. 'I thought she had forgotten me, and that she would never
return. But she has sought me everywhere, and now we are together
once more we shall never part again.'

Once upon a time, there lived a woman who had a son and a
daughter. One morning she said to them: 'I have heard of a town
where there is no such thing as death: let us go and dwell
there.' So she broke up her house, and went away with her son and
daughter.

When she reached the city, the first thing she did was to look
about and see if there was any churchyard, and when she found
none, she exclaimed, 'This is a delightful spot. We will stay
here for ever.'

By-and-by, her son grew to be a man, and he took for a wife a
girl who had been born in the town. But after a little while he
grew restless, and went away on his travels, leaving his mother,
his wife, and his sister behind him.

He had not been gone many weeks when one evening his mother said,
'I am not well, my head aches dreadfully.'

'What did you say?' inquired her daughter-in-law.

'My head feels ready to split,' replied the old woman.

The daughter-in-law asked no more questions, but left the house,
and went in haste to some butchers in the next street.

'I have got a woman to sell; what will you give me for her?' said
she.

The butchers answered that they must see the woman first, and
they all returned together.

Then the butchers took the woman and told her they must kill her.

'But why?' she asked.

'Because,' they said, 'it is always our custom that when persons
are ill and complain of their head they should be killed at once.
It is a much better way than leaving them to die a natural
death.'

'Very well,' replied the woman. 'But leave, I pray you, my lungs
and my liver untouched, till my son comes back. Then give both to
him.'

But the men took them out at once, and gave them to the
daughter-in-law, saying: 'Put away these things till your husband
returns.' And the daughter-in-law took them, and hid them in a
secret place.

When the old woman's daughter, who had been in the woods, heard
that her mother had been killed while she was out, she was filled
with fright, and ran away as fast as she could. At last she
reached a lonely spot far from the town, where she thought she
was safe, and sat down on a stone, and wept bitterly. As she was
sitting, sobbing, a man passed by.

'What is the matter, little girl? Answer me! I will be your
friend.'

'Ah, sir, they have killed my mother; my brother is far away, and
I have nobody.'

'Will you come with me?' asked the man.

'Thankfully,' said she, and he led her down, down, under the
earth, till they reached a great city. Then he married her, and
in course of time she had a son. And the baby was known
throughout the city as 'Mohammed with the magic finger,' because,
whenever he stuck out his little finger, he was able to see
anything that was happening for as far as two days' distance.

By-and-by, as the boy was growing bigger, his uncle returned from
his long journey, and went straight to his wife.

'Where are my mother and sister?' he asked; but his wife
answered: 'Have something to eat first, and then I will tell
you.'

But he replied: 'How can I eat till I know what has become of
them?'

Then she fetched, from the upper chamber, a box full of money,
which she laid before him, saying, 'That is the price of your
mother. She sold well.'

'What do you mean?' he gasped.

'Oh, your mother complained one day that her head was aching, so
I got in two butchers and they agreed to take her. However, I
have got her lungs and liver hidden, till you came back, in a
safe place.'

'And my sister?'

'Well, while the people were chopping up your mother she ran
away, and I heard no more of her.'

'Give me my mother's liver and lungs,' said the young man. And
she gave them to him. Then he put them in his pocket, and went
away, saying: 'I can stay no longer in this horrible town. I go
to seek my sister.'

Now, one day, the little boy stretched out his finger and said to
his mother, 'My uncle is coming!'

'Where is he?' she asked.

'He is still two days' journey off: looking for us; but he will
soon be here.' And in two days, as the boy had foretold, the
uncle had found the hole in the earth, and arrived at the gate of
the city. All his money was spent, and not knowing where his
sister lived, he began to beg of all the people he saw.

'Here comes my uncle,' called out the little boy. 'Where?'
asked his mother. 'Here at the house door;' and the woman ran
out and embraced him, and wept over him. When they could both
speak, he said: 'My sister, were you by when they killed my
mother?'

'I was absent when they slew her,' replied she, 'and as I could
do nothing, I ran away. But you, my brother, how did you get
here?'

'By chance,' he said, 'after I had wandered far; but I did not
know I should find you!' 'My little boy told me you were
coming,' she explained, 'when you were yet two days distant; he
alone of all men has that great gift.'

But she did not tell him that her husband could change himself
into a serpent, a dog, or a monster, whenever he pleased. He was
a very rich man, and possessed large herds of camels, goats,
sheep, cattle, horses and asses; all the best of their kind. And
the next morning, the sister said: 'Dear brother, go and watch
our sheep, and when you are thirsty, drink their milk!'

'Very well,' answered he, and he went.

Soon after, she said again, 'Dear brother, go and watch our
goats.'

'But why? I like tending sheep better!'

'Oh, it is much nicer to be a goatherd,' she said; so he took the
goats out.

When he was gone, she said to her husband, 'You must kill my
brother, for I cannot have him living here with me.'

'But, my dear, why should I? He has done me no harm.'

'I wish you to kill him,' she answered, 'or if not I will leave.'

'Oh, all right, then,' said he; 'to-morrow I will change myself
into a serpent, and hide myself in the date barrel; and when he
comes to fetch dates I will sting him in the hand.'

'That will do very well,' said she.

When the sun was up next day, she called to her brother, 'Go and
mind the goats.'

'Yes, of course,' he replied; but the little boy called out:
'Uncle, I want to come with you.'

'Delighted,' said the uncle, and they started together.

After they had got out of sight of the house the boy said to him,
'Dear uncle, my father is going to kill you. He has changed
himself into a serpent, and has hidden himself in the date
barrel. My mother has told him to do it.'

'And what am I to do?' asked the uncle.

'I will tell you. When we bring the goats back to the house, and
my mother says to you, "I am sure you must be hungry: get a few
dates out of the cask," just say to me, "I am not feeling very
well, Mohammed, you go and get them for me."'

So, when they reached the house the sister came out to meet them,
saying, 'Dear brother, you must certainly be hungry: go and get a
few dates.'

But he answered, 'I am not feeling very well. Mohammed, you go
and get them for me.'

'Of course I will,' replied the little boy, and ran at once to
the cask.

'No, no,' his mother called after him; 'come here directly! Let
your uncle fetch them himself!'

But the boy would not listen, and crying out to her 'I would
rather get them,' thrust his hand into the date cask.

Instead of the fruit, it struck against something cold and slimy,
and he whispered softly, 'Keep still; it is I, your son!'

Then he picked up his dates and went away to his uncle.

'Here they are, dear uncle; eat as many as you want.'

And his uncle ate them.

When he saw that the uncle did not mean to come near the cask,
the serpent crawled out and regained his proper shape.

'I am thankful I did not kill him,' he said to his wife; 'for,
after all, he is my brother-in-law, and it would have been a
great sin!'

'Either you kill him or I leave you,' said she.

'Well, well!' sighed the man, 'to-morrow I will do it.'

The woman let that night go by without doing anything further,
but at daybreak she said to her brother, 'Get up, brother; it is
time to take the goats to pasture!'

'All right,' cried he.

'I will come with you, uncle,' called out the little boy.

'Yes, come along,' replied he.

But the mother ran up, saying, 'The child must not go out in this
cold or he will be ill;' to which he only answered, 'Nonsense! I
am going, so it is no use your talking! I am going! I am! I am!'

'Then go!' she said.

And so they started, driving the goats in front of them.

When they reached the pasture the boy said to his uncle: 'Dear
uncle, this night my father means to kill you. While we are away
he will creep into your room and hide in the straw. Directly we
get home my mother will say to you, "Take that straw and give it
to the sheep," and, if you do, he will bite you.'

'Then what am I to do?' asked the man.

'Oh, do not be afraid, dear uncle! I will kill my father myself.'

'All right,' replied the uncle.

As they drove back the goats towards the house, the sister cried:
'Be quick, dear brother, go and get me some straw for the sheep.'

'Let me go,' said the boy.

'You are not big enough; your uncle will get it,' replied she.

'We will both get it,' answered the boy; 'come, uncle, let us go
and fetch that straw!'

'All right,' replied the uncle, and they went to the door of the
room.

'It seems very dark,' said the boy; 'I must go and get a light;'
and when he came back with one, he set fire to the straw, and the
serpent was burnt.