The King of the Golden Mountain
There was once a Merchant who had two children, a boy and a girl. Theywere both small, and not old enough to run about. He had also tworichly-laden ships at sea, and just as he was expecting to make agreat deal of money by the merchandise, news came that they had bothbeen lost. So now instead of being a rich man he was quite poor, andhad nothing left but one field near the town.
To turn his thoughts from his misfortune, he went out into this field,and as he was walking up and down a little black Mannikin suddenlyappeared before him, and asked why he was so sad. The Merchant said,'I would tell you at once, if you could help me.'
'Who knows,' answered the little Mannikin. 'Perhaps I could help you.'
Then the Merchant told him that all his wealth had been lost in awreck, and that now he had nothing left but this field.
'Don't worry yourself,' said the Mannikin. 'If you will promise tobring me in twelve years' time the first thing which rubs against yourlegs when you go home, you shall have as much gold as you want.'
The Merchant thought, 'What could it be but my dog?' He never thoughtof his boy, but said Yes, and gave the Mannikin his bond signed andsealed, and went home.
When he reached the house his little son, delighted to hold on to thebenches and totter towards his father, seized him by the leg to steadyhimself.
The Merchant was horror-stricken, for his vow came into his head, andnow he knew what he had promised to give away. But as he still foundno gold in his chests, he thought it must only have been a joke ofthe Mannikin's. A month later he went up into the loft to gathertogether some old tin to sell it, and there he found a great heap ofgold on the floor. So he was soon up in the world again, bought andsold, became a richer merchant than ever, and was altogethercontented.
In the meantime the boy had grown up, and he was both clever and wise.But the nearer the end of the twelve years came, the more sorrowfulthe Merchant grew; you could even see his misery in his face. One dayhis son asked him what was the matter, but his father would not tellhim. The boy, however, persisted so long that at last he told himthat, without knowing what he was doing, he had promised to give himup at the end of twelve years to a little black Mannikin, in returnfor a quantity of gold. He had given his hand and seal on it, and thetime was now near for him to go.
Then his son said, 'O father, don't be frightened, it will be allright. The little black Mannikin has no power over me.'
When the time came, the son asked a blessing of the Priest, and he andhis father went to the field together; and the son made a circlewithin which they took their places.
When the little black Mannikin appeared, he said to the father, 'Haveyou brought what you promised me?'
The man was silent, but his son said, 'What do you want?'
The Mannikin said, 'My business is with your father, and not withyou.'
The son answered, 'You deceived and cheated my father. Give me backhis bond.'
'Oh no!' said the little man; 'I won't give up my rights.'
They talked to each other for a long time, and at last they decidedthat, as the son no longer belonged to his father, and declined tobelong to his foe, he should get into a boat on a flowing stream, andhis father should push it off himself, thus giving him up to thestream.
So the youth took leave of his father, got into the boat, and hisfather pushed it off. Then, thinking that his son was lost to him forever, he went home and sorrowed for him. The little boat, however, didnot sink, it drifted quietly down the stream, and the youth sat in itin perfect safety. It drifted for a long time, till at last it stuckfast on an unknown shore. The youth landed, and seeing a beautifulcastle near, walked towards it. As he passed under the doorway,however, a spell fell upon him. He went through all the rooms, butfound them empty, till he came to the very last one, where a Serpentlay coiling and uncoiling itself. The Serpent was really an enchantedmaiden, who was delighted when she saw the youth, and said, 'Have youcome at last, my preserver? I have been waiting twelve years for you.This whole kingdom is bewitched, and you must break the spell.'
'How am I to do that?' he asked.
She said, 'To-night, twelve black men hung with chains will appear,and they will ask what you are doing here. But do not speak a word,whatever they do or say to you. They will torment you, strike, andpinch you, but don't say a word. At twelve o'clock they will have togo away. On the second night twelve more will come, and on the thirdtwenty-four. These will cut off your head. But at twelve o'clock theirpower goes, and if you have borne it, and not spoken a word, I shallbe saved. Then I will come to you, and bring a little flask containingthe Water of Life, with which I will sprinkle you, and you will bebrought to life again, as sound and well as ever you were.'
Then he said, 'I will gladly save you!'
Everything happened just as she had said. The black men could notforce a word out of him; and on the third night the Serpent became abeautiful Princess, who brought the Water of Life as she had promised,and restored the youth to life. Then she fell on his neck and kissedhim, and there were great rejoicings all over the castle.
Their marriage was celebrated, and he became King of the GoldenMountain.
{The Son made a circle, and his Father and he took their places within it, and the little black Mannikin appeared.}]
They lived happily together, and in course of time a beautiful boywas born to them.
When eight years had passed, the King's heart grew tender within himas he thought of his father, and he wanted to go home to see him. Butthe Queen did not want him to go. She said, 'I know it will be to mymisfortune.' However, he gave her no peace till she agreed to let himgo. On his departure she gave him a wishing-ring, and said, 'Take thisring, and put it on your finger, and you will at once be at the placewhere you wish to be. Only, you must promise never to use it to wishme away from here to be with you at your father's.'
He made the promise, and put the ring on his finger; he then wishedhimself before the town where his father lived, and at the same momentfound himself at the gate. But the sentry would not let him in becausehis clothes, though of rich material, were of such strange cut. So hewent up a mountain, where a Shepherd lived, and, exchanging clothingwith him, put on his old smock, and passed into the town unnoticed.
When he reached his father he began making himself known; but hisfather, never thinking that it was his son, said that it was true hehad once had a son, but he had long been dead. But, he added, seeingthat he was a poor Shepherd, he would give him a plate of food.
The supposed Shepherd said to his parents, 'I am indeed your son. Isthere no mark on my body by which you may know me?'
His mother said, 'Yes, our son has a strawberry mark under his rightarm.'
He pushed up his shirt sleeve, and there was the strawberry mark; sothey no longer doubted that he was their son. He told them that he wasthe King of the Golden Mountain, his wife was a Princess, and they hada little son seven years old.
'That can't be true,' said his father. 'You are a fine sort of King tocome home in a tattered Shepherd's smock.'
His son grew angry, and, without stopping to reflect, turned his ringround and wished his wife and son to appear. In a moment they bothstood before him; but his wife did nothing but weep and lament, andsaid that he had broken his promise, and by so doing had made her veryunhappy. He said, 'I have acted incautiously, but from no bad motive,'and he tried to soothe her.
She appeared to be calmed, but really she nourished evil intentionstowards him in her heart.
Shortly after he took her outside the town to the field, and showedher the stream down which he had drifted in the little boat. Then hesaid, 'I am tired; I want to rest a little.'
So she sat down, and he rested his head upon her lap, and soon fellfast asleep. As soon as he was asleep, she drew the ring from hisfinger, and drew herself gently away from him, leaving only herslipper behind. Last of all, taking her child in her arms, she wishedherself back in her own kingdom. When he woke up, h
e found himselfquite deserted; wife and child were gone, the ring had disappearedfrom his finger, and only her slipper remained as a token.
'I can certainly never go home to my parents,' he said. 'They wouldsay I was a sorcerer. I must go away and walk till I reach my ownkingdom again.'
So he went away, and at last he came to a mountain, where three Giantswere quarrelling about the division of their father's property. Whenthey saw him passing, they called him up, and said, 'Little peoplehave sharp wits,' and asked him to divide their inheritance for them.
It consisted, first, of a sword, with which in one's hand, if onesaid, 'All heads off, mine alone remain,' every head fell to theground. Secondly, of a mantle which rendered any one putting it oninvisible. Thirdly, of a pair of boots which transported the wearer towhatever place he wished.
He said, 'Give me the three articles so that I may see if they are allin good condition.'
So they gave him the mantle, and he at once became invisible. He tookhis own shape again, and said, 'The mantle is good; now give me thesword.'
But they said, 'No, we can't give you the sword. If you were to say,"All heads off, mine alone remain," all our heads would fall, andyours would be the only one left.'
At last, however, they gave it to him, on condition that he was to tryit on a tree. He did as they wished, and the sword went through thetree trunk as if it had been a straw. Then he wanted the boots, butthey said, 'No, we won't give them away. If you were to put them onand wish yourself on the top of the mountain, we should be leftstanding here without anything.'
'No,' said he; 'I won't do that.'
So they gave him the boots too; but when he had all three he couldthink of nothing but his wife and child, and said to himself, 'Oh, ifonly I were on the Golden Mountain again!' and immediately hedisappeared from the sight of the Giants, and there was an end oftheir inheritance.
When he approached his castle he heard sounds of music, fiddles andflutes, and shouts of joy. People told him that his wife wascelebrating her marriage with another husband. He was filled withrage, and said, 'The false creature! She deceived me, and deserted mewhen I was asleep.'
Then he put on his mantle, and went to the castle, invisible to all.When he went into the hall, where a great feast was spread with therichest foods and the costliest wines, the guests were joking andlaughing while they ate and drank. The Queen sat on her throne intheir midst in gorgeous clothing, with the crown on her head. Heplaced himself behind her, and no one saw him. Whenever the Queen puta piece of meat on her plate, he took it away and ate it, and when herglass was filled he took it away and drank it. Her plate and her glasswere constantly refilled, but she never had anything, for itdisappeared at once. At last she grew frightened, got up, and went toher room in tears, but he followed her there too. She said to herself,'Am I still in the power of the demon? Did my preserver never come?'
He struck her in the face, and said, 'Did your preserver never come?He is with you now, deceiver that you are. Did I deserve suchtreatment at your hands?' Then he made himself visible, and went intothe hall, and cried, 'The wedding is stopped, the real King has come.'
The Kings, Princes, and Nobles who were present laughed him to scorn.But he only said, 'Will you go, or will you not?' They tried to seizehim, but he drew his sword and said,
'All heads off, mine alone remain.'
Then all their heads fell to the ground, and he remained sole King andLord of the Golden Mountain.
{A fairy.}]