The White Snake
A long time ago there lived a King whose wisdom was celebrated far andwide. Nothing was unknown to him, and news of the most secrettransactions seemed to reach him through the air.
Now he had one very odd habit. Every day at dinner, when the courtiershad withdrawn, and he was quite alone, a trusted Servant had to bringin another dish. It was always covered, and even the Servant did notknow what it contained, nor any one else, for the King never uncoveredit till he was alone. This had gone on for a long time, when one daythe Servant who carried the dish was overcome by his curiosity, andtook the dish to his own room.
When he had carefully locked the door, he took the dish-cover off, andsaw a White Snake lying on the dish.
At the sight of it, he could not resist tasting it; so he cut a pieceoff, and put it into his mouth.
Hardly had he tasted it, however, when he heard a wonderful whisperingof delicate voices.
He went to the window and listened, and he noticed that the whisperscame from the sparrows outside. They were chattering away, and tellingeach other all kinds of things that they had heard in the woods andfields. Eating the Snake had given him the power of understanding thelanguage of birds and animals.
Now it happened on this day that the Queen lost her most preciousring, and suspicion fell upon this trusted Servant who went abouteverywhere.
The King sent for him, and threatened that if it was not found by thenext day, he would be sent to prison.
In vain he protested his innocence; he was not believed.
In his grief and anxiety he went down into the courtyard and wonderedhow he should get out of his difficulty.
A number of Ducks were lying peaceably together by a stream, strokingdown their feathers with their bills, while they chattered gaily.
The Servant stood still to listen to them. They were telling eachother of their morning's walks and experiences.
Then one of them said somewhat fretfully: 'I have something lyingheavy on my stomach. In my haste I swallowed the Queen's ring thismorning.'
The Servant quickly seized it by the neck, carried it off into thekitchen, and said to the Cook: 'Here's a fine fat Duck. You had betterkill it at once.'
'Yes, indeed,' said the Cook, weighing it in her hand. 'It has sparedno pains in stuffing itself; it should have been roasted long ago.'
So she killed it, and cut it open, and there, sure enough, was theQueen's ring.
The Servant had now no difficulty in proving his innocence, and theKing, to make up for his injustice, gave the Servant leave to ask anyfavour he liked, and promised him the highest post about the Courtwhich he might desire.
The Servant, however, declined everything but a horse, and some moneyto travel with, as he wanted to wander about for a while, to see theworld.
His request being granted, he set off on his travels, and one day cameto a pond, where he saw three Fishes caught among the reeds, andgasping for breath. Although it is said that fishes are dumb, heunderstood their complaint at perishing thus miserably. As he had acompassionate heart, he got off his horse and put the three captivesback into the water. They wriggled in their joy, stretched up theirheads above the water, and cried--
'We will remember that you saved us, and reward you for it.'
{The Fishes, in their joy, stretched up their heads above the water, and promised to reward him.}]
He rode on again, and after a time he seemed to hear a voice in thesand at his feet. He listened, and heard an Ant-King complain: 'I wishthese human beings and their animals would keep out of our way. Aclumsy horse has just put his hoof down upon a number of my people inthe most heartless way.'
He turned his horse into a side path, and the Ant-King cried: 'We willremember and reward you.'
The road now ran through a forest, and he saw a pair of Ravensstanding by their nest throwing out their young.
'Away with you, you gallows birds,' they were saying. 'We can't feedyou any longer. You are old enough to look after yourselves.'
The poor little nestlings lay on the ground, fluttering and flappingtheir wings, and crying: 'We, poor helpless children, to feedourselves, and we can't even fly! We shall die of hunger, there isnothing else for it.'
The good Youth dismounted, killed his horse with his sword, and leftthe carcase as food for the young Ravens. They hopped along to it, andcried: 'We will remember and reward you.'
Now he had to depend upon his own legs, and after going a long way hecame to a large town.
There was much noise and bustle in the streets, where a man onhorseback was making a proclamation.
'The King's daughter seeks a husband, but any one who wishes to suefor her hand must accomplish a hard task; and if he does not bring itto a successful issue, he will forfeit his life.'
Many had already attempted the task, but they had risked their livesin vain.
When the Youth saw the Princess, he was so dazzled by her beauty thathe forgot all danger, at once sought an audience of the King, andannounced himself as a suitor.
He was immediately led out to the seashore, and a golden ring wasthrown into the water before his eyes. Then the King ordered him tofetch it out from the depths of the sea, and added--
'If you come to land without it, you will be thrown back every timetill you perish in the waves.'
Every one pitied the handsome Youth, but they had to go and leave himstanding solitary on the seashore.
He was pondering over what he should do, when, all at once, he sawthree Fishes swimming towards him. They were no others than the veryones whose lives he had saved.
The middle one carried a mussel-shell in its mouth, which it laid onthe sand at the feet of the Youth. When he picked it up, and openedit, there lay the ring.
Full of joy, he took it to the King, expecting that he would give himthe promised reward.
The proud Princess, however, when she heard that he was not her equal,despised him, and demanded that he should perform yet another task.
So she went into the garden herself, and strewed ten sacks of milletseeds among the grass.
'He must pick up every one of those before the sun rises to-morrowmorning,' said she. 'Not a grain must be missing.'
The Youth sat miserably in the garden, wondering how it could possiblybe done. But as he could not think of a plan, he remained sadlywaiting for the dawn which would bring death to him.
But when the first sunbeams fell on the garden, he saw the ten sacksfull to the top, and not a grain was missing. The Ant-King had come inthe night with thousands and thousands of his Ants, and the gratefulcreatures had picked up the millet and filled the sacks.
The Princess came into the garden herself, and saw with amazement thatthe Youth had completed the task.
But still she could not control her proud heart, and she said: 'Evenif he has accomplished these two tasks, he shall not become my husbandtill he brings me an apple from the tree of life.'
The Youth had no idea where to find the tree of life. However, hestarted off, meaning to walk as far as his legs would carry him; buthe had no hope of finding it.
When he had travelled through three kingdoms, he was one night passingthrough a great forest, and he lay down under a tree to sleep.
He heard a rustling among the branches, and a golden apple fell intohis hand. At the same time three Ravens flew down and perched on hisknee, and said:
'We are the young Ravens you saved from death. When we grew big, andheard that you were looking for the golden apple, we flew across thesea to the end of the world, where the tree of life stands, andbrought you the apple.'
The Youth, delighted, started on his homeward journey, and took thegolden apple to the beautiful Princess, who had now no further excuseto offer.
They divided the apple of life, and ate it together, and then herheart was filled with love for him, and they lived happily to a greatage.