(A.)—Tales like the Keltic.

(A.)—Tales like the Keltic.Malbrouk.2Like many others in the world, there was a man and a woman who were over-burdened with children, and were very poor. The man used to go to the forest every day to get wood for his family. His wife was on the point of being confined. One day he was in the forest, and a gentleman comes to him, and says:“What are you doing, friend?”“I am looking for wood to support my family.”“You are very poor, then?”“Yes, yes.”“If you will make me godfather to your next child according to your law, I will give you a great deal of money.”He says to him, “Yes, I will do so.”He gives him, then, a great deal of money, and he goeshome. His wife is confined shortly afterwards, and they were waiting, not knowing what to do to tell it to the godfather, since they did not know where he lived. He himself appeared from somewhere. They go to the church, and he gives him the name Malbrouk. While they were returning to the house, the godfather disappears with the child like smoke. The father and mother were distressed about it, though they had plenty of money; but in time their grief faded away.The old Malbrouk went to his house. His wife was a witch, and they had three daughters. The little Malbrouk grew fast, and at seven years’ old he was as tall as a tall man. His godfather said to him:“Malbrouk, would you like to go to your own home?”He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the littleMalbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):“You have taken good care whom you have killed? I am not at all satisfied that you have not done some donkey-trick.”The witch goes, and sees her three daughters dead. She was terribly angry,3and there was no help for it.Malbrouk and his brothers come to a place where a king lives, and he remarks that everything is sad. He asks what it is? They tell him that the king has lost his three daughters, and that nobody can find them. Malbrouk says to them:“I will find them.”They tell that quickly to the king, and bring them before him, and Malbrouk tells him, too, that he will find them. All three set out. When they have gone a little way they find an old woman, who says to them:“Where are you going to in that fashion?”“To look for the king’s three daughters.”This old woman says to them:“Go to the king, and ask him for three hundred fathoms of new rope, a bucket, and a bell.”They go, and the king gives to them immediately what they ask for. They go, then, to the woman, and she says to them, pointing to a well, that they are in that well.4The eldest put himself into the bucket, and says to them:“When I am afraid, I will ring the bell.”When he has gone only a little way he is frightened, and rings. They pull him up. The second goes; and when he has gone a little farther down he is frightened, and rings. Malbrouk then gets in, and he says to them:“When I shall give a pull at the bucket from below, then you will pull it up.”He goes down, then, and at last he sees that there is a beautiful house underground, and he sees there a beautiful young lady, who is sitting with a serpent asleep in her lap. When she sees Malbrouk, she says to him:“Be off, I pray you, from here; he has only three-quarters of an hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all over with you and me.”He says to her, “No matter; lay the head of the serpent on the ground, gently, gently, without waking him.”She lays it there, and he carries off this young lady in the bucket, after having pulled the cord. He goes into another chamber, and he sees another young lady, still more beautiful, with the head of a lion asleep on her lap. She also says to him:“Be off quickly from here. He has only half-an-hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all up with you and me.”Malbrouk says to her, “Place gently, gently, without waking him, the head of the lion on the ground.”She does so. Malbrouk takes her, gets into the bucket with her, and his brothers pull them both up. They write at once to the king to come and fetch them, that they have found two of his daughters. As you may suppose, the king sends a carriage directly to fetch them, and he makes great rejoicings. The king tells him to choose whichever of the two he likes for his wife. Malbrouk says to him:“When I shall have found your third daughter she shall be my wife, and my two brothers may take these two young ladies for their wives.”They do as Malbrouk said, and he sets out to see his sweetheart. He goes on, and on, and on. All the fowls of the air know Malbrouk. As he was going along he findsa wolf, a dog, a hawk, and an ant, and in their language they cry out:“Oyhu!5Malbrouk, Malbrouk!” and saying to him, “Where are you going, Malbrouk? these three days we have been here before this sheep, and cannot agree how to divide it; but you, you shall divide it.”Malbrouk goes to them, then, trembling lest they should make a division of him, too. He cuts off the head, and gives it to the ant.“You will have enough to eat, and for your whole household.”He gives the entrails to the hawk, and for the dog and the wolf he cuts the carcase in half. He left them all well satisfied; and Malbrouk goes on his way in silence, in silence. When he had gone a little way, the ant says:“We have not given Malbrouk any reward.”The wolf calls to him to come back. Malbrouk comes trembling, thinking that it was his turn, and that they are going to eat him, without doubt. The ant says to him:“We have not given you anything, after that you have made such a good division for us; but whenever you wish to become an ant, you have only to say, ‘Jesus, ant!’ and you will become an ant.”The hawk says to him: “When you wish to make yourself a hawk, you will say, ‘Jesus, hawk!’ and you will be a hawk.”The wolf says to him: “When you shall wish to become a wolf, you shall say, ‘Jesus, wolf!’ and you shall be a wolf.”And the dog, he said to him the same thing, too.6Hegoes off, then, well pleased, further into the forest. A woodpecker says to him:“Malbrouk, where are you going?”“To fetch such a daughter of a king.”“You will not find her easily. Since they have delivered her sisters, he has carried her to the farther side of the Red Sea,7in an island, and keeps her there in prison, in a beautiful house, with the doors and windows so closely shut that only the ants can get into that house.”Malbrouk goes off happy at hearing this news, and that he would find the princess. He goes on, and on, and on, and he arrives opposite to this island, and remembering what the hawk had said to him, he said, “Jesus, hawk!” and immediately he becomes a hawk.8He flies away, and goes on until he comes to the island of which the woodpecker had told him; he sees that he can only get in there like an ant, and he says, “Jesus, ant!” and he gets through the little lattice-work. He is dazed at the sight of the beauty of this young lady. He says, “Jesus, man!” and he becomes a man again. When the young lady sees him, she says to him:“Be off quickly from here. It is all over with your life. He is about to come, this horrible body without a soul,9before a quarter of an hour, and you will be done away with.”“I will become an ant again, and I will place myself in your bosom; but do not scratch yourself too hard, else you will crush me.”As soon as he has said that the monster comes. Hegives her partridges and pigeons for her dinner, but he himself eats serpents and horrible vermin. He tells her that he has a slight headache, and to take the hammer and rap him on the head. She could not lift it, it was so big; but she knocks him as well as she is able. The monster goes off. The ant comes out from where he was, and prepares to eat the partridges and pigeons with the young lady. Malbrouk said to her:“You must ask him, as if you were in great trouble about it, what would have to be done to kill him? and you will tell him how unhappy you would be if he should be killed—that you would die of hunger in prison in this island.”The young lady says, “Yes,” she will do so.The monster comes again, and says to her:“Ay! ay! ay! my head. Take the hammer, and hit me hard.”The young lady does it until she is tired, and then she says:“How unfortunate I shall be if you die.”He answers, “I shall not die. He who will know that will know a great secret.”“Most certainly I would not wish you to die. I should die of hunger in this island without you, and I should get no benefit by it. You ought to tell me what would kill you.”He says to her, “No! Before this, too, a woman has deceived a man, and I will not tell you.”“You can tell it to me—yes, to me. To whom shall I tell it? I see nobody. Nobody is able to come here.”At last, at last, he tells her then:“You must kill a terrible wolf which is in the forest, and inside him is a fox, in the fox is a pigeon; this pigeon has an egg in his head, and whoever should strike me on the forehead with this egg would kill me.10But who will know all that? Nobody.”The princess said to him, “Nobody, happily. I, too, I should die.”The monster goes out as before, and the ant too, as you may think, happy in knowing the secret. On the very next day he sets out for the forest. He sees a frightful wolf. He says, directly, “Jesus, wolf!” and he immediately becomes a wolf. He then goes to this wolf, and they begin to fight, and he gets him down and chokes him. He leaves him there, and goes off to the young lady in the island, and says to her:“We have got the wolf; I have killed him, and left him in the forest.”The monster comes directly afterwards, saying:“Ay! ay! ay! my head! Strike my head quickly.”She hits his head till she is tired. He says to the princess:“They have killed the wolf; I do not know if anything is going to happen to me. I am much afraid of it.”“You have nothing to be afraid of. To whom could I have told anything? Nobody can get in here.”When he has gone, the ant goes to the forest. He opens the wolf, and out of him comes a fox, who escapes at full speed. Malbrouk says, “Jesus, dog!” and he becomes a dog. He, too, sets off running, and catches the fox. They begin to fight, and he kills him, too. He opens him, and there comes out of him a pigeon. Malbrouk says, at once, “Jesus, hawk!” and he becomes a hawk. He flies off to catch the pigeon, seizes him in his terrible talons, and takes out of his head this precious egg, and goes proudly with it into the chamber of the young lady. He tells how he has very happily accomplished his business, and says to her:“At present, it is your turn; act alone.”And again he makes himself an ant. Our monster comes, crying, that it is all up with him, that they have taken the egg out of the pigeon, and that he does not know what must become of him. He tells her to strike him on the head with the hammer.The young lady says to him:“What have you to fear? Who shall have got this egg? And how should he strike your forehead?”He shows her how, saying, “Like that.”As the young lady had the egg in her hand, she strikes the monster as he had told her, and he falls stark dead. In an instant the ant comes out joyously (from his hiding-place), and he says to her:“We must set out instantly for your father’s house.”They open a window, and the young man makes himself a hawk, and he says to the young lady:“Cling firmly to my neck.”And he flies off, and they arrive at the other side of the island. He writes immediately to the king his lord, to send and fetch them as quickly as possible. The king sent; and judge what joy and what feasts there were in that court. The king wished them to marry directly, but Malbrouk would not do so. (He said) that he ought to bring his dowry. The king said to him:“You have gained enough already.”He will not hear of that, but goes off far, far, far away, to the house of his godfather.They had there a cow with golden horns, and these horns bore fruits of diamonds. A boy used to guard her in the field. Malbrouk said to him:11“What! do you not hear that the master is calling you? Go, quickly, then, and learn what he wants of you.”The boy, (believing it), goes off. The master calls to him from the window:“Where are you going to, leaving the cow? Go quickly; I see that Malbrouk is about there.”The boy sets off running back, but he cannot find the cow. Malbrouk had got off proudly with his cow, and he gives it to his future wife, who was very much pleased with it.The king wished him, then, to marry, (saying) that he was quite rich enough. Malbrouk would not yet. He must make a present to the king. He goes again to his godfather’s house. He wished to steal from him a moon, which lighted for seven leagues round. Old Malbrouk used to drink a barrel of water every night. Young Malbrouk goes and empties this barrel. When night came, Malbrouk goes to drink at his barrel, and finds it empty. He goes to find his wife, and says to her:“I have not got a drop of water; go directly, and fetch me some. I cannot bear this thirst.”His wife said to him, “It is night, light your moon.” He lights it, and puts it by the chimney, on the roof. When everyone has gone to the fountain, young Malbrouk goes and takes this moon, and carries it to the king. And he, astonished, said to him:“Now you have done grandly; now be married.”But he would not; (he said) that he ought to bring something more. His godfather had a violin, which it was enough only to touch for it to play, no matter what beautiful music, and it would be heard seven leagues off. He goes into his godfather’s house to take the violin, and as soon as he has touched it, it begins to play music. Old Malbrouk rushes off, and catches his godson in the act. He seizes him, and puts him into an iron cage. He and his wife are right well pleased. They say to him:“This evening we are going to roast you, and eat you.”Old Malbrouk goes to the forest to fetch wood, and his wife was busy cutting some small—she was taking a great deal of trouble about it. Malbrouk says to her:“Let me get out of here; I will cut that wood for you. You can kill me all the same this evening.”She lets him out. After having cut up some, he takes one of the largest pieces and strikes the wife of Malbrouk, and kills her. He makes a great fire, and puts her in the caldron to boil. He takes the violin, and leaves thehouse. When old Malbrouk hears the violin, he says to himself:“My wife, not being able to hold out any longer, has, doubtless, killed Malbrouk, and to show me her joy she has taken the violin.”And he does not trouble himself any more about it. When he approaches the house he stands, well pleased, looking at the caldron on the fire, but, on coming nearer, he sees some long hairs. He pulls out a little more, and perceives that it is his wife, who is there already, half-boiled. Think what a rage he was in. The young Malbrouk went to the king’s house, and married his well-beloved princess. They made great rejoicings. As the king was somewhat aged, he gives his crown to Malbrouk, saying that he had well gained it. They all lived happily, and he made his two brothers kings also.Laurentine,About 35 years old; learnt it from her mother.The Fisherman and His Sons.Like many others in the world, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife. One day he was fishing and caught a fine fish (at that time all the animals and everything used to speak), and the fish said to him:12“Spare my life! Spare my life! I will give you all that you shall desire.”And this poor man spared its life, and went home without having caught anything else. When he came home his wife asks him:“Where are your fish?”He tells her how that he had caught a fish, and that it had begged him to spare its life, and that he had left it in the water. His wife says to him:“Have you lost your head then? After having caught a fish to put it back again into the water!”And she called him all sorts of names, even “big donkey.”The next day he goes fishing again, and (what a chance!) the same fish came again. It asks him again to spare its life. But the man answers:“No! My wife loaded me with abuse last evening.”The fish said to him that he would give him as much money as he wished if he would but spare him. And our fisherman lets him go again. He remains there again all day, but nothing comes to his hook. Again he goes off home without anything at all. His wife is furious at seeing that he has nothing. He gives her some money, but she was not satisfied, and told her husband that he ought to have brought the fish.He goes fishing again for the third time, and again the same fish returns, and says to him, “Let me go into the water.”But our man will not let him go again; his wife had scolded him so much last night. He must carry him home.“Well, then, since you will carry me home, I will tell you how you must divide me. You must give my tail to the dog, my head to the mare, and my trunk to your wife. At the end of a certain time your wife will bear three sons, and they will all be exactly like each other, exactly alike. The mare will have three colts, but all three alike, and the bitch three puppies, all exactly alike too. And if any misfortune should happen to any of the three children, the well which is behind the house will begin to boil.”The woman did as the fish had said, and she gave birth to three wonderfully fine boys, who were all exactly, exactly alike, and the mare had three colts exactly alike, and the bitch three puppies exactly alike too.When these children grew big, one of them said to his parents that he wished to go from country to country to see the world. His parents did not wish it. But he had such a desire that at last they gave him leave. He takes a horse and a dog, extraordinarily large and handsome, a sword also,13and off he starts. He goes on, and on, very, very far. He comes to a city and goes to an inn. They were lamenting loudly there, and everybody was sad.14He asks, “What is it?” They tell him how that a serpent with seven heads lived in the mountain, and that every day they drew lots to know who should go to him, because he must eat one person every day; and that to-day the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter, and that everyone was in mourning, and that the next day this princess must go very early to the mountain.Our young man takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and starts off before the princess. He keeps himself hidden until the princess was alone at the top. Then our lad comes out, and the princess says to him:“Where do you come from here? Go down quickly, else you will be eaten as well as I. It is quite enough for one (to die).”And she entreats him to go down, but our lad will not. He wishes to try if he can do anything. At the same moment they hear a shrill hissing, and with that the serpent comes. The lad says to the dog:“Do your duty.”And the dog leaps upon the serpent and holds him. He takes his sword and cuts off his seven heads as best he can. When he has done that he takes the seven tongues out of the seven heads and puts them in his pocket. This princess had on seven robes, each more beautiful than the others,and he cuts seven pieces out of them severally. The princess does not know what to do to thank him. She wishes to take the lad home with her, but he will not go. And he returns to the inn.The king proclaims that the man who has killed the serpent has gained the half of his kingdom, and his daughter; that he should make himself known. Our lad does not show himself at all, but a charcoal-burner15passing by on the mountain found the seven heads. He presents himself before the king as if he had killed the serpent. But the princess does not recognise him, and says that it is not he who has saved her. But as no one else came the marriage was about to be celebrated, when the princess pointed out to her father from a distance her rescuer. The king would not believe her. But they send and fetch him, and tell the charcoal-burner to show the seven heads of the serpent, and he shows them with great boldness. Our young man tells him to open their mouths. He does so, and the mouths had no tongues. Then he who had killed the serpent shows the seven tongues, and the seven pieces of the princess’ robes, and they were all convinced that he had killed the serpent; and they burned the charcoal-burner alive in the middle of the market-place.Our young man marries the princess, and they had many and great rejoicings because he had delivered all the world from the terrible serpent. In the evening, when they retired to their chamber, the wife knelt down to say her prayers, and the husband went and looked out of the window, and he saw by the moonlight a magnificent castle,16which he had never seen before.He asks his wife:“What is that?”His wife says to him:“Nobody goes to that castle, for they who go there never return.”17The husband said to her that he must go there. His wife did not wish it, but he had such a desire to do so that he takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and goes off. He looks round and round (the castle), but he cannot find the door. At last he finds a little door half hidden, very small. He knocks. An old woman comes to him, and asks him what he wants.He says, “I have seen this castle so beautiful outside, that I am anxious to see the inside.”She shows him in. He sees a table splendidly laid out. There was nothing that there was not on the table. This woman invites him to take something. He says that he does not want anything, but she insists so much that he ends by taking something. As soon as he has eaten the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and by no means could he get out of that house.The water begins to boil at home, as the fish had said. All those in the house are grieved because some misfortune has happened to the son. One of the brothers at home said that he would immediately set out to the help of his brother. Those at home are very sorry, but they let him go. He takes a horse and a dog. The father and mother give him all the money that they can give him, and he starts off. He goes on, and on, and on, and, as was fated,18he comes to the same inn as his brother. There they recognise him. They inform the king that the gentleman is at the house, because he had had a search made for him through all the neighbourhood. They come and fetch him out of his corner, and he lets them do as they wish. A great supper was made, and he goes off with the princess. As before, the princess knelt down to pray. The young man goes to look out of the window, and sees this palace. He asks her what this beautiful castle is. She says to him:“You do not know what takes place there! They who go there never return.”He says that he will start off directly. His wife asks him if he will return to that castle as before. “Do not go, I pray you.”But nothing could have stopped him, and off he goes with his horse and his dog. Like the other brother, he goes wandering round and round the house without finding the door. At last he sees a very little door half hidden. He knocks at it, and the old woman comes and says to him:“What do you want?”“I have seen the outside of this castle, and I wish to see the inside.”She tells him to come in. He leaves his horse and his dog outside, and he sees a table splendidly set out; one could not mention anything that was wanting, there was something of everything. She tells him to eat something. He did not wish to, but at last he takes something, (so little, that it was) almost nothing. At the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and cannot in any way get out.The water at home begins to boil, and they know that some misfortune has happened to him.The third brother said that he must set out as quickly as possible. The parents did not wish it, but he said to them:“Perhaps I shall save them; let me go.”They give him as much money as they can. He takes a horse and a dog, and off he starts. He goes on, and on, and on. He also goes to the same inn as his other brothers. He is recognised immediately, and the king is informed that this young gentleman is there. He sends to fetch him immediately, and makes great feastings and rejoicings, thinking that it is always the same as their first young gentleman. In the evening he is conducted to the princess. The princess kneels down to say her evening prayers, and her husband, wishing to see a little more of the festival, placed himself at the window. He also sees the beautiful castle. He asks his wife:“What is this beautiful house?”She says to him, “What! You! Do notyouknow what it is? No one returns from there. You know yourself what happens there, since you have been there yourself.”He said to her, “I must go and see it again.”The princess would not let him go; but he broke away from her. He takes his horse and his dog, and starts off. He looks, and looks all round, and cannot find the door. An old woman appears to him, and says to him—“What do you think will become of you here? They who go in there do not come out.”“But that is why I wish to go in, to know what passes within.”Then the old woman gives him a pigeon, cooked and prepared for eating, and said to him,“Inside there is an old woman. She will try and force you to eat; but, if you are wise, you will not eat. You will show her the pigeon that you have in your pocket which remains after your repast, and you must make her eat some of the pigeon, and you will have full power over her.”When he has found the door, he knocks. This old woman comes, and asks him what he wants. He says that he only wishes to see this house. She lets him in. He takes his dog, also, with him. He sees this splendid table. She wishes absolutely to make him eat; but he says that it is altogether impossible—that he has in his pocket a pigeon which he has not been able to eat, and that she must eat some of that. The old woman says she will not. He compels her, and tells her she must; and at last she eats it. He then asks her what she has done with his brothers. She says that she knows nothing about them; that she does not know what he means. He forces her to tell him, and says to her,“I will make my dog strangle you if you do not tell me.”He frightens her so, that she shows him some terriblemonsters. He tells her to restore them as they were before, otherwise some misfortune shall happen to her, and to mind what she is about. At last she set to work to change them as they were before, and their horses and dogs as well.They all go to the king’s palace, where everyone is immensely astonished to see three gentlemen arrive exactly alike in all respects. They ask the princess which is her husband. But the poor young lady is greatly embarrassed. She could not distinguish them, because they were exactly alike. At last he who had killed the serpent said that he was her husband. They make great rejoicings, and give a great deal of money to the two brothers, and to their parents, and they went off. They burnt the old woman in the midst of the market-place, and this handsome castle was given to the newly-married pair, and they lived happily at court; and, as they lived well, so they died happily.Catherine Elizondo.All thelatterpart of this tale is much more detailed than in the Gaelic, and it is singular to read this note from Campbell’s collector:—“The Gaelic is given as nearly as possible in the words used by Mackenzie; but he thinks his story rather shortened.” Of the identity of the two stories there can be no doubt, although each supplies what is wanting to the other.Tabakiera, the Snuff-Box.19Like many others in the world, there was a lad who wished to travel, and off he went. He finds a snuff-box, and opens it. And the snuff-box said to him—“Que quieres?” (“What do you wish for?”)He is frightened, and puts it at once into his pocket. Luckily he did not throw it away. He goes on, and on, and on, and at last he said to himself,“(I wonder) if it would say to me again, ‘Que quieres?’ I should well know what to answer.”He takes it out again, and opens it, and it says to him again,“Que quieres?”The lad says to it, “My hat full of gold.”And it is filled!He is astounded, and he said to himself that he would never want anything any more. He goes on, and on, and on; and, after he had passed some forests, he arrives at a fine castle. The king lived there. He goes round, and round, and round it, looking at it with an impudent air. The king says to him—“What are you looking for?”“To see your castle.”“You would wish, too, to have one like it?”The lad does not answer. When the evening came, our lad takes out his snuff-box, and it said to him,“Que quieres?”“Build here, on this very spot, a castle, with laths of gold and silver, and diamond tiles, and with all its furniture of gold and silver.”20As soon as he has said it, he sees in front of the king’s castle a castle like what he had asked for. When the king gets up in the morning, he was astonished at this dazzling castle. His eyes were blinded by the (reflection of the) rays of the sun which fell upon it. The king went and said to him—“You must be a man of great power,21and you must cometo our house, where we will live together. I have a daughter, too, and you shall marry her.”They do as the king had said, and they lived all together in the dazzling house. He was married to the king’s daughter, and lived happily.Now, the king’s wife was very envious of the lad and of his wife. She knew, by her daughter, how that they had a snuff-box, and that it did all that they wished. She intrigued with one of the servants to try and take it from them; but they take great care (to conceal) where they put the snuff-box away every evening. Nevertheless, at last she sees where it is put, and in the middle of the night, while they slept, she takes it from them, and carries it to her old mistress. What a joy for her!She opens it, and the snuff-box says to her, “Que quieres?”“You must take myself and my husband, and my servants, and this beautiful house, to the other side of the Red Sea,22and leave my daughter and her husband here.”When the young couple awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the old castle, and their snuff-box was gone. They look for it everywhere, but it is useless.The young man will not wait an instant longer at home. He must start off at once to find his castle and his snuff-box. He takes a horse, and as much gold as the horse can carry, and he goes on, and on, and on, and on. He searches through all the towns in the neighbourhood until he had finished all his money. He searched, but he did not find it anywhere. But he went looking out still, feeding his horse as best he could, and begging for himself. Some one told him that he ought to go to the moon—that he makes a very long journey, and that he might guide him. He goes far, far, far away, on, and on, and on, and at last he arrives. He finds an old woman, who says to him—“What do you come to do here? My son devours all creatures of all sorts; and, if you will trust me, you will be off before his arrival.”He tells her his misfortunes—how that he had a snuff-box of great power, which has been stolen from him, and that he is now without anything, far from his wife, and stripped of everything, “and perhaps your son, in his journeys, has seen my palace, with its golden laths and tiles of diamonds, and the other ornaments of gold and silver.”At that moment the moon appeared, and said to his mother that he smelt some one. His mother told him how that there was a wretched man who had lost everything; that he was come to him (for help), and that he would guide him. The moon told him to show himself. He comes, and asks him if he has not seen a house with beams of gold and with tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver; and he tells him how it was taken away from him.He answers, “No;” that he has not seen it, but that the sun makes longer journeys than he, and of greater extent, and that he would do better to go to him.He goes off again, on, and on, and on, with his horse, whom he nourished as he could, and begging for himself. At length he arrives at the sun’s house. He finds an old woman, who said to him,“Where do you come from? Be off from here! Do you not know that my son eats all Christians?”He said to her, “No! I will not go away. I am so wretched that I do not care if he does eat me.”And he tells her how he has lost everything; that he had a house, which had not its equal, with beams of gold and tiles of diamonds, and all the ornaments of gold and precious stones; and that he had been going about looking for it so long a time, and that there was no man so wretched as he. This woman hides him. The sun comes out and says to his mother—“I smell the smell of a Christian, and I must eat him.”The mother tells him that it was an unfortunate man who had lost his all, that he had come to speak to him, and begs him to take pity on him. He tells her to bring him out. Then the young man comes and asks the sun if he has seen a palace which has its equal nowhere, with its laths of gold and its tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver. The sun says to him:“No, but the south wind searches everything that I cannot see. He enters into every corner, he does, and if any one ought to know he will know.”Our poor man then sets off again, feeding his horse how he could and begging for himself, and he comes at length to the house of the south wind.23He finds an old woman carrying water, and who was filling a great many barrels. She said to him:“What are you thinking of to come here? My son eats up everything when he arrives hungry and furious. You must beware of him.”He says to her, “It is all the same to me. Let him eat me; I am so wretched that I fear nothing.”And he tells her how he had a beautiful house which had not its equal in all the world, and with it all sorts of riches, and that, “Having abandoned my wife, I am seeking it, and I am come to consult your son, being sent by the sun.”She hides him under the staircase. The south wind arrives as if he meant to tear the house up, and very thirsty. Before beginning to drink he smells the smell of the race of Christians, and said to his mother:“Out with what you have hidden,” and that he must begin by eating him.His mother said to him, “Eat and drink what is before you.”And she tells him the misfortunes of this man, and how that the sun has spared his life that he might come and consult him.Then he makes the man come out, and the man tells him how that he is going about trying to find a house, and that if anybody ought to know it is he, and that they had robbed him of his house, which had laths of gold, tiles of diamonds, and all the rest of gold and silver, and if he has not seen it anywhere?He tells him, “Yes, yes, and all to-day I have been passing over it, and have not been able to take away one of its tiles.”“Oh! if you will tell me where it is!”He says that it is on the other side of the Red Sea, very, very far away.When our man heard that, the length of the road did not frighten him—he had already travelled over so much. He sets out then, and at last arrives at that city. He asks if anyone is in want of a gardener. They tell him that the gardener of the castle has gone away, and that perhaps they will take him. He goes off, and recognises his house—judge with what joy and delight! He asks if they are in want of a gardener. They tell him “Yes,” and our lad is very pleased. He passes some time tolerably happily—middling. He talks with a servant about the riches of the masters and of the power which they had. He flattered and cajoled this young girl very much to get from her the history of the snuff-box, and he told her once that he very much wished to see it. One evening she brought it to him to look at, and our lad, very much pleased, pays great attention to where it was hidden in the room of the mistress. At night, when everybody is asleep, he goes and takes the snuff-box. You will understand with what joy he opens it.It says to him, “Que quieres?”And the lad says to it, “Que quieres, Que quieres,24carry me with my castle to the same place as (we were in) formerly, and drown the king and the queen and all the servants in this Red Sea.”As soon as he had said it, he was carried to his wife, and they lived happily, and the others all perished in the Red Sea.25Catherine Elizondo.Mahistruba, the Master Mariner.Like many others in the world, there was a master mariner. Having had many losses and misfortunes in his life he no longer made any voyages, but every day went down to the seaside for amusement, and every day he met a large serpent, and every day he said to it:“God has given thy life to thee; live then.”This master mariner lived upon what his wife and daughter earned by sewing. One day the serpent said to him:“Go to such a shipbuilder’s, and order a ship of so many tons burden. Ask the price of it, and then double the price they tell you.”26He does as the serpent told him, and the next day he goes down to the shore, and he tells the serpent that he has done as he had told him. The serpent then bids him go and fetch twelve sailors, very strong men, and to double whatever they shall ask. He goes and does what he was told to do. He returns to the serpent and tells him that he has twelve men. The serpent gives him all the money which he needed to pay for the ship. The shipbuilder is astonished to find that he is paid so large a sum of money in advance by this miserable man, but he hastens to finish his work as quickly as possible. The serpent again bids him have madein the hold of the ship a large empty space and a huge chest, and tells him to bring this down himself. He brings it, and the serpent gets into it. The ship was quickly ready, he embarks the chest in the ship, and they set out.This captain used to go every day to the serpent, but the sailors did not know what he went (into the hold) to do, nor what there was in the chest. The ship had already gone some distance, and nobody knew its destination. One day the serpent told the captain that there was going to be a frightful storm, that the earth and sky would mingle together, and that at midnight a large black bird would pass over the ship, and that it must be killed, and (he tells him) to go and see if there is any sportsman among his sailors. He goes and asks the sailors if there is any sportsman among them.27One of them answers, “Yes; I can kill a swallow in its flight.”“All the better, all the better; that will be of use to you.”He goes down to tell the serpent that there is a sportsman who can kill a swallow in its flight. And at the same moment the weather becomes black as night, and earth and sky are mingled together, and all are trembling with fright. The serpent gives the captain a good drink for the sportsman, and they bind him to the mast. At midnight a piercing cry was heard. It was the bird which was passing over, and our sportsman has the good luck to kill him. At the very instant the sea becomes calm. The captain goes to the serpent, and tells him that the bird is killed.The serpent answers him, “I know it.”When they had gone a little further without anything happening, the serpent said one day:“Are we not near such a port?”The captain says to him, “It is in sight.”“Very well, then, we are going there.”He tells him to go again, and ask his sailors if there is a fast runner among them. The captain goes and asks his sailors if there is any fast runner among them.One of them says to him, “As for me, I can catch a hare running.”“So much the better, so much the better; that will be of use to you.”The captain goes to tell the serpent that there is one who can catch a hare running. The serpent says to him:“You will land the runner at this port, and you will tell him that he must go to the top of a little mountain; that there is a little house there, and an old, old woman in it; and that there is there a steel, a flint, and a tinder-box; and that he must bring these three things on board one by one, making a separate journey each time.”Our runner goes off, and comes to this house. He sees the old woman, with red eyes, spinning at the threshold of her door. He asks her for a drop of water, that he has walked a long way without finding any water, and will she give him a little drop? The old woman says to him, “No.” He begs her again, telling her that he does not know the roads in the country, nor where he is going to. This old woman kept constantly looking at the chimney-piece, and she said to him:“I am going to give you some, then.”While she went to the pitcher, our runner takes the steel off the chimney-piece, and goes off at full speed, like the lightning; but the old woman is after him. At the very instant that he is about to leap into the ship the old woman catches him, and snatches off a bit of his coat, and a piece of the skin of his back with it.28The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have got the steel, but our man has got the skin of his back torn off.”He gives him a remedy, and a good drink, and tells him that the man will be cured by to-morrow, but that he must go again next day.He says, “No, no; the devil may carry off this old woman, if he likes, but I will not go there any more.”But, as he was cured next day by giving him that good drink again, he sets off. He dresses himself in a shirt without arms, and in an old torn pair of trousers, and goes to the old woman’s, saying that his ship is wrecked on the shore, that he has been wandering about for forty-eight hours, and he begs her to let him go to the fire to light his pipe.She says, “No.”“Do have pity—I am so wretched; it is only a little favour I ask of you.”“No, no, I was deceived yesterday.”But the man answered, “All the world are not deceivers. Don’t be afraid.”The old woman rises to go to the fire, and as she stoops to take it,29the man seizes the flint and escapes, running as if he would break his feet. But the old woman runs as fast as our runner; but she only catches him as he is jumping into the ship; she tears off the shirt, and the skin of his neck and back with it, and he falls into the ship.The captain goes directly to the serpent: “We have got the flint.”He says to him, “I know it.”He gives him the medicine and the good drink, in order that the man may be cured by the morrow, and that he may go again. But the man says, “No,” that he does not want to see that red-eyed old woman any more. They tell him that they still want the tinder-box. The next day they give him the good drink. That gives him courage, and the desire to return again.He dresses himself up as if he had been shipwrecked, and goes off half naked. He comes to the old woman’s, and asks for a little bread, as he has not eaten for a long time, (and begs her) to have pity on him—that he does not know where to go to.The old woman says to him: “Be off, where you will; you shall get nothing at my house, and nobody shall come in here. Every day I have enemies.”“But what have you to fear from a poor man who only wants a little bread, and who will be off immediately afterwards?”At last the old woman rises to go to her cupboard, and our man takes her little tinder-box. The old woman runs after him, wishing to catch him, but our man is ahead. She overtakes him just as he is leaping into the ship. The old woman takes hold of the skin of his neck, and tears it all right down to the soles of his feet. Our runner falls down, and they do not know whether he is alive or dead; and the old woman says:“I renounce him, and all those who are in this ship.”The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have the tinder-box, but our runner is in great danger. I do not know whether he will live; he has no skin left from his neck to the soles of his feet.”“Console yourselves, console yourselves, he will be cured by to-morrow. Here is the medicine and the good drink. Now, you are saved. Go on deck, and fire seven rounds of cannon.”He mounts on deck and fires the seven rounds of cannon, and returns to the serpent, and says to him:“We have fired the seven rounds.”He says to him, “Fire twelve rounds more; but do not be afraid. The police will come here; they will handcuff you. You will be put in prison, and you will ask, as a favour, not to be executed before that they have visited the ship, in order to prove that there is nothing in it to merit such a chastisement.”The captain goes on deck, and fires the twelve rounds of cannon. As soon as he has fired them, the magistrates and the police arrive; they handcuff the men, the sailors, and the captain, and they put them in prison. The sailors were not pleased; but the captain said to them:“You will soon be delivered.”The next day the captain asks to go and speak to the king. He is brought before the king, and the king says:“You are condemned to be hanged.”The captain says to him, “What! because we have fired some cannon-shots you are going to hang us!!”“Yes, yes, because for seven years we have not heard the cannon in this city.30I am in mourning—I and my people. I had an only son, and I have lost him. I cannot forget him.”The captain says to him: “I did not know either this news or this order, and I beg you not to kill us before going and seeing if there is anything in the ship which condemns us justly.”The king goes with his courtiers, his soldiers, and his judges—in a word, with everybody. When he has mounted on deck, what a surprise! The king finds his dearly-loved son, who relates to him how hehadbeen enchanted by an old woman, and that he remained a serpent seven years.31How the captain every day went to walk by the seaside, and every day left him his life, saying to him, “The good God has made you too;” and having seen the captain’s good heart, “I thought he would spare me, and it is to him that I owe my life.”He goes to the court. The men are let out of prison, and they give the captain a large sum of money for a dowry forhis two daughters, and the ship for himself. To the sailors they give as much as they like to eat and drink for all the time they wish to stop there, and afterwards enough to live upon for the rest of their lives. The king and his son lived happily, and as they had lived well, they died happily also.Gachina,The Net-maker.

(A.)—Tales like the Keltic.Malbrouk.2Like many others in the world, there was a man and a woman who were over-burdened with children, and were very poor. The man used to go to the forest every day to get wood for his family. His wife was on the point of being confined. One day he was in the forest, and a gentleman comes to him, and says:“What are you doing, friend?”“I am looking for wood to support my family.”“You are very poor, then?”“Yes, yes.”“If you will make me godfather to your next child according to your law, I will give you a great deal of money.”He says to him, “Yes, I will do so.”He gives him, then, a great deal of money, and he goeshome. His wife is confined shortly afterwards, and they were waiting, not knowing what to do to tell it to the godfather, since they did not know where he lived. He himself appeared from somewhere. They go to the church, and he gives him the name Malbrouk. While they were returning to the house, the godfather disappears with the child like smoke. The father and mother were distressed about it, though they had plenty of money; but in time their grief faded away.The old Malbrouk went to his house. His wife was a witch, and they had three daughters. The little Malbrouk grew fast, and at seven years’ old he was as tall as a tall man. His godfather said to him:“Malbrouk, would you like to go to your own home?”He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the littleMalbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):“You have taken good care whom you have killed? I am not at all satisfied that you have not done some donkey-trick.”The witch goes, and sees her three daughters dead. She was terribly angry,3and there was no help for it.Malbrouk and his brothers come to a place where a king lives, and he remarks that everything is sad. He asks what it is? They tell him that the king has lost his three daughters, and that nobody can find them. Malbrouk says to them:“I will find them.”They tell that quickly to the king, and bring them before him, and Malbrouk tells him, too, that he will find them. All three set out. When they have gone a little way they find an old woman, who says to them:“Where are you going to in that fashion?”“To look for the king’s three daughters.”This old woman says to them:“Go to the king, and ask him for three hundred fathoms of new rope, a bucket, and a bell.”They go, and the king gives to them immediately what they ask for. They go, then, to the woman, and she says to them, pointing to a well, that they are in that well.4The eldest put himself into the bucket, and says to them:“When I am afraid, I will ring the bell.”When he has gone only a little way he is frightened, and rings. They pull him up. The second goes; and when he has gone a little farther down he is frightened, and rings. Malbrouk then gets in, and he says to them:“When I shall give a pull at the bucket from below, then you will pull it up.”He goes down, then, and at last he sees that there is a beautiful house underground, and he sees there a beautiful young lady, who is sitting with a serpent asleep in her lap. When she sees Malbrouk, she says to him:“Be off, I pray you, from here; he has only three-quarters of an hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all over with you and me.”He says to her, “No matter; lay the head of the serpent on the ground, gently, gently, without waking him.”She lays it there, and he carries off this young lady in the bucket, after having pulled the cord. He goes into another chamber, and he sees another young lady, still more beautiful, with the head of a lion asleep on her lap. She also says to him:“Be off quickly from here. He has only half-an-hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all up with you and me.”Malbrouk says to her, “Place gently, gently, without waking him, the head of the lion on the ground.”She does so. Malbrouk takes her, gets into the bucket with her, and his brothers pull them both up. They write at once to the king to come and fetch them, that they have found two of his daughters. As you may suppose, the king sends a carriage directly to fetch them, and he makes great rejoicings. The king tells him to choose whichever of the two he likes for his wife. Malbrouk says to him:“When I shall have found your third daughter she shall be my wife, and my two brothers may take these two young ladies for their wives.”They do as Malbrouk said, and he sets out to see his sweetheart. He goes on, and on, and on. All the fowls of the air know Malbrouk. As he was going along he findsa wolf, a dog, a hawk, and an ant, and in their language they cry out:“Oyhu!5Malbrouk, Malbrouk!” and saying to him, “Where are you going, Malbrouk? these three days we have been here before this sheep, and cannot agree how to divide it; but you, you shall divide it.”Malbrouk goes to them, then, trembling lest they should make a division of him, too. He cuts off the head, and gives it to the ant.“You will have enough to eat, and for your whole household.”He gives the entrails to the hawk, and for the dog and the wolf he cuts the carcase in half. He left them all well satisfied; and Malbrouk goes on his way in silence, in silence. When he had gone a little way, the ant says:“We have not given Malbrouk any reward.”The wolf calls to him to come back. Malbrouk comes trembling, thinking that it was his turn, and that they are going to eat him, without doubt. The ant says to him:“We have not given you anything, after that you have made such a good division for us; but whenever you wish to become an ant, you have only to say, ‘Jesus, ant!’ and you will become an ant.”The hawk says to him: “When you wish to make yourself a hawk, you will say, ‘Jesus, hawk!’ and you will be a hawk.”The wolf says to him: “When you shall wish to become a wolf, you shall say, ‘Jesus, wolf!’ and you shall be a wolf.”And the dog, he said to him the same thing, too.6Hegoes off, then, well pleased, further into the forest. A woodpecker says to him:“Malbrouk, where are you going?”“To fetch such a daughter of a king.”“You will not find her easily. Since they have delivered her sisters, he has carried her to the farther side of the Red Sea,7in an island, and keeps her there in prison, in a beautiful house, with the doors and windows so closely shut that only the ants can get into that house.”Malbrouk goes off happy at hearing this news, and that he would find the princess. He goes on, and on, and on, and he arrives opposite to this island, and remembering what the hawk had said to him, he said, “Jesus, hawk!” and immediately he becomes a hawk.8He flies away, and goes on until he comes to the island of which the woodpecker had told him; he sees that he can only get in there like an ant, and he says, “Jesus, ant!” and he gets through the little lattice-work. He is dazed at the sight of the beauty of this young lady. He says, “Jesus, man!” and he becomes a man again. When the young lady sees him, she says to him:“Be off quickly from here. It is all over with your life. He is about to come, this horrible body without a soul,9before a quarter of an hour, and you will be done away with.”“I will become an ant again, and I will place myself in your bosom; but do not scratch yourself too hard, else you will crush me.”As soon as he has said that the monster comes. Hegives her partridges and pigeons for her dinner, but he himself eats serpents and horrible vermin. He tells her that he has a slight headache, and to take the hammer and rap him on the head. She could not lift it, it was so big; but she knocks him as well as she is able. The monster goes off. The ant comes out from where he was, and prepares to eat the partridges and pigeons with the young lady. Malbrouk said to her:“You must ask him, as if you were in great trouble about it, what would have to be done to kill him? and you will tell him how unhappy you would be if he should be killed—that you would die of hunger in prison in this island.”The young lady says, “Yes,” she will do so.The monster comes again, and says to her:“Ay! ay! ay! my head. Take the hammer, and hit me hard.”The young lady does it until she is tired, and then she says:“How unfortunate I shall be if you die.”He answers, “I shall not die. He who will know that will know a great secret.”“Most certainly I would not wish you to die. I should die of hunger in this island without you, and I should get no benefit by it. You ought to tell me what would kill you.”He says to her, “No! Before this, too, a woman has deceived a man, and I will not tell you.”“You can tell it to me—yes, to me. To whom shall I tell it? I see nobody. Nobody is able to come here.”At last, at last, he tells her then:“You must kill a terrible wolf which is in the forest, and inside him is a fox, in the fox is a pigeon; this pigeon has an egg in his head, and whoever should strike me on the forehead with this egg would kill me.10But who will know all that? Nobody.”The princess said to him, “Nobody, happily. I, too, I should die.”The monster goes out as before, and the ant too, as you may think, happy in knowing the secret. On the very next day he sets out for the forest. He sees a frightful wolf. He says, directly, “Jesus, wolf!” and he immediately becomes a wolf. He then goes to this wolf, and they begin to fight, and he gets him down and chokes him. He leaves him there, and goes off to the young lady in the island, and says to her:“We have got the wolf; I have killed him, and left him in the forest.”The monster comes directly afterwards, saying:“Ay! ay! ay! my head! Strike my head quickly.”She hits his head till she is tired. He says to the princess:“They have killed the wolf; I do not know if anything is going to happen to me. I am much afraid of it.”“You have nothing to be afraid of. To whom could I have told anything? Nobody can get in here.”When he has gone, the ant goes to the forest. He opens the wolf, and out of him comes a fox, who escapes at full speed. Malbrouk says, “Jesus, dog!” and he becomes a dog. He, too, sets off running, and catches the fox. They begin to fight, and he kills him, too. He opens him, and there comes out of him a pigeon. Malbrouk says, at once, “Jesus, hawk!” and he becomes a hawk. He flies off to catch the pigeon, seizes him in his terrible talons, and takes out of his head this precious egg, and goes proudly with it into the chamber of the young lady. He tells how he has very happily accomplished his business, and says to her:“At present, it is your turn; act alone.”And again he makes himself an ant. Our monster comes, crying, that it is all up with him, that they have taken the egg out of the pigeon, and that he does not know what must become of him. He tells her to strike him on the head with the hammer.The young lady says to him:“What have you to fear? Who shall have got this egg? And how should he strike your forehead?”He shows her how, saying, “Like that.”As the young lady had the egg in her hand, she strikes the monster as he had told her, and he falls stark dead. In an instant the ant comes out joyously (from his hiding-place), and he says to her:“We must set out instantly for your father’s house.”They open a window, and the young man makes himself a hawk, and he says to the young lady:“Cling firmly to my neck.”And he flies off, and they arrive at the other side of the island. He writes immediately to the king his lord, to send and fetch them as quickly as possible. The king sent; and judge what joy and what feasts there were in that court. The king wished them to marry directly, but Malbrouk would not do so. (He said) that he ought to bring his dowry. The king said to him:“You have gained enough already.”He will not hear of that, but goes off far, far, far away, to the house of his godfather.They had there a cow with golden horns, and these horns bore fruits of diamonds. A boy used to guard her in the field. Malbrouk said to him:11“What! do you not hear that the master is calling you? Go, quickly, then, and learn what he wants of you.”The boy, (believing it), goes off. The master calls to him from the window:“Where are you going to, leaving the cow? Go quickly; I see that Malbrouk is about there.”The boy sets off running back, but he cannot find the cow. Malbrouk had got off proudly with his cow, and he gives it to his future wife, who was very much pleased with it.The king wished him, then, to marry, (saying) that he was quite rich enough. Malbrouk would not yet. He must make a present to the king. He goes again to his godfather’s house. He wished to steal from him a moon, which lighted for seven leagues round. Old Malbrouk used to drink a barrel of water every night. Young Malbrouk goes and empties this barrel. When night came, Malbrouk goes to drink at his barrel, and finds it empty. He goes to find his wife, and says to her:“I have not got a drop of water; go directly, and fetch me some. I cannot bear this thirst.”His wife said to him, “It is night, light your moon.” He lights it, and puts it by the chimney, on the roof. When everyone has gone to the fountain, young Malbrouk goes and takes this moon, and carries it to the king. And he, astonished, said to him:“Now you have done grandly; now be married.”But he would not; (he said) that he ought to bring something more. His godfather had a violin, which it was enough only to touch for it to play, no matter what beautiful music, and it would be heard seven leagues off. He goes into his godfather’s house to take the violin, and as soon as he has touched it, it begins to play music. Old Malbrouk rushes off, and catches his godson in the act. He seizes him, and puts him into an iron cage. He and his wife are right well pleased. They say to him:“This evening we are going to roast you, and eat you.”Old Malbrouk goes to the forest to fetch wood, and his wife was busy cutting some small—she was taking a great deal of trouble about it. Malbrouk says to her:“Let me get out of here; I will cut that wood for you. You can kill me all the same this evening.”She lets him out. After having cut up some, he takes one of the largest pieces and strikes the wife of Malbrouk, and kills her. He makes a great fire, and puts her in the caldron to boil. He takes the violin, and leaves thehouse. When old Malbrouk hears the violin, he says to himself:“My wife, not being able to hold out any longer, has, doubtless, killed Malbrouk, and to show me her joy she has taken the violin.”And he does not trouble himself any more about it. When he approaches the house he stands, well pleased, looking at the caldron on the fire, but, on coming nearer, he sees some long hairs. He pulls out a little more, and perceives that it is his wife, who is there already, half-boiled. Think what a rage he was in. The young Malbrouk went to the king’s house, and married his well-beloved princess. They made great rejoicings. As the king was somewhat aged, he gives his crown to Malbrouk, saying that he had well gained it. They all lived happily, and he made his two brothers kings also.Laurentine,About 35 years old; learnt it from her mother.The Fisherman and His Sons.Like many others in the world, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife. One day he was fishing and caught a fine fish (at that time all the animals and everything used to speak), and the fish said to him:12“Spare my life! Spare my life! I will give you all that you shall desire.”And this poor man spared its life, and went home without having caught anything else. When he came home his wife asks him:“Where are your fish?”He tells her how that he had caught a fish, and that it had begged him to spare its life, and that he had left it in the water. His wife says to him:“Have you lost your head then? After having caught a fish to put it back again into the water!”And she called him all sorts of names, even “big donkey.”The next day he goes fishing again, and (what a chance!) the same fish came again. It asks him again to spare its life. But the man answers:“No! My wife loaded me with abuse last evening.”The fish said to him that he would give him as much money as he wished if he would but spare him. And our fisherman lets him go again. He remains there again all day, but nothing comes to his hook. Again he goes off home without anything at all. His wife is furious at seeing that he has nothing. He gives her some money, but she was not satisfied, and told her husband that he ought to have brought the fish.He goes fishing again for the third time, and again the same fish returns, and says to him, “Let me go into the water.”But our man will not let him go again; his wife had scolded him so much last night. He must carry him home.“Well, then, since you will carry me home, I will tell you how you must divide me. You must give my tail to the dog, my head to the mare, and my trunk to your wife. At the end of a certain time your wife will bear three sons, and they will all be exactly like each other, exactly alike. The mare will have three colts, but all three alike, and the bitch three puppies, all exactly alike too. And if any misfortune should happen to any of the three children, the well which is behind the house will begin to boil.”The woman did as the fish had said, and she gave birth to three wonderfully fine boys, who were all exactly, exactly alike, and the mare had three colts exactly alike, and the bitch three puppies exactly alike too.When these children grew big, one of them said to his parents that he wished to go from country to country to see the world. His parents did not wish it. But he had such a desire that at last they gave him leave. He takes a horse and a dog, extraordinarily large and handsome, a sword also,13and off he starts. He goes on, and on, very, very far. He comes to a city and goes to an inn. They were lamenting loudly there, and everybody was sad.14He asks, “What is it?” They tell him how that a serpent with seven heads lived in the mountain, and that every day they drew lots to know who should go to him, because he must eat one person every day; and that to-day the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter, and that everyone was in mourning, and that the next day this princess must go very early to the mountain.Our young man takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and starts off before the princess. He keeps himself hidden until the princess was alone at the top. Then our lad comes out, and the princess says to him:“Where do you come from here? Go down quickly, else you will be eaten as well as I. It is quite enough for one (to die).”And she entreats him to go down, but our lad will not. He wishes to try if he can do anything. At the same moment they hear a shrill hissing, and with that the serpent comes. The lad says to the dog:“Do your duty.”And the dog leaps upon the serpent and holds him. He takes his sword and cuts off his seven heads as best he can. When he has done that he takes the seven tongues out of the seven heads and puts them in his pocket. This princess had on seven robes, each more beautiful than the others,and he cuts seven pieces out of them severally. The princess does not know what to do to thank him. She wishes to take the lad home with her, but he will not go. And he returns to the inn.The king proclaims that the man who has killed the serpent has gained the half of his kingdom, and his daughter; that he should make himself known. Our lad does not show himself at all, but a charcoal-burner15passing by on the mountain found the seven heads. He presents himself before the king as if he had killed the serpent. But the princess does not recognise him, and says that it is not he who has saved her. But as no one else came the marriage was about to be celebrated, when the princess pointed out to her father from a distance her rescuer. The king would not believe her. But they send and fetch him, and tell the charcoal-burner to show the seven heads of the serpent, and he shows them with great boldness. Our young man tells him to open their mouths. He does so, and the mouths had no tongues. Then he who had killed the serpent shows the seven tongues, and the seven pieces of the princess’ robes, and they were all convinced that he had killed the serpent; and they burned the charcoal-burner alive in the middle of the market-place.Our young man marries the princess, and they had many and great rejoicings because he had delivered all the world from the terrible serpent. In the evening, when they retired to their chamber, the wife knelt down to say her prayers, and the husband went and looked out of the window, and he saw by the moonlight a magnificent castle,16which he had never seen before.He asks his wife:“What is that?”His wife says to him:“Nobody goes to that castle, for they who go there never return.”17The husband said to her that he must go there. His wife did not wish it, but he had such a desire to do so that he takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and goes off. He looks round and round (the castle), but he cannot find the door. At last he finds a little door half hidden, very small. He knocks. An old woman comes to him, and asks him what he wants.He says, “I have seen this castle so beautiful outside, that I am anxious to see the inside.”She shows him in. He sees a table splendidly laid out. There was nothing that there was not on the table. This woman invites him to take something. He says that he does not want anything, but she insists so much that he ends by taking something. As soon as he has eaten the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and by no means could he get out of that house.The water begins to boil at home, as the fish had said. All those in the house are grieved because some misfortune has happened to the son. One of the brothers at home said that he would immediately set out to the help of his brother. Those at home are very sorry, but they let him go. He takes a horse and a dog. The father and mother give him all the money that they can give him, and he starts off. He goes on, and on, and on, and, as was fated,18he comes to the same inn as his brother. There they recognise him. They inform the king that the gentleman is at the house, because he had had a search made for him through all the neighbourhood. They come and fetch him out of his corner, and he lets them do as they wish. A great supper was made, and he goes off with the princess. As before, the princess knelt down to pray. The young man goes to look out of the window, and sees this palace. He asks her what this beautiful castle is. She says to him:“You do not know what takes place there! They who go there never return.”He says that he will start off directly. His wife asks him if he will return to that castle as before. “Do not go, I pray you.”But nothing could have stopped him, and off he goes with his horse and his dog. Like the other brother, he goes wandering round and round the house without finding the door. At last he sees a very little door half hidden. He knocks at it, and the old woman comes and says to him:“What do you want?”“I have seen the outside of this castle, and I wish to see the inside.”She tells him to come in. He leaves his horse and his dog outside, and he sees a table splendidly set out; one could not mention anything that was wanting, there was something of everything. She tells him to eat something. He did not wish to, but at last he takes something, (so little, that it was) almost nothing. At the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and cannot in any way get out.The water at home begins to boil, and they know that some misfortune has happened to him.The third brother said that he must set out as quickly as possible. The parents did not wish it, but he said to them:“Perhaps I shall save them; let me go.”They give him as much money as they can. He takes a horse and a dog, and off he starts. He goes on, and on, and on. He also goes to the same inn as his other brothers. He is recognised immediately, and the king is informed that this young gentleman is there. He sends to fetch him immediately, and makes great feastings and rejoicings, thinking that it is always the same as their first young gentleman. In the evening he is conducted to the princess. The princess kneels down to say her evening prayers, and her husband, wishing to see a little more of the festival, placed himself at the window. He also sees the beautiful castle. He asks his wife:“What is this beautiful house?”She says to him, “What! You! Do notyouknow what it is? No one returns from there. You know yourself what happens there, since you have been there yourself.”He said to her, “I must go and see it again.”The princess would not let him go; but he broke away from her. He takes his horse and his dog, and starts off. He looks, and looks all round, and cannot find the door. An old woman appears to him, and says to him—“What do you think will become of you here? They who go in there do not come out.”“But that is why I wish to go in, to know what passes within.”Then the old woman gives him a pigeon, cooked and prepared for eating, and said to him,“Inside there is an old woman. She will try and force you to eat; but, if you are wise, you will not eat. You will show her the pigeon that you have in your pocket which remains after your repast, and you must make her eat some of the pigeon, and you will have full power over her.”When he has found the door, he knocks. This old woman comes, and asks him what he wants. He says that he only wishes to see this house. She lets him in. He takes his dog, also, with him. He sees this splendid table. She wishes absolutely to make him eat; but he says that it is altogether impossible—that he has in his pocket a pigeon which he has not been able to eat, and that she must eat some of that. The old woman says she will not. He compels her, and tells her she must; and at last she eats it. He then asks her what she has done with his brothers. She says that she knows nothing about them; that she does not know what he means. He forces her to tell him, and says to her,“I will make my dog strangle you if you do not tell me.”He frightens her so, that she shows him some terriblemonsters. He tells her to restore them as they were before, otherwise some misfortune shall happen to her, and to mind what she is about. At last she set to work to change them as they were before, and their horses and dogs as well.They all go to the king’s palace, where everyone is immensely astonished to see three gentlemen arrive exactly alike in all respects. They ask the princess which is her husband. But the poor young lady is greatly embarrassed. She could not distinguish them, because they were exactly alike. At last he who had killed the serpent said that he was her husband. They make great rejoicings, and give a great deal of money to the two brothers, and to their parents, and they went off. They burnt the old woman in the midst of the market-place, and this handsome castle was given to the newly-married pair, and they lived happily at court; and, as they lived well, so they died happily.Catherine Elizondo.All thelatterpart of this tale is much more detailed than in the Gaelic, and it is singular to read this note from Campbell’s collector:—“The Gaelic is given as nearly as possible in the words used by Mackenzie; but he thinks his story rather shortened.” Of the identity of the two stories there can be no doubt, although each supplies what is wanting to the other.Tabakiera, the Snuff-Box.19Like many others in the world, there was a lad who wished to travel, and off he went. He finds a snuff-box, and opens it. And the snuff-box said to him—“Que quieres?” (“What do you wish for?”)He is frightened, and puts it at once into his pocket. Luckily he did not throw it away. He goes on, and on, and on, and at last he said to himself,“(I wonder) if it would say to me again, ‘Que quieres?’ I should well know what to answer.”He takes it out again, and opens it, and it says to him again,“Que quieres?”The lad says to it, “My hat full of gold.”And it is filled!He is astounded, and he said to himself that he would never want anything any more. He goes on, and on, and on; and, after he had passed some forests, he arrives at a fine castle. The king lived there. He goes round, and round, and round it, looking at it with an impudent air. The king says to him—“What are you looking for?”“To see your castle.”“You would wish, too, to have one like it?”The lad does not answer. When the evening came, our lad takes out his snuff-box, and it said to him,“Que quieres?”“Build here, on this very spot, a castle, with laths of gold and silver, and diamond tiles, and with all its furniture of gold and silver.”20As soon as he has said it, he sees in front of the king’s castle a castle like what he had asked for. When the king gets up in the morning, he was astonished at this dazzling castle. His eyes were blinded by the (reflection of the) rays of the sun which fell upon it. The king went and said to him—“You must be a man of great power,21and you must cometo our house, where we will live together. I have a daughter, too, and you shall marry her.”They do as the king had said, and they lived all together in the dazzling house. He was married to the king’s daughter, and lived happily.Now, the king’s wife was very envious of the lad and of his wife. She knew, by her daughter, how that they had a snuff-box, and that it did all that they wished. She intrigued with one of the servants to try and take it from them; but they take great care (to conceal) where they put the snuff-box away every evening. Nevertheless, at last she sees where it is put, and in the middle of the night, while they slept, she takes it from them, and carries it to her old mistress. What a joy for her!She opens it, and the snuff-box says to her, “Que quieres?”“You must take myself and my husband, and my servants, and this beautiful house, to the other side of the Red Sea,22and leave my daughter and her husband here.”When the young couple awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the old castle, and their snuff-box was gone. They look for it everywhere, but it is useless.The young man will not wait an instant longer at home. He must start off at once to find his castle and his snuff-box. He takes a horse, and as much gold as the horse can carry, and he goes on, and on, and on, and on. He searches through all the towns in the neighbourhood until he had finished all his money. He searched, but he did not find it anywhere. But he went looking out still, feeding his horse as best he could, and begging for himself. Some one told him that he ought to go to the moon—that he makes a very long journey, and that he might guide him. He goes far, far, far away, on, and on, and on, and at last he arrives. He finds an old woman, who says to him—“What do you come to do here? My son devours all creatures of all sorts; and, if you will trust me, you will be off before his arrival.”He tells her his misfortunes—how that he had a snuff-box of great power, which has been stolen from him, and that he is now without anything, far from his wife, and stripped of everything, “and perhaps your son, in his journeys, has seen my palace, with its golden laths and tiles of diamonds, and the other ornaments of gold and silver.”At that moment the moon appeared, and said to his mother that he smelt some one. His mother told him how that there was a wretched man who had lost everything; that he was come to him (for help), and that he would guide him. The moon told him to show himself. He comes, and asks him if he has not seen a house with beams of gold and with tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver; and he tells him how it was taken away from him.He answers, “No;” that he has not seen it, but that the sun makes longer journeys than he, and of greater extent, and that he would do better to go to him.He goes off again, on, and on, and on, with his horse, whom he nourished as he could, and begging for himself. At length he arrives at the sun’s house. He finds an old woman, who said to him,“Where do you come from? Be off from here! Do you not know that my son eats all Christians?”He said to her, “No! I will not go away. I am so wretched that I do not care if he does eat me.”And he tells her how he has lost everything; that he had a house, which had not its equal, with beams of gold and tiles of diamonds, and all the ornaments of gold and precious stones; and that he had been going about looking for it so long a time, and that there was no man so wretched as he. This woman hides him. The sun comes out and says to his mother—“I smell the smell of a Christian, and I must eat him.”The mother tells him that it was an unfortunate man who had lost his all, that he had come to speak to him, and begs him to take pity on him. He tells her to bring him out. Then the young man comes and asks the sun if he has seen a palace which has its equal nowhere, with its laths of gold and its tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver. The sun says to him:“No, but the south wind searches everything that I cannot see. He enters into every corner, he does, and if any one ought to know he will know.”Our poor man then sets off again, feeding his horse how he could and begging for himself, and he comes at length to the house of the south wind.23He finds an old woman carrying water, and who was filling a great many barrels. She said to him:“What are you thinking of to come here? My son eats up everything when he arrives hungry and furious. You must beware of him.”He says to her, “It is all the same to me. Let him eat me; I am so wretched that I fear nothing.”And he tells her how he had a beautiful house which had not its equal in all the world, and with it all sorts of riches, and that, “Having abandoned my wife, I am seeking it, and I am come to consult your son, being sent by the sun.”She hides him under the staircase. The south wind arrives as if he meant to tear the house up, and very thirsty. Before beginning to drink he smells the smell of the race of Christians, and said to his mother:“Out with what you have hidden,” and that he must begin by eating him.His mother said to him, “Eat and drink what is before you.”And she tells him the misfortunes of this man, and how that the sun has spared his life that he might come and consult him.Then he makes the man come out, and the man tells him how that he is going about trying to find a house, and that if anybody ought to know it is he, and that they had robbed him of his house, which had laths of gold, tiles of diamonds, and all the rest of gold and silver, and if he has not seen it anywhere?He tells him, “Yes, yes, and all to-day I have been passing over it, and have not been able to take away one of its tiles.”“Oh! if you will tell me where it is!”He says that it is on the other side of the Red Sea, very, very far away.When our man heard that, the length of the road did not frighten him—he had already travelled over so much. He sets out then, and at last arrives at that city. He asks if anyone is in want of a gardener. They tell him that the gardener of the castle has gone away, and that perhaps they will take him. He goes off, and recognises his house—judge with what joy and delight! He asks if they are in want of a gardener. They tell him “Yes,” and our lad is very pleased. He passes some time tolerably happily—middling. He talks with a servant about the riches of the masters and of the power which they had. He flattered and cajoled this young girl very much to get from her the history of the snuff-box, and he told her once that he very much wished to see it. One evening she brought it to him to look at, and our lad, very much pleased, pays great attention to where it was hidden in the room of the mistress. At night, when everybody is asleep, he goes and takes the snuff-box. You will understand with what joy he opens it.It says to him, “Que quieres?”And the lad says to it, “Que quieres, Que quieres,24carry me with my castle to the same place as (we were in) formerly, and drown the king and the queen and all the servants in this Red Sea.”As soon as he had said it, he was carried to his wife, and they lived happily, and the others all perished in the Red Sea.25Catherine Elizondo.Mahistruba, the Master Mariner.Like many others in the world, there was a master mariner. Having had many losses and misfortunes in his life he no longer made any voyages, but every day went down to the seaside for amusement, and every day he met a large serpent, and every day he said to it:“God has given thy life to thee; live then.”This master mariner lived upon what his wife and daughter earned by sewing. One day the serpent said to him:“Go to such a shipbuilder’s, and order a ship of so many tons burden. Ask the price of it, and then double the price they tell you.”26He does as the serpent told him, and the next day he goes down to the shore, and he tells the serpent that he has done as he had told him. The serpent then bids him go and fetch twelve sailors, very strong men, and to double whatever they shall ask. He goes and does what he was told to do. He returns to the serpent and tells him that he has twelve men. The serpent gives him all the money which he needed to pay for the ship. The shipbuilder is astonished to find that he is paid so large a sum of money in advance by this miserable man, but he hastens to finish his work as quickly as possible. The serpent again bids him have madein the hold of the ship a large empty space and a huge chest, and tells him to bring this down himself. He brings it, and the serpent gets into it. The ship was quickly ready, he embarks the chest in the ship, and they set out.This captain used to go every day to the serpent, but the sailors did not know what he went (into the hold) to do, nor what there was in the chest. The ship had already gone some distance, and nobody knew its destination. One day the serpent told the captain that there was going to be a frightful storm, that the earth and sky would mingle together, and that at midnight a large black bird would pass over the ship, and that it must be killed, and (he tells him) to go and see if there is any sportsman among his sailors. He goes and asks the sailors if there is any sportsman among them.27One of them answers, “Yes; I can kill a swallow in its flight.”“All the better, all the better; that will be of use to you.”He goes down to tell the serpent that there is a sportsman who can kill a swallow in its flight. And at the same moment the weather becomes black as night, and earth and sky are mingled together, and all are trembling with fright. The serpent gives the captain a good drink for the sportsman, and they bind him to the mast. At midnight a piercing cry was heard. It was the bird which was passing over, and our sportsman has the good luck to kill him. At the very instant the sea becomes calm. The captain goes to the serpent, and tells him that the bird is killed.The serpent answers him, “I know it.”When they had gone a little further without anything happening, the serpent said one day:“Are we not near such a port?”The captain says to him, “It is in sight.”“Very well, then, we are going there.”He tells him to go again, and ask his sailors if there is a fast runner among them. The captain goes and asks his sailors if there is any fast runner among them.One of them says to him, “As for me, I can catch a hare running.”“So much the better, so much the better; that will be of use to you.”The captain goes to tell the serpent that there is one who can catch a hare running. The serpent says to him:“You will land the runner at this port, and you will tell him that he must go to the top of a little mountain; that there is a little house there, and an old, old woman in it; and that there is there a steel, a flint, and a tinder-box; and that he must bring these three things on board one by one, making a separate journey each time.”Our runner goes off, and comes to this house. He sees the old woman, with red eyes, spinning at the threshold of her door. He asks her for a drop of water, that he has walked a long way without finding any water, and will she give him a little drop? The old woman says to him, “No.” He begs her again, telling her that he does not know the roads in the country, nor where he is going to. This old woman kept constantly looking at the chimney-piece, and she said to him:“I am going to give you some, then.”While she went to the pitcher, our runner takes the steel off the chimney-piece, and goes off at full speed, like the lightning; but the old woman is after him. At the very instant that he is about to leap into the ship the old woman catches him, and snatches off a bit of his coat, and a piece of the skin of his back with it.28The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have got the steel, but our man has got the skin of his back torn off.”He gives him a remedy, and a good drink, and tells him that the man will be cured by to-morrow, but that he must go again next day.He says, “No, no; the devil may carry off this old woman, if he likes, but I will not go there any more.”But, as he was cured next day by giving him that good drink again, he sets off. He dresses himself in a shirt without arms, and in an old torn pair of trousers, and goes to the old woman’s, saying that his ship is wrecked on the shore, that he has been wandering about for forty-eight hours, and he begs her to let him go to the fire to light his pipe.She says, “No.”“Do have pity—I am so wretched; it is only a little favour I ask of you.”“No, no, I was deceived yesterday.”But the man answered, “All the world are not deceivers. Don’t be afraid.”The old woman rises to go to the fire, and as she stoops to take it,29the man seizes the flint and escapes, running as if he would break his feet. But the old woman runs as fast as our runner; but she only catches him as he is jumping into the ship; she tears off the shirt, and the skin of his neck and back with it, and he falls into the ship.The captain goes directly to the serpent: “We have got the flint.”He says to him, “I know it.”He gives him the medicine and the good drink, in order that the man may be cured by the morrow, and that he may go again. But the man says, “No,” that he does not want to see that red-eyed old woman any more. They tell him that they still want the tinder-box. The next day they give him the good drink. That gives him courage, and the desire to return again.He dresses himself up as if he had been shipwrecked, and goes off half naked. He comes to the old woman’s, and asks for a little bread, as he has not eaten for a long time, (and begs her) to have pity on him—that he does not know where to go to.The old woman says to him: “Be off, where you will; you shall get nothing at my house, and nobody shall come in here. Every day I have enemies.”“But what have you to fear from a poor man who only wants a little bread, and who will be off immediately afterwards?”At last the old woman rises to go to her cupboard, and our man takes her little tinder-box. The old woman runs after him, wishing to catch him, but our man is ahead. She overtakes him just as he is leaping into the ship. The old woman takes hold of the skin of his neck, and tears it all right down to the soles of his feet. Our runner falls down, and they do not know whether he is alive or dead; and the old woman says:“I renounce him, and all those who are in this ship.”The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have the tinder-box, but our runner is in great danger. I do not know whether he will live; he has no skin left from his neck to the soles of his feet.”“Console yourselves, console yourselves, he will be cured by to-morrow. Here is the medicine and the good drink. Now, you are saved. Go on deck, and fire seven rounds of cannon.”He mounts on deck and fires the seven rounds of cannon, and returns to the serpent, and says to him:“We have fired the seven rounds.”He says to him, “Fire twelve rounds more; but do not be afraid. The police will come here; they will handcuff you. You will be put in prison, and you will ask, as a favour, not to be executed before that they have visited the ship, in order to prove that there is nothing in it to merit such a chastisement.”The captain goes on deck, and fires the twelve rounds of cannon. As soon as he has fired them, the magistrates and the police arrive; they handcuff the men, the sailors, and the captain, and they put them in prison. The sailors were not pleased; but the captain said to them:“You will soon be delivered.”The next day the captain asks to go and speak to the king. He is brought before the king, and the king says:“You are condemned to be hanged.”The captain says to him, “What! because we have fired some cannon-shots you are going to hang us!!”“Yes, yes, because for seven years we have not heard the cannon in this city.30I am in mourning—I and my people. I had an only son, and I have lost him. I cannot forget him.”The captain says to him: “I did not know either this news or this order, and I beg you not to kill us before going and seeing if there is anything in the ship which condemns us justly.”The king goes with his courtiers, his soldiers, and his judges—in a word, with everybody. When he has mounted on deck, what a surprise! The king finds his dearly-loved son, who relates to him how hehadbeen enchanted by an old woman, and that he remained a serpent seven years.31How the captain every day went to walk by the seaside, and every day left him his life, saying to him, “The good God has made you too;” and having seen the captain’s good heart, “I thought he would spare me, and it is to him that I owe my life.”He goes to the court. The men are let out of prison, and they give the captain a large sum of money for a dowry forhis two daughters, and the ship for himself. To the sailors they give as much as they like to eat and drink for all the time they wish to stop there, and afterwards enough to live upon for the rest of their lives. The king and his son lived happily, and as they had lived well, they died happily also.Gachina,The Net-maker.

(A.)—Tales like the Keltic.Malbrouk.2Like many others in the world, there was a man and a woman who were over-burdened with children, and were very poor. The man used to go to the forest every day to get wood for his family. His wife was on the point of being confined. One day he was in the forest, and a gentleman comes to him, and says:“What are you doing, friend?”“I am looking for wood to support my family.”“You are very poor, then?”“Yes, yes.”“If you will make me godfather to your next child according to your law, I will give you a great deal of money.”He says to him, “Yes, I will do so.”He gives him, then, a great deal of money, and he goeshome. His wife is confined shortly afterwards, and they were waiting, not knowing what to do to tell it to the godfather, since they did not know where he lived. He himself appeared from somewhere. They go to the church, and he gives him the name Malbrouk. While they were returning to the house, the godfather disappears with the child like smoke. The father and mother were distressed about it, though they had plenty of money; but in time their grief faded away.The old Malbrouk went to his house. His wife was a witch, and they had three daughters. The little Malbrouk grew fast, and at seven years’ old he was as tall as a tall man. His godfather said to him:“Malbrouk, would you like to go to your own home?”He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the littleMalbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):“You have taken good care whom you have killed? I am not at all satisfied that you have not done some donkey-trick.”The witch goes, and sees her three daughters dead. She was terribly angry,3and there was no help for it.Malbrouk and his brothers come to a place where a king lives, and he remarks that everything is sad. He asks what it is? They tell him that the king has lost his three daughters, and that nobody can find them. Malbrouk says to them:“I will find them.”They tell that quickly to the king, and bring them before him, and Malbrouk tells him, too, that he will find them. All three set out. When they have gone a little way they find an old woman, who says to them:“Where are you going to in that fashion?”“To look for the king’s three daughters.”This old woman says to them:“Go to the king, and ask him for three hundred fathoms of new rope, a bucket, and a bell.”They go, and the king gives to them immediately what they ask for. They go, then, to the woman, and she says to them, pointing to a well, that they are in that well.4The eldest put himself into the bucket, and says to them:“When I am afraid, I will ring the bell.”When he has gone only a little way he is frightened, and rings. They pull him up. The second goes; and when he has gone a little farther down he is frightened, and rings. Malbrouk then gets in, and he says to them:“When I shall give a pull at the bucket from below, then you will pull it up.”He goes down, then, and at last he sees that there is a beautiful house underground, and he sees there a beautiful young lady, who is sitting with a serpent asleep in her lap. When she sees Malbrouk, she says to him:“Be off, I pray you, from here; he has only three-quarters of an hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all over with you and me.”He says to her, “No matter; lay the head of the serpent on the ground, gently, gently, without waking him.”She lays it there, and he carries off this young lady in the bucket, after having pulled the cord. He goes into another chamber, and he sees another young lady, still more beautiful, with the head of a lion asleep on her lap. She also says to him:“Be off quickly from here. He has only half-an-hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all up with you and me.”Malbrouk says to her, “Place gently, gently, without waking him, the head of the lion on the ground.”She does so. Malbrouk takes her, gets into the bucket with her, and his brothers pull them both up. They write at once to the king to come and fetch them, that they have found two of his daughters. As you may suppose, the king sends a carriage directly to fetch them, and he makes great rejoicings. The king tells him to choose whichever of the two he likes for his wife. Malbrouk says to him:“When I shall have found your third daughter she shall be my wife, and my two brothers may take these two young ladies for their wives.”They do as Malbrouk said, and he sets out to see his sweetheart. He goes on, and on, and on. All the fowls of the air know Malbrouk. As he was going along he findsa wolf, a dog, a hawk, and an ant, and in their language they cry out:“Oyhu!5Malbrouk, Malbrouk!” and saying to him, “Where are you going, Malbrouk? these three days we have been here before this sheep, and cannot agree how to divide it; but you, you shall divide it.”Malbrouk goes to them, then, trembling lest they should make a division of him, too. He cuts off the head, and gives it to the ant.“You will have enough to eat, and for your whole household.”He gives the entrails to the hawk, and for the dog and the wolf he cuts the carcase in half. He left them all well satisfied; and Malbrouk goes on his way in silence, in silence. When he had gone a little way, the ant says:“We have not given Malbrouk any reward.”The wolf calls to him to come back. Malbrouk comes trembling, thinking that it was his turn, and that they are going to eat him, without doubt. The ant says to him:“We have not given you anything, after that you have made such a good division for us; but whenever you wish to become an ant, you have only to say, ‘Jesus, ant!’ and you will become an ant.”The hawk says to him: “When you wish to make yourself a hawk, you will say, ‘Jesus, hawk!’ and you will be a hawk.”The wolf says to him: “When you shall wish to become a wolf, you shall say, ‘Jesus, wolf!’ and you shall be a wolf.”And the dog, he said to him the same thing, too.6Hegoes off, then, well pleased, further into the forest. A woodpecker says to him:“Malbrouk, where are you going?”“To fetch such a daughter of a king.”“You will not find her easily. Since they have delivered her sisters, he has carried her to the farther side of the Red Sea,7in an island, and keeps her there in prison, in a beautiful house, with the doors and windows so closely shut that only the ants can get into that house.”Malbrouk goes off happy at hearing this news, and that he would find the princess. He goes on, and on, and on, and he arrives opposite to this island, and remembering what the hawk had said to him, he said, “Jesus, hawk!” and immediately he becomes a hawk.8He flies away, and goes on until he comes to the island of which the woodpecker had told him; he sees that he can only get in there like an ant, and he says, “Jesus, ant!” and he gets through the little lattice-work. He is dazed at the sight of the beauty of this young lady. He says, “Jesus, man!” and he becomes a man again. When the young lady sees him, she says to him:“Be off quickly from here. It is all over with your life. He is about to come, this horrible body without a soul,9before a quarter of an hour, and you will be done away with.”“I will become an ant again, and I will place myself in your bosom; but do not scratch yourself too hard, else you will crush me.”As soon as he has said that the monster comes. Hegives her partridges and pigeons for her dinner, but he himself eats serpents and horrible vermin. He tells her that he has a slight headache, and to take the hammer and rap him on the head. She could not lift it, it was so big; but she knocks him as well as she is able. The monster goes off. The ant comes out from where he was, and prepares to eat the partridges and pigeons with the young lady. Malbrouk said to her:“You must ask him, as if you were in great trouble about it, what would have to be done to kill him? and you will tell him how unhappy you would be if he should be killed—that you would die of hunger in prison in this island.”The young lady says, “Yes,” she will do so.The monster comes again, and says to her:“Ay! ay! ay! my head. Take the hammer, and hit me hard.”The young lady does it until she is tired, and then she says:“How unfortunate I shall be if you die.”He answers, “I shall not die. He who will know that will know a great secret.”“Most certainly I would not wish you to die. I should die of hunger in this island without you, and I should get no benefit by it. You ought to tell me what would kill you.”He says to her, “No! Before this, too, a woman has deceived a man, and I will not tell you.”“You can tell it to me—yes, to me. To whom shall I tell it? I see nobody. Nobody is able to come here.”At last, at last, he tells her then:“You must kill a terrible wolf which is in the forest, and inside him is a fox, in the fox is a pigeon; this pigeon has an egg in his head, and whoever should strike me on the forehead with this egg would kill me.10But who will know all that? Nobody.”The princess said to him, “Nobody, happily. I, too, I should die.”The monster goes out as before, and the ant too, as you may think, happy in knowing the secret. On the very next day he sets out for the forest. He sees a frightful wolf. He says, directly, “Jesus, wolf!” and he immediately becomes a wolf. He then goes to this wolf, and they begin to fight, and he gets him down and chokes him. He leaves him there, and goes off to the young lady in the island, and says to her:“We have got the wolf; I have killed him, and left him in the forest.”The monster comes directly afterwards, saying:“Ay! ay! ay! my head! Strike my head quickly.”She hits his head till she is tired. He says to the princess:“They have killed the wolf; I do not know if anything is going to happen to me. I am much afraid of it.”“You have nothing to be afraid of. To whom could I have told anything? Nobody can get in here.”When he has gone, the ant goes to the forest. He opens the wolf, and out of him comes a fox, who escapes at full speed. Malbrouk says, “Jesus, dog!” and he becomes a dog. He, too, sets off running, and catches the fox. They begin to fight, and he kills him, too. He opens him, and there comes out of him a pigeon. Malbrouk says, at once, “Jesus, hawk!” and he becomes a hawk. He flies off to catch the pigeon, seizes him in his terrible talons, and takes out of his head this precious egg, and goes proudly with it into the chamber of the young lady. He tells how he has very happily accomplished his business, and says to her:“At present, it is your turn; act alone.”And again he makes himself an ant. Our monster comes, crying, that it is all up with him, that they have taken the egg out of the pigeon, and that he does not know what must become of him. He tells her to strike him on the head with the hammer.The young lady says to him:“What have you to fear? Who shall have got this egg? And how should he strike your forehead?”He shows her how, saying, “Like that.”As the young lady had the egg in her hand, she strikes the monster as he had told her, and he falls stark dead. In an instant the ant comes out joyously (from his hiding-place), and he says to her:“We must set out instantly for your father’s house.”They open a window, and the young man makes himself a hawk, and he says to the young lady:“Cling firmly to my neck.”And he flies off, and they arrive at the other side of the island. He writes immediately to the king his lord, to send and fetch them as quickly as possible. The king sent; and judge what joy and what feasts there were in that court. The king wished them to marry directly, but Malbrouk would not do so. (He said) that he ought to bring his dowry. The king said to him:“You have gained enough already.”He will not hear of that, but goes off far, far, far away, to the house of his godfather.They had there a cow with golden horns, and these horns bore fruits of diamonds. A boy used to guard her in the field. Malbrouk said to him:11“What! do you not hear that the master is calling you? Go, quickly, then, and learn what he wants of you.”The boy, (believing it), goes off. The master calls to him from the window:“Where are you going to, leaving the cow? Go quickly; I see that Malbrouk is about there.”The boy sets off running back, but he cannot find the cow. Malbrouk had got off proudly with his cow, and he gives it to his future wife, who was very much pleased with it.The king wished him, then, to marry, (saying) that he was quite rich enough. Malbrouk would not yet. He must make a present to the king. He goes again to his godfather’s house. He wished to steal from him a moon, which lighted for seven leagues round. Old Malbrouk used to drink a barrel of water every night. Young Malbrouk goes and empties this barrel. When night came, Malbrouk goes to drink at his barrel, and finds it empty. He goes to find his wife, and says to her:“I have not got a drop of water; go directly, and fetch me some. I cannot bear this thirst.”His wife said to him, “It is night, light your moon.” He lights it, and puts it by the chimney, on the roof. When everyone has gone to the fountain, young Malbrouk goes and takes this moon, and carries it to the king. And he, astonished, said to him:“Now you have done grandly; now be married.”But he would not; (he said) that he ought to bring something more. His godfather had a violin, which it was enough only to touch for it to play, no matter what beautiful music, and it would be heard seven leagues off. He goes into his godfather’s house to take the violin, and as soon as he has touched it, it begins to play music. Old Malbrouk rushes off, and catches his godson in the act. He seizes him, and puts him into an iron cage. He and his wife are right well pleased. They say to him:“This evening we are going to roast you, and eat you.”Old Malbrouk goes to the forest to fetch wood, and his wife was busy cutting some small—she was taking a great deal of trouble about it. Malbrouk says to her:“Let me get out of here; I will cut that wood for you. You can kill me all the same this evening.”She lets him out. After having cut up some, he takes one of the largest pieces and strikes the wife of Malbrouk, and kills her. He makes a great fire, and puts her in the caldron to boil. He takes the violin, and leaves thehouse. When old Malbrouk hears the violin, he says to himself:“My wife, not being able to hold out any longer, has, doubtless, killed Malbrouk, and to show me her joy she has taken the violin.”And he does not trouble himself any more about it. When he approaches the house he stands, well pleased, looking at the caldron on the fire, but, on coming nearer, he sees some long hairs. He pulls out a little more, and perceives that it is his wife, who is there already, half-boiled. Think what a rage he was in. The young Malbrouk went to the king’s house, and married his well-beloved princess. They made great rejoicings. As the king was somewhat aged, he gives his crown to Malbrouk, saying that he had well gained it. They all lived happily, and he made his two brothers kings also.Laurentine,About 35 years old; learnt it from her mother.The Fisherman and His Sons.Like many others in the world, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife. One day he was fishing and caught a fine fish (at that time all the animals and everything used to speak), and the fish said to him:12“Spare my life! Spare my life! I will give you all that you shall desire.”And this poor man spared its life, and went home without having caught anything else. When he came home his wife asks him:“Where are your fish?”He tells her how that he had caught a fish, and that it had begged him to spare its life, and that he had left it in the water. His wife says to him:“Have you lost your head then? After having caught a fish to put it back again into the water!”And she called him all sorts of names, even “big donkey.”The next day he goes fishing again, and (what a chance!) the same fish came again. It asks him again to spare its life. But the man answers:“No! My wife loaded me with abuse last evening.”The fish said to him that he would give him as much money as he wished if he would but spare him. And our fisherman lets him go again. He remains there again all day, but nothing comes to his hook. Again he goes off home without anything at all. His wife is furious at seeing that he has nothing. He gives her some money, but she was not satisfied, and told her husband that he ought to have brought the fish.He goes fishing again for the third time, and again the same fish returns, and says to him, “Let me go into the water.”But our man will not let him go again; his wife had scolded him so much last night. He must carry him home.“Well, then, since you will carry me home, I will tell you how you must divide me. You must give my tail to the dog, my head to the mare, and my trunk to your wife. At the end of a certain time your wife will bear three sons, and they will all be exactly like each other, exactly alike. The mare will have three colts, but all three alike, and the bitch three puppies, all exactly alike too. And if any misfortune should happen to any of the three children, the well which is behind the house will begin to boil.”The woman did as the fish had said, and she gave birth to three wonderfully fine boys, who were all exactly, exactly alike, and the mare had three colts exactly alike, and the bitch three puppies exactly alike too.When these children grew big, one of them said to his parents that he wished to go from country to country to see the world. His parents did not wish it. But he had such a desire that at last they gave him leave. He takes a horse and a dog, extraordinarily large and handsome, a sword also,13and off he starts. He goes on, and on, very, very far. He comes to a city and goes to an inn. They were lamenting loudly there, and everybody was sad.14He asks, “What is it?” They tell him how that a serpent with seven heads lived in the mountain, and that every day they drew lots to know who should go to him, because he must eat one person every day; and that to-day the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter, and that everyone was in mourning, and that the next day this princess must go very early to the mountain.Our young man takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and starts off before the princess. He keeps himself hidden until the princess was alone at the top. Then our lad comes out, and the princess says to him:“Where do you come from here? Go down quickly, else you will be eaten as well as I. It is quite enough for one (to die).”And she entreats him to go down, but our lad will not. He wishes to try if he can do anything. At the same moment they hear a shrill hissing, and with that the serpent comes. The lad says to the dog:“Do your duty.”And the dog leaps upon the serpent and holds him. He takes his sword and cuts off his seven heads as best he can. When he has done that he takes the seven tongues out of the seven heads and puts them in his pocket. This princess had on seven robes, each more beautiful than the others,and he cuts seven pieces out of them severally. The princess does not know what to do to thank him. She wishes to take the lad home with her, but he will not go. And he returns to the inn.The king proclaims that the man who has killed the serpent has gained the half of his kingdom, and his daughter; that he should make himself known. Our lad does not show himself at all, but a charcoal-burner15passing by on the mountain found the seven heads. He presents himself before the king as if he had killed the serpent. But the princess does not recognise him, and says that it is not he who has saved her. But as no one else came the marriage was about to be celebrated, when the princess pointed out to her father from a distance her rescuer. The king would not believe her. But they send and fetch him, and tell the charcoal-burner to show the seven heads of the serpent, and he shows them with great boldness. Our young man tells him to open their mouths. He does so, and the mouths had no tongues. Then he who had killed the serpent shows the seven tongues, and the seven pieces of the princess’ robes, and they were all convinced that he had killed the serpent; and they burned the charcoal-burner alive in the middle of the market-place.Our young man marries the princess, and they had many and great rejoicings because he had delivered all the world from the terrible serpent. In the evening, when they retired to their chamber, the wife knelt down to say her prayers, and the husband went and looked out of the window, and he saw by the moonlight a magnificent castle,16which he had never seen before.He asks his wife:“What is that?”His wife says to him:“Nobody goes to that castle, for they who go there never return.”17The husband said to her that he must go there. His wife did not wish it, but he had such a desire to do so that he takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and goes off. He looks round and round (the castle), but he cannot find the door. At last he finds a little door half hidden, very small. He knocks. An old woman comes to him, and asks him what he wants.He says, “I have seen this castle so beautiful outside, that I am anxious to see the inside.”She shows him in. He sees a table splendidly laid out. There was nothing that there was not on the table. This woman invites him to take something. He says that he does not want anything, but she insists so much that he ends by taking something. As soon as he has eaten the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and by no means could he get out of that house.The water begins to boil at home, as the fish had said. All those in the house are grieved because some misfortune has happened to the son. One of the brothers at home said that he would immediately set out to the help of his brother. Those at home are very sorry, but they let him go. He takes a horse and a dog. The father and mother give him all the money that they can give him, and he starts off. He goes on, and on, and on, and, as was fated,18he comes to the same inn as his brother. There they recognise him. They inform the king that the gentleman is at the house, because he had had a search made for him through all the neighbourhood. They come and fetch him out of his corner, and he lets them do as they wish. A great supper was made, and he goes off with the princess. As before, the princess knelt down to pray. The young man goes to look out of the window, and sees this palace. He asks her what this beautiful castle is. She says to him:“You do not know what takes place there! They who go there never return.”He says that he will start off directly. His wife asks him if he will return to that castle as before. “Do not go, I pray you.”But nothing could have stopped him, and off he goes with his horse and his dog. Like the other brother, he goes wandering round and round the house without finding the door. At last he sees a very little door half hidden. He knocks at it, and the old woman comes and says to him:“What do you want?”“I have seen the outside of this castle, and I wish to see the inside.”She tells him to come in. He leaves his horse and his dog outside, and he sees a table splendidly set out; one could not mention anything that was wanting, there was something of everything. She tells him to eat something. He did not wish to, but at last he takes something, (so little, that it was) almost nothing. At the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and cannot in any way get out.The water at home begins to boil, and they know that some misfortune has happened to him.The third brother said that he must set out as quickly as possible. The parents did not wish it, but he said to them:“Perhaps I shall save them; let me go.”They give him as much money as they can. He takes a horse and a dog, and off he starts. He goes on, and on, and on. He also goes to the same inn as his other brothers. He is recognised immediately, and the king is informed that this young gentleman is there. He sends to fetch him immediately, and makes great feastings and rejoicings, thinking that it is always the same as their first young gentleman. In the evening he is conducted to the princess. The princess kneels down to say her evening prayers, and her husband, wishing to see a little more of the festival, placed himself at the window. He also sees the beautiful castle. He asks his wife:“What is this beautiful house?”She says to him, “What! You! Do notyouknow what it is? No one returns from there. You know yourself what happens there, since you have been there yourself.”He said to her, “I must go and see it again.”The princess would not let him go; but he broke away from her. He takes his horse and his dog, and starts off. He looks, and looks all round, and cannot find the door. An old woman appears to him, and says to him—“What do you think will become of you here? They who go in there do not come out.”“But that is why I wish to go in, to know what passes within.”Then the old woman gives him a pigeon, cooked and prepared for eating, and said to him,“Inside there is an old woman. She will try and force you to eat; but, if you are wise, you will not eat. You will show her the pigeon that you have in your pocket which remains after your repast, and you must make her eat some of the pigeon, and you will have full power over her.”When he has found the door, he knocks. This old woman comes, and asks him what he wants. He says that he only wishes to see this house. She lets him in. He takes his dog, also, with him. He sees this splendid table. She wishes absolutely to make him eat; but he says that it is altogether impossible—that he has in his pocket a pigeon which he has not been able to eat, and that she must eat some of that. The old woman says she will not. He compels her, and tells her she must; and at last she eats it. He then asks her what she has done with his brothers. She says that she knows nothing about them; that she does not know what he means. He forces her to tell him, and says to her,“I will make my dog strangle you if you do not tell me.”He frightens her so, that she shows him some terriblemonsters. He tells her to restore them as they were before, otherwise some misfortune shall happen to her, and to mind what she is about. At last she set to work to change them as they were before, and their horses and dogs as well.They all go to the king’s palace, where everyone is immensely astonished to see three gentlemen arrive exactly alike in all respects. They ask the princess which is her husband. But the poor young lady is greatly embarrassed. She could not distinguish them, because they were exactly alike. At last he who had killed the serpent said that he was her husband. They make great rejoicings, and give a great deal of money to the two brothers, and to their parents, and they went off. They burnt the old woman in the midst of the market-place, and this handsome castle was given to the newly-married pair, and they lived happily at court; and, as they lived well, so they died happily.Catherine Elizondo.All thelatterpart of this tale is much more detailed than in the Gaelic, and it is singular to read this note from Campbell’s collector:—“The Gaelic is given as nearly as possible in the words used by Mackenzie; but he thinks his story rather shortened.” Of the identity of the two stories there can be no doubt, although each supplies what is wanting to the other.Tabakiera, the Snuff-Box.19Like many others in the world, there was a lad who wished to travel, and off he went. He finds a snuff-box, and opens it. And the snuff-box said to him—“Que quieres?” (“What do you wish for?”)He is frightened, and puts it at once into his pocket. Luckily he did not throw it away. He goes on, and on, and on, and at last he said to himself,“(I wonder) if it would say to me again, ‘Que quieres?’ I should well know what to answer.”He takes it out again, and opens it, and it says to him again,“Que quieres?”The lad says to it, “My hat full of gold.”And it is filled!He is astounded, and he said to himself that he would never want anything any more. He goes on, and on, and on; and, after he had passed some forests, he arrives at a fine castle. The king lived there. He goes round, and round, and round it, looking at it with an impudent air. The king says to him—“What are you looking for?”“To see your castle.”“You would wish, too, to have one like it?”The lad does not answer. When the evening came, our lad takes out his snuff-box, and it said to him,“Que quieres?”“Build here, on this very spot, a castle, with laths of gold and silver, and diamond tiles, and with all its furniture of gold and silver.”20As soon as he has said it, he sees in front of the king’s castle a castle like what he had asked for. When the king gets up in the morning, he was astonished at this dazzling castle. His eyes were blinded by the (reflection of the) rays of the sun which fell upon it. The king went and said to him—“You must be a man of great power,21and you must cometo our house, where we will live together. I have a daughter, too, and you shall marry her.”They do as the king had said, and they lived all together in the dazzling house. He was married to the king’s daughter, and lived happily.Now, the king’s wife was very envious of the lad and of his wife. She knew, by her daughter, how that they had a snuff-box, and that it did all that they wished. She intrigued with one of the servants to try and take it from them; but they take great care (to conceal) where they put the snuff-box away every evening. Nevertheless, at last she sees where it is put, and in the middle of the night, while they slept, she takes it from them, and carries it to her old mistress. What a joy for her!She opens it, and the snuff-box says to her, “Que quieres?”“You must take myself and my husband, and my servants, and this beautiful house, to the other side of the Red Sea,22and leave my daughter and her husband here.”When the young couple awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the old castle, and their snuff-box was gone. They look for it everywhere, but it is useless.The young man will not wait an instant longer at home. He must start off at once to find his castle and his snuff-box. He takes a horse, and as much gold as the horse can carry, and he goes on, and on, and on, and on. He searches through all the towns in the neighbourhood until he had finished all his money. He searched, but he did not find it anywhere. But he went looking out still, feeding his horse as best he could, and begging for himself. Some one told him that he ought to go to the moon—that he makes a very long journey, and that he might guide him. He goes far, far, far away, on, and on, and on, and at last he arrives. He finds an old woman, who says to him—“What do you come to do here? My son devours all creatures of all sorts; and, if you will trust me, you will be off before his arrival.”He tells her his misfortunes—how that he had a snuff-box of great power, which has been stolen from him, and that he is now without anything, far from his wife, and stripped of everything, “and perhaps your son, in his journeys, has seen my palace, with its golden laths and tiles of diamonds, and the other ornaments of gold and silver.”At that moment the moon appeared, and said to his mother that he smelt some one. His mother told him how that there was a wretched man who had lost everything; that he was come to him (for help), and that he would guide him. The moon told him to show himself. He comes, and asks him if he has not seen a house with beams of gold and with tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver; and he tells him how it was taken away from him.He answers, “No;” that he has not seen it, but that the sun makes longer journeys than he, and of greater extent, and that he would do better to go to him.He goes off again, on, and on, and on, with his horse, whom he nourished as he could, and begging for himself. At length he arrives at the sun’s house. He finds an old woman, who said to him,“Where do you come from? Be off from here! Do you not know that my son eats all Christians?”He said to her, “No! I will not go away. I am so wretched that I do not care if he does eat me.”And he tells her how he has lost everything; that he had a house, which had not its equal, with beams of gold and tiles of diamonds, and all the ornaments of gold and precious stones; and that he had been going about looking for it so long a time, and that there was no man so wretched as he. This woman hides him. The sun comes out and says to his mother—“I smell the smell of a Christian, and I must eat him.”The mother tells him that it was an unfortunate man who had lost his all, that he had come to speak to him, and begs him to take pity on him. He tells her to bring him out. Then the young man comes and asks the sun if he has seen a palace which has its equal nowhere, with its laths of gold and its tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver. The sun says to him:“No, but the south wind searches everything that I cannot see. He enters into every corner, he does, and if any one ought to know he will know.”Our poor man then sets off again, feeding his horse how he could and begging for himself, and he comes at length to the house of the south wind.23He finds an old woman carrying water, and who was filling a great many barrels. She said to him:“What are you thinking of to come here? My son eats up everything when he arrives hungry and furious. You must beware of him.”He says to her, “It is all the same to me. Let him eat me; I am so wretched that I fear nothing.”And he tells her how he had a beautiful house which had not its equal in all the world, and with it all sorts of riches, and that, “Having abandoned my wife, I am seeking it, and I am come to consult your son, being sent by the sun.”She hides him under the staircase. The south wind arrives as if he meant to tear the house up, and very thirsty. Before beginning to drink he smells the smell of the race of Christians, and said to his mother:“Out with what you have hidden,” and that he must begin by eating him.His mother said to him, “Eat and drink what is before you.”And she tells him the misfortunes of this man, and how that the sun has spared his life that he might come and consult him.Then he makes the man come out, and the man tells him how that he is going about trying to find a house, and that if anybody ought to know it is he, and that they had robbed him of his house, which had laths of gold, tiles of diamonds, and all the rest of gold and silver, and if he has not seen it anywhere?He tells him, “Yes, yes, and all to-day I have been passing over it, and have not been able to take away one of its tiles.”“Oh! if you will tell me where it is!”He says that it is on the other side of the Red Sea, very, very far away.When our man heard that, the length of the road did not frighten him—he had already travelled over so much. He sets out then, and at last arrives at that city. He asks if anyone is in want of a gardener. They tell him that the gardener of the castle has gone away, and that perhaps they will take him. He goes off, and recognises his house—judge with what joy and delight! He asks if they are in want of a gardener. They tell him “Yes,” and our lad is very pleased. He passes some time tolerably happily—middling. He talks with a servant about the riches of the masters and of the power which they had. He flattered and cajoled this young girl very much to get from her the history of the snuff-box, and he told her once that he very much wished to see it. One evening she brought it to him to look at, and our lad, very much pleased, pays great attention to where it was hidden in the room of the mistress. At night, when everybody is asleep, he goes and takes the snuff-box. You will understand with what joy he opens it.It says to him, “Que quieres?”And the lad says to it, “Que quieres, Que quieres,24carry me with my castle to the same place as (we were in) formerly, and drown the king and the queen and all the servants in this Red Sea.”As soon as he had said it, he was carried to his wife, and they lived happily, and the others all perished in the Red Sea.25Catherine Elizondo.Mahistruba, the Master Mariner.Like many others in the world, there was a master mariner. Having had many losses and misfortunes in his life he no longer made any voyages, but every day went down to the seaside for amusement, and every day he met a large serpent, and every day he said to it:“God has given thy life to thee; live then.”This master mariner lived upon what his wife and daughter earned by sewing. One day the serpent said to him:“Go to such a shipbuilder’s, and order a ship of so many tons burden. Ask the price of it, and then double the price they tell you.”26He does as the serpent told him, and the next day he goes down to the shore, and he tells the serpent that he has done as he had told him. The serpent then bids him go and fetch twelve sailors, very strong men, and to double whatever they shall ask. He goes and does what he was told to do. He returns to the serpent and tells him that he has twelve men. The serpent gives him all the money which he needed to pay for the ship. The shipbuilder is astonished to find that he is paid so large a sum of money in advance by this miserable man, but he hastens to finish his work as quickly as possible. The serpent again bids him have madein the hold of the ship a large empty space and a huge chest, and tells him to bring this down himself. He brings it, and the serpent gets into it. The ship was quickly ready, he embarks the chest in the ship, and they set out.This captain used to go every day to the serpent, but the sailors did not know what he went (into the hold) to do, nor what there was in the chest. The ship had already gone some distance, and nobody knew its destination. One day the serpent told the captain that there was going to be a frightful storm, that the earth and sky would mingle together, and that at midnight a large black bird would pass over the ship, and that it must be killed, and (he tells him) to go and see if there is any sportsman among his sailors. He goes and asks the sailors if there is any sportsman among them.27One of them answers, “Yes; I can kill a swallow in its flight.”“All the better, all the better; that will be of use to you.”He goes down to tell the serpent that there is a sportsman who can kill a swallow in its flight. And at the same moment the weather becomes black as night, and earth and sky are mingled together, and all are trembling with fright. The serpent gives the captain a good drink for the sportsman, and they bind him to the mast. At midnight a piercing cry was heard. It was the bird which was passing over, and our sportsman has the good luck to kill him. At the very instant the sea becomes calm. The captain goes to the serpent, and tells him that the bird is killed.The serpent answers him, “I know it.”When they had gone a little further without anything happening, the serpent said one day:“Are we not near such a port?”The captain says to him, “It is in sight.”“Very well, then, we are going there.”He tells him to go again, and ask his sailors if there is a fast runner among them. The captain goes and asks his sailors if there is any fast runner among them.One of them says to him, “As for me, I can catch a hare running.”“So much the better, so much the better; that will be of use to you.”The captain goes to tell the serpent that there is one who can catch a hare running. The serpent says to him:“You will land the runner at this port, and you will tell him that he must go to the top of a little mountain; that there is a little house there, and an old, old woman in it; and that there is there a steel, a flint, and a tinder-box; and that he must bring these three things on board one by one, making a separate journey each time.”Our runner goes off, and comes to this house. He sees the old woman, with red eyes, spinning at the threshold of her door. He asks her for a drop of water, that he has walked a long way without finding any water, and will she give him a little drop? The old woman says to him, “No.” He begs her again, telling her that he does not know the roads in the country, nor where he is going to. This old woman kept constantly looking at the chimney-piece, and she said to him:“I am going to give you some, then.”While she went to the pitcher, our runner takes the steel off the chimney-piece, and goes off at full speed, like the lightning; but the old woman is after him. At the very instant that he is about to leap into the ship the old woman catches him, and snatches off a bit of his coat, and a piece of the skin of his back with it.28The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have got the steel, but our man has got the skin of his back torn off.”He gives him a remedy, and a good drink, and tells him that the man will be cured by to-morrow, but that he must go again next day.He says, “No, no; the devil may carry off this old woman, if he likes, but I will not go there any more.”But, as he was cured next day by giving him that good drink again, he sets off. He dresses himself in a shirt without arms, and in an old torn pair of trousers, and goes to the old woman’s, saying that his ship is wrecked on the shore, that he has been wandering about for forty-eight hours, and he begs her to let him go to the fire to light his pipe.She says, “No.”“Do have pity—I am so wretched; it is only a little favour I ask of you.”“No, no, I was deceived yesterday.”But the man answered, “All the world are not deceivers. Don’t be afraid.”The old woman rises to go to the fire, and as she stoops to take it,29the man seizes the flint and escapes, running as if he would break his feet. But the old woman runs as fast as our runner; but she only catches him as he is jumping into the ship; she tears off the shirt, and the skin of his neck and back with it, and he falls into the ship.The captain goes directly to the serpent: “We have got the flint.”He says to him, “I know it.”He gives him the medicine and the good drink, in order that the man may be cured by the morrow, and that he may go again. But the man says, “No,” that he does not want to see that red-eyed old woman any more. They tell him that they still want the tinder-box. The next day they give him the good drink. That gives him courage, and the desire to return again.He dresses himself up as if he had been shipwrecked, and goes off half naked. He comes to the old woman’s, and asks for a little bread, as he has not eaten for a long time, (and begs her) to have pity on him—that he does not know where to go to.The old woman says to him: “Be off, where you will; you shall get nothing at my house, and nobody shall come in here. Every day I have enemies.”“But what have you to fear from a poor man who only wants a little bread, and who will be off immediately afterwards?”At last the old woman rises to go to her cupboard, and our man takes her little tinder-box. The old woman runs after him, wishing to catch him, but our man is ahead. She overtakes him just as he is leaping into the ship. The old woman takes hold of the skin of his neck, and tears it all right down to the soles of his feet. Our runner falls down, and they do not know whether he is alive or dead; and the old woman says:“I renounce him, and all those who are in this ship.”The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have the tinder-box, but our runner is in great danger. I do not know whether he will live; he has no skin left from his neck to the soles of his feet.”“Console yourselves, console yourselves, he will be cured by to-morrow. Here is the medicine and the good drink. Now, you are saved. Go on deck, and fire seven rounds of cannon.”He mounts on deck and fires the seven rounds of cannon, and returns to the serpent, and says to him:“We have fired the seven rounds.”He says to him, “Fire twelve rounds more; but do not be afraid. The police will come here; they will handcuff you. You will be put in prison, and you will ask, as a favour, not to be executed before that they have visited the ship, in order to prove that there is nothing in it to merit such a chastisement.”The captain goes on deck, and fires the twelve rounds of cannon. As soon as he has fired them, the magistrates and the police arrive; they handcuff the men, the sailors, and the captain, and they put them in prison. The sailors were not pleased; but the captain said to them:“You will soon be delivered.”The next day the captain asks to go and speak to the king. He is brought before the king, and the king says:“You are condemned to be hanged.”The captain says to him, “What! because we have fired some cannon-shots you are going to hang us!!”“Yes, yes, because for seven years we have not heard the cannon in this city.30I am in mourning—I and my people. I had an only son, and I have lost him. I cannot forget him.”The captain says to him: “I did not know either this news or this order, and I beg you not to kill us before going and seeing if there is anything in the ship which condemns us justly.”The king goes with his courtiers, his soldiers, and his judges—in a word, with everybody. When he has mounted on deck, what a surprise! The king finds his dearly-loved son, who relates to him how hehadbeen enchanted by an old woman, and that he remained a serpent seven years.31How the captain every day went to walk by the seaside, and every day left him his life, saying to him, “The good God has made you too;” and having seen the captain’s good heart, “I thought he would spare me, and it is to him that I owe my life.”He goes to the court. The men are let out of prison, and they give the captain a large sum of money for a dowry forhis two daughters, and the ship for himself. To the sailors they give as much as they like to eat and drink for all the time they wish to stop there, and afterwards enough to live upon for the rest of their lives. The king and his son lived happily, and as they had lived well, they died happily also.Gachina,The Net-maker.

Malbrouk.2Like many others in the world, there was a man and a woman who were over-burdened with children, and were very poor. The man used to go to the forest every day to get wood for his family. His wife was on the point of being confined. One day he was in the forest, and a gentleman comes to him, and says:“What are you doing, friend?”“I am looking for wood to support my family.”“You are very poor, then?”“Yes, yes.”“If you will make me godfather to your next child according to your law, I will give you a great deal of money.”He says to him, “Yes, I will do so.”He gives him, then, a great deal of money, and he goeshome. His wife is confined shortly afterwards, and they were waiting, not knowing what to do to tell it to the godfather, since they did not know where he lived. He himself appeared from somewhere. They go to the church, and he gives him the name Malbrouk. While they were returning to the house, the godfather disappears with the child like smoke. The father and mother were distressed about it, though they had plenty of money; but in time their grief faded away.The old Malbrouk went to his house. His wife was a witch, and they had three daughters. The little Malbrouk grew fast, and at seven years’ old he was as tall as a tall man. His godfather said to him:“Malbrouk, would you like to go to your own home?”He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the littleMalbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):“You have taken good care whom you have killed? I am not at all satisfied that you have not done some donkey-trick.”The witch goes, and sees her three daughters dead. She was terribly angry,3and there was no help for it.Malbrouk and his brothers come to a place where a king lives, and he remarks that everything is sad. He asks what it is? They tell him that the king has lost his three daughters, and that nobody can find them. Malbrouk says to them:“I will find them.”They tell that quickly to the king, and bring them before him, and Malbrouk tells him, too, that he will find them. All three set out. When they have gone a little way they find an old woman, who says to them:“Where are you going to in that fashion?”“To look for the king’s three daughters.”This old woman says to them:“Go to the king, and ask him for three hundred fathoms of new rope, a bucket, and a bell.”They go, and the king gives to them immediately what they ask for. They go, then, to the woman, and she says to them, pointing to a well, that they are in that well.4The eldest put himself into the bucket, and says to them:“When I am afraid, I will ring the bell.”When he has gone only a little way he is frightened, and rings. They pull him up. The second goes; and when he has gone a little farther down he is frightened, and rings. Malbrouk then gets in, and he says to them:“When I shall give a pull at the bucket from below, then you will pull it up.”He goes down, then, and at last he sees that there is a beautiful house underground, and he sees there a beautiful young lady, who is sitting with a serpent asleep in her lap. When she sees Malbrouk, she says to him:“Be off, I pray you, from here; he has only three-quarters of an hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all over with you and me.”He says to her, “No matter; lay the head of the serpent on the ground, gently, gently, without waking him.”She lays it there, and he carries off this young lady in the bucket, after having pulled the cord. He goes into another chamber, and he sees another young lady, still more beautiful, with the head of a lion asleep on her lap. She also says to him:“Be off quickly from here. He has only half-an-hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all up with you and me.”Malbrouk says to her, “Place gently, gently, without waking him, the head of the lion on the ground.”She does so. Malbrouk takes her, gets into the bucket with her, and his brothers pull them both up. They write at once to the king to come and fetch them, that they have found two of his daughters. As you may suppose, the king sends a carriage directly to fetch them, and he makes great rejoicings. The king tells him to choose whichever of the two he likes for his wife. Malbrouk says to him:“When I shall have found your third daughter she shall be my wife, and my two brothers may take these two young ladies for their wives.”They do as Malbrouk said, and he sets out to see his sweetheart. He goes on, and on, and on. All the fowls of the air know Malbrouk. As he was going along he findsa wolf, a dog, a hawk, and an ant, and in their language they cry out:“Oyhu!5Malbrouk, Malbrouk!” and saying to him, “Where are you going, Malbrouk? these three days we have been here before this sheep, and cannot agree how to divide it; but you, you shall divide it.”Malbrouk goes to them, then, trembling lest they should make a division of him, too. He cuts off the head, and gives it to the ant.“You will have enough to eat, and for your whole household.”He gives the entrails to the hawk, and for the dog and the wolf he cuts the carcase in half. He left them all well satisfied; and Malbrouk goes on his way in silence, in silence. When he had gone a little way, the ant says:“We have not given Malbrouk any reward.”The wolf calls to him to come back. Malbrouk comes trembling, thinking that it was his turn, and that they are going to eat him, without doubt. The ant says to him:“We have not given you anything, after that you have made such a good division for us; but whenever you wish to become an ant, you have only to say, ‘Jesus, ant!’ and you will become an ant.”The hawk says to him: “When you wish to make yourself a hawk, you will say, ‘Jesus, hawk!’ and you will be a hawk.”The wolf says to him: “When you shall wish to become a wolf, you shall say, ‘Jesus, wolf!’ and you shall be a wolf.”And the dog, he said to him the same thing, too.6Hegoes off, then, well pleased, further into the forest. A woodpecker says to him:“Malbrouk, where are you going?”“To fetch such a daughter of a king.”“You will not find her easily. Since they have delivered her sisters, he has carried her to the farther side of the Red Sea,7in an island, and keeps her there in prison, in a beautiful house, with the doors and windows so closely shut that only the ants can get into that house.”Malbrouk goes off happy at hearing this news, and that he would find the princess. He goes on, and on, and on, and he arrives opposite to this island, and remembering what the hawk had said to him, he said, “Jesus, hawk!” and immediately he becomes a hawk.8He flies away, and goes on until he comes to the island of which the woodpecker had told him; he sees that he can only get in there like an ant, and he says, “Jesus, ant!” and he gets through the little lattice-work. He is dazed at the sight of the beauty of this young lady. He says, “Jesus, man!” and he becomes a man again. When the young lady sees him, she says to him:“Be off quickly from here. It is all over with your life. He is about to come, this horrible body without a soul,9before a quarter of an hour, and you will be done away with.”“I will become an ant again, and I will place myself in your bosom; but do not scratch yourself too hard, else you will crush me.”As soon as he has said that the monster comes. Hegives her partridges and pigeons for her dinner, but he himself eats serpents and horrible vermin. He tells her that he has a slight headache, and to take the hammer and rap him on the head. She could not lift it, it was so big; but she knocks him as well as she is able. The monster goes off. The ant comes out from where he was, and prepares to eat the partridges and pigeons with the young lady. Malbrouk said to her:“You must ask him, as if you were in great trouble about it, what would have to be done to kill him? and you will tell him how unhappy you would be if he should be killed—that you would die of hunger in prison in this island.”The young lady says, “Yes,” she will do so.The monster comes again, and says to her:“Ay! ay! ay! my head. Take the hammer, and hit me hard.”The young lady does it until she is tired, and then she says:“How unfortunate I shall be if you die.”He answers, “I shall not die. He who will know that will know a great secret.”“Most certainly I would not wish you to die. I should die of hunger in this island without you, and I should get no benefit by it. You ought to tell me what would kill you.”He says to her, “No! Before this, too, a woman has deceived a man, and I will not tell you.”“You can tell it to me—yes, to me. To whom shall I tell it? I see nobody. Nobody is able to come here.”At last, at last, he tells her then:“You must kill a terrible wolf which is in the forest, and inside him is a fox, in the fox is a pigeon; this pigeon has an egg in his head, and whoever should strike me on the forehead with this egg would kill me.10But who will know all that? Nobody.”The princess said to him, “Nobody, happily. I, too, I should die.”The monster goes out as before, and the ant too, as you may think, happy in knowing the secret. On the very next day he sets out for the forest. He sees a frightful wolf. He says, directly, “Jesus, wolf!” and he immediately becomes a wolf. He then goes to this wolf, and they begin to fight, and he gets him down and chokes him. He leaves him there, and goes off to the young lady in the island, and says to her:“We have got the wolf; I have killed him, and left him in the forest.”The monster comes directly afterwards, saying:“Ay! ay! ay! my head! Strike my head quickly.”She hits his head till she is tired. He says to the princess:“They have killed the wolf; I do not know if anything is going to happen to me. I am much afraid of it.”“You have nothing to be afraid of. To whom could I have told anything? Nobody can get in here.”When he has gone, the ant goes to the forest. He opens the wolf, and out of him comes a fox, who escapes at full speed. Malbrouk says, “Jesus, dog!” and he becomes a dog. He, too, sets off running, and catches the fox. They begin to fight, and he kills him, too. He opens him, and there comes out of him a pigeon. Malbrouk says, at once, “Jesus, hawk!” and he becomes a hawk. He flies off to catch the pigeon, seizes him in his terrible talons, and takes out of his head this precious egg, and goes proudly with it into the chamber of the young lady. He tells how he has very happily accomplished his business, and says to her:“At present, it is your turn; act alone.”And again he makes himself an ant. Our monster comes, crying, that it is all up with him, that they have taken the egg out of the pigeon, and that he does not know what must become of him. He tells her to strike him on the head with the hammer.The young lady says to him:“What have you to fear? Who shall have got this egg? And how should he strike your forehead?”He shows her how, saying, “Like that.”As the young lady had the egg in her hand, she strikes the monster as he had told her, and he falls stark dead. In an instant the ant comes out joyously (from his hiding-place), and he says to her:“We must set out instantly for your father’s house.”They open a window, and the young man makes himself a hawk, and he says to the young lady:“Cling firmly to my neck.”And he flies off, and they arrive at the other side of the island. He writes immediately to the king his lord, to send and fetch them as quickly as possible. The king sent; and judge what joy and what feasts there were in that court. The king wished them to marry directly, but Malbrouk would not do so. (He said) that he ought to bring his dowry. The king said to him:“You have gained enough already.”He will not hear of that, but goes off far, far, far away, to the house of his godfather.They had there a cow with golden horns, and these horns bore fruits of diamonds. A boy used to guard her in the field. Malbrouk said to him:11“What! do you not hear that the master is calling you? Go, quickly, then, and learn what he wants of you.”The boy, (believing it), goes off. The master calls to him from the window:“Where are you going to, leaving the cow? Go quickly; I see that Malbrouk is about there.”The boy sets off running back, but he cannot find the cow. Malbrouk had got off proudly with his cow, and he gives it to his future wife, who was very much pleased with it.The king wished him, then, to marry, (saying) that he was quite rich enough. Malbrouk would not yet. He must make a present to the king. He goes again to his godfather’s house. He wished to steal from him a moon, which lighted for seven leagues round. Old Malbrouk used to drink a barrel of water every night. Young Malbrouk goes and empties this barrel. When night came, Malbrouk goes to drink at his barrel, and finds it empty. He goes to find his wife, and says to her:“I have not got a drop of water; go directly, and fetch me some. I cannot bear this thirst.”His wife said to him, “It is night, light your moon.” He lights it, and puts it by the chimney, on the roof. When everyone has gone to the fountain, young Malbrouk goes and takes this moon, and carries it to the king. And he, astonished, said to him:“Now you have done grandly; now be married.”But he would not; (he said) that he ought to bring something more. His godfather had a violin, which it was enough only to touch for it to play, no matter what beautiful music, and it would be heard seven leagues off. He goes into his godfather’s house to take the violin, and as soon as he has touched it, it begins to play music. Old Malbrouk rushes off, and catches his godson in the act. He seizes him, and puts him into an iron cage. He and his wife are right well pleased. They say to him:“This evening we are going to roast you, and eat you.”Old Malbrouk goes to the forest to fetch wood, and his wife was busy cutting some small—she was taking a great deal of trouble about it. Malbrouk says to her:“Let me get out of here; I will cut that wood for you. You can kill me all the same this evening.”She lets him out. After having cut up some, he takes one of the largest pieces and strikes the wife of Malbrouk, and kills her. He makes a great fire, and puts her in the caldron to boil. He takes the violin, and leaves thehouse. When old Malbrouk hears the violin, he says to himself:“My wife, not being able to hold out any longer, has, doubtless, killed Malbrouk, and to show me her joy she has taken the violin.”And he does not trouble himself any more about it. When he approaches the house he stands, well pleased, looking at the caldron on the fire, but, on coming nearer, he sees some long hairs. He pulls out a little more, and perceives that it is his wife, who is there already, half-boiled. Think what a rage he was in. The young Malbrouk went to the king’s house, and married his well-beloved princess. They made great rejoicings. As the king was somewhat aged, he gives his crown to Malbrouk, saying that he had well gained it. They all lived happily, and he made his two brothers kings also.Laurentine,About 35 years old; learnt it from her mother.

Like many others in the world, there was a man and a woman who were over-burdened with children, and were very poor. The man used to go to the forest every day to get wood for his family. His wife was on the point of being confined. One day he was in the forest, and a gentleman comes to him, and says:

“What are you doing, friend?”

“I am looking for wood to support my family.”

“You are very poor, then?”

“Yes, yes.”

“If you will make me godfather to your next child according to your law, I will give you a great deal of money.”

He says to him, “Yes, I will do so.”

He gives him, then, a great deal of money, and he goeshome. His wife is confined shortly afterwards, and they were waiting, not knowing what to do to tell it to the godfather, since they did not know where he lived. He himself appeared from somewhere. They go to the church, and he gives him the name Malbrouk. While they were returning to the house, the godfather disappears with the child like smoke. The father and mother were distressed about it, though they had plenty of money; but in time their grief faded away.

The old Malbrouk went to his house. His wife was a witch, and they had three daughters. The little Malbrouk grew fast, and at seven years’ old he was as tall as a tall man. His godfather said to him:

“Malbrouk, would you like to go to your own home?”

He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”

He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.

“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”

He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:

“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”

They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:

“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”

Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the littleMalbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:

“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”

The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):

“You have taken good care whom you have killed? I am not at all satisfied that you have not done some donkey-trick.”

The witch goes, and sees her three daughters dead. She was terribly angry,3and there was no help for it.

Malbrouk and his brothers come to a place where a king lives, and he remarks that everything is sad. He asks what it is? They tell him that the king has lost his three daughters, and that nobody can find them. Malbrouk says to them:

“I will find them.”

They tell that quickly to the king, and bring them before him, and Malbrouk tells him, too, that he will find them. All three set out. When they have gone a little way they find an old woman, who says to them:

“Where are you going to in that fashion?”

“To look for the king’s three daughters.”

This old woman says to them:

“Go to the king, and ask him for three hundred fathoms of new rope, a bucket, and a bell.”

They go, and the king gives to them immediately what they ask for. They go, then, to the woman, and she says to them, pointing to a well, that they are in that well.4The eldest put himself into the bucket, and says to them:

“When I am afraid, I will ring the bell.”

When he has gone only a little way he is frightened, and rings. They pull him up. The second goes; and when he has gone a little farther down he is frightened, and rings. Malbrouk then gets in, and he says to them:

“When I shall give a pull at the bucket from below, then you will pull it up.”

He goes down, then, and at last he sees that there is a beautiful house underground, and he sees there a beautiful young lady, who is sitting with a serpent asleep in her lap. When she sees Malbrouk, she says to him:

“Be off, I pray you, from here; he has only three-quarters of an hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all over with you and me.”

He says to her, “No matter; lay the head of the serpent on the ground, gently, gently, without waking him.”

She lays it there, and he carries off this young lady in the bucket, after having pulled the cord. He goes into another chamber, and he sees another young lady, still more beautiful, with the head of a lion asleep on her lap. She also says to him:

“Be off quickly from here. He has only half-an-hour to sleep, and if he wakes, it is all up with you and me.”

Malbrouk says to her, “Place gently, gently, without waking him, the head of the lion on the ground.”

She does so. Malbrouk takes her, gets into the bucket with her, and his brothers pull them both up. They write at once to the king to come and fetch them, that they have found two of his daughters. As you may suppose, the king sends a carriage directly to fetch them, and he makes great rejoicings. The king tells him to choose whichever of the two he likes for his wife. Malbrouk says to him:

“When I shall have found your third daughter she shall be my wife, and my two brothers may take these two young ladies for their wives.”

They do as Malbrouk said, and he sets out to see his sweetheart. He goes on, and on, and on. All the fowls of the air know Malbrouk. As he was going along he findsa wolf, a dog, a hawk, and an ant, and in their language they cry out:

“Oyhu!5Malbrouk, Malbrouk!” and saying to him, “Where are you going, Malbrouk? these three days we have been here before this sheep, and cannot agree how to divide it; but you, you shall divide it.”

Malbrouk goes to them, then, trembling lest they should make a division of him, too. He cuts off the head, and gives it to the ant.

“You will have enough to eat, and for your whole household.”

He gives the entrails to the hawk, and for the dog and the wolf he cuts the carcase in half. He left them all well satisfied; and Malbrouk goes on his way in silence, in silence. When he had gone a little way, the ant says:

“We have not given Malbrouk any reward.”

The wolf calls to him to come back. Malbrouk comes trembling, thinking that it was his turn, and that they are going to eat him, without doubt. The ant says to him:

“We have not given you anything, after that you have made such a good division for us; but whenever you wish to become an ant, you have only to say, ‘Jesus, ant!’ and you will become an ant.”

The hawk says to him: “When you wish to make yourself a hawk, you will say, ‘Jesus, hawk!’ and you will be a hawk.”

The wolf says to him: “When you shall wish to become a wolf, you shall say, ‘Jesus, wolf!’ and you shall be a wolf.”

And the dog, he said to him the same thing, too.6Hegoes off, then, well pleased, further into the forest. A woodpecker says to him:

“Malbrouk, where are you going?”

“To fetch such a daughter of a king.”

“You will not find her easily. Since they have delivered her sisters, he has carried her to the farther side of the Red Sea,7in an island, and keeps her there in prison, in a beautiful house, with the doors and windows so closely shut that only the ants can get into that house.”

Malbrouk goes off happy at hearing this news, and that he would find the princess. He goes on, and on, and on, and he arrives opposite to this island, and remembering what the hawk had said to him, he said, “Jesus, hawk!” and immediately he becomes a hawk.8He flies away, and goes on until he comes to the island of which the woodpecker had told him; he sees that he can only get in there like an ant, and he says, “Jesus, ant!” and he gets through the little lattice-work. He is dazed at the sight of the beauty of this young lady. He says, “Jesus, man!” and he becomes a man again. When the young lady sees him, she says to him:

“Be off quickly from here. It is all over with your life. He is about to come, this horrible body without a soul,9before a quarter of an hour, and you will be done away with.”

“I will become an ant again, and I will place myself in your bosom; but do not scratch yourself too hard, else you will crush me.”

As soon as he has said that the monster comes. Hegives her partridges and pigeons for her dinner, but he himself eats serpents and horrible vermin. He tells her that he has a slight headache, and to take the hammer and rap him on the head. She could not lift it, it was so big; but she knocks him as well as she is able. The monster goes off. The ant comes out from where he was, and prepares to eat the partridges and pigeons with the young lady. Malbrouk said to her:

“You must ask him, as if you were in great trouble about it, what would have to be done to kill him? and you will tell him how unhappy you would be if he should be killed—that you would die of hunger in prison in this island.”

The young lady says, “Yes,” she will do so.

The monster comes again, and says to her:

“Ay! ay! ay! my head. Take the hammer, and hit me hard.”

The young lady does it until she is tired, and then she says:

“How unfortunate I shall be if you die.”

He answers, “I shall not die. He who will know that will know a great secret.”

“Most certainly I would not wish you to die. I should die of hunger in this island without you, and I should get no benefit by it. You ought to tell me what would kill you.”

He says to her, “No! Before this, too, a woman has deceived a man, and I will not tell you.”

“You can tell it to me—yes, to me. To whom shall I tell it? I see nobody. Nobody is able to come here.”

At last, at last, he tells her then:

“You must kill a terrible wolf which is in the forest, and inside him is a fox, in the fox is a pigeon; this pigeon has an egg in his head, and whoever should strike me on the forehead with this egg would kill me.10But who will know all that? Nobody.”

The princess said to him, “Nobody, happily. I, too, I should die.”

The monster goes out as before, and the ant too, as you may think, happy in knowing the secret. On the very next day he sets out for the forest. He sees a frightful wolf. He says, directly, “Jesus, wolf!” and he immediately becomes a wolf. He then goes to this wolf, and they begin to fight, and he gets him down and chokes him. He leaves him there, and goes off to the young lady in the island, and says to her:

“We have got the wolf; I have killed him, and left him in the forest.”

The monster comes directly afterwards, saying:

“Ay! ay! ay! my head! Strike my head quickly.”

She hits his head till she is tired. He says to the princess:

“They have killed the wolf; I do not know if anything is going to happen to me. I am much afraid of it.”

“You have nothing to be afraid of. To whom could I have told anything? Nobody can get in here.”

When he has gone, the ant goes to the forest. He opens the wolf, and out of him comes a fox, who escapes at full speed. Malbrouk says, “Jesus, dog!” and he becomes a dog. He, too, sets off running, and catches the fox. They begin to fight, and he kills him, too. He opens him, and there comes out of him a pigeon. Malbrouk says, at once, “Jesus, hawk!” and he becomes a hawk. He flies off to catch the pigeon, seizes him in his terrible talons, and takes out of his head this precious egg, and goes proudly with it into the chamber of the young lady. He tells how he has very happily accomplished his business, and says to her:

“At present, it is your turn; act alone.”

And again he makes himself an ant. Our monster comes, crying, that it is all up with him, that they have taken the egg out of the pigeon, and that he does not know what must become of him. He tells her to strike him on the head with the hammer.

The young lady says to him:

“What have you to fear? Who shall have got this egg? And how should he strike your forehead?”

He shows her how, saying, “Like that.”

As the young lady had the egg in her hand, she strikes the monster as he had told her, and he falls stark dead. In an instant the ant comes out joyously (from his hiding-place), and he says to her:

“We must set out instantly for your father’s house.”

They open a window, and the young man makes himself a hawk, and he says to the young lady:

“Cling firmly to my neck.”

And he flies off, and they arrive at the other side of the island. He writes immediately to the king his lord, to send and fetch them as quickly as possible. The king sent; and judge what joy and what feasts there were in that court. The king wished them to marry directly, but Malbrouk would not do so. (He said) that he ought to bring his dowry. The king said to him:

“You have gained enough already.”

He will not hear of that, but goes off far, far, far away, to the house of his godfather.

They had there a cow with golden horns, and these horns bore fruits of diamonds. A boy used to guard her in the field. Malbrouk said to him:11

“What! do you not hear that the master is calling you? Go, quickly, then, and learn what he wants of you.”

The boy, (believing it), goes off. The master calls to him from the window:

“Where are you going to, leaving the cow? Go quickly; I see that Malbrouk is about there.”

The boy sets off running back, but he cannot find the cow. Malbrouk had got off proudly with his cow, and he gives it to his future wife, who was very much pleased with it.The king wished him, then, to marry, (saying) that he was quite rich enough. Malbrouk would not yet. He must make a present to the king. He goes again to his godfather’s house. He wished to steal from him a moon, which lighted for seven leagues round. Old Malbrouk used to drink a barrel of water every night. Young Malbrouk goes and empties this barrel. When night came, Malbrouk goes to drink at his barrel, and finds it empty. He goes to find his wife, and says to her:

“I have not got a drop of water; go directly, and fetch me some. I cannot bear this thirst.”

His wife said to him, “It is night, light your moon.” He lights it, and puts it by the chimney, on the roof. When everyone has gone to the fountain, young Malbrouk goes and takes this moon, and carries it to the king. And he, astonished, said to him:

“Now you have done grandly; now be married.”

But he would not; (he said) that he ought to bring something more. His godfather had a violin, which it was enough only to touch for it to play, no matter what beautiful music, and it would be heard seven leagues off. He goes into his godfather’s house to take the violin, and as soon as he has touched it, it begins to play music. Old Malbrouk rushes off, and catches his godson in the act. He seizes him, and puts him into an iron cage. He and his wife are right well pleased. They say to him:

“This evening we are going to roast you, and eat you.”

Old Malbrouk goes to the forest to fetch wood, and his wife was busy cutting some small—she was taking a great deal of trouble about it. Malbrouk says to her:

“Let me get out of here; I will cut that wood for you. You can kill me all the same this evening.”

She lets him out. After having cut up some, he takes one of the largest pieces and strikes the wife of Malbrouk, and kills her. He makes a great fire, and puts her in the caldron to boil. He takes the violin, and leaves thehouse. When old Malbrouk hears the violin, he says to himself:

“My wife, not being able to hold out any longer, has, doubtless, killed Malbrouk, and to show me her joy she has taken the violin.”

And he does not trouble himself any more about it. When he approaches the house he stands, well pleased, looking at the caldron on the fire, but, on coming nearer, he sees some long hairs. He pulls out a little more, and perceives that it is his wife, who is there already, half-boiled. Think what a rage he was in. The young Malbrouk went to the king’s house, and married his well-beloved princess. They made great rejoicings. As the king was somewhat aged, he gives his crown to Malbrouk, saying that he had well gained it. They all lived happily, and he made his two brothers kings also.

Laurentine,About 35 years old; learnt it from her mother.

The Fisherman and His Sons.Like many others in the world, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife. One day he was fishing and caught a fine fish (at that time all the animals and everything used to speak), and the fish said to him:12“Spare my life! Spare my life! I will give you all that you shall desire.”And this poor man spared its life, and went home without having caught anything else. When he came home his wife asks him:“Where are your fish?”He tells her how that he had caught a fish, and that it had begged him to spare its life, and that he had left it in the water. His wife says to him:“Have you lost your head then? After having caught a fish to put it back again into the water!”And she called him all sorts of names, even “big donkey.”The next day he goes fishing again, and (what a chance!) the same fish came again. It asks him again to spare its life. But the man answers:“No! My wife loaded me with abuse last evening.”The fish said to him that he would give him as much money as he wished if he would but spare him. And our fisherman lets him go again. He remains there again all day, but nothing comes to his hook. Again he goes off home without anything at all. His wife is furious at seeing that he has nothing. He gives her some money, but she was not satisfied, and told her husband that he ought to have brought the fish.He goes fishing again for the third time, and again the same fish returns, and says to him, “Let me go into the water.”But our man will not let him go again; his wife had scolded him so much last night. He must carry him home.“Well, then, since you will carry me home, I will tell you how you must divide me. You must give my tail to the dog, my head to the mare, and my trunk to your wife. At the end of a certain time your wife will bear three sons, and they will all be exactly like each other, exactly alike. The mare will have three colts, but all three alike, and the bitch three puppies, all exactly alike too. And if any misfortune should happen to any of the three children, the well which is behind the house will begin to boil.”The woman did as the fish had said, and she gave birth to three wonderfully fine boys, who were all exactly, exactly alike, and the mare had three colts exactly alike, and the bitch three puppies exactly alike too.When these children grew big, one of them said to his parents that he wished to go from country to country to see the world. His parents did not wish it. But he had such a desire that at last they gave him leave. He takes a horse and a dog, extraordinarily large and handsome, a sword also,13and off he starts. He goes on, and on, very, very far. He comes to a city and goes to an inn. They were lamenting loudly there, and everybody was sad.14He asks, “What is it?” They tell him how that a serpent with seven heads lived in the mountain, and that every day they drew lots to know who should go to him, because he must eat one person every day; and that to-day the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter, and that everyone was in mourning, and that the next day this princess must go very early to the mountain.Our young man takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and starts off before the princess. He keeps himself hidden until the princess was alone at the top. Then our lad comes out, and the princess says to him:“Where do you come from here? Go down quickly, else you will be eaten as well as I. It is quite enough for one (to die).”And she entreats him to go down, but our lad will not. He wishes to try if he can do anything. At the same moment they hear a shrill hissing, and with that the serpent comes. The lad says to the dog:“Do your duty.”And the dog leaps upon the serpent and holds him. He takes his sword and cuts off his seven heads as best he can. When he has done that he takes the seven tongues out of the seven heads and puts them in his pocket. This princess had on seven robes, each more beautiful than the others,and he cuts seven pieces out of them severally. The princess does not know what to do to thank him. She wishes to take the lad home with her, but he will not go. And he returns to the inn.The king proclaims that the man who has killed the serpent has gained the half of his kingdom, and his daughter; that he should make himself known. Our lad does not show himself at all, but a charcoal-burner15passing by on the mountain found the seven heads. He presents himself before the king as if he had killed the serpent. But the princess does not recognise him, and says that it is not he who has saved her. But as no one else came the marriage was about to be celebrated, when the princess pointed out to her father from a distance her rescuer. The king would not believe her. But they send and fetch him, and tell the charcoal-burner to show the seven heads of the serpent, and he shows them with great boldness. Our young man tells him to open their mouths. He does so, and the mouths had no tongues. Then he who had killed the serpent shows the seven tongues, and the seven pieces of the princess’ robes, and they were all convinced that he had killed the serpent; and they burned the charcoal-burner alive in the middle of the market-place.Our young man marries the princess, and they had many and great rejoicings because he had delivered all the world from the terrible serpent. In the evening, when they retired to their chamber, the wife knelt down to say her prayers, and the husband went and looked out of the window, and he saw by the moonlight a magnificent castle,16which he had never seen before.He asks his wife:“What is that?”His wife says to him:“Nobody goes to that castle, for they who go there never return.”17The husband said to her that he must go there. His wife did not wish it, but he had such a desire to do so that he takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and goes off. He looks round and round (the castle), but he cannot find the door. At last he finds a little door half hidden, very small. He knocks. An old woman comes to him, and asks him what he wants.He says, “I have seen this castle so beautiful outside, that I am anxious to see the inside.”She shows him in. He sees a table splendidly laid out. There was nothing that there was not on the table. This woman invites him to take something. He says that he does not want anything, but she insists so much that he ends by taking something. As soon as he has eaten the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and by no means could he get out of that house.The water begins to boil at home, as the fish had said. All those in the house are grieved because some misfortune has happened to the son. One of the brothers at home said that he would immediately set out to the help of his brother. Those at home are very sorry, but they let him go. He takes a horse and a dog. The father and mother give him all the money that they can give him, and he starts off. He goes on, and on, and on, and, as was fated,18he comes to the same inn as his brother. There they recognise him. They inform the king that the gentleman is at the house, because he had had a search made for him through all the neighbourhood. They come and fetch him out of his corner, and he lets them do as they wish. A great supper was made, and he goes off with the princess. As before, the princess knelt down to pray. The young man goes to look out of the window, and sees this palace. He asks her what this beautiful castle is. She says to him:“You do not know what takes place there! They who go there never return.”He says that he will start off directly. His wife asks him if he will return to that castle as before. “Do not go, I pray you.”But nothing could have stopped him, and off he goes with his horse and his dog. Like the other brother, he goes wandering round and round the house without finding the door. At last he sees a very little door half hidden. He knocks at it, and the old woman comes and says to him:“What do you want?”“I have seen the outside of this castle, and I wish to see the inside.”She tells him to come in. He leaves his horse and his dog outside, and he sees a table splendidly set out; one could not mention anything that was wanting, there was something of everything. She tells him to eat something. He did not wish to, but at last he takes something, (so little, that it was) almost nothing. At the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and cannot in any way get out.The water at home begins to boil, and they know that some misfortune has happened to him.The third brother said that he must set out as quickly as possible. The parents did not wish it, but he said to them:“Perhaps I shall save them; let me go.”They give him as much money as they can. He takes a horse and a dog, and off he starts. He goes on, and on, and on. He also goes to the same inn as his other brothers. He is recognised immediately, and the king is informed that this young gentleman is there. He sends to fetch him immediately, and makes great feastings and rejoicings, thinking that it is always the same as their first young gentleman. In the evening he is conducted to the princess. The princess kneels down to say her evening prayers, and her husband, wishing to see a little more of the festival, placed himself at the window. He also sees the beautiful castle. He asks his wife:“What is this beautiful house?”She says to him, “What! You! Do notyouknow what it is? No one returns from there. You know yourself what happens there, since you have been there yourself.”He said to her, “I must go and see it again.”The princess would not let him go; but he broke away from her. He takes his horse and his dog, and starts off. He looks, and looks all round, and cannot find the door. An old woman appears to him, and says to him—“What do you think will become of you here? They who go in there do not come out.”“But that is why I wish to go in, to know what passes within.”Then the old woman gives him a pigeon, cooked and prepared for eating, and said to him,“Inside there is an old woman. She will try and force you to eat; but, if you are wise, you will not eat. You will show her the pigeon that you have in your pocket which remains after your repast, and you must make her eat some of the pigeon, and you will have full power over her.”When he has found the door, he knocks. This old woman comes, and asks him what he wants. He says that he only wishes to see this house. She lets him in. He takes his dog, also, with him. He sees this splendid table. She wishes absolutely to make him eat; but he says that it is altogether impossible—that he has in his pocket a pigeon which he has not been able to eat, and that she must eat some of that. The old woman says she will not. He compels her, and tells her she must; and at last she eats it. He then asks her what she has done with his brothers. She says that she knows nothing about them; that she does not know what he means. He forces her to tell him, and says to her,“I will make my dog strangle you if you do not tell me.”He frightens her so, that she shows him some terriblemonsters. He tells her to restore them as they were before, otherwise some misfortune shall happen to her, and to mind what she is about. At last she set to work to change them as they were before, and their horses and dogs as well.They all go to the king’s palace, where everyone is immensely astonished to see three gentlemen arrive exactly alike in all respects. They ask the princess which is her husband. But the poor young lady is greatly embarrassed. She could not distinguish them, because they were exactly alike. At last he who had killed the serpent said that he was her husband. They make great rejoicings, and give a great deal of money to the two brothers, and to their parents, and they went off. They burnt the old woman in the midst of the market-place, and this handsome castle was given to the newly-married pair, and they lived happily at court; and, as they lived well, so they died happily.Catherine Elizondo.All thelatterpart of this tale is much more detailed than in the Gaelic, and it is singular to read this note from Campbell’s collector:—“The Gaelic is given as nearly as possible in the words used by Mackenzie; but he thinks his story rather shortened.” Of the identity of the two stories there can be no doubt, although each supplies what is wanting to the other.

Like many others in the world, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife. One day he was fishing and caught a fine fish (at that time all the animals and everything used to speak), and the fish said to him:12

“Spare my life! Spare my life! I will give you all that you shall desire.”

And this poor man spared its life, and went home without having caught anything else. When he came home his wife asks him:

“Where are your fish?”

He tells her how that he had caught a fish, and that it had begged him to spare its life, and that he had left it in the water. His wife says to him:

“Have you lost your head then? After having caught a fish to put it back again into the water!”

And she called him all sorts of names, even “big donkey.”

The next day he goes fishing again, and (what a chance!) the same fish came again. It asks him again to spare its life. But the man answers:

“No! My wife loaded me with abuse last evening.”

The fish said to him that he would give him as much money as he wished if he would but spare him. And our fisherman lets him go again. He remains there again all day, but nothing comes to his hook. Again he goes off home without anything at all. His wife is furious at seeing that he has nothing. He gives her some money, but she was not satisfied, and told her husband that he ought to have brought the fish.

He goes fishing again for the third time, and again the same fish returns, and says to him, “Let me go into the water.”

But our man will not let him go again; his wife had scolded him so much last night. He must carry him home.

“Well, then, since you will carry me home, I will tell you how you must divide me. You must give my tail to the dog, my head to the mare, and my trunk to your wife. At the end of a certain time your wife will bear three sons, and they will all be exactly like each other, exactly alike. The mare will have three colts, but all three alike, and the bitch three puppies, all exactly alike too. And if any misfortune should happen to any of the three children, the well which is behind the house will begin to boil.”

The woman did as the fish had said, and she gave birth to three wonderfully fine boys, who were all exactly, exactly alike, and the mare had three colts exactly alike, and the bitch three puppies exactly alike too.

When these children grew big, one of them said to his parents that he wished to go from country to country to see the world. His parents did not wish it. But he had such a desire that at last they gave him leave. He takes a horse and a dog, extraordinarily large and handsome, a sword also,13and off he starts. He goes on, and on, very, very far. He comes to a city and goes to an inn. They were lamenting loudly there, and everybody was sad.14He asks, “What is it?” They tell him how that a serpent with seven heads lived in the mountain, and that every day they drew lots to know who should go to him, because he must eat one person every day; and that to-day the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter, and that everyone was in mourning, and that the next day this princess must go very early to the mountain.

Our young man takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and starts off before the princess. He keeps himself hidden until the princess was alone at the top. Then our lad comes out, and the princess says to him:

“Where do you come from here? Go down quickly, else you will be eaten as well as I. It is quite enough for one (to die).”

And she entreats him to go down, but our lad will not. He wishes to try if he can do anything. At the same moment they hear a shrill hissing, and with that the serpent comes. The lad says to the dog:

“Do your duty.”

And the dog leaps upon the serpent and holds him. He takes his sword and cuts off his seven heads as best he can. When he has done that he takes the seven tongues out of the seven heads and puts them in his pocket. This princess had on seven robes, each more beautiful than the others,and he cuts seven pieces out of them severally. The princess does not know what to do to thank him. She wishes to take the lad home with her, but he will not go. And he returns to the inn.

The king proclaims that the man who has killed the serpent has gained the half of his kingdom, and his daughter; that he should make himself known. Our lad does not show himself at all, but a charcoal-burner15passing by on the mountain found the seven heads. He presents himself before the king as if he had killed the serpent. But the princess does not recognise him, and says that it is not he who has saved her. But as no one else came the marriage was about to be celebrated, when the princess pointed out to her father from a distance her rescuer. The king would not believe her. But they send and fetch him, and tell the charcoal-burner to show the seven heads of the serpent, and he shows them with great boldness. Our young man tells him to open their mouths. He does so, and the mouths had no tongues. Then he who had killed the serpent shows the seven tongues, and the seven pieces of the princess’ robes, and they were all convinced that he had killed the serpent; and they burned the charcoal-burner alive in the middle of the market-place.

Our young man marries the princess, and they had many and great rejoicings because he had delivered all the world from the terrible serpent. In the evening, when they retired to their chamber, the wife knelt down to say her prayers, and the husband went and looked out of the window, and he saw by the moonlight a magnificent castle,16which he had never seen before.

He asks his wife:

“What is that?”

His wife says to him:

“Nobody goes to that castle, for they who go there never return.”17

The husband said to her that he must go there. His wife did not wish it, but he had such a desire to do so that he takes his horse, his dog, and his sword, and goes off. He looks round and round (the castle), but he cannot find the door. At last he finds a little door half hidden, very small. He knocks. An old woman comes to him, and asks him what he wants.

He says, “I have seen this castle so beautiful outside, that I am anxious to see the inside.”

She shows him in. He sees a table splendidly laid out. There was nothing that there was not on the table. This woman invites him to take something. He says that he does not want anything, but she insists so much that he ends by taking something. As soon as he has eaten the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and by no means could he get out of that house.

The water begins to boil at home, as the fish had said. All those in the house are grieved because some misfortune has happened to the son. One of the brothers at home said that he would immediately set out to the help of his brother. Those at home are very sorry, but they let him go. He takes a horse and a dog. The father and mother give him all the money that they can give him, and he starts off. He goes on, and on, and on, and, as was fated,18he comes to the same inn as his brother. There they recognise him. They inform the king that the gentleman is at the house, because he had had a search made for him through all the neighbourhood. They come and fetch him out of his corner, and he lets them do as they wish. A great supper was made, and he goes off with the princess. As before, the princess knelt down to pray. The young man goes to look out of the window, and sees this palace. He asks her what this beautiful castle is. She says to him:

“You do not know what takes place there! They who go there never return.”

He says that he will start off directly. His wife asks him if he will return to that castle as before. “Do not go, I pray you.”

But nothing could have stopped him, and off he goes with his horse and his dog. Like the other brother, he goes wandering round and round the house without finding the door. At last he sees a very little door half hidden. He knocks at it, and the old woman comes and says to him:

“What do you want?”

“I have seen the outside of this castle, and I wish to see the inside.”

She tells him to come in. He leaves his horse and his dog outside, and he sees a table splendidly set out; one could not mention anything that was wanting, there was something of everything. She tells him to eat something. He did not wish to, but at last he takes something, (so little, that it was) almost nothing. At the first mouthful he becomes a terrible monster, and cannot in any way get out.

The water at home begins to boil, and they know that some misfortune has happened to him.

The third brother said that he must set out as quickly as possible. The parents did not wish it, but he said to them:

“Perhaps I shall save them; let me go.”

They give him as much money as they can. He takes a horse and a dog, and off he starts. He goes on, and on, and on. He also goes to the same inn as his other brothers. He is recognised immediately, and the king is informed that this young gentleman is there. He sends to fetch him immediately, and makes great feastings and rejoicings, thinking that it is always the same as their first young gentleman. In the evening he is conducted to the princess. The princess kneels down to say her evening prayers, and her husband, wishing to see a little more of the festival, placed himself at the window. He also sees the beautiful castle. He asks his wife:

“What is this beautiful house?”

She says to him, “What! You! Do notyouknow what it is? No one returns from there. You know yourself what happens there, since you have been there yourself.”

He said to her, “I must go and see it again.”

The princess would not let him go; but he broke away from her. He takes his horse and his dog, and starts off. He looks, and looks all round, and cannot find the door. An old woman appears to him, and says to him—

“What do you think will become of you here? They who go in there do not come out.”

“But that is why I wish to go in, to know what passes within.”

Then the old woman gives him a pigeon, cooked and prepared for eating, and said to him,

“Inside there is an old woman. She will try and force you to eat; but, if you are wise, you will not eat. You will show her the pigeon that you have in your pocket which remains after your repast, and you must make her eat some of the pigeon, and you will have full power over her.”

When he has found the door, he knocks. This old woman comes, and asks him what he wants. He says that he only wishes to see this house. She lets him in. He takes his dog, also, with him. He sees this splendid table. She wishes absolutely to make him eat; but he says that it is altogether impossible—that he has in his pocket a pigeon which he has not been able to eat, and that she must eat some of that. The old woman says she will not. He compels her, and tells her she must; and at last she eats it. He then asks her what she has done with his brothers. She says that she knows nothing about them; that she does not know what he means. He forces her to tell him, and says to her,

“I will make my dog strangle you if you do not tell me.”

He frightens her so, that she shows him some terriblemonsters. He tells her to restore them as they were before, otherwise some misfortune shall happen to her, and to mind what she is about. At last she set to work to change them as they were before, and their horses and dogs as well.

They all go to the king’s palace, where everyone is immensely astonished to see three gentlemen arrive exactly alike in all respects. They ask the princess which is her husband. But the poor young lady is greatly embarrassed. She could not distinguish them, because they were exactly alike. At last he who had killed the serpent said that he was her husband. They make great rejoicings, and give a great deal of money to the two brothers, and to their parents, and they went off. They burnt the old woman in the midst of the market-place, and this handsome castle was given to the newly-married pair, and they lived happily at court; and, as they lived well, so they died happily.

Catherine Elizondo.

All thelatterpart of this tale is much more detailed than in the Gaelic, and it is singular to read this note from Campbell’s collector:—“The Gaelic is given as nearly as possible in the words used by Mackenzie; but he thinks his story rather shortened.” Of the identity of the two stories there can be no doubt, although each supplies what is wanting to the other.

Tabakiera, the Snuff-Box.19Like many others in the world, there was a lad who wished to travel, and off he went. He finds a snuff-box, and opens it. And the snuff-box said to him—“Que quieres?” (“What do you wish for?”)He is frightened, and puts it at once into his pocket. Luckily he did not throw it away. He goes on, and on, and on, and at last he said to himself,“(I wonder) if it would say to me again, ‘Que quieres?’ I should well know what to answer.”He takes it out again, and opens it, and it says to him again,“Que quieres?”The lad says to it, “My hat full of gold.”And it is filled!He is astounded, and he said to himself that he would never want anything any more. He goes on, and on, and on; and, after he had passed some forests, he arrives at a fine castle. The king lived there. He goes round, and round, and round it, looking at it with an impudent air. The king says to him—“What are you looking for?”“To see your castle.”“You would wish, too, to have one like it?”The lad does not answer. When the evening came, our lad takes out his snuff-box, and it said to him,“Que quieres?”“Build here, on this very spot, a castle, with laths of gold and silver, and diamond tiles, and with all its furniture of gold and silver.”20As soon as he has said it, he sees in front of the king’s castle a castle like what he had asked for. When the king gets up in the morning, he was astonished at this dazzling castle. His eyes were blinded by the (reflection of the) rays of the sun which fell upon it. The king went and said to him—“You must be a man of great power,21and you must cometo our house, where we will live together. I have a daughter, too, and you shall marry her.”They do as the king had said, and they lived all together in the dazzling house. He was married to the king’s daughter, and lived happily.Now, the king’s wife was very envious of the lad and of his wife. She knew, by her daughter, how that they had a snuff-box, and that it did all that they wished. She intrigued with one of the servants to try and take it from them; but they take great care (to conceal) where they put the snuff-box away every evening. Nevertheless, at last she sees where it is put, and in the middle of the night, while they slept, she takes it from them, and carries it to her old mistress. What a joy for her!She opens it, and the snuff-box says to her, “Que quieres?”“You must take myself and my husband, and my servants, and this beautiful house, to the other side of the Red Sea,22and leave my daughter and her husband here.”When the young couple awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the old castle, and their snuff-box was gone. They look for it everywhere, but it is useless.The young man will not wait an instant longer at home. He must start off at once to find his castle and his snuff-box. He takes a horse, and as much gold as the horse can carry, and he goes on, and on, and on, and on. He searches through all the towns in the neighbourhood until he had finished all his money. He searched, but he did not find it anywhere. But he went looking out still, feeding his horse as best he could, and begging for himself. Some one told him that he ought to go to the moon—that he makes a very long journey, and that he might guide him. He goes far, far, far away, on, and on, and on, and at last he arrives. He finds an old woman, who says to him—“What do you come to do here? My son devours all creatures of all sorts; and, if you will trust me, you will be off before his arrival.”He tells her his misfortunes—how that he had a snuff-box of great power, which has been stolen from him, and that he is now without anything, far from his wife, and stripped of everything, “and perhaps your son, in his journeys, has seen my palace, with its golden laths and tiles of diamonds, and the other ornaments of gold and silver.”At that moment the moon appeared, and said to his mother that he smelt some one. His mother told him how that there was a wretched man who had lost everything; that he was come to him (for help), and that he would guide him. The moon told him to show himself. He comes, and asks him if he has not seen a house with beams of gold and with tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver; and he tells him how it was taken away from him.He answers, “No;” that he has not seen it, but that the sun makes longer journeys than he, and of greater extent, and that he would do better to go to him.He goes off again, on, and on, and on, with his horse, whom he nourished as he could, and begging for himself. At length he arrives at the sun’s house. He finds an old woman, who said to him,“Where do you come from? Be off from here! Do you not know that my son eats all Christians?”He said to her, “No! I will not go away. I am so wretched that I do not care if he does eat me.”And he tells her how he has lost everything; that he had a house, which had not its equal, with beams of gold and tiles of diamonds, and all the ornaments of gold and precious stones; and that he had been going about looking for it so long a time, and that there was no man so wretched as he. This woman hides him. The sun comes out and says to his mother—“I smell the smell of a Christian, and I must eat him.”The mother tells him that it was an unfortunate man who had lost his all, that he had come to speak to him, and begs him to take pity on him. He tells her to bring him out. Then the young man comes and asks the sun if he has seen a palace which has its equal nowhere, with its laths of gold and its tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver. The sun says to him:“No, but the south wind searches everything that I cannot see. He enters into every corner, he does, and if any one ought to know he will know.”Our poor man then sets off again, feeding his horse how he could and begging for himself, and he comes at length to the house of the south wind.23He finds an old woman carrying water, and who was filling a great many barrels. She said to him:“What are you thinking of to come here? My son eats up everything when he arrives hungry and furious. You must beware of him.”He says to her, “It is all the same to me. Let him eat me; I am so wretched that I fear nothing.”And he tells her how he had a beautiful house which had not its equal in all the world, and with it all sorts of riches, and that, “Having abandoned my wife, I am seeking it, and I am come to consult your son, being sent by the sun.”She hides him under the staircase. The south wind arrives as if he meant to tear the house up, and very thirsty. Before beginning to drink he smells the smell of the race of Christians, and said to his mother:“Out with what you have hidden,” and that he must begin by eating him.His mother said to him, “Eat and drink what is before you.”And she tells him the misfortunes of this man, and how that the sun has spared his life that he might come and consult him.Then he makes the man come out, and the man tells him how that he is going about trying to find a house, and that if anybody ought to know it is he, and that they had robbed him of his house, which had laths of gold, tiles of diamonds, and all the rest of gold and silver, and if he has not seen it anywhere?He tells him, “Yes, yes, and all to-day I have been passing over it, and have not been able to take away one of its tiles.”“Oh! if you will tell me where it is!”He says that it is on the other side of the Red Sea, very, very far away.When our man heard that, the length of the road did not frighten him—he had already travelled over so much. He sets out then, and at last arrives at that city. He asks if anyone is in want of a gardener. They tell him that the gardener of the castle has gone away, and that perhaps they will take him. He goes off, and recognises his house—judge with what joy and delight! He asks if they are in want of a gardener. They tell him “Yes,” and our lad is very pleased. He passes some time tolerably happily—middling. He talks with a servant about the riches of the masters and of the power which they had. He flattered and cajoled this young girl very much to get from her the history of the snuff-box, and he told her once that he very much wished to see it. One evening she brought it to him to look at, and our lad, very much pleased, pays great attention to where it was hidden in the room of the mistress. At night, when everybody is asleep, he goes and takes the snuff-box. You will understand with what joy he opens it.It says to him, “Que quieres?”And the lad says to it, “Que quieres, Que quieres,24carry me with my castle to the same place as (we were in) formerly, and drown the king and the queen and all the servants in this Red Sea.”As soon as he had said it, he was carried to his wife, and they lived happily, and the others all perished in the Red Sea.25Catherine Elizondo.

Like many others in the world, there was a lad who wished to travel, and off he went. He finds a snuff-box, and opens it. And the snuff-box said to him—

“Que quieres?” (“What do you wish for?”)

He is frightened, and puts it at once into his pocket. Luckily he did not throw it away. He goes on, and on, and on, and at last he said to himself,

“(I wonder) if it would say to me again, ‘Que quieres?’ I should well know what to answer.”

He takes it out again, and opens it, and it says to him again,

“Que quieres?”

The lad says to it, “My hat full of gold.”

And it is filled!

He is astounded, and he said to himself that he would never want anything any more. He goes on, and on, and on; and, after he had passed some forests, he arrives at a fine castle. The king lived there. He goes round, and round, and round it, looking at it with an impudent air. The king says to him—

“What are you looking for?”

“To see your castle.”

“You would wish, too, to have one like it?”

The lad does not answer. When the evening came, our lad takes out his snuff-box, and it said to him,

“Que quieres?”

“Build here, on this very spot, a castle, with laths of gold and silver, and diamond tiles, and with all its furniture of gold and silver.”20

As soon as he has said it, he sees in front of the king’s castle a castle like what he had asked for. When the king gets up in the morning, he was astonished at this dazzling castle. His eyes were blinded by the (reflection of the) rays of the sun which fell upon it. The king went and said to him—

“You must be a man of great power,21and you must cometo our house, where we will live together. I have a daughter, too, and you shall marry her.”

They do as the king had said, and they lived all together in the dazzling house. He was married to the king’s daughter, and lived happily.

Now, the king’s wife was very envious of the lad and of his wife. She knew, by her daughter, how that they had a snuff-box, and that it did all that they wished. She intrigued with one of the servants to try and take it from them; but they take great care (to conceal) where they put the snuff-box away every evening. Nevertheless, at last she sees where it is put, and in the middle of the night, while they slept, she takes it from them, and carries it to her old mistress. What a joy for her!

She opens it, and the snuff-box says to her, “Que quieres?”

“You must take myself and my husband, and my servants, and this beautiful house, to the other side of the Red Sea,22and leave my daughter and her husband here.”

When the young couple awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the old castle, and their snuff-box was gone. They look for it everywhere, but it is useless.

The young man will not wait an instant longer at home. He must start off at once to find his castle and his snuff-box. He takes a horse, and as much gold as the horse can carry, and he goes on, and on, and on, and on. He searches through all the towns in the neighbourhood until he had finished all his money. He searched, but he did not find it anywhere. But he went looking out still, feeding his horse as best he could, and begging for himself. Some one told him that he ought to go to the moon—that he makes a very long journey, and that he might guide him. He goes far, far, far away, on, and on, and on, and at last he arrives. He finds an old woman, who says to him—

“What do you come to do here? My son devours all creatures of all sorts; and, if you will trust me, you will be off before his arrival.”

He tells her his misfortunes—how that he had a snuff-box of great power, which has been stolen from him, and that he is now without anything, far from his wife, and stripped of everything, “and perhaps your son, in his journeys, has seen my palace, with its golden laths and tiles of diamonds, and the other ornaments of gold and silver.”

At that moment the moon appeared, and said to his mother that he smelt some one. His mother told him how that there was a wretched man who had lost everything; that he was come to him (for help), and that he would guide him. The moon told him to show himself. He comes, and asks him if he has not seen a house with beams of gold and with tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver; and he tells him how it was taken away from him.

He answers, “No;” that he has not seen it, but that the sun makes longer journeys than he, and of greater extent, and that he would do better to go to him.

He goes off again, on, and on, and on, with his horse, whom he nourished as he could, and begging for himself. At length he arrives at the sun’s house. He finds an old woman, who said to him,

“Where do you come from? Be off from here! Do you not know that my son eats all Christians?”

He said to her, “No! I will not go away. I am so wretched that I do not care if he does eat me.”

And he tells her how he has lost everything; that he had a house, which had not its equal, with beams of gold and tiles of diamonds, and all the ornaments of gold and precious stones; and that he had been going about looking for it so long a time, and that there was no man so wretched as he. This woman hides him. The sun comes out and says to his mother—

“I smell the smell of a Christian, and I must eat him.”

The mother tells him that it was an unfortunate man who had lost his all, that he had come to speak to him, and begs him to take pity on him. He tells her to bring him out. Then the young man comes and asks the sun if he has seen a palace which has its equal nowhere, with its laths of gold and its tiles of diamonds, and the rest of gold and silver. The sun says to him:

“No, but the south wind searches everything that I cannot see. He enters into every corner, he does, and if any one ought to know he will know.”

Our poor man then sets off again, feeding his horse how he could and begging for himself, and he comes at length to the house of the south wind.23He finds an old woman carrying water, and who was filling a great many barrels. She said to him:

“What are you thinking of to come here? My son eats up everything when he arrives hungry and furious. You must beware of him.”

He says to her, “It is all the same to me. Let him eat me; I am so wretched that I fear nothing.”

And he tells her how he had a beautiful house which had not its equal in all the world, and with it all sorts of riches, and that, “Having abandoned my wife, I am seeking it, and I am come to consult your son, being sent by the sun.”

She hides him under the staircase. The south wind arrives as if he meant to tear the house up, and very thirsty. Before beginning to drink he smells the smell of the race of Christians, and said to his mother:

“Out with what you have hidden,” and that he must begin by eating him.

His mother said to him, “Eat and drink what is before you.”

And she tells him the misfortunes of this man, and how that the sun has spared his life that he might come and consult him.

Then he makes the man come out, and the man tells him how that he is going about trying to find a house, and that if anybody ought to know it is he, and that they had robbed him of his house, which had laths of gold, tiles of diamonds, and all the rest of gold and silver, and if he has not seen it anywhere?

He tells him, “Yes, yes, and all to-day I have been passing over it, and have not been able to take away one of its tiles.”

“Oh! if you will tell me where it is!”

He says that it is on the other side of the Red Sea, very, very far away.

When our man heard that, the length of the road did not frighten him—he had already travelled over so much. He sets out then, and at last arrives at that city. He asks if anyone is in want of a gardener. They tell him that the gardener of the castle has gone away, and that perhaps they will take him. He goes off, and recognises his house—judge with what joy and delight! He asks if they are in want of a gardener. They tell him “Yes,” and our lad is very pleased. He passes some time tolerably happily—middling. He talks with a servant about the riches of the masters and of the power which they had. He flattered and cajoled this young girl very much to get from her the history of the snuff-box, and he told her once that he very much wished to see it. One evening she brought it to him to look at, and our lad, very much pleased, pays great attention to where it was hidden in the room of the mistress. At night, when everybody is asleep, he goes and takes the snuff-box. You will understand with what joy he opens it.

It says to him, “Que quieres?”

And the lad says to it, “Que quieres, Que quieres,24carry me with my castle to the same place as (we were in) formerly, and drown the king and the queen and all the servants in this Red Sea.”

As soon as he had said it, he was carried to his wife, and they lived happily, and the others all perished in the Red Sea.25

Catherine Elizondo.

Mahistruba, the Master Mariner.Like many others in the world, there was a master mariner. Having had many losses and misfortunes in his life he no longer made any voyages, but every day went down to the seaside for amusement, and every day he met a large serpent, and every day he said to it:“God has given thy life to thee; live then.”This master mariner lived upon what his wife and daughter earned by sewing. One day the serpent said to him:“Go to such a shipbuilder’s, and order a ship of so many tons burden. Ask the price of it, and then double the price they tell you.”26He does as the serpent told him, and the next day he goes down to the shore, and he tells the serpent that he has done as he had told him. The serpent then bids him go and fetch twelve sailors, very strong men, and to double whatever they shall ask. He goes and does what he was told to do. He returns to the serpent and tells him that he has twelve men. The serpent gives him all the money which he needed to pay for the ship. The shipbuilder is astonished to find that he is paid so large a sum of money in advance by this miserable man, but he hastens to finish his work as quickly as possible. The serpent again bids him have madein the hold of the ship a large empty space and a huge chest, and tells him to bring this down himself. He brings it, and the serpent gets into it. The ship was quickly ready, he embarks the chest in the ship, and they set out.This captain used to go every day to the serpent, but the sailors did not know what he went (into the hold) to do, nor what there was in the chest. The ship had already gone some distance, and nobody knew its destination. One day the serpent told the captain that there was going to be a frightful storm, that the earth and sky would mingle together, and that at midnight a large black bird would pass over the ship, and that it must be killed, and (he tells him) to go and see if there is any sportsman among his sailors. He goes and asks the sailors if there is any sportsman among them.27One of them answers, “Yes; I can kill a swallow in its flight.”“All the better, all the better; that will be of use to you.”He goes down to tell the serpent that there is a sportsman who can kill a swallow in its flight. And at the same moment the weather becomes black as night, and earth and sky are mingled together, and all are trembling with fright. The serpent gives the captain a good drink for the sportsman, and they bind him to the mast. At midnight a piercing cry was heard. It was the bird which was passing over, and our sportsman has the good luck to kill him. At the very instant the sea becomes calm. The captain goes to the serpent, and tells him that the bird is killed.The serpent answers him, “I know it.”When they had gone a little further without anything happening, the serpent said one day:“Are we not near such a port?”The captain says to him, “It is in sight.”“Very well, then, we are going there.”He tells him to go again, and ask his sailors if there is a fast runner among them. The captain goes and asks his sailors if there is any fast runner among them.One of them says to him, “As for me, I can catch a hare running.”“So much the better, so much the better; that will be of use to you.”The captain goes to tell the serpent that there is one who can catch a hare running. The serpent says to him:“You will land the runner at this port, and you will tell him that he must go to the top of a little mountain; that there is a little house there, and an old, old woman in it; and that there is there a steel, a flint, and a tinder-box; and that he must bring these three things on board one by one, making a separate journey each time.”Our runner goes off, and comes to this house. He sees the old woman, with red eyes, spinning at the threshold of her door. He asks her for a drop of water, that he has walked a long way without finding any water, and will she give him a little drop? The old woman says to him, “No.” He begs her again, telling her that he does not know the roads in the country, nor where he is going to. This old woman kept constantly looking at the chimney-piece, and she said to him:“I am going to give you some, then.”While she went to the pitcher, our runner takes the steel off the chimney-piece, and goes off at full speed, like the lightning; but the old woman is after him. At the very instant that he is about to leap into the ship the old woman catches him, and snatches off a bit of his coat, and a piece of the skin of his back with it.28The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have got the steel, but our man has got the skin of his back torn off.”He gives him a remedy, and a good drink, and tells him that the man will be cured by to-morrow, but that he must go again next day.He says, “No, no; the devil may carry off this old woman, if he likes, but I will not go there any more.”But, as he was cured next day by giving him that good drink again, he sets off. He dresses himself in a shirt without arms, and in an old torn pair of trousers, and goes to the old woman’s, saying that his ship is wrecked on the shore, that he has been wandering about for forty-eight hours, and he begs her to let him go to the fire to light his pipe.She says, “No.”“Do have pity—I am so wretched; it is only a little favour I ask of you.”“No, no, I was deceived yesterday.”But the man answered, “All the world are not deceivers. Don’t be afraid.”The old woman rises to go to the fire, and as she stoops to take it,29the man seizes the flint and escapes, running as if he would break his feet. But the old woman runs as fast as our runner; but she only catches him as he is jumping into the ship; she tears off the shirt, and the skin of his neck and back with it, and he falls into the ship.The captain goes directly to the serpent: “We have got the flint.”He says to him, “I know it.”He gives him the medicine and the good drink, in order that the man may be cured by the morrow, and that he may go again. But the man says, “No,” that he does not want to see that red-eyed old woman any more. They tell him that they still want the tinder-box. The next day they give him the good drink. That gives him courage, and the desire to return again.He dresses himself up as if he had been shipwrecked, and goes off half naked. He comes to the old woman’s, and asks for a little bread, as he has not eaten for a long time, (and begs her) to have pity on him—that he does not know where to go to.The old woman says to him: “Be off, where you will; you shall get nothing at my house, and nobody shall come in here. Every day I have enemies.”“But what have you to fear from a poor man who only wants a little bread, and who will be off immediately afterwards?”At last the old woman rises to go to her cupboard, and our man takes her little tinder-box. The old woman runs after him, wishing to catch him, but our man is ahead. She overtakes him just as he is leaping into the ship. The old woman takes hold of the skin of his neck, and tears it all right down to the soles of his feet. Our runner falls down, and they do not know whether he is alive or dead; and the old woman says:“I renounce him, and all those who are in this ship.”The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:“We have the tinder-box, but our runner is in great danger. I do not know whether he will live; he has no skin left from his neck to the soles of his feet.”“Console yourselves, console yourselves, he will be cured by to-morrow. Here is the medicine and the good drink. Now, you are saved. Go on deck, and fire seven rounds of cannon.”He mounts on deck and fires the seven rounds of cannon, and returns to the serpent, and says to him:“We have fired the seven rounds.”He says to him, “Fire twelve rounds more; but do not be afraid. The police will come here; they will handcuff you. You will be put in prison, and you will ask, as a favour, not to be executed before that they have visited the ship, in order to prove that there is nothing in it to merit such a chastisement.”The captain goes on deck, and fires the twelve rounds of cannon. As soon as he has fired them, the magistrates and the police arrive; they handcuff the men, the sailors, and the captain, and they put them in prison. The sailors were not pleased; but the captain said to them:“You will soon be delivered.”The next day the captain asks to go and speak to the king. He is brought before the king, and the king says:“You are condemned to be hanged.”The captain says to him, “What! because we have fired some cannon-shots you are going to hang us!!”“Yes, yes, because for seven years we have not heard the cannon in this city.30I am in mourning—I and my people. I had an only son, and I have lost him. I cannot forget him.”The captain says to him: “I did not know either this news or this order, and I beg you not to kill us before going and seeing if there is anything in the ship which condemns us justly.”The king goes with his courtiers, his soldiers, and his judges—in a word, with everybody. When he has mounted on deck, what a surprise! The king finds his dearly-loved son, who relates to him how hehadbeen enchanted by an old woman, and that he remained a serpent seven years.31How the captain every day went to walk by the seaside, and every day left him his life, saying to him, “The good God has made you too;” and having seen the captain’s good heart, “I thought he would spare me, and it is to him that I owe my life.”He goes to the court. The men are let out of prison, and they give the captain a large sum of money for a dowry forhis two daughters, and the ship for himself. To the sailors they give as much as they like to eat and drink for all the time they wish to stop there, and afterwards enough to live upon for the rest of their lives. The king and his son lived happily, and as they had lived well, they died happily also.Gachina,The Net-maker.

Like many others in the world, there was a master mariner. Having had many losses and misfortunes in his life he no longer made any voyages, but every day went down to the seaside for amusement, and every day he met a large serpent, and every day he said to it:

“God has given thy life to thee; live then.”

This master mariner lived upon what his wife and daughter earned by sewing. One day the serpent said to him:

“Go to such a shipbuilder’s, and order a ship of so many tons burden. Ask the price of it, and then double the price they tell you.”26

He does as the serpent told him, and the next day he goes down to the shore, and he tells the serpent that he has done as he had told him. The serpent then bids him go and fetch twelve sailors, very strong men, and to double whatever they shall ask. He goes and does what he was told to do. He returns to the serpent and tells him that he has twelve men. The serpent gives him all the money which he needed to pay for the ship. The shipbuilder is astonished to find that he is paid so large a sum of money in advance by this miserable man, but he hastens to finish his work as quickly as possible. The serpent again bids him have madein the hold of the ship a large empty space and a huge chest, and tells him to bring this down himself. He brings it, and the serpent gets into it. The ship was quickly ready, he embarks the chest in the ship, and they set out.

This captain used to go every day to the serpent, but the sailors did not know what he went (into the hold) to do, nor what there was in the chest. The ship had already gone some distance, and nobody knew its destination. One day the serpent told the captain that there was going to be a frightful storm, that the earth and sky would mingle together, and that at midnight a large black bird would pass over the ship, and that it must be killed, and (he tells him) to go and see if there is any sportsman among his sailors. He goes and asks the sailors if there is any sportsman among them.27

One of them answers, “Yes; I can kill a swallow in its flight.”

“All the better, all the better; that will be of use to you.”

He goes down to tell the serpent that there is a sportsman who can kill a swallow in its flight. And at the same moment the weather becomes black as night, and earth and sky are mingled together, and all are trembling with fright. The serpent gives the captain a good drink for the sportsman, and they bind him to the mast. At midnight a piercing cry was heard. It was the bird which was passing over, and our sportsman has the good luck to kill him. At the very instant the sea becomes calm. The captain goes to the serpent, and tells him that the bird is killed.

The serpent answers him, “I know it.”

When they had gone a little further without anything happening, the serpent said one day:

“Are we not near such a port?”

The captain says to him, “It is in sight.”

“Very well, then, we are going there.”

He tells him to go again, and ask his sailors if there is a fast runner among them. The captain goes and asks his sailors if there is any fast runner among them.

One of them says to him, “As for me, I can catch a hare running.”

“So much the better, so much the better; that will be of use to you.”

The captain goes to tell the serpent that there is one who can catch a hare running. The serpent says to him:

“You will land the runner at this port, and you will tell him that he must go to the top of a little mountain; that there is a little house there, and an old, old woman in it; and that there is there a steel, a flint, and a tinder-box; and that he must bring these three things on board one by one, making a separate journey each time.”

Our runner goes off, and comes to this house. He sees the old woman, with red eyes, spinning at the threshold of her door. He asks her for a drop of water, that he has walked a long way without finding any water, and will she give him a little drop? The old woman says to him, “No.” He begs her again, telling her that he does not know the roads in the country, nor where he is going to. This old woman kept constantly looking at the chimney-piece, and she said to him:

“I am going to give you some, then.”

While she went to the pitcher, our runner takes the steel off the chimney-piece, and goes off at full speed, like the lightning; but the old woman is after him. At the very instant that he is about to leap into the ship the old woman catches him, and snatches off a bit of his coat, and a piece of the skin of his back with it.28The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:

“We have got the steel, but our man has got the skin of his back torn off.”

He gives him a remedy, and a good drink, and tells him that the man will be cured by to-morrow, but that he must go again next day.

He says, “No, no; the devil may carry off this old woman, if he likes, but I will not go there any more.”

But, as he was cured next day by giving him that good drink again, he sets off. He dresses himself in a shirt without arms, and in an old torn pair of trousers, and goes to the old woman’s, saying that his ship is wrecked on the shore, that he has been wandering about for forty-eight hours, and he begs her to let him go to the fire to light his pipe.

She says, “No.”

“Do have pity—I am so wretched; it is only a little favour I ask of you.”

“No, no, I was deceived yesterday.”

But the man answered, “All the world are not deceivers. Don’t be afraid.”

The old woman rises to go to the fire, and as she stoops to take it,29the man seizes the flint and escapes, running as if he would break his feet. But the old woman runs as fast as our runner; but she only catches him as he is jumping into the ship; she tears off the shirt, and the skin of his neck and back with it, and he falls into the ship.

The captain goes directly to the serpent: “We have got the flint.”

He says to him, “I know it.”

He gives him the medicine and the good drink, in order that the man may be cured by the morrow, and that he may go again. But the man says, “No,” that he does not want to see that red-eyed old woman any more. They tell him that they still want the tinder-box. The next day they give him the good drink. That gives him courage, and the desire to return again.

He dresses himself up as if he had been shipwrecked, and goes off half naked. He comes to the old woman’s, and asks for a little bread, as he has not eaten for a long time, (and begs her) to have pity on him—that he does not know where to go to.

The old woman says to him: “Be off, where you will; you shall get nothing at my house, and nobody shall come in here. Every day I have enemies.”

“But what have you to fear from a poor man who only wants a little bread, and who will be off immediately afterwards?”

At last the old woman rises to go to her cupboard, and our man takes her little tinder-box. The old woman runs after him, wishing to catch him, but our man is ahead. She overtakes him just as he is leaping into the ship. The old woman takes hold of the skin of his neck, and tears it all right down to the soles of his feet. Our runner falls down, and they do not know whether he is alive or dead; and the old woman says:

“I renounce him, and all those who are in this ship.”

The captain goes to the serpent, and says to him:

“We have the tinder-box, but our runner is in great danger. I do not know whether he will live; he has no skin left from his neck to the soles of his feet.”

“Console yourselves, console yourselves, he will be cured by to-morrow. Here is the medicine and the good drink. Now, you are saved. Go on deck, and fire seven rounds of cannon.”

He mounts on deck and fires the seven rounds of cannon, and returns to the serpent, and says to him:

“We have fired the seven rounds.”

He says to him, “Fire twelve rounds more; but do not be afraid. The police will come here; they will handcuff you. You will be put in prison, and you will ask, as a favour, not to be executed before that they have visited the ship, in order to prove that there is nothing in it to merit such a chastisement.”

The captain goes on deck, and fires the twelve rounds of cannon. As soon as he has fired them, the magistrates and the police arrive; they handcuff the men, the sailors, and the captain, and they put them in prison. The sailors were not pleased; but the captain said to them:

“You will soon be delivered.”

The next day the captain asks to go and speak to the king. He is brought before the king, and the king says:

“You are condemned to be hanged.”

The captain says to him, “What! because we have fired some cannon-shots you are going to hang us!!”

“Yes, yes, because for seven years we have not heard the cannon in this city.30I am in mourning—I and my people. I had an only son, and I have lost him. I cannot forget him.”

The captain says to him: “I did not know either this news or this order, and I beg you not to kill us before going and seeing if there is anything in the ship which condemns us justly.”

The king goes with his courtiers, his soldiers, and his judges—in a word, with everybody. When he has mounted on deck, what a surprise! The king finds his dearly-loved son, who relates to him how hehadbeen enchanted by an old woman, and that he remained a serpent seven years.31How the captain every day went to walk by the seaside, and every day left him his life, saying to him, “The good God has made you too;” and having seen the captain’s good heart, “I thought he would spare me, and it is to him that I owe my life.”

He goes to the court. The men are let out of prison, and they give the captain a large sum of money for a dowry forhis two daughters, and the ship for himself. To the sailors they give as much as they like to eat and drink for all the time they wish to stop there, and afterwards enough to live upon for the rest of their lives. The king and his son lived happily, and as they had lived well, they died happily also.

Gachina,The Net-maker.

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