“And do you not think it possible they may have been kept a year or so?”
“No, it is not possible,” answered the merchants. “We know, of a surety, as we have already said, that these olives are of this year’s growth, and have only recently been packed in the jar.”
When Ali Cogia heard this he gave a cry of surprise, but Abul Hassan was silent; his face grew as pale as ashes, and his legs failed under him, for he knew that the merchants, in saying this, had pronounced sentence against him.
But the lad turned to the Caliph and begged that he might now be allowed to hand over the case to him. “When I pronounced sentence last night, it was but in play,” said he. “But this is not play. A man’s life is at stake, and I dare not pronounce sentence upon him.”
To this request the Caliph agreed. “Abul Hassan, you have condemned yourself,” he said. He then bade the guards take Abul Hassan away and execute him according to the law.
Before the wretched man was hanged, however, he confessed his guilt and told where he hadhidden the thousand pieces of gold that belonged to Ali Cogia.
After Abul had been led away the Caliph caressed and praised the lad for conducting the case so wisely and with so much judgment.
“As for you,” said he to the Cadi, “you have not shown the wisdom I demand from my judges. Learn from this child that such cases are not to be dismissed lightly, but to be inquired into with judgment and care. Otherwise it may go ill with you.”
The Cadi retired, full of shame, but the Caliph ordered that a hundred pieces of gold should be given to the boy and that he should be sent home to his mother with honor.
OH!A Cossack Story
There was once a man who had one son, and he was so lazy that he would not work at all. The father apprenticed him to a tailor, but the lad went to sleep between the stitches. He apprenticed him to a cobbler and the lad only sat and yawned instead of driving pegs. What to do with him the man did not know.
“Come,” said the father one day, “we will go out into the wide world. It may be that somewhere or other we will find a master who can make you work.”
The lad was very good-natured. “Very well,” said he, “I am willing”; and he arose and stretched himself and yawned, and then he was ready to set out.
The father put on his cap and took a staff in his hand, and then he was ready, too.
The two of them journeyed along together, in step and out of step, and after a while they came to a deep wood. When they were well into it, the father grew so weary that he had to sit down and rest.
“Oh! what have I done that I should have such a lazy son!” he cried.
At once a little old, wrinkled, weazened man, all dressed in green, with a green face, green hair, and a green beard stood before them.
“Why did you call me,” said he, “and what do you want?”
“I did not call you,” answered the man.
“But you did call me, for I heard you. Did not you call ‘Oh’? And that is my name.”
“I said, ‘Oh, what have I done to have such a lazy son,’” replied the man, “but I did not call you, for I did not know that was your name.”
The Green one looked closely at the lad. “Is he so lazy?” he asked. “He looks a stout, healthy fellow.”
“That is the worst of it,” answered the father. “He is so stout and healthy that he eats meout of house and home, and not one stroke will he do to pay for it. I have tried to apprentice him to different masters, but they soon weary of him and drive him out.”
“Very well; I will take him as an apprentice myself,” answered the little man. “Leave him here with me for a year. Come back at the end of that time, and if you know him again and are able to choose him out from among my other apprentices, then you shall take him home with you, but if not, then he shall serve with me a year longer.”
Very well, the father was willing to agree to that. It would only be for a year, for of course he would recognize his own son anywhere. So he left the lad with Oh and went on home again.
Oh took the lad down into the country that lies beneath this earth, and the way was not long. There everything was green. Oh’s house was made of green rushes. His wife was green and his daughters were green and his dog was green, and when they gave the lad food to eat, it was green also.
The oldest daughter would have been a beauty if she had not been green all over—eyes, hair, and all. As soon as she saw the lad she loved him and would have been glad to have him for a husband, but he had no fancy for her.
“When I marry,” said he, “it shall be some girl who is good red and white flesh and blood like myself.”
“Never mind,” said Oh. “After you have lived here for a while you will be glad enough to have her for a wife.”
The lad lived down in the under country for a year, and Oh taught him much magic, and he was very useful to the old Green One.
But at the end of the year the father came back in search of his son. He stopped at the very same spot in the forest where he had stopped before and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh! Oh! I would like to see my son.”
At once Oh appeared before him. “Come with me,” he said, “but remember our bargain. If you know your son when you see him he is yours again, but if you do not know him, then hemust stay with me and serve me still another year.”
The man was very willing to agree, for it would be a strange thing if he did not know his own son when he saw him.
Oh led him down the short way to the land that is under this, and when he got there the man stared about him in wonder. Never had he seen so many green things in all his life before.
Oh took a handful of corn and scattered it about, calling as he did so. Then a great number of cocks that were pecking about the place came running and began to pick up the corn.
“Tell me now, which of these is your son?” asked Oh, “for one of them is he.”
The man stared and scratched his head and stared again, but he could not tell, for one cock was just like another. He had to own that he could not tell which was his son.
“Very well,” said Oh. “Then you will have to go home without him. Come back at the end of another year, and then if you know him from his mates you shall take him home withyou, but if not then he shall stay with me a twelvemonth longer.”
That did not suit the man at all, but he could not say no, for that was what the bargain had been.
At the end of the year the man came back to the forest again and called upon Oh, and Oh was quickly before him.
“Come along,” said Oh. “You surely ought to know your son when you see him. If you do he shall go home with you, and I shall not say no to it, but if not then he shall stay with me a year longer.”
When the man heard this he was troubled, for he feared the Green One meant to play some trick on him as he had before, and he wanted his son home again, lazy or not. Moreover the lad’s mother was grieving for him.
Oh led the man down to the underworld and over to a field where a flock of rams was grazing.
“All these are my servants,” said Oh, “and one of them is your son. Look well and tell me which is he, for unless you can choose him out he must stay here with me.”
The man looked and looked, but he could not tell which of the rams was his son, for they all looked alike to him, so he had to go home without him.
When the lad’s mother heard of this second trick the Green One had played on her husband she wept bitterly. “If we cannot find some way to get round him, we will never have the lad back again,” she said.
“That is true,” said the man; “but if our son looks like a cock, how can I tell him from other cocks; and if he looks like a ram, how can I tell him from other rams?”
Well, time slipped by, and the man and his wife grew poorer and poorer, for they were growing old, and they needed a young body in the house to work for them.
When it was about time for the man to set out for Oh’s house his wife said to him, “See now! we have nothing left in the house but a small loaf and a bit of honeycomb. But we can do better than fill our stomach with them. Do you take them to the old Wise Woman who lives over beyond the hill. Tell her they area gift, and then ask her what we can do to meet the tricks of the little old Green One.”
The man did as his wife bade him, though he was hungry and would have been glad of a bit of the bread himself.
The Wise Woman was pleased with the gift, and thanked the man kindly. Then the man told her all his troubles and asked her how he was to get his son back again from Oh.
“Listen!” said the old woman. “Oh would gladly keep your son with him as a husband for his daughter, and if you do not bring the lad away with you this time, you will never have him back. This time Oh will show you a flock of doves, and one of them will be your son. Look closely at them, and the one that has tears in its eyes is he, for only a human soul can weep.”
The father thanked the old woman and hurried back home again, and very soon after it was time to set out for Oh’s house.
The man travelled along till he came to the wood and the place where he had come twice already, and he stood there and cried, “Oh! Oh!”
Then Oh appeared before him. “Here I am,” said Oh, “ready and waiting for you. This time, as before, I tell you that if you know your son when you see him you shall take him away with you, but if, this time, you do not know him, then he is mine forever.”
“Very well,” said the man, “that is a bargain.”
Then Oh took him down to the underworld. He called to a flock of doves that was perched on the roof and scattered a handful of peas on the ground for them. The doves flew down all about them and began to peck up the peas; but one dove would not eat but sat mournfully on a low bough and looked at them, and its eyes were full of tears.
“This one is my son,” cried the man, pointing to the dove that wept.
As soon as he said this the dove changed its shape and became a young man, and this was the son, though he had become so fine and tall and handsome in these three years that his father could scarcely recognize him.
Then Oh was in a fine rage. He danced with fury and tore his beard.
“Very well,” he cried, “he is yours now, but you shall not keep him long, and when I once get him back again he is mine forever.”
But the lad paid no heed to his threats. He and his father were soon on the upper earth again, and they set out for home, one foot before the other.
On the way the father told the lad how badly it had gone with him and the mother in the past years; of how poor they were, and of how their hut was tumbling to pieces, and how their cow had died.
“Never mind,” said the lad. “I learned quite a bit of magic from the Green One, and that should help us out now. Do you hear the huntsmen winding their horns farther on in the open?”
Yes, the father heard them.
“I will turn myself into a greyhound,” said the lad. “The hunt is coming this way, and when the huntsmen see me they will want to buy me. Ask them three hundred dollars for me; no more, no less, but when they take me do not leave the leash on me, whatever you do. Take it off and put it in your pocket, and then all will be wellwith me. Fail to do this, and misfortune will surely overtake me.”
The father promised to do as the son said, and then the lad turned himself into a greyhound, and he was so sleek and handsome that the man could not admire him enough; but about his neck was an old, worn leash that did not look as though it were worth a penny. It seemed a pity to leave it on the neck of such a handsome dog.
The man went on a little further and then he came to where a grand nobleman and his friends were hunting a hare. They had a pack of dogs with them but the hare had outrun them.
When the nobleman saw the man and the greyhound he stopped his horse.
“That is a fine greyhound you have there.”
“Yes, it is,” answered the man.
“Do you think it could course down the hare we are chasing?”
Yes, the man was sure it could.
“Then let me have it and I will pay you a good price for it.”
Very well, he could have it for three hundreddollars, but that was without the leash; the leash was not for sale.
The nobleman laughed aloud, “when the dog is mine,” he said, “he shall have a golden leash, for that one you have is fit for nothing but the ash heap.”
The nobleman then paid the man three hundred dollars and unfastened the leash from the dog’s neck.
Away he flew like the wind and soon caught the hare. But when the hunters reached the spot where the hare lay they could see nothing of the dog. Only a tall and handsome youth stood there, and he was flushed and hot as though he had been running.
“Have you seen my greyhound, a sleek and handsome dog?” asked the nobleman.
No, the youth had not seen any dog.
The nobleman called and whistled, and he and his huntsman hunted far and near, but they never found the greyhound.
As for the lad he set out on the road his father had taken and soon caught up with him.
“That was a very pretty trick,” said thefather; “but after all three hundred dollars is not much. It will barely buy us a cow and clothes and put a new roof on the hut.”
“Yes, but that is not the only trick I know,” answered the son. “Look at the hill over yonder and tell me what you see.”
The father looked. “I see a company of fine ladies and gentlemen,” answered the father, “and they are flying their falcons.”
“I will change myself into a falcon, and when you have come to where they are you shall loose me, and I will strike down a quail. Then they will want to buy me. Sell me for three hundred dollars, no more, no less. But whatever you do take off my hood and keep it, or misfortune will surely overtake us.”
The father promised he would do this, and then the lad turned himself into a falcon and perched upon his father’s hand.
Presently the father came up to where the ladies and gentlemen were at their sport. They loosed their falcons, and the falcons flew after the quail, but always they failed to strike, and the quail escaped.
“That is poor sport,” said the man. “I can show you better.”
He took off the hood and cast his falcon at the quail, and it quickly struck down its prey.
The gentlemen and ladies were astonished at the quickness of the falcon and at the beauty of its feathers.
“Sell us the bird,” they said.
Yes, the man was willing to do that, but his price was three hundred dollars without the hood; the hood was not for sale for love nor money.
All the fine folk began to laugh. “What do we want with that old hood?” they cried. “We will give the bird a hood that is worthy of a king.”
So the man took the three hundred dollars and the hood and went on his way.
The one who had bought the falcon cast it at a quail, and it struck down its prey as before, but when the hunters reached the place where the birds had fallen they saw no falcon, but only a handsome young man who stood there looking down at the dead quail.
“What became of the falcon that was here?” they asked.
But the youth had seen no falcon.
He set out and soon overtook his father, who had not gone far. “And now art thou content?” he asked.
“Six hundred dollars is not a fortune,” answered the man. “Since you have done so well you might have done better.”
“Very well,” answered the son. “We are now coming to a town where they are holding a fair. I will change myself into a horse, and you shall take me there and sell me for a thousand dollars,—no more, no less. But heed what I say. Do not sell the halter whatever you do, or evil will surely come of it.”
“Very well,” said the father. “I will remember.”
The son then changed himself into a coal-black horse. His skin was like satin, his eyes like jewels, and when he moved, his hoofs scarcely seemed to touch the ground. But around his neck was an old leather halter that was scarcely fit for an old farm nag.
The father led the horse on to where the fair was being held, and at once a crowd gathered around him, all bidding for the horse. Some offered him more and some less.
“The price is a thousand dollars,” said the father, “no more, no less. But that is without the halter.”
Then the people all laughed. “Who wants the halter?” they cried. “What we offer is for the horse alone. The halter we would not take as a gift.”
Then a rough looking, black-haired gypsy elbowed his way through the crowd. He was really the Green One who had taken on this form, though this the man did not know.
“I will give you two thousand,” he cried. “One thousand for the horse and one thousand for the halter, but I will not have one without the other.”
When the crowd heard this they laughed louder than ever. They thought the gypsy was crazy to offer such a price.
As for the father he stood there gaping and he did not know what to do.
“The price of the horse is a thousand dollars,” he said.
“And a thousand for the halter,” said the gypsy.
Well, two thousand dollars seemed a fortune to the man. Moreover he did not see what harm it could do to sell the halter too.
So he let the gypsy have the horse and the halter as well, and the gypsy paid him two thousand dollars and led the horse away.
And now the lad could not change himself back into his human shape, because the halter held him, and this Oh knew very well.
He led the horse back to the forest and down to the world that is under this. “Now I have you again,” he said, “and this time you shall not escape me.”
Then he called to his youngest daughter and bade her take the horse down to the river to drink.
When she had brought the horse to the river bank it said to her. “Loosen, I pray of thee, the halter, that I may drink more easily.”
Then the girl, who was a stupid wench,loosened the halter. At once the lad slipped out of it and changed himself into a perch and fled away down the river.
But the Green One knew what had happened. He rushed down to the river and changed himself into a pike and pursued after the perch.
On and on they went, but the pike swam faster than the perch and was just about to catch it when the perch sprang clear out of the water.
The daughter of the Tsar was walking by the river, and she was such a beauty that it made the heart ache to look at her. On her arm she carried a basket.
As the perch leaped he changed himself into a ruby ring and fell into the basket.
The damsel was very much astonished to see the ring in her basket. She did not know where it had come from. She looked up, and she looked down, but she could see no one who could have thrown the ring.
Then she took it up and slid it upon her finger, and at once she loved it as she had never loved anything in all her life before.
She carried it to her father and said to him, “Look what a pretty ring I have found!”
“Yes,” answered her father, “but where did you find it?”
“I found it in my basket, but how it came there I do not know.”
The Tsaritsa’s mother also admired the ring very much. Never had they seen such a brilliant and flashing ruby before.
Now at first, after the perch leaped out of the river and into the Tsaritsa’s basket, Oh did not know what had become of him. He was obliged to go home and get out his magic books, and then he soon learned where the lad was.
He then changed himself into a venerable merchant, clothed in velvet robes and with a long white beard. He broke a stick from an ash tree and changed it into a horse, and mounted on it and rode away to the Tsar’s palace.
Then he asked to speak with the Tsar, and so old and venerable did he look that they would not refuse him, but brought him before the Tsar.
“What dost thou want, old man?” asked the Tsar.
“Your majesty,” answered the Green One, “I have had a great loss. I was crossing the river in a boat, and I had with me a very handsome ruby ring that I was carrying with me to my master, who is also a Tsar. Unfortunately I lost the ring overboard, and I thought it might perchance have washed up on the shore and have been picked up by one of thy servants.”
“What was thy ring like?” asked the Tsar.
Then the pretended merchant described the Tsaritsa’s ring exactly.
The Tsar sent for his daughter, and she came with the ring on her finger, for she would not take it off, either night or day.
“Let me see thy ring,” said the Tsar.
He took her hand in his and examined the ring carefully, and it was in every respect exactly as the Green One had described it.
“Is this thy ring?” the Tsar asked of the merchant.
“Yes, your majesty, it is.”
“Then,” said the Tsar to his daughter, “it is right that thou shouldst return it to him.”
The Tsaritsa wept and implored. She offeredthe merchant her pearls and every other gem she had if he would but let her keep the ring, but he refused.
“Very well, then, it shall be neither thine nor mine,” cried the Tsaritsa, and she drew the ring from her finger and dashed it against the wall.
At once the ring changed into a hundred millet seeds and was scattered all over the floor.
But the Green One as quickly changed himself into a cock and ran about this way and that, pecking up the millet seeds and swallowing them. Ninety-nine millet seeds he found and ate, but the hundredth he did not find, because it had fallen beside the Tsaritsa’s foot, and the hem of her robe covered it.
As soon as the cock had swallowed the ninety-ninth seed he sprang upon the window sill, and stretched his neck and crowed with triumph.
But the hundredth seed was really the lad, and in that moment he changed himself back into his human form, and before the cock knew what had happened, he caught hold of it andwrung its neck and that was the end of Oh and his magic.
As for the Tsaritsa, no sooner had she seen the lad than her heart went out to him, and she loved him even better than she had her ring, and she declared that he and he only should be her husband.
The Tsar did not know what to say to that, for it did not seem fitting that his daughter should marry a common man. But the Tsaritsa begged and plead with him till he could no longer withstand her.
So she and the lad were married with great pomp and magnificence.
His old father and mother were bidden to the wedding, and they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw their son stand there in those costly robes with a crown upon his head and the Tsaritsa beside him as his bride.
The old people were given a house to live in and plenty of money to spend, and they all lived in peace and happiness forever after.
THE TALKING EGGSA Story from Louisiana
There was once a widow who had two daughters, one named Rose and the other Blanche.
Blanche was good and beautiful and gentle, but the mother cared nothing for her and gave her only hard words and harder blows; but she loved Rose as she loved the apple of her eye, because Rose was exactly like herself, coarse-looking, and with a bad temper and a sharp tongue.
Blanche was obliged to work all day, but Rose sat in a chair with folded hands as though she were a fine lady, with nothing in the world to do.
One day the mother sent Blanche to the well for a bucket of water. When she came to the well she saw an old woman sitting there. The woman was so very old that her nose and herchin met, and her cheeks were as wrinkled as a walnut.
“Good day to you, child,” said the old woman.
“Good day, auntie,” answered Blanche.
“Will you give me a drink of water?” asked the old woman.
“Gladly,” said Blanche. She drew the bucket full of water, and tilted it so the old woman could drink, but the crone lifted the bucket in her two hands as though it were a feather and drank and drank till the water was all gone. Blanche had never seen any one drink so much; not a drop was left in the bucket.
“May heaven bless you!” said the old woman, and then she went on her way.
And now Blanche had to fill the bucket again, and it seemed as though her arms would break, she was so tired.
When she went home her mother struck her because she had tarried so long at the well. Her blows made Blanche weep. Rose laughed when she saw her crying.
The very next day the mother became angry over nothing and gave Blanche such a beatingthat the girl ran away into the woods; she would not stay in the house any longer. She ran on and on, deeper and deeper into the forest, and there, in the deepest part, she met the old woman she had seen beside the well.
“Where are you going, my child? And why are you weeping so bitterly?” asked the crone.
“I am weeping because my mother beat me,” answered Blanche; “and now I have run away from her, and I do not know where to go.”
“Then come with me,” said the old woman. “I will give you a shelter and a bite to eat, and in return there is many a task you can do for me. Only, whatever you may see as we journey along together you must not laugh nor say anything about it.”
Blanche promised she would not, and then she trudged away at the old woman’s side.
After a while they came to a hedge so thick and wide and so set with thorns that Blanche did not see how they could pass it without being torn to pieces, but the old hag waved her staff, and the branches parted before them and leftthe path clear. Then, as they passed, the hedge closed together behind them.
Blanche wondered but said nothing.
A little further on they saw two axes fighting together with no hand to hold them. That seemed a curious thing, but still Blanche said nothing.
Further on were two arms that strove against each other without a sound. Still Blanche was silent.
Further on again two heads fought, butting each other like goats. Blanche looked and stared but said no word. Then the heads called to her. “You are a good girl, Blanche. Heaven will reward you.”
After that she and her companion came to the hut where the old woman lived. They went in, and the hag bade Blanche gather some sticks of wood and build a fire. Meanwhile she sat down beside the hearth and took off her head. She put it in her lap and began to comb her hair and twist it up.
Blanche was frightened, but she held her peace and built the fire as the old woman haddirected. When it was burning the old woman put back her head in place, and told Blanche to look on the shelf behind the door. “There you will find a bone; put it on to boil for our dinners,” said she.
She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
Blanche found the bone and put it on to boil, though it seemed a poor dinner.
The old woman gave her a grain of rice and bade her grind it in the mortar. Blanche put the rice in the mortar and ground it with the pestle, and before she had been grinding two minutes the mortar was full of rice, enough for both of them and to spare.
When it was time for dinner she looked in the pot and it was full of good, fresh meat. She and the old woman had all they could eat.
After dinner was over the old woman lay down on the bed. “Oh, my back! Oh, my poor back! How it does ache,” groaned she. “Come hither and rub it.”
Blanche came over and uncovered the old crone’s back, and she was surprised when she saw it; it was as hard and ridgy as a turtle’s. Still she said nothing but began to rub it. Sherubbed and rubbed till the skin was all worn off her hand.
“That is good,” said the old woman. “Now I feel better.” She sat up and drew her clothes about her. Then she blew upon Blanche’s hand, and at once it was as well as ever.
Blanche stayed with the old woman for three days and served her well; she neither asked questions nor spoke of what she saw.
At the end of that time her mistress said to her, “My child, you have now been with me for three days, and I can keep you here no longer. You have served me well, and you shall not lack your reward. Go to the chicken-house and look in the nests. You will find there a number of eggs. Take all that say to you, ‘Take me,’ but those that say, ‘Do not take me,’ you must not touch.”
Blanche went out to the chicken-house and looked in the nests. There were ever so many eggs; some of them were large and beautiful and white and shining and so pretty that she longed to take them, but each time she stretched out her hand toward one it cried, “Do not takeme.” Then she did not touch it. There were also some small, brown, muddy-looking eggs, and these called to her, “Take me!” So those were the ones she took.
When she came back to the house the old woman looked to see which ones she had taken. “You have done what was right,” said she, “and you will not regret it.” She then showed Blanche a path by which she could return to her own home without having to pass through the thorn hedge.
“As you go throw the eggs behind you,” she said, “and you will see what you shall see. One thing I can tell you, your mother will be glad enough to have you home again after that.”
Blanche thanked her for the eggs, though she did not think much of them, and started out. After she had gone a little way she threw one of the eggs over her shoulder. It broke on the path, and a whole bucket full of gold poured out from it. Blanche had never seen so much gold in all her life before.
She gathered it up in her apron and went a little farther, and then she threw another eggover her shoulder. When it broke a whole bucket full of diamonds poured out over the path. They fairly dazzled the eyes, they were so bright and sparkling.
Blanche gathered them up, and went on farther, and threw another egg over her shoulder. Out from it came all sorts of fine clothes, embroidered and set all over with gems. Blanche put them on, and then she looked like the most beautiful princess that ever was seen.
She threw the last egg over her shoulder, and there stood a magnificent golden coach drawn by four white horses, and with coachman and footman all complete. Blanche stepped into the coach, and away they rolled to the door of her mother’s house without her ever having to give an order or speak a word.
When her mother and sister heard the coach draw up at the door they ran out to see who was coming. There sat Blanche in the coach, all dressed in fine clothes, and with her lap full of gold and diamonds.
Her mother welcomed her in and then began to question her as to how she had become sorich and fine. It did not take her long to learn the whole story.
Nothing would satisfy her but that Rose should go out into the forest, and find the old woman, and get her to take her home with her as a servant.
Rose grumbled and muttered, for she was a lazy girl and had no wish to work for any one, whatever the reward, and she would rather have sat at home and dozed; but her mother pushed her out of the door, and so she had to go.
She slouched along through the forest, and presently she met the old woman. “Will you take me home with you for a servant?” asked Rose.
“Come with me if you will,” said the old woman, “but whatever you may see do not laugh nor say anything about it.”
“I am a great laugher,” said Rose, and then she walked along with the old woman through the forest.
Presently they came to the thorn hedge, and it opened before them just as it had whenBlanche had journeyed there. “That is a good thing,” said Rose. “If it had not done that, not a step farther would I have gone.”
Soon they came to the place where the axes were fighting. Rose looked and stared, and then she began to laugh.
A little later they came to where the arms were striving together, and at that Rose laughed harder still. But when she came to where the heads were butting each other, she laughed hardest of all. Then the heads opened their mouths and spoke to her. “Evil you are, and evil you will be, and no luck will come through your laughter.”
Soon after they arrived at the old woman’s house. She pushed open the door, and they went in. The crone bade Rose gather sticks and build a fire; she herself sat down by the hearth, and took off her head, and began to comb and plait her hair.
Rose stood and looked and laughed. “What a stupid old woman you are,” she said, “to take off your head to comb your hair!” and she laughed and laughed.
The old woman was very angry. Still she did not say anything. She put on her head and made up the fire herself. Rose would not do anything. She would not even put the pot on the fire. She was as lazy at the old woman’s house as she was at home, and the old crone was obliged to do the work herself. At the end of three days she said to Rose. “Now you must go home, for you are of no use to anybody, and I will keep you here no longer.”
“Very well,” said Rose. “I am willing enough to go, but first pay me my wages.”
“Very well,” said the old woman. “I will pay you. Go out to the chicken-house and look for eggs. All the eggs that say, ‘Take me’, you may have, but if they say, ‘Do not take me’, then you must not touch them.”
Rose went out to the chicken-house and hunted about and soon found the eggs. Some were large and beautiful and white, and of these she gathered up an apronful, though they cried to her ever so loudly, “Do not take me.” Some of the eggs were small and ugly and brown. “Take me! Take me!” they cried.
“A pretty thing if I were to take you,” she cried. “You are fit for nothing but to be thrown out on the hillside.”
She did not return to the hut to thank the old woman or bid her good-by but set off for home the way she had come. When she reached the thorn thicket it had closed together again. She had to force her way through, and the thorns scratched her face and hands and almost tore the clothes off her back. Still she comforted herself with the thought of all the riches she would get out of the eggs.
She went a little farther, and then she took the eggs out of her apron. “Now I will have a fine coach to travel in the rest of the way,” said she, “and gay clothes and diamonds and money,” and she threw the eggs down in the path, and they all broke at once. But no clothes, nor jewels, nor fine coach, nor horses came out of them. Instead snakes and toads sprang forth, and all sorts of filth that covered her up to her knees and bespattered her clothing.
Rose shrieked and ran, and the snakes andtoads pursued her, spitting venom, and the filth rolled after her like a tide.
She reached her mother’s house, and burst open the door, and ran in, closing it behind her. “Look what Blanche has brought on me,” she sobbed. “This is all her fault.”
The mother looked at her and saw the filth, and she was so angry she would not listen to a word Blanche said. She picked up a stick to beat her, but Blanche ran away out of the house and into the forest. She did not stop for her clothes or her jewels or anything.
She had not gone very far before she heard a noise behind her. She looked over her shoulder, and there was her golden coach rolling after her. Blanche waited until it caught up to her, and then she opened the door and stepped inside, and there were all her diamonds and gold lying in a heap. Her mother and Rose had not been able to keep any of them.
Blanche rode along for a long while, and then she came to a grand castle, and the King and Queen of the country lived there. The coach drew up at the door, and every one came runningout to greet her. They thought she must be some great Princess come to visit them, but Blanche told them she was not a Princess, but only the daughter of a poor widow, and that all the fine things she had, had come out of some eggs an old woman had given her.
When the people heard this they were very much surprised. They took her in to see the King and Queen, and the King and Queen made her welcome. She told them her story, and they were so sorry for her they declared she should live there with them always and be as a daughter to them.
So Blanche became a grand lady, and after a while she was married to the Prince, the son of the old King and Queen, and she was beloved by all because she was so good and gentle.
But when Blanche’s mother and sister heard of the good fortune that had come to her, and how she had become the bride of the Prince, they were ready to burst with rage and spite. Moreover they turned quite green with envy, and green they may have remained to the end of their lives, for all that I know to the contrary.
THE FROG PRINCESSA Russian Story
There was once a Tsar[1]who had three sons, and they were all dear to him, but the youngest, Ivan, was the dearest of them all.
When the Princes grew to manhood the Tsar began to talk and talk to them about getting married, but it so happened not one of the Princes had ever seen the girl he wished to have for a wife. There were many in the kingdom whom they might well have loved, but not one of them meant more to any of the Princes than another.
“Very well, then,” said the Tsar at last, “we will leave it to chance. Take your bows and arrows and come with me into the courtyard. You shall each shoot an arrow, and in whatever places your arrows fall, there shall you take your brides.”