Tales in Tranquillity

Hans had served his master for seven years, when he one day said to him : ' Master, my time is up, I want to go home to my mother; please give me my wages,' His master answered, ' You have served me well and faithfully, and as the service has been, so shall the wages be ' ; and he gave him a lump of gold as big as his head. Hans took out his pocket-handkerchief and tied up the gold in it, and then slung the bundle over his shoulder, and started on his homeward journey. As he walked along, just dragging one foot after the other, a man on horseback appeared, riding, fresh and gay, along on his spirited horse. ' Ah ! ' said Hans, quite loud as he passed, ' what a fine thing riding must be. You are as comfortable as if you were in an easy-chair ; you don't stumble over any stones ; you save your shoes, and you get over the road you needn't bother how.' The horseman, who heard him, stopped and said, ' Hello, Hans, why are you on foot ? ' ' I can't help myself,' said Hans, ' as I have this bundle to carry home. It is true that it is a lump of gold, but I can hardly hold my head up for it, and it weighs down my shoulder frightfully.' ' I 'll tell you what,' said the horseman, ' we will change. I will give you my horse, and you shall give me your bundle.' ' With all my heart,' said Hans ; ' but you will be rarely burdened with it. The horseman dismounted, took the gold, and helped Hans up, put the bridle into his hands, and said : ' When you want to go very fast, you must click your tongue and cry " Gee-up, Gee-up."' Hans was delighted when he found himself so easily riding along on horseback. After a time it occurred to him that he might be going faster, and he began to click with his tongue, and to cry ' Gee-up, Gee-up.' The horse broke into a gallop, and before Hans knew where he was, he was thrown off into a ditch which separated the fields from the high road. The horse would have run away if a peasant coming along the road leading a cow had not caught it. Hans felt himself all over, and picked himself up ; but he was very angry, and said to the peasant : ' Riding is poor fun at times, when you have a nag like mine, which stumbles and throws you, and puts you in danger of breaking your neck. I will never mount it again. I think much more of that cow of yours. You can walk comfortably behind her, and you have her milk into the bargain every day, as well as butter and cheese. What would I not give for a cow like that ! ' ' Well,' said the peasant, ' if you have such a fancy for it as all that, I will exchange the cow for the horse.' Hans accepted the offer with delight, and the peasant mounted the horse and rode rapidly off. Hans drove his cow peacefully on, and thought what a lucky bargain he had made. ' If only I have a bit of bread, and I don't expect ever to be without that, I shall always have butter and cheese to eat with it. If I am thirsty, I only have to milk my cow and I have milk to drink. My heart ! what more can you desire ? ' When he came to an inn he made a halt, and in great joy he ate up all the food he had with him, all his dinner and his supper too, and he gave the last coins he had for half a glass of beer. Then he went on further in the direction of his mother's village, driving his cow before him. The heat was overpowering, and, as midday drew near, Hans found himself on a heath which it took him an hour to cross. He was so hot and thirsty, that his tongue was parched and clung to the roof of his mouth. ' This can easily be set to rights,' thought Hans. ' I will milk my cow and sup up the milk.' He tied her to a tree, and as he had no pail, he used his leather cap instead ; but, try as hard as he liked, not a single drop of milk appeared. As he was very clumsy in his attempts, the impatient animal gave him a severe kick on his forehead with one of her hind legs. He was stunned by the blow, and fell to the ground, where he lay for some time, not knowing where he was. Happily just then a butcher came along the road, trundling a young pig in a wheel-barrow. ' What is going on here ? ' he cried, as he helped poor Hans up. Hans told him all that had happened. The butcher handed him his flask, and said : ' Here, take a drink, it will do you good. The cow can't give any milk I suppose ; she must be too old, and good for nothing but to be a beast of burden, or to go to the butcher.' ' Oh dear ! ' said Hans, smoothing his hair. ' Now who would ever have thought it ! Killing the animal is all very well, but what kind of meat will it be ? For my part, I don't like cow's flesh ; it 's not juicy enough. Now, if one had a nice young pig like that, it would taste ever so much better ; and then, all the sausages ! ' ' Listen, Hans ! ' then said the butcher, ' for your sake I will exchange, and let you have the pig instead of the cow.'

There was once a Forester who went into the woods to hunt, and he heard a cry like that of a little child. He followed the sound, and at last came to a big tree where a tiny child was sitting high up on one of the top branches. The mother had gone to sleep under the tree, and a bird of prey, seeing the child on her lap, had flown down and carried it off in its beak to the top of the tree. The Forester climbed the tree and brought down the child, thinking to himself, ' I will take it home, and bring it up with my own little Lina.' So he took it home, and the two children were brought up together. The foundling was called Fundevogel, because it had been found by a bird. Fundevogel and Lina were so fond of each other, that they could not bear to be out of each other's sight. Now the Forester had an old Cook, who one evening took two pails, and began carrying water. She did not go once but many times, backwards and forwards to the well. Lina saw this, and said : ' Dear me, Sanna, why are you carrying so much water ? ' ' If thou wilt not tell any one, I will tell thee why.' Lina said no, she would not tell any one. So then the Cook said : ' To-morrow morning early, when the Forester goes out hunting, I am going to boil the water, and when it bubbles in the kettle, I am going to throw Fundevogel into it to boil him.' Next morning the Forester got up very early, and went out hunting, leaving the children still in bed. Then said Lina to Fundevogel : ' Never forsake me, and I will never forsake thee.' And Fundevogel answered : ' I will never forsake thee.' Then Lina said : ' I must tell thee now. Old Sanna brought in so many pails of water last night, that I asked her what she was doing. She said if I would not tell anybody, she would tell me what it was for. So I promised not to tell anybody, and she said that in the morning, when the father had gone out hunting, she would fill the kettle, and when it was boiling, she would throw thee into it and boil thee. Now we must get up quickly, dress ourselves, and run away.' So the children got up, dressed quickly, and left the house. When the water boiled, the Cook went to their bedroom to fetch Fundevogel to throw him into it. But when she entered the room, and went up to the bed, both the children were gone. She was terribly frightened, and said to herself : ' Whatever am I to say to the Forester when he comes home and finds the children gone ? We must hurry after them and get them back.' So the Cook despatched three men-servants to catch up the children and bring them back. The children were sitting near a wood, and when they saw the three men a great way off, Lina said to Fundevogel, ' Do not forsake me, and I will never forsake thee.' And Fundevogel answered, ' I will never forsake thee as long as I live.' Then Lina said, ' Thou must turn into a rosebush, and I will be a rosebud upon it.' When the three men reached the wood, they found nothing but a rosebush with one rosebud on it ; no children were to be seen. They said to each other, ' There is nothing to be done here.' And they went home and told the Cook that they had seen nothing whatever but a rosebush, with one rosebud on it. The old Cook scolded them, and said : ' You boobies, you ought to have hacked the rosebush to pieces, broken off the bud, and brought it home to me. Off with you at once and do it.' So they had to start off again on the search. But the children saw them a long way off, and Lina said to Fundevogel, ' Do not forsake me, and I will never forsake thee.' Fundevogel said : ' I will never forsake thee as long as I live.' Then said Lina : ' Thou must become a church, and I will be the chandelier in it.' Now when the three men came up they found nothing but a church with a chandelier in it ; and they said to each other : ' What are we to do here ? We had better go home again.' When they reached the house, the Cook asked if they had not found anything. They said : ' Nothing but a church with a chandelier in it.' ' You fools,' screamed the Cook, ' why did you not destroy the church and bring me the chandelier ? ' Then the old Cook put her best foot foremost, and started herself with the three men in pursuit of the children. But the children saw the three men in the distance, and the old Cook waddhng behind them. Then said Lina : ' Fundevogel, do not forsake me, and I will never forsake thee.' And he said : ' I will never forsake thee as long as I live.' Lina said : ' Thou must become a pond, and I will be the duck swimming upon it.'

red and Kate were man and wife. They had not long been married. One day Fred said, ' I am going into the fields, Kate ; I shall be hungry when I come in, so have something good ready for dinner, and a cool draught to quench my thirst.' ' All right, Fred, I will have it ready for you when you come back.' When dinner-time approached, she took down a sausage from the chimney, put it into a frying-pan with some butter, and placed it on the fire. The sausage began to frizzle and splutter, and Kate stood holding the pan lost in her thoughts. Suddenly she said : ' While the sausage is cooking, I might go down to the cellar to draw the beer.' So she put the pan firmly on the fire, and took a jug down to the cellar to draw the beer. Kate watched the beer running into the jug, and suddenly she said : ' I don't believe the dog is tied up ; it might get the sausage out of the frying-pan and run off with it.' She was up the cellar stairs in a twinkling, but the dog had already got the sausage in his jaws, and was just making off with it. Kate, who was very agile, ran after him, and chased him a good way over the fields. The dog, however, was quicker than she, and without letting go the sausage, he got right away. ' What is gone, is gone ! ' she said, and being tired out, she turned back and walked slowly home to cool herself. In the meantime, the beer had been running out of the cask, because Kate had forgotten to turn the tap. As soon as the jug was full, the rest ran all over the cellar floor, till the cask was quite empty. Kate saw what had happened as soon as she got to the top of the cellar stairs. ' Humph ! ' she cried, ' what am I to do now, so that Fred shan't discover it ? ' She thought a while, and at last she remembered a sack of fine meal they had left over from the last fair. She would fetch it down and strew it over the beer, ' To be sure,' she said, ' those who save at the right time have something when they need it.' So she went up to the loft and brought the sack down, but, unfortunately, she threw it right on to the jug full of beer. It was overturned, and away went Fred's drink, flooding the cellar with the rest. ' Oh, that won't matter ! ' said Kate. ' When part is gone, the rest may as well follow.' Then she strewed the meal all over the cellar. She was delighted with her handiwork when it was finished, and said : ' How clean and fresh it looks.' At dinner-time Fred came home. ' Well, wife, what have you got for dinner ? ' he said. ' O Fred ! ' she answered, ' I was frying you a sausage, but while I went down to draw the beer, the dog got it ; and while I ran after the dog, the beer ran out of the cask. Then when I was going to dry up the beer with the meal, I knocked the jug over. But never mind, the cellar is quite dry now.' Fred said : ' Kate, Kate, what have you been doing ? First you let the sausage be carried off, then you let the beer run out of the cask, and, lastly, you waste our fine meal.' ' Well, Fred, I did not know ; you should have told me what to do.' The man thought : ' If my wife is like this, I must look after things myself.' Now, he had saved a nice little sum of money, which he changed into gold, and said to Kate : ' Do you see these yellow counters ? I am going to put them in a pot, and bury them underneath the cow's manger in the stable ; don't you meddle with them, or it will be the worse for you.' And she said : ' Oh no, Fred, I won't.' Now, when Fred had gone out, several Pedlars came into the village with earthen pots and pans for sale. They asked the young wife if she had nothing to give in exchange for them. ' Oh, good people,' said Kate, ' I have no money, and I can't buy anything, but if some yellow counters would be any good to you, I might do some business.' ' Yellow counters ! Why not ? You might as well show them to us,' said the naen. ' You must go into the stable and dig under the cow's manger, and you will find the yellow counters. I dare not go with you.' So the rogues went to the stable and dug up the pot of gold. They seized it and made off with it as fast as they could, leaving their pots and pans behind. Kate thought she must use the new utensils, but as there was no lack in the kitchen, she knocked the bottom out of every pot and pan, and hung them on the fence round the house as ornaments. When Fred came home and saw the new decorations, he said : ' Kate, whatever have you been doing now ? ' ' I bought them, Fred, with the yellow counters which were hidden in the stable, but I did not get them myself ; the Pedlars dug them up.' ' Alas, wife ! ' said Fred, ' what have you done ? Those were not counters, they were pure gold, and all that we possess. You should not have done it.' ' Well, Fred, I did not know ; you should have told me.'

Along time ago there lived a King and Queen, who said every day, ' If only we had a child ' ; but for a long time they had none. It fell out once, as the Queen was bathing, that a frog crept out of the water on to the land, and said to her : ' Your wish shall be fulfilled ; before a year has passed you shall bring a daughter into the world.' The frog's words came true. The Queen had a little girl who was so beautiful that the King could not contain himself for joy, and prepared a great feast. He invited not only his relations, friends, and acquaintances, but the fairies, in order that they might be favourably and kindly disposed towards the child. There were thirteen of them in the kingdom, but as the King had only twelve golden plates for them to eat from, one of the fairies had to stay at home. The feast was held with all splendour, and when it came to an end the fairies all presented the child with a magic gift. One gave her virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on, with everything in the world that she could wish for. When eleven of the fairies had said their say, the thirteenth suddenly appeared. She wanted to revenge herself for not having been invited. Without greeting any one, or even glancing at the company, she called out in a loud voice : ' The Princess shall prick herself with a distaff in her fifteenth year and shall fall down dead ' ; and without another word she turned and left the hall. Every one was terror-struck, but the twelfth fairy, whose wish was still unspoken, stepped forward. She could not cancel the curse, but could only soften it, so she said : ' It shall not be death, but a deep sleep lasting a hundred years, into which your daughter shall fall.' The King was so anxious to guard his dear child from the misfortune, that he sent out a command that all the distaffs in the whole kingdom should be burned. As time went on all the promises of the fairies came true. The Princess grew up so beautiful, modest, kind, and clever that every one who saw her could not but love her. Now it happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old the King and Queen were away from home, and the Princess was left quite alone in the castle. She wandered about over the whole place, looking at rooms and halls as she pleased, and at last she came to an old tower. She ascended a narrow, winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was sticking in the lock, and when she turned it the door flew open. In a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily. ' Good day, Granny,' said the Princess ; ' what are you doing ? ' ' I am spinning,' said the old woman, and nodded her head. ' What is the thing that whirls round so merrily ? ' asked the Princess ; and she took the spindle and tried to spin too. But she had scarcely touched it before the curse was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with the spindle. The instant she felt the prick she fell upon the bed which was standing near, and lay still in a deep sleep which spread over the whole castle. The King and Queen, who had just come home and had stepped into the hall, went to sleep, and all their courtiers with them. The horses went to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the doves on the roof, the flies on the wall ; yes, even the fire flickering on the hearth grew still and went to sleep, and the roast meat stopped crackling ; the cook, who was pulhng the scullion's hair because he had made some mistake, let him go and went to sleep. The wind dropped, and on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred. But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up ; every year it grew higher, till at last it surrounded the whole castle so that nothing could be seen of it, not even the flags on the roof. But there was a legend in the land about the lovely sleeping Briar Rose, as the King's daughter was called, and from time to time princes came and tried to force a way through the hedge into the castle. They found it impossible, for the thorns, as though they had hands, held them fast, and the princes remained caught in them without being able to free themselves, and so died a miserable death. After many, many years a Prince came again to the country and heard an old man tell of the castle which stood behind the briar hedge, in which a most beautiful maiden called Briar Rose had been asleep for the last hundred years, and with her slept the King, Queen, and all her courtiers. He knew also, from his grandfather, that many princes had already come and sought to pierce through the briar hedge, and had remained caught in it and died a sad death. Then the young Prince said, ' I am not afraid ; I am determined to go and look upon the lovely Briar Rose.' The good old man did all in his power to dissuade him, but the Prince would not listen to his words.

There was once a cook called Grethel, who wore shoes with red rosettes ; and when she went out in them, she turned and twisted about gaily, and thought, ' How fine I am ! ' After her walk she would take a draught of wine, in her light-heartedness ; and as wine gives an appetite, she would then taste some of the dishes that she was cooking, saying to herself, ' The cook is bound to know how the food tastes.' It so happened that one day her master said to her, ' Grethel, I have a guest coming to-night ; roast me two fowls in your best style.' ' It shall be done, sir ! ' answered Grethel. So she killed the chickens, scalded and plucked them, and then put them on the spit ; towards evening she put them down to the fire to roast. They got brown and crisp, but still the guest did not come. Then Grethel called to her Master, ' If the guest does not come I must take the fowls from the fire ; but it will be a thousand pities if they are not eaten soon while they are juicy.' Her Master said, ' I will go and hasten the guest myself.' Hardly had her Master turned his back before Grethel laid the spit with the fowls on it on one side, and said to herself, ' It's thirsty work standing over the fire so long. Who knows when he will come. I'll go down into the cellar in the meantime and take a drop of wine.' She ran down and held a jug to the tap, then said, ' Here's to your health, Grethel,' and took a good pull. ' Drinking leads to drinking,' she said, ' and it's not easy to give it up,' and again she took a good pull. Then she went upstairs and put the fowls to the fire again, poured some butter over them, and turned tlie spit round with a will. It smelt so good that she thought, ' There may be something wanting, I must have a taste.' And she passed her finger over the fowls and put it in her mouth. ' Ah, how good they are ; it's a sin and a shame that there 's nobody to eat them.' She ran to the window to see if her Master was coming with the guest, but she saw nobody. Then she went back to the fowls again, and thought, ' One wing is catching a little, better to eat it — and eat it I will.' So she cut it off and ate it with much enjoyment. When it was finished, she thought, ' The other must follow, or the Master will notice that something is wanting.' When the wings were consumed she went back to the window again to look for her Master, but no one was in sight. ' Who knows,' she thought. ' I dare say they won't come at all ; they must have dropped in somewhere else.' Then she said to herself, ' Now, Grethel, don't be afraid, eat it all up : why should the good food be wasted ? When it 's all gone you can rest ; run and have another drink and then finish it up.' So she went down to the cellar, took a good drink, and contentedly ate up the rest of the fowl. When it had all disappeared and still no Master came, Grethel looked at the other fowl and said, ' Where one is gone the other must follow. What is good for one is right for the other. If I have a drink first I shall be none the worse.' So she took another hearty pull at the jug, and then she sent the other fowl after the first one. In the height of her enjoyment, her Master came back, and cried, ' Hurry, Grethel, the guest is just coming.' ' Very well, sir, I'll soon have it ready,' answered Grethel. Her Master went to see if the table was properly laid, and took the big carving-knife with which he meant to cut up the fowls, to sharpen it. In the meantime the guest came and knocked politely at the door. Grethel ran to see who was there, and, seeing the guest, she put her finger to her lips and said, ' Be quiet, and get away quickly ; if my Master catches you it will be the worse for you. He certainly invited you to supper, but only with the intention of cutting off both your ears. You can hear him sharpening his knife now.' The guest heard the knife being sharpened, and hurried off down the steps as fast as he could. Grethel ran with great agility to her Master, shrieking, ' A fine guest you have invited, indeed ! ' ' Why, what's the matter, Grethel ? What do you mean ? ' ' Well,' she said, ' he has taken the two fowls that I had just put upon the dish, and run off with them.' ' That's a clever trick ! ' said her Master, regretting his fine fowls. ' If he had only left me one so that I had something to eat.' He called out to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to hear. Then he ran after him, still holding the carving knife, and cried, ' Only one, only one ! ' — meaning that the guest should leave him one fowl ; but the guest only thought that he meant he was to give him one ear, and he ran as if he was pursued by fire, and so took both his ears safely home.

The next morning he was taken before a judge, and condemned to death ; but the King promised to spare his life, and give him the Golden Horse as well, if he could bring him the beautiful Princess out of the golden palace. With a heavy heart the Prince set out, when to his delight he soon met the faithful Fox. ' I ought to leave you to your fate,' he said ; ' but I will have pity on you and once more help you out of your trouble. Your road leads straight to the golden palace, — you will reach it in the evening ; and at night, when everything is quiet, the beautiful Princess will go to the bathroom to take a bath. As she goes along, spring forward and give her a kiss, and she will follow you. Lead her away with you ; only on no account allow her to bid her parents good-bye, or it will go badly with you.' Again the Fox stretched out his tail, the Prince seated himself upon it, and off they flew over stock and stone, till his hair whistled in the wind. When he got to the palace, it was just as the Fox had said. He waited till midnight, and when the whole palace was wrapped in sleep, and the Maiden went to take a bath, he sprang forward and gave her a kiss. She said she was quite willing to go with him, but she implored him to let her say good-bye to her parents. At first he refused ; but as she cried, and fell at his feet, at last he gave her leave. Hardly had the Maiden stepped up to her father's bed, when he and every one else in the palace woke up. The Prince was seized, and thrown into prison. Next morning the King said to him, ' Your life is forfeited, and it can only be spared if you clear away the mountain in front of my window, which shuts out the view. It must be done in eight days, and if you accomplish the task you shall have my daughter as a reward.' So the Prince began his labours, and he dug and shovelled without ceasing. On the seventh day, when he saw how little he had done, he became very sad, and gave up all hope. However, in the evening the Fox appeared and said, ' You do not deserve any help from me, but lie down and go to sleep ; I will do the work.' In the morning when he woke and looked out of the window, the mountain had disappeared. Overjoyed, the Prince hurried to the King and told him that his condition was fulfilled, and, whether he liked it or not, he must keep his word and give him his daughter. So they both went away together, and before long the faithful Fox joined them. ' You certainly have got the best thing of all,' said he ; ' but to the Maiden of the golden palace the Golden Horse belongs.' ' How am I to get it ? ' asked the Prince. ' Oh ! I will tell you that,' answered the Fox. ' First take the beautiful Maiden to the King who sent you to the golden palace. There will be great joy when you appear, and they will bring out the Golden Horse to you. Mount it at once, and shake hands with everybody, last of all with the beautiful Maiden ; and when you have taken her hand firmly, pull her up beside you with a swing and gallop away. No one will be able to catch you, for the horse goes faster than the wind.' All this was successfully done, and the Prince carried off the beautiful Maiden on the Golden Horse. The Fox was not far off, and he said to the Prince, ' Now I will help you to get the Golden Bird, too. When you approach the castle where the Golden Bird lives, let the Maiden dismount, and I will take care of her. Then ride with the Golden Horse into the courtyard of the castle ; there will be great rejoicing when they see you, and they will bring out the Golden Bird to you. As soon as you have the cage in your hand, gallop back to us and take up the Maiden again.' When these plans had succeeded, and the Prince was ready to ride on with all his treasures, the Fox said to him : ' Now you must reward me for my help.' ' What do you want ? ' asked the Prince. ' When you reach that wood, shoot me dead and cut off my head and my paws.' ' That would indeed be gratitude ! ' said the Prince. ' I can't possibly promise to do such a thing.' The Fox said, ' If you won't do it, I must leave you ; but before I go I will give you one more piece of advice. Beware of two things, buy no gallows-birds, and don't sit on the edge of a well.' Saying which, he ran off into the wood. The Prince thought, ' That is a strange animal ; what whims he has. Who on earth would want to buy gallows-birds ! And the desire to sit on the edge of a well has never yet seized me ! ' He rode on with the beautiful Maiden, and the road led him through the village where his two brothers had stayed behind. There was a great hubbub in the village, and when he asked what it was about, he was told that two persons were going to be hanged. When he got nearer he saw that they were his brothers, who had wasted their possessions and done all sorts of evil deeds. He asked if they could not be set free.

A LONG time ago there was a King who had a lovely pleasure-garden round his palace, and in it stood a tree which bore golden apples. When the apples were nearly ripe they were counted, but the very next morning one was missing. This was reported to the King, and he ordered a watch to be set every night under the tree. The King had three sons, and he sent the eldest into the garden at nightfall ; but by midnight he was overcome with sleep, and in the morning another apple was missing. On the following night the second son had to keep watch, but he fared no better. When the clock struck twelve, he too was fast asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. The turn to watch now came to the third son. He was quite ready, but the King had not much confidence in him, and thought that he would accomplish even less than his brothers. At last, however, he gave his permission ; so the youth lay down under the tree to watch, determined not to let sleep get the mastery over him. As the clock struck twelve there was a rustling in the air, and by the light of the moon he saw a Bird, whose shining feathers were of pure gold. The Bird settled on the tree, and was just plucking an apple when the young Prince shot an arrow at it. The Bird flew away, but the arrow hit its plumage, and one of the golden feathers fell to the ground. The Prince picked it up, and in the morning took it to the King and told him all that he had seen in the night. The King assembled his council, and everybody declared that a feather like that was worth more than the whole kingdom. 'If the feather is worth so much,' said the King, 'one will not satisfy me ; I must and will have the whole Bird.' The eldest, relying on his cleverness, set out in search of the Bird, and thought that he would be sure to find it soon. When he had gone some distance he saw a Fox sitting by the edge of a wood ; he raised his gun and aimed at it. The Fox cried out, ' Do not shoot me, and I will give you some good advice. You are going to look for the Golden Bird ; you will come to a village at nightfall, where you will find two inns opposite each other. One of them will be brightly lighted, and there will be noise and revelry going on in it. Be sure you do not choose that one, but go into the other, even if you don't like the look of it so well.' ' How can a stupid animal like that give me good advice ? ' thought the King's son, and he pulled the trigger, but missed the Fox, who turned tail and made off into the wood. Thereupon the Prince continued his journey, and at nightfall reached the village with the two inns. Singing and dancing were going on in the one, and the other had a povertystricken and decayed appearance, ' I should be a fool,' he said, ' if I were to go to that miserable place with this good one so near.' So he went into the noisy one, and lived there in rioting and revelry, forgetting the Bird, his father, and all his good counsels. When some time had passed and the eldest son did not come back, the second prepared to start in quest of Golden Bird. He met the Fox, as the eldest son had done, and it gave him the same good advice, of which he took just as little heed. He came to the two inns, and saw his brother standing at the window of the one whence sounds of revelry proceeded. He could not withstand his brother's calling, so he went in and gave himself up to a life of pleasure. Again some time passed, and the King's youngest son wanted to go out to try his luck ; but his father would not let him go. ' It is useless,' he said. ' He will be even less able to find the Golden Bird than his brothers, and when any ill luck overtakes him, he will not be able to help himself ; he has no backbone.' But at last, because he gave him no peace, he let him go. The Fox again sat at the edge of the wood, begged for its life, and gave its good advice. The Prince was good-natured, and said : ' Be calm, little Fox, I will do thee no harm.' ' You won't repent it,' answered the Fox ; ' and so that you may get along faster, come and mount on my tail.' No sooner had he seated himself than the Fox began to run, and away they flew over stock and stone, at such a pace that his hair whistled in the wind. When they reached the village, the Prince dismounted, and following the good advice of the Fox, he went straight to the mean inn without looking about him, and there he passed a peaceful night. In the morning when he went out into the fields, there sat the Fox, who said : ' I will now tell you what you must do next. Walk straight on till you come to a castle, in front of which a whole regiment of soldiers is encamped. Don't be afraid of them ; they will all be asleep and snoring. Walk through the midst of them straight into the castle, and through all the rooms, and at last you will reach an apartment where the Golden Bird will be hanging in a common wooden cage.