Chapter III: Part 3

Thereupon he returned home and told his mother how he had met the little girl, and what she had told him; not, however, as having any belief in what she had said. The mother, however, when she had heard his words, said, 'Go, my son, and try; anyhow you are a lost man. You can but try.'

He went then to the king and demanded land for the vineyard, and begged that it should be dug in straight rows. The king ordered everything to be done as the young man demanded, who forthwith took a sack on his shoulder, and a sprig of basilicum, and went full of fear and sorrow to lie down in the place. When he awoke next morning the vines were already planted; the second morning the leaves were on the vines; and, in short, on the seventh day there were ripe grapes, and that, too, in a season when grapes were to be found nowhere else.

He gathered some grapes, and made sweet wine; and took also a cluster of grapes in a handkerchief, and went to the king.

The king and the whole court were exceedingly surprised, but the young man's uncle said, 'Now we will order him to do something which it is quite impossible that he should do.' He then advised the king to call the young man, and order him to make a palace of elephants' tusks.

The young man heard the king's order, and went home weeping. He told his mother the order which the king had given him, and said, 'Mother, this is a task which neither I nor any one else can fulfil.' Then the mother advised him to take a walk beyond the village. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'you will again meet the little girl.' Accordingly he went; and when he reached the place where he had before seen the maiden, she again appeared to him, and said, 'You are sad and troubled as before, my brother.' Then he told her what a task the king had set him to perform. She, however, no sooner heard this than she said, 'This will also be easy; but first go to the king, and demand from him a ship with three hundred barrels of wine, and three hundred barrels of brandy, and twenty carpenters. Then, when you arrive at a place which you will find between the mountains, dam up the water there, and pour into it the wine and the brandy. The elephants will soon come there to drink water, and will get drunk and fall down. Then your twenty carpenters must cut off their tusks, and carry them to the spot where the king desires to have the palace built. Then lie down there to sleep, and in seven days the palace will be ready.'

The young man returned home and told his mother what the young maiden had said to him. The mother advised him to follow the girl's counsel. 'Go, my son,' she said, 'perhaps God will again help you.' So the young man went to the king, and demanded the barrels of wine and brandy, and the twenty carpenters. The king furnished him with all he desired; and he went immediately where the girl had told him, and did as she had ordered. And, even as she had foretold, the elephants came to drink, and got tipsy, and fell down; and the carpenters sawed their tusks, and carried them to the spot where the palace was to be built. Then, at evening, the young man took his sack and a branch of basilicum, and went and lay down to sleep in the place.

And on the seventh day the palace was ready. When the king saw it, he marvelled, and said to his first minister, the uncle of the young man, 'Now what shall we do with him? Indeed he is not a man; God knows only what he is.'

To this, the minister answered, 'Yet one thing you ought to order him to do, and if he fulfils that, also, indeed he must be something more than man.' So, in accordance with the advice of his minister, the king called the young man again, and said, 'Now, go and bring me the king's daughter from such and such a kingdom, and out of such a city. If you should fail to bring her, you will lose your head.'

The young man went home and told his mother the new task which the king had set him to do, and the mother said, 'Go, my son, and look for that young maiden. Perhaps God will grant that she may save you a third time!'

So, as before, he went outside the village, and met the young maiden, and told her what he had now to do.

The girl listened to him, and then said, 'Go and demand from the king a ship; in the ship must be made twenty shops, and in each shop must be a different kind of ware, each one better than the other. Then demand that the twenty handsomest young men should be chosen, and finely dressed, and put one in each shop as salesman. Then sail yourself with the ship, and you will first meet a man who carries a large eagle. You must ask him if he will sell it you, and he will answer "Yes." Then give him anything he demands in return for the eagle. After that you will meet a man carrying in his fishing-net a carp with golden scales; you must buy the carp, whatever it may cost you. Thirdly, you will meet a man carrying a live dove, and this dove you must also buy, whatever the price may be. Then, take a feather from the eagle's tail, a scale from the carp, and a little feather from the left wing of the dove, and let the eagle, carp, and dove go away free. When you arrive in the kingdom, and at the city where the princess resides, you must open all the twenty shops, and order each young man to stand before his shop-door. Then the citizens will come and admire the wares; and the maidens, who come to fetch water, will go back into the city and say, "Such a ship and such wares were never before seen since this was a city!" This news will reach the ears of the king's daughter, and she will beg permission from her father to go and see the ship herself. When she comes, with her friends, on board, you must lead her from one shop to the other, and bring out and show her the finest wares which you have. Thus you must contrive to engage her attention and to keep her on board till it gets dusk, and then let the ship sail. In that moment it will be so dark that nothing can be seen. The girl will have a bird on her shoulder, and, when she sees the ship is sailing away, she will let the bird fly to take tiding to the palace of what has happened to her. Then you must burn the eagle's plume, and the old eagle will instantly come to you. You must order him to catch the bird, and he will quickly do so. Then the girl will throw a small stone into the water, and the ship will at once stand still; but you will immediately burn the carp's scale, and the carp will come to you. You must order him to find and swallow that little water of life, and when he does so the ship will sail on. After sailing some time you will arrive between two mountains; there the ship will turn to stone and you will be greatly terrified. The girl will urge you to fetch some water of life, and you must then burn the dove's feather, and the bird will immediately appear. You will give him a little bottle that he may bring you some water of life, and when he does so the ship will sail on again, and you will come happily home with the king's daughter.'

The young man listened to the advice of the maiden, and then returned home and told all to his mother. After that he went to the king and demanded all the things that the maiden had counselled him to procure. The king could not refuse, so all that he asked was given him, and he sailed away.

All things happened exactly as the young maiden had foretold, and the young man came back with the king's daughter happily to his own country.

The king and his first minister, the uncle of the young man, saw, from the windows of the palace, the ship whilst yet it was far from the city; and the minister said to the king, 'Now there is nothing left to do but to kill him as he comes out of the ship!' When the ship reached the port, the king's daughter first came ashore with her companions; then the handsome young shopmen, and, lastly, the young man alone. But the king had had the headsman placed there, and when the young man stepped on the shore the executioner cut his head off. The king intended to marry the king's daughter; accordingly, as soon as she came on land he ran to her, and began to caress her, but she turned away her head from him, and said, 'Where is he who has been working for me?' And when she saw that his head was cut off she rushed to the body, took out some water of life and poured over it, so he arose alive and well as ever. When the king and his minister saw this wonder, the minister said to the king, 'This man will know now more than ever he did, since he has been dead and is come back to life!' Then the king began to wonder if it were true that a man who has been dead knows more when he returns to life, and, in order to satisfy his curiosity, he ordered the headsman to cut off his head, and directed that the girl with the water of life should bring him again to life. But, after the king's head was cut off, the girl refused to restore him to life. Instead of doing so, she wrote a letter to her father, told him all that had happened, and told him her wish to marry the young man. So the king, her father, sent forth a proclamation that the people should take the young man for their king, and threatened to declare war against them if they refused to do so. The people recognised immediately the merits of the young man, and owned that he deserved to be their king, and to marry the king's daughter. Accordingly they made him king, and he married the king's daughter. Then the handsome young men, who had sailed with him in the ship as shopmen, married the companions of the king's daughter who was now queen, and thus all of them became great dignitaries in the kingdom.

WHO ASKS LITTLE, GETS MUCH.

Once on a time there lived three brothers, who had no property except one pear-tree. This they watched carefully, each of them in turn guarding it, whilst the other two worked for wages away from home. One day God sent an angel to see how these brothers were living; and ordered the angel, if they lived very poorly, to give them better food. When the angel came down to the earth, he changed himself into the form of a beggar; and when he saw one of the brothers watching the pear-tree, asked him to give him a pear. Then the brother plucked some pears, and gave them to the beggar, and said, 'Here, take these from my share of the pears; I cannot give you any of those which belong to my brothers.' So the angel thanked the man and went away.

Next morning the second brother remained to guard the pear-tree; and the angel came again, and begged him to give him a pear. The man took some of the pears and gave them to the angel, saying, 'Take these from my pears; but from the pears of my brothers I dare not give you any.'

The third day the third brother stayed at home to watch the pear-tree, and the angel came as before, and asked only for one pear. And this brother said also, 'Here are some of my pears; from the pears of my brothers I cannot give you any.'

The day after, the angel changed himself into a monk, and came very early, so that he found all three brothers at home, and said to them, 'Come with me; I will give you better nourishment than you have at present.'

The three brothers followed him without saying a word. At last they came to a large torrent, where the water flowed in great streams, and made a loud noise. Then the angel asked the eldest brother, 'What would you like?' And the man answered, 'I should like all this water to be changed into wine, and to belong to me.'

Then the angel made the sign of the cross in the air with his stick, and, in a moment, wine was flowing instead of water. On the banks of the river heaps of barrels were being made, and men were working very diligently--in short, there was quite a village. The angel then left the eldest brother there, saying, 'Here is all you wished! now keep yourself!' and he continued his journey with the other two brothers. Then they came to a field covered over with a multitude of doves, and the angel asked the second brother, 'What would you like?' 'I should like all these doves to be sheep, and to belong to me!' replied the man. The angel again made the sign of the cross in the air with his stick, and, instantly, sheep were there instead of doves. There were dairies also, and women milking the sheep; some were pouring out the milk, and others collecting the cream; some were making cheese, others churning butter. There was also a slaughter-house, with men cutting the meat into joints, whilst others were weighing it, and others receiving money as they sold the meat.

Then the angel said to the second brother, 'Here is what you wished for; now live.' The angel now took with him the youngest brother, walked with him across the field, and then asked, 'And what would _you_ like?' The man answered, 'I wish for nothing, except that God may give me a wife of pure Christian blood!' Then the angel said, 'Oh, that is difficult to find! In the whole world there are but three such, and two of them are already married. The third is a maid still, but she is asked in marriage by two wooers.'

So the angel and the young man set out, and, having journeyed a long way, at length came to the city where the king dwelt whose daughter was of pure Christian blood.

As soon as they arrived, they went to the palace to ask for the girl. When they entered the palace, they found two kings already there, and their wedding gifts laid out upon a table. Then they also placed there the presents they had brought. When the king saw them, he said to all those who were standing before him, 'What shall we do now? Those are the presents of kings, but these look, in comparison, like the gifts of a beggar!' Then the angel said, 'I will tell you what to do. Let the matter be decided in this way--the maid shall take three vines, and plant them in the garden, dedicating each of them to one of the three wooers. The man on whose vine grapes are found next day is the one the girl ought to marry.' So all agreed to this, and the maid planted three vines in the garden, dedicating each of them to one of her three wooers.

The next morning, when they looked, grapes were found on the vine dedicated to the poor man. So the king could not help himself, and was obliged to give his daughter to the youngest brother, and let them at once be married in the church. After the wedding, the angel took them to a forest, and left them there, where they lived for a whole year.

At the end of a year, God again sent the angel, saying, 'Go down and see how those poor men are living. If their food be scanty, give them better nourishment.'

The angel came down to earth as before, in the likeness of a beggar, and went first to the brother who had the torrent overflowing with wine. The beggar asked for a cup of wine, but the man refused, saying, 'If I were to give every one who asks a cup of wine, I should have none for myself!' When the angel heard this, he made the sign of the cross with his stick, and the torrent began to flow with water as at first. Then the angel said to the eldest brother, 'That was not for thee! go back under the pear-tree and guard it!'

After that the angel went to the second brother who had the field quite covered with sheep, and begged him to give him a morsel of cheese; but he refused, saying, 'If I were to give every one a little bit of cheese, I should have none left!' When the angel heard this, he made the sign of the cross in the air, and the sheep turned in an instant into doves, and flew away.

Then the angel said to the second brother, 'That was not for thee! go back under the pear-tree and guard it!'

At last the angel went to see how the youngest brother was living, and found him with his wife in the forest, dwelling in a little hut, and living poorly. He begged to be allowed to sleep there that night, and they received him with great willingness, only excusing themselves that they could not serve him as they would. 'We are only poor people,' they said. The angel answered, 'Do not speak about that! I shall be quite content with what you have for yourselves.' Then these poor people asked themselves what they must do. They had no corn to make real bread; for they usually ground the bark of certain trees, and made bread from it. Such bread, therefore, the wife made now for their guest, and put it to the fire to bake. Whilst it baked, they talked with him. In a little while, when they looked to see whether the cake was baked, they found that there was a loaf of real bread quite ready for the table, and very large. When they saw that, they lifted up their hands and thanked God, saying, 'Thank thee, O God! that we are now able to give food to our guest.'

So they placed the bread before the angel, and also filled a vessel with water, and when they came to drink they found it was wine. Then the angel made a sign of the cross with his staff over the hut, and on that spot rose a royal palace, filled with abundance of everything. And the angel blessed the youngest brother and his wife, and left them, and they lived there long and very happily.

JUSTICE OR INJUSTICE? WHICH IS BEST.

A king had two sons; of these, one was cunning and unjust, the other, just and gentle. After the death of the father the elder son said to the younger, 'Depart; I will not live with you any longer. Here are three hundred zechins and a horse; this is your portion of our father's property. Take it, for I owe you nothing more than this.' The younger son took the money and the horse which were offered him, and said, 'Thank God! See only how much of the kingdom has fallen to me!'

Some time afterwards the two brothers, both of whom were riding, met by chance in a road. The younger brother greeted the elder one, saying, 'God help thee, brother!' and the elder answered, 'Why do you speak always about God? Nowadays, injustice is better than justice.' The younger brother, however, said to him, 'I will wager with you that injustice is not, as you say, better than justice.' So they betted one hundred golden zechins, and it was arranged that they should leave the decision to the first man they met in the road. Riding together a little farther they met with Satan, who had disguised himself as a monk, and they asked him to decide which was better, justice or injustice? Satan answered, 'Injustice!' And the good brother paid the bad one the hundred golden zechins which he had wagered.

Then they betted for another hundred zechins, and again a third time for a third hundred, and each time Satan--who managed to disguise himself in different ways and meet them--decided that injustice was better than justice.

Thus the younger brother lost all his money, and his horse into the bargain. Then he said, 'Thank God! I have no more money, but I have eyes, and I wager my eyes that justice is better than injustice.'

Thereupon the unjust brother, without waiting for any one's decision, drew his knife and cut both his brother's eyes out, saying, 'Now you have no eyes, let justice help you.' But the younger brother in his trouble only thanked God and said, 'I have lost my eyes for the sake of God's justice, but I pray you, my brother, give me a little water in some vessel to wash my wounds and wet my mouth, and bring me away from this place to the pine-tree just about the spring, before you leave me.' The unjust brother did so, gave him water, and left him alone under the pine-tree near the spring of water.

There the unfortunate remained, sitting on the ground. Late, however, in the night, some fairies came to the spring to bathe, and one of them said to the others, 'Do you know, my sisters, that the king's daughter has got the leprosy? The king has summoned all the physicians, but no one can possibly help her. But if the king only knew, he would take a little of this water in which we are bathing, and wash his daughter therewith! and then in a day and a night she would recover completely from her leprosy. Just as any one deaf, or dumb, or blind, could be cured by this same water.'

Then, as the cocks began to crow, the fairies hurried away. As soon as they were gone, the unfortunate man felt his way slowly with his outstretched hands till he came to the spring of water. There he bathed his eyes, and in an instant recovered his sight. After that he filled the vessel with water, and hurried away to the king, whose daughter was leprous, and said to the servants, 'I am come to cure the king's daughter, if he will only let me try. I guarantee that she will become healthy in a day and night.'

When the king heard that, he ordered him to be led into the room where the girl was, and made her immediately bathe in the water. After a day and a night the the girl came out pure and healthy.

Then the king was greatly pleased, and gave the young prince the half of his kingdom, and also his daughter for a wife, so that he became the king's son-in-law, and the first man after him in the kingdom.

The tidings of this great event spread all over the world, and so came to the ears of the unjust brother. He guessed directly that his blind brother must have met with good fortune under the pine-tree, so he went himself to try to find it also. He carried with him a vessel full of water, and then carved out his own eyes with his knife. When it was dark the fairies came again, and, as they bathed, spoke about the recovery of the king's daughter. 'It cannot be otherwise,' they said, 'someone must have been listening to our last conversation here. Perhaps someone is listening now. Let us see.'

So they searched all around, and when they came to the pine-tree they found there the unjust brother who had come to seek after good fortune, and who declared always that injustice was better than justice. They immediately caught him, and tore him into four parts.

And so, at the last, his wickedness did not help him, and he found to his cost that justice is better than injustice.

SATAN'S JUGGLINGS AND GOD'S MIGHT.

One morning the son of the king went out to hunt. Whilst walking through the snow he cut himself a little, and the drops of blood fell on the snow. When he saw how pretty the red blood looked on the white snow, he thought, 'Oh, if I could only marry a girl as white as snow and as rosy red as this blood!' Whilst he was thus thinking, he met an old woman and asked her if there were such maidens anywhere to be found. The old woman told him that on the mountain he saw before him he would find a house without doors, and the only entrance and outlet of this house was a single window. And she added, 'In that house, my son, there is living a girl such as you desire; but of the young men who have gone to ask her to be their wife none have returned.'

'That may all be as you say,' answered the prince, 'I will go, nevertheless! Only tell me the way that I must take to get to the house.' When the old woman heard this resolve, she was sorry for the young man, and, taking a piece of bread from her pouch, she gave it to him, saying, 'Take this bread and keep it safe as the apple of your eye!' The prince took the bread, and continued his journey. Very soon afterwards he met another old woman, and she asked him where he was going. He told her he was going to demand the girl who lived in the doorless house on the mountain. Then the old woman tried to dissuade him, telling him just the same things as the former one had done. He said, however, 'That may be quite true, nevertheless I will go, even if I never return.' Then the old woman gave to the prince a little nut, saying, 'Keep this nut always by you; it may help you some time or other!'

The prince took the nut and went on his way, till he came to where an old woman was sitting by the roadside. She asked him, 'Where are you going?' Then he told her he was going to demand the girl who lived in the house on the mountain before him. Upon this the old woman wept, and prayed him to give up all thoughts of the girl, and she gave him the very same warnings as the other old women had done. All this however was of no use, the prince was resolved to go on, so the old woman gave him a walnut, saying, 'Take this walnut, and keep it carefully until you want it.'

He wondered at these presents, and asked her to tell him why the first old woman had given him a piece of bread, the second a nut, and she herself now a walnut. The old woman answered, 'The bread is to throw to the beasts before the house, that they may not eat you; and, when you find yourself in the greatest danger, ask counsel, first from the nut, and then from the walnut.'

Then the king's son continued his wandering, till he came at last to a thick forest, in the midst of which he saw the house with only a single window. When he came near it he was attacked by a multitude of beasts of all kinds, and, following the advice of the old woman, he threw the bit of bread towards them. Then the beasts came and smelt at the bread one after the other, and, upon doing so, each drew his tail between his legs and lay down quietly.

The house had no door, and but one window, which was very high above the ground, so high that do what he could he was not able to reach it. Suddenly he saw a woman letting down her golden hair; so he rushed and caught hold of it, and she drew him up thereby into the house. Then he saw that the woman was she for whose sake he had come to this place. The prince and the girl were equally pleased to see each other, and she said, 'Thank God that my mother happened to be from home! She is gone into the forest to gather the plants by the aid of which she transforms into beasts all the young men who venture here to ask me to be their wife. Those are the beasts who would have killed you, if God had not helped you. But let us fly away from this place.' So they fled away through the forest as quickly as they could. As they happened to look back, however, they saw that the girl's mother was pursuing them, and they became frightened. The old woman was already very near them before the prince remembered his nut. He took it out quickly and asked, 'For God's sake! tell me what we must do now?' The nut replied, 'Open me!' The prince opened it, and from the little nut flowed out a large river, which stopped the way, so that for a time the girl's mother could not pass. However, she touched the waters with her staff, and they immediately divided and left her a dry path, so that she could run on quickly after the prince and the girl.

When the prince saw she would soon come up with them, he took out the walnut and asked, 'Tell me, what we must do now?' And the walnut replied, 'Break me!' The king's son broke the walnut, and a great fire flamed out from it--so great a fire that the whole forest barely escaped being consumed by it. But the girl's mother spat on the fire, and it extinguished itself in a moment. Then the king's son saw that these were nothing but the jugglings of the devil, so he turned eastward, made the sign of the cross, and called on the mighty God to help him. Then it suddenly thundered and lightened, and from heaven flashed a thunderbolt which struck the mother of the girl, and she fell dead upon the ground.

Thus at length the king's son arrived safely at home, and when the girl had been made a Christian, he married her.

THE WISE GIRL.

Once upon a time a poor man lived in a small and mean cottage. He possessed nothing in the world except a daughter who was very wise indeed. She taught her father how to beg, and how to speak wisely. One day the poor man went to the king to beg, and the king asked him whence he came, and who had taught him to speak so well.

He told the king where he lived, and that he had a daughter who told him what to say.

'And who taught your daughter all this wisdom?' demanded the king. The poor man answered, 'God and our poverty have made her wise.'

Then the king gave him thirty eggs and said, 'Take these eggs to your daughter, and tell her that if she bring forth chickens from the eggs, I will make her rich presents; but if she fails, then I will have you tortured.'

The poor man went back to his cottage weeping, and told all this to his daughter. The girl saw at once that the eggs which the king had sent had been boiled, but she told her father to go to sleep quietly, and she would take care for everything. The father did as she said, and, whilst he slept, she took a pot, filled it with water and beans, and boiled them.

Next morning she told her father to take a plough and oxen, and go to plough in a wood near to which the king would pass. 'When you see the king coming,' said she, 'take a handful of beans, and begin to sow, shouting, "Go on, my oxen, and God grant that the boiled beans may bear fruit!" When the king asks you, "How can you expect boiled beans to grow?" answer him, "Just as much as from boiled eggs to hatch chickens!"'

The poor man listened to his daughter, and went to plough. When the king came near, he began to shout, 'Ho ho, my oxen! go on! and God grant that these boiled beans may bring me a good crop!'

The king, hearing these words, stopped his carriage, and said to the poor man, 'Poor fellow, how can boiled beans bear a crop?'

'Just as well as boiled eggs can bring forth chickens,' answered the man.

The king saw that his daughter had taught him what to say, and he ordered his servants to bring the man before him. Then the king gave him a bunch of flax, saying, 'Take this, and make from it all the sails a ship needs. If you do not, you shall lose your life.'

The poor man took the bunch of flax with great fear, and returned weeping to the cottage to tell his daughter, who bade him go to sleep quietly. Next morning she gave him a small piece of wood, and told him to take it to the king and demand that, from this piece of wood, all the tools needful for spinning and weaving should be made. 'Then,' continued she, 'I will make all that he has ordered me.'

The king was surprised, and considered a moment what to do. At last he said, 'Take this little glass to your daughter, and tell her she must empty the sea with it, so that dry land shall be where the water now is.'

The poor man took the little cup to his daughter, and, weeping, told her all the king required. The girl bade him be quiet till morning, and then she would do all that was needed. Next morning she called her father, gave him a pound of tow, and said, 'Take this to the king, and tell him that with this tow he must first stop all the sources of the rivers and lakes, and then I will dry up the sea.'

So the poor man went to the king and told him what his daughter had said.

The king, seeing that the girl was wiser than himself, ordered that she should be brought before him. When she bent before the king, he said, 'Guess, maiden! what can be heard at the greatest distance?'

The girl answered, 'Your majesty, the thunder and the lie can be heard at the greatest distance.'

Then the king grasped his beard, and, turning to his courtiers, put to them the question, 'Guess what my beard is worth?' Some of them said so much, others again so much; but the girl observed to the king that none of the courtiers had guessed right, and said, 'The king's beard is worth as much as three summer rains.' The king, greatly astonished, said, 'It is so; the girl has guessed rightly!' Then he asked her if she were willing to be his wife; and added that, if she were willing, he would marry her.

The girl bent low and said, 'Let it be as your majesty commands! But I pray you write with your hand on a scrap of paper this promise, that if you should ever be displeased with me, and should send me away from you, I shall be allowed to take with me from the palace any one thing which I like best.'

The king consented, and gave the promise.

After they had lived happily together for some time, one day the king was angry, and said to his wife, 'I will not have you any longer for my wife, and I bid you leave the palace!'

The queen answered, 'I will obey your majesty, but permit me to pass one night more in the palace. To-morrow I will go.'

This, the king could not well refuse.

That evening, at supper, the queen mixed something with the wine, and offered it to the king to drink, saying, 'Be of good cheer, O king! To-morrow we shall separate and, believe me, I shall be happier than I was when I first met you.'

The king drank, and soon after fell asleep. Then the queen ordered her carriage, and carried the king away with her to the cottage.

Next morning, when the king awoke in the cottage and saw where he was, he exclaimed, 'Who brought me here?'

The queen answered, 'I brought you.'

Then the king asked, 'How have you dared to do so? Did I not tell you I will not have you any longer for my wife?'

But the queen took out the king's written promise, and said, 'Yes, indeed, you told me so; but see, you have written and promised that I "shall be allowed to take with me from the palace that which I like best, whenever I must leave the court."'

The king, seeing the paper, kissed his wife, and returned with her to the palace.

GOOD DEEDS ARE NEVER LOST.

In days gone by there lived a married couple who had one only son. When he grew up they made him learn something which would be of use to him in after-life. He was a kind, quiet boy, and feared God greatly. After his schooling was finished his father gave him a ship, freighted with various sorts of merchandise, so that he might go and trade about the world, and grow rich, and become a help to his parents in their old age. The son put to sea, and one day the ship he was in met with a Turkish vessel in which he heard great weeping and wailing. So he demanded of the Turkish sailors, 'Pray, tell me why there is so much wailing on board your ship?' and they answered, 'We are carrying slaves which we have captured in different countries, and those who are chained are weeping.'

Then he said, 'Please, brothers, ask your captain if he would give me the slaves for ready cash?'

The captain gladly agreed to the proposal, and after much bargaining the young man gave to the captain his vessel full of merchandise, and received in exchange the ship full of slaves.

Then he called the slaves before him, and demanded of each whence he came, and told them all they were free to return to their own countries. At last he came to an old woman who held close to her side a very beautiful girl, and he asked them from what country they came. The old woman told him, weeping, that they came from a very distant land, saying, 'This young girl is the only daughter of the king, and I am her nurse, and have taken care of her from her childhood. One day, unhappily, she went to walk in a garden far away from the palace, and these wicked Turks saw her and caught her. Luckily I happened to be near, and, hearing her scream, ran to her help, and so the Turks caught me too, and brought us both on board of this ship.' Then the old woman and the beautiful girl, being so far from their own country, and having no means of getting there, begged him that he would take them with him. So he married the girl, took her with him, and returned home.

When he arrived his father asked him about his ship and merchandise, and he told him what had happened, how he had given his vessel with its cargo, and had bought the slaves and set them free. 'This girl,' continued he, 'is a king's daughter, and the old woman her nurse; as they could not get back to their country, they prayed to remain with me, so I married the girl.'

Thereupon the father was very angry, and said, 'My foolish son! what have you done? Why have you made away with my property without cause and of your own will?' and he drove him out of the house.

Then the son lived with his wife and her old nurse a long time in the same village, trying always, through the good offices of his mother and other friends, to obtain his father's forgiveness, and, begging him to let him have a second ship full of merchandise, promised to be wiser in future. After some time the father took pity on him, and received him again into his house, with his wife and her old nurse. Shortly after he fitted him out another ship, larger than the first one, and filled with more valuable merchandise. In this he sailed, leaving his wife and her nurse in the house of his parents. He came one day to a city where he found the soldiers very busy carrying some unlucky villagers away to prison. So he asked them, 'Why are you doing this my brethren? Why are you driving these poor people to prison?' and the soldiers answered:

'They have not paid the king's taxes, that is why we take them to prison.'

Then he went to the magistrate and asked, 'Please tell me how much these poor prisoners owe?'

When the magistrate told him he sold his goods and ship, and paid the debts of all the prisoners, and returned home without anything. Falling at the feet of his father, he told him what he had done, and begged him to forgive him. But the father was exceedingly angry, more so than before, and drove him away from his presence. What could the unhappy son do in this great strait? How could he go begging, he whose parents were so rich? After some time his friends again prevailed upon the father to receive him back, because, as they urged, so much suffering had made him wiser. At last the father yielded, took him again into his house, and prepared a ship for him finer and richer than the two former ones. Then the son had the portrait of his wife painted on the helm, and that of the old nurse on the stern, and, after taking leave of his father and mother, and wife, he sailed away the third time.

After sailing for some days he came near a large city, in which there lived a king, and, dropping anchor, he fired a salute to the city. All the citizens wondered, as did also their king, and no one could say who the captain of the strange ship might be. In the afternoon the king sent one of his ministers to ask who he was, and why he came; and the minister brought a message that the king himself would come at nine o'clock the next morning to see the ship. When the minister came he saw on the helm the portrait of the king's daughter, and on the stern that of her old nurse, and in his surprise and joy dared not believe his own eyes. For the princess had been promised to him in marriage while she was yet a child, and long before she was captured by the Turks.

But the minister did not tell any one what he had seen.

Next morning, at nine o'clock, the king came with his ministers on board the ship, and asked the captain who he was, and whence he came?

Whilst walking about the vessel he saw there the portrait of the girl on the helm and that of the old woman on the stern, and recognised the features of his own daughter and her old nurse who had been captured by the Turks. But his joy was so great, he dared not believe his eyes, so he invited the captain to come that afternoon to his palace to relate his adventures, hoping thus to find out if his hopes were well founded.

In the afternoon, in obedience to the king's wish, he went to the palace, and the king at once began to inquire why the figure of the girl was painted on the helm and that of the old woman on the stern. The captain guessed at once that this king must be his wife's father, so he told him everything that had happened--how he had met the Turkish ship filled with slaves, and had ransomed them and set them free. 'This girl, alone,' he continued, 'with her old nurse, had nowhere to go, as her country was so far off, so they asked to remain with me, and I married the girl.'

When the king heard this he exclaimed, 'That girl is my only child, and the accursed Turks took her and her old nurse. You, since you are her husband, will be the heir to my crown. But go--go at once to your home and bring me your wife that I may see her--my only daughter, before I die. Bring your father, your mother, bring all your family. Let your property be all sold in that country, and come all of you here. Your father shall be my brother, and your mother my sister, as you are my son and the heir to my crown. We will all live together here in one palace.' Then he called the queen, and all his ministers, and told them all about his daughter. And there was great rejoicing and festivity in the whole court.

After this the king gave his son-in-law his own large ship to bring back the princess and the whole family. So the captain left his own ship there, but he asked the king to send one of his ministers with him, 'Lest they should not believe me,' he said; and the king gave him as a companion for his voyage the same minister to whom he had formerly promised the princess in marriage. They arrived safely in port, and the captain's father was surprised to see his son return so soon, and with such a splendid vessel.

Then he told all that had happened and his mother and wife, and especially the old nurse, rejoiced greatly when they heard the good news. As the king's minister was there to witness the truth of this strange news, no one could doubt it. So the father and mother consented to sell all their property and go to live in the king's palace.

But the minister resolved to kill this new heir to the king and husband of the princess who had been promised to him for wife; so, when they had sailed a long distance, he called him on deck to confer with him. The captain had a quiet conscience, and did not suspect any evil, so he came up at once, and the minister caught him quickly and threw him overboard.

The ship was sailing fast, and it was rather dark, so the captain could not overtake her, but was left behind in the deep waters. The minister, however, went quietly to sleep.

Fortunately the waves carried the king's young heir to a rock near the shore; it was, however, a desert country, and no one was near to help him. Those he had left on board the ship, seeing next morning that he had disappeared, began to weep and wail, thinking he had fallen overboard in the night and been drowned. His wife especially lamented him, because they had loved each other very much. When the ship arrived at the king's city, and reported to him the great disaster that had befallen them, the king was troubled, and the whole court mourned greatly. The king kept the parents and family of the young man by him as he had engaged to do, but they could not console themselves for their great loss.

Meanwhile, the king's unhappy son-in-law sat on the rock, and lived on the moss which grew there, and was scorched by the hot sun, from which he had no shelter; his garments were soiled and torn, and no one would have recognised him. Still not a living soul was to be seen anywhere to help him. At last, after fifteen days and fifteen nights, he noticed an old man on the shore, leaning on a staff, and engaged in fishing. Then the king's heir shouted to the old man, and begged him to help him off the rock. The old fisherman consented--

'If you will pay me for it,' said he.

'How can I pay you when, as you see, I have nothing, and even my clothes are only rags?' answered the young man sadly.

'Oh, that matters nothing,' exclaimed the old man; 'I have here pen and paper, so, if you know how to use them, write a promise to give me half of everything you may ever possess, and then sign the paper.'

To that the young man gladly consented; so the old man walked through the water to him, and he signed the paper, and then the old man took him over to the shore. After that he journeyed from village to village, barefoot, hungry, and sorrowful, and begged some garments to cover him.

After thirty days' wandering, his good luck led him to the city of the king, and he went and sat at the door of the palace, wearing on his finger his wedding-ring, on which was his own name and the name of his wife. At eventide, the king's servants took him into the courtyard, and gave him to eat what remained of their supper. Next morning he took his stand by the garden-door, but the gardener came and drove him away, saying that the king and his family were soon coming that way. So he moved away a little, and sat down near a corner of the garden and shortly afterward he saw the king walking with his mother, his father leading the queen, and his wife walking with the minister, his great enemy. He did not yet desire to show himself to them, but as they passed near him and gave him alms, his wife saw the wedding-ring on a finger of the hand which he held out to take the money. Still she could not think the beggar could be her husband, so she said--

'Let me see the ring you have on your finger.'

The minister, who was walking by her, was a little frightened, and said--

'Go on, how can you speak to that ragged beggar?'

But she would not hear him. She took the ring, and read thereon her own and her husband's names. Her heart was greatly troubled by the sight of the ring, but she controlled her feelings and said nothing. As soon as they returned to the palace, she told the king, her father, that she had recognised her husband's ring on the hand of the beggar who sat by the side of the garden. 'So please send for him,' said she, 'that we may find out how the ring came into his hands.'

Then the king sent his servants to find the beggar, and they brought him to the palace. And the king asked him whence he came, and how he got that ring. Then he could no longer restrain himself, but told them how he had been thrown overboard by the treacherous minister, and spent fifteen days and nights on the naked rock, and how he had been saved.

'You see now how God and my right-dealing have brought me back to my parents and my wife.'

When they heard that, they could hardly speak, so rejoiced were they. Then the king summoned the father and mother, and related what had happened to their son.

The servants quickly brought him fine new garments, and bathed and clothed him. Then for many days there was great rejoicings, not only in the palace, but also in all the city, and he was crowned as king. The minister was seized by the king's order, and given up to the king's son-in-law, that he might punish him after his own will. But the young king would not permit him to be put to death, but forgave him, on condition that he left the kingdom instantly.

A few days after, the old man who had saved the young king came, bringing with him his written promise. The young king took the paper, and reading it, said--

'My old man, sit down. To-day I am king, but if I were a beggar I would fulfil my word, and acknowledge my signature. Therefore we will divide all that I have.'

So he took out the book and began to divide the cities.

'This is for me--that is for you.' So saying, he wrote all on a chart, till all were divided between them, from the greatest city to the poorest barrack.

The old man accepted his half, but immediately made a present of it again to the young king, saying--