Chapter Chapter 71 · The Pink

. The Pink

There was once on a time a Queen to whom God had given no children.

Every morning she went into the garden and prayed to God in heaven to

bestow on her a son or a daughter. Then an angel from heaven came to

her and said, “Be at rest, thou shalt have a son with the power of

wishing, so that whatsoever in the world he wishes for, that shall he

have.” Then she went to the King, and told him the joyful tidings, and

when the time was come she gave birth to a son, and the King was filled

with gladness. Every morning she went with the child to the garden

where the wild beasts were kept, and washed herself there in a clear

stream. It happened once when the child was a little older, that it was

lying in her arms and she fell asleep. Then came the old cook, who knew

that the child had the power of wishing, and stole it away, and he took

a hen, and cut it in pieces, and dropped some of its blood on the

Queen’s apron and on her dress. Then he carried the child away to a

secret place, where a nurse was obliged to suckle it, and he ran to the

King and accused the Queen of having allowed her child to be taken from

her by the wild beasts. When the King saw the blood on her apron, he

believed this, fell into such a passion that he ordered a high tower to

be built, in which neither sun nor moon could be seen, and had his wife

put into it, and walled up. Here she was to stay for seven years

without meat or drink, and die of hunger. But God sent two angels from

heaven in the shape of white doves, which flew to her twice a day, and

carried her food until the seven years were over.

The cook, however, thought to himself, “If the child has the power of

wishing, and I am here, he might very easily get me into trouble.” So

he left the palace and went to the boy, who was already big enough to

speak, and said to him, “Wish for a beautiful palace for thyself with a

garden, and all else that pertains to it.” Scarcely were the words out

of the boy’s mouth, when everything was there that he had wished for.

After a while the cook said to him, “It is not well for thee to be so

alone, wish for a pretty girl as a companion.” Then the King’s son

wished for one, and she immediately stood before him, and was more

beautiful than any painter could have painted her. The two played

together, and loved each other with all their hearts, and the old cook

went out hunting like a nobleman. The thought, however, occurred to him

that the King’s son might some day wish to be with his father, and thus

bring him into great peril. So he went out and took the maiden aside,

and said, “To-night when the boy is asleep, go to his bed and plunge

this knife into his heart, and bring me his heart and tongue, and if

thou dost not do it, thou shalt lose thy life.” Thereupon he went away,

and when he returned next day she had not done it, and said, “Why

should I shed the blood of an innocent boy who has never harmed any

one?” The cook once more said, “If thou dost not do it, it shall cost

thee thy own life.” When he had gone away, she had a little hind

brought to her, and ordered her to be killed, and took her heart and

tongue, and laid them on a plate, and when she saw the old man coming,

she said to the boy, “Lie down in thy bed, and draw the clothes over

thee.” Then the wicked wretch came in and said, “Where are the boy’s

heart and tongue?” The girl reached the plate to him, but the King’s

son threw off the quilt, and said, “Thou old sinner, why didst thou

want to kill me? Now will I pronounce thy sentence. Thou shalt become a

black poodle and have a gold collar round thy neck, and shalt eat

burning coals, till the flames burst forth from thy throat.” And when

he had spoken these words, the old man was changed into a poodle dog,

and had a gold collar round his neck, and the cooks were ordered to

bring up some live coals, and these he ate, until the flames broke

forth from his throat. The King’s son remained there a short while

longer, and he thought of his mother, and wondered if she were still

alive. At length he said to the maiden, “I will go home to my own

country; if thou wilt go with me, I will provide for thee.” “Ah,” she

replied, “the way is so long, and what shall I do in a strange land

where I am unknown?” As she did not seem quite willing, and as they

could not be parted from each other, he wished that she might be

changed into a beautiful pink, and took her with him. Then he went away

to his own country, and the poodle had to run after him. He went to the

tower in which his mother was confined, and as it was so high, he

wished for a ladder which would reach up to the very top. Then he

mounted up and looked inside, and cried, “Beloved mother, Lady Queen,

are you still alive, or are you dead?” She answered, “I have just

eaten, and am still satisfied,” for she thought the angels were there.

Said he, “I am your dear son, whom the wild beasts were said to have

torn from your arms; but I am alive still, and will speedily deliver

you.” Then he descended again, and went to his father, and caused

himself to be announced as a strange huntsman, and asked if he could

give him a place. The King said yes, if he was skilful and could get

game for him, he should come to him, but that deer had never taken up

their quarters in any part of the district or country. Then the

huntsman promised to procure as much game for him as he could possibly

use at the royal table. So he summoned all the huntsmen together, and

bade them go out into the forest with him. And he went with them and

made them form a great circle, open at one end where he stationed

himself, and began to wish. Two hundred deer and more came running

inside the circle at once, and the huntsmen shot them. Then they were

all placed on sixty country carts, and driven home to the King, and for

once he was able to deck his table with game, after having had none at

all for years.

Now the King felt great joy at this, and commanded that his entire

household should eat with him next day, and made a great feast. When

they were all assembled together, he said to the huntsmen, “As thou art

so clever, thou shalt sit by me.” He replied, “Lord King, your majesty

must excuse me, I am a poor huntsman.” But the King insisted on it, and

said, “Thou shalt sit by me,” until he did it. Whilst he was sitting

there, he thought of his dearest mother, and wished that one of the

King’s principal servants would begin to speak of her, and would ask

how it was faring with the Queen in the tower, and if she were alive

still, or had perished. Hardly had he formed the wish than the marshal

began, and said, “Your majesty, we live joyously here, but how is the

Queen living in the tower? Is she still alive, or has she died?” But

the King replied, “She let my dear son be torn to pieces by wild

beasts; I will not have her named.” Then the huntsman arose and said,

“Gracious lord father, she is alive still, and I am her son, and I was

not carried away by wild beasts, but by that wretch the old cook, who

tore me from her arms when she was asleep, and sprinkled her apron with

the blood of a chicken.” Thereupon he took the dog with the golden

collar, and said, “That is the wretch!” and caused live coals to be

brought, and these the dog was compelled to devour before the sight of

all, until flames burst forth from its throat. On this the huntsman

asked the King if he would like to see the dog in his true shape, and

wished him back into the form of the cook, in the which he stood

immediately, with his white apron, and his knife by his side. When the

King saw him he fell into a passion, and ordered him to be cast into

the deepest dungeon. Then the huntsman spoke further and said, “Father,

will you see the maiden who brought me up so tenderly and who was

afterwards to murder me, but did not do it, though her own life

depended on it?” The King replied, “Yes, I would like to see her.” The

son said, “Most gracious father, I will show her to you in the form of

a beautiful flower,” and he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought

forth the pink, and placed it on the royal table, and it was so

beautiful that the King had never seen one to equal it. Then the son

said, “Now will I show her to you in her own form,” and wished that she

might become a maiden, and she stood there looking so beautiful that no

painter could have made her look more so.

And the King sent two waiting-maids and two attendants into the tower,

to fetch the Queen and bring her to the royal table. But when she was

led in she ate nothing, and said, “The gracious and merciful God who

has supported me in the tower, will speedily deliver me.” She lived

three days more, and then died happily, and when she was buried, the

two white doves which had brought her food to the tower, and were

angels of heaven, followed her body and seated themselves on her grave.

The aged King ordered the cook to be torn in four pieces, but grief

consumed the King’s own heart, and he soon died. His son married the

beautiful maiden whom he had brought with him as a flower in his

pocket, and whether they are still alive or not, is known to God.