第 二十二 章 · PUDDOCKY (From the German)

. PUDDOCKY (From the German)

There was once upon a time a poor woman who had one little daughter

called ‘Parsley.’ She was so called because she liked eating parsley

better than any other food, indeed she would hardly eat anything else.

Her poor mother hadn’t enough money always to be buying parsley for her,

but the child was so beautiful that she could refuse her nothing, and

so she went every night to the garden of an old witch who lived near and

stole great branches of the coveted vegetable, in order to satisfy her

daughter.

This remarkable taste of the fair Parsley soon became known, and the

theft was discovered. The witch called the girl’s mother to her, and

proposed that she should let her daughter come and live with her, and

then she could eat as much parsley as she liked. The mother was quite

pleased with this suggestion, and so the beautiful Parsley took up her

abode with the old witch.

One day three Princes, whom their father had sent abroad to travel, came

to the town where Parsley lived and perceived the beautiful girl combing

and plaiting her long black hair at the window. In one moment they all

fell hopelessly in love with her, and longed ardently to have the girl

for their wife; but hardly had they with one breath expressed their

desire than, mad with jealousy, they drew their swords and all three set

upon each other. The struggle was so violent and the noise so loud that

the old witch heard it, and said at once ‘Of course Parsley is at the

bottom of all this.’

And when she had convinced herself that this was so, she stepped

forward, and, full of wrath over the quarrels and feuds Parsley’s beauty

gave rise to, she cursed the girl and said, ‘I wish you were an ugly

toad, sitting under a bridge at the other end of the world.’

Hardly were the words out of her mouth than Parsley was changed into a

toad and vanished from their sight. The Princes, now that the cause

of their dispute was removed, put up their swords, kissed each other

affectionately, and returned to their father.

The King was growing old and feeble, and wished to yield his sceptre

and crown in favour of one of his sons, but he couldn’t make up his mind

which of the three he should appoint as his successor. He determined

that fate should decide for him. So he called his three children to him

and said, ‘My dear sons, I am growing old, and am weary of reigning, but

I can’t make up my mind to which of you three I should yield my crown,

for I love you all equally. At the same time I would like the best and

cleverest of you to rule over my people. I have, therefore, determined

to set you three tasks to do, and the one that performs them best shall

be my heir. The first thing I shall ask you to do is to bring me a piece

of linen a hundred yards long, so fine that it will go through a gold

ring.’ The sons bowed low, and, promising to do their best, they started

on their journey without further delay.

The two elder brothers took many servants and carriages with them, but

the youngest set out quite alone. In a short time they came to three

cross roads; two of them were gay and crowded, but the third was dark

and lonely.

The two elder brothers chose the more frequented ways, but the youngest,

bidding them farewell, set out on the dreary road.

Wherever linen was to be bought, there the two elder brothers hastened.

They loaded their carriages with bales of the finest linen they could

find and then returned home.

The youngest brother, on the other hand, went on his weary way for many

days, and nowhere did he come across any linen that would have done. So

he journeyed on, and his spirits sank with every step. At last he came

to a bridge which stretched over a deep river flowing through a flat and

marshy land. Before crossing the bridge he sat down on the banks of the

stream and sighed dismally over his sad fate. Suddenly a misshapen toad

crawled out of the swamp, and, sitting down opposite him, asked: ‘What’s

the matter with you, my dear Prince?’

The Prince answered impatiently, ‘There’s not much good my telling you,

Puddocky, for you couldn’t help me if I did.’

‘Don’t be too sure of that,’ replied the toad; ‘tell me your trouble and

we’ll see.’

Then the Prince became most confidential and told the little creature

why he had been sent out of his father’s kingdom.

‘Prince, I will certainly help you,’ said the toad, and, crawling back

into her swamp, she returned dragging after her a piece of linen not

bigger than a finger, which she lay before the Prince, saying, ‘Take

this home, and you’ll see it will help you.’

The Prince had no wish to take such an insignificant bundle with him;

but he didn’t like to hurt Puddocky’s feelings by refusing it, so he

took up the little packet, put it in his pocket, and bade the little

toad farewell. Puddocky watched the Prince till he was out of sight and

then crept back into the water.

The further the Prince went the more he noticed that the pocket in which

the little roll of linen lay became heavier, and in proportion his heart

grew lighter. And so, greatly comforted, he returned to the Court of

his father, and arrived home just at the same time as his brothers with

their caravans. The King was delighted to see them all again, and at

once drew the ring from his finger and the trial began. In all the

waggon-loads there was not one piece of linen the tenth part of which

would go through the ring, and the two elder brothers, who had at first

sneered at their youngest brother for returning with no baggage, began

to feel rather small. But what were their feelings when he drew a bale

of linen out of his pocket which in fineness, softness, and purity of

colour was unsurpassable! The threads were hardly visible, and it went

through the ring without the smallest difficulty, at the same time

measuring a hundred yards quite correctly.

The father embraced his fortunate son, and commanded the rest of the

linen to be thrown into the water; then, turning to his children he

said, ‘Now, dear Princes, prepare yourselves for the second task.

You must bring me back a little dog that will go comfortably into a

walnut-shell.’

The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each wished

to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and after a very few

days set out on their travels again.

At the cross roads they separated once more. The youngest went by

himself along his lonely way, but this time he felt much more cheerful.

Hardly had he sat down under the bridge and heaved a sigh, than Puddocky

came out; and, sitting down opposite him, asked, ‘What’s wrong with you

now, dear Prince?’

The Prince, who this time never doubted the little toad’s power to help

him, told her his difficulty at once. ‘Prince, I will help you,’ said

the toad again, and crawled back into her swamp as fast as her short

little legs would carry her. She returned, dragging a hazel nut behind

her, which she laid at the Prince’s feet and said, ‘Take this nut home

with you and tell your father to crack it very carefully, and you’ll see

then what will happen.’ The Prince thanked her heartily and went on his

way in the best of spirits, while the little puddock crept slowly back

into the water.

When the Prince got home he found his brothers had just arrived with

great waggon-loads of little dogs of all sorts. The King had a walnut

shell ready, and the trial began; but not one of the dogs the two eldest

sons had brought with them would in the least fit into the shell. When

they had tried all their little dogs, the youngest son handed his father

the hazel-nut, with a modest bow, and begged him to crack it carefully.

Hardly had the old King done so than a lovely tiny dog sprang out of the

nutshell, and ran about on the King’s hand, wagging its tail and barking

lustily at all the other little dogs. The joy of the Court was great.

The father again embraced his fortunate son, commanded the rest of

the small dogs to be thrown into the water and drowned, and once more

addressed his sons. ‘The two most difficult tasks have been performed.

Now listen to the third and last: whoever brings the fairest wife home

with him shall be my heir.’

This demand seemed so easy and agreeable and the reward was so great,

that the Princes lost no time in setting forth on their travels. At the

cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they should go the same

way as the youngest, but when they saw how dreary and deserted it looked

they made up their minds that it would be impossible to find what they

sought in these wilds, and so they stuck to their former paths.

The youngest was very depressed this time and said to himself, ‘Anything

else Puddocky could have helped me in, but this task is quite beyond her

power. How could she ever find a beautiful wife for me? Her swamps are

wide and empty, and no human beings dwell there; only frogs and toads

and other creatures of that sort.’ However, he sat down as usual under

the bridge, and this time he sighed from the bottom of his heart.

In a few minutes the toad stood in front of him and asked, ‘What’s the

matter with you now, my dear Prince?’

‘Oh, Puddocky, this time you can’t help me, for the task is beyond even

your power,’ replied the Prince.

‘Still,’ answered the toad, ‘you may as well tell me your difficulty,

for who knows but I mayn’t be able to help you this time also.’

The Prince then told her the task they had been set to do. ‘I’ll help

you right enough, my dear Prince,’ said the little toad; ‘just you go

home, and I’ll soon follow you.’ With these words, Puddocky, with a

spring quite unlike her usual slow movements, jumped into the water and

disappeared.

The Prince rose up and went sadly on his way, for he didn’t believe

it possible that the little toad could really help him in his present

difficulty. He had hardly gone a few steps when he heard a sound behind

him, and, looking round, he saw a carriage made of cardboard, drawn

by six big rats, coming towards him. Two hedgehogs rode in front as

outriders, and on the box sat a fat mouse as coachman, and behind stood

two little frogs as footmen. In the carriage itself sat Puddocky, who

kissed her hand to the Prince out of the window as she passed by.

Sunk deep in thought over the fickleness of fortune that had granted him

two of his wishes and now seemed about to deny him the last and best,

the Prince hardly noticed the absurd equipage, and still less did he

feel inclined to laugh at its comic appearance.

The carriage drove on in front of him for some time and then turned a

corner. But what was his joy and surprise when suddenly, round the same

corner, but coming towards him, there appeared a beautiful coach drawn

by six splendid horses, with outriders, coachmen, footmen and other

servants all in the most gorgeous liveries, and seated in the carriage

was the most beautiful woman the Prince had ever seen, and in whom he at

once recognised the beautiful Parsley, for whom his heart had formerly

burned. The carriage stopped when it reached him, and the footmen sprang

down and opened the door for him. He got in and sat down beside the

beautiful Parsley, and thanked her heartily for her help, and told her

how much he loved her.

And so he arrived at his father’s capital, at the same moment as his

brothers who had returned with many carriage-loads of beautiful women.

But when they were all led before the King, the whole Court with one

consent awarded the prize of beauty to the fair Parsley.

The old King was delighted, and embraced his thrice fortunate son and

his new daughter-in-law tenderly, and appointed them as his successors

to the throne. But he commanded the other women to be thrown into the

water and drowned, like the bales of linen and the little dogs. The

Prince married Puddocky and reigned long and happily with her, and if

they aren’t dead I suppose they are living still.