|
מרכז סיפורי עם ופולקלור |
C. F. F |
|
|
|
THE WONDERFUL RING[1]
NCE upon a time there
lived a King who had two sons, and when he died he left them all his treasures;
but the younger brother began to squander it all so lavishly that the elder
said, 'Let us divide what there is, and do you take your own share, and do what
you please with it.'
So
the younger took his portion, and spent every farthing of it in no time.
When
he had literally nothing left, he asked his wife to give him what she had. Then
she wept, saying, 'I have nothing left but one small piece of jewellery;
however, take that also if you want it.'
So
he took the jewel, sold it for four pounds, and taking the money with him, set
off to make his fortune in the world.
As
he went on his way he met a man with a cat. 'How much for your cat?' asked the
spendthrift Prince.
'Nothing
less than a golden pound,' replied the man.
'A
bargain indeed!' cried the spendthrift, and immediately bought the cat for a
golden sovereign.
By
and by he met a man with a dog, and called out as before, 'How much for your
dog?' And when the man said not less than a golden pound, the Prince again
declared it was a bargain indeed, and bought it cheerfully.
Then
he met a man carrying a parrot, and called out as before,' How much for the
parrot?' And when he heard it was only a golden sovereign he was delighted,
saying once more that was a bargain indeed.
He
had only one pound left. Yet even then, when he met a Jôgi carrying a
serpent, he cried out at once, 'O Jôgi, how much for the snake?'
'Not
a farthing less than a golden sovereign,' quoth the Jôgi.
'And
very little, too!' cried the spendthrift, handing over his last coin.
So
there he was, possessed of a cat, a dog, a parrot, and a snake, but not a
single penny in his pocket. However, he set to work bravely to earn his living;
but the hard labour wearied him dreadfully, for being a Prince he was not used
to it. Now when his serpent saw this, it pitied its kind master, and said,
'Prince, if you are not afraid to come to my father's house, he will perhaps
give you something for saving me from the Jôgi.' The spendthrift Prince
was not a bit afraid of anything, so he and the serpent set off together, but
when they arrived at the house, the snake bade the Prince wait outside, while
it went in alone and prepared the snake-father for a visitor. When the
snake-father heard what the serpent had to say, he was much pleased, declaring
he would reward the Prince by giving him anything he desired. So the serpent
went out to fetch the Prince into the snake-father's presence, and when doing
so, it whispered in his ear, 'My father will give you anything you desire.
Remember only to ask for his little ring as a keepsake.'
This
rather astonished the Prince, who naturally thought a ring would be of little
use to a man who was half starving; however, he did as he was bid, and when the
snake-father asked him what he desired, he replied, 'Thank you; I have everything,
and want for nothing.'
Then
the snake-father asked him once more what he would take as a reward, but again
he answered that he wanted nothing, having all that heart could desire.
Nevertheless,
when the snake-father asked him the third time, he replied, 'Since you wish me
to take something, let it be the ring you wear on your finger, as a keepsake.'
Then
the snake-father frowned, and looked displeased, saying, 'Were it not for my
promise, I would have turned you into ashes on the spot, for daring to ask for
my greatest treasure. But as I have said, it must be. Take the ring, and go!'
So
the Prince, taking the ring, set off homewards with his servant the serpent, to
whom he said regretfully, 'This old ring is a mistake; I have only made the
snake-father angry by asking for it, and much good it will do me! It would have
been wiser to say a sack of gold.'
'Not
so, my Prince!' replied the serpent; 'that ring is a wonderful ring! You have
only to make a clean square place on the ground, plaster it over according to
the custom of holy places,[2] put the ring in the
centre, sprinkle it with buttermilk, and then whatever you wish for will be
granted immediately.'
Vastly
delighted at possessing so great a treasure as this magic ring, the Prince went
on his way rejoicing, but by and by, as he trudged along the road, he began to
feel hungry, and thought he would put his ring to the test. So, making a holy
place, he put the ring in the centre, sprinkled it with buttermilk, and cried,
'O ring, I want some sweetmeats for dinner!'
No
sooner had he uttered the words, than a dishful of most delicious sweets
appeared on the holy place. These he ate, and then set off to a city he saw in
the distance.
As
he entered the gate a proclamation was being made that any one who would build
a palace of gold, with golden stairs, in the middle of the sea, in the course
of one night, should have half the kingdom, and the King's daughter in
marriage; but if he failed, instant death should be his portion.
Hearing
this, the spendthrift Prince went at once to the Court and declared his
readiness to fulfil the conditions.
The
King was much surprised at his temerity, and bade him consider well what he was
doing, telling him that many princes had tried to perform the task before, and
showing him a necklace of their heads, in hopes that the dreadful sight might
deter him from his purpose.
But
the Prince merely replied that he was not afraid, and that he was certain he
should succeed.
Whereupon
the King ordered him to build the palace that very night, and setting a guard
over him, bade the sentries be careful the young boaster did not run away. Now
when evening came, the Prince lay down calmly to sleep, whereat the guard
whispered amongst themselves that he must be a madman to fling away his life so
uselessly. Nevertheless, with the first streak of dawn the Prince arose, and
making a holy place, laid the ring in the centre, sprinkled it with buttermilk,
and cried, 'O ring, I want a palace of gold, with golden stairs, in the midst
of the sea!'
And
lo! there in the sea it stood, all glittering in the sunshine. Seeing this, the
guard ran to tell the King, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he and all
his Court came to the spot and beheld the golden palace.
Nevertheless,
as the Prince had fulfilled his promise, the King performed his, and gave his
daughter in marriage, and half his kingdom, to the spendthrift.
'I
don't want your kingdom, or your daughter either!' said the Prince. 'I will
take the palace I have built in the sea as my reward.'
So
he went to dwell there, but when they sent the Princess to him, he relented,
seeing her beauty; and so they were married and lived very happily together.
Now,
when the Prince went out a-hunting he took his dog with him, but he left the
cat and the parrot in the palace, to amuse the Princess; nevertheless, one day,
when he returned, he found her very sad and sorrowful, and when he begged her
to tell him what was the matter, she said, 'O dear Prince, I wish to be turned
into gold by the power of the magic ring by which you built this glittering
golden palace.'
So,
to please her, he made a holy place, put the ring in the centre, sprinkled it
with buttermilk, and cried, 'O ring, turn my wife into gold!'
No
sooner had he said the words than his wish was accomplished, and his wife
became a golden Princess.
Now,
when the golden Princess was washing her beautiful golden hair one day, two
long glittering hairs came out in the comb. She looked at them, regretting that
there were no poor people near to whom she might have given the golden strands;
then, determining they should not be lost, she made a cup of green leaves, and
curling the hairs inside it, set it afloat upon the sea.
As
luck would have it, after drifting hither and thither, it reached a distant
shore where a washerman was at work. The poor man, seeing the wonderful gold
hairs, took them to the King, hoping for a reward; and the King in his turn
showed them to his son, who was so much struck by the sight that he lay down on
a dirty old bed, to mark his extreme grief and despair, and, refusing to eat or
drink anything, swore he must marry the owner of the beautiful golden hair, or
die.
The
King, greatly distressed at his son's state, cast about how he should find the
golden-haired Princess, and after calling his ministers and nobles to help him,
came to the conclusion that it would be best to employ a wise woman. So he
called the wisest woman in the land to him, and she promised to find the
Princess, on condition of the King, in his turn, promising to give her anything
she desired as a reward.
Then
the wise woman caused a golden barge to be made, and in the barge a silken
cradle swinging from silken ropes. When all was ready, she set off in the
direction whence the leafy cup had come, taking with her four boatmen, whom she
trained carefully always to stop rowing when she put up her finger, and go on
as long as she kept it down.
After
a long while they came in sight of the golden palace, which the wise woman
guessed at once must belong to the golden Princess; so, putting up her finger,
the boatmen ceased rowing, and the wise woman, stepping out of the boat, went
swiftly into the palace. There she saw the golden Princess, sitting on a golden
throne; and going up to her, she laid her hands upon the Princess's head, as is
the custom when relatives visit each other; afterwards she kissed her and
petted her, saying, 'Dearest niece! do you not know me? I am your aunt.'[3]
But
the Princess at first drew back, and said she had never seen or heard of such
an aunt. Then the wise woman explained how she had left home years before, and
made up such a cunning, plausible story that the Princess, who was only too
glad to get a companion, really believed what she said, and invited her to stop
a few days in the palace.
Now,
as they sat talking together, the wise woman asked the Princess if she did not
find it dull alone in the palace in the midst of the sea, and inquired how they
managed to live there without servants, and how the Prince her husband came and
went. Then the Princess told her about the wonderful ring the Prince wore day
and night, and how by its help they had everything heart could desire.
On
this, the pretended aunt looked very grave, and suggested the terrible plight
in which the Princess would be left should the Prince come to harm while away
from her. She spoke so earnestly that the Princess became quite alarmed, and
the same evening, when her husband returned, she said to him, 'Husband, I wish
you would give me the ring to keep while you are away a-hunting, for if you
were to come to harm, what would become of me alone in this sea-girt palace?'
So,
next morning, when the Prince went a-hunting, he left the magical ring in his
wife's keeping.
As
soon as the wicked wise woman knew that the ring was really in the possession
of the Princess, she persuaded her to go down the golden stairs to the sea, and
look at the golden boat with the silken cradle; so, by coaxing words and
cunning arts the golden Princess was inveigled into the boat, in order to have
a tiny sail on the sea; but no sooner was her prize safe in the silken cradle,
than the pretended aunt turned down her finger, and the boatmen immediately
began to row swiftly away.
Soon
the Princess begged to be taken back, but the wise woman only laughed, and
answered all the poor girl's tears and prayers with slaps and harsh words. At
last they arrived at the royal city, where great rejoicings arose when the news
was noised abroad that the wise woman had returned with the golden bride for
the love-sick Prince. Nevertheless, despite all entreaties, the Princess
refused even to look at the Prince for six months; if in that time, she said,
her husband did not claim her, she might think of marriage, but until then she
would not hear of it.
To
this the Prince agreed, seeing that six months was not a very long time to
wait; besides, he knew that even should her husband or any other guardian turn
up, nothing was easier than to kill them, and so get rid both of them and their
claims.
Meanwhile,
the spendthrift Prince having returned from hunting, called out as usual to his
wife on reaching the golden stairs, but received no answer; then, entering the
palace, he found no one there save the parrot, which flew towards him and said,
'O master, the Princess's aunt came here, and has carried her off in a golden
boat.'
Hearing
this, the poor Prince fell to the ground in a fit, and would not be consoled.
At last, however, he recovered a little, when the parrot, to comfort him, bade
him wait there while it flew away over the sea to gather news of the lost
bride.
So
the faithful parrot flew from land to land, from city to city, from house to
house, until it saw the glitter of the Princess's golden hair. Then it
fluttered down beside her and bidding her be of good courage, for it had come
to help her, asked for the magic ring. Whereupon the golden Princess wept more
than ever, for she knew the wise woman kept the ring in her mouth day and
night, and that none could take it from her.
However,
when the parrot consulted the cat, which had accompanied the faithful bird, the
crafty creature declared nothing could be easier.
'All
the Princess has to do,' said the cat, 'is to ask the wise woman to give her
rice for supper tonight, and instead of eating it all, she must scatter some in
front of the rat-hole in her room. The rest is my business, and yours.'
So
that night the Princess had rice for supper, and instead of eating it all, she scattered
some before the rat-hole. Then she went to bed, and slept soundly, and the wise
woman snored beside her. By and by, when all was quiet, the rats came out to
eat up the rice, when the cat, with one bound, pounced on the one which had the
longest tail, and carrying it to where the wise woman lay snoring with her
mouth open, thrust the tail up her nose. She woke with a most terrific sneeze,
and the ring flew out of her mouth on to the floor. Before she could turn, the
parrot seized it in his beak, and, without pausing a moment, flew back with it
to his master the spendthrift Prince, who had nothing to do but make a holy
place, lay the ring in the centre, sprinkle it with buttermilk, and say, 'O
ring, I want my wife!' and there she was, as beautiful as ever, and overjoyed
at seeing the golden palace and her dear husband once more.