Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01

Once upon a time in a certain country there lived a
king whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden.
But, though the gardeners were many and the soil was
good, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, not
even grass or shady trees.

The King was in despair about it, when a wise old man
said to him:

"Your gardeners do not understand their business: but
what can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblers
and carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivate
your garden?"

"You are quite right," cried the King.

"Therefore," continued the old man, "you should send
for a gardener whose father and grandfather have been
gardeners before him, and very soon your garden will be
full of green grass and gay flowers, and you will enjoy its
delicious fruit."

So the King sent messengers to every town, village, and
hamlet in his dominions, to look for a gardener whose
forefathers had been gardeners also, and after forty days
one was found.

"Come with us and be gardener to the King," they said
to him.

"How can I go to the King," said the gardener, "a poor
wretch like me?"

"That is of no consequence," they answered. "Here are
new clothes for you and your family."

"But I owe money to several people."

"We will pay your debts," they said.

So the gardener allowed himself to be persuaded, and
went away with the messengers, taking his wife and his
son with him; and the King, delighted to have found a
real gardener, entrusted him with the care of his garden.
The man found no difficulty in making the royal garden
produce flowers and fruit, and at the end of a year the
park was not like the same place, and the King showered
gifts upon his new servant.

The gardener, as you have heard already, had a son,
who was a very handsome young man, with most agreeable
manners, and every day he carried the best fruit of
the garden to the King, and all the prettiest flowers to his
daughter. Now this princess was wonderfully pretty and
was just sixteen years old, and the King was beginning
to think it was time that she should be married.

"My dear child," said he, "you are of an age to take a
husband, therefore I am thinking of marrying you to the
son of my prime minister.

"Father," replied the Princess, "I will never marry the
son of the minister."

"Why not?" asked the King.

"Because I love the gardener's son," answered the
Princess.

On hearing this the King was at first very angry, and
then he wept and sighed, and declared that such a husband
was not worthy of his daughter; but the young
Princess was not to be turned from her resolution to
marry the gardener's son.

Then the King consulted his ministers. "This is what
you must do," they said. "To get rid of the gardener you
must send both suitors to a very distant country, and the
one who returns first shall marry your daughter."

The King followed this advice, and the minister's son
was presented with a splendid horse and a purse full of
gold pieces, while the gardener's son had only an old lame
horse and a purse full of copper money, and every one
thought he would never come back from his journey.

The day before they started the Princess met her lover
and said to him:

"Be brave, and remember always that I love you. Take
this purse full of jewels and make the best use you can of
them for love of me, and come back quickly and demand
my hand."

The two suitors left the town together, but the
minister's son went off at a gallop on his good horse, and very
soon was lost to sight behind the most distant hills. He
traveled on for some days, and presently reached a fountain
beside which an old woman all in rags sat upon a
stone.

"Good-day to you, young traveler," said she.

But the minister's son made no reply.

"Have pity upon me, traveler," she said again. "I am
dying of hunger, as you see, and three days have I been
here and no one has given me anything."

"Let me alone, old witch," cried the young man; "I can
do nothing for you," and so saying he went on his way.

That same evening the gardener's son rode up to the
fountain upon his lame gray horse.

"Good-day to you, young traveler," said the beggar-woman.

"Good-day, good woman," answered he.

"Young traveler, have pity upon me."

"Take my purse, good woman," said he, "and mount
behind me, for your legs can't be very strong."

The old woman didn't wait to be asked twice, but
mounted behind him, and in this style they reached the
chief city of a powerful kingdom. The minister's son was
lodged in a grand inn, the gardener's son and the old
woman dismounted at the inn for beggars.

The next day the gardener's son heard a great noise in
the street, and the King's heralds passed, blowing all
kinds of instruments, and crying:

"The King, our master, is old and infirm. He will give
a great reward to whoever will cure him and give him
back the strength of his youth."

Then the old beggar-woman said to her benefactor:

"This is what you must do to obtain the reward which
the King promises. Go out of the town by the south gate,
and there you will find three little dogs of different colors;
the first will be white, the second black, the third red. You
must kill them and then burn them separately, and gather
up the ashes. Put the ashes of each dog into a bag of its own
color, then go before the door of the palace and cry out,
'A celebrated physician has come from Janina in Albania.
He alone can cure the King and give him back the
strength of his youth.' The King's physicians will say,
This is an impostor, and not a learned man,' and they
will make all sorts of difficulties, but you will overcome
them all at last, and will present yourself before the sick
King. You must then demand as much wood as three
mules can carry, and a great cauldron, and must shut
yourself up in a room with the Sultan, and when the
cauldron boils you must throw him into it, and there leave
him until his flesh is completely separated from his bones.
Then arrange the bones in their proper places, and throw
over them the ashes out of the three bags. The King will
come back to life, and will be just as he was when he was
twenty years old. For your reward you must demand the
bronze ring which has the power to grant you everything
you desire. Go, my son, and do not forget any of my
instructions."

The young man followed the old beggar-woman's
directions. On going out of the town he found the white,
red, and black dogs, and killed and burnt them, gathering
the ashes in three bags. Then he ran to the palace and
cried:

"A celebrated physician has just come from Janina in
Albania. He alone can cure the King and give him back
the strength of his youth."

The King's physicians at first laughed at the unknown
wayfarer, but the Sultan ordered that the stranger should
be admitted. They brought the cauldron and the loads
of wood, and very soon the King was boiling away.
Toward mid-day the gardener's son arranged the bones in
their places, and he had hardly scattered the ashes over
them before the old King revived, to find himself once
more young and hearty.

"How can I reward you, my benefactor?" he cried.
"Will you take half my treasures?"

"No," said the gardener's son.

"My daughter's hand?"

"
No
."

"Take half my kingdom."

"No. Give me only the bronze ring which can instantly
grant me anything I wish for."

"Alas!" said the King, "I set great store by that
marvelous ring; nevertheless, you shall have it." And he gave
it to him.

The gardener's son went back to say good-by to the old
beggar-woman; then he said to the bronze ring:

"Prepare a splendid ship in which I may continue my
journey. Let the hull be of fine gold, the masts of silver,
the sails of brocade; let the crew consist of twelve young
men of noble appearance, dressed like kings. St. Nicholas
will be at the helm. As to the cargo, let it be diamonds,
rubies, emeralds, and carbuncles."

And immediately a ship appeared upon the sea which
resembled in every particular
the description given by the
gardener's son
, and, stepping on board, he continued his
journey. Presently he arrived at a great town and established
himself in a wonderful palace. After several days
he met his rival, the minister's son, who had spent all his
money and was reduced to the disagreeable employment
of a carrier of dust and rubbish. The gardener's son said
to him:

"What is your name, what is your family, and from
what country do you come?"

"I am the son of the prime minister of a great nation,
and yet see what a degrading occupation I am reduced
to."

"Listen to me; though I don't know anything more
about you, I am willing to help you. I will give you a ship
to take you back to your own country upon one condition."

"Whatever it may be, I accept it willingly."

"Follow me to my palace."

The minister's son followed the rich stranger, whom he
had not recognized. When they reached the palace the
gardener's son made a sign to his slaves, who completely
undressed the new-comer.

"Make this ring red-hot," commanded the master, "and
mark the man with it upon his back."

The slaves obeyed him.

"Now, young man," said the rich stranger, "I am going
to give you a vessel which will take you back to your own
country."

And, going out, he took the bronze ring and said:

"Bronze ring, obey thy master. Prepare me a ship of
which the half-rotten timbers shall be painted black, let
the sails be in rags, and the sailors infirm and sickly. One
shall have lost a leg, another an arm, the third shall be a
hunchback, another lame or club-footed or blind, and
most of them shall be ugly and covered with scars. Go,
and let my orders be executed."