Louise Seymour Houghton

“ I know where there is a hollow tree full of honey in the forest; you could bring a great cask and fill it as full as you like.”
“Are you telling the honest truth?” asked the Man.
“The honest truth,” replied Mrs. Petz. “I can make you rich in honey, and all I have to say is to give you this warning: Never, if you love your own life, do you tell a living soul how a miserable little Hare made a fool of a strong She-bear.” ”

“ She led the horse into the stable, the brother into the castle. Then the Prince asked, “Sister, whom have you married?”
And she answered, “My consort is the Emperor of the Eagles; it is he whom I have married.”
When the Eagle-emperor came home that night his wife met him affectionately; but he paid no attention to her greeting, but asked her, “What man has come into my castle? Tell me at once!”
She answered, “There is no one here,” and they sat down to supper. During supper she asked him, as if by chance, “Would you do any harm to my brothers if they should suddenly arrive?” ”

“ He greeted the Vila with “Good-day!” whereupon she became visible to every one as a beautiful maiden.
Soon after the youth married her. I was present at the wedding, ate and drank with the old man and conversed much with him; and we moistened our throats so often with sweet wine from Zagorje that my grandfather and I can taste it yet.
“Can you really, mother’s-mother?” exclaimed the little boy.
The other grandmother laughed. “That is only the way it ends,” she said. “Some stories end that way.” ”

“ The hermit answered:
“My son, you are surely fortune’s own child! God himself has led you in the right way. It is hardly more than half a day’s journey from here to there. You have only to ride straight forward and you will come to a great gate. Then turn to the right and you will come straight to the city where their castle is.” ”

“ Then thought the Hermit:
“I am already full of days; I have lived always to the glory of God, and the end of my life draws near. It would be a sin if this beautiful creature of God, who knows nothing of the world, should be left to grow old and wither away in this solitary vale. It would be better that she should marry.”
Impelled by this thought, he called the maiden to him and said, “My little daughter, you are now grown up and old enough to be married. You ought also to see the world, for this place where we live is not the whole world. ”

“ Wherever the moujik digs or ploughs he does his best to root me out, tearing and clawing me with all his might. There is nothing left for me but to flee away and seek some quiet place where I can grow and spread in peace.”
“Go back to your home, little grass,” replied the old hag. “Mark my words, the more they dig and hoe about a plant the better it thrives and the more it spreads. ”

“ We fight with unequal forces!”
“Courage, courage, fellows,” cried Isegrim, trying to rally his troops; “just bear yourselves bravely; all is not lost; we’ll make short work of them yet!”
In the midst of all this confusion Whiteling and his troops reached the spot unperceived. Grimalkin, catching a glimpse of the Wild Boar’s ear sticking out of the moss, took it for a mouse, and springing upon it, bit into it with his sharp teeth. ”

“ But as soon as the Prince saw Steelpacha [342] he drew the three feathers and his tinder-box out of his pocket, struck a light, and kindled the feathers one by one. But while they were kindling Steelpacha overtook him, drew his sword, and cleft the Prince in half.
That very moment what a prodigy occurred! There came flying the Dragon-emperor with his dragons, the Falcon-emperor with his falcons, and the Eagle-emperor with all his eagles, and waged battle with Steelpacha. Blood flowed in streams, but fortune favored Steelpacha, and he made off safely, carrying his prize, the Princess, with him. ”

“ The whole castle glittered with its golden sheen.
At that very moment nine golden Peahens came flying by; eight of them settled upon the apple-tree, but the ninth flew down upon the young man’s bed and transformed herself into a beautiful maiden—a more [160] beautiful was not to be found in the whole empire. ”

“ The bird Kumrikusha immediately took the Fox under his wing, flew with him into the kingdom where the Emperor’s daughter languished, and set him down near the imperial castle. The Master no sooner felt solid ground under his feet than he transformed himself into a beautiful striped kitten, crept under the balcony where the Princess was sitting, and began to spring about in the most graceful and fantastic manner. ”

“ So the grandmother began.
[Contents]
THE WOLF AS A ROMAN
Once upon a time, Isegrim, the Wolf, sat in the forest and thought to himself, “Why should I be a wolf and go around devouring [5] the other beasts? It would be much better for me to go out into the world. What if I should go to Rome? Yes, that’s it, I will be a Roman!”
Off he set in the best of spirits, and on the way he met a Sow. The Sow bristled up in terror, but Isegrim cried out, “Don’t be frightened, Gruntelind! I am done with Gruntelinds forever. I am going to be a Roman.” ”

“ A little farther Isegrim met Master Petz, the Bear, told him the whole matter, and begged him to be on his side. Petz most cheerfully promised his help.
Later, he met Reinecke, the Fox, and told him the whole story. Reinecke assured him that he might certainly count upon his help—how could he ever hesitate to stand by his old crony against the common enemy?
Then said Isegrim, “Now we are quite enough; but I must spy out Whiteling and learn what forces he has. Then I will let you know that we are all ready for war.” ”

“ There is much to do in God’s blessed world.”
“It is only for a little while,” said the mother. “I shall send him to school soon.”
“Ah, school, school!” said the old moujik, shaking his head. “It only takes the children’s time when they ought to be at work; it costs money, and what good does it do? There were no schools in my time.”
The little boy was tired when dinner-time came, and his mother left him at home with the grandmother.
“I have been working hard, little grandma,” he said. “Don’t I deserve a story?”
“Let me see,” said the grandmother, and there was a twinkle in her eyes. ”

“ The Fox: “She is among us; she has changed herself into a fox and the foal into a fox-cub. Just strike upon the ground with the halter and say, ‘The old hag’s mare still lives!’”
So the Prince struck upon the earth with the halter, saying, “The old hag’s mare still lives!” and the mare again returned to her former shape and stood before him with her colt, as if she had just arisen from the earth. So he put the halter upon her, mounted, and rode back to the house, the foal running quietly at her side. ”

“ There is a fine pungency—not Oriental, though Oriental humor is very pungent—in certain of the endings, “I have heard a lie, I have told a lie, and God give you joy!” or after a peculiarly [xiii] impossible story, “Whoever believes it will be blessed!” The underlying pathos of the story of the Basil-plant suggests the exquisite sentiment of Hans Andersen’s “Steadfast Tin Soldier”; but its excessive simplicity, its dropped threads of thought, forbid the idea that it has been worked over by any more sophisticated mind than that of the Russian grandmother. ”

“ An Emperor once had an only daughter of surpassing beauty. In his pride he caused it to be sounded abroad through all the world that the youth who should guess the position of a certain mole on the maiden’s person should have her for his wife, and the half of his empire besides. ”

“ The old Hermit, who saw no help for it, fell upon his knees and begged God to restore his daughter to her former state. That very moment the maiden was changed into a Mouse and went with her husband.
As for the old Hermit, he still lived on piously till the end of his days, convinced that every one must die with the same nature with which he was born. [252]
“I should like to go to the sun, grandmother,” said the little boy.
“You would find it very hot,” said the grandmother.
“Did you ever go, little grandma?” asked the little boy.
“No one goes nowadays,” said the grandmother. ”

“ Now a Bear espied her, and he came under the tree and cried, “Come down, old woman, that I may eat you!”
“Go along with you!” answered the old woman. “Why should you eat a scrawny old woman like me? Here, gnaw upon my shoe till I come down, and I will take you [79] to my house; I have two little children there, named Janko and Mirko; they will make you a right savory dish. So have patience till you get them.”
So said the little old woman and threw down one of her shoes. Master Petz gnawed and gnawed upon it, but the more he gnawed the hungrier he grew. ”

“ They cannot go down, for under the tree sits an old wizard sorting out a capful of human hairs. But the Vila slipped softly down the tree and put the wizard to sleep. Then the youth clambered down and took the Vila home.
They reached his father’s house, where he told all his adventures; but the Vila was invisible to every one but her rescuer, so that no one believed his story. Then the Vila began to weep, and the brothers said, “Good! now we believe that she is here, but just where she is we do not know.” ”

“ I am your comrade. Why should I leave a friend in the lurch? Go to friend Ganner, the Gander, and ask him if he feels like having a part in the war.”
So said and so done. Whiteling found the Gander, explained the affair and begged for his help. “Of course, why should I not be ready to help? Aren’t you our guard every night to keep Reinecke from making off with us?”
“Now,” said Whiteling, “I think we are strong enough.”
Early next morning Isegrim met his allies upon the battle-field under the appointed tree. ”

“ I’ll give ducats bright to thee!
Filled with joy, the old woman hastened to spread out four plates under the tree. Then the Hen shook herself, and let fall on one plate the worn heller, but only little stones on all the others.
“Is that all?” exclaimed the old woman angrily.
“No, here is something more,” clucked the Hen, and she slung the needle into the old woman’s eye.
Upon this the old woman beat the Hen soundly, and went back to her husband’s house, begged his pardon and made it all up with him. Whenever he wanted an egg [108] she gave him one, and he always gave her a ducat in exchange. ”

“ Upon this the Bear betook himself to the forest and dragged home the trunk of a mighty tree. Then Reinecke climbed upon it and uttered the following discourse:
“All right! Well, then! See here, now, worthy companions and friends! We must marry our Beg.”
“Good!” replied the others; “but how shall we begin? For we don’t know where to find a maiden for him.”
“The Emperor has a daughter,” replied Reinecke; “let us marry our Beg to her. Kumrikusha, do you begin. Set off at once for the imperial castle, lie in wait for the young lady when she takes her walk, seize her and bring her here.” ”

“ The grandmother seemed sad when she reached home. She had known the old man when she was a girl. He had been a stern [264] and severe bolshak in his family, keeping all his married sons at home and making them work hard for him, not at all like her son, the starosta, who was so kind to his children. Nevertheless, it made her sad that he was dead. She sat quiet, distaff and spindle lying idly in her lap. ”

“ We shall surely make our way in the world. I will sell my golden hair, and will buy food for you; and when my hair is all sold I will gather herbs in the mountains and feed you.”
At last the old woman consented, and a few days later the maiden cut off a lock of her golden hair and sent the old woman with it to market, bidding her not to sell it for less than a hundred ducats. The old woman went straight to the very city where the Prince lived, for he had returned from camp and had ordered the whole city to go into mourning because of his lost love. ”

“ Said Master Petz, “More dead than alive from [30] my heavy fall, I barely managed to make my escape.”
“A piece of my ear is gone,” said the Boar. “He cut it off with his sword.”
“Let us be thankful, fellows,” concluded Reinecke, “that we are no worse off, for if they had been able to fire off one more cannon we should have been hopelessly lost!”
“I wish I knew that Dog,” said the little boy. “I think he is wiser than our Watch.”
“The beasts were wiser those days,” replied the grandmother. “That was my great-great-grandmother’s time.” ”

“ Thus all the six strove for possession of the maiden, until the Dragon-mother put in her word. “If this is so, then you are all in the right; but the maiden can surely not belong to you all. But you can all take her for your sister and love and protect her as long as you and she live.”
And so they did, and in remembrance thereof they and the maiden were set in the sky, and can be seen there to this day, and men call them “the Seven Stars.”1 At least, so goes the story.
“Dragons are different from Reinecke and Petz and Isegrim,” observed the little boy. ”