Chinese Fairy Tales. Richard Wilhelm

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СКАЧАТЬ man had drawn up the king’s daughter, he took her along with him, and left the youth in the cave, in spite of all his calling and pleading.

      The youth now took a walk about the cave. There he saw a number of maidens, all of whom had been carried off by the bird with nine heads, and who had perished there of hunger. And on the wall hung a fish, nailed against it with four nails. When he touched the fish, the latter turned into a handsome youth, who thanked him for delivering him, and they agreed to regard each other as brothers. Soon the first youth grew very hungry. He stepped out in front of the cave to search for food, but only stones were lying there. Then, suddenly, he saw a great dragon, who was licking a stone. The youth imitated him, and before long his hunger had disappeared. He next asked the dragon how he could get away from the cave, and the dragon nodded his head in the direction of his tail, as much as to say he should seat himself upon it. So he climbed up, and in the twinkling of an eye he was down on the ground, and the dragon had disappeared. He then went on until he found a tortoise-shell full of beautiful pearls. But they were magic pearls, for if you flung them into the fire, the fire ceased to burn and if you flung them into the water, the water divided and you could walk through the midst of it. The youth took the pearls out of the tortoise-shell, and put them in his pocket. Not long after he reached the sea-shore. Here he flung a pearl into the sea, and at once the waters divided and he could see the sea-dragon. The sea-dragon cried: “Who is disturbing me here in my own kingdom?” The youth answered: “I found pearls in a tortoise-shell, and have flung one into the sea, and now the waters have divided for me.”

      “If that is the case,” said the dragon, “then come into the sea with me and we will live there together.” Then the youth recognized him for the same dragon whom he had seen in the cave. And with him was the youth with whom he had formed a bond of brotherhood: He was the dragon’s son.

      “Since you have saved my son and become his brother, I am your father,” said the old dragon. And he entertained him hospitably with food and wine.

      One day his friend said to him: “My father is sure to want to reward you. But accept no money, nor any jewels from him, but only the little gourd flask over yonder. With it you can conjure up whatever you wish.”

      And, sure enough, the old dragon asked him what he wanted by way of a reward, and the youth answered: “I want no money, nor any jewels. All I want is the little gourd flask over yonder.”

      At first the dragon did not wish to give it up, but at last he did let him have it, after all. And then the youth left the dragon’s castle.

      When he set his foot on dry land again he felt hungry. At once a table stood before him, covered with a fine and plenteous meal. He ate and drank. After he had gone on a while, he felt weary. And there stood an ass, waiting for him, on which he mounted. After he had ridden for a while, the ass’s gait seemed too uneven, and along came a wagon, into which he climbed. But the wagon shook him up too, greatly, and he thought: “If I only had a litter! That would suit me better.” No more had he thought so, than the litter came along, and he seated himself in it. And the bearers carried him to the city in which dwelt the king, the queen and their daughter.

      When the other youth had brought back the king’s daughter, it was decided to hold the wedding. But the king’s daughter was not willing, and said: “He is not the right man. My deliverer will come and bring with him half of the long pin for my hair, and half my silken kerchief as a token.” But when the youth did not appear for so long a time, and the other one pressed the king, the king grew impatient and said: “The wedding shall take place to-morrow!” Then the king’s daughter went sadly through the streets of the city, and searched and searched in the hope of finding her deliverer. And this was on the very day that the litter arrived. The king’s daughter saw the half of her silken handkerchief in the youth’s hand, and filled with joy, she led him to her father. There he had to show his half of the long pin, which fitted the other exactly, and then the king was convinced that he was the right, true deliverer. The false bridegroom was now punished, the wedding celebrated, and they lived in peace and happiness till the end of their days.

      “The Bird With Nine Heads” is a traditionally narrated fairy-tale. The long hair needle is an example of the halved jewel used as a sign of recognition by lovers (see No. 68, “Yang Gui Fe”). The “Fish” in the cave is the dragon’s son, for like East Indian Nagaradjas, the Chinese dragons are often sea-gods. Gourd flasks often occur as magic talismans in Chinese fairy-tales, and spirits who serve their owners are often imprisoned in them..

      VIII

      THE CAVE OF THE BEASTS

      ONCE upon a time there was a family in which there were seven daughters. One day when the father went out to gather wood, he found seven wild duck eggs. He brought them home, but did not think of giving any to his children, intending to eat them himself, with his wife. In the evening the oldest daughter woke up, and asked her mother what she was cooking. The mother said: “I am cooking wild duck eggs. I will give you one, but you must not let your sisters know.” And so she gave her one. Then the second daughter woke up, and asked her mother what she was cooking. She said: “Wild duck eggs. If you will not tell your sisters, I’ll give you one.” And so it went. At last the daughters had eaten all the eggs, and there were none left.

      In the morning the father was very angry with the children, and said: “Who wants to go along to grandmother?” But he intended to lead the children into the mountains, and let the wolves devour them there. The older daughters suspected this, and said: “We are not going along!” But the two younger ones said: “We will go with you.” And so they drove off with their father. After they had driven a good ways, they asked: “Will we soon get to grandmother’s house?” “Right away,” said their father. And when they had reached the mountains he told them: “Wait here. I will drive into the village ahead of you, and tell grandmother that you are coming.” And then he drove off with the donkey-cart. They waited and waited, but their father did not come. At last they decided that their father would not come back to fetch them, and that he had left them alone in the mountains. So they went further and further into the hills seeking a shelter for the night. Then they spied a great stone. This they selected for a pillow, and rolled it over to the place where they were going to lie down to sleep. And then they saw that the stone was the door to a cave. There was a light in the cave, and they went into it. The light they had seen came from the many precious stones and jewels of every sort in the cave, which belonged to a wolf and a fox. They had a number of jars of precious stones and pearls that shone by night. The girls said: “What a lovely cave this is! We will lie right down and go to bed.” For there stood two golden beds with gold-embroidered covers. So they lay down and fell asleep. During the night the wolf and fox came home. And the wolf said: “I smell human flesh!” But the fox replied: “Oh, nonsense! There are no human beings who can enter our cave. We lock it up too well for that.” The wolf said: “Very well, then let us lie down in our beds and sleep.” But the fox answered: “Let us curl up in the kettles on the hearth. They still hold a little warmth from the fire.” The one kettle was of gold and the other of silver, and they curled up in them.

      When the girls rose early in the morning, they saw the wolf and the fox lying there, and were much frightened. And they put the covers on the kettles and heaped a number of big stones on them, so that the wolf and the fox could not get out again. Then they made a fire. The wolf and the fox said: “Oh, how nice and warm it is this morning! How does that happen?” But at length it grew too hot for them. Then they noticed that the two girls had kindled a fire and they cried: “Let us out! We will give you lots of precious stones, and lots of gold, and will do you no harm!” But the girls would not listen to them, and kept on making a bigger fire. So that was the end of the wolf and the fox in the kettles.

      Then the girls lived happily for a number of days in the cave. But their father was seized with a longing for his daughters, and he went into the mountains to look for them. And he sat right СКАЧАТЬ