The Faithful dog and the Neighbour - Part Two

The neighbour went to the old couple and pretended to weep before them. “I took very good care of your dog, unfortunately your dog just fell dead. As soon as I came to know about this, I came to tell you this.”

The old couple wept bitterly on knowing this. 

They brought the body of the dog and buried it under the very tree that they had found the treasure. 

Every morning the old man and his wife mourned over their loss and nothing that anyone said comforted them.

One night when the old man was asleep he had a dream of his dog. The dog told him to cut down the tree which was over his grave and the dog asked the old man to make a mortar out of the wood. 

But the old man was not willing to cut down the tree. 

Not knowing what to do he consulted his wife. 

The old man’s wife however thought differently. She was sure that their beloved dog was trying to communicate to them from beyond the grave and the dog was trying to help them from there. 

So after much deliberation the old man and his wife cut down the tree and made a mortar from it. 

The season for the rice crop to be gathered came when the old couple brought the mortar down and used it to pound the grains. 

They were shocked when all the grains turned into gold pieces.

At the sight of all the gold the hearts of the old couple became very happy and they felt more love for their faithful dog.

Naturally when the neighbour came to know about this he came to the old couple and asked their mortar from them. 

The old couple did not want to part with the mortar but as usual the neighbor nagged them to no end. 

Finally the old couple gave them the mortar. 

This time The neighbour brought the mortar to his home and ground some rice grains with it. 

The rice grains turned into horrible smelling berries. 

The smell from the berries was so horrible that the neighbour almost ran away from there. 

The neighbour was angry that this plan too had been foiled and he smashed the mortar and burnt it. 

Adapted from Japanese Folk Tales

The Faithful Dog and the Neighbour - Part One

There was an old couple who lived in a village. The couple did not have any children of their own. They, however, had a dog and the couple loved the dog very much. 

The dog was also very grateful for the kindness bestowed on him and he never left the couple alone.  

Once when the old man was working in his garden the dog was as usual nearby. 

At that time the sun was very hot and the old man put down his spade and rested for a few seconds when the dog scratched a spot a little way off.

Then the dog incessantly started barking until he had the attention of the old man and the old woman who was inside the house. 

The old man was suddenly curious and wondered whether the dog had found something important. He started digging at the place where the dog had been scratching. Very soon, the old man's spade stuck something. He pulled out a large box and he found it full of shining gold pieces. The box was so heavy that the old woman had to help the old man to carry it home. They became rich and they gave the dog all the best that they could manage full strength.  

The story of the dog and the treasure soon became well-known in the village and the neighbour of the old couple was envious.

He also wanted the dog to be helpful to him. 

So the neighbour went to the old couple and asked the couple to lend him their pet for a little while. 

The old couple resisted at first. They loved the dog like their own son and did not want to part with it. 

However, the neighbour never let go and kept coming to the old couple with the same request every day. 

Finally unable to tolerate the nagging of the neighbour, the old man lent his dog to the neighbor for two nights.

Then the man got hold of the dog. He turned the dog into the garden. However, the dog did nothing but race around the garden. With great difficulty the man waited patiently. 

The next morning the man opened the house door and the dog went into the garden and ran up to the foot of the tree and the dog began to scratch the tree wildly.

When the neighbor dug up the ground, he, however, found a parcel of old bones, which smelt so badly that the neighbor could not even stay there anymore. 

The neighbour was angry and he picked up his pickaxe and killed the dog then and there.

Adapted from Japanese Folk Tales

The Seven-Headed Serpent - Part Three

After some time the queen had a little boy and the mad also had a male foal. The boy and the foal grew up together and loved each other like brothers. 

The horse could talk so that the human could understand him.

In course of time the king died and so did the queen. 

The son who was nineteen years old was all alone.

At that time, the horse talked to the prince. “If we keep sending these twelve young men and twelve maidens to the seven-headed serpent, our Kingdom will be ruined. So we will have to find the woman who will tell us how to kill the monster.” 

The Prince mounted his horse and they went to a far away mountain.  At its side was a great underground cave. 

There was an old woman who was spinning there all around the walls of the cave, there were beds cut out of the solid rock, upon which the nuns slept. 

In the middle, there was a light which was burning. It was the duty of the nuns to watch the lights and make sure that it never went out.  

As soon as the Prince saw the old woman he threw himself at her feet. “How can I kill the seven headed serpent?” He asked her immediately.

The nun embraced the young man. “It was I who sent the nun to your mother. And I was the reason for your birth and the birth of your horse. Take your horse and load it with cotton and go through the secret passage which I will show you. This passage is hidden from the wild beasts and leads directly inside the serpent’s palace. There you will find the king asleep in his bed. The king's bed is surrounded by bells. There is a sword hanging over the bed. You can kill the serpent only with the sword.  Even if the blade breaks a new one will grow again for every head that the seven-headed serpent has remaining. Thus you will be able to cut off all his seven heads. You must slip into the bed chamber of the monster and stop all the bells which are around the bed with cotton. Then take down the sword gently and quickly give the monster a blow on its tail.  This will wake him up. However, be careful because if he sees you he will catch you. You must quickly cut off his first head and then wait till the next one comes off. Strike off all the heads and go on till you have cut off all the seven heads.” 

The woman gave the Prince her blessing and he set out on what he had been told. 

The prince was able to follow the instructions and soon he beheaded the serpent. 

As soon as the wild beasts heard of the death of the seven-headed serpent, they came to the castle. 

However, the Prince had long since mounted his horse and was already out of their reach. 

Though the beasts pursued the prince, they found it impossible to overtake him and the prince reached his home safely. 

Thus the prince freed his country from the seven-headed serpent.

Adapted from Greek Folk Tales

The Seven-Headed Serpent - Part Two

 

After the seven-headed serpent had given the punishment he asked one of his beasts to show the king and his men back to their ship. 

The Beast guided the men out of the garden and left them at their ship.

The men left their island and went back to their own country. 

There they told the people what had happened to them. 

Soon the time came for the king to keep his promise to the seven headed serpent. 

The king issued a proclamation calling twelve young men and twelve maidens to offer themselves to save the Kingdom. 

Many young people came forward for this. 

A ship was built and set with black sails, and all the people were then set to sail to the island. 

This time when the young people came to the island, the lions under the trees did not stir, nor did the springs flow with the silver gold and pearls. This time the Lake also did not speak. 

The young people waited there near the Lake. 

The earth quaked even more terribly than it did the first time. 

The seven headed serpent came without the other beats, and it saw the prey who were waiting for him and it ate all of them. 

The ship's crew returned home, telling the king and the others what had happened at the island.

This went on for many years. 

The king of this unhappy country was getting old and he was even more sad because he and his Queen did not have any children. 

The Queen was sitting at the window and weeping sadly and she was certain that the crown would pass on to strangers after the death of her husband. 

At that time an old woman appeared before the queen and she changed the fate of the kingdom.

Seeing the crying Queen, the old woman came to the queen. “Why are you so unhappy?” 

The Queen told the old woman the real reason. “I have no children of my own.” 

The old woman shrugged and brought out an apple from her cloak. “Is that all?  I come from the Spinning Convent and I am a nun there. My mother left me this apple. Whoever eats this apple shall have a child.”

The Queen paid the old woman and bought the apple from her. She peeled the apple ate the apple and threw the skin out of the window.

As the Queen ate the apple a mare which was below the window of the queen ate the skin of the apple.

Adapted from Greek Folk Tales

The Seven-Headed Serpent - Part One

Once a king set out on a long voyage, with a fleet of his seamen. 

They went straight on night and day and arrived at an island which was covered by large trees. 

The king and his men were shocked to find a lion under every tree. 

As soon as the king and his people landed on the island the lions all rose up together and tried to attack the men. 

After a long battle the king and his men managed to overcome the wild animals. 

But the king had lost far too many of his men in this battle. 

Those who remained alive now went through the forest on the other side of the forest. There was a beautiful garden on the other side, in which all the plants of the world grew at the same time. 

In this garden there were three springs. The first spring flowed with silver, the second with gold and the third with pearls. 

The men took out their knapsacks and filled them with these precious items. 

In the middle of the garden there was a large lake. 

When the men reached the edge of the Lake a voice was heard by all of them. “Who are you and what brings you here? Are you here to visit our king? “ 

However, the king and his men were too terrified to answer. 

Then the voice came again. “I am the lake of this island and you do well to be afraid, for you have a lot to fear. Our king has seven heads and is now asleep. But he will wake up in a few minutes and he will come here to take his bath. Once he sees any of you it is impossible to escape him.” The king and his men looked at each other wondering how they could escape this predicament when the Lake continued, “take off your clothes and spread them on the path which leads from here to the castle. The king will then glide over the soft clothes. The king likes this and he will be so pleased that he will not eat you but instead he will give you some punishment.”

The men did exactly as they were told and they waited for some time. 

At noon they heard the very Earth shake and tremble and open at many places. Out of the openings appeared lions, tigers and many beasts, which surrounded the castle and many beasts followed the king. 

The king was a seven headed serpent. The serpent glided over the clothes that was laid out for him and wondered who had put such soft things on his path. 

The serpent asked the Lake the same question the lake answered that this was done by people who wanted to honor him. 

The king and the men were brought before the seven headed serpent. 

On hearing how they came to the island the serpent was angry. “You have dared come here so I will punish you. I will not eat you but in return every year you must bring me among your people, twelve men and twelve maidens so that I can eat them. If you do not do this I will destroy your entire kingdom.”

Adapted from Greek Folk Tales

The Enchanted Wreath - Park Six

Instead of entering the castle, the Prince went to the shore and he hid behind a rock. 

That was when he saw a girl come out of the sea. The girl stretched her arms towards his window. 

The prince caught her hand.

The girl was frightened and tried to reach for the water.

However the Prince held on fast. “You are my wife and I will never let you go.” 

The words were hardly out of his mouth when he saw that the girl changed into a hare. The hare changed into a fish and the fish changed into a bird. The bird finally changed into a snake. 

The Prince almost dropped the snake but held on by instinct. He drew his sword out with his other hand and cut off the head of the snake. 

With that the spell was broken. 

That was when the Prince saw his wife standing before him with the wreath upon her head and the birds singing for joy.

The next morning the stepmother was very happy as she raced back to the palace. The old witch had given her an ointment which had to be put on the daughter's tongue, which would break the dove’s spell. However, the only condition to this was only if the real princess was dead, the ointment would work. 

The stepmother was convinced that she had killed her stepdaughter and had no doubts that the ointment would work. 

So the stepmother traveled all night to get to the palace as soon as possible. 

She went straight to her daughter's room.

Though she triumphantly applied the ointment on her daughter's tongue nothing happened.

The daughter still repeated the same words again and again. 

That was when the Prince entered the room with his real wife.  “You both deserve to die.” The Prince told the stepmother and the other girl. “If it was left to me I would kill the two of you. But the princess has begged me to spare your life. So you will be put on a ship and carried off to a desert island. You will stay there till you die.” 

After this was carried out nothing more was heard of the stepmother and her daughter. 

The prince and his wife lived long and happily and ruled their people well.

Adapted from Scandinavian Folk Tales

The Enchanted Wreath- Part Five

 

When the Prince came back from his hunt he was sad to find his wife in great pain. He wanted to do something about it. 

“I cannot leave you like this.” The Prince continued unhappily. “I will summon all the court physicians to apply some soothing medication for your toothache.” Even as he said this the Prince sprang to his feet to go in search of the physicians. 

The false princess was terrified on hearing this because she was worried that the physicians would come near her and realize the trick that she had played on the princess.

She forgot her mother's advice about not speaking and nodded eagerly at the Prince willing to say something. But the words of the dove came true and all that she could say repeatedly was ‘Dirty Creatures.’ 

The Prince was unable to believe what he had heard. 

He came to the slow realization that probably his wife was in great pain and that was why she was talking like this. He decided to leave her alone so that she could get some rest. 

The Prince went to his own room but he could not sleep. 

That night was very hot and airless and the Prince idly sat on the bed and looked through the window. 

That was when he saw a woman with a wreath of roses on her head rise out of the sea. The Prince gasped because the woman looked like his wife. 

The Prince ran and went down to the waters, but when he went there, the woman had completely disappeared. 

The prince wondered whether his eyes had deceived him.

The next morning the Prince was about to go into the false princess’s room and that was when the maids of the palace told him that the princess would not speak or get up, but she ate everything that was kept before her. 

The Prince wondered how the princess was able to do that with her toothache.  

The Prince then decided that he had to solve the troubles aching the princess and he summoned all the court physicians and asked them to look into his wife. 

Unfortunately, when the physicians entered the chamber of the princess, the false princess was so enraged that she forgot about the curse of the doves and threatened ‘dirty creatures’ repeatedly at the physicians. 

The physicians were so offended by what they had heard that they left the room at once. 

The Prince tried to stop the physicians but they walked away from there.

The Prince was at a loss because he did not understand how the quiet gentle girl who had been so charming for the first few days of that marriage had become so rude and sulky and she could not even control her temper. 

However, the Prince realized one more thing. If the princess did not change her conduct very soon, he would have to send her away from the court.

Thinking all this in the evening his eyes went to the sea and he saw the same figure rise out of the waters. 

“Wait for me, wait for me!” He shouted and he ran towards the shore. 

But once the prince reached the shore there was nothing to be seen except the shadows cast by the moonlight.

The next day there was an important state ceremony taking place in a city further off from the castle. 

The Prince had to ride away at daybreak and he left without seeing his wife. He hoped that she would come to her senses by tomorrow or that he would have to send her back to her father's house until she learnt better manners.

It was nearly midnight when the Prince finished his duties at the neighbouring city and returned to the castle.

Adapted from Scandinavian Folk Tales