said the fox; "but as I feel great compa.s.sion for thee, I will help thee out of thy new misfortune. The path to the castle lies straight before thee; thou wilt reach it about the evening. At night, when everything is quiet, the lovely Princess will go to the bath-house, to bathe there. As soon as she enters, thou must spring forward and give her a kiss; then she will follow thee wherever thou carest to lead her; only be careful that she does not take leave of her parents, or everything will go wrong."
Then the fox stretched out his tail, the Prince seated himself on it, and away they both went over hill and dale, their hair whistling in the wind.
When the King"s son came to the golden palace, everything happened as the fox had predicted. He waited until midnight, and when everyone was soundly asleep the beautiful Princess went into the bath-house, so he sprang forward and kissed her. The Princess then said she would joyfully follow him, but she besought him with tears in her eyes to allow her to say farewell to her parents. At first he withstood her entreaties, but as she wept still more, and fell at his feet, he at last yielded.
Scarcely was the maiden at the bedside of her father, when he awoke, and so did everyone else in the palace; so the foolish youth was captured and put into prison.
On the following morning the King said to him: "Thy life is forfeited, and thou canst only find mercy if thou clearest away the mountain that lies before my windows, and over which I cannot see, but it must be removed within eight days. If thou dost succeed thou shalt have my daughter as a reward."
So the Prince commenced at once to dig and to shovel away the earth without cessation, but when after seven days he saw how little he had been able to accomplish, and that all his labor was as nothing, he fell into a great grief and gave up all hope.
On the evening of the seventh day, however, the fox appeared. "Thou dost not deserve that I should take thy part or befriend thee, but do thou go away and lie down to sleep, and I will do the work for thee."
And the next morning, when he awoke and looked out of the window, the mountain had disappeared! Then the Prince, quite overjoyed, hastened to the King and told him that the conditions were fulfilled, so that the King, whether he would or not, was obliged to keep his word and give him his daughter.
Then these two went away together, and it was not long before the faithful fox came to them.
"Thou hast indeed gained the best of all," said he; "but to the maiden of the golden castle belongs also the golden horse."
"How can I get it?" enquired the youth.
"I will tell thee," answered the fox; "first of all, take the lovely Princess to the King who sent you to the golden palace. There will then be unheard-of joy; they will gladly lead the golden horse to thee and give it thee. Mount it instantly, and give your hand to everyone at parting, and last of all to the Princess. Grasp her hand firmly; make her spring into the saddle behind thee, and then gallop away; no one will be able to overtake thee, for the golden horse runs faster than the wind."
This was all happily accomplished, and the King"s son carried off the beautiful Princess on the golden horse. The fox did not remain behind, and spoke thus to the young Prince:
"Now I will help thee to find the golden bird. When thou comest near the castle where the bird is to be found, let the Princess dismount, and I will take her under my protection. Then ride on the golden horse to the courtyard of the palace, where thy coming will cause great joy, and they will fetch the golden bird for thee. Directly the cage is in thy hands, gallop back to us and fetch the maiden again."
When this plot was successfully carried out, and the Prince was about to ride home with his treasure, the fox said, "Now must thou reward me for all my services."
"What is it that thou dost desire?" enquired the Prince.
"When we come to yonder wood, thou must shoot me dead and cut off my head and paws."
"That would be a fine sort of grat.i.tude," said the King"s son; "that I cannot possibly promise thee."
"Then," replied the fox, "if thou wilt not, I must leave thee; but before I go I will give thee again some good advice. Beware of two things--buy no gallows"-flesh, and see that thou dost not sit on the brink of a well!"
With this the fox ran off into the forest!
"Ah!" thought the young Prince, "that is a wonderful animal with very whimsical ideas! Who would buy gallows"-flesh, and when have I ever had the slightest desire to sit on the brink of a well?"
So he rode on with the beautiful maiden, and his path led him once more through the village in which his two brothers had stopped. Here there was great tumult and lamentation, and when he asked what it all meant, he was told that two men were going to be hanged. When he came nearer, he saw that they were his two brothers, who had committed every kind of wicked folly and had squandered all their money. Then the young Prince asked if they could not be freed.
"Supposing you do pay for them," the people answered, "where is the good of wasting your money in order to free such villains?"
Nevertheless, he did not hesitate, but paid for them, and when the brothers were freed they all rode away together. They came to the forest where they first encountered the fox, and as it was cool and pleasant away from the burning sun, the two brothers said:
"Let us sit and rest a little by this well, and eat and drink something."
The young Prince consented, and while they were all talking together he quite forgot the fox"s warning, and suspected no evil.
But suddenly the two brothers threw him backwards into the well, and, seizing the maiden, the horse, and the golden bird, they went home to their father.
"We not only bring you the golden bird," said they, "but we have also found the golden palace."
There was great rejoicing, but the horse would not eat, neither would the bird sing, and the maiden only sat and wept.
But the youngest brother had not perished. By good fortune the well was dry, and he had fallen on soft moss without hurting himself, but he could not get out again.
Even in this misfortune the faithful fox did not desert him, but came springing down to him and scolded him for not following his advice.
"Still I cannot forsake thee," said he, "and I will help to show thee daylight once more."
Then he told him to seize hold of his tail and hold on tightly; and so saying, he lifted him up in the air.
"Even now thou art not out of danger," said the fox, "for thy brothers were not certain of thy death, and have set spies to watch for thee in the forest, who will certainly kill thee if they see thee."
There was an old man sitting by the wayside with whom the young Prince changed clothes, and, thus disguised, he reached the court of the King.
No one recognized him, but the golden bird began to sing, and the golden horse commenced to eat, and the lovely maiden ceased to weep.
The King was astonished and asked: "What does this all mean?"
Then said the maiden: "I know not, but I was so sad, and now I feel light-hearted; it is as if my true husband had returned."
Then she told him all that had happened, although the other brothers had threatened to kill her if she betrayed them.
The King then summoned all the people in the castle before him: and there came with them the young Prince dressed as a beggar in his rags, but the maiden recognized him instantly and fell upon his neck.
So the wicked brothers were seized and executed, but the young Prince married the lovely Princess and was made his father"s heir.
But what became of the poor fox?
Long afterwards the young Prince went again into the forest, and there he met once more with the fox, who said:
"Thou hast now everything in the world thou canst desire, but to my misfortunes there can be no end, although it is in thy power to release me from them."
So he entreated the Prince to shoot him dead and cut off his head and feet.
At last the Prince consented to do so, and scarcely was the deed done than the fox was changed into a man, who was no other than the brother of the beautiful Princess, at last released from the spell that had bound him.
So now nothing was wanting to the happiness of the Prince and his bride as long as they lived.
FRENCH STORIES