Children Stories - The Goat's Ears Of The Emperor Trojan

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The Goat's Ears Of The Emperor Trojan

from The Violet Fairy Book

Once upon a time there lived an emperor whose name was Trojan,
and he had ears like a goat. Every morning, when he was shaved,
he asked if the man saw anything odd about him, and as each fresh
barber always replied that the emperor had goat's ears, he was at
once ordered to be put to death.

Now after this state of things had lasted a good while, there was
hardly a barber left in the town that could shave the emperor,
and it came to be the turn of the Master of the Company of
Barbers to go up to the palace. But, unluckily, at the very
moment that he should have set out, the master fell suddenly ill,
and told one of his apprentices that he must go in his stead.

When the youth was taken to the emperor's bedroom, he was asked
why he had come and not his master. The young man replied that
the master was ill, and there was no one but himself who could be
trusted with the honour. The emperor was satisfied with the
answer, and sat down, and let a sheet of fine linen be put round
him. Directly the young barber began his work, he, like the
rest, remarked the goat's ears of the emperor, but when he had
finished and the emperor asked his usual question as to whether
the youth had noticed anything odd about him, the young man
replied calmly, 'No, nothing at all.' This pleased the emperor
so much that he gave him twelve ducats, and said, 'Henceforth you
shall come every day to shave me.'

So when the apprentice returned home, and the master inquired how
he had got on with the emperor, the young man answered, 'Oh, very
well, and he says I am to shave him every day, and he has given
me these twelve ducats'; but he said nothing about the goat's
ears of the emperor.

From this time the apprentice went regularly up to the palace,
receiving each morning twelve ducats in payment. But after a
while, his secret, which he had carefully kept, burnt within him,
and he longed to tell it to somebody. His master saw there was
something on his mind, and asked what it was. The youth replied
that he had been tormenting himself for some months, and should
never feel easy until some one shared his secret.

'Well, trust me,' said the master, 'I will keep it to myself; or,
if you do not like to do that, confess it to your pastor, or go
into some field outside the town and dig a hole, and, after you
have dug it, kneel down and whisper your secret three times into
the hole. Then put back the earth and come away.'

The apprentice thought that this seemed the best plan, and that
very afternoon went to a meadow outside the town, dug a deep
hole, then knelt and whispered to it three times over, 'The
Emperor Trojan has goat's ears.' And as he said so a great
burden seemed to roll off him, and he shovelled the earth
carefully back and ran lightly home.

Weeks passed away, and there sprang up in the hole an elder tree
which had three stems, all as straight as poplars. Some
shepherds, tending their flocks near by, noticed the tree growing
there, and one of them cut down a stem to make flutes of; but,
directly he began to play, the flute would do nothing but sing:
'The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears.' Of course, it was not long
before the whole town knew of this wonderful flute and what it
said; and, at last, the news reached the emperor in his palace.
He instantly sent for the apprentice and said to him:

'What have you been saying about me to all my people?'

The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never
told anyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of
listening, only drew his sword from its sheath, which so
frightened the poor fellow that he confessed exactly what he had
done, and how he had whispered the truth three times to the
earth, and how in that very place an elder tree had sprung up,
and flutes had been cut from it, which would only repeat the
words he had said. Then the emperor commanded his coach to be
made ready, and he took the youth with him, and they drove to the
spot, for he wished to see for himself whether the young man's
confession was true; but when they reached the place only one
stem was left. So the emperor desired his attendants to cut him
a flute from the remaining stem, and, when it was ready, he
ordered his chamberlain to play on it. But no tune could the
chamberlain play, though he was the best flute player about the
court--nothing came but the words, 'The Emperor Trojan has goat's
ears.' Then the emperor knew that even the earth gave up its
secrets, and he granted the young man his life, but he never
allowed him to be his barber any more.

[Volksmarchen der Serben.]

Next: The Nine Pea-hens And The Golden Apples
Previous: The Three Princes And Their Beasts

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The Goat's Ears Of The Emperor Trojan