The Hairy Man

: The Crimson Fairy Book

Somewhere or other, but I don't know where, there lived a king who owned

two remarkably fine fields of rape, but every night two of the rape

heaps were burnt down in one of the fields. The king was extremely angry

at this, and sent out soldiers to catch whoever had set fire to the

ricks; but it was all of no use--not a soul could they see. Then he

offered nine hundred crowns to anyone who caught the evil-doer, and at

t e same time ordered that whoever did not keep proper watch over the

fields should be killed; but though there were a great many people, none

seemed able to protect the fields.



The king had already put ninety-nine people to death, when a little

swineherd came to him who had two dogs; one was called 'Psst,' and the

other 'Hush'; and the boy told the king that he would watch over the

ricks.



When it grew dark he climbed up on the top of the fourth rick, from

where he could see the whole field. About eleven o'clock he thought he

saw someone going to a rick and putting a light to it. 'Just you wait,'

thought he, and called out to his dogs: 'Hi! Psst, Hush, catch him!'

But Psst and Hush had not waited for orders, and in five minutes the man

was caught.



Next morning he was brought bound before the king, who was so pleased

with the boy that he gave him a thousand crowns at once. The prisoner

was all covered with hair, almost like an animal; and altogether he was

so curious to look at that the king locked him up in a strong room and

sent out letters of invitation to all the other kings and princes asking

them to come and see this wonder.



That was all very well; but the king had a little boy of ten years old

who went to look at the hairy man also, and the man begged so hard to be

set free that the boy took pity on him. He stole the key of the strong

room from his mother and opened the door. Then he took the key back, but

the hairy man escaped and went off into the world.



Then the kings and princes began to arrive one after another, and all

were most anxious to see the hairy man; but he was gone! The king nearly

burst with rage and with the shame he felt. He questioned his wife

sharply, and told her that if she could not find and bring back the

hairy man he would put her in a hut made of rushes and burn her there.

The queen declared she had had nothing to do with the matter; if her son

had happened to take the key it had not been with her knowledge.



So they fetched the little prince and asked him all sorts of questions,

and at last he owned that he had let the hairy man out. The king ordered

his servants to take the boy into the forest and to kill him there, and

to bring back part of his liver and lungs.



There was grief all over the palace when the king's command was known,

for he was a great favourite. But there was no help for it, and they

took the boy out into the forest. But the man was sorry for him, and

shot a dog and carried pieces of his lungs and liver to the king, who

was satisfied, and did not trouble himself any more.



The prince wandered about in the forest and lived as best he could for

five years. One day he came upon a poor little cottage in which was an

old man. They began to talk, and the prince told his story and sad fate.

Then they recognised each other, for the old fellow was no other than

the hairy man whom the prince had set free, and who had lived ever since

in the forest.



The prince stayed here for two years; then he wished to go further. The

old man begged him hard to stay, but he would not, so his hairy friend

gave him a golden apple out of which came a horse with a golden mane,

and a golden staff with which to guide the horse. The old man also gave

him a silver apple out of which came the most beautiful hussars and a

silver staff; and a copper apple from which he could draw as many foot

soldiers as ever he wished, and a copper staff. He made the prince swear

solemnly to take the greatest care of these presents, and then he let

him go.



The boy wandered on and on till he came to a large town. Here he took

service in the king's palace, and as no one troubled themselves about

him he lived quietly on.



One day news was brought to the king that he must go out to war. He was

horribly frightened for he had a very small army, but he had to go all

the same.



When they had all left, the prince said to the housekeeper:



'Give me leave to go to the next village--I owe a small bill there, and

I want to go and pay it'; and as there was nothing to be done in the

palace the housekeeper gave him leave.



When he got beyond the town he took out his golden apple, and when the

horse sprang out he swung himself into the saddle. Then he took the

silver and the copper apples, and with all these fine soldiers he joined

the king's army.



The king saw them approach with fear in his heart, for he did not know

if it might not be an enemy; but the prince rode up, and bowed low

before him. 'I bring your Majesty reinforcements,' said he.



The king was delighted, and all dread of his enemy at once disappeared.

The princesses were there too, and they were very friendly with the

prince and begged him to get into their carriage so as to talk to them.

But he declined, and remained on horseback, as he did not know at what

moment the battle might begin; and whilst they were all talking together

the youngest princess, who was also the loveliest, took off her ring,

and her sister tore her handkerchief in two pieces, and they gave these

gifts to the prince.



Suddenly the enemy came in sight. The king asked whether his army or the

prince's should lead the way; but the prince set off first and with his

hussars he fought so bravely that only two of the enemy were left alive,

and these two were only spared to act as messengers.



The king was overjoyed and so were his daughters at this brilliant

victory. As they drove home they begged the prince to join them, but he

would not come, and galloped off with his hussars.



When he got near the town he packed his soldiers and his fine horse all

carefully into the apple again, and then strolled into the town. On his

return to the palace he was well scolded by the housekeeper for staying

away so long.



Well, the whole matter might have ended there; but it so happened that

the younger princess had fallen in love with the prince, as he had with

her. And as he had no jewels with him, he gave her the copper apple and

staff.



One day, as the princesses were talking with their father, the younger

one asked him whether it might not have been their servant who had

helped him so much. The king was quite angry at the idea; but, to

satisfy her, he ordered the servant's room to be searched. And there,

to everyone's surprise, they found the golden ring and the half of the

handkerchief. When these were brought to the king he sent for the prince

at once and asked if it had been he who had come to their rescue.



'Yes, your Majesty, it was I,' answered the prince.



'But where did you get your army?'



'If you wish to see it, I can show it you outside the city walls.'



And so he did; but first he asked for the copper apple from the younger

princess, and when all the soldiers were drawn up there were such

numbers that there was barely room for them.



The king gave him his daughter and kingdom as a reward for his aid, and

when he heard that the prince was himself a king's son his joy knew no

bounds. The prince packed all his soldiers carefully up once more, and

they went back into the town.



Not long after there was a grand wedding; perhaps they may all be alive

still, but I don't know.









To Your Good Health!



Long, long ago there lived a king who was such a mighty monarch that

whenever he sneezed every one in the whole country had to say 'To your

good health!' Every one said it except the shepherd with the staring

eyes, and he would not say it.



The king heard of this and was very angry, and sent for the shepherd to

appear before him.



The shepherd came and stood before the throne, where the king sat

looking very grand and powerful. But however grand or powerful he might

be the shepherd did not feel a bit afraid of him.



'Say at once, "To my good health!"' cried the king.



'To my good health!' replied the shepherd.



'To mine--to mine, you rascal, you vagabond!' stormed the king.



'To mine, to mine, your Majesty,' was the answer.



'But to mine--to my own,' roared the king, and beat on his breast in a

rage.



'Well, yes; to mine, of course, to my own,' cried the shepherd, and

gently tapped his breast.



The king was beside himself with fury and did not know what to do, when

the Lord Chamberlain interfered:



'Say at once--say this very moment: "To your health, your Majesty"; for

if you don't say it you'll lose your life, whispered he.



'No, I won't say it till I get the princess for my wife,' was the

shepherd's answer. Now the princess was sitting on a little throne

beside the king, her father, and she looked as sweet and lovely as a

little golden dove. When she heard what the shepherd said she could not

help laughing, for there is no denying the fact that this young shepherd

with the staring eyes pleased her very much; indeed he pleased her

better than any king's son she had yet seen.



But the king was not as pleasant as his daughter, and he gave orders to

throw the shepherd into the white bear's pit.



The guards led him away and thrust him into the pit with the white bear,

who had had nothing to eat for two days and was very hungry. The door of

the pit was hardly closed when the bear rushed at the shepherd; but when

it saw his eyes it was so frightened that it was ready to eat itself. It

shrank away into a corner and gazed at him from there, and, in spite of

being so famished, did not dare to touch him, but sucked its own paws

from sheer hunger. The shepherd felt that if he once removed his eyes

off the beast he was a dead man, and in order to keep himself awake he

made songs and sang them, and so the night went by.



Next morning the Lord Chamberlain came to see the shepherd's bones, and

was amazed to find him alive and well. He led him to the king, who fell

into a furious passion, and said: 'Well, you have learned what it is to

be very near death, and now will you say "To my good health"?'



But the shepherd answered: 'I am not afraid of ten deaths! I will only

say it if I may have the princess for my wife.'



'Then go to your death,' cried the king; and ordered him to be thrown

into the den with the wild boars. The wild boars had not been fed for a

week, and when the shepherd was thrust into their don they rushed at him

to tear him to pieces. But the shepherd took a little flute out of the

sleeve of his jacket and began to play a merry tune, on which the wild

boars first of all shrank shyly away, and then got up on their hind legs

and danced gaily. The shepherd would have given anything to be able to

laugh, they looked so funny; but he dared not stop playing, for he knew

well enough that the moment he stopped they would fall upon him and tear

him to pieces. His eyes were of no use to him here, for he could not

have stared ten wild boars in the face at once; so he kept on playing,

and the wild boars danced very slowly, as if in a minuet, then by

degrees he played faster and faster till they could hardly twist and

turn quickly enough, and ended by all falling over each other in a heap,

quite exhausted and out of breath.



Then the shepherd ventured to laugh at last; and he laughed so long

and so loud that when the Lord Chamberlain came early in the morning,

expecting to find only his bones, the tears were still running down his

cheeks from laughter.



As soon as the king was dressed the shepherd was again brought before

him; but he was more angry than ever to think the wild boars had not

torn the man to bits, and he said: 'Well, you have learned what it feels

to be near ten deaths, now say "To my good health!"'



But the shepherd broke in with, 'I do not fear a hundred deaths, and I

will only say it if I may have the princess for my wife.'



'Then go to a hundred deaths!' roared the king, and ordered the shepherd

to be thrown down the deep vault of scythes.



The guards dragged him away to a dark dungeon, in the middle of which

was a deep well with sharp scythes all round it. At the bottom of the

well was a little light by which one could see if anyone was thrown in

whether he had fallen to the bottom.



When the shepherd was dragged to the dungeons he begged the guards to

leave him alone a little while that he might look down into the pit of

scythes; perhaps he might after all make up his mind to say 'To your

good health' to the king. So the guards left him alone and he stuck up

his long stick near the well, hung his cloak round the stick and put his

hat on the top. He also hung his knapsack up inside the cloak so that it

might seem to have some body within it. When this was done he called out

to the guards and said that he had considered the matter but after all

he could not make up his mind to say what the king wished. The guards

came in, threw the hat and cloak, knapsack and stick all down the well

together, watched to see how they put out the light at the bottom and

came away, thinking that now there really was an end of the shepherd.

But he had hidden in a dark corner and was laughing to himself all the

time.



Quite early next morning came the Lord Chamberlain, carrying a lamp and

he nearly fell backwards with surprise when he saw the shepherd alive

and well. He brought him to the king, whose fury was greater than ever,

but who cried:



'Well, now you have been near a hundred deaths; will you say: "To your

good health"?'



But the shepherd only gave the same answer:



'I won't say it till the princess is my wife.'



'Perhaps after all you may do it for less,' said the king, who saw that

there was no chance of making away with the shepherd; and he ordered the

state coach to be got ready, then he made the shepherd get in with him

and sit beside him, and ordered the coachman to drive to the silver

wood. When they reached it he said: 'Do you see this silver wood? Well,

if you will say, "To your good health," I will give it to you.'



The shepherd turned hot and cold by turns, but he still persisted:



'I will not say it till the princess is my wife.'



The king was much vexed; he drove further on till they came to a

splendid castle, all of gold, and then he said:



'Do you see this golden castle? Well, I will give you that too, the

silver wood and the golden castle, if only you will say that one thing

to me: "To your good health."'



The shepherd gaped and wondered and was quite dazzled, but he still

said:



'No; I will not say it till I have the princess for my wife.'



This time the king was overwhelmed with grief, and gave orders to drive

on to the diamond pond, and there he tried once more.



'Do you see this diamond pond? I will give you that too, the silver

wood and the golden castle and the diamond pond. You shall have them

all--all--if you will but say: "To your good health!"'



The shepherd had to shut his staring eyes tight not to be dazzled with

the brilliant pond, but still he said:



'No, no; I will not say it till I have the princess for my wife.'



Then the king saw that all his efforts were useless, and that he might

as well give in, so he said:



'Well, well, it's all the same to me--I will give you my daughter to

wife; but, then, you really and truly must say to me: "To your good

health."'



'Of course I'll say it; why should I not say it? It stands to reason

that I shall say it then.'



At this the king was more delighted than anyone could have believed.

He made it known all through the country that there were to be great

rejoicings, as the princess was going to be married. And everyone

rejoiced to think that the princess, who had refused so many royal

suitors, should have ended by falling in love with the staring-eyed

shepherd.



There was such a wedding as had never been seen. Everyone ate and drank

and danced. Even the sick were feasted, and quite tiny new-born children

had presents given them.



But the greatest merry-making was in the king's palace; there the best

bands played and the best food was cooked; a crowd of people sat down to

table, and all was fun and merry-making.



And when the groomsman, according to custom, brought in the great boar's

head on a big dish and placed it before the king so that he might carve

it and give everyone a share, the savoury smell was so strong that the

king began to sneeze with all his might.



'To your very good health,' cried the shepherd before anyone else, and

the king was so delighted that he did not regret having given him his

daughter.



In time, when the old king died, the shepherd succeeded him. He made a

very good king and never expected his people to wish him well against

their wills; but, all the same, everyone did wish him well, for they all

loved him.



[From Russische Mahrchen.]