The Wonderful Hair
: The Laughing Prince Jugoslav Folk And Fairy TalesThere was once a poor man who had so many children that he was at his
wit's end how to feed them all and clothe them.
Unless something turns up soon, he thought to himself, we shall all
starve to death. Poor youngsters--I'm almost tempted to kill them with
my own hands to save them from suffering the pangs of hunger!
That night before he went to sleep he prayed God to give him help. God
hear
The angel said to him:
To-morrow morning when you wake, put your hand under your pillow and
you will find a mirror, a red handkerchief, and an embroidered scarf.
Without saying a word to any one hide these things in your shirt and go
out to the woods that lie beyond the third hill from the village. There
you will find a brook. Follow it until you come to a beautiful maiden
who is bathing in its waters. You will know her from the great masses of
golden hair that fall down over her shoulders. She will speak to you
but do you be careful not to answer. If you say a word to her she will
be able to bewitch you. She will hold out a comb to you and ask you to
comb her hair. Take the comb and do as she asks. Then part her back hair
carefully and you will see one hair that is coarser than the others and
as red as blood. Wrap this firmly around one of your fingers and jerk it
out. Then flee as fast as you can. She will pursue you and each time as
she is about to overtake you drop first the embroidered scarf, then the
red handkerchief, and last the mirror. If you reach the hill nearest
your own village you are safe for she can pursue you no farther. Take
good care of the single hair for it great value and you can sell it for
many golden ducats.
In the morning when the poor man awoke and put his hand under his pillow
he found the mirror and the handkerchief and the scarf just as the angel
had said he would. So he hid them carefully in his shirt and without
telling any one where he was going he went to the woods beyond the third
hill from the village. Here he found the brook and followed it until he
came to a pool where he saw a lovely maiden bathing.
Good day to you! she said politely.
The poor man remembering the angel's warning made no answer.
[Illustration: The Mirror, the Handkerchief, and the Embroidered
Scarf]
The maiden held out a golden comb.
Please comb my hair for me, won't you?
The man nodded and took the comb. Then he parted the long tresses behind
and searched here and there and everywhere until he found the one hair
that was blood-red in color and coarser than the others. He twisted this
firmly around his finger, jerked it quickly out, and fled.
Oh! cried the maiden. What are you doing? Give me back my one red
hair!
She jumped to her feet and ran swiftly after him. As she came close to
him, he dropped behind him the embroidered scarf. She stooped and picked
it up and examined it awhile. Then she saw the man was escaping, so she
tossed the scarf aside and again ran after him. This time he dropped the
red handkerchief. Its bright color caught the maiden's eye and she
picked it up and lost a few more minutes admiring it while the man raced
on. Then the maiden remembered him, threw away the handkerchief, and
started off again in pursuit.
This time the man dropped the mirror and the maiden who of course was a
Vila and had never seen a mirror before picked it up and looked at it
and when she saw the lovely reflection of herself she was so amazed that
she kept on looking and looking. She was still looking in it and still
admiring her own beauty when the man reached the third hill beyond which
the maiden couldn't follow him.
So the poor man got home with the hair safely wound about his finger.
It must be of great value, he thought to himself. I'll take it to the
city and offer it for sale there.
So the next day he went to the city and went about offering his
wonderful hair to the merchants.
What's so wonderful about it? they asked him.
I don't know, but I do know it's of great value, he told them.
Well, said one of them, I'll give you one golden ducat for it.
He was a shrewd buyer and the others hearing his bid of one golden ducat
decided that he must know that the hair was of much greater value. So
they began to outbid him until the price offered the poor man reached
one hundred golden ducats. But the poor man insisted that this was not
enough.
One hundred golden ducats not enough for one red hair! cried the
merchants.
They pretended to be disgusted that any one would refuse such a price
for one red hair, but in reality they were all firmly convinced by this
time that it was a magic hair and probably worth any amount of money in
the world.
The whole city became excited over the wonderful hair for which all the
merchants were bidding and for a time nothing else was talked about. The
matter was reported to the Tsar and at once he said that he himself
would buy the hair for one thousand golden ducats.
One thousand golden ducats! After that there was no danger of the poor
man's many children dying of starvation.
And what do you suppose the Tsar did with the hair? He had it split open
very carefully and inside he found a scroll of great importance to
mankind for on it were written many wonderful secrets of nature.
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