How The Beggar Boy Turned Into Count Piro

: The Crimson Fairy Book

Once upon a time there lived a man who had only one son, a lazy, stupid

boy, who would never do anything he was told. When the father was dying,

he sent for his son and told him that he would soon be left alone in

the world, with no possessions but the small cottage they lived in and a

pear tree which grew behind it, and that, whether he liked it or not, he

would have to work, or else he would starve. Then the old man died.
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But the boy did not work; instead, he idled about as before, contenting

himself with eating the pears off his tree, which, unlike other pear

trees before or since, bore fruit the whole year round. Indeed, the

pears were so much finer than any you could get even in the autumn, that

one day, in the middle of the winter, they attracted the notice of a fox

who was creeping by.



'Dear me; what lovely pears!' he said to the youth. 'Do give me a basket

of them. It will bring you luck!'



'Ah, little fox, but if I give you a basketful, what am I to eat?' asked

the boy.



'Oh, trust me, and do what I tell you,' said the fox; 'I know it will

bring you luck.' So the boy got up and picked some of the ripest pears

and put them into a rush basket. The fox thanked him, and, taking the

basket in his mouth, trotted off to the king's palace and made his way

straight to the king.



'Your Majesty, my master sends you a few of his best pears, and begs you

will graciously accept them,' he said, laying the basket at the feet of

the king.



'Pears! at this season?' cried the king, peering down to look at them;

'and, pray, who is your master?'



'The Count Piro,' answered the fox.



'But how does he manage to get pears in midwinter?' asked the king.



'Oh, he has everything he wants,' replied the fox; 'he is richer even

than you are, your Majesty.'



'Then what can I send him in return for his pears?' said the king.



'Nothing, your Majesty, or you would hurt his feelings,' answered the

fox.



'Well, tell him how heartily I thank him, and how much I shall enjoy

them.' And the fox went away.



He trotted back to the cottage with his empty basket and told his tale,

but the youth did not seem as pleased to hear as the fox was to tell.



'But, my dear little fox,' said he, 'you have brought me nothing in

return, and I am so hungry!'



'Let me alone,' replied the fox; 'I know what I am doing. You will see,

it will bring you luck.'



A few days after this the fox came back again.



'I must have another basket of pears,' said he.



'Ah, little fox, what shall I eat if you take away all my pears?'

answered the youth.



'Be quiet, it will be all right,' said the fox; and taking a bigger

basket than before, he filled it quite full of pears. Then he picked it

up in his mouth, and trotted off to the palace.



'Your Majesty, as you seemed to like the first basket of pears, I have

brought you some more,' said he, 'with my master, the Count Piro's

humble respects.'



'Now, surely it is not possible to grow such pears with deep snow on the

ground?' cried the king.



'Oh, that never affects them,' answered the fox lightly; 'he is rich

enough to do anything. But to-day he sends me to ask if you will give

him your daughter in marriage?'



'If he is so much richer than I am,' said the king, 'I shall be obliged

to refuse. My honour would not permit me to accept his offer.'



'Oh, your Majesty, you must not think that,' replied the fox; 'and do

not let the question of a dowry trouble you. The Count Piro would not

dream of asking anything but the hand of the princess.'



'Is he really so rich that he can do without a dowry?' asked the king.



'Did I not tell your Majesty that he was richer than you?' answered the

fox reproachfully.



'Well, beg him to come here, that we may talk together,' said the king.



So the fox went back to the young man and said: 'I have told the king

that you are Count Piro, and have asked his daughter in marriage.'



'Oh, little fox, what have you done?' cried the youth in dismay; 'when

the king sees me he will order my head to be cut off.'



'Oh, no, he won't!' replied the fox; 'just do as I tell you.' And he

went off to the town, and stopped at the house of the best tailor.



'My master, the Count Piro, begs that you will send him at once the

finest coat that you have in your shop,' said the fox, putting on his

grandest air, 'and if it fits him I will call and pay for it to-morrow!

Indeed, as he is in a great hurry, perhaps it might be as well if I took

it round myself.' The tailor was not accustomed to serve counts, and

he at once got out all the coats he had ready. The fox chose out a

beautiful one of white and silver, bade the tailor tie it up in a

parcel, and carrying the string in his teeth, he left the shop, and went

to a horse-dealer's, whom he persuaded to send his finest horse round to

the cottage, saying that the king had bidden his master to the palace.



Very unwillingly the young man put on the coat and mounted the horse,

and rode up to meet the king, with the fox running before him.



'What am I to say to his Majesty, little fox?' he asked anxiously; 'you

know that I have never spoken to a king before.'



'Say nothing,' answered the fox, 'but leave the talking to me. "Good

morning, your Majesty," will be all that is necessary for you.'



By this time they had reached the palace, and the king came to the door

to receive Count Piro, and led him to the great hall, where a feast was

spread. The princess was already seated at the table, but was as dumb as

Count Piro himself.



'The Count speaks very little,' the king said at last to the fox, and

the fox answered: 'He has so much to think about in the management of

his property that he cannot afford to talk like ordinary people.' The

king was quite satisfied, and they finished dinner, after which Count

Piro and the fox took leave.



The next morning the fox came round again.



'Give me another basket of pears,' he said.



'Very well, little fox; but remember it may cost me my life,' answered

the youth.



'Oh, leave it to me, and do as I tell you, and you will see that in the

end it will bring you luck,' answered the fox; and plucking the pears he

took them up to the king.



'My master, Count Piro, sends you these pears,' he said, 'and asks for

an answer to his proposal.'



'Tell the count that the wedding can take place whenever he pleases,'

answered the king, and, filled with pride, the fox trotted back to

deliver his message.



'But I can't bring the princess here, little fox?' cried the young man

in dismay.



'You leave everything to me,' answered the fox; 'have I not managed

well so far?'



And up at the palace preparations were made for a grand wedding, and the

youth was married to the princess.



After a week of feasting, the fox said to the king: 'My master wishes to

take his young bride home to his own castle.'



'Very well, I will accompany them,' replied the king; and he ordered his

courtiers and attendants to get ready, and the best horses in his stable

to be brought out for himself, Count Piro and the princess. So they all

set out, and rode across the plain, the little fox running before them.



He stopped at the sight of a great flock of sheep, which was feeding

peacefully on the rich grass. 'To whom do these sheep belong?' asked he

of the shepherd. 'To an ogre,' replied the shepherd.



'Hush,' said the fox in a mysterious manner. 'Do you see that crowd

of armed men riding along? If you were to tell them that those sheep

belonged to an ogre, they would kill them, and then the ogre would kill

you! If they ask, just say the sheep belong to Count Piro; it will be

better for everybody.' And the fox ran hastily on, as he did not wish to

be seen talking to the shepherd.



Very soon the king came up.



'What beautiful sheep!' he said, drawing up his horse. 'I have none so

fine in my pastures. Whose are they?'



'Count Piro's,' answered the shepherd, who did not know the king.



'Well, he must be a very rich man,' thought the king to himself, and

rejoiced that he had such a wealthy son-in-law.



Meanwhile the fox had met with a huge herd of pigs, snuffling about the

roots of some trees.



'To whom do these pigs belong?' he asked of the swineherd.



'To an ogre,' replied he.



'Hush!' whispered the fox, though nobody could hear him; 'do you see

that troop of armed men riding towards us? If you tell them that the

pigs belong to the ogre they will kill them, and then the ogre will kill

you! If they ask, just say that the pigs belong to Count Piro; it will

be better for everybody.' And he ran hastily on.



Soon after the king rode up.



'What fine pigs!' he said, reining in his horse. 'They are fatter than

any I have got on my farms. Whose are they?'



'Count Piro's,' answered the swineherd, who did not know the king; and

again the king felt he was lucky to have such a rich son-in-law.



This time the fox ran faster than before, and in a flowery meadow he

found a troop of horses feeding. 'Whose horses are these?' he asked of

the man who was watching them.



'An ogre's,' replied he.



'Hush!' whispered the fox, 'do you see that crowd of armed men coming

towards us? If you tell them the horses belong to an ogre they will

drive them off, and then the ogre will kill you! If they ask, just say

they are Count Piro's; it will be better for everybody.' And he ran on

again.



In a few minutes the king rode up.



'Oh, what lovely creatures! how I wish they were mine!' he exclaimed.

'Whose are they?'



Count Piro's,' answered the man, who did not know the king; and the

king's heart leapt as he thought that if they belonged to his rich

son-in-law they were as good as his.



At last the fox came to the castle of the ogre himself. He ran up the

steps, with tears falling from his eyes, and crying:



'Oh, you poor, poor people, what a sad fate is yours!'



'What has happened?' asked the ogre, trembling with fright.



'Do you see that troop of horsemen who are riding along the road? They

are sent by the king to kill you!'



'Oh, dear little fox, help us, we implore you!' cried the ogre and his

wife.



'Well, I will do what I can,' answered the fox. 'The best place is for

you both to hide in the big oven, and when the soldiers have gone by I

will let you out.'



The ogre and ogress scrambled into the oven as quick as thought, and the

fox banged the door on them; just as he did so the king came up.



'Do us the honour to dismount, your Majesty,' said the fox, bowing low.

'This is the palace of Count Piro!'



'Why it is more splendid than my own!' exclaimed the king, looking round

on all the beautiful things that filled the hall. But why are there no

servants?'



'His Excellency the Count Piro wished the princess to choose them for

herself,' answered the fox, and the king nodded his approval. He then

rode on, leaving the bridal pair in the castle. But when it was dark and

all was still, the fox crept downstairs and lit the kitchen fire, and

the ogre and his wife were burned to death. The next morning the fox

said to Count Piro:



'Now that you are rich and happy, you have no more need of me; but,

before I go, there is one thing I must ask of you in return: when I die,

promise me that you will give me a magnificent coffin, and bury me with

due honours.'



'Oh, little, little fox, don't talk of dying,' cried the princess,

nearly weeping, for she had taken a great liking to the fox.



After some time the fox thought he would see if the Count Piro was

really grateful to him for all he had done, and went back to the castle,

where he lay down on the door-step, and pretended to be dead. The

princess was just going out for a walk, and directly she saw him lying

there, she burst into tears and fell on her knees beside him.



'My dear little fox, you are not dead,' she wailed; 'you poor, poor

little creature, you shall have the finest coffin in the world!'



'A coffin for an animal?' said Count Piro. 'What nonsense! just take him

by the leg and throw him into the ditch.'



Then the fox sprang up and cried: 'You wretched, thankless beggar; have

you forgotten that you owe all your riches to me?'



Count Piro was frightened when he heard these words, as he thought that

perhaps the fox might have power to take away the castle, and leave him

as poor as when he had nothing to eat but the pears off his tree. So he

tried to soften the fox's anger, saying that he had only spoken in joke,

as he had known quite well that he was not really dead. For the sake

of the princess, the fox let himself be softened, and he lived in the

castle for many years, and played with Count Piro's children. And when

he actually did die, his coffin was made of silver, and Count Piro and

his wife followed him to the grave.



[From Sicilianische Mahrchen.]



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