Puddocky

: GERMAN
: The Green Fairy Book

There was once upon a time a poor woman who had one little

daughter called 'Parsley.' She was so called because she liked

eating parsley better than any other food, indeed she would hardly

eat anything else. Her poor mother hadn't enough money always to

be buying parsley for her, but the child was so beautiful that she

could refuse her nothing, and so she went every night to the

garden of an old witch who lived near an stole great branches of

the coveted vegetable, in order to satisfy her daughter.



This remarkable taste of the fair Parsley soon became known, and

the theft was discovered. The witch called the girl's mother to

her, and proposed that she should let her daughter come and live

with her, and then she could eat as much parsley as she liked. The

mother was quite pleased with this suggestion, and so the

beautiful Parsley took up her abode with the old witch.



One day three Princes, whom their father had sent abroad to

travel, came to the town where Parsley lived and perceived the

beautiful girl combing and plaiting her long black hair at the

window. In one moment they all fell hopelessly in love with her,

and longed ardently to have the girl for their wife; but hardly

had they with one breath expressed their desire than, mad with

jealousy, they drew their swords and all three set upon each

other. The struggle was so violent and the noise so loud that the

old witch heard it, and said at once 'Of course Parsley is at the

bottom of all this.'



And when she had convinced herself that this was so, she stepped

forward, and, full of wrath over the quarrels and feuds Parsley's

beauty gave rise to, she cursed the girl and said, 'I wish you

were an ugly toad, sitting under a bridge at the other end of the

world.'



Hardly were the words out of her mouth than Parsley was changed

into a toad and vanished from their sight. The Princes, now that

the cause of their dispute was removed, put up their swords,

kissed each other affectionately, and returned to their father.



The King was growing old and feeble, and wished to yield his

sceptre and crown in favour of one of his sons, but he couldn't

make up his mind which of the three he should appoint as his

successor. He determined that fate should decide for him. So he

called his three children to him and said, 'My dear sons, I am

growing old, and am weary of reigning, but I can't make up my mind

to which of you three I should yield my crown, for I love you all

equally. At the same time I would like the best and cleverest of

you to rule over my people. I have, therefore, determined to set

you three tasks to do, and the one that performs them best shall

be my heir. The first thing I shall ask you to do is to bring me a

piece of linen a hundred yards long, so fine that it will go

through a gold ring.' The sons bowed low, and, promising to do

their best, they started on their journey without further delay.



The two elder brothers took many servants and carriages with them,

but the youngest set out quite alone. In a short time they came to

three cross roads; two of them were gay and crowded, but the third

was dark and lonely.



The two elder brothers chose the more frequented ways, but the

youngest, bidding them farewell, set out on the dreary road.



Wherever linen was to be bought, there the two elder brothers

hastened. They loaded their carriages with bales of the finest

linen they could find and then returned home.



The youngest brother, on the other hand, went on his weary way for

many days, and nowhere did he come across any linen that would

have done. So he journeyed on, and his spirits sank with every

step. At last he came to a bridge which stretched over a deep

river flowing through a flat and marshy land. Before crossing the

bridge he sat down on the banks of the stream and sighed dismally

over his sad fate. Suddenly a misshapen toad crawled out of the

swamp, and, sitting down opposite him, asked: 'What's the matter

with you, my dear Prince?'



The Prince answered impatiently, 'There's not much good my telling

you, Puddocky, for you couldn't help me if I did.'



'Don't be too sure of that,' replied the toad; 'tell me your

trouble and we'll see.'



Then the Prince became most confidential and told the little

creature why he had been sent out of his father's kingdom.



'Prince, I will certainly help you,' said the toad, and, crawling

back into her swamp, she returned dragging after her a piece of

linen not bigger than a finger, which she lay before the Prince,

saying, 'Take this home, and you'll see it will help you.'



The Prince had no wish to take such an insignificant bundle with

him; but he didn't like to hurt Puddocky's feelings by refusing

it, so he took up the little packet, put it in his pocket, and

bade the little toad farewell. Puddocky watched the Prince till he

was out of sight and then crept back into the water.



The further the Prince went the more he noticed that the pocket in

which the little roll of linen lay became heavier, and in

proportion his heart grew lighter. And so, greatly comforted, he

returned to the Court of his father, and arrived home just at the

same time as his brothers with their caravans. The King was

delighted to see them all again, and at once drew the ring from

his finger and the trial began. In all the waggon-loads there was

not one piece of linen the tenth part of which would go through

the ring, and the two elder brothers, who had at first sneered at

their youngest brother for returning with no baggage, began to

feel rather small. But what were their feelings when he drew a

bale of linen out of his pocket which in fineness, softness, and

purity of colour was unsurpassable! The threads were hardly

visible, and it went through the ring without the smallest

difficulty, at the same time measuring a hundred yards quite

correctly.



The father embraced his fortunate son, and commanded the rest of

the linen to be thrown into the water; then, turning to his

children he said, 'Now, dear Princes, prepare yourselves for the

second task. You must bring me back a little dog that will go

comfortably into a walnut-shell.'



The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each

wished to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and

after a very few days set out on their travels again.



At the cross roads they separated once more. The youngest went by

himself along his lonely way, but this time he felt much more

cheerful. Hardly had he sat down under the bridge and heaved a

sigh, than Puddocky came out; and, sitting down opposite him,

asked, 'What's wrong with you now, dear Prince?'



The Prince, who this time never doubted the little toad's power to

help him, told her his difficulty at once. 'Prince, I will help

you,' said the toad again, and crawled back into her swamp as fast

as her short little legs would carry her. She returned, dragging a

hazel nut behind her, which she laid at the Prince's feet and

said, 'Take this nut home with you and tell your father to crack

it very carefully, and you'll see then what will happen.' The

Prince thanked her heartily and went on his way in the best of

spirits, while the little puddock crept slowly back into the

water.



When the Prince got home he found his brothers had just arrived

with great waggon-loads of little dogs of all sorts. The King had

a walnut shell ready, and the trial began; but not one of the dogs

the two eldest sons had brought with them would in the least fit

into the shell. When they had tried all their little dogs, the

youngest son handed his father the hazel-nut, with a modest bow,

and begged him to crack it carefully. Hardly had the old King done

so than a lovely tiny dog sprang out of the nutshell, and ran

about on the King's hand, wagging its tail and barking lustily at

all the other little dogs. The joy of the Court was great. The

father again embraced his fortunate son, commanded the rest of the

small dogs to be thrown into the water and drowned, and once more

addressed his sons. 'The two most difficult tasks have been

performed. Now listen to the third and last: whoever brings the

fairest wife home with him shall be my heir.'



This demand seemed so easy and agreeable and the reward was so

great, that the Princes lost no time in setting forth on their

travels. At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they

should go the same way as the youngest, but when they saw how

dreary and deserted it looked they made up their minds that it

would be impossible to find what they sought in these wilds, and

so they stuck to their former paths.



The youngest was very depressed this time and said to himself,

'Anything else Puddocky could have helped me in, but this task is

quite beyond her power. How could she ever find a beautiful wife

for me? Her swamps are wide and empty, and no human beings dwell

there; only frogs and toads and other creatures of that sort.'

However, he sat down as usual under the bridge, and this time he

sighed from the bottom of his heart.



In a few minutes the toad stood in front of him and asked, 'What's

the matter with you now, my dear Prince?'



'Oh, Puddocky, this time you can't help me, for the task is beyond

even your power,' replied the Prince.



'Still,' answered the toad, 'you may as well tell me your

difficulty, for who knows but I mayn't be able to help you this

time also.'



The Prince then told her the task they had been set to do. 'I'll

help you right enough, my dear Prince,' said the little toad;

'just you go home, and I'll soon follow you.' With these words,

Puddocky, with a spring quite unlike her usual slow movements,

jumped into the water and disappeared.



The Prince rose up and went sadly on his way, for he didn't

believe it possible that the little toad could really help him in

his present difficulty. He had hardly gone a few steps when he

heard a sound behind him, and, looking round, he saw a carriage

made of cardboard, drawn by six big rats, coming towards him. Two

hedgehogs rode in front as outriders, and on the box sat a fat

mouse as coachman, and behind stood two little frogs as footmen.

In the carriage itself sat Puddocky, who kissed her hand to the

Prince out of the window as she passed by.



Sunk deep in thought over the fickleness of fortune that had

granted him two of his wishes and now seemed about to deny him the

last and best, the Prince hardly noticed the absurd equipage, and

still less did he feel inclined to laugh at its comic appearance.



The carriage drove on in front of him for some time and then

turned a corner. But what was his joy and surprise when suddenly,

round the same corner, but coming towards him, there appeared a

beautiful coach drawn by six splendid horses, with outriders,

coachmen, footmen and other servants all in the most gorgeous

liveries, and seated in the carriage was the most beautiful woman

the Prince had ever seen, and in whom he at once recognised the

beautiful Parsley, for whom his heart had formerly burned. The

carriage stopped when it reached him, and the footmen sprang down

and opened the door for him. He got in and sat down beside the

beautiful Parsley, and thanked her heartily for her help, and told

her how much he loved her.



And so he arrived at his father's capital, at the same moment as

his brothers who had returned with many carriage-loads of

beautiful women. But when they were all led before the King, the

whole Court with one consent awarded the prize of beauty to the

fair Parsley.



The old King was delighted, and embraced his thrice fortunate son

and his new daughter-in-law tenderly, and appointed them as his

successors to the throne. But he commanded the other women to be

thrown into the water and drowned, like the bales of linen and the

little dogs. The Prince married Puddocky and reigned long and

happily with her, and if they aren't dead I suppose they are

living still.