Fairy Tales Read online

  ‘Ah-ha!’ cried the witch. ‘Enjoy your reward!’ And she vanished into the dark castle, clutching the snuff-box.

  Now the wicked witch knew that in the snuff-box, many, many years ago, a demon had been imprisoned, who had once brought terror on all the people of that land. So she held it tight, and whispered: ‘Demon in the box, are you there?’

  And a tiny voice said: ‘Oh! Yes. Please open the box. I’ve been in here so long.’

  But the witch held onto it all the tighter, and said: ‘If I release you, you must promise to be my slave and do as I command you for one whole year and a day, so that I become rich and rule all this land. Then you will be free to go where you will.’

  ‘Indeed I shall!’ cried the small voice. So the witch opened the snuff-box, and immediately there was a terrifying roar, and a blast of scalding air threw the witch back against the wall, and smoke poured into the room, as out leapt the demon with a terrible cry: ‘At last!’

  ‘Don’t forget you are my slave for one whole year and a day!’ cried the witch.

  ‘I am nobody’s slave!’ cried the demon, and he touched the witch on the nape of the neck, and she turned into a millstone, and he cast her into the cold, black lake.

  Meanwhile, the toad-prince had clambered in at the window of the dark castle, and he had seen all that had happened between the witch and demon of the snuff-box. And he said to himself: ‘I fetched this demon up from the bottom of the bottomless lake. I must send him back there.’ So he jumped down into the great hall.

  ‘Who dares to enter my castle?’ roared the demon.

  ‘Demon!’ said the toad-prince. ‘Are you going to rob the people of this land?’

  ‘Indeed I am!’ roared the demon.

  ‘Are you going to kill their dogs and steal their children?’ asked the toad-prince.

  ‘Indeed I am!’ cried the demon.

  ‘And will you make them poor and live in terror of you?’

  ‘Indeed I shall!’ bellowed the demon.

  ‘Then let me help you!’ said the toad-prince. ‘For, as you see, I am ugly and unwanted, and I should like to do all the harm I can.’

  ‘Very good!’ cried the demon.

  ‘But first,’ said the toad-prince, ‘I must know how powerful you really are.’

  ‘I can easily show you,’ said the demon, and he waved his hand, and a ball of fire appeared in mid-air. It circled round them once, and then flew out of the window.

  ‘Hmmm,’ said the toad-prince. ‘Can’t you do anything else?’

  ‘Come with me,’ said the demon, and he took the toad-prince onto the roof of the castle. ‘Watch this,’ he said, and spread his wings, and flew up into the air so high that he tore a hole in the sky, and a strange light shone down upon the earth. Then the demon plucked up a pine tree, threaded a trailing vine through its roots, and sewed the sky up again.

  ‘Well,’ said the toad-prince, ‘that’s not bad, but it’s still not what I would call really powerful.’

  ‘And what would that be?’ roared the demon who was, perhaps justly, rather piqued.

  The toad-prince bent down, and picked up a speck of dust, and said: ‘Now if a creature as big and powerful as you could get inside that grain of dust – that’s what I’d call really powerful!’

  ‘Child’s play!’ exclaimed the demon, and made himself smaller and smaller, until he was no bigger than a speck of dust. Whereupon, before he could change back again, the prince picked him up and put him back in the snuff-box, and fastened the lid tight. Then he threw the snuff-box back into the black lake.

  After that, the toad-prince lived in the castle, and ruled the land about with kindness and justice. And, although he was hunch-backed, the people of that land loved him, and laughter and light returned to the dark castle once again.

  THE MAN WHO OWNED THE EARTH

  A POOR MAN ONCE WENT to a wizard and said: Make me the richest man in the world.’

  So the wizard gave him a ball of clay and three potions, and said: ‘You must use these very carefully, for they are very strong magic. The first is very powerful, for if you were to pour it all onto the ball of magic clay, all the gold in the world would be yours. The second is even more powerful, for if you were to pour all that on the ball of clay, all the silver in the world would be yours. But the third is the most powerful of all, for if you poured that onto the clay, all the wood in the world would be yours.’

  The man was very pleased, and said: ‘If I had all the gold there is, I wouldn’t need wood or silver! I would own the earth!’

  ‘Indeed you would,’ replied the wizard. ‘But that must never be. One drop of each potion will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. The rest you must bring back to me or you will end your days as poor as you are now.’

  Well, the man went home, and immediately he opened the first potion and let a drop fall onto the ball of magic clay, and a soldier looked in at the window, and then emptied a huge sackful of gold into the room. It was more wealth than the poor man had ever imagined was possible, but even so – before he put the stopper back on the potion – he couldn’t resist letting just one more drop fall onto the ball of magic clay. The clay quivered in his hand, and then – suddenly – everything in the house turned to gold: the tables, the chairs, the bed, the wardrobe, the cups and plates and knives and forks, the old iron grate, the bucket by the door, even the door itself – all turned to gold.

  Then the man was overcome with greed. ‘All the gold in the world can be mine!’ he cried, and he poured all the remaining potion onto the ball of magic clay.

  Immediately the air was filled with the whirring of thousands of wings, and the sky became black with every conceivable shape and size of bird, all flying towards his house. And each bird carried in its beak a little bag of gold. One by one, they flew over the house, and one by one they dropped their bag of gold, until a huge mountain was formed. Then the birds flew off, and the sky became light again, and the noise of the wings subsided.

  The man looked out of his window at the golden mountain outside, and could hardly believe his eyes. ‘Now I am, without doubt, the richest man in the world!’ he said. Then he built himself a palace and lived like a prince.

  It was not long, however, before he heard a banging on his doors, and he went and found a hundred ragged men there. ‘Who are you?’ he cried.

  ‘Once we were all kings,’ they replied, ‘but, since you have taken all the gold there is in the world, we have lost our kingdoms, and now we go around on foot, begging for our food.’

  ‘I am sorry to hear that,’ said the man, and he gave them each one gold piece, and then turned them out to beg their way again.

  Then the man thought to himself: ‘What if all those kings should try to steal my gold? I had better get some silver, for then I could pay a hundred soldiers to guard my gold.‘

  So he took the second potion the wizard had given him, and let a drop fall onto the ball of magic clay and, sure enough, the floors of his palace all turned to silver. Then he let another drop fall, and a silver ball the size of six houses rolled down the road and came to rest in the palace gardens. Then he was overcome with greed to see what all the silver in the world looked like, and he took the potion and poured it all onto the ball of clay. And there was a terrible sound like thunder, and the sky grew black and it started to rain silver pieces. They fell onto roofs and chimney pots and then into the gutters, and formed little streams of silver. And all the streams joined into one great river that flowed down into his palace gardens, and there formed a huge lake of silver.

  And he took some of the silver, and hired a hundred soldiers to guard his gold.

  But, before long, he heard a banging on his doors, and he went and found a thousand ragged men there. ‘Who are you?’ he cried.

  ‘Once we were all rich merchants,’ said the men, ‘but, since you have taken all the silver in the world, we have nothing to buy and sell with, and we are ruined as you see.’

  ‘I am sorry for you,�
� said the man, ‘but there is nothing I can do for so many.’ And he turned them out of the palace to beg their way in the world.

  Then the man said to himself: ‘I need to build a chest to hold all that silver and gold. It will be so large that I shall need a lot of wood – I shall need that third potion after all.’

  So he took the third potion and poured it all onto the ball of magic clay, and suddenly there was the rushing sound of a million leaves rustling in the wind, and he looked up and there was a forest in the sky coming up from the west. And from the south came another, and from the north and the east as well. And they blotted out the whole sky, and their roots hung down over the earth.

  At this all the people looked up and cried: ‘What has happened to the day?’ And when they found they had no wood to build their homes, no wood to burn on their fires, and no wood for chairs or tables or to make their tools, they all rose up together. And together they beat down the doors of the palace, and took back everything, and the richest man in the world was as poor as he had been before.

  WHY BIRDS SING IN THE MORNING

  A LONG, LONG TIME AGO, before you or I were ever thought of, and before there was any distinction between day and night, the King and Queen of the Light had a baby daughter. She was the most beautiful of all creatures. When she first opened her eyes, they were so bright that they filled the world with light. Everywhere she went, creatures were glad to see her. Plants grew at her touch, and animals would come out of their holes just to sit and watch her go by.

  In a cave not far away there lived the Witch of the Dark. She too had an only child – a son. He was a sickly boy, he was always pale and sometimes he grew very thin and had to be nursed back to strength.

  One day, however, the old Witch of the Dark brought her son to court and proposed a marriage between him and the princess. When the King of the Light refused, the old witch flew into a rage, and that very night she and her son broke into the king’s palace and stole the beautiful princess. They took her and locked her up in a dark cave on the other side of the mountains, and there she stayed for a long time. She cried and cried, but it was no good. The witch would not let the princess out until she agreed to marry her son.

  Meanwhile the animals went to the king and said: ‘Where is your daughter? When she is away from us all the world is dark. The plants do not grow and many of us have nothing to eat.’

  The King of the Light told the animals what had happened, and the animals all agreed that they would help him look for his daughter.

  So the lions and tigers went into the jungle and searched there. The rabbits and moles looked under the earth, and the fish and the turtles searched the seas, but none of them could find any trace of her. Meanwhile the birds were looking in the air and treetops, and the eagle flew off into the mountains. It flew up and up, until it was flying over their very summits. Still it flew on, over the other side and down into a region where it had never been before.

  At length, the eagle grew tired and was forced to rest amongst some rocks. He hadn’t been there long, however, before he heard a beautiful voice singing a sad song. Immediately he recognized it was the princess, and he called out to her. But the eagle had only a raucous screech for a voice, and the princess thought it was the old witch returning. So she stopped her singing and would not make another sound. The eagle sat there, wondering what to do, when all at once he saw a black speck in the sky. It was the witch’s son, coming to visit the princess on his mother’s broomstick.

  The eagle hid, and watched as the witch’s son rolled aside the great stone at the entrance of the cave. Immediately a great brightness flooded out from the cave, as the beautiful princess came out, and filled everywhere with light. But she had tears in her eyes, and a rainbow shone all around her.

  ‘Ah!’ cried the witch’s son. ‘I’m tired of waiting!’ And he took hold of the beautiful girl, and threw her on the ground. Whereupon the eagle swooped down on them, snapping his beak fiercely at the witch’s son, and lifted the princess up on his back. The witch’s son grabbed his mother’s broomstick, and started hitting out at the eagle. By accident, however, he struck the princess a blow on the side of her head, so hard that the broomstick broke in two. But the princess held tight to the eagle, and they soared up into the sky.

  The eagle carried the princess back across the mountains, and wherever they flew they lit up the world that had been lying dark for so long. And the witch’s son got on the broomstick and followed after them. But because the broomstick was broken, he could never quite catch up with them. At length, however, the eagle had to rest again. He let the princess down off his back and told her to hide, promising to wake her up as soon as the witch’s son had gone past.

  So the princess hid in a cave, and the world went dark once more while the witch’s pale son flew past in the sky. When he had gone, the eagle tried to wake the princess up, but the blow from the broomstick had made her a bit deaf, and even the eagle with his raucous voice could not wake her. So the eagle asked some sparrows to help him, and they all made as much noise as they could, but still the princess did not wake up. Eventually the eagle went round all the birds in the neighbourhood and got them all to make as much noise as possible. Finally the princess awoke, and came out of the cave, lighting the world as she did so.

  ‘Quick!’ said the eagle. ‘Get on my back – we must be off before the witch’s son comes past again on his broomstick.’ So the princess got on his back again and away they flew, bringing light to the world wherever they went.

  And so they continue to this day, for the princess and the eagle were turned into the sun, and still they ride high up in the sky; and the witch’s son was turned into the moon. And at the end of every day, when the eagle has to rest, the princess hides while the witch’s son goes past – and if you look up at the moon, you can still see him with his mother’s broken broomstick over his shoulder. The princess is still as beautiful as ever, now she is the sun, but she is also a little deaf, and that is why all the birds sing as hard as they can every morning in order to wake her up.

  THE KEY

  THERE ONCE LIVED A RICH KING whose palace was the largest in the world. On the wall of the palace there hung a huge key that was as long as a man is tall. Now this key was made of pure gold, but it had been made so long ago that no one could remember what lock it was supposed to open. So the king issued a proclamation that anyone who could discover the lock for which the key had been made should have half his kingdom as a reward.

  One day, three brothers came to try their luck.

  The eldest one said: ‘I am convinced that this is the key to the North Wind.’ So the king gave the eldest brother the key, and he rode with it far, far away to the frozen lands, where ice trees grow out of the snow and where even the clouds are hung with icicles. There he found a huge chest lying half-buried in the snow. He tried the key and it fitted the lock but, when he tried to turn it, it was no good. So he loaded the chest onto a cart, and took it back to the king.

  Then the second brother said: ‘I am sure the key is the key to the South Wind.’ So he took the key and rode south to the hot desert, where trees of fire grow out of the burning sands. And there he found a huge door in a mountain. The key fitted the lock perfectly but, when he turned it, it would not work. Just as he was trying it, however, a warm breeze whispered in his ear to look down, and there he found a smaller door which opened when he touched it. So he crept in.

  Inside, the mountain was quite hollow right the way across and right the way to the top. The walls were red with the heat, and in the middle was a beautiful princess, bound with heavy chains.

  ‘Who are you?’ asked the second brother.

  But the princess did not reply. She sat looking straight ahead and would not utter a sound.

  The second brother tried the great key on the padlock of her chains, but it would not fit. So he placed the princess on the back of his horse and took her back to the king.

  Then the youngest brother said: ‘I th
ink the key is the key to the wind that blows sometimes from West to East and sometimes from East to West.’ So he didn’t ride anywhere. He took the great key and broke it in two, and from inside it came an oil which they poured onto the lock of the chest. Then the lock opened easily, and inside the chest they found a silver saw, whose teeth were all diamonds, and they took the saw and cut through the chains that bound the princess, and she turned and cried: ‘At last! The spell is broken!’ and she told them how a wizard had placed a spell upon her in spite, because she would not be his wife, and how she could only be rescued by someone she would love but could not marry.

  Then the second brother leapt up and cried: ‘I rescued you from the hollow mountain of the South Wind!’

  Then the eldest brother leapt up and said: ‘But it was the silver saw that freed you from the spell, and I brought that back from the frozen lands!’

  Finally the youngest brother stood up and said: ‘But it was I who broke the golden key and, if I had not done that, the chest would not have opened and your chains would never have been cut.’