Czechoslovak Fairy Tales Part 28

Suddenly the gray cloud descended on the chapel with a flurry of snow and such cold that the shingles of the roof crackled.

The old man alighted from the gray steed and entered the chapel.

"Hermit," he said to Raduz, "have you seen two travelers go by here, a girl and a youth?"

"As long as I've been preaching here," Raduz said, "I've had only flies for a congregation. But I do remember that while the chapel was building two such people did go by. But now I must beg you, good sir, to go out, for you are letting in so much cold that my congregation is freezing."

At that the old man mounted his steed and flew back home on the gray cloud.

Old Yezibaba was waiting for him. When she saw him coming she called out:

"Again you bring no one, you good-for-nothing! Where did you leave them this time?"

"Where did I leave them?" the old man said. "How could I leave them when I didn't even see them? All I saw was a little chapel and a hermit preaching to a congregation of flies. I almost froze the congregation to death!"

"Oh, what a b.o.o.by you are!" Yezibaba cried. "Raduz was the hermit and Ludmila one of the flies! Why didn't you bring me just one shingle from the roof of the chapel? I see I'll have to go after them myself!"

In a rage she mounted the third magic steed and flew off.

In the meantime Raduz and Ludmila were hurrying on. Suddenly Ludmila said:

"I wonder why my left cheek burns? Look back, dear Raduz, again, and see if there is any one following us."

Raduz turned and looked. "There's nothing following us but a red cloud in the sky."

"A red cloud? That must be Yezibaba herself on the steed of fire. Now indeed we must be careful. Up to this it has been easy enough but it won't be easy to deceive her. Here we are beside a lake. I will change myself into a golden duck and float on the water. Do you dive into the water so that she can't burn you. When she alights and tries to catch me, do you jump up and get the horse by the bridle. Don't be afraid at what will happen."

The fiery cloud descended, burning up everything it touched. At the edge of the water Yezibaba alighted from her steed and tried to catch the golden duck. The duck fluttered on and on just out of her reach and Yezibaba went farther and farther from her horse.

Then Raduz leaped out of the water and caught the horse by its bridle.

At once the duck rose on its wings and flew to Raduz and became again Ludmila. Together they mounted the fiery steed and flew off over the lake.

Yezibaba, helpless with rage and dismay, called after them a bitter curse:

"If you, Raduz, are kissed by woman before you wed Ludmila, then will you forget Ludmila! And you, ungrateful girl, if once Raduz forgets you then he shall not remember you again until seven long years have come and gone!"

Raduz and Ludmila rode on and on until they neared Raduz' native city.

There they met a man of whom Raduz asked the news.

"News indeed!" the man said. "The king and his three older sons are dead. Only the queen is alive and she cries night and day for her youngest son who went out into the world and has never been heard of since. The whole city is in an uproar as to who shall be the new king."

When Raduz heard this he said to Ludmila: "Do you, my dear Ludmila, wait for me here outside the city while I go quickly to the palace and let it be known that I am alive and am returned. It would not be fitting to present you to my mother, the queen, in those ragged clothes. As soon as I am made king I shall come for you, bringing you a beautiful dress."

Ludmila agreed to this and Raduz left her and hurried to the castle.

His mother recognized him at once and ran with open arms to greet him.

She wanted to kiss him but he wouldn't let her. The news of his return flew abroad and he was immediately proclaimed king. A great feast was spread and all the people ate and drank and made merry.

Fatigued with his journey and with the excitement of his return, Raduz lay down to rest. While he slept his mother came in and kissed him on both cheeks. Instantly Yezibaba's curse was fulfilled and all memory of Ludmila left him.

Poor Ludmila waited for his return but he never came. Then she knew what must have happened. Heartbroken and lonely she found a spot near a farmhouse that commanded a view of the castle, and she stood there day after day hoping to see Raduz. She stood there so long that finally she took root and grew up into a poplar tree that was so beautiful that soon throughout the countryside people began talking about it. Every one admired it but the young king. He when he looked at it always felt unhappy and he supposed this was because it obstructed the view from his window. At last he ordered it to be cut down.

The farmer near whose house it stood begged hard to have it saved, but the king was firm.

Shortly after the poplar was cut down there grew up under the king's very window a pretty little pear tree that bore golden pears. It was a wonderful little tree. No matter how many pears you picked in the evening, by the next morning the tree would again be full.

The king loved the little tree and was forever talking about it. The old queen, on the other hand, disliked it.

"I wish that tree would die," she used to say. "There's something strange about it that makes me nervous."

The king begged her to leave the tree alone but she worried and complained and nagged until at last for his own peace of mind he had the poor little pear tree cut down.

The seven years of Yezibaba's curse at last ran out. Then Ludmila changed herself again into a little golden duck and went swimming about on the lake that was under the king's window.

Suddenly the king began to remember that he had seen that duck before.

He ordered it to be caught and brought to him. But none of his people could catch it. Then he called together all the fishermen and birdcatchers in the country but none of them could catch the strange duck.

The days went by and the king's mind was more and more engrossed with the thought of the golden duck. "If no one can catch it for me," he said at last, "I must try to catch it myself."

So he went to the lake and reached out his hand after the golden duck.

The duck led him on and on but at last she allowed herself to be caught. As soon as she was in his hand she changed to herself and Raduz recognized her as his own beautiful Ludmila.

She said to him: "I have been true to you but you have forgotten me all these years. Yet I forgive you, for it was not your fault."

In Raduz' heart his old love returned a hundredfold and he was overjoyed to lead Ludmila to the castle. He presented her to his mother and said:

"This is she who saved my life many times. She and no one else will be my wife."

A great wedding feast was prepared and so at last Raduz married the faithful Ludmila.

THE STORY THAT NEVER ENDS

[Ill.u.s.tration: {A ram}]

THE STORY THAT NEVER ENDS

(_To be told very seriously_)

Once upon a time there was a shepherd who had a great flock of sheep.

He used to pasture them in a meadow on the other side of a brook. One day the sun had already set before he started home. Recent rains had swollen the brook so that he and the sheep had to cross on a little footbridge. The bridge was so narrow that the sheep had to pa.s.s over one by one.

Now we'll wait until he drives them all over. Then I'll go on with my story.

(_When the children grow impatient and beg for a continuation of the story, they are told that there are many sheep and that up to this time only a few have crossed. A little later when their impatience again breaks out, they are told that the sheep are still crossing. And so on indefinitely. In conclusion:_)

In fact there were so many sheep that when morning came they were still crossing, and then it was time for the shepherd to turn around and drive them back again to pasture!