Once upon a time there was a king
who determined to take a long voyage. He assembled his fleet and all the
seamen, and set out. They went straight on night and day, until they came to an
island which was covered with large trees, and under every tree laid a lion. As
soon as the King had landed his men, the lions all rose up together and tried
to devour them. After a long battle they managed to overcome the wild beasts,
but the greater number of the men was killed. Those who remained alive now went
on through the forest and found on the other side of it a beautiful garden, in
which all the plants of the world flourished together. There were also in the
garden three springs: the first flowed with silver, the second with gold, and
the third with pearls. The men unbuckled their knapsacks and filled them with
those precious things. In the middle of the garden they found a large lake, and
when they reached the edge of it the Lake began to speak, and said to them,
'What men are you, and what brings you here? Are you come to visit our king?'
But they were too much frightened to answer.
Then the Lake said, 'You do well to
be afraid, for it is at your peril that you are come hither. Our king, who has
seven heads, is now asleep, but in a few minutes he will wake up and come to me
to take his bath! Woe to anyone who meets him in the garden, for it is
impossible to escape from him. This is what you must do if you wish to save
your lives. Take off your clothes and spread them on the path which leads from
here to the castle. The King will then glide over something soft, which he
likes very much, and he will be so pleased with that that he will not devour
you. He will give you some punishment, but then he will let you go.'
The men did as the Lake advised
them, and waited for a time. At noon the earth began to quake, and opened in
many places, and out of the openings appeared lions, tigers, and other wild
beasts, which surrounded the castle, and thousands and thousands of beasts came out of the castle following
their king, the Seven-headed Serpent. The Serpent glided over the clothes which
were spread for him, came to the Lake, and asked it who had strewed those soft
things on the path? The Lake answered that it had been done by people who had
come to do him homage. The King commanded that the men should be brought before
him. They came humbly on their knees, and in a few words told him their story.
Then he spoke to them with a mighty and terrible voice, and said, 'Because you
have dared to come here, I lay upon you the punishment. Every year you must
bring me from among your people twelve youths and twelve maidens, that I may
devour them. If you do not do this, I will destroy your whole nation.'
Then he desired one of his beasts to
show the men the way out of the garden, and dismissed them. They then left the
island and went back to their own country, where they related what had happened
to them. Soon the time came round when the king of the beasts would expect the
youths and maidens to be brought to him. The King therefore issued a
proclamation inviting twelve youths and twelve maidens to offer themselves up
to save their country; and immediately many young people, far more than enough,
hastened to do so. A new ship was built, and set with black sails, and in it
the youths and maidens who were appointed for the king of the beasts embarked
and set out for his country. When they arrived there they went at once to the
Lake, and this time the lions did not stir, nor did the springs flow, and
neither did the Lake speak. So they waited then, and it was not long before the
earth quake even more terribly than the first time. The Seven-headed Serpent
came without his train of beasts, saw his prey waiting for him, and devoured it
at one mouthful. Then the ship's crew returned home, and the same thing
happened yearly until many years had passed.
Now the King of this unhappy country
was growing old, and so was the Queen, and they had no children. One day the
Queen was sitting at the window weeping bitterly because she was childless, and
knew that the crown would therefore pass to strangers after the King's death.
Suddenly a little old woman appeared before her, holding an apple in her hand,
and said, 'Why do you weep, my Queen, and what makes you so unhappy?'
'Alas, good mother,' answered the
Queen, 'I am unhappy because I have no children.'
'Is that what vexes you?' said the
old woman. 'Listen to me. I am a nun from the Spinning Convent and my mother
when she died left me this apple. Whoever eats this apple shall have a child.'
The Queen gave money to the old
woman, and bought the apple from her. Then she peeled it, ate it, and threw the
rind out of the window, and it so happened that a mare that was running loose
in the court below ate up the rind. After a time the Queen had a little boy,
and the mare also had a male foal. The boy and the foal grew up together and
loved each other like brothers. In course of time the King died, and so did the
Queen, and their son, who was now nineteen years old, was left alone. One day,
when he and his horse were talking together, the Horse said to him, 'Listen to
me, for I love you and wish for your good and that of the country. If you go on
every year sending twelve youths and twelve maidens to the King of the Beasts,
your country will very soon be ruined. Mount upon my back: I will take you to a
woman who can direct you how to kill the Seven-headed Serpent.'
Then the youth mounted his horse,
who carried him far away to a mountain which was hollow, for in its side was a
great underground cavern. In the cavern sat an old woman spinning. This was the
cloister of the nuns, and the old woman was the Abbess. They all spent their
time in spinning, and that is why the convent has this name. All round the
walls of the cavern there were beds cut out of the solid rock, upon which the
nuns slept, and in the middle a light was burning. It was the duty of the nuns
to watch the light in turns that it might never go out, and if anyone of them
let it go out the others put her to death.
As soon as the King's son saw the
old Abbess spinning he threw himself at her feet and entreated her to tell him
how he could kill the Seven-headed Serpent.
She made the youth rise, embraced
him, and said, 'Know, my son that it is I who sent the nun to your mother and
caused you to be born, and with you the horse, with whose help you will be able
to free the world from the monster. I will tell you what you have to do. Load
your horse with cotton, and go by a secret passage which I will show you, which
is hidden from the wild beasts, to the Serpent's palace. You will find the King
asleep upon his bed, which is all hung round with bells, and over his bed you
will see a sword hanging. With this sword only it is possible to kill the
Serpent, because even if its blade breaks a new one will grow again for every
head the monster has. Thus you will be able to cut off all his seven heads. And
this you must also do in order to deceive the King: you must slip into his bed-chamber
very softly, and stop up all the bells which are round his bed with cotton.
Then take down the sword gently, and quickly give the monster a blow on his
tail with it. This will make him waken up, and if he catches sight of you he
will seize you. But you must quickly cut off his first head, and then wait till
the next one comes up. Then strike it off also, and so go on till you have cut
off all his seven heads.
The old Abbess then gave the Prince
her blessing, and he set out upon his enterprise, arrived at the Serpent's
castle by following the secret passage which she had shown him, and by
carefully attending to all her directions he happily succeeded in killing the
monster. As soon as the wild beasts heard of their king's death, they all
hastened to the castle, but the youth had long since mounted his horse and was
already far out of their reach. They pursued him as fast as they could, but
they found it impossible to overtake him, and he reached home in safety. Thus
he freed his country from this terrible oppression.
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