第41章 THE ENCHANTED PIG(4)

The next morning the mother of the Wind told her that her husband was living in a thick wood, so thick that no axe had been able to cut a way through it; here he had built himself a sort of house by placing trunks of trees together and fastening them with withes and here he lived alone, shunning human kind.

After the mother of the Wind had given the Princess a chicken to eat, and had warned her to take care of the bones, she advised her to go by the Milky Way, which at night lies across the sky, and to wander on till she reached her goal.

Having thanked the old woman with tears in her eyes for her hospitality, and for the good news she had given her, the Princess set out on her journey and rested neither night nor day, so great was her longing to see her husband again.On and on she walked until her last pair of shoes fell in pieces.So she threw them away and went on with bare feet, not heeding the bogs nor the thorns that wounded her, nor the stones that bruised her.At last she reached a beautiful green meadow on the edge of a wood.Her heart was cheered by the sight of the flowers and the soft cool grass, and she sat down and rested for a little.But hearing the birds chirping to their mates among the trees made her think with longing of her husband, and she wept bitterly, and taking her child in her arms, and her bundle of chicken bones on her shoulder, she entered the wood.

For three days and three nights she struggled through it, but could find nothing.She was quite worn out with weariness and hunger, and even her staff was no further help to her, for in her many wanderings it had become quite blunted.She almost gave up in despair, but made one last great effort, and suddenly in a thicket she came upon the sort of house that the mother of the Wind had described.It had no windows, and the door was up in the roof.Round the house she went, in search of steps, but could find none.What was she to do? How was she to get in?

She thought and thought, and tried in vain to climb up to the door.Then suddenly she be-thought her of the chicken bones that she had dragged all that weary way, and she said to herself: `They would not all have told me to take such good care of these bones if they had not had some good reason for doing so.Perhaps now, in my hour of need, they may be of use to me.'

So she took the bones out of her bundle, and having thought for a moment, she placed the two ends together.To her surprise they stuck tight; then she added the other bones, till she had two long poles the height of the house; these she placed against the wall, at a distance of a yard from one another.Across them she placed the other bones, piece by piece, like the steps of a ladder.As soon as one step was finished she stood upon it and made the next one, and then the next, till she was close to the door.But just as she got near the top she noticed that there were no bones left for the last rung of the ladder.What was she to do? Without that last step the whole ladder was useless.She must have lost one of the bones.

Then suddenly an idea came to her.Taking a knife she chopped off her little finger, and placing it on the last step, it stuck as the bones had done.The ladder was complete, and with her child on her arm she entered the door of the house.Here she found everything in perfect order.Having taken some food, she laid the child down to sleep in a trough that was on the floor, and sat down herself to rest.

When her husband, the Pig, came back to his house, he was startled by what he saw.At first he could not believe his eyes, and stared at the ladder of bones, and at the little finger on the top of it.He felt that some fresh magic must be at work, and in his terror he almost turned away from the house; but then a better idea came to him, and he changed himself into a dove, so that no witchcraft could have power over him, and flew into the room without touching the ladder.Here he found a woman rocking a child.At the sight of her, looking so changed by all that she had suffered for his sake, his heart was moved by such love and longing and by so great a pity that he suddenly became a man.

The Princess stood up when she saw him.and her heart beat with fear, for she did not know him.But when he had told her who he was, in her great joy she forgot all her sufferings, and they seemed as nothing to her.He was a very handsome man, as straight as a fir tree.They sat down together and she told him all her adventures, and he wept with pity at the tale.And then he told her his own history.

`I am a King's son.Once when my father was fighting against some dragons, who were the scourge of our country, I slew the youngest dragon.His mother, who was a witch, cast a spell over me and changed me into a Pig.It was she who in the disguise of an old woman gave you the thread to bind round my foot.So that instead of the three days that had to run before the spell was broken, I was forced to remain a Pig for three more years.Now that we have suffered for each other, and have found each other again, let us forget the past.'

And in their joy they kissed one another.

Next morning they set out early to return to his father's kingdom.Great was the rejoicing of all the people when they saw him and his wife; his father and his mother embraced them both, and there was feasting in the palace for three days and three nights.

Then they set out to see her father.The old King nearly went out of his mind with joy at beholding his daughter again.When she had told him all her adventures, he said to her:

`Did not I tell you that I was quite sure that that creature who wooed and won you as his wife had not been born a Pig? You see, my child, how wise you were in doing what I told you.'

And as the King was old and had no heirs, he put them on the throne in his place.And they ruled as only kings rule who have suffered many things.And if they are not dead they are still living and ruling happily.[8]

[8] Rumanische Marchen ubersetzt von Nite Kremnitz.