“Good-day, dear Mr. Fox,
how are you? How is all with you? How are you getting through this dear
season?” The fox, full of all kinds of arrogance, looked at the cat
from head to foot, and for a long time did not know whether he would
give any answer or not. At last he said, “Oh, thou wretched
beard-cleaner, thou piebald fool, thou hungry mouse-hunter, what canst
thou be thinking of? Dost thou venture to ask how I am getting on? What
hast thou learnt? How many arts dost thou understand?” “I understand
but one,” replied the cat, modestly. “What art is that?” asked the fox. “When the hounds are following me, I can spring into a tree and save
myself.” “Is that all?” said the fox. “I am master of a hundred arts,
and have into the bargain a sackful of cunning. Thou makest me sorry
for thee; come with me, I will teach thee how people get away from the
hounds.” Just then came a hunter with four dogs. The cat sprang nimbly
up a tree, and sat down on top of it, where the branches and foliage
quite concealed her. “Open your sack, Mr. Fox, open your sack,” cried
the cat to him, but the dogs had already seized him, and were holding
him fast. “Ah, Mr. Fox,” cried the cat. “You with your hundred arts are
left in the lurch! Had you been able to climb like me, you would not
have lost your life.”



76 The Pink

There was once on a time a Queen to whom God had given no children. Every morning she went into the garden and prayed to God in heaven to
bestow on her a son or a daughter. Then an angel from heaven came to
her and said, “Be at rest, thou shalt have a son with the power of
wishing, so that whatsoever in the world he wishes for, that shall he
have.” Then she went to the King, and told him the joyful tidings, and
when the time was come she gave birth to a son, and the King was filled
with gladness. Every morning she went with the child to the garden
where the wild beasts were kept, and washed herself there in a clear
stream. It happened once when the child was a little older, that it was
lying in her arms and she fell asleep. Then came the old cook, who knew
that the child had the power of wishing, and stole it away, and he took
a hen, and cut it in pieces, and dropped some of its blood on the
Queen’s apron and on her dress. Then he carried the child away to a
secret place, where a nurse was obliged to suckle it, and he ran to the
King and accused the Queen of having allowed her child to be taken from
her by the wild beasts. When the King saw the blood on her apron, he
believed this, fell into such a passion that he ordered a high tower to
be built, in which neither sun nor moon could be seen, and had his wife
put into it, and walled up. Here she was to stay for seven years
without meat or drink, and die of hunger. But God sent two angels from
heaven in the shape of white doves, which flew to her twice a day, and
carried her food until the seven years were over. The cook, however, thought to himself, “If the child has the power of
wishing, and I am here, he might very easily get me into trouble.” So
he left the palace and went to the boy, who was already big enough to
speak, and said to him, “Wish for a beautiful palace for thyself with a
garden, and all else that pertains to it.” Scarcely were the words out
of the boy’s mouth, when everything was there that he had wished for. After a while the cook said to him, “It is not well for thee to be so
alone, wish for a pretty girl as a companion.” Then the King’s son
wished for one, and she immediately stood before him, and was more
beautiful than any painter could have painted her. The two played
together, and loved each other with all their hearts, and the old cook
went out hunting like a nobleman. The thought, however, occurred to him
that the King’s son might some day wish to be with his father, and thus
bring him into great peril. So he went out and took the maiden aside,
and said, “To-night when the boy is asleep, go to his bed and plunge
this knife into his heart, and bring me his heart and tongue, and if
thou dost not do it, thou shalt lose thy life.” Thereupon he went away,
and when he returned next day she had not done it, and said, “Why
should I shed the blood of an innocent boy who has never harmed any
one?” The cook once more said, “If thou dost not do it, it shall cost
thee thy own life.” When he had gone away, she had a little hind
brought to her, and ordered her to be killed, and took her heart and
tongue, and laid them on a plate, and when she saw the old man coming,
she said to the boy, “Lie down in thy bed, and draw the clothes over
thee.” Then the wicked wretch came in and said, “Where are the boy’s
heart and tongue?” The girl reached the plate to him, but the King’s
son threw off the quilt, and said, “Thou old sinner, why didst thou
want to kill me? Now will I pronounce thy sentence. Thou shalt become a
black poodle and have a gold collar round thy neck, and shalt eat
burning coals, till the flames burst forth from thy throat.” And when
he had spoken these words, the old man was changed into a poodle dog,
and had a gold collar round his neck, and the cooks were ordered to
bring up some live coals, and these he ate, until the flames broke
forth from his throat. The King’s son remained there a short while
longer, and he thought of his mother, and wondered if she were still
alive. At length he said to the maiden, “I will go home to my own
country; if thou wilt go with me, I will provide for thee.” “Ah,” she
replied, “the way is so long, and what shall I do in a strange land
where I am unknown?” As she did not seem quite willing, and as they
could not be parted from each other, he wished that she might be
changed into a beautiful pink, and took her with him. Then he went away
to his own country, and the poodle had to run after him. He went to the
tower in which his mother was confined, and as it was so high, he
wished for a ladder which would reach up to the very top. Then he
mounted up and looked inside, and cried, “Beloved mother, Lady Queen,
are you still alive, or are you dead?” She answered, “I have just
eaten, and am still satisfied,” for she thought the angels were there. Said he, “I am your dear son, whom the wild beasts were said to have
torn from your arms; but I am alive still, and will speedily deliver
you.” Then he descended again, and went to his father, and caused
himself to be announced as a strange huntsman, and asked if he could
give him a place. The King said yes, if he was skilful and could get
game for him, he should come to him, but that deer had never taken up
their quarters in any part of the district or country. Then the
huntsman promised to procure as much game for him as he could possibly
use at the royal table. So he summoned all the huntsmen together, and
bade them go out into the forest with him. And he went with them and
made them form a great circle, open at one end where he stationed
himself, and began to wish.