The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-02-20
THE ENCHANTED CASTLE.
A Fairy story.

A Fairy Story.
A king once had two sons who We're
considered clever; yet they wasted their
time and money in folly and dissipation,
and were scarcely ever at home They
had younger brother whom they called
stupid because he was quiet and simple,
and they used 10 make sport and mock
him, and say that such a simpleton as
he would never fight his way through
the world, for they, with all their clever
ness, found it q very difficult matter.
One evening, however, they took him
for walk with them, and on their way
they met with an anthill, and the two
elder brothers wanted TO overturn the
hill, that they might see the little ants
running and creeping about in their
fright. and carrying their eggs away to
place of safety. But the simpleton said
mo, no; leave the little creatures in
peace. 1 do not like to see them dis
turbed"
The brothers gave way to him, and
they went on quietly till they came to a
lake on which large number of ducks
were swimming, and the brothers wish
ed to catch one or two for roasting; but
the simpleton said: Leave the poor
birds in peace; cannot endure that you
should kill any of them.''
So the ducks were left to live, and the
three brothers walked on again till at
length they came to bees nest in a tree,
with so much honey that it ran over on
the trunk. The two brothers wanted to
light fire under the tree to smother the
bees, that they might take away the hon
ey; but the younger brother held them
back; leave the poor insects in
peace" he said, 81 cannot bear to think
of their being burnt"
Again they listened to him, stupid
as they thought him, and the three
brothers walked on till they came to a
castle where in the stables stood horses
of pure stone. They went all over the
rooms and through the castle till they
reached door to which were three
locks. The centre of the door was glass,
through which one could see into the
room. They looked and saw very old
man sitting at a table. They called to him
more than once, but he did not hear till
they called third time. Then he rose
up, opened the three locks, and came out
Even then he uttered not a word, but led
them to richly prepared table, and after
they had eaten and drank as much as
they wished, he allowed them to remain
all night, and sleep in his own chamber
The next morning the gray old man
came TO the eldest brother, made signs
to him to follow, and led him to a stone
table, on which was engraved three SEN
fences, the first in the following words:
I'm the wood under the moss are scat
tered the pearls of the kings daughter;
they are a thousand in number, and
whosoever can find them all in one day
before the sun goes down will release
the castle from its enchantment; but if he
should search and not succeed before
sunset, he will be turned into stone"
The eldest brother read these words,
and determined to try. He searched for
the whole day, but when the hour of
sunset arrived, he had only found
hundred pearls, and according to the
writing on the table, he was turned to
stone.
Notwithstanding this, the second
brother made an attempt, and began his
task in the evening, so that he searched
all night; but with very little more sue
cess than his brother. By sunset next
day he had found only two hundred
pearls; he was, therefore, turned into
stone.
At last came the turn of the simpleton
to seek among the moss; but he had no
confidence in himself, and he was SO
miserable at having to find the pearls,
that he went quite reluctantly, and when
he reached the place, sat down on stone
and wept. AS he sat there weeping, he
saw coming toward him the ant-king
whose kingdom and life he had saved,
with five thousand of his ants, and it was
not long before they had found all the
pearls, and piled them up in a large
heap. Then they went home, scarcely
waiting for his thanks; they had only
intended to show their gratitude. The
poor simpleton was quite Overjoyed; but
nm ratN1 inn RFNsl asa Al,
second task awaiting him. 1t was to
fetch the key of the princess's sleeping
chamber from the bottom of the lake in
to which it had been thrown. So the
simpleton went to the shore of the lake
wondering what he should do But the
ducks knew him in a moment, and were
ready to help him, because he had saved
their lives, and asked what he wanted
No sooner had he told them than they
dived to the bottom, and in a few mo-
ments brought up the key and gave it to
him.
There was still another task to perform,
and the most difficult of all. He had to
60 into the room where the kings three
daughters were sleeping, find out which
was the youngest and most beloved, and
wake her. The sisters exactly resembled
each other; the only thing by which
they could be stinguished was that be-
fore they went to sleep the eldest had
eaten barley-sugar, the second little
syrup, and the youngest a spoonful of
honey. But in the midst of the youths
trouble and wonder how he should find
out which was the youngest daughter,
in came the queen bee whose communi-
ty he had saved from the fire. and she
went to the mouths of the three sleepers,
and quickly discovered by the breath of
the that Cha ho6 hAnoyr
She remained sitting on her mouth, and
the youth knew by this which of the
kings daughters to awaken. No sooner
had he done so than the castle was dis
enchanted. and all who had been turned
to stone resumed their proper forms.
The simple brother married the young
est daughter of the king, and became
king after her fathers death. His broth
ers married her two sisters After all,
it was better to be simple and kind heart
ed than clever and cruel.