Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar/The Grey Wolf and the Golden Cassowary
THE GREY WOLF AND THE GOLDEN CASSOWARY.
Long before you and I were born there lived a king whose name was Dymion. He reigned with great wisdom, and had three sons, who were named respectively Clement, Peter, and John!
Now this king had a beautiful garden, and in this garden there was a wonderful apple-tree, on which golden apples grew. All at once there appeared to be a deficiency among the royal apples, and King Dymion became very sorrowful and very thin, lost his appetite, and fell altogether into a bad way.
At last he called his sons to him, and said,—
"My dear children, I want you to do me a great service, a robber comes to our royal garden every night and many of the golden apples are gone. To me this loss is as bad as death. Now, to him who catches the night robber I will give half my kingdom, and when I die he shall inherit the rest."
The sons listened to what their father said, talked it over, and agreed that they would try not to sleep at night, but look out for the robber.
That night Prince Clement, the eldest of the three, went into the garden, lay down on the grass, and of course fell asleep, in fact he slept so soundly that it was midday before he woke. He then got up, went to the king and told him that the robber had not been. But another apple was missing!
The next night Prince Peter went, sat down under the apple-tree, and likewise found himself in dreamland. When noon came he went to his father, saying that the robber was not to be seen. Yet another apple was gone!
On the third night Prince John went into the garden and sat under the apple-tree watching for the robber. He looked all round him, and took care to keep wide awake. When midnight came he saw the garden begin to shine as if with lightning. Rapidly from the east came flying a golden cassowary like a fiery star burning in the heavens, making the night as clear as day.
Prince John crept nearer and nearer to the apple-tree, he hardly dared to breathe, but waited to see what would happen next.
The golden cassowary alighted upon the apple-tree, and began its work plucking off the apples.
Prince John got up gently from the grass and seized the cassowary by the tail, but the bird would not be caught so easily; it dropped the apples on the ground, tore itself out of the prince's hands, and flew away, only leaving one of its feathers behind, and, when the prince held it up, the whole garden shone like fire.
As soon it was day the prince went to the king, his father, telling him that the robber had been discovered at last, and that it was a bird and not a man, as was first supposed, and to prove the truth of his story he showed the king the feather. His father was delighted, and kissed him for joy! And from that time forth no one stole the king's apples.
King Dymion became himself again; he could eat, drink, and sleep as of old.
But after a time the king became disagreeable once more, and had a strong wish to possess this wonderful cassowary, so he despatched his two eldest sons in search of the extraordinary creature. When they had departed Prince John begged his father to let him go too; but the king was loath to do so, in case some harm should befall the young prince, who was his favourite son. However, after a great deal of begging, Prince John obtained his father's consent and rode off.
He rode and rode until he came to a place where the road branched off into three, and in the middle stood a finger-post, on which was this inscription,—
"Whosoever goes straight on will be cold and hungry. He who goes to the left will live, but his horse will die. He who goes to the right will die, but his horse will live."
"To the left!" said the prince to himself, as he turned his horse in that direction.
He had not gone far before a grey wolf sprang out and threw himself with ferocity on the horse, and before the prince had time to save the animal the wolf had eaten it and was off.
Prince John continued his journey very sorrowfully on foot; suddenly the same grey wolf came up to him and said,—
I am sorry, Prince John, that I ate up your good horse, but of course you saw what was written on the finger-post? therefore it could not be avoided. Now forget your sorrow and sit down on my back; I like the look of you, and believe you to be a good man, and will serve you from this day forth. But now tell me whither I have to carry you, and why!"
Prince John explained, and told him all that had happened with respect to the apples.
"All right," said the wolf; "I know where to find the golden cassowary, so sit down on my back, prince, and let us be off!"
They were off indeed, for the grey wolf ran faster than any bird could fly.
"Here we are, prince," said he, as they stopped in front of a stone wall. "But listen to me, the cassowary is in a golden cage hanging against the wall; take the bird but leave the cage, or else you will get into trouble."
Prince John climbed over into a most beautiful garden, wonderfully illuminated as if by the sun, but as it was midnight this was hardly likely to be the case, and on looking round the prince saw that the light came from a rich golden cage, hanging on the wall at the opposite side of the garden, in which sat the cassowary asleep. He was about to take the bird out, when suddenly he thought,—
"How on earth am I to carry the cassowary?"
And forgetting what the grey wolf had said, he began to take down the golden cage. But, alas! under it many musical instruments were arranged, from which came a great sound, which woke the guards, who ran into the garden, seized Prince John, and took him before their king.
The king, who was the owner of the luminous cassowary, agreed to pardon Prince John, and to give him the wonderful bird to boot, on condition of his obtaining for him a certain horse of pure gold, belonging to King Alphonso, who ruled over a kingdom at the World's End.
Prince John promised to do so, and went to the place where he had left the grey wolf.
"You had better have listened to me," said the wolf as he came to meet him; "but you will be wiser next time. Now let us go to King Alphonso at the World's End."
When they at last arrived at King Alphonso's kingdom the grey wolf stopped at the stables where the golden horse was kept.
"Now, prince, listen to me," said the wolf; "go into the stables, you will find the grooms fast asleep, take the golden horse away gently, but on no account attempt to take away the bridle or you will again get into difficulties."
Into the royal stables went Prince John, and was just about to take the beautiful horse from its place, when, as ill-luck would have it, he saw the golden bridle, and no sooner had he taken it up than the grooms awoke, took him prisoner, and in the morning brought him before King Alphonso.
King Alphonso was also good enough to forgive the prince, and agreed to give him the golden horse if he would get him the Princess Helen, the fair daughter of King Cassimir, in exchange.
Prince John hung down his head, and after promising to do his best, went to the place where he had left the grey-wolf, half afraid that his friend had gone. But no, the good creature was still waiting for him.
"Oh, prince!" said the wolf, "if I did not love you I should not have been here; but never mind, we have not a moment to lose, sit on my back and let us fly to King Cassimir."
As soon as they arrived at their destination the grey wolf turned to the prince, and said,—
"Alight, my prince; not far from here is the king's garden, I shall go myself this time while you wait for me under this green tree."
The wolf went his way, and climbing over the garden wall, hid himself among the bushes.
Princess Helen was walking in the garden, surrounded by her maidens and nurses, and by her side walked the queen, her mother. The grey wolf noticed everything and kept his eye on her all the time. Suddenly, just as the fair princess was passing the bushes where he lay, he sprang up from behind them, and seizing the princess, threw her on to his back, and was off like the wind. A dreadful cry arose from the maidens and the nurses and the queen; in another moment the whole court came running in great alarm; ministers, grand chamberlains of the court, generals, and a great many more, who looked frightfully scared, wondering what had happened. When King Cassimir heard how a wolf had carried off his beloved daughter, he called his hunters together and let all his dogs loose; but in vain, for the grey wolf was far away with the prince and princess. The latter lay senseless in the prince's arms, the grey wolf having sadly frightened her. At last she began to recover and moved a little, her beautiful eyes opened, and when she raised them to the princess face she blushed like a rose,—and I am sorry to say the prince followed her example and blushed also. In that moment they fell so desperately in love with each other that it would be impossible to describe it in this story.
But after a time Prince John fell into profound silence and grief; he could not bear the thought of parting with Princess Helen and giving her to King Alphonso, neither did she like the idea when the prince had told her all about it.
The grey wolf, seeing their sorrow, exclaimed,—
"Do not grieve my good friends; I will help you."
At last they arrived at King Alphonso's palace.
"Now, prince," cried the wolf, "here we must act with caution and tact. I shall take the form of the princess, who must remain hidden in that forest yonder, while you take me to King Alphonso and receive the golden horse in exchange; you must then mount it and ride back to the forest for the princess, and wait for me. I shall not be very long, though I intend to have a little fun. Good-bye."
With these words the wolf struck himself three times with his tail, and was immediately changed into the likeness of Princess Helen. Prince John, greatly surprised at the sudden change, took the wolf and delivered him over into the hands of King Alphonso as Princess Helen, receiving in exchange the golden horse, and rode off on it as swiftly as the wind into the forest where the real princess was waiting.
Meanwhile, at the palace the wedding feast was getting ready, and, according to custom, King Alphonso was about to kiss his young bride, but he had hardly bent down to do so, when the wolf gave a little jump and bit his nose off; while the king, instead of seeing his bride before him, saw, to his horror, a grey wolf.
The wolf, however, did not stand long upon ceremony, but striking his tail against the king's legs, made off through the door, while everybody began calling out as loud as ever they could,—
"Stop him! stop him! Seize him! seize him."
But the cunning wolf had long reached the prince and princess. Prince John got on the wolf's back while Princess Helen sat on the golden horse, and away they flew through the air. At last they came to the kingdom of King Dalmat, owner of the golden cassowary.
"Now I shall change myself into the likeness of the golden horse," said the wolf, "so that you need not part with him either. You must take me to King Dalmat and receive the cassowary in exchange."
Princess Helen was told to go on before them with the golden horse, while the prince took the grey wolf, in the form of the golden horse, to King Dalmat who was delighted with the splendid animal, and gave the cassowary to the prince.
King Dalmat at once ordered the horse—or wolf—to be harnessed, and rode off on it to a hunt.
"How well King Dalmat rides!" cried all the huntsmen with admiration.
But all at once the shaggy wolf gave a violent bounce and was off, leaving King Dalmat with his legs up in the air and his shoulders fixed in the ground, which seemed opening to receive him.
He struggled with all his force, but in vain, to free himself by putting his hands against the ground and kicking his feet up into the air. His men ran at once to set him free, after which they began to cry out after the wolf,—
"Seize him! seize him! Catch him! catch him!"
But there was nothing to seize and nothing to catch, for, as before, Prince John was comfortably seated on the wolf's back, and the princess on the golden horse, who arched its neck in pride beneath her and danced along with her. They did not hurry, but rode slowly along the high road until at last they came to the place where the prince had first met the grey wolf. There still lay the bones of Prince John's horse. The grey wolf stopped suddenly, and after breathing a little, said,—
"Now, my dear prince, the time has come for us to part; I honour you and believe in you. You have treated me with all possible kindness, which, as long as I live, I shall always remember. And now, dear prince, I want to give you some good advice. Be careful, there are many bad people in this world, and whatever happens do not believe or trust your brothers. I will pray fervently that you may get home safely, and cheer me with good news when next we meet. Good-bye, and may good luck attend you and Princess Helen."
With these words the grey wolf disappeared.
Four days afterwards the prince, seated on the golden horse, with the princess in front of him, and the golden cassowary in the cage over his shoulders, came to his father's kingdom, where, as ill-luck would have it, he met his elder brothers in a field. In a fit of jealousy the wretches attacked him, leaving him for dead on the ground, and rode away, taking with them the princess, the cassowary and the horse.
In the meantime, breathless, immovable, and covered with blood, on a barren heath lay Prince John. Thus passed the whole day, and already the sun was beginning to set; the heath was dreary, not a soul was to be seen, the wild carrion crows, attended by their young, came flying round the prince. At this critical moment the grey wolf suddenly made his appearance, as though he had sprung up from the earth.
He had scented danger from afar and arrived just in time to save his beloved prince; another moment and it would have been too late. He foresaw what the crows wanted to do, and permitted them to approach the body. Hardly had they flown down upon the prince when the grey wolf seized them by their tails.
"Let us go, grey wolf, let us go!" croaked the crows.
"No, my friends," replied the wolf, "I shall not let you go until your young ones bring me the water of life and the water of death."
Away flew the young ones, while the grey wolf kept the old ones engaged in conversation; they told the wolf all about their experience of birds and people.
The wolf listened with great attention and wondered at their wisdom, still keeping firm hold of their tails all the time, and that he might not forget himself he squeezed them with his claws.
The sun went down and the night came and passed away, the sky was red again before the cunning young crows appeared with the water of life and the water of death, in little bottles. The wolf took the bottles and sent the crows upon their business; then he went up to the breathless and motionless body of the prince and sprinkled it over with the water of death, and in a moment the hue of death passed away from his features, his cheeks became rosy. Then the wolf sprinkled him over with the water of life and he opened his eyes, shook himself, got up, looked round him, and at last, on seeing his friend the wolf standing before him, he said laughingly,—
"I believe I have been asleep?"
"Yes, my prince, and you would have slept here for ever," returned the wolf, "had I not smelt the danger you were in; I have done you a good turn to-day, but it is the last; from this day forth you must take care of yourself. However, I will give you some more advice. Listen: your angry brothers are no longer alive, the large, black immortal skeleton has twisted both their necks and has also sent your kingdom to sleep, your relations and subjects are wrapped in profound slumber. But besides this, the angry skeleton has stolen your Princess Helen, the golden cassowary, and the golden horse, and has locked them up in his castle. But do not fear for your bride, as the immortal skeleton has no power over her for she possesses a strong talisman. Still, she cannot get away from the castle, the only thing that can set her free is the dead female skeleton. Now you will have to find this deceased she-skeleton. I myself do not know where she is to be found, the only person who can tell you anything at all about her and where she is buried, is a certain witch who lives in a forest the other side of the World's End, but no one has yet dared to enter into this forest; no wild beast even has ever penetrated it, nor has any bird been known to fly over it, so dark and dreadful is this forest. The witch rides about through the clouds at full speed, sweeping past on her broom; with an iron pestle in her hand. From her alone you can learn how to get at the deceased she-skeleton for they are great friends. And now I will tell you where you can find a horse that will bring you straight to the dark wood and to the witch, for no ordinary horse will take you. Go from hence eastward until you come to a green meadow, in the middle of which stand two trees, and between them in the ground is an iron door with a ring. This door you must open and go down an iron staircase, which you will see there; you will then come to a subterranean hall with twelve doors on each side; behind the twelfth door on the right-hand side, is a big horse shut up by himself. When he hears your footsteps, he will run out to meet you; mount him and ride off; he will know his way, you need tell him nothing. Now good-bye, my prince; if ever we meet again, it won't be until your wedding-day!"
And the grey wolf was off.
Following the wolf's advice for once, Prince John went eastward, and in three days came to the subterranean vault. He stopped before the twelfth door and immediately there was a sound like thunder, and a tremendous horse ran out. The prince mounted his back and patted him fondly on his neck, while the handsome animal snorted and neighed with pleasure, stood on his hind-legs for a moment and then bounded away till the earth beneath him shook and trembled. He sprang higher than the highest trees, over the broad valleys, and covered the narrow ones with his tail, and overcame every obstacle with his breast. He flew like an arrow without bending the smallest blade of grass with his feet and without raising the least dust from the ground. But after galloping like this all day he at last grew tired, which after all was perfectly natural. The perspiration poured down from him in streams, and he was surrounded as though by smoke, and with clouds of hot steam, so that Prince John was obliged to slacken his pace. Evening was already setting in as the prince rode through a very wide field, musing on the beautiful sunset. Suddenly he heard a savage cry, and on looking to see whence it came, he beheld two wer-wolves fighting on the road, biting, tearing, and rending each other with their claws.
Prince John rode up to them, and asked,—
"What are you two brothers fighting about?"
"Well," said one, "it happens that we possess three dens, an invisible cloak, a cap, and a club. Now, as we are only two, we do not know how we can best divide them between us. We began to dispute, but that does not seem to help us. Now you, who are a learned man, might perhaps be able to give us some good advice, and tell us how we had best divide these things and avoid fighting."
The prince thought for a moment, arid then said,—
"I will let fly an arrow, and you must both run after it; he who first gets to the place where the arrow falls shall have which two of the dens he likes best, and also the cap, cloak, and club. Do you consent?"
"Yes, yes!" they cried, and stood side by side ready to start.
Prince John shot forth an arrow, and off went the wolves after it, leaving the cloak, cap, and club behind them. The moment Prince John was left by the wer-wolves he put on the cloak and cap, and he and his horse became at once invisible and rode away, leaving the two wolves either to become friends again or go on fighting as long as they pleased.
Early on the following morning the big horse came to the dark and dreary forest where the witch lived.
The old hag was very condescending to the prince, and told him how to get at the deceased she-skeleton.
"In the middle of the mighty ocean," said she, "in the Island of Booyan, stands an old, old oak, and under this oak is an iron box buried in the ground; in this box lies a fat hare, and in that hare sits a grey duck, and in that duck is an egg, and in that egg is the deceased she-skeleton herself. When you get as far as the egg you must take it and go straight to the immortal skeleton's castle. When you get there you will see a twelve-headed serpent lying at the castle gates keeping watch. Now you must not think of fighting with this serpent, that would be useless; you have in your possession a club which will do all that for you if you tell it when to begin. You must then put on your invisible cloak and cap and go to the immortal skeleton, and throw down the egg before him; as soon as you do that he will die. But on your way back you must not forget to take some delightful dulcimers which you will see in the garden, for if you do not take them your father, King Dymion, and his court will never wake. Now good-bye, Prince John, good luck attend you. Your good horse will find the way. If anything happens, think of me, old woman though I am, not unkindly but with good-will. God bless you!"
The prince then parted from the benevolent old lady, and mounting his horse he devoutly made the sign of the cross, whistled loudly, and off they went as before, leaving the dark forest in the distance, and the mighty ocean was reached in due time. When the prince had galloped up to it he looked about him, wondering how he and his horse could possibly cross over to the Island of Booyan through those deep and angry waves, when he beheld a fisherman's net, in which an unfortunate little pike was struggling. The pike on seeing the prince called out,—
"Prince John, be good enough to take me out of the net and throw me back into the ocean, for I may be useful to you in a short time!"
The prince, always ready to help, did so, and the pike turned round, thanked him, and then disappeared in the sea, while Prince John stood looking at the water thoughtfully. The big horse looked at him inquiringly, and wondered what was in his master's mind; was he thinking how to get to the Island of Booyan? or of his fair princess?
"What are you thinking of, my prince?" asked the horse at last. "If you are wondering how you are to get across, set your mind at rest; nothing is easier. Mount my back again and I will be your ship, only you must hold on tight to my mane and fear nothing!"
Prince John obeyed, and the horse bounded boldly down the steep shore into the depths of the sea, and in the twinkling of an eye, horse and rider were out of sight in the depths of darkness.
Suddenly, startled by the noise of the waves, Prince John fell from his charger's back into the water, but in another moment the big horse helped his rider up and once more began to beat the water with his hoofs and breast, while all around him the waves rose and dashed with fury. How much lighter a sailing-ship looks when the wind blows it gently along the sea! With long and quick strokes the good horse soon swam over to the Island of Booyan, where he leaped ashore, covered with foam, right in front of the oak.
Prince John had no wish to linger about so he left the big horse by the seaside to eat the grass at its leisure, and went up to the old oak and tried to shake it, but it was very firm. Again he shook, and harder than before; this time the old tree creaked. He tried once more, harder and harder, till the roots began to move in the earth; then the prince, exerting all his strength, pulled up the sturdy tree with one wrench, and down he fell on his back with it.
But he was up again in a moment looking round him; the roots lay scattered about like snakes, and where the old oak used to stand there was now a large and deep hole. In this hole Prince John found the iron box; he raised the lid and took out the hare by its ears. He had hardly torn it open when out jumped a grey duck and ran off towards the sea; but the prince quickly shot an arrow through the animal, which fell dead on the ground; but the egg, alas! rolled out straight into the sea, and fell to the bottom. Prince John sighed. Suddenly the pike appeared, and on seeing the prince in distress, dived down into the water, and after two or three minutes reappeared, and swam to the shore with the egg in its mouth and put it down at the prince's feet, saying,—
"You see now that within one hour I have been of use to you;" and with these words the pike dived back again, before the prince had time to thank it.
He took the egg, and, mounting his horse, left the Island of Booyan and crossed the mighty ocean.
The horse galloped along till he and his rider came to a very high rock, on which stood the immortal skeleton's castle; round this castle was a wall of iron, and in the wall was a gate, before which lay a twelve-headed serpent; six of whose heads were always asleep and six were always awake, so that no one dared to stand and look at the castle for fear of the serpent, who would eat any number of people up in a moment, and not leave a tooth to remember them by.
But the horse was careful; he brought the prince as near the gates as he thought wise, and made him put on the invisible cloak and cap. Prince John dismounted and crept up to the serpent, and then whispered to his club,—
"Begin!"
The club did not wait to be told twice, but jumped upon the serpent and began beating it as hard as it could on the heads and back. The serpent howled, but the club took no notice whatever, only beat it all the harder. At last the serpent opened one of its mouths to catch its antagonist; but no, the club only beat the harder. Then the serpent opened all its twelve mouths and made a number of dreadful grimaces, but the club cared little or nothing for this, and only knocked all its teeth out!
The serpent writhed as if it were mad, and turned a back somersault in its wrath. It breathed fire, and gnawed the earth, but all in vain. Not hurriedly, nor hastily, striking no false blows, the club continued its work quite at its ease. At last the serpent, growing very ill-tempered, began to gnaw itself; and putting its large claws to its breast, it tore itself in two, and fell dead on the ground. But the club still kept on beating the dead body, just as it had done when the serpent was alive, until Prince John told it to stop.
The prince left his good horse at the gates, where the tired animal could lie down and drink the refreshing water from the brook beside him or eat the fresh green grass that grew all round him, while the prince himself went in his invisible cloak and cap, with the club and the egg in his hands, to the immortal skeleton's castle. It was a very difficult climb to get up that rock; but after a great deal of trouble the prince at last reached the castle, and entered the garden. Suddenly he heard the sound of delightful dulcimers; and as he approached the spot from whence the sound came, he saw an old tree, on which hung a number of dulcimers playing of themselves; but under the tree sat his beloved Princess Helen, looking thoughtful and sad, but beautiful as ever. Prince John approached her, and taking off the invisible cloak and cap, he made her a sign to keep quiet; for she was about to utter a shout of joy and throw herself into his arms.
"I have brought the deceased she-skeleton," he whispered. "Wait for me here while I go in search of the immortal skeleton. When I have killed the wretch I shall come back to you, and we can ride off to my father's kingdom."
So saying, Prince John became once more invisible, and was about to go in search of the immortal skeleton in his enchanted castle, when the skeleton himself appeared on the scene, and walking up to the princess, he exclaimed,—
"How often must I tell you that you must not grieve and look so sad? Your Prince John will never come to look for you here; it would be impossible for him to do so. You are mine. I mean to be your husband, and nobody will dare to take you away! I—"
At this moment the club nudged the prince a little.
"All right," said the prince; "begin!"
The club flew at the immortal skeleton, and beat him about with such violence that the creature howled, and turned any amount of somersaults in the air, while the prince, who was still invisible, kept crying out,—
"Beat harder, little club! beat harder! I want him to have a thorough good thrashing!"
"Who are you? and where are you?" cried the skeleton.
"Look, and you will see," the prince replied, taking off his cloak and cap, at the same time throwing the egg on the ground, which broke in halves, making the immortal skeleton turn another of his somersaults; but this time it was fatal, for he gave a tremendous howl, and died.
The prince and princess then took the delightful dulcimers, the golden horse, and the cassowary, mounted their chargers, and rode homewards. As they looked back, they saw the rock behind them tremble and fall, while a dark cloud hovered over the spot.
On arriving at King Dymion's kingdom, they found it locked in profound slumber; even the oxen stood sleeping in the fields, with the ploughmen by their sides. All created animals were asleep. The leaves on the trees did not rustle, no wind brushed through the air, all was as still as in the grave. The people in the houses and in the street, walking, sitting, standing; all the cats, dogs, hens, horses, sheep, flies on the wall, and even the very smoke from the chimneys,—were all and each asleep. Such was the condition of the kingdom when Prince John rode through with the princess. They rode up to the palace, and there, on the marble steps, they saw the bodies of Prince Clement and Prince Peter, whom the immortal skeleton had killed.
Prince John went up the stairs; all was quiet. In the large hall there was evidently going to be a feast, people were standing all round, dressed in their Sunday best, but every one was sleeping. King Dymion was standing with all his courtiers behind him, while judges sat with unspoken words on their lips.
Prince John laughed at the sight, for it really was most amusing; then he brought in the dulcimers, and made them play. Hardly had they begun when up jumped all the people and began dancing, jumping, and turning somersaults—which were very fashionable in those days. The judges at once pronounced the words which they had not had time to utter. What they were I do not know.
When King Dymion woke and saw his beloved son standing before him with the beautiful princess, he was too delighted for words. He laughed, he cried, he looked at them, and fondled and embraced them; in fact, he became so jolly, and laughed so much, that his sides shook. He then ordered guns to be fired, the bells to be rung, and the kingdom to be lighted up for Prince John's benefit.
Next day Prince John and the fair Princess Helen were married. There was to be a grand feast later, to which the whole population of that kingdom was invited; no one was to be left in the houses except the very old people and the very little babies. The club kept order, the delightful dulcimers played; but when everything was ready, and the feast was at its best, the grey wolf appeared. And this is how it happened:—
After drinking and eating fairly well, King Dymion and the guests heard a tremendous noise outside the palace; so they rushed to the windows to see what it was, and beheld a carriage of pure gold, drawn by eight horses, on which sat trumpeters with trumpets; behind the carriage were six armed footmen on horseback, while at the sides ran six powdered footmen, with gold lace on their red plush uniforms. But the most wonderful thing of all was the coat-of-arms on the carriage door. It consisted of a shield with a wolf's tail on a field sable, surmounted by a count's coronet.
Prince John looked into the carriage window as it stopped before the palace-door, and exclaimed,—
"This is my own dear old grey wolf again!" and he ran out to meet him. He opened the carriage-door himself, and helped his guest out.
After kissing each other very warmly, the prince took the wolf by the paw into the palace, and introduced him to the king. The wolf returned King Dymion's bow, and then sat down on his hind-legs, greatly to the amusement of the guests, and respectfully complimented the ladies and gentlemen, saying such very agreeable things that it made them feel even more at their ease than they had done before.
The grey wolf's costume was most extraordinary. He had a red cap on his head with green feathers in it; round his neck he had a blue silk ribbon; he wore a red velvet jacket embroidered with gold, lilac gloves with lace ruffles, a scarf round his waist; on his hind-feet he had slippers, and on his tail he wore a silver net ornamented with diamonds.
The feast continued until very late at night; but as soon as it was dark the golden cassowary was brought in with its golden cage, and hung up on the balcony. The whole court shone like lightning immediately, so that no lamps were wanted, not even in the streets round about the palace, as the cassowary afforded light enough.
The grey wolf stopped all night at the palace, but when morning came he was ready to go. However, Prince John begged him to remain in the palace, saying that they would give him all the comforts that could be desired, and that they would even give him a set of rooms all to himself if he wished it. The grey wolf at last consented, much to the prince's joy.
After a long period of happiness King Dymion died, and left all the kingdom to his son, who lived to a very old age with his queen, and was surrounded by a number of beautiful children.
The old grey wolf lived on happily with King John, who loved him dearly. The wolf nursed the children till they grew up big enough to nurse themselves; he also taught them to read and write. Besides this, he told them any amount of fairy tales, which they enjoyed better than anything else.
But when King John died, the poor wolf died too, out of pure grief. Then papers were found hidden in his rooms, telling his history; and from those very papers our story is taken.