A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in it stood a tree that bore golden apples. About the time when the apples grew ripe, it was found that every night one of them was gone.
The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to watch all night. The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o"clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he, too, fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone.
Then the third son lay down under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve, a bird of pure gold came; and, as it was snapping at one of the apples, the gardener"s son shotan arrow at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only itdropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away.
The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning. Every one agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom; but the king said, " One feather is of no use to me; I must have the whole bird. "Then the gardener"s eldest son set out to find the golden bird, and, when he had gone a little way, he came to a wood, and he saw a fox, and was going to shoot it. But the fox said:
"Do not shoot me, for I will give you good advice. I know that you want to find the golden bird. You will reach a village, and you will see two inns facing each other, one of which is very beautiful to look at. Do not go in there, but rest for the night in the other. "But the son took no notice of the fox, and, when he came to the village, he went into the better inn, and ate and drank, and forgot about the bird. Time passed on, and, as the eldest son did not come back, the second son set out, and the same thing happened to him.
The youngest son then went to seek the golden bird. As he came to the wood, he met the fox, and heard the same good advice. But he was thankful to the fox, and did not try to shoot him, and so the fox said, "Sit upon my tail, and you will travel faster."So he sat down, and the fox began to run, and away they went, so fast that their hair whistled in the wind.
When they came to the village, the son went to the shabby inn, and stayed there all night. In the morning the fox came again and said:
" Go straight forward till you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep. Take no notice of them; but go into the castle and pass on till you come to a room where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage. Close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one. "Then the fox stretched out his tail again, and away they went.
Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said. So the son went in and found the chamber where the golden bird hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage, and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying close by it. Then he thought:
"It will be an odd thing to bring away such a fine bird inthis shabby cage. "
So he took hold of it, and put it into the golden cage. But the bird set up such a loud scream that the soldiers awoke, and took him prisoner. The next morning the Court sentenced him to die, unless he should bring the king the golden horse, which could run as swiftly as the wind. If he did this, he was to have the golden bird for his own.
So he set out once more on his journey, when the fox met him and said:
" You see now what has happened through not listening to my advice. I will, however, tell you how to find the golden horse. You must go straight on till you come to a castle where the horse stands in his stall. By his side will lie the groom fast asleep. Take away the horse quietly, but be sure to put the old leathern saddle upon him, and not the golden one close by it." Then the son sat down on the fox"s tail, and away they went. All went right, and the groom lay snoring with his hand upon the golden saddle. But, when the son looked at the horse, he thought it a great pity to put the leathern saddleupon it.
"I will give him the good one, " said he; "I am sure he deserves it. "As he took up the golden saddle, the groom awoke, and called out so loudly that all the guards ran in and took the young man prisoner, and in the morning he was again brought before the Court and sentenced to die. But it was agreed that, if he could bring thither the beautiful princess, he should live, and have the bird and the horse given him.
Then he went on his way again very sadly; but the old fox came and said:
"Why did you not listen to me? But I will once more give you advice. Go straight on, and in the evening you will arrive at a castle. At eight o"clock each night the princess walks in the garden; go up to her, tell her your name, and she will let you lead her away; but do not allow her to take leave of herfather. "
As they came to the castle, all was as the fox had said. At eight o"clock the young man met the princess and told her his name, and she agreed to run away with him, but begged with many tears that he would let her take leave of her father. At first he refused, yet at last he consented; but the moment she came to her father"s house the guards awoke, and took him prisoner.
Then he was brought before the king, who said, "You shall never have my daughter unless in eight days you dig away the hill in front of my window. "Now this hill was so big that no one could take it away; but, when he had worked seven days, and had done very little, the fox came, and said:
"Lie down and go to sleep, and I will work for you. " In the morning the hill was gone.
Then the king was obliged to keep his promise, and away went the young man and the princess; but the fox came and said to him:
"We will have all three-the princess, the horse, and the bird. When you come to the king, and he asks for the beautiful princess, you must say, " Here she is!" Then you will mount the golden horse that they are to give you, and put out your hand to take leave of them; but shake hands with the princess last. Then lift her quickly on to the horse and gallop away. "All went right, and then the fox said: