<h3><SPAN name="chap76"></SPAN>76 The Pink</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. Two
hundred deer and more came running inside the circle at once, and the huntsmen
shot them. Then they were all placed on sixty country carts, and driven home to
the King, and for once he was able to deck his table with game, after having
had none at all for years.</p>
<p>Now the King felt great joy at this, and commanded that his entire household
should eat with him next day, and made a great feast. When they were all
assembled together, he said to the huntsmen, “As thou art so clever, thou
shalt sit by me.” He replied, “Lord King, your majesty must excuse
me, I am a poor huntsman.” But the King insisted on it, and said,
“Thou shalt sit by me,” until he did it. Whilst he was sitting
there, he thought of his dearest mother, and wished that one of the
King’s principal servants would begin to speak of her, and would ask how
it was faring with the Queen in the tower, and if she were alive still, or had
perished. Hardly had he formed the wish than the marshal began, and said,
“Your majesty, we live joyously here, but how is the Queen living in the
tower? Is she still alive, or has she died?” But the King replied,
“She let my dear son be torn to pieces by wild beasts; I will not have
her named.” Then the huntsman arose and said, “Gracious lord
father, she is alive still, and I am her son, and I was not carried away by
wild beasts, but by that wretch the old cook, who tore me from her arms when
she was asleep, and sprinkled her apron with the blood of a chicken.”
Thereupon he took the dog with the golden collar, and said, “That is the
wretch!” and caused live coals to be brought, and these the dog was
compelled to devour before the sight of all, until flames burst forth from its
throat. On this the huntsman asked the King if he would like to see the dog in
his true shape, and wished him back into the form of the cook, in the which he
stood immediately, with his white apron, and his knife by his side. When the
King saw him he fell into a passion, and ordered him to be cast into the
deepest dungeon. Then the huntsman spoke further and said, “Father, will
you see the maiden who brought me up so tenderly and who was afterwards to
murder me, but did not do it, though her own life depended on it?” The
King replied, “Yes, I would like to see her.” The son said,
“Most gracious father, I will show her to you in the form of a beautiful
flower,” and he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought forth the
pink, and placed it on the royal table, and it was so beautiful that the King
had never seen one to equal it. Then the son said, “Now will I show her
to you in her own form,” and wished that she might become a maiden, and
she stood there looking so beautiful that no painter could have made her look
more so.</p>
<p>And the King sent two waiting-maids and two attendants into the tower, to fetch
the Queen and bring her to the royal table. But when she was led in she ate
nothing, and said, “The gracious and merciful God who has supported me in
the tower, will speedily deliver me.” She lived three days more, and then
died happily, and when she was buried, the two white doves which had brought
her food to the tower, and were angels of heaven, followed her body and seated
themselves on her grave. The aged King ordered the cook to be torn in four
pieces, but grief consumed the King’s own heart, and he soon died. His
son married the beautiful maiden whom he had brought with him as a flower in
his pocket, and whether they are still alive or not, is known to God.</p>
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