Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 11 The Treasure Hunter (1)
One night a long time ago, in a small town in the primeval forest of high mountains, a group of shepherds sat in the kitchen of the hotel, talking about the past years and strange things that happened to them when they were young.

At this moment, the silver-haired Father Martin was talking loudly.

"My friends," he said, "you have all had wonderful adventures, but I want to tell you something even more amazing that happened to me. When I was a boy, homeless, No one took care of me. I carried my backpack from village to village and wandered all over the country. When I was a little older, I worked as a servant for a shepherd in the mountains and helped him for three years. One autumn evening , I drove the flock home and found ten sheep missing. The owner told me to look for them in the forest. I took the dog and found them in the bushes until it was dark, but the dog still couldn't find them. At that time, I was not familiar with the area, and I couldn’t find the way home in the dark, so I decided to sleep under a tree for the night. In the middle of the night, the dog became restless, whining with its tail between its legs, and crawled to my side Seeing this scene, I knew something must have happened. Looking around, I saw a figure standing beside me in the bright moonlight. It seemed to be a man with unkempt hair and long beard hanging down to his sides. At the sight of him with a garland of flowers on his head, a belt of oak leaves around his body, and an uprooted fir tree in his right hand, I trembled like a poplar leaf, and trembled all over. The stranger beckoned me to follow him, and as I stood there without moving, he said in a hoarse, harsh voice: 'Take courage, you cowardly shepherd. I am the treasure hunter of this mountain .If you come with me, you will find a lot of gold.'"Although I was still cold with fear, I summoned up my courage and said, "Go away, you evil ghost, I don't want your treasure. '" At this, the ghost grinned at me, and exclaimed mockingly:

"'Fool! Don't you even care about your good fortune? Well, you're going to be a bum all your life.'" He turned away as if to walk away from me, then came back and said: 'Think Come on, think about it, you scoundrel.I can fill your knapsack with treasure--I can fill your purse to the brim. '"'Go away, you monster,' I replied, 'I will have nothing to do with you.'" Seeing that I ignored him, the ghost stopped urging me, but said: 'One day you will regret it, ' He looked at me sadly, and said aloud: 'Listen to what I say, and keep it in your mind, it will be of use to you when you come to your senses.There are tons of gold and precious stones buried deep in the ground.It is hidden at dawn and noon, but can be dug up by midnight.I have watched over it for 700 years and now my time has come.That's public property, let those who have the means find it.I want to give it to you out of kindness, because you graze your flocks on my mountain. '" Then the spirit told me exactly where the treasures were hidden, and how to find them. I remembered every word he said as if I heard them only yesterday.

"'Go up those little hills,' he said, 'and find the Black King Valley there, and go to a creek and follow the stream until you come to the stone bridge by the sawmill. Don't go over Bridge, continue along the right bank until you come to a tall rock. A stone's throw from the rock, you'll see a grave-like pit. Once you see the pit, dig it out— —It was hard work, because the earth in the pit was purposefully compacted. Even so, you had to keep digging until you found solid rock all around you. You will soon Dig a square slab of thick stone, remove the slab from the stone wall, and the entrance to the treasure room will be displayed in front of you. You must climb into that entrance with the lamp in your mouth, and keep your hands free to protect your head so that you don't get caught on the stone. Hit your nose. The road is steep and the rocks are sharp, don't mind if the rocks scratch your knees, because you're on the road to riches. You keep going, keep climbing Go to a wide staircase, go down the stairs until you come to a wide hall, there are three doors in the hall, two of them are open, and the third door is locked with a lock. Do not enter the one on the right. door, so as not to offend the bones of the lords of those treasures. Don't enter the door on the left, too, which leads to the snake house where the adder and the serpent are entrenched. You will use that famous spring root to open the closed door. For the door, don't forget to bring the root of the spring tree, or you will be wasting your time, because there is no crowbar or other tools to help you open that door. If you want a root of the spring tree, go to the wood seller and ask for one. That's what every hunter needs, and it's not hard to find. Don't be afraid if that door snaps open with a loud click and creak, it's the sound of the morgan, don't you? It will hurt. Dim the lights a little at this time, as long as you can see clearly, because you will be dazzled by the glittering gold and gems on the walls and vaults. You must reach carefully Take those treasures!
There is a copper chest in the middle of the cave, and in it you will find a lot of gold and silver, and you can take as much as you like.The treasure you try to take out is enough for you to use for a lifetime.You can go back three times, and if you venture back the fourth time, disaster will befall you, you will suffer from pain, you will be punished for your greed, and you will fall down the stone ladder and break your leg.Finally, don't forget to pile back the loose soil to cover the entrance to the treasure house after each visit. '"As soon as the ghost had finished speaking, my dog ​​pricked up his ears and barked. I heard the crack of the coachman's whip in the distance, and the sound of the wheels rolling on the ground. When I looked again, the ghost was gone."

When the shepherd's story was over, the innkeeper, who was listening to the story with the others, said cleverly:

"Tell us, Father Martin, have you gone to that mountain to find what the ghost promised you?
Maybe it's just a made-up story? "

"No, no," replied the old man with a half-white beard, "I don't know if that ghost is lying, because I never went to find that pit, for two reasons: one is that my life is too precious to risk I walked into that trap at the risk of my life; and second, no one could tell me where to find that kind of spring root."

At this moment, Blage—another old shepherd—speaks loudly:

"What a pity, Father Martin, that your secret has grown old with you. If you had told it honestly forty years ago, you would not have been able to find spring roots for so long. Even Now you can't climb that mountain any more, and I'll tell you--just in jest, of course--how to find it. The easiest way to get it is to ask the black woodpecker for help. See, In spring she builds her nest in a hole in a tree, and when she flies out to feed her chicks, she blocks the entrance to the nest with a piece of hard turf, and then lurks behind a tree until the bird comes back to feed her. The chick. When she finds that she cannot get into the nest, she will cry out in pain, and will fly around the tree, and then will fly quickly towards the sunset. See her fly away, and you will put on a bright red cloak , if you don’t have a cloak, buy a few feet of red cloth, and run back to the tree before the woodpecker flies back with a spring root in its beak. When she touches the turf blocking the bird’s nest with the root, the turf will snap Fly out of the hole. Then you quickly spread the red cloth under that tree, so the woodpecker will think it is a fire, and he will drop the root in horror. Some people will Lit a real fire and sprinkled pine ① flowers in it. It was ① pine: an evergreen, aromatic herb (Narpine, genus Nardonia), native to the Himalayas, with rose-purple flowers .

Stupid way, because if the flame doesn't come out at the right time, the woodpecker will fly away with the root in its mouth. "

The group listened to the words with great interest, but at that moment the man stopped.It was getting late, and they all went home, except for one person, who sat in a corner all evening, and no one paid attention to him.

Mr. Peter Bloch had been a successful innkeeper, and a skilled cook, but he was getting worse and worse, and is now very poor.

He used to be a jovial man, fond of telling jokes, and his cooking skills were unrivaled in that city.He could make fish jellies, quince pancakes, and even wafers.He covered the ears of all the boars with gold leaf.In his early years, Peter sought a mate everywhere, but unfortunately he chose a woman named Ilse who was known for her mean words in that city.Everyone hated her, young people in the city would walk miles around rather than run into her, and she had a bad word for everyone.When Mr. Peter passed by, she boasted that she was an able housewife. Peter believed it and proposed to her, which she eagerly accepted.They were married the next day, but started arguing before they got home.Peter drank his good wine with great joy, and the bride caught him by the arms, and tripped him, and she was dragged to the ground, whereupon she beat him badly.The neighbors spoke the truth: Mr. Peter had no hope of a secure life.

Even though the mismatched couple were lucky enough to have a few kids soon, his joy was fleeting, and his rowdy wife's violent temper seemed to have ruined the kids in the first place, leaving them like lambs Died in a cold winter.

The absence of an heir made Mr. Peter sad.As he put one baby after another into the grave, he would lament to his friends: "The lightning struck the cherry blossoms again, so the cherries never grow."

But not long after, he had a very strong and healthy young daughter.Neither her mother's temper nor her father's doting stopped her from growing into a tall and beautiful girl.At the same time, the fate of the family changed.

From his boyhood, Mr. Peter spent his money generously, providing food for all the hungry people who asked him for food.When the purse was empty, he borrowed it from his neighbors, but he was always careful not to let his scolding wife know.

His motto is "There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain", but in the end he ended up bankrupt.He didn't know how to earn a living properly, because he tried his best, but bad luck seemed to take hold of him, and he lost job after job until he was reduced to delivering corn sacks to the mill for his wife .If he was slow, she scolded him severely and withheld his food.

It broke the fragile heart of his beautiful daughter.She loved her father deeply, and she was his comfort throughout his life.

① Quince: a shrub or tree produced in West Asia, with white flowers and hard, apple-like fruits. The fruit is fragrant and has many seeds. It is edible after cooking.

Peter was sitting in the hotel kitchen thinking about his daughter when he heard the shepherds talking about the buried treasure and he decided to find it for his daughter.Peter made up his mind, then got up from the innkeeper's armchair, and walked home with the cheerfulness and hopefulness he hadn't done for a long time.On the way, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't found the magical spring roots, and he sneaked into the house with a heavy heart, and fell down on his hard bed made of straw.He could neither sleep nor rest.At first light, he would get up and write down the details of what he needed to do on the treasure hunt, so that nothing would be forgotten.When the details were clearly laid out before his eyes, it was a great relief to think that although he would have to do hard work for his wife for at least another winter, he would never have to go to the mill again for the rest of his life.Before long he could hear his wife babbling in a raspy voice the same old tune that she sang every morning while she was doing the chores.Right now, she was scolding her daughter.While he was dressing, she flung open the door of his room and greeted, "Hey, drunkard! Have you been drinking all night and wasting money stolen from household expenses? Shame on you drunkard!"

Mr. Peter was used to this way of talking, and he was not angry. After the storm subsided, he said calmly:
"Don't be angry, dear wife. I have a good deal in hand, and it may bring us luck."

"You've got a good deal?" she cried. "You're of no use to me but talk!"

Soon the quarrel subsided, and everything was back to normal.From that day on, Peter saved every penny that his daughter Lucia secretly gave him, and bribed the children he knew to find him a black woodpecker's nest.He sent them to the woods and fields, but instead of looking for the bird's nest, they were preoccupied with playing tricks on him.They led him over hills and valleys, over fallen tree-trunks and stones, to see a nest of crows or a nest of squirrels in a hollow tree.He got mad at them and they ran away laughing at him.This went on for some time, until at last a boy spotted a woodpecker among a flock of wood pigeons in a pasture, found her nest in a half-dead alder tree, and ran to report the discovery. Tell Peter.Peter couldn't believe his good luck, and he immediately ran to see if it was true for himself.When I came to the tree, there was a bird flying in and out there, as if her nest was built in it.Overjoyed at this fortunate discovery, Peter immediately tried to find the red cloak.There was only one red cloak in the whole town, and it belonged to the executioner, Mr. Hemmerling, a man whom no one would ask for his favor.Before going to visit such a man, he had had a violent internal struggle, but he had nothing else to do, and he didn't like such a struggle, so he stopped thinking about it and went straight to the executioner. made a request.The executioner was very honored that such a respectable man as Peter should come to borrow his uniform, and so he kindly lent it to him.

①Bar-tailed wood pigeon: a large pigeon produced in Eurasia, with white bands on each wing.

Now Peter had everything he needed to get the magic root.He blocked the entrance to the nest, and everything happened exactly as Brage had predicted.As soon as the woodpecker flew back with the root in its mouth, Peter rushed out from behind the tree, spreading his fiery cloak very swiftly.The bird, startled, dropped the root where it could be easily seen.All of Peter's plans have succeeded, and the magic root—a master key that can open all doors and bring unprecedented luck to the owner—is truly in his hands.Now his mind turned to the mountain, and he secretly prepared himself for his journey.He carried only a stick, a sturdy bag, and a locket given to him by his daughter Lucia.

(End of this chapter)