Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 32 Birds of War (1)
There will be a great war between the creatures of the earth and the birds of the air.The news spread overseas, and the son of the king of Tesserton said that when the war broke out, he was going to watch the battlefield and bring back news to tell people who would be the king.Still, he arrived too late, and all but the final fight between a snake and a great black raven was over.There was a great fight, and at last the Snake proved himself the stronger, for if the Prince had not drawn his sword, and cut off the Snake's head with one blow, the Snake would have strangled the Raven by the neck, and strangled him dead.The raven was very grateful when he saw that the enemy was dead, and said: "In order to repay your kindness today, I will show you a spectacle. Come, come to my wing base." The prince obeyed the raven's instructions and waited until the raven Stop flying, they have flown over seven peaks, seven valleys, seven swamps.

"Do you see that house in the distance?" asked the raven at last. "Go straight up there. A sister of mine lives there and she will give you a warm welcome. If she asks, 'You took part in the war of the birds Do you?' answer yes; and if she asks, 'Have you seen my kind?' answer yes. But remember to meet me here to-morrow morning."

The prince answered as the raven had taught him.That night, he tasted all kinds of meat, drank all kinds of wine, washed his feet with warm water, and then lay down on a soft bed.

It was the same on the second day, and it was the same on the third day, but at the fourth rendezvous, instead of seeing the raven, the prince saw a handsome young man with a parcel in his hand.He had never seen such a handsome man!

"Is there a raven around?" asked the Prince.The young man replied: "I am the raven. You freed me from the curse. In order to repay you, I give you this package. Go back the way you came. Just like before, every day Sleep in a house for the night. But don’t open the package unless you’re in the place you want to live the most.”

The prince went on the road, and all was as it had happened before, until he came to a thick forest in the father's house.He had come a long way, and the pack seemed suddenly to be getting heavier and heavier.First he put the package under a tree, then he thought he should open it and have a look.

The cord was easily undone, and the prince quickly opened the parcel.What did he see in the package?My God, a magnificent castle surrounded by orchards full of various fruits, flowers and birds.Everything in the castle is ready, and he can move in at any time, but compared to the depths of the dense forest, he hopes to open it in the green valley near his father's palace.He sighed, looked up and saw a giant walking towards him.

"Prince, it is not a very good place where you have chosen to build your house," said the giant.

"Indeed, this is not where I want to be," replied the prince.

"What will you pay me if I put it in the parcel?" asked the giant.

"What reward do you want?" the prince asked back.

"Give me your firstborn son when he is seven years old," answered the Giant.

"If I have a son, you will have him," answered the Prince.Before the words finished, the castle and the orchard were packed into the package again.

"Now you go your way, and I will go mine," said the Giant. "If you forget your promise, I will remember it."

The prince traveled happily until he came to the green valley near his father's palace.He slowly unwrapped it, fearing that there would be nothing inside but a pile of rocks or rags. ,No!Everything was the same as before, and when he opened the castle door, there stood a beautiful woman.

"Come in, Prince," she said, "everything is ready for our marriage." And they were married at once.

The girl was a good wife, and the Prince was so happy now that he was King that he forgot all about the Giant.Seven years passed and one day passed, and one morning, standing on the wall, he saw the giant striding towards the castle.At this moment he remembered his promise, and also remembered that he had not told the queen about it.Now he had to tell her that maybe she could help him out.

The Queen listened to his story in silence, and when it was over she said only, "Let me and the Giant settle your business." While she was speaking, the Giant came into the hall and stood before them both. .

"Bring your son," he yelled at the king, "as you promised one day seven years ago."

The king glanced at his wife, who nodded, and he replied, "Let his mother dress him up first."

The queen left the hall, took the cook's son, dressed him in the clothes of a prince, and led the boy before the giant.The giant took the boy by the hand, and the two went away along the road together.Before he had gone far, the giant stopped and handed the boy a stick.

"If your father had a stick, what would he use it for?" asked the Giant.

"If my father had had this stick, he would have used it to drive away the dogs and cats that ate the king's meat," answered the boy.

"You are the cook's son!" cried the Giant. "Go home to your mother." He turned his head and came towards the castle.

"If you play me again this time, the tallest stone will become the lowest," he threatened.The king and queen trembled, but they were reluctant to hand over the child.

"The steward's son is as old as we are," whispered the queen, "and he will never know it is a different child." So she dressed the steward's son in the prince's clothes, and the giant led the boy away.Not far away, the giant stopped and held out his stick.

"If your father had a stick, what would he use it for?" asked the Giant.

"He will use it to drive away the dogs and cats that break the King's cup," answered the boy.

"You are the steward's son!" cried the Giant. "Go home to your mother." He turned his head, and walked toward the castle in a huff.

"Bring your son here at once," he roared, "or the highest stone will be the lowest." This time the real prince was brought.

The parents wept bitterly, imagining that the child was going through all kinds of horrific torture.

The giant treated the child like his own son, though he would not let him see his daughter.The boy grew into a big boy, and one day the giant told the boy that he was going out and asked the boy to play by himself.So the boy climbed to the top of the castle, where he had never been before.He heard music in his ears and stopped on top.He opened a door nearby and saw a girl sitting by the window with a harp.

"Go, I see the giant is nearby," the girl whispered quickly, "come back here when he falls asleep, and I have something to tell you." The prince obeyed his orders and waited until the midnight bell struck In time, he climbed back to the top of the castle.

"Tomorrow," said the giant's daughter, "you will choose one of my two sisters to marry tomorrow. You must answer them that you will marry neither of them but me. This will make him very angry, because he wants to Get me engaged to Prince Greentown, and I don't like this prince at all."

Then they broke up.On the second day, as the girl said, the giant called his three daughters to him, and called the prince, and said to the prince, "O Prince of Tesserton, the time has come for us to part. Choose one of your sisters to be your wife, and when you are married, you take her back to your father's house."

"Please marry me the youngest," replied the young man.When the giant heard this, his face turned black.

"You have to do three things first," he said.

"Speak, and I will do it," replied the Prince.The Giant left the house, and told the Prince to follow him to the cowshed, where the cows were kept.

"This cowshed has not been cleaned for a hundred years," said the Giant, "and if you don't finish cleaning it before I get home at dark, you will have to pay with your blood if you don't let the golden apples roll from one end to the other. "

The young man worked so hard all day that he could scoop up the sea water.At last he was so tired that he could scarcely move, when the Giant's little daughter stood at the door.

"Lie down when you're tired," she said.The prince thought that he could only die once anyway, so he listened to her words, fell to the ground, and fell into a deep sleep.When he woke up, the girl was gone, and the cowshed was clean, and golden apples could be rolled from one end to the other.He jumped up in surprise.Just then, the giant walked in.

"Have you cleaned the cowshed, Prince?" he asked.

"It has been cleaned," replied the prince.

"Okay. Since you are so active today, tomorrow you choose a feather from each different bird, and use the feathers to build this cowshed, otherwise you will have to pay the price with blood." After finishing speaking, he walked out .

Before the sun came out, the young man took his bow and arrows and went to hunt birds.He went to the swamp, but he didn't see a single bird that day.Finally, the running back and forth was so exhausting that he despaired.

"I can only die once anyway," he thought.At noon the Giant's Daughter appeared.

"Are you tired, Prince?" she asked.

"I'm very tired," he answered. "I've been running all the time, but I've only caught these two blackbirds, both of the same color."

"Lie down on the grass when you're tired." He listened to her instructions and fell asleep soundly.

When he woke up, the girl had disappeared.He got up and went back to the bullpen.When he got closer, he rubbed his eyes vigorously, thinking he was dreaming.The cowshed had a beautiful roof, just as the giant had hoped.The prince met the giant at the gate.

"Have you covered the cowshed yet, Prince?"

"I covered it."

"Okay. Since you're so active today, I have something else for you to do! See that lake? There's a cedar tree growing over there. There's a magpie's nest on top of the cedar tree, and there are five Eggs. Go and get five eggs for breakfast, and if one is cracked or broken, you'll pay for it in blood."

At dawn the next day, the prince got up from the bed and ran to the lake.The tree was not hard to find, for the trunk was five hundred feet high from the ground to the first branch, and the rising sun made the trunk red.The prince walked round and round the tree, trying to find some boils, no matter how small, they could be used as a foothold.But the bark was very smooth, and the prince soon found that, in order to get to the top of the tree, he had to climb on his knees like a sailor.He was a prince, not a sailor, which made all the difference.

(End of this chapter)