Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 35 The Magical Deer (2)
"Long live, Fisherman's Son!" she said, "I know what you are looking for. Come in and rest and eat, and I will help you as best I can to-morrow, and see you on your way."

Ian, the fisherman's son, accepted her invitation with great joy and rested the whole day.The woman gave him some ointment to put on his feet.The ointment healed his sore feet.When he got up at dawn and was about to go, the woman bade him good-bye, saying, "I have a sister who lives by the road you must pass. It is a long, long road, You'd walk for a year and a day to get there, but with these old brown shoes full of holes, you'd get there before you knew it. Then you'd take your shoes off and adjust them Turn your head, let the toe of the shoe face the side you know, and the heel face the unknown world, and they will automatically come home."

The fisherman's son did as the woman commanded.Everything happened as she said it would.At the time of parting, the second sister gave him another pair of shoes and said to him, "Go to my third sister. She has a son who is the caretaker of the birds in the sky. When night comes, he sends them to Sleep. He is very clever and may be able to help you."

So the young man thanked her and went to Third Sister.

Sanmei was very kind, but she didn't give him any advice.So he ate and drank there and waited till her son came home after sending all the birds to bed.His mother told him about the young man.He thought for a long time, and finally said that he was hungry, and wanted to have his supper, and he must kill the cow.So they killed the cow, boiled the meat, and sewed a bag out of the bloody hide.

"Get into the bag now," commanded the woman's son.The lad got in with his gun, leaving the dog and the falcon outside.Watching Birdman tighten the rope at the top of the bag, then leave it and go on to his supper.At that moment an eagle flew in through the open door, took the bag in its talons, and flew with it from the sky to an island.There was nothing to eat on that island, and the fisherman's son thought he would starve to death.At this moment, he remembered the box the girl had put in his pocket.He opened the lid of the box, and three very tiny birds flew out with flapping wings and asked, "Our good master, what can we do for you?"

"Take me to the king of the kingdom below the sea," he answered.So one bird flew over his head, and the other two perched on his shoulders.He closed his eyes, and after a while, he came to the country under the sea.Then the birds flew away, and the young man looked left and right, and his heart pounded when he thought that the girl he had been looking for all over the world lived here.

He crossed several streets, and presently came to a weaver's house.At this moment the weaver put down his work and was resting at the door.

"You are evidently a stranger," said the Weaver, "but come in, and I will give you something to eat and drink." The boy was glad, for he did not know where he was going.They sat down and talked late.

"Stay with me, I beg you. I am lonely and like company," said the Weaver at last, pointing to a bed in the corner of the room.The fisherman's son fell on the bed and slept until dawn.

"There is going to be a horse race in town today," said the weaver, "and the winner will marry the king's daughter." Hearing this news, the young man trembled with excitement, and replied in a trembling voice, "That's really worth it." To compete for prizes, I would love to see the game."

"Oh, that's easy enough; anyone can go," answered the weaver; "I could have taken you, but I promised the King that I would weave this cloth for him."

"What a pity," answered the young man very politely, but he was very glad, for he wanted to go alone.

He left the house, went into a grove behind the house, and took the box from his pocket.He lifted the lid, and the three little birds flew out.

"Our good master, what can we do for you?" they asked.

He replied, "Find me the finest horse that ever lived, and the most splendid dress, and a pair of glass shoes."

"They are all here, master," answered the birds.What he wanted was right in front of him, and the young man had never seen anything so wonderful.

He mounted his horse and entered the arena.There are many horses gathered in the arena, all preparing to participate in the grand race.He found his place among them.Many of those horses were good horses that had won many races, but the fisherman's son's horse left them all far behind and was first to the finish line.The King's daughter waited for him to go and claim her own prize, but he did not, for he ran back to the wood again, dismounted, put on his old clothes, and ordered the box to put some gold in his pocket .Then he went back to the weaver's house, and told him that the man who had won the game had given him the gold, and that the weaver had been kind to him, and that he would give the gold to the weaver.

Since no one came to ask for the princess as his wife, the king ordered a second match.The fisherman's son rode into the ring, more splendidly dressed than ever, and easily left everyone else behind.Again he left that prize there unclaimed.On the third day, although almost all the people of the country gathered there to watch the game, they were full of curiosity and wanted to know who the winner would be, but the same thing happened.

"If he won't come by himself, bring him to me," commanded the king.So messengers who had seen the face of the victor were sent to search for him in the streets of the city.The work took many days, and at last they found the lad in the weaver's hut, so dirty and ugly and queer that they concluded that he could never be the winner they had been looking for, It was a vicious robber who had killed many people and got away with it.

"Yes, he must be a robber," said the king, when the fisherman's son was brought before him, "set up the gallows at once, and hang him in the presence of all my subjects, that they may see what they deserve."

So a gallows was erected on a high platform.The fisherman's son climbed the steps to the gallows, turned around at the top of the steps, and made a speech, as every condemned man, whether guilty or not, may make such a speech.When he was speaking, he accidentally raised his arm. The princess standing beside the king saw the name written on his arm, and jumped up from her seat with a cry.The audience's eyes immediately turned to her.

"Stop! Stop!" she cried, without knowing what she was saying, "if this man is to be hanged, all the people in this kingdom must die." She ran to the place where the fisherman's son was standing. At that place, he held his hand and said, "Father, this man is neither a robber nor a murderer, but the winner of those three games. He broke the spell attached to me."

So, without waiting for Ian's answer, she took him back to the palace.Ian took a bath in the marble tub, the grime the fairies had cast on him miraculously disappeared, and he put on the beautiful clothes the princess had given him, looking worthy of any king's daughter in Ireland.He went into the hall, where she was waiting for him.They had much to say to each other, but had no time to express their hearts, for her father the king, the little princes who had come to visit the king, and the whole country were still there expecting her to return.

"How did you find me?" she whispered as they walked down the corridor.

"The birds in the box told me that," he answered, and had no time to say anything else, for they had left the palace and were in the square full of people.Several monarchs stopped there.

"O kings!" she said, turning to them. "If one of you was killed, the others would run away, but this man, trust me, had his head chopped off three times. I'd rather marry him than I will marry you who come to me. Several kings here have tried to free me from the spell, but none but Ian, the fisherman's son."

(End of this chapter)