grey fairy tale book

Chapter 22 Bronze Ring (2)
At dawn the next day, a noble ship with all sails was moored on the shores of the city.At this time the king happened to be standing by the palace window.

"It's a marvelous ship," he exclaimed. "The hull is gold, the masts are silver, the sails are silk, and the boys who steer it look like princes. Who are they? It's not St. Nicholas at the helm." Hurry up and invite the captain to the palace."

The servants did so, and presently there appeared a handsome and charming young prince, dressed in rich silks and satins, and adorned with diamond jewels.

"Son," said the King, "I welcome you whoever you are. It is my honor to have you as my guest during this time in my capital."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," replied the captain, "I promise."

"My daughter is getting married soon," said the King. "Would you like to attend her wedding?"

"That is very good, Your Majesty."

Soon the princess came with her betrothed.

"Why, what's the matter?" cried the young captain, "will you marry the charming princess to that man?"

"But he is my prime minister's son!"

"So what? I cannot attend your daughter's wedding. The man she is engaged to is one of my servants."

"Your servant?"

"Undoubtedly. I saw him in a far-off town, working as a refuse hauler. I took pity on him and made him my servant."

"Impossible!" cried the king.

"Do you want me to prove what I said? The boat that this young man came back on was assembled by me. It is not seaworthy at all. The black hull is in tatters, and the crew is all mutilated."

"That is very well said," said the King.

"Nonsense," shouted the Prime Minister's son. "I don't know this man!"

"Sire," said the young captain, "let the man who is betrothed to your daughter undress, and see if my ring is branded on his back."

The King was about to issue an order, and the Prime Minister's son hastened to admit that it was true, so as not to be humiliated.

"Look, sire," said the young captain, "don't you know me?"

"I know you," said the princess, "you are the gardener's son whom I have always loved, and you are the one I want to marry."

"Young man, be my son-in-law," said the king loudly. "The wedding celebrations have begun, and you will marry my daughter today."

So that very day the gardener's son married the beautiful princess.

A few months passed in a blink of an eye.The young couple undoubtedly lived a happy life, and the king was more and more happy to have such a son-in-law.

But not long after this, the captain of the golden ship felt compelled to make a long voyage, and after tenderly embracing his wife he set out.

Well, there lived an old man on the outskirts of town, who had spent his life studying witchcraft--alchemy, astrology, magic, and witchcraft.He found that the gardener's son could marry the princess only because of the servant who obeyed the command of the bronze ring.

"I'm going to get that ring," he thought.So he went to the sea and caught some small red fishes, they were really beautiful.He carried them back, and as he passed the princess' window he cried:
"Who's going to buy these beautiful little red fish?"

When the princess heard him cry, she sent out a servant, who said to the old merchant:

"What do you want in exchange for your fish?"

"A bronze ring."

"Bronze rings, you old fool! Where can I get them?"

"It's under the cushion in the princess room."

The servant returns to the mistress.

"That old madman wants neither gold nor silver," she said.

"Then what does he want?"

"A bronze ring hidden under a cushion."

"Go and find it for him," said the princess.

At last the servant found the bronze ring, which the captain had left by accident, and he gave it to the old man, who hurried away with it.

As soon as he was in his room, he took out his ring and said, "Bronze ring, do your master's bidding! I want the golden ship to be black wood, the crew to be horrible blacks, St. Nicholas off the helm, and the cargo only Black cat."

The Servant of the Bronze Ring obeyed him.

So wretched was the young captain at sea, that he knew that someone had stolen the bronze ring, and that he spoke aloud of his misfortunes, but to no avail.

"My God!" thought he, "whoever stole my ring probably also took my wife. What use is it for me to go home?" So he sailed from island to island, from coast to coast. On the other coast, I believe that no matter where I go, I will be laughed at.Soon he was very poor, eating only grass and roots with his crew and black cat.He wandered for a long time and came to an island where mice lived.The captain went ashore and began to explore the place.There were mice everywhere, and nothing else.Some black cats followed him, they had not eaten for days, they were very hungry, and they made a terrible hunt on the mice.

At this time the Mouse Queen held a meeting.

"If the captain doesn't stop those vicious creatures," she said, "we'll all be eaten."

"Let's pick some of the bravest mice and send a delegation to him."

Some of the mice volunteered, and set off to find the young captain.

"Captain," they said, "get off our island as soon as possible, or we shall all perish."

"No problem," answered the young captain, "but on one condition. Some cunning sorcerer stole a bronze ring from me, and you must find it for me. Otherwise I'll send all the cats to your island, wipe you all out."

The mice left in great frustration. "What is to be done?" said the Queen, "how shall we find the Bronze Ring?" She called a council again, and called all the Mice from all over the world, but no one knew where the Bronze Ring was.At this moment three mice came suddenly from a rather distant country, the first was blind, the second was lame, and the third had his ear cut off.

"Ho, ho, ho!" said the newcomer, "we come from a very far country."

"Do you know where the bronze ring that can only command demon servants is?"

"Ho, ho, ho! We know it was from an old wizard who kept it in his pocket during the day and put it in his mouth at night."

"Go and steal it, and get back as soon as possible."

So the three mice prepared a boat, and set sail for the country of the magician.When they reached the capital they went ashore, and went straight to the palace, leaving only the blind mouse on the shore to guard the boat.They waited till dark, and the wicked old man lay on his bed, put the bronze ring in his mouth, and soon fell asleep.

"Oh, what shall we do?" the two little animals asked each other.

The mouse with its ears cut off found a lamp full of oil and a jar full of pepper, dipped its tail first in the oil, then in the pepper, and stuck it up the wizard's nose side.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" The old man sneezed, but he didn't wake up. He just shook out the bronze ring from his mouth.The lame mouse quickly grabbed the precious ring and rushed to the side of the boat.

One can imagine how desperate the wizard was when he woke up to find that the bronze ring was missing!

But by this time our three mice had sailed away with their spoils.They sailed smoothly to their destination, and the queen and the mice were waiting on the island.Naturally they began to talk about bronze rings.

"Which one of us has done the most?" they all cried out together.

"It's me," said the blind mouse, "if I hadn't watched the boat, it would have drifted into the sea."

"You're nothing," said the mouse with the ears cut off. "It's my fault. Didn't I let the man spray the ring?"

"No, it was I," cried the Lame Mouse, "for I took the Ring away."

They said some angry words first, and soon they fought, oops!At the height of their tumult the bronze ring fell into the sea.

"How shall we explain to the Queen," said the three mice, "that we have lost the amulet so foolishly, and let all our mice die. We cannot go back, and end our poor lives on this desert island." They did what they said, let the boat approach a desert island, and went up by themselves.

The blind mouse was soon abandoned by the two sisters, and they went away to catch flying insects, but it sadly found a dead fish while wandering by the sea, and felt something hard when it ate it.It barked, and the other two mice ran over when they heard it.

"It's a bronze ring! It's an amulet!" they cried joyfully, and boarded the boat again, and arrived at Mouse Island in a short time.They came just in time, and the captain was just about to release a boatload of cats on the island, when a team of rats hastened to bring him the precious bronze ring.

"Bronze ring," commanded the boy, "obey the master, and let my ship be as it was before."

Immediately the Servant of the Ring came into effect, and the old black ship turned again into a golden ship with brocade sails, and each handsome crew ran to the silver masts and silk ropes, and in a second they set sail for the capital.

what!How happily the crew sang as they sailed on the clear sea!

They finally reached the harbour.

The captain went ashore, went straight to the palace, and found the wicked old man sleeping.The princess hugged her husband tightly for a long time.The wizard tried to escape, but was caught and tied with thick ropes.

The next day the wizard was tied to the tail of a savage mule laden with nuts, which crushed him to pieces under its heavy weight.

(End of this chapter)