The Three Golden Hairs

ONE DAY LONG AGO, A POOR WOMAN HAD A BABY, a boy it was, and because this baby happened to be born under a lucky star, all the neighbours called him the Luck-child. Everything good was supposed to be going to happen to him, and some of the old women in the village even prophesied that he would marry the King's daughter.

It was just while all this talk and gossip was going on about the birth of this lucky baby, that the King happened to ride through the village, and, because he came alone and disguised, no one knew who he was. He just seemed to be some rich man on a journey.
He asked the people he met what news there was in those parts.

"Oh," they said, "Mistress Brock, in the cottage down that lane there, has just had a baby that everyone calls the Luck-child. They say that everything will go right for that boy! They even say that, as soon as he is old enough, he is sure to marry the King's daughter."

Now this King was bad-hearted and proud, and he didn't at all like the idea that Mistress Brock's little boy from the cottage down the lane should marry anyone as grand as his daughter.

“I’ll soon put a stop to that sort of thing!" thought he to himself, though he pretended to be very much pleased and interested. So, what did this King do, but go to the child's parents and, pretending to be quite friendly, he said:

"Why don't you let me bring up your child, you poor people? 1 haven't got a son of my own and the boy will have a better chance with me than he would with you."

Well, for a long time they wouldn't let the boy go, but they were very poor, while the stranger rode on a fine horse, was well dressed and seemed pleasant, so they thought that perhaps it was wrong to stand in the child's way. And besides he kept offering them a whole pocketful of gold pieces if they would let the child go with him.

"He's a Luck-child, everybody says so, so whatever happens things are bound to turn out well for him," they thought. So at last they agreed.

Now the King, as you know, was riding on horseback, and the best way to carry a baby on horseback is to get a nice little cradle for it, made rather like a box. The stranger managed to get one in the village and had a lid made for it as well, with holes pierced in it for air. The baby was wrapped up and put in, the lid was fitted on, the King strapped the box on to the back of his saddle, and away he rode, quite slowly, so as not to joggle the child. But no sooner was he well out of the village and had come to a place where the road came near the deep part of a big river, than he jumped off his horse, unstrapped the box, and pitched it, baby and all, into the water.

"Now," said he to himself, "I have freed my daughter! There's no danger that she will have to marry this beggar's brat."

But, as it happened, the box landed right way up in the water. It was very well made and it didn't sink, but instead it floated like a boat. On it floated down the river towards the King's chief city till it was carried down a back-water to a place where there was a mill. On it went, right down into the quiet pool that always lies above a mill dam. By good luck the miller's boy happened to be standing on the bank.

'Ha! A treasure chest," thought he when he spied it. So he ran and fetched a hook and pulled it out, but when he had pulled off the lid, there, instead of treasure, lay a pretty little baby boy smiling and quite lively.

Well, of course, the miller's boy didn't really know what to do with a baby, so he took it to the miller and his wife, and, as they had no children of their own, they were very well pleased and took great care of the little foundling.

Years passed and the Luck-child grew tall and strong.

It happened one day, as the King was out riding, a storm came on and he went into the mill to shelter.

"Is that lad your son?" asked he of the miller and his wife.

"No, Your Majesty," the miller answered. "He's a foundling. It must be about sixteen years ago or more that he floated down to the mill-dam in a box, and the mill-boy that we had then, pulled him out of the water—box and all."

When the King heard that, he guessed what had happened and was very angry, but, once more, he pre­tended to be in high good humour and he praised the miller and his wife for their good deed in taking care of a little foundling.

"Could the lad take a letter to the Queen?" asked he. "If he will, he can have two gold pieces as a reward."

"He's at your orders, Your Majesty," answered they and told the boy to get ready. Whilst the Luck-child was getting his things on, the King wrote a letter to the Queen. In it he said:

"A lad will bring you this letter. As soon as he arrives have him killed and buried. It must all be over before I get home."

Then the King signed the letter, sealed it up, and gave it to the Luck-child with the two gold pieces.

The lad, of course, thought no harm, but was delighted with the money and set out as fast as he could, as proud as could be to be the King's messenger. But somehow he missed his way and, in the evening, there he was, lost in the middle of a great forest and he didn't know how to go on. For some time he wandered in the darkness and at last he saw a little light. He went towards it and saw that it shone from the window of a cottage. He knocked and when a voice had told him to come in he saw that an old woman was sitting by the fire, quite alone. She gave a start when she saw the lad and said in a frightened voice:

"Where do you come from? And where are you going?”

"I'm the miller's boy,” he said, "and I am supposed to be taking a letter to the Queen from the King, but I missed the way and I've been wandering in this forest for a long while. Will you let me stay the night here? Then I can go as soon as it's light."

"You poor fellow!” said the old woman. "You’ve come to a bad place! This cottage belongs to a band of robbers and if they find you here when they come back, they'll half kill you as like as not."

"Oh, never mind!" said the Luck-child. "I'm not afraid, but I shall never find my way in the dark and I really am so tired I can't go another step," With that he stretched himself out on a broad bench that stood at the back of the room and was asleep in a moment.

It was not long before the robbers came back and they spied him at once.

"Who's that strange lad lying there?" the leader of them asked the old woman.

"Don't be angry,” said she, "it's only an innocent lad who has lost himself in the forest. It seems he's on his way to take a letter to the Queen and, out of pity, I let him
come in."

Then one of the robbers crept up and felt in the little pouch into which the Luck-child had put the letter for safety, and he passed it on to the robber leader. He opened it and read it and saw what was written in it. This, as you know, was that the boy was to be killed and buried as soon as he got to the King's palace. Then the robbers whispered together, and they agreed that it was a shame that a poor innocent lad should be treated like that. The end of it was that the robber leader tore up the letter and they all helped him to write another. Since they didn't like kings very much, they thought they would make the new letter as different as possible, so what they put in was that as soon as the lad got to the Palace he should be married to the King's daughter. Then they put the new letter back into the pouch, had their supper and lay down to sleep. Next morning, when he awoke, they gave the Luck-child some breakfast and showed him the right way to go on to the palace, so that he found it quite easily.

Well, the Queen was rather surprised when she had read the letter. However, there it was in black and white, and she did exactly as she thought her husband had told her to do. As the Luck-child was a handsome, well-mannered, nicely spoken fellow, her daughter, the Princess, was quite pleased with the match. It was a splendid wedding and the young couple started married life very contentedly.

You can imagine the rage of the ill-natured King when he got back to his palace and found that the prophecy had come true after all and that the hated Luck-child was married to his daughter.

"What have you been doing, wife?" he said to the Queen in a fury. "That was not the order I gave!"

Now luckily for her, the Queen had kept the letter, and now she was able to show it to him, so that the King could see what was written in it. Then the King saw that he had been cheated out of his wicked plan and he called the Luck-child and asked what had happened and why he had brought quite a different letter.

"I know nothing about it," answered the lad, "unless it was changed in the night, when 1 got lost and slept in the forest.”

The King flew into a rare passion.

"Luck-child though you are, don't think you are going to have everything all your own way! Whoever marries my daughter has to fetch three golden hairs from the beard of the Dark King who lives in the Black Mountain and who rules over the underworld. You won my daughter through a cheating trick, and only if you can bring me the three magic hairs shall you keep her.”

Now the wicked King knew very well that this Dark King not only lived a long way off and in a terrible place but that he was a real man-eater. And he thought that even if the lad agreed to go, he would never see this detestable son-in-law again. But the Luck-child only answered:

"I'll fetch you the golden hairs! I'm not afraid!" He had always been a bold lad and now he had become very fond of his pretty new wife, and he did not mean to lose her. So, saying good-bye to her and telling her not to be afraid for him, he set out on his journey—and sure enough a long journey it was.

After a while his way led him to a large town which had walls round it and gates. When the watchman saw him he asked him what his trade was and what he knew. The Luck-child laughed.

"I know everything," he answered.

"Well, if you really know everything,” said the watch­man, "you might do us a favour."

"What's that?" asked the Luck-child.

"Tell me why it is that the fountain in the middle of our market, which once flowed with wine, has now quite run dry, and doesn't even give us water?"

"All right, you shall know that!" answered the Luck-child. "Only wait till I come back."

After a while he came to another city and there once more, the gate-keeper asked him his trade and what he knew, and once more the Luck-child laughed and answered:

"I know everything!"

"Well, if that's so," answered the gate-keeper, "how Is it that a tree in our town which once bore golden apples, now scarcely bears even a leaf?"

"Yes, you shall know that," answered the Luck-child. "You have only to wait till I come back!"

Well that was the last city he had to pass through, and next, he came to a wide river, and knew that he had to cross over it.

The ferryman was just as inquisitive as the watchman and the gate-keeper had been, and he too asked him what his trade was and what he knew.

"I know everything!" answered the Luck-child for the third time.

"Well then," said the ferryman, "be so good as to tell me why I have to be always rowing backwards and for­wards and am never set free?"

"You shall know that," answered the Luck-child. "Only wait till I come back."

Well, once he had crossed the water he hadn't far to go before he found himself quite near to the Black Mountain and to the place where the Dark King lived. It was a horrible sort of mountain and the Dark King's dwelling was nothing but a great cave, which was black and sooty inside.

The Dark King was not at home, but his old grand­mother was there, sitting by the fireside in a big armchair.

"What do you want?” asked the old woman.

The Luck-child noticed that though she lived in such a horrible place, she didn't look so very wicked, so it was not long before he had told her his story and how, unless he got the three golden hairs from the Dark King's beard, he wouldn't be allowed to go back to his wife the Princess.

"Humf!" said the old woman. "You're asking for a good deal, my lad! If my grandson the Dark King comes home and finds you still here, I can tell you that it may cost you your life. But really I'm sorry for you, separated like that from your young wife! I've a good mind to see if I can't help you."

The end of it was that the old woman changed the Luck-child into an ant and there he sat on the palm of her hand, and he made signs to her that he wanted to ask something further.

"What is it now?" asked she.

"There are three things I want to know," answered he. "Why, in a certain town, does a fountain which once flowed with wine, now not even give water? Why, in another city, does a tree which once bore golden apples, now scarcely bears even a leaf? Also, why does the ferry­man on the broad river that I crossed on my way here always have to row backwards and forwards and is never set free?”

“Those are three very difficult questions," answered the Dark King's grandmother, "but if anyone can answer them, it would be my grandson. You keep quiet and just you listen carefully to what he says each time I pull out one of the three golden hairs. And now you must creep into the folds of my dress."

He hadn't been hidden long before the Dark King came home, and an ugly monster he was too. As soon as he got into the cave he began sniffing about.

"I smell man's flesh!" said he. "There's something wrong here!" and then he began prying into every corner and turning things over in his search.

His grandmother began to scold him. "What a nuisance you are," said she, "I have just swept everything clean and tidied everything up, and now you go upsetting it all again! You're always fussing about man's flesh! Sit down quietly and eat your supper!"

Well, after a while when he couldn't find anything, he sat down and he ate a huge supper, and when he had finished he stretched himself out on a bench that was near the great armchair in which his grandmother sat. Soon he was fast asleep, snoring away with his head on his grandmother's lap. As soon as she was sure that he was sleeping soundly, the old woman took hold of one golden hair, gave it a sudden tweak and out it came. Then she laid it down for the ant, which was hidden in the folds of her dress.

"Good Heavens!" cried the Dark King, waking up suddenly. "What are you playing at?”

"I've had such a dreadful dream,” said his grand­mother. "I must have seized hold of your beard in a fright."

"What was your dream?" asked he crossly.

"A very strange dream!" said the old woman. "I thought that a fountain in a market-place from which wine once flowed, had dried up and that now not even water would come out of it, and in my dream, I needed to know the reason."

"Why, that's easy enough," said the monster. "If the townspeople only knew what I know, they would soon cure that! There's a toad and it's sitting under a stone in the well that feeds the fountain. If they found that toad and killed it, the wine would soon flow again."

Well, it wasn't long before the horrid creature was asleep once more, and snored until the cave shook. Then the old grandmother pulled out the second hair and put it by the first, where the ant could get it.

"Am I never to have a moment's peace?" cried the Dark King, sitting up in a fury.

"Oh, don't be angry!" said his grandmother. "I must have done it in a dream."

"What have you dreamed this time?" he asked after grumbling a bit more and then lying down again and yawning.

"Well, it seemed to me," answered she, "that, in a certain kingdom, there stood an apple tree that used to bear golden apples and now there is not a thing on it, not even leaves, and in my dream I could not find out the reason for that."

"Oh, if they only knew," said the Dark King, "that tree has stopped bearing apples because there is a mouse lives at its root. The mouse keeps gnawing and gnawing. If they killed that mouse they would have golden apples again, but if they let it go on gnawing much longer, the tree will die! But I do wish you would stop dreaming! If you wake me up again I swear I'll give you such a box on the ear that you won't forget it!" This time he grunted and growled for a long time so that his grandmother had to sing to him and tell him stories for a long while.

Well, he did go off to sleep at last and once more he began snoring loudly. Then she took hold of the third golden hair and pulled it out, and put it with the others where the ant could get at it. This time the Dark King woke up in a rare passion! He jumped to his feet and started roaring and stamping about the place. But at last his grandmother managed to quiet him and then she said:

"Who can help bad dreams? This was such a strange dream too!" At last she talked in such a way that she got him quite curious as to what this third dream could have been.

"Well, you may as well tell me what it was.” said he.

"I dreamed," said she, "of a ferryman who complained bitterly of his hard fate. He said that he always had to ferry passengers from one side of a wide river to the other, and that he was never set free. What do you think could be the cause of that?"

"Oh, that ferryman is just a fool!" said the monster. "He has only got to put the oar into the hand of the next person who wants to be rowed across the river, and when he has done that it will be the other man who will have to mind the ferry, and the old ferryman can jump ashore, as free as a bird!"

So now that the ant had at last got its three golden hairs and now that the three questions had been answered, the grandmother at last allowed the Dark King to sleep in peace. He slept till daybreak next morning and then he had his breakfast, and went off on his business. Then the old woman took the ant out of the folds of her dress and she gave it its human shape again.

"You have now got your three golden hairs, Luck-child," said she. "And I hope you heard what my grandson said in answer to your three questions?"

"Yes," said the Luck-child, "I heard and I remember!"

"Well, then you have got everything you wanted," said she, "and now go your way."

He thanked the old woman most heartily for the way in which she had helped him in his need, and after that, he set off on his journey back, and glad he was to leave the Black Mountain and the Dark King's horrible cave.

When he got to the river the ferryman wanted to know the answer to his question.

"Ferry me across first!" said the Luck-child, and when he was safely across the river and ashore he told the ferryman:

"Next time anyone comes and wants to be ferried over, you have only got to put the oar into his hand and to jump ashore yourself."

So the Luck-child went on till he came to the city where the apple tree stood, and of course the gate­keeper also wanted an answer, so the Luck-child told him:

"Kill the mouse that gnaws at the roots of your apple tree and you will get golden apples again."

The people of the town were so pleased now that they knew what to do, that they gave him, as a reward, two donkeys laden with gold.

Last of all he came to the town whose fountain had run dry. Here again he gave them the Dark King's answer:

"There is a toad hidden under a stone in the well that feeds the fountain. Kill the toad and your fountain will run with wine again."

Here too the townspeople were so grateful at having their question answered that they also gave the Luck-child two donkeys laden with gold.

So now he had four donkeys, each with a load of gold, At last he got home to his young wife, the Princess, and she was just as glad to see him safe and sound as the King her father was sorry. The Luck-child told her the whole story, and to the King he took what he had been sent to fetch—the three golden hairs. He was careful not to tell the King the whole story, but what he did do was to show him the four donkeys each laden with gold.

"Tell me, my dear Son-in-law,” said the greedy King, "where you got all that gold.”

"Oh,” said the Luck-child, who thought the King deserved some punishment for his greed and bad deeds, "that's soon told! I was rowed across a wide river and I found that, on the far side, gold lies on the shore instead of sand.”

"Could I go and fetch some?” asked the King.

"As much as you like!” said the Luck-child, thinking that here was a good way of setting free a weary old man. "There's a ferryman on the river. Ask him to ferry you over and you can just fill a few sacks on the other side."

Now the bad-hearted King loved gold so much that he could hardly wait. He jumped on his horse at once and rode as fast as he could till he got to the river. Then he asked the ferryman to row him across. The ferryman told him to get in and, as soon as ever the King was in the boat, the ferryman put the oar into the King’s hand, and jumped out on to the shore as free as a bird.

Ever since that time the King, as a punishment for his sins, has had to ferry people backwards and forwards across that wide river and some say that he is ferrying there to this day. So if ever you go that way, be sure that you don't take the oar out of his hand, however much he tries to give it to you.