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014 - The Dream of the Kings Son · Serbian Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Section fourteen of Serbian fairy Tales. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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  Speaker 1: by Dale Berkley, Serbian fairy Tales, translated by Ilodi Miyatovitch.
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  Speaker 1: The dream of the King's son. There was once a
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  Speaker 1: king who had three sons. One evening, when the young
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  Speaker 1: princes were going to sleep, the king ordered them to
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  Speaker 1: take good note of their dreams and come and tell
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  Speaker 1: them to him next morning. So the next day the
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  Speaker 1: princes went to their father as soon as they awoke,
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  Speaker 1: and the moment the king saw them, he asked of
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  Speaker 1: the eldest, well, what have you dreamt? The prince answered,
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  Speaker 1: I dreamt that I should be the heir to your throne.
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  Speaker 1: And the second said, and I dreamt that I should
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  Speaker 1: be the first subject in the kingdom. And the youngest said,
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  Speaker 1: I dreamt that I was going to wash my hands,
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  Speaker 1: and that the princes my brothers held the basin, whilst
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  Speaker 1: the Queen my mother held fine towels for me to
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  Speaker 1: dry my hands with, and your majesty's self poured water
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  Speaker 1: over them from a golden ewer. The king, hearing this
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  Speaker 1: last dream, became very angry and exclaimed, what I the King,
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  Speaker 1: pour water over the hands of my own son. Go
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  Speaker 1: away this instant, out of my palace and out of
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  Speaker 1: my kingdom. You are no longer my son. The poor
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  Speaker 1: young prince tried hard to make his peace with his father,
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  Speaker 1: saying that he was really not to be blamed for
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  Speaker 1: what he had only dreamed. But the king grew more
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  Speaker 1: and more furious, and at last actually thrust the prince
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  Speaker 1: out of the palace. So the young prince was obliged
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  Speaker 1: to wander up and down in different countries, until one day,
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  Speaker 1: being in a large forest, he saw a cave and
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  Speaker 1: entered it to rest. There, To his great surprise and joy,
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  Speaker 1: he found a large kettle full of Indian corn boiling
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  Speaker 1: over a fire, and, being exceedingly hungry, began to help
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  Speaker 1: himself to the corn. In this way, he went on
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  Speaker 1: until he was shocked to see he had eaten up
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  Speaker 1: nearly all the maize, and then, being afraid some mischief
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  Speaker 1: would come of it, he looked about for a place
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  Speaker 1: in which to hide himself. At this moment, however, a
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  Speaker 1: great noise was heard at the cave mouth, and he
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  Speaker 1: had only time to hide himself in a dark corner
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  Speaker 1: before a blind old man entered, riding on a great
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  Speaker 1: goat and driving a number of goats before him. The
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  Speaker 1: old man rode straight up to the kettle, but as
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  Speaker 1: soon as he found that the corn was nearly all gone,
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  Speaker 1: he began to suspect some one was there, and groped
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  Speaker 1: about the cave until he caught hold of the prince.
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  Speaker 1: Who are you, asked he sharply, and the Prince answered,
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  Speaker 1: I am a poor homeless wanderer about the world, and
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  Speaker 1: have come now to beg you to be good enough
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  Speaker 1: to receive me. Well, said the old man, why not,
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  Speaker 1: I shall at least have someone to mind my corn
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  Speaker 1: whilst I'm out with my goats in the forest. So
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  Speaker 1: they lived together for some time, the prince remaining in
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  Speaker 1: the cave to boil the maize, whilst the old man
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  Speaker 1: drove out his goats every morning into the forest. One day, however,
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  Speaker 1: the old man said to the Prince, I think you
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  Speaker 1: shall take out the goats to day, and I will
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  Speaker 1: stay at home to mind the corn. This the Prince
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  Speaker 1: consented to very gladly, as he was tired of living
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  Speaker 1: so long quietly in the cave. But the old man added,
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  Speaker 1: mind only one thing. There are nine different mountains, and
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  Speaker 1: you can let the goats go freely over eight of them,
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  Speaker 1: but you must, on no account go on the ninth.
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  Speaker 1: The villas or fairies live there, and they will certainly
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  Speaker 1: put out your eyes as they have put out mine,
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  Speaker 1: if you venture on their mountain. The prince thanked the
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  Speaker 1: old man for his warning, and then, mounting the great coat,
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  Speaker 1: drove the rest of the goats before him out of
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  Speaker 1: the cave. Following the goats, he had passed over all
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  Speaker 1: the mountains to the eighth, and from this he could
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  Speaker 1: see the ninth mountain, and could not resist the temptation
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  Speaker 1: he fell to go upon it. So he said to himself,
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  Speaker 1: I will venture up, whatever happens. Hardly had he stepped
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  Speaker 1: on the ninth mountain before the fairies surrounded him, and
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  Speaker 1: prepared to put out his eyes, But happily a thought
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  Speaker 1: came into his head, and he exclaimed quickly, dear villas,
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  Speaker 1: why take this sin on your heads? Better? Let us
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  Speaker 1: make a bargain that if you spring over a tree
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  Speaker 1: that I will place ready to jump over, you shall
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  Speaker 1: put out my eyes, and I will not blame you.
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  Speaker 1: So the villas consented to this, and the prince went
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  Speaker 1: and brought a large tree, which he cleft down the middle,
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  Speaker 1: almost to the route. This done, he placed a wedge
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  Speaker 1: to keep the two halves of the trunk open a little.
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  Speaker 1: When it was fixed upright, he himself first jumped over it,
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  Speaker 1: and then he said to the villas, now it is
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  Speaker 1: your turn. Let us see if you can spring over
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  Speaker 1: the tree. One villa attempted to spring over, but the
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  Speaker 1: same moment the Prince knocked the wedge out, and the
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  Speaker 1: trunk closing at once held the villa fast. Then all
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  Speaker 1: the other fairies were alarmed and begged him to open
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  Speaker 1: the trunk and let their sister free, promising in return
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  Speaker 1: to give him anything he might ask. The prince said,
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  Speaker 1: I want nothing except to keep my own eyes and
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  Speaker 1: to restore eyesight to that poor old man. So the
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  Speaker 1: fairies gave him a certain herb and told him to
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  Speaker 1: lay it over the old man's eyes, and then he
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  Speaker 1: would recover his sight. The prince took the herb, opened
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  Speaker 1: the tree a little so as to let the fairy free,
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  Speaker 1: and then rode back on the goat to the cave,
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  Speaker 1: driving the other goats before him. When he arrived there,
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  Speaker 1: he placed at once the herb on the old man's eyes,
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  Speaker 1: and in a moment his eyesight came back to his
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  Speaker 1: exceeding surprise and joy. Next morning, the old man, before
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  Speaker 1: he drove out his goats, gave the Prince the keys
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  Speaker 1: of eight closets in the cave, but warned him on
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  Speaker 1: no account to open the ninth closet, although the key
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  Speaker 1: hung directly over the door. Then he went out, telling
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  Speaker 1: the Prince to take good care that the corn was
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  Speaker 1: ready for their suppers. Left alone in the cave, the
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  Speaker 1: young man began to wonder what might be in the
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  Speaker 1: ninth closet, and at last he could not resist the
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  Speaker 1: temptation to take down the quay and open the door
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  Speaker 1: to look in. What was his surprise to see there
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  Speaker 1: a golden horse with a golden greyhound beside him, and
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  Speaker 1: near them a golden hen and golden chickens were busy
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  Speaker 1: picking up golden millet seeds. The young prince gazed at
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  Speaker 1: them for some time, admiring their beauty, and then he
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  Speaker 1: spoke to the golden horse, friend, I think we had
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  Speaker 1: better leave this place before the old man comes back again.
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  Speaker 1: Very well, answered the golden horse. I am quite willing
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  Speaker 1: to go away, only you must take heed to what
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  Speaker 1: I am going to tell. Go and find linen cloth
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  Speaker 1: enough to spread over the stones at the mouth of
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  Speaker 1: the cave. For if the old man hears the ring
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  Speaker 1: of my hoofs, he will be certain to kill you.
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  Speaker 1: Then you must take with you a little stone, a
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  Speaker 1: drop of water, and a pair of scissors, And the
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  Speaker 1: moment I tell you to throw them down, you must
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  Speaker 1: obey me quickly, or you are lost. The Prince did
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  Speaker 1: everything that the golden Horse had ordered him, and then,
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  Speaker 1: taking up the golden hen with her chickens in a bag,
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  Speaker 1: he placed it under his arm and mounted the horse,
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  Speaker 1: and rode quickly out of the cave, leading with him
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  Speaker 1: in a leash the golden greyhound. But the moment they
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  Speaker 1: were in the open air, the old man, although he
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  Speaker 1: was very far off tending his goats on a distant mountain,
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  Speaker 1: heard the clang of the golden hoofs, and cried to
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  Speaker 1: his great goat, they've run away. Let us follow them
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  Speaker 1: at once. In a wonderfully short time, the old man,
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  Speaker 1: on his great goat came so near the Prince on
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  Speaker 1: his golden horse, that the latter shouted, throw now the
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  Speaker 1: little stone. The moment the prince had thrown it down,
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  Speaker 1: a high, rocky mountain rose up between him and the
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  Speaker 1: old man, and before the goat had climbed over it,
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  Speaker 1: the golden horse had gained much ground. Very soon, however,
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  Speaker 1: the old man was so nearly catching them that the
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  Speaker 1: horse shouted, throw now the drop of water. The prince
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  Speaker 1: obeyed in and immediately saw a broad river flowing between
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  Speaker 1: him and his pursuer. It took the old man on
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  Speaker 1: his goat so long to cross the river that the
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  Speaker 1: prince on his golden horse was far away before them.
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  Speaker 1: But for all that, it was not very long before
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  Speaker 1: the horse heard the goat so near behind him, that
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  Speaker 1: he shouted, throw the scissors. The prince threw them, and
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  Speaker 1: the goat, running over them, injured one of his forelegs
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  Speaker 1: very badly. When the old man saw this, he exclaimed,
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  Speaker 1: now I see I cannot catch you, so you may
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  Speaker 1: keep what you have taken, but you will do wisely
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  Speaker 1: to listen to my counsel. People will be sure to
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  Speaker 1: kill you for the sake of your golden horse, so
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  Speaker 1: you'd better buy at once a donkey and take the
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  Speaker 1: hide to cover your horse, and do the same with
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  Speaker 1: your golden grayhound. Having said this, the old man turned
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  Speaker 1: and rode back to his cave, and the prince lost
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  Speaker 1: no time in attending to his advice, and covered with
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  Speaker 1: donkey hide, his golden horse and his golden hound. After
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  Speaker 1: traveling a lot long time, the prince came unawares to
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom of his father. There he heard that the
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  Speaker 1: king had had a ditch three hundred yards wide and
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  Speaker 1: four hundred yards deep doug and had proclaimed that whosoever
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  Speaker 1: should leap his horse over it should have the princess
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  Speaker 1: his daughter for a wife. Almost a whole year had
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  Speaker 1: elapsed since the proclamation was issued, but as yet no
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  Speaker 1: one had dared to risk the leap. When the prince
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  Speaker 1: heard this, he said, I will leap over it with
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  Speaker 1: my donkey and my dog, and he leaped over it.
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  Speaker 1: But the king was very angry when he heard that
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  Speaker 1: a poorly dressed man on a donkey had dared to
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  Speaker 1: leap over the great ditch, which had frightened back his
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  Speaker 1: bravest knights. So he had the disguised prince thrown into
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  Speaker 1: one of his deepest dungeons, together with his donkey and
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  Speaker 1: his dog. Next morning, the king sent some of his
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  Speaker 1: servants to see if the man was still living, and
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  Speaker 1: these soon ran back to him full of wonder, and
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  Speaker 1: told him that they had found in the dungeon, instead
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  Speaker 1: of a poor man and his donkey, a young man
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  Speaker 1: beautifully dressed, a golden horse, a golden greyhound, and a
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  Speaker 1: golden hen, surrounded by golden chickens which were picking up
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  Speaker 1: golden millet seeds from the ground. Then the King said
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  Speaker 1: that must be some powerful prince. So he ordered the
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  Speaker 1: Queen and the princes his sons to prepare all things
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  Speaker 1: for the stranger to wash his hands. Then he went
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  Speaker 1: down himself into the dungeon and led the prince up
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  Speaker 1: with much courtesy. Desiring thus to make amends for the
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  Speaker 1: past ill treatment, the king himself took a golden ewer
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  Speaker 1: full of water and poured some over the prince's hands,
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  Speaker 1: whilst the two princes held the basin under them, and
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  Speaker 1: the queen held out fine towels to dry them. On
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  Speaker 1: this done, the young prince exclaimed, now my dream is fulfilled.
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  Speaker 1: And they all at once recognized him, and were very
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  Speaker 1: glad to see him once again amongst them. End of
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  Speaker 1: section fourteen read by Dale Berkley, Tucson, Arizona, February three,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two,