windmills, not a breath of air is stirring,” and he went onwards with
his servants, and when they had walked two miles they saw a man sitting
on a tree who was shutting one nostril, and blowing out of the other.
“Good gracious! what are you doing up there?” He answered, “Two miles
from here are seven windmills; look, I am blowing them till they turn
round.” “Oh, come with me,” said the man. “If we four are together, we
shall carry the whole world before us!” Then the blower came down and
went with him, and after a while they saw a man who was standing on one
leg and had taken off the other, and laid it beside him. Then the
master said, “You have arranged things very comfortably to have a
rest.” “I am a runner,” he replied, “and to stop myself running far too
fast, I have taken off one of my legs, for if I run with both, I go
quicker than any bird can fly.” “Oh, go with me. If we five are
together, we shall carry the whole world before us.” So he went with
them, and it was not long before they met a man who wore a cap, but had
put it quite on one ear. Then the master said to him, “Gracefully,
gracefully, don’t stick your cap on one ear, you look just like a
tom-fool!” “I must not wear it otherwise,” said he, “for if I set my
hat straight, a terrible frost comes on, and all the birds in the air
are frozen, and drop dead on the ground.” “Oh, come with me,” said the
master. “If we six are together, we can carry the whole world before
us.”
Now the six came to a town where the King had proclaimed that whosoever
ran a race with his daughter and won the victory, should be her
husband, but whosoever lost it, must lose his head. Then the man
presented himself and said, “I will, however, let my servant run for
me.” The King replied, “Then his life also must be staked, so that his
head and thine are both set on the victory.” When that was settled and
made secure, the man buckled the other leg on the runner, and said to
him, “Now be nimble, and help us to win.” It was fixed that the one who
was first to bring some water from a far distant well was to be the
victor. The runner received a pitcher, and the King’s daughter one too,
and they began to run at the same time, but in an instant, when the
King’s daughter had got a very little way, the people who were looking
on could see no more of the runner, and it was just as if the wind had
whistled by. In a short time he reached the well, filled his pitcher
with water, and turned back. Half-way home, however, he was overcome
with fatigue, and set his pitcher down, lay down himself, and fell
asleep. He had, however, made a pillow of a horse’s skull which was
lying on the ground, in order that he might lie uncomfortably, and soon
wake up again. In the meantime the King’s daughter, who could also run
very well quite as well as any ordinary mortal can had reached the
well, and was hurrying back with her pitcher full of water, and when
she saw the runner lying there asleep, she was glad and said, “My enemy
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account