Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Fairy tales
Then he got down and went to his father. He had himself announced as a
strange Huntsman, anxious to take service with the King, who said,
'Yes; if he was skilled in game preserving, and could procure plenty
of venison, he would engage him. But there had never before been any
game in the whole district.'
The Huntsman promised to procure as much game as the King could
possibly require for the royal table.
Then he called the whole Hunt together, and ordered them all to come
into the forest with him. He caused a great circle to be enclosed,
with only one outlet; then he took his place in the middle, and began
to wish as hard as he could. Immediately over two hundred head of game
came running into the enclosure; these the Huntsmen had to shoot, and
then they were piled on to sixty country wagons, and driven home to
the King. So for once he was able to load his board with game, after
having had none for many years.
The King was much pleased, and commanded his whole court to a banquet
on the following day. When they were all assembled, he said to the
Huntsman, 'You shall sit by me as you are so clever.'
He answered, 'My lord and King, may it please your Majesty, I am only
a poor Huntsman!'
The King, however, insisted, and said, 'I command you to sit by me.'
As he sat there, his thoughts wandered to his dear mother, and he
wished one of the courtiers would speak of her. Hardly had he wished
it than the Lord High Marshal said--
'Your Majesty, we are all rejoicing here, how fares it with Her
Majesty the Queen? Is she still alive in the tower, or has she
perished?'
But the King answered, 'She allowed my beloved son to be devoured by
wild animals, and I do not wish to hear anything about her.'
Then the Huntsman stood up and said--
'Gracious father, she is still alive, and I am her son. He was not
devoured by wild animals; he was taken away by the scoundrel of a
Cook. He stole me while my mother was asleep, and sprinkled her
garments with the blood of a chicken.' Then he brought up the black
Poodle with the golden chain, and said, 'This is the villain.'
He ordered some live coals to be brought, which he made the dog eat in
the sight of all the people till the flames poured out of his mouth.
Then he asked the King if he would like to see the Cook in his true
shape, and wished him back, and there he stood in his white apron,
with his knife at his side.
The King was furious when he saw him, and ordered him to be thrown
into the deepest dungeon. Then the Huntsman said further--
'My father would you like to see the Maiden who so tenderly saved my
life when she was ordered to kill me, although by so doing she might
have lost her own life?'
The King answered, 'Yes, I will gladly see her.'
Then his son said, 'Gracious father, I will show her to you first in
the guise of a beautiful flower.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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