Then the Crab said to the old fisherman, ‘Now take this rod; go and
knock with it on a certain mountain; then a black man(6) will come out
and ask you what you wish for. Answer him thus: ‘’Your master, the King,
has sent me to tell you that you must send him his golden garment that
is like the sun.’’ Make him give you, besides, the queenly robes of gold
and precious stones which are like the flowery meadows, and bring them
both to me. And bring me also the golden cushion.’
(6) Ein Mohr.
The old man went and did his errand. When he had brought the precious
robes, the Crab put on the golden garment and then crept upon the golden
cushion, and in this way the fisherman carried him to the castle, where
the Crab presented the other garment to his bride. Now the ceremony
took place, and when the married pair were alone together the Crab made
himself known to his young wife, and told her how he was the son of the
greatest king in the world, and how he was enchanted, so that he became
a crab by day and was a man only at night; and he could also change
himself into an eagle as often as he wished. No sooner had he said this
than he shook himself, and immediately became a handsome youth, but the
next morning he was forced to creep back again into his crab-shell. And
the same thing happened every day. But the Princess’s affection for the
Crab, and the polite attention with which she behaved to him, surprised
the royal family very much. They suspected some secret, but though they
spied and spied, they could not discover it. Thus a year passed away,
and the Princess had a son, whom she called Benjamin. But her mother
still thought the whole matter very strange. At last she said to the
King that he ought to ask his daughter whether she would not like to
have another husband instead of the Crab? But when the daughter was
questioned she only answered:
‘I am married to the Crab, and him only will I have.’
Then the King said to her, ‘I will appoint a tournament in your honour,
and I will invite all the princes in the world to it, and if any one of
them pleases you, you shall marry him.’
In the evening the Princess told this to the Crab, who said to her,
‘Take this rod, go to the garden gate and knock with it, then a black
man will come out and say to you, ‘’Why have you called me, and what do
you require of me?’’ Answer him thus: ‘Your master the King has sent me
hither to tell you to send him his golden armour and his steed and the
silver apple.’’ And bring them to me.’
The Princess did so, and brought him what he desired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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