There was
once on a time an old king who was ill, and thought to himself, "I am
lying on what must be my death-bed." Then said he, " Tell Faithful John
to come to me." Faithful John was his favourite servant, and was so
called, because he had for his whole life long been so true to him. When
therefore he came beside the bed, the King said to him, "Most faithful
John, I feel my end approaching, and have no anxiety except about my
son. He is still of tender age, and cannot always know how to guide
himself. If thou dost not promise me to teach him everything that he
ought to know, and to be his foster-father, I cannot close my eyes in
peace." Then answered Faithful John, "I will not forsake him, and will
serve him with fidelity, even if it should cost me my life." On this,
the old King said, "Now I die in comfort and peace." Then he added,
"After my death, thou shalt show him the whole castle: all the chambers,
halls, and vaults, and all the treasures which lie therein, but the
last chamber in the long gallery, in which is the picture of the
princess of the Golden Dwelling, shalt thou not show. If he sees that
picture, he will fall violently in love with her, and will drop down in a
swoon, and go through great danger for her sake, therefore thou must
preserve him from that." And when Faithful John had once more given his
promise to the old King about this, the King said no more, but laid his
head on his pillow, and died.
When the old King had been carried to his grave, Faithful
John told the young King all that he had promised his father on his
deathbed, and said, "This will I assuredly perform, and will be faithful
to thee as I have been faithful to him, even if it should cost me my
life." When the mourning was over, Faithful John said to him, "It is now
time that thou shouldst see thine inheritance. I will show thee thy
father's palace." Then he took him about everywhere, up and down, and
let him see all the riches, and the magnificent apartments, only there
was one room which he did not open, that in which hung the dangerous
picture. The picture was, however, so placed that when the door was
opened you looked straight on it, and it was so admirably painted that
it seemed to breathe and live, and there was nothing more charming or
more beautiful in the whole world. The young King, however, plainly
remarked that Faithful John always walked past this one door, and said,
"Why dost thou never open this one for me?" - "There is something within
it," he replied, "which would terrify thee." But the King answered, "I
have seen all the palace, and I will know what is in this room also,"
and he went and tried to break open the door by force. Then Faithful
John held him back and said, "I promised thy father before his death
that thou shouldst not see that which is in this chamber, it might bring
the greatest misfortune on thee and on me." - "Ah, no," replied the
young King, "if I do not go in, it will be my certain destruction. I
should have no rest day or night until I had seen it with my own eyes. I
shall not leave the place now until thou hast unlocked the door."
Then Faithful John saw that there was no help for it now,
and with a heavy heart and many sighs, sought out the key from the great
bunch. When he had opened the door, he went in first, and thought by
standing before him he could hide the portrait so that the King should
not see it in front of him, but what availed that? The King stood on
tip-toe and saw it over his shoulder. And when he saw the portrait of
the maiden, which was so magnificent and shone with gold and precious
stones, he fell fainting to the ground. Faithful John took him up,
carried him to his bed, and sorrowfully thought, "The misfortune has
befallen us, Lord God, what will be the end of it?" Then he strengthened
him with wine, until he came to himself again. The first words the King
said were, "Ah, the beautiful portrait! whose it it?" - "That is the
princess of the Golden Dwelling," answered Faithful John. Then the King
continued, "My love for her is so great, that if all the leaves on all
the trees were tongues, they could not declare it. I will give my life
to win her. Thou art my most Faithful John, thou must help me."
The faithful servant considered within himself for a long
time how to set about the matter, for it was difficult even to obtain a
sight of the King's daughter. At length he thought of a way, and said to
the King, "Everything which she has about her is of gold - tables,
chairs, dishes, glasses, bowls, and household furniture. Among thy
treasures are five tons of gold; let one of the goldsmiths of the
Kingdom work these up into all manner of vessels and utensils, into all
kinds of birds, wild beasts and strange animals, such as may please her,
and we will go there with them and try our luck." The King ordered all
the goldsmiths to be brought to him, and they had to work night and day
until at last the most splendid things were prepared. When everything
was stowed on board a ship, Faithful John put on the dress of a
merchant, and the King was forced to do the same in order to make
himself quite unrecognizable. Then they sailed across the sea, and
sailed on until they came to the town wherein dwelt the princess of the
Golden Dwelling.
Faithful John bade the King stay behind on the ship, and
wait for him. "Perhaps I shall bring the princess with me," said he,
"therefore see that everything is in order; have the golden vessels set
out and the whole ship decorated." Then he gathered together in his
apron all kinds of gold things, went on shore and walked straight to the
royal palace. When he entered the courtyard of the palace, a beautiful
girl was standing there by the well with two golden buckets in her hand,
drawing water with them. And when she was just turning round to carry
away the sparkling water she saw the stranger, and asked who he was. So
he answered, "I am a merchant," and opened his apron, and let her look
in. Then she cried, "Oh, what beautiful gold things!" and put her pails
down and looked at the golden wares one after the other. Then said the
girl, "The princess must see these, she has such great pleasure in
golden things, that she will buy all you have." She took him by the hand
and led him upstairs, for she was the waiting-maid. When the King's
daughter saw the wares, she was quite delighted and said, "They are so
beautifully worked, that I will buy them all of thee." But Faithful John
said, "I am only the servant of a rich merchant. The things I have here
are not to be compared with those my master has in his ship. They are
the most beautiful and valuable things that have ever been made in
gold." She wanted to have everything brought to her there, but he said,
"There are so many of them that it would take a great many days to do
that, and so many rooms would be required to exhibit them, that your
house is not big enough." Then her curiosity and longing were still more
excited, until at last she said, "Conduct me to the ship, I will go
there myself, and behold the treasures of thine master."
On this Faithful John was quite delighted, and led her to
the ship, and when the King saw her, he perceived that her beauty was
even greater than the picture had represented it to be, and thought no
other than that his heart would burst in twain. Then she got into the
ship, and the King led her within. Faithful John, however, remained
behind with the pilot, and ordered the ship to be pushed off, saying,
"Set all sail, till it fly like a bird in air." Within, however, the
King showed her the golden vessels, every one of them, also the wild
beasts and strange animals. Many hours went by whilst she was seeing
everything, and in her delight she did not observe that the ship was
sailing away. After she had looked at the last, she thanked the merchant
and wanted to go home, but when she came to the side of the ship, she
saw that it was on the deep sea far from land, and hurrying onwards with
all sail set. "Ah," cried she in her alarm, "I am betrayed! I am
carried away and have fallen into the power of a merchant - I would die
rather!" The King, however, seized her hand, and said, "I am not a
merchant. I am a king, and of no meaner origin than thou art, and if I
have carried thee away with subtlety, that has come to pass because of
my exceeding great love for thee. The first time that I looked on thy
portrait, I fell fainting to the ground." When the princess of the
Golden Dwelling heard that, she was comforted, and her heart was
inclined unto him, so that she willingly consented to be his wife.
It so happened, however, while they were sailing onwards
over the deep sea, that Faithful John, who was sitting on the fore part
of the vessel, making music, saw three ravens in the air, which came
flying towards them. On this he stopped playing and listened to what
they were saying to each other, for that he well understood. One cried,
"Oh, there he is carrying home the princess of the Golden Dwelling." -
"Yes," replied the second, "but he has not got her yet." Said the third,
"But he has got her, she is sitting beside him in the ship." Then the
first began again, and cried, "What good will that do him? When they
reach land a chestnut horse will leap forward to meet him, and the
prince will want to mount it, but if he does that, it will run away with
him, and rise up into the air with him, and he will never see his
maiden more." Spake the second, "But is there no escape?" - "Oh, yes, if
any one else gets on it swiftly, and takes out the pistol which must be
in its holster, and shoots the horse dead with it, the young King is
saved. But who knows that? And whosoever does know it, and tells it to
him, will be turned to stone from the toe to the knee." Then said the
second, "I know more than that; even if the horse be killed, the young
King will still not keep his bride. When they go into the castle
together, a wrought bridal garment will be lying there in a dish, and
looking as if it were woven of gold and silver; it is, however, nothing
but sulphur and pitch, and if he put it on, it will burn him to the very
bone and marrow." Said the third, "Is there no escape at all?" - "Oh,
yes," replied the second, "if any one with gloves on seizes the garment
and throws it into the fire and burns it, the young King will be saved.
"But what avails that?" Whosoever knows it and tells it to him, half his
body will become stone from the knee to the heart." Then said the
third, "I know still more; even if the bridal garment be burnt, the
young King will still not have his bride. After the wedding, when the
dancing begins and the young queen is dancing, she will suddenly turn
pale and fall down as if dead, and if some one does not lift her up and
draw three drops of blood from her right breast and spit them out again,
she will die. But if any one who knows that were to declare it, he
would become stone from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot."
When the ravens had spoken of this together, they flew onwards, and
Faithful John had well understood everything, but from that time forth
he became quiet and sad, for if he concealed what he had heard from his
master, the latter would be unfortunate, and if he discovered it to him,
he himself must sacrifice his life. At length, however, he said to
himself, "I will save my master, even if it bring destruction on
myself."
When therefore they came to shore, all happened as had been
foretold by the ravens, and a magnificent chestnut horse sprang forward.
"Good," said the King, "he shall carry me to my palace," and was about
to mount it when Faithful John got before him, jumped quickly on it,
drew the pistol out of the holster, and shot the horse. Then the other
attendants of the King, who after all were not very fond of Faithful
John, cried, "How shameful to kill the beautiful animal, that was to
have carried the King to his palace." But the King said, "Hold your
peace and leave him alone, he is my most faithful John, who knows what
may be the good of that!" They went into the palace, and in the hall
there stood a dish, and therein lay the bridal garment looking no
otherwise than as if it were made of gold and silver. The young King
went towards it and was about to take hold of it, but Faithful John
pushed him away, seized it with gloves on, carried it quickly to the
fire and burnt it. The other attendants again began to murmur, and said,
"Behold, now he is even burning the King's bridal garment!" But the
young King said, "Who knows what good he may have done, leave him alone,
he is my most faithful John." And now the wedding was solemnized: the
dance began, and the bride also took part in it; then Faithful John was
watchful and looked into her face, and suddenly she turned pale and fell
to the ground, as if she were dead. On this he ran hastily to her,
lifted her up and bore her into a chamber - then he laid her down, and
knelt and sucked the three drops of blood from her right breast, and
spat them out. Immediately she breathed again and recovered herself, but
the young King had seen this, and being ignorant why Faithful John had
done it, was angry and cried, "Throw him into a dungeon." Next morning
Faithful John was condemned, and led to the gallows, and when he stood
on high, and was about to be executed, he said, "Every one who has to
die is permitted before his end to make one last speech; may I too claim
the right?" - "Yes," answered the King, "it shall be granted unto
thee." Then said Faithful John, "I am unjustly condemned, and have
always been true to thee," and he related how he had hearkened to the
conversation of the ravens when on the sea, and how he had been obliged
to do all these things in order to save his master. Then cried the King,
"Oh, my most Faithful John. Pardon, pardon - bring him down." But as
Faithful John spoke the last word he had fallen down lifeless and become
a stone.
Thereupon the King and the Queen suffered great anguish, and
the King said, "Ah, how ill I have requited great fidelity!" and
ordered the stone figure to be taken up and placed in his bedroom beside
his bed. And as often as he looked on it he wept and said, "Ah, if I
could bring thee to life again, my most faithful John." Some time passed
and the Queen bore twins, two sons who grew fast and were her delight.
Once when the Queen was at church and the two children were sitting
playing beside their father, the latter full of grief again looked at
the stone figure, sighed and said, "Ah, if I could but bring thee to
life again, my most faithful John." Then the stone began to speak and
said, "Thou canst bring me to life again if thou wilt use for that
purpose what is dearest to thee." Then cried the King, "I will give
everything I have in the world for thee." The stone continued, "If thou
wilt will cut off the heads of thy two children with thine own hand, and
sprinkle me with their blood, I shall be restored to life." The King
was terrified when he heard that he himself must kill his dearest
children, but he thought of faithful John's great fidelity, and how he
had died for him, drew his sword, and with his own hand cut off the
children's heads. And when he had smeared the stone with their blood,
life returned to it, and Faithful John stood once more safe and healthy
before him. He said to the King, "Thy truth shall not go unrewarded,"
and took the heads of the children, put them on again, and rubbed the
wounds with their blood, on which they became whole again immediately,
and jumped about, and went on playing as if nothing had happened. Then
the King was full of joy, and when he saw the Queen coming he hid
Faithful John and the two children in a great cupboard. When she
entered, he said to her, "Hast thou been praying in the church?" -
"Yes," answered she, "but I have constantly been thinking of Faithful
John and what misfortune has befallen him through us." Then said he,
"Dear wife, we can give him his life again, but it will cost us our two
little sons, whom we must sacrifice." The Queen turned pale, and her
heart was full of terror, but she said, "We owe it to him, for his great
fidelity." Then the King was rejoiced that she thought as he had
thought, and went and opened the cupboard, and brought forth Faithful
John and the children, and said, "God be praised, he is delivered, and
we have our little sons again also," and told her how everything had
occurred. Then they dwelt together in much happiness until their death.
* * * END * * *
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