The Golden-fleeced Ram

Once upon a time a hunter went to the mountains to hunt, and met there

a golden-fleeced ram. The moment he saw it he took up his rifle to

shoot it; before, however, he could do so, the ram rushed at him and

killed him with its horns. His friends found him lying dead, and took

him home and buried him, without knowing how he had been killed. The

hunter's wife hung up his rifle on a nail. When her son grew old

enough, he one day asked his mother for the rifle, that he might go

hunting. The mother, however, refused to give it him. 'Nothing in the

world, my son,' cried she, 'shall induce me to do so. Your father lost

his life through that gun, and do you wish, also, to lose your life

because of it?'

However the youth managed to steal the rifle one day, and went away to

the mountains to hunt. When he came to the forest, the golden-fleeced

ram appeared also to him, and said, 'I killed your father, and I will

kill you!' The son was shocked, and said, 'God help me!' Then he

levelled at the ram with the rifle and killed it.

Greatly rejoiced that he had killed the golden-fleeced ram, (for

there was not another like it in all the kingdom) he now took the

fleece home. In a very short time the news of this spread all over the

country, and reached even the king's ears. Then the king ordered the

young lad to bring the ram's fleece to him, that he might see what

different animals lived in his kingdom. When the young lad took it to

the king, and exhibited it, the king asked, 'How much money do you

want for that fleece?' To which the young man answered, 'I will not

sell it for any money.'

Now the king's first minister happened to be the uncle of the young

man; instead, however, of being his friend, he was his greatest enemy.

So the minister said to the king, 'If he will not give you the fleece,

set him something to do which will cost him his life. The best plan

would be to order him to do something which it is impossible for him

to do.' Accordingly he advised the king to order the young man to

plant a vineyard, and to bring him, within seven days, new wine from

it. The young man hearing this, began to weep, and begged to be

excused from such a task as he could not work a miracle. But the king

said, 'If you don't do that in seven days, you shall lose your life.'

Then the youth returned weeping to his mother, and told her about it.

And the mother said, 'Did I not tell you, my son, that the golden

fleece would cost you your life as it cost your father his?' Weeping

and wondering what to do, since he got no rest at home, he thus walked

out of the village a good distance, when, suddenly, a little girl

appeared before him and said, 'Why are you weeping, my brother?' He

answered, somewhat angrily, 'Go your way, in God's name! you cannot

help me.' He then went on his way, but the little girl followed him,

and begged much that he would tell her why he wept, 'for, perhaps,'

said she, 'I may be able to help you.' 'Well, then, I will tell you,'

said he, 'though I am sure no one except God can help me.' So he told

her all that had happened to him, and what the king had ordered him to

do. When she had heard all, she said, 'Be not tearful, my brother, but

go and demand from the king that he should appoint the place where the

vineyard shall be planted, and order it to be dug in straight lines;

then go yourself, and take a sack, with a branch of basilicum in it,

and lie down to sleep in the place where the vineyard has been marked

out. Take courage! Don't be afraid! In seven days you will have ripe

grapes.'

Thereupon he returned home and told his mother how he had met the

little girl, and what she had told him; not, however, as having any

belief in what she had said. The mother, however, when she had heard

his words, said, 'Go, my son, and try; anyhow you are a lost man. You

can but try.'

He went then to the king and demanded land for the vineyard, and

begged that it should be dug in straight rows. The king ordered

everything to be done as the young man demanded, who forthwith took a

sack on his shoulder, and a sprig of basilicum, and went full of fear

and sorrow to lie down in the place. When he awoke next morning the

vines were already planted; the second morning the leaves were on the

vines; and, in short, on the seventh day there were ripe grapes, and

that, too, in a season when grapes were to be found nowhere else.

He gathered some grapes, and made sweet wine; and took also a cluster

of grapes in a handkerchief, and went to the king.

The king and the whole court were exceedingly surprised, but the young

man's uncle said, 'Now we will order him to do something which it is

quite impossible that he should do.' He then advised the king to call

the young man, and order him to make a palace of elephants' tusks.

The young man heard the king's order, and went home weeping. He told

his mother the order which the king had given him, and said, 'Mother,

this is a task which neither I nor any one else can fulfil.' Then the

mother advised him to take a walk beyond the village. 'Perhaps,' said

she, 'you will again meet the little girl.' Accordingly he went; and

when he reached the place where he had before seen the maiden, she

again appeared to him, and said, 'You are sad and troubled as before,

my brother.' Then he told her what a task the king had set him to

perform. She, however, no sooner heard this than she said, 'This will

also be easy; but first go to the king, and demand from him a ship

with three hundred barrels of wine, and three hundred barrels of

brandy, and twenty carpenters. Then, when you arrive at a place which

you will find between the mountains, dam up the water there, and pour

into it the wine and the brandy. The elephants will soon come there to

drink water, and will get drunk and fall down. Then your twenty

carpenters must cut off their tusks, and carry them to the spot where

the king desires to have the palace built. Then lie down there to

sleep, and in seven days the palace will be ready.'

The young man returned home and told his mother what the young maiden

had said to him. The mother advised him to follow the girl's counsel.

'Go, my son,' she said, 'perhaps God will again help you.' So the

young man went to the king, and demanded the barrels of wine and

brandy, and the twenty carpenters. The king furnished him with all he

desired; and he went immediately where the girl had told him, and did

as she had ordered. And, even as she had foretold, the elephants came

to drink, and got tipsy, and fell down; and the carpenters sawed their

tusks, and carried them to the spot where the palace was to be built.

Then, at evening, the young man took his sack and a branch of

basilicum, and went and lay down to sleep in the place.

And on the seventh day the palace was ready. When the king saw it, he

marvelled, and said to his first minister, the uncle of the young man,

'Now what shall we do with him? Indeed he is not a man; God knows only

what he is.'

To this, the minister answered, 'Yet one thing you ought to order him

to do, and if he fulfils that, also, indeed he must be something more

than man.' So, in accordance with the advice of his minister, the

king called the young man again, and said, 'Now, go and bring me the

king's daughter from such and such a kingdom, and out of such a city.

If you should fail to bring her, you will lose your head.'

The young man went home and told his mother the new task which the

king had set him to do, and the mother said, 'Go, my son, and look for

that young maiden. Perhaps God will grant that she may save you a

third time!'

So, as before, he went outside the village, and met the young maiden,

and told her what he had now to do.

The girl listened to him, and then said, 'Go and demand from the king

a ship; in the ship must be made twenty shops, and in each shop must

be a different kind of ware, each one better than the other. Then

demand that the twenty handsomest young men should be chosen, and

finely dressed, and put one in each shop as salesman. Then sail

yourself with the ship, and you will first meet a man who carries a

large eagle. You must ask him if he will sell it you, and he will

answer "Yes." Then give him anything he demands in return for the

eagle. After that you will meet a man carrying in his fishing-net a

carp with golden scales; you must buy the carp, whatever it may cost

you. Thirdly, you will meet a man carrying a live dove, and this dove

you must also buy, whatever the price may be. Then, take a feather

from the eagle's tail, a scale from the carp, and a little feather

from the left wing of the dove, and let the eagle, carp, and dove go

away free. When you arrive in the kingdom, and at the city where the

princess resides, you must open all the twenty shops, and order each

young man to stand before his shop-door. Then the citizens will come

and admire the wares; and the maidens, who come to fetch water, will

go back into the city and say, "Such a ship and such wares were never

before seen since this was a city!" This news will reach the ears of

the king's daughter, and she will beg permission from her father to go

and see the ship herself. When she comes, with her friends, on board,

you must lead her from one shop to the other, and bring out and show

her the finest wares which you have. Thus you must contrive to engage

her attention and to keep her on board till it gets dusk, and then let

the ship sail. In that moment it will be so dark that nothing can be

seen. The girl will have a bird on her shoulder, and, when she sees

the ship is sailing away, she will let the bird fly to take tiding to

the palace of what has happened to her. Then you must burn the eagle's

plume, and the old eagle will instantly come to you. You must order

him to catch the bird, and he will quickly do so. Then the girl will

throw a small stone into the water, and the ship will at once stand

still; but you will immediately burn the carp's scale, and the carp

will come to you. You must order him to find and swallow that little

water of life, and when he does so the ship will sail on. After

sailing some time you will arrive between two mountains; there the

ship will turn to stone and you will be greatly terrified. The girl

will urge you to fetch some water of life, and you must then burn the

dove's feather, and the bird will immediately appear. You will give

him a little bottle that he may bring you some water of life, and when

he does so the ship will sail on again, and you will come happily home

with the king's daughter.'

The young man listened to the advice of the maiden, and then returned

home and told all to his mother. After that he went to the king and

demanded all the things that the maiden had counselled him to procure.

The king could not refuse, so all that he asked was given him, and he

sailed away.

All things happened exactly as the young maiden had foretold, and the

young man came back with the king's daughter happily to his own

country.

The king and his first minister, the uncle of the young man, saw, from

the windows of the palace, the ship whilst yet it was far from the

city; and the minister said to the king, 'Now there is nothing left to

do but to kill him as he comes out of the ship!' When the ship reached

the port, the king's daughter first came ashore with her companions;

then the handsome young shopmen, and, lastly, the young man alone. But

the king had had the headsman placed there, and when the young man

stepped on the shore the executioner cut his head off. The king

intended to marry the king's daughter; accordingly, as soon as she

came on land he ran to her, and began to caress her, but she turned

away her head from him, and said, 'Where is he who has been working

for me?' And when she saw that his head was cut off she rushed to the

body, took out some water of life and poured over it, so he arose

alive and well as ever. When the king and his minister saw this

wonder, the minister said to the king, 'This man will know now more

than ever he did, since he has been dead and is come back to life!'

Then the king began to wonder if it were true that a man who has been

dead knows more when he returns to life, and, in order to satisfy his

curiosity, he ordered the headsman to cut off his head, and directed

that the girl with the water of life should bring him again to life.

But, after the king's head was cut off, the girl refused to restore

him to life. Instead of doing so, she wrote a letter to her father,

told him all that had happened, and told him her wish to marry the

young man. So the king, her father, sent forth a proclamation that the

people should take the young man for their king, and threatened to

declare war against them if they refused to do so. The people

recognised immediately the merits of the young man, and owned that he

deserved to be their king, and to marry the king's daughter.

Accordingly they made him king, and he married the king's daughter.

Then the handsome young men, who had sailed with him in the ship as

shopmen, married the companions of the king's daughter who was now

queen, and thus all of them became great dignitaries in the kingdom.