The Pink

There was once on a time a Queen to whom God had given no children.
Every morning she went into the garden and prayed to God in heaven to
bestow on her a son or a daughter. Then an angel from heaven came to
her and said, "Be at rest, thou shalt have a son with the power of
wishing, so that whatsoever in the world he wishes for, that shall he
have." Then she went to the King, and told him the joyful tidings, and
when the time was come she gave birth to a son, and the King was filled
with gladness. Every morning she went with the child to the garden
where the wild beasts were kept, and washed herself there in a clear
stream. It happened once when the child was a little older, that it was
lying in her arms and she fell asleep. Then came the old cook, who knew
that the child had the power of wishing, and stole it away, and he took
a hen, and cut it in pieces, and dropped some of its blood on the
Queen's apron and on her dress. Then he carried the child away to a
secret place, where a nurse was obliged to suckle it, and he ran to the
King and accused the Queen of having allowed her child to be taken from
her by the wild beasts. When the King saw the blood on her apron, he
believed this, fell into such a passion that he ordered a high tower to
be built, in which neither sun nor moon could be seen, and had his wife
put into it, and walled up. Here she was to stay for seven years
without meat or drink, and die of hunger. But God sent two angels from
heaven in the shape of white doves, which flew to her twice a day, and
carried her food until the seven years were over.

The cook, however, thought to himself, "If the child has the power of
wishing, and I am here, he might very easily get me into trouble." So
he left the palace and went to the boy, who was already big enough to
speak, and said to him, "Wish for a beautiful palace for thyself with a
garden, and all else that pertains to it." Scarcely were the words out
of the boy's mouth, when everything was there that he had wished for.
After a while the cook said to him, "It is not well for thee to be so
alone, wish for a pretty girl as a companion." Then the King's son
wished for one, and she immediately stood before him, and was more
beautiful than any painter could have painted her. The two played
together, and loved each other with all their hearts, and the old cook
went out hunting like a nobleman. The thought, however, occurred to him
that the King's son might some day wish to be with his father, and thus
bring him into great peril. So he went out and took the maiden aside,
and said, "To-night when the boy is asleep, go to his bed and plunge
this knife into his heart, and bring me his heart and tongue, and if
thou dost not do it, thou shalt lose thy life." Thereupon he went away,
and when he returned next day she had not done it, and said, "Why
should I shed the blood of an innocent boy who has never harmed any
one?" The cook once more said, "If thou dost not do it, it shall cost
thee thy own life." When he had gone away, she had a little hind
brought to her, and ordered her to be killed, and took her heart and
tongue, and laid them on a plate, and when she saw the old man coming,
she said to the boy, "Lie down in thy bed, and draw the clothes over
thee." Then the wicked wretch came in and said, "Where are the boy's
heart and tongue?" The girl reached the plate to him, but the King's
son threw off the quilt, and said, "Thou old sinner, why didst thou
want to kill me? Now will I pronounce thy sentence. Thou shalt become a
black poodle and have a gold collar round thy neck, and shalt eat
burning coals, till the flames burst forth from thy throat." And when
he had spoken these words, the old man was changed into a poodle dog,
and had a gold collar round his neck, and the cooks were ordered to
bring up some live coals, and these he ate, until the flames broke
forth from his throat. The King's son remained there a short while
longer, and he thought of his mother, and wondered if she were still
alive. At length he said to the maiden, "I will go home to my own
country; if thou wilt go with me, I will provide for thee." "Ah," she
replied, "the way is so long, and what shall I do in a strange land
where I am unknown?" As she did not seem quite willing, and as they
could not be parted from each other, he wished that she might be
changed into a beautiful pink, and took her with him. Then he went away
to his own country, and the poodle had to run after him. He went to the
tower in which his mother was confined, and as it was so high, he
wished for a ladder which would reach up to the very top. Then he
mounted up and looked inside, and cried, "Beloved mother, Lady Queen,
are you still alive, or are you dead?" She answered, "I have just
eaten, and am still satisfied," for she thought the angels were there.
Said he, "I am your dear son, whom the wild beasts were said to have
torn from your arms; but I am alive still, and will speedily deliver
you." Then he descended again, and went to his father, and caused
himself to be announced as a strange huntsman, and asked if he could
give him a place. The King said yes, if he was skilful and could get
game for him, he should come to him, but that deer had never taken up
their quarters in any part of the district or country. Then the
huntsman promised to procure as much game for him as he could possibly
use at the royal table. So he summoned all the huntsmen together, and
bade them go out into the forest with him. And he went with them and
made them form a great circle, open at one end where he stationed
himself, and began to wish. Two hundred deer and more came running
inside the circle at once, and the huntsmen shot them. Then they were
all placed on sixty country carts, and driven home to the King, and for
once he was able to deck his table with game, after having had none at
all for years.

Now the King felt great joy at this, and commanded that his entire
household should eat with him next day, and made a great feast. When
they were all assembled together, he said to the huntsmen, "As thou art
so clever, thou shalt sit by me." He replied, "Lord King, your majesty
must excuse me, I am a poor huntsman." But the King insisted on it, and
said, "Thou shalt sit by me," until he did it. Whilst he was sitting
there, he thought of his dearest mother, and wished that one of the
King's principal servants would begin to speak of her, and would ask
how it was faring with the Queen in the tower, and if she were alive
still, or had perished. Hardly had he formed the wish than the marshal
began, and said, "Your majesty, we live joyously here, but how is the
Queen living in the tower? Is she still alive, or has she died?" But
the King replied, "She let my dear son be torn to pieces by wild
beasts; I will not have her named." Then the huntsman arose and said,
"Gracious lord father, she is alive still, and I am her son, and I was
not carried away by wild beasts, but by that wretch the old cook, who
tore me from her arms when she was asleep, and sprinkled her apron with
the blood of a chicken." Thereupon he took the dog with the golden
collar, and said, "That is the wretch!" and caused live coals to be
brought, and these the dog was compelled to devour before the sight of
all, until flames burst forth from its throat. On this the huntsman
asked the King if he would like to see the dog in his true shape, and
wished him back into the form of the cook, in the which he stood
immediately, with his white apron, and his knife by his side. When the
King saw him he fell into a passion, and ordered him to be cast into
the deepest dungeon. Then the huntsman spoke further and said, "Father,
will you see the maiden who brought me up so tenderly and who was
afterwards to murder me, but did not do it, though her own life
depended on it?" The King replied, "Yes, I would like to see her." The
son said, "Most gracious father, I will show her to you in the form of
a beautiful flower," and he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought
forth the pink, and placed it on the royal table, and it was so
beautiful that the King had never seen one to equal it. Then the son
said, "Now will I show her to you in her own form," and wished that she
might become a maiden, and she stood there looking so beautiful that no
painter could have made her look more so.

And the King sent two waiting-maids and two attendants into the tower,
to fetch the Queen and bring her to the royal table. But when she was
led in she ate nothing, and said, "The gracious and merciful God who
has supported me in the tower, will speedily deliver me." She lived
three days more, and then died happily, and when she was buried, the
two white doves which had brought her food to the tower, and were
angels of heaven, followed her body and seated themselves on her grave.
The aged King ordered the cook to be torn in four pieces, but grief
consumed the King's own heart, and he soon died. His son married the
beautiful maiden whom he had brought with him as a flower in his
pocket, and whether they are still alive or not, is known to God.
