Opening, part 13 Opening, part 13 of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang: the whole text, 104 sentences and 2521 words. Every sentence has its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself.
1 The young man stopped, not able to believe his ears, but supposed that pain had made the princess cross, as it sometimes does. 2 However, he guessed somehow that she wised to be left alone, so he only said: 3 'Well, I dare say a little sleep will do you good, if you can manage to get it, and that you will wake up better to-morrow.' 4 Now, that night happened to be very hot and airless, and the prince, after vainly trying to rest, at length got up and went to the window. 5 Suddenly he beheld in the moonlight a form with a wreath of roses on her head rise out of the sea below him and step on to the sands, holding out her arms as she did so towards the palace. 6 'That maiden is strangely like my wife,' thought he; 'I must see her closer! 7 And he hastened down to the water. 8 But when he got there, the princess, for she indeed it was, had disappeared completely, and he began to wonder if his eyes had deceived him. 9 The next morning he went to the false bride's room, but her ladies told him she would neither speak nor get up, though she ate everything they set before her. 10 The prince was sorely perplexed as to what could be the matter with her, for naturally he could not guess that she was expecting her mother to return every moment, and to remove the spell the doves had laid upon her, and meanwhile was afraid to speak lest she should betray herself. 11 At length he made up his mind to summon all the court physicians; he did not tell her what he was going to do, lest it should make her worse, but he went himself and begged the four learned leeches attached to the king's person to follow him to the princess's apartments. 12 Unfortunately, as they entered, the princess was so enraged at the sight of them that she forgot all about the doves, and shrieked out: 'Dirty creatures! dirty creatures!' which so offended the physicians that they left the room at once, and nothing that the prince could say would prevail on them to remain. 13 He then tried to persuade his wife to send them a message that she was sorry for her rudeness, but not a word would she say. 14 Late that evening, when he had performed all the tiresome duties which fall to the lot of every prince, the young man was leaning out of his window, refreshing himself with the cool breezes that blew off the sea. 15 His thoughts went back to the scene of the morning, and he wondered if, after all, he had not made a great mistake in marrying a low-born wife, however beautiful she might be. 16 How could he have imagined that the quiet, gentle girl who had been so charming a companion to him during the first days of their marriage, could have become in a day the rude, sulky woman, who could not control her temper even to benefit herself. 17 One thing was clear, if she did not change her conduct very shortly he would have to send her away from court. 18 He was thinking these thoughts, when his eyes fell on the sea beneath him, and there, as before, was the figure that so closely resembled his wife, standing with her feet in the water, holding out her arms to him. 19 'Wait for me! 20 Wait for me! 21 Wait for me!' he cried; not even knowing he was speaking. 22 But when he reached the shore there was nothing to be seen but the shadows cast by the moonlight. 23 A state ceremonial in a city some distance off caused the prince to ride away at daybreak, and he left without seeing his wife again. 24 'Perhaps she may have come to her senses by to-morrow,' said he to himself; 'and, anyhow, if I am going to send her back to her father, it might be better if we did not meet in the meantime! 25 Then he put the matter from his mind, and kept his thoughts on the duty that lay before him. 26 It was nearly midnight before he returned to the palace, but, instead of entering, he went down to the shore and hid behind a rock. 27 He had scarcely done so when the girl came out of the sea, and stretched out her arms towards his window. 28 In an instant the prince had seized her hand, and though she made a frightened struggle to reach the water--for she in her turn had had a spell laid upon her--he held her fast. 29 'You are my own wife, and I shall never let you go,' he said. 30 But the words were hardly out of his mouth when he found that it was a hare that he was holding by the paw. 31 Then the hare changed into a fish, and the fish into a bird, and the bird into a slimy wriggling snake. 32 This time the prince's hand nearly opened of itself, but with a strong effort he kept his fingers shut, and drawing his sword cut off its head, when the spell was broken, and the girl stood before him as he had seen her first, the wreath upon her head and the birds singing for joy. 33 The very next morning the stepmother arrived at the palace with an ointment that the old witch had given her to place upon her daughter's tongue, which would break the dove's spell, if the rightful bride had really been drowned in the sea; if not, then it would be useless. 34 The mother assured her that she had seen her stepdaughter sink, and that there was no fear that she would ever come up again; but, to make all quite safe, the old woman might bewitch the girl; and so she did. 35 After that the wicked stepmother travelled all through the night to get to the palace as soon as possible, and made her way straight into her daughter's room. 36 'I have got it! 37 I have got it!' she cried triumphantly, and laid the ointment on her daughter's tongue. 38 'Now what do you say?' she asked proudly. 39 'Dirty creatures! dirty creatures!' answered the daughter; and the mother wrung her hands and wept, as she knew that all her plans had failed. 40 At this moment the prince entered with his real wife. ' 41 You both deserved death,' he said, 'and if it were left to me, you should have it. 42 But the princess has begged me to spare your lives, so you will be put into a ship and carried off to a desert island, where you will stay till you die.' 43 Then the ship was made ready and the wicked woman and her daughter were placed in it, and it sailed away, and no more was heard of them. 44 But the prince and his wife lived together long and happily, and ruled their people well. 45 [Adapted from Thorpe's Yule-Tide Stories.] 46 The Foolish Weaver 47 Once a weaver, who was in want of work, took service with a certain farmer as a shepherd. 48 The farmer, knowing that the man was very slow-witted, gave him most careful instructions as to everything that he was to do. 49 Finally he said: 'If a wolf or any wild animal attempts to hurt the flock you should pick up a big stone like this' (suiting the action to the word) 'and throw a few such at him, and he will be afraid and go away.' 50 The weaver said that he understood, and started with the flocks to the hillsides where they grazed all day. 51 By chance in the afternoon a leopard appeared, and the weaver instantly ran home as fast as he could to get the stones which the farmer had shown him, to throw at the creature. 52 When he came back all the flock were scattered or killed, and when the farmer heard the tale he beat him soundly. ' 53 Were there no stones on the hillside that you should run back to get them, you senseless one?' he cried; 'you are not fit to herd sheep. 54 To-day you shall stay at home and mind my old mother who is sick, perhaps you will be able to drive flies off her face, if you can't drive beasts away from sheep!' 55 So, the next day, the weaver was left at home to take care of the farmer's old sick mother. 56 Now as she lay outside on a bed, it turned out that the flies became very troublesome, and the weaver looked round for something to drive them away with; and as he had been told to pick up the nearest stone to drive the beasts away from the flock, he thought he would this time show how cleverly he could obey orders. 57 Accordingly he seized the nearest stone, which was a big, heavy one, and dashed it at the flies; but, unhappily, he slew the poor old woman also; and then, being afraid of the wrath of the farmer, he fled and was not seen again in that neighbourhood. 58 All that day and all the next night he walked, and at length he came to a village where a great many weavers lived together. 59 'You are welcome,' said they. ' 60 Eat and sleep, for to-morrow six of us start in search of fresh wool to weave, and we pray you to give us your company.' 61 'Willingly,' answered the weaver. 62 So the next morning the seven weavers set out to go to the village where they could buy what they wanted. 63 On the way they had to cross a ravine which lately had been full of water, but now was quite dry. 64 The weavers, however, were accustomed to swim over this ravine; therefore, regardless of the fact that this time it was dry, they stripped, and, tying their clothes on their heads, they proceeded to swim across the dry sand and rocks that formed the bed of the ravine. 65 Thus they got to the other side without further damage than bruised knees and elbows, and as soon as they were over, one of them began to count the party to make sure that all were safe there. 66 He counted all except himself, and then cried out that somebody was missing! 67 This set each of them counting; but each made the same mistake of counting all except himself, so that they became certain that one of their party was missing! 68 They ran up and down the bank of the ravine wringing their hands in great distress and looking for signs of their lost comrade. 69 There a farmer found them and asked what was the matter. ' 70 Alas!' said one, 'seven of us started from the other bank and one must have been drowned on the crossing, as we can only find six remaining!' 71 The farmer eyed them a minute, and then, picking up his stick, he dealt each a sounding blow, counting, as he did so, 'One! two! three!' and so on up to the seven. 72 When the weavers found that there were seven of them they were overcome with gratitude to one whom they took for a magician as he could thus make seven out of an obvious six. 73 [From the Pushto.] 74 The Clever Cat 75 Once upon a time there lived an old man who dwelt with his son in a small hut on the edge of the plain. 76 He was very old, and had worked very hard, and when at last he was struck down by illness he felt that he should never rise from his bed again. 77 So, one day, he bade his wife summon their son, when he came back from his journey to the nearest town, where he had been to buy bread. 78 'Come hither, my son,' said he; 'I know myself well to be dying, and I have nothing to leave you but my falcon, my cat and my greyhound; but if you make good use of them you will never lack food. 79 Be good to your mother, as you have been to me. 80 And now farewell!' 81 Then he turned his face to the wall and died. 82 There was great mourning in the hut for many days, but at length the son rose up, and calling to his greyhound, his cat and his falcon, he left the house saying that he would bring back something for dinner. 83 Wandering over the plain, he noticed a troop of gazelles, and pointed to his greyhound to give chase. 84 The dog soon brought down a fine fat beast, and slinging it over his shoulders, the young man turned homewards. 85 On the way, however, he passed a pond, and as he approached a cloud of birds flew into the air. 86 Shaking his wrist, the falcon seated on it darted into the air, and swooped down upon the quarry he had marked, which fell dead to the ground. 87 The young man picked it up, and put it in his pouch and then went towards home again. 88 Near the hut was a small barn in which he kept the produce of the little patch of corn, which grew close to the garden. 89 Here a rat ran out almost under his feet, followed by another and another; but quick as thought the cat was upon them and not one escaped her. 90 When all the rats were killed, the young man left the barn. 91 He took the path leading to the door of the hut, but stopped on feeling a hand laid on his shoulder. 92 'Young man,' said the ogre (for such was the stranger), 'you have been a good son, and you deserve the piece of luck which has befallen you this day. 93 Come with me to that shining lake yonder, and fear nothing.' 94 Wondering a little at what might be going to happen to him, the youth did as the ogre bade him, and when they reached the shore of the lake, the ogre turned and said to him: 95 'Step into the water and shut your eyes! 96 You will find yourself sinking slowly to the bottom; but take courage, all will go well. 97 Only bring up as much silver as you can carry, and we will divide it between us.' 98 So the young man stepped bravely into the lake, and felt himself sinking, sinking, till he reached firm ground at last. 99 In front of him lay four heaps of silver, and in the midst of them a curious white shining stone, marked over with strange characters, such as he had never seen before. 100 He picked it up in order to examine it more closely, and as he held it the stone spoke. ← previous Opening, part 12next → Opening, part 14↑ back to The Orange Fairy Book This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/13/