THERE was once a young soldier who went far away from his home to fight in a war. When the war was over and he returned, his father and mother had died, and no one was left in the family but himself. His entire inheritance was a cow and two sheep, and these he decided to sell. “Then,” said he, “I will seek my fortune somewhere else, instead of remaining here in poverty.”
The cow and the sheep were sold, and the soldier set out on his travels. After walking for about a week, he one day found himself in a great forest, and toward night he came to an old castle with the woods all around it. The castle door was open, and he entered. Not a person was to be seen, but on a long table was food enough ready for eating to serve a score. The soldier stood a long time silently waiting in the hope that the dwellers in the castle would appear and invite him to eat with them. But he waited in vain. The castle seemed to be abandoned, and at last the soldier said: “Upon my word, it is a shame to neglect this food any longer. I may as well eat. Surely no one will greatly blame me for doing so.”
He seated himself at the table, and though at first somewhat anxious, ate and drank with a good appetite. By the time he finished, his confidence was fully restored, and he went to look through the adjoining rooms. In one he found heaps of rich merchandise, in another were many bags and boxes of gold, silver, and jewels, while in a third the walls were half hidden by a great array of guns.
“This castle is a robbers’ den,” said the soldier when he saw all this, “and the robbers have gone off on some expedition. They will doubtless soon return; but since I am here I will take possession of this treasure and these guns, and drive the robbers away.”
He began to prepare the castle as well as he could to stand a siege. After barricading the doors and windows, he loaded all the guns and sat down to wait. Presently he heard the robbers coming, and he took his place at a window that commanded the approach to the castle. Close at hand he had set a large number of guns ready loaded, and he immediately began to fire. The robbers were vastly astonished, and, though there were fully twenty of them, they dropped the booty with which they were laden and retired to shelter. But they reappeared shortly, and threw themselves against the heavy door, raging and swearing. The door, however, withstood their battering, and as the soldier killed or wounded one of them at every shot, they in a short time ran off, carrying the wounded with them, and were lost to sight in the forest.
“They will be back tomorrow, most likely, with reinforcements,” said the soldier, and he strengthened his barricades and reloaded the guns he had discharged.
It happened as he expected. At dawn the next day the robbers again returned with a dozen others whom they had summoned to their aid. They yelled, and fired their guns, and threw stones, and pounded the door with heavy clubs. All the time the soldier was shooting from his window, and in the end every robber was killed. The soldier was now in complete possession of the castle and all the treasures it contained. He explored it from top to bottom, and concluded to make it his home. In the days that followed he often went forth into the forest to hunt, and the castle and the life he led suited him very well. Thus things went on until one day, when he was out with his gun, he took aim to shoot a fine rabbit. Greatly to his surprise the rabbit spoke, saying: “Do not kill me. I may perhaps be useful to you.”
“Very well,” said the soldier, “I will not harm you, and you can come with me and be my servant.”
He went on followed by the rabbit, and in a little while he saw a bear. He took careful aim and was about to shoot, when the bear said, “Do not kill me, and I will make myself useful to you.”
“All right,” was the soldier’s response. “Follow me, and we will see in what way you can serve me.”
The soldier at length returned to the castle, and the rabbit and bear went with him. That evening, as they were in the great hall enjoying the heat of the fire in the fireplace, the bear said: “I heard this morning that the daughter of the king is about to be taken to a dragon which will devour her. Would it not be well for us to go and deliver her?”
“That would be a very perilous undertaking,” said the soldier.
“Pshaw!” exclaimed the bear, “it is not as dangerous as you think. I am ready to do my part.”
“Yes,” said the rabbit, “and I will do my part. All three of us ought to be more than a match for one dragon.”
“Let us go then,” said the soldier.
The next morning he armed himself with a stout sword, and they started. It was a long distance, and when the soldier tired of walking the bear carried him on its back. At last they met a procession carrying the princess to the dragon. Thousands of people were in the procession, and they were all weeping. The soldier and his comrades went along with the rest to the edge of a big, desolate plain. Then the people turned back and left the princess to go on alone. The cavern of the dragon was in the midst of the plain, and every month a maiden had to come to him to be devoured. Otherwise, he would have devastated the whole kingdom. The maidens were chosen by lot, and this time the lot had fallen on the daughter of the king. Abandoned by all the world, she went slowly on, wailing and shedding great tears.
Meanwhile the soldier was engaged in buying a handsome horse from one of the returning citizens. As soon as he had secured it, he galloped after the princess with the bear and the rabbit following him. When he overtook her he said, “I pray you, dear lady, to mount behind me, and I will carry you whither you are going.”
“Alas!” she responded, “I shall get there only too soon. I do not wish to hasten to my death.”
“Confide in me,” said the soldier. “With the aid of my two companions, whom you see here, I will save you from the monster.”
“I will do whatever you say,” the princess agreed, “though I have little hope that you can save me.”
Then the soldier leaped to the ground, helped the princess on to the horse’s back, remounted himself, and rode on toward the abode of the dragon. The dragon heard them coming, and crawled out of its cave. “So you are here at last, princess!” it snorted. “But I see you have companions with you. The more the better, for I shall eat you and them, too.”
Next the dragon addressed the soldier, and said: “Young man, I am all ready. Throw me the princess.”
“If you want her, come and take her,” the soldier responded.
“Throw her to me,” ordered the dragon savagely, “or with my sharp teeth I will make sausage meat of you in no time.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” retorted the soldier.
THE BEAR AND RABBIT BEGIN THE ATTACK ON THE DRAGON
“Now we must all do our duty,” said the bear, in a low voice. “First, let the lady slip off the horse and stand out of harm’s way. Then I will clinch the monster from the front, and the rabbit shall run and nip its tail, and while we are thus taking its attention, our master must gallop forward and slash off its head.”
The princess alighted from the horse, and the bear dashed at the dreadful creature and grappled with it. At the same time the rabbit ran and worried it in the rear. Lastly, the soldier put spurs to his steed, and joined in the attack. The dragon was too much engaged with the bear and rabbit to defend itself from him, and with a tremendous blow of his sword he cut off the beast’s head.
“Victory, victory!” cried the soldier and the princess.
But the assailants did not escape without injuries. The bear and rabbit had their skins torn, and were much fatigued, and the soldier and the princess were nearly overcome with the dragon’s sulphurous breath. In order to have something to show to the king as a proof that the beast had been vanquished, the soldier cut out the dragon’s tongue and put it in a bag to carry along.
Evening was near, and they could journey no farther that day. Therefore, they looked around, seeking some place that would afford shelter for the night. The dragon’s cave was too foul, and it seemed necessary they should sleep on the open plain. But the bear rolled together several boulders in a half circle to keep off the wind, and in the protection of these they all gathered to await the morning, except the horse, which was tethered at a little remove. The rabbit served as a pillow for the princess, and the bear curled down at her feet to keep her warm. Before going to sleep they talked about the events of the day and their plans for the future. One thing they settled then and there to the satisfaction of all concerned, and this was that the soldier should marry the princess.
It happened that a charcoal-burner, whose curiosity was keener than his fear, ventured on to the plain in the late evening, hoping to learn the fate of the princess. As he was prowling about he discovered the dragon with its severed head, and presently he heard a sound of voices and approached the group where the soldier and his friends had established themselves. He hid behind a boulder and listened to the conversation and determined to profit by it. When they were all fast asleep he stole softly into the midst of the group, and cut off the soldier’s head. Then he carried away the princess to his hut on the borders of the plain. Afterward he returned and secured the head of the dragon.
In the morning he washed his hands and face, brushed his hair, put on his best clothes, and took the princess to her father the king and said he was the conqueror of the dragon. The king had promised his daughter should marry the man, whoever he might be, that should deliver her from the dreadful beast. So, after some consultation, the day following was appointed for the wedding. But the princess protested that the charcoal-burner was not her deliverer. However, as he had the head of the dragon to show, no one paid much attention to what she said.
When the bear and the rabbit awoke after a long night’s sleep they were much astonished to see that the princess was gone, and that their master’s head was cut off. “How is it, bear,” said the rabbit, “that with such things happening you did not awake?”
“I was very weary,” replied the bear, “and it seems you slept just as soundly.”
“The first thing to be done,” said the rabbit, “is to put our master’s head on his shoulders and bring him to life. Then we will search for the princess. Luckily I know where to get some magic earth that will restore our master, and I will go after it at once.”
The rabbit scurried off while the bear stood on guard. In time, the rabbit returned with the magic earth. The bear fitted the soldier’s head to his body, and the rabbit rubbed the magic earth on the wound. Immediately the soldier was made whole, and he opened his eyes and sat up. “Ah,” said he, “How well I have slept! I think from the look of the sun it must now be afternoon. But where is the princess?”
They told him all that had occurred, and he was very much troubled. “You need not worry,” said the rabbit; “we will find the princess soon, I promise you.”
Without delay they set off to go to the royal city, and by night they drew near the king’s palace and stopped in a small wood. “You two remain here,” said the rabbit, “and I will find out what is happening in the palace.”
The rabbit went on and crept into the palace, where he discovered that a great feast was in progress celebrating the return of the princess. One thing only marred the pleasure of those who participated, and that was her persistence in saying that she did not want the charcoal-burner for a husband, and that he was not her deliverer. The rabbit entered the dining-hall. “Look, look! a rabbit!” cried the guests.
The servants hastened to pursue it, but it ran and dodged until it came near where the princess sat. Then it suddenly sprang into her lap and said in a low voice: “My master, who rescued you from the dragon, is not far away. He loves you always.”
The princess was overjoyed. She caressed the rabbit, and was giving it sweetmeats when the charcoal-burner began to shout, “Drive away the ugly beast!”
“What harm has it done?” said the princess, protecting it with her arms.
“Drive it away quickly, I tell you,” the charcoal-burner continued. “It is a sorcerer. Kill it!”
The servants approached armed with brooms and sticks, and the rabbit took to flight and leaped lightly through the window.
Next day the wedding guests assembled, but just when everything was ready for the ceremony the soldier, followed by the bear and the rabbit, entered the palace. The guests at this sight were about to stampede to safety, but the soldier raised his hand, and said, “Let no one attempt to leave the hall, or he will have to deal with my friend here.”
So saying, he pulled the bear’s ear, and the bear growled threateningly. Then the soldier turned to the king and asked: “Do you believe that it was this ugly charcoal-burner who rescued your daughter from the dragon? And are you willing to give him your daughter to be his wife?”
“I am a man of my word,” responded the king.
“Very well,” said the soldier, “but the charcoal-burner did not deliver the princess from the monster. It was I, though I must add that I had the help of these two friends, the bear and the rabbit.”
“But the charcoal-burner has given us proof we cannot doubt,” said the king. “He brought with him the dragon’s head.”
“Let the head be produced, and I will prove to you that he is a fraud,” said the soldier.
The king dispatched a servant to fetch the head, and when it had been brought the soldier said: “Now open the dragon’s mouth. See if it has a tongue.”
The servant opened the monster’s mouth. Sure enough, there was no tongue.
“Why, how does that happen?” asked the king.
“I cut out the tongue immediately after I killed the beast,” explained the soldier, “and here it is.”
From a bag he carried he shook the tongue out on a table.
“Yes,” cried the princess, “it is he who was my deliverer, and it is he who shall be my husband.”
The charcoal-burner saw that everything was going against him, and he slipped out of sight in the crowd and got away unobserved out of the palace. When search was made for him he was not to be found. “Well,” said the king, “I’m glad he is gone. It is a good riddance, and now let us have the wedding.”
So the soldier married the princess, and the event was celebrated with holidays and banquets throughout the kingdom.