THE CASTLE HUNG IN THE AIR

A SAILOR’S STORY

ONCE upon a time there was a fisherman whose only possessions consisted of a little cabin by the seashore, his boat, and his nets. He had a son who went fishing with him, and he was so good-looking that as he passed along every one turned to look at him. He had also three daughters, very nearly of the same age, and all three as beautiful as the day.

The fisherman, who was old, died; his son became the head of the family, and at all eventides he went in his boat to fish, so as to get something to eat for all his household.

One day as he was setting out to go to the strand, he saw before his door three handsome lords, who asked his permission to enter his cabin to rest themselves there a few moments, as they came from a distance and were tired. He consented very willingly, and welcomed them to the best that he had. They seated themselves in the cabin, and were so struck with the beauty of the sisters that they all three fell in love with them. A few days after, they married them, and the next day after the wedding the three nobles, who were the king of Fishes, the king of the Birds, and the king of the Rats and the Mice, wished to take their wives away to their own kingdoms. Before leaving their brother-in-law, they each made him a present. Two of them gave him large purses full of gold, but the gift of the third was only an old snuff-box. The fisherman put it into the pocket of his jacket, without even having a desire to open it, for he thought that his brother-in-law had wished to mock him.

The fisherman grew very lonely after his sisters were gone, and as he had a well-filled purse, he dressed himself as a well-to-do countryman, left his cabin, and went to Paris. For two years he led a gay life there, as he wanted nothing, having his pockets full of money; but he finished all the same by seeing his last crown; and when he had nothing left but debts, his friends turned their backs on him, and he was turned out of his house. Then he remembered his village and his little cabin, and he resolved to return there and once more take up his trade of fisherman. But when he came to the little creek where he had left his boat, he saw it no longer; for the north wind had carried it away, and he found only his grapnel and some bits of half-rotten ground-tackling. He went into his cabin, which had also suffered much from wind and weather, and began to fumble in the pocket of his jacket to see if he could find there some five-franc pieces. But he turned his pockets in vain, there was not even one poor penny; there was nothing there but the old snuff-box that his brother-in-law had given him. He was on the point of throwing it into a corner, but he thought that perhaps it contained some tobacco, and he opened it. As soon as he had raised the lid, he heard a small voice, which said to him,—

“Master, what do you want?”

“What do I want?” murmured the fisherman, much astonished at hearing a voice, but seeing no one. “There are a great many things; at this moment I would like a table with a good dinner on it.”

Immediately a table was set before him covered with bread and meats; there were also bottles of wine, and even coffee and brandy were not forgotten. The fisherman, who had fasted somewhat for some time, ate with a good appetite; then, when he was no longer hungry, he opened his snuff-box again, and ordered it to transport him to the chamber of the king’s daughter. Immediately he rose gently above the clouds as if he had been borne on the wings of the wind, and saw beside him a princess as beautiful as the day, and who slept so quietly that one could scarcely hear her breathe. In the morning he opened his snuff-box again so as to return to his cabin before the princess was awake. For three days he had himself served with good meals, and for three nights he remained gazing upon the king’s daughter as she slept; but he would not awaken her, lest he should frighten her and give her trouble.

However, the princess’ father causes it to be trumpeted throughout his kingdom and in the neighboring countries that his daughter was of an age to be married, and that he would give her to the one who should bring him the greatest quantity of grain; for the harvest had been bad, and his subjects were threatened with famine. Wagons were to be seen on the roads coming from every direction, loaded with grain; and in all the ports ships whose holds were filled with wheat. The young fisherman was delighted to hear of the king’s promise, for he thought that, thanks to his snuff-box, he should be able to become the husband of the princess who pleased him so much.

He opened his snuff-box, and immediately he heard the small voice saying,—

“Master, what do you want?”

“I would like thousands and thousands of wagons loaded with wheat, so that no one could be able to carry as much to the king’s palace as I.”

Accordingly the roads were covered, farther than the eye could reach, with wagons, and the fisherman took them to the king, who found that he alone brought more grain than all the others together. Eight days after, the fisherman married the princess, who was not sorry for it, because he was a handsome fellow.

The day after the wedding he opened his snuff-box and asked of it a beautiful castle which should be hung from the sky by four golden chains, near the palace of his father-in-law. As soon as he had spoken, he saw the castle in the sky, hanging from the clouds by four golden chains. It was so beautiful that nothing had ever been seen equal to it, and it shone as if it had been made entirely of gold. When the king saw this beautiful palace which glistened in the sun, he asked his son-in-law what it could be.

“Sire,” replied the fisherman, “it is my castle that my invisible workmen have built this night above your garden. If you wish to come and look over it, you will see that it is perfectly furnished.”

The king embraced his son-in-law, for he was charmed to see him with such a beautiful castle; and when he had gone over it from the garret to the cellar, he proposed to him to go hunting, and they both started off.

Meanwhile one of the princess’s old lovers came to the castle hung by the golden chains, and looking over it, he perceived in a corner an old worn-out snuff-box. Very much astonished to see it in such a place, he wished to open it to find out what there was inside; immediately he heard a small voice, which said,—

“Master, what do you wish for?”

“What do I wish for?” replied the lord. “I wish that this castle may be transported more than four hundred and fifty leagues from here.”

In a moment he felt the castle move, and he saw it pass over great forests and vast seas, which it crossed in the wink of an eye. At last he saw it stop in the midst of a country where, as far as the eye could reach, not a living soul could be seen.

Returning from the hunt with his father-in-law, the young fisherman came to a rising ground from whence he thought he should perceive his castle; but was greatly surprised to see it no longer. He felt in his pockets and found that his snuff-box was not there.

When the king learned that the castle where his daughter was had disappeared, he got into a great rage, and swore upon his kingly word that, if his son-in-law did not bring the princess back before two months had passed, he would have him torn in pieces by four horses.

The fisherman was very sad at having lost his wife and his castle; but he thought that his brothers-in-law would be able to help him, and he set out to go and see them. He first went to find the king of the Fishes. On entering the palace, he embraced his sister, who was as happy as a princess should be; then he related his misfortune to his brother-in-law, and asked him if he had not heard of a castle hung from the sky by four golden chains.

“No,” replied the king of the Fishes; “I have not heard of it: but wait, I think I can tell you in a moment where it is.”

He plunged into the sea, and assembled all his subjects from the whale to the flea-of-the-sea, and asked them if they had not seen a castle hung from the clouds by four golden chains; but they all declared that it was the first time they had heard of it. As the king finished questioning them, he saw an old porpoise come up, who had stood many shots and many storms.

“And you, porpoise,” asked the king of him, “have you not seen the castle hung in the air by four golden chains?”

“No,” he answered, “I have not seen it; but as I was playing on the waves, I met an eagle who told me of a castle hung by four golden chains; a marriage was to be celebrated there in eight days, and so many meats were taken there for the guests that the eagle told me he had never seen so many before.”

The king of the Fishes thanked the old porpoise; then he came out of the sea and went to tell his brother-in-law all he had learned. The fisherman was very glad of it, and set out at once to go to see his other brother-in-law, the king of the Birds.

When he reached his palace, he embraced his sister, then told his adventures to the king of the Birds, and asked him if he had not heard of a castle hung in the air by four golden chains. The king assembled his subjects, and asked them if they had seen the castle. The eagle answered,—

“Yes, I have seen it; it shines like gold, and a marriage is to be celebrated there in seven days. It will be a grand wedding, for already there are so many meats of all sorts that yesterday I could eat as much of them as I wanted.”

“Could you,” asked the king, “carry a man as far as that?”

“Yes,” answered the eagle; “but first I must eat a great deal, for the way will be long.”

During the whole night the eagle was supplied with meats, and he feasted until the break of day. In the morning he took the fisherman on his back, and flew away to go to the castle hung in the air by four golden chains.

For several hours the eagle flew over a great sea, so vast that neither shores nor islands were to be seen, nothing but the sky and the sea; but his strength began to fail, and he put the fisherman down on a rock that the tide had just exposed to view; then he went off at a single flight for the castle of the four golden chains, so as to fill his stomach again with meats, and be able to take the man upon his back again.

The fisherman remained alone upon the rock, and the time seemed long to him, for the eagle did not return, and he knew that the high tide would cover the rock. Meanwhile the tide rose higher and higher, and in vain he looked with all his eyes; he did not see the eagle returning. He stood upon the highest point of the rock; soon the water reached him there; it bathed his feet, then his knees; it rose to his waist, then to his shoulders, and still he saw nothing coming. Just at the moment when the waves reached his chin, the eagle appeared, and having taken him on his back, he put him down in the court-yard of the castle, where the wedding was to be celebrated the next day.

The fisherman’s wife was at her window; she recognized her husband, and was very glad to see him, for she loved him very much, and it was against her will that she had been taken away. She found an opportunity to speak to him secretly, and said to him,—

“The lord who carried me away never leaves the magic snuff-box, and every evening when he goes to bed, he puts it under his pillow, so it is difficult to take it without waking him. The eagle must go and find the husband of your third sister, the one who commands the Rats and the Mice, and tell him to order some of his subjects to come here. When the lord is snoring, a little mouse will go and stuff his tail in his open mouth; then he will cough, and while he is sitting up, you will be able to secure the snuff-box.”

The eagle hastened to go to the country of the Rats and Mice, and quickly returned, bringing on his back a little mouse, that looked wise, as all mice do, and a big rat with a long tail.

The following night, as soon as the lord, who before going to bed had put the magic snuff-box under his pillow, began to snore, the little mouse stuffed her tail into his mouth; but it was not long enough to reach to his throat, and without waking, the man squeezed it so tightly that she thought he had chopped it off. She began to make a little plaintive sound, and he loosened his teeth; then she ran to tell the fisherman’s wife that she had not been able to succeed, because her tail was too short. Then the lady ordered the big rat to try in his turn; he took his aim so well that he stuffed his tail quite down the lord’s throat. The latter wakened with a start, half strangled, and sat up in bed, coughing and spitting as if he were ready to die.

Meanwhile the fisherman, who was hidden under the bed, had passed his hand under the pillow and seized upon the snuff-box. He opened it immediately and heard a small voice, which said,—

“Master, what do you wish for?”

“What do I wish for? I wish that my castle may be taken back again to my father-in-law’s garden, to the place where it was before this rascal stole my snuff-box from me.”

In a moment he felt that the castle was lifted and borne through the air; he saw it cross over vast seas and through great forests in the wink of an eye, and soon it stopped still in the king’s garden, in front of the palace.

The king, who had just wakened, went to his window, and when he saw the castle hung by four golden chains between heaven and earth, he rubbed his eyes, thinking he was losing his sight; but he saw his son-in-law and his daughter coming, and they embraced him and told him all that had happened to them.

He was greatly rejoiced to see them again, and to punish him who had carried off the snuff-box, he caused him to be torn in pieces by four horses. There were great rejoicings in honor of the return of the princess, and the fisherman lived happily with her. But he took care to carry the magic snuff-box always with him.

Paul Sebillot, “Contes Des Marins.”