there was once a woman who had three daughters whom she loved very much. one day the eldest was walking in a water-meadow, when she saw a pink growing in the stream. she stooped to pick the flower, but her hand had scarcely touched it, when she vanished altogether. the next morning the second sister went out into the meadow, to see if she could find any traces of the lost girl, and as a branch of lovely roses lay trailing across her path, she bent down to move it away, and in so doing, could not resist plucking one of the roses. in a moment she too had disappeared. wondering what could have become of her two sisters, the youngest followed in their footsteps, and fell a victim to a branch of delicious white jessamine. so the old woman was left without any daughters at all.
she wept, and wept, and wept, all day and all night, and went on weeping so long, that her son, who had been a little boy when his sisters disappeared, grew up to be a tall youth. then one night he asked his mother to tell him what was the matter.
when he had heard the whole story, he said, ‘give me your blessing, mother, and i will go and search the world till i find them.’
so he set forth, and after he had travelled several miles without any adventures, he came upon three big boys fighting in the road. he stopped and inquired what they were fighting about, and one of them answered:
‘my lord! our father left to us, when he died, a pair of boots, a key, and a cap. whoever puts on the boots and wishes himself in any place, will find himself there. the key will open every door in the world, and with the cap on your head no one can see you. now our eldest brother wants to have all three things for himself, and we wish to draw lots for them.’
‘oh, that is easily settled,’ said the youth. ‘i will throw this stone as far as i can, and the one who picks it up first, shall have the three things.’ so he took the stone and flung it, and while the three brothers were running after it, he drew hastily on the boots, and said, ‘boots, take me to the place where i shall find my eldest sister.’
the next moment the young man was standing on a steep mountain before the gates of a strong castle guarded by bolts and bars and iron chains. the key, which he had not forgotten to put in his pocket, opened the doors one by one, and he walked through a number of halls and corridors, till he met a beautiful and richly-dressed young lady who started back in surprise at the sight of him, and exclaimed, ‘oh, sir, how did you contrive to get in here?’ the young man replied that he was her brother, and told her by what means he had been able to pass through the doors. in return, she told him how happy she was, except for one thing, and that was, her husband lay under a spell, and could never break it till there should be put to death a man who could not die.
they talked together for a long time, and then the lady said he had better leave her as she expected her husband back at any moment, and he might not like him to be there; but the young man assured her she need not be afraid, as he had with him a cap which would make him invisible. they were still deep in conversation when the door suddenly opened, and a bird flew in, but he saw nothing unusual, for, at the first noise, the youth had put on his cap. the lady jumped up and brought a large golden basin, into which the bird flew, reappearing directly after as a handsome man. turning to his wife, he cried, ‘i am sure someone is in the room!’ she got frightened, and declared that she was quite alone, but her husband persisted, and in the end she had to confess the truth.
‘but if he is really your brother, why did you hide him?’ asked he. ‘i believe you are telling me a lie, and if he comes back i shall kill him!’
at this the youth took off his cap, and came forward. then the husband saw that he was indeed so like his wife that he doubted her word no longer, and embraced his brother-in-law with delight. drawing a feather from his bird’s skin, he said, ‘if you are in danger and cry, “come and help me, king of the birds,” everything will go well with you.’
the young man thanked him and went away, and after he had left the castle he told the boots that they must take him to the place where his second sister was living. as before, he found himself at the gates of a huge castle, and within was his second sister, very happy with her husband, who loved her dearly, but longing for the moment when he should be set free from the spell that kept him half his life a fish. when he arrived and had been introduced by his wife to her brother, he welcomed him warmly, and gave him a fish-scale, saying, ‘if you are in danger, call to me, “come and help me, king of the fishes,” and everything will go well with you.’
the young man thanked him and took his leave, and when he was outside the gates he told the boots to take him to the place where his youngest sister lived. the boots carried him to a dark cavern, with steps of iron leading up to it. inside she sat, weeping and sobbing, and as she had done nothing else the whole time she had been there, the poor girl had grown very thin. when she saw a man standing before her, she sprang to her feet and exclaimed, ‘oh, whoever you are, save me and take me from this horrible place!’ then he told her who he was, and how he had seen her sisters, whose happiness was spoilt by the spell under which both their husbands lay, and she, in turn, related her story. she had been carried off in the water-meadow by a horrible monster, who wanted to make her marry him by force, and had kept her a prisoner all these years because she would not submit to his will. every day he came to beg her to consent to his wishes, and to remind her that there was no hope of her being set free, as he was the most constant man in the world, and besides that he could never die. at these words the youth remembered his two enchanted brothers-in-law, and he advised his sister to promise to marry the old man, if he would tell her why he could never die. suddenly everything began to tremble, as if it was shaken by a whirlwind, and the old man entered, and flinging himself at the feet of the girl, he said: ‘are you still determined never to marry me? if so you will have to sit there weeping till the end of the world, for i shall always be faithful to my wish to marry you!’ ‘well, i will marry you,’ she said, ‘if you will tell me why it is that you can never die.’
then the old man burst into peals of laughter. ‘ah, ah, ah! you are thinking how you would be able to kill me? well, to do that, you would have to find an iron casket which lies at the bottom of the sea, and has a white dove inside, and then you would have to find the egg which the dove laid, and bring it here, and dash it against my head.’ and he laughed again in his certainty that no one had ever got down to the bottom of the sea, and that if they did, they would never find the casket, or be able to open it. when he could speak once more, he said, ‘now you will be obliged to marry me, as you know my secret.’ but she begged so hard that the wedding might be put off for three days, that he consented, and went away rejoicing at his victory. when he had disappeared, the brother took off the cap which had kept him invisible all this time, and told his sister not to lose heart as he hoped in three days she would be free. then he drew on his boots, and wished himself at the seashore, and there he was directly. drawing out the fish-scale, he cried, ‘come and help me, king of the fishes!’ and his brother-in-law swam up, and asked what he could do. the young man related the story, and when he had finished his listener summoned all the fishes to his presence. the last to arrive was a little sardine, who apologised for being so late, but said she had hurt herself by knocking her head against an iron casket that lay in the bottom of the sea. the king ordered several of the largest and strongest of his subjects to take the little sardine as a guide, and bring him the iron casket. they soon returned with the box placed across their backs and laid it down before him. then the youth produced the key and said ‘key, open that box!’ and the key opened it, and though they were all crowding round, ready to catch it, the white dove within flew away.
it was useless to go after it, and for a moment the young man’s heart sank. the next minute, however, he remembered that he had still his feather, and drew it out crying, ‘come to me, king of the birds!’ and a rushing noise was heard, and the king of the birds perched on his shoulder, and asked what he could do to help him. his brother-in-law told him the whole story, and when he had finished the king of the birds commanded all his subjects to hasten to his presence. in an instant the air was dark with birds of all sizes, and at the very last came the white dove, apologising for being so late by saying that an old friend had arrived at his nest, and he had been obliged to give him some dinner. the king of the birds ordered some of them to show the young man the white dove’s nest, and when they reached it, there lay the egg which was to break the spell and set them all free. when it was safely in his pocket, he told the boots to carry him straight to the cavern where his youngest sister sat awaiting him.
now it was already far on into the third day, which the old man had fixed for the wedding, and when the youth reached the cavern with his cap on his head, he found the monster there, urging the girl to keep her word and let the marriage take place at once. at a sign from her brother she sat down and invited the old monster to lay his head on her lap. he did so with delight, and her brother standing behind her back passed her the egg unseen. she took it, and dashed it straight at the horrible head, and the monster started, and with a groan that people took for the rumblings of an earthquake, he turned over and died.
as the breath went out of his body the husbands of the two eldest daughters resumed their proper shapes, and, sending for their mother-in-law, whose sorrow was so unexpectedly turned into joy, they had a great feast, and the youngest sister was rich to the end of her days with the treasures she found in the cave, collected by the monster.
