Long, Broad, and Quickeye

Long, Broad, and Quickeye

(A Bohemian Story)

Once upon a time there lived a king who had an only son whom he loved

dearly. Now one day the king sent for his son and said to him:

‘My dearest child, my hair is grey and I am old, and soon I shall feel

no more the warmth of the sun, or look upon the trees and flowers. But

before I die I should like to see you with a good wife; therefore marry,

my son, as speedily as possible.’

‘My father,’ replied the prince, ‘now and always, I ask nothing better

than to do your bidding, but I know of no daughter-in-law that I could

give you.’

On hearing these words the old king drew from his pocket a key of gold,

and gave it to his son, saying:

‘Go up the staircase, right up to the top of the tower. Look carefully

round you, and then come and tell me which you like best of all that you

see.’

So the young man went up. He had never before been in the tower, and had

no idea what it might contain.

The staircase wound round and round and round, till the prince was

almost giddy, and every now and then he caught sight of a large room

that opened out from the side. But he had been told to go to the top,

and to the top he went. Then he found himself in a hall, which had an

iron door at one end. This door he unlocked with his golden key, and he

passed through into a vast chamber which had a roof of blue sprinkled

with golden stars, and a carpet of green silk soft as turf. Twelve

windows framed in gold let in the light of the sun, and on every window

was painted the figure of a young girl, each more beautiful than the

last. While the prince gazed at them in surprise, not knowing which

he liked best, the girls began to lift their eyes and smile at him. He

waited, expecting them to speak, but no sound came.

Suddenly he noticed that one of the windows was covered by a curtain of

white silk.

He lifted it, and saw before him the image of a maiden beautiful as the

day and sad as the tomb, clothed in a white robe, having a girdle of

silver and a crown of pearls. The prince stood and gazed at her, as if

he had been turned into stone, but as he looked the sadness which, was

on her face seemed to pass into his heart, and he cried out:

‘This one shall be my wife. This one and no other.’

As he said the words the young girl blushed and hung her head, and all

the other figures vanished.

The young prince went quickly back to his father, and told him all he

had seen and which wife he had chosen. The old man listened to him full

of sorrow, and then he spoke:

‘You have done ill, my son, to search out that which was hidden, and you

are running to meet a great danger. This young girl has fallen into the

power of a wicked sorcerer, who lives in an iron castle. Many young men

have tried to deliver her, and none have ever come back. But what is

done is done! You have given your word, and it cannot be broken. Go,

dare your fate, and return to me safe and sound.’

So the prince embraced his father, mounted his horse, and set forth

to seek his bride. He rode on gaily for several hours, till he found

himself in a wood where he had never been before, and soon lost his way

among its winding paths and deep valleys. He tried in vain to see where

he was: the thick trees shut out the sun, and he could not tell which

was north and which was south, so that he might know what direction to

make for. He felt in despair, and had quite given up all hope of getting

out of this horrible place, when he heard a voice calling to him.

‘Hey! hey! stop a minute!’

The prince turned round and saw behind him a very tall man, running as

fast as his legs would carry him.

‘Wait for me,’ he panted, ‘and take me into your service. If you do, you

will never be sorry.’

‘Who are you?’ asked the prince, ‘and what can you do?’

‘Long is my name, and I can lengthen my body at will. Do you see that

nest up there on the top of that pine-tree? Well, I can get it for you

without taking the trouble of climbing the tree,’ and Long stretched

himself up and up and up, till he was very soon as tall as the pine

itself. He put the nest in his pocket, and before you could wink your

eyelid he had made himself small again, and stood before the prince.

‘Yes; you know your business,’ said he, ‘but birds’ nests are no use to

me. I am too old for them. Now if you were only able to get me out of

this wood, you would indeed be good for something.’

‘Oh, there’s no difficulty about that,’ replied Long, and he stretched

himself up and up and up till he was three times as tall as the tallest

tree in the forest. Then he looked all round and said, ‘We must go in

this direction in order to get out of the wood,’ and shortening himself

again, he took the prince’s horse by the bridle, and led him along.

Very soon they got clear of the forest, and saw before them a wide plain

ending in a pile of high rocks, covered here and there with trees, and

very much like the fortifications of a town.

As they left the wood behind, Long turned to the prince and said, ‘My

lord, here comes my comrade. You should take him into your service too,

as you will find him a great help.’

‘Well, call him then, so that I can see what sort of a man he is.’

‘He is a little too far off for that,’ replied Long. ‘He would hardly

hear my voice, and he couldn’t be here for some time yet, as he has so

much to carry. I think I had better go and bring him myself,’ and this

time he stretched himself to such a height that his head was lost in the

clouds. He made two or three strides, took his friend on his back, and

set him down before the prince. The new-comer was a very fat man, and as

round as a barrel.

‘Who are you?’ asked the prince, ‘and what can you do?’

‘Your worship, Broad is my name, and I can make myself as wide as I

please.’

‘Let me see how you manage it.’

‘Run, my lord, as fast as you can, and hide yourself in the wood,’ cried

Broad, and he began to swell himself out.

The prince did not understand why he should run to the wood, but when he

saw Long flying towards it, he thought he had better follow his example.

He was only just in time, for Broad had so suddenly inflated himself

that he very nearly knocked over the prince and his horse too. He

covered all the space for acres round. You would have thought he was a

mountain!

At length Broad ceased to expand, drew a deep breath that made the whole

forest tremble, and shrank into his usual size.

‘You have made me run away,’ said the prince. ‘But it is not every day

one meets with a man of your sort. I will take you into my service.’

So the three companions continued their journey, and when they were

drawing near the rocks they met a man whose eyes were covered by a

bandage.

‘Your excellency,’ said Long, ‘this is our third comrade. You will do

well to take him into your service, and, I assure you, you will find him

worth his salt.’

‘Who are you?’ asked the prince. ‘And why are your eyes bandaged? You

can never see your way!’

‘It is just the contrary, my lord! It is because I see only too well

that I am forced to bandage my eyes. Even so I see as well as people who

have no bandage. When I take it off my eyes pierce through everything.

Everything I look at catches fire, or, if it cannot catch fire, it falls

into a thousand pieces. They call me Quickeye.’

And so saying he took off his bandage and turned towards the rock. As

he fixed his eyes upon it a crack was heard, and in a few moments it

was nothing but a heap of sand. In the sand something might be detected

glittering brightly. Quickeye picked it up and brought it to the prince.

It turned out to be a lump of pure gold.

‘You are a wonderful creature,’ said the prince, ‘and I should be a fool

not to take you into my service. But since your eyes are so good, tell

me if I am very far from the Iron Castle, and what is happening there

just now.’

‘If you were travelling alone,’ replied Quickeye, ‘it would take you at

least a year to get to it; but as we are with you, we shall arrive there

to-night. Just now they are preparing supper.’

‘There is a princess in the castle. Do you see her?’

‘A wizard keeps her in a high tower, guarded by iron bars.’

‘Ah, help me to deliver her!’ cried the prince.

And they promised they would.

Then they all set out through the grey rocks, by the breach made by

the eyes of Quickeye, and passed over great mountains and through deep

woods. And every time they met with any obstacle the three friends

contrived somehow to put it aside. As the sun was setting, the prince

beheld the towers of the Iron Castle, and before it sank beneath the

horizon he was crossing the iron bridge which led to the gates. He was

only just in time, for no sooner had the sun disappeared altogether,

than the bridge drew itself up and the gates shut themselves.

There was no turning back now!

The prince put up his horse in the stable, where everything looked as

if a guest was expected, and then the whole party marched straight up to

the castle. In the court, in the stables, and all over the great halls,

they saw a number of men richly dressed, but every one turned into

stone. They crossed an endless set of rooms, all opening into each

other, till they reached the dining-hall. It was brilliantly lighted;

the table was covered with wine and fruit, and was laid for four. They

waited a few minutes expecting someone to come, but as nobody did, they

sat down and began to eat and drink, for they were very hungry.

When they had done their supper they looked about for some place to

sleep. But suddenly the door burst open, and the wizard entered the

hall. He was old and hump-backed, with a bald head and a grey beard that

fell to his knees. He wore a black robe, and instead of a belt three

iron circlets clasped his waist. He led by the hand a lady of wonderful

beauty, dressed in white, with a girdle of silver and a crown of pearls,

but her face was pale and sad as death itself.

The prince knew her in an instant, and moved eagerly forward; but the

wizard gave him no time to speak, and said:

‘I know why you are here. Very good; you may have her if for three

nights following you can prevent her making her escape. If you fail in

this, you and your servants will all be turned into stone, like those

who have come before you.’ And offering the princess a chair, he left

the hall.

The prince could not take his eyes from the princess, she was so lovely!

He began to talk to her, but she neither answered nor smiled, and sat as

if she were made of marble. He seated himself by her, and determined

not to close his eyes that night, for fear she should escape him. And in

order that she should be doubly guarded, Long stretched himself like a

strap all round the room, Broad took his stand by the door and puffed

himself out, so that not even a mouse could slip by, and Quickeye leant

against a pillar which stood in the middle of the floor and supported

the roof. But in half a second they were all sound asleep, and they

slept sound the whole night long.

In the morning, at the first peep of dawn, the prince awoke with a

start. But the princess was gone. He aroused his servants and implored

them to tell him what he must do.

‘Calm yourself, my lord,’ said Quickeye. ‘I have found her already. A

hundred miles from here there is a forest. In the middle of the forest,

an old oak, and on the top of the oak, an acorn. This acorn is the

princess. If Long will take me on his shoulders, we shall soon bring

her back.’ And sure enough, in less time than it takes to walk round a

cottage, they had returned from the forest, and Long presented the acorn

to the prince.

‘Now, your excellency, throw it on the ground.’

The prince obeyed, and was enchanted to see the princess appear at his

side. But when the sun peeped for the first time over the mountains,

the door burst open as before, and the wizard entered with a loud laugh.

Suddenly he caught sight of the princess; his face darkened, he uttered

a low growl, and one of the iron circlets gave way with a crash. He

seized the young girl by the hand and bore her away with him.

All that day the prince wandered about the castle, studying the curious

treasures it contained, but everything looked as if life had suddenly

come to a standstill. In one place he saw a prince who had been turned

into stone in the act of brandishing a sword round which his two hands

were clasped. In another, the same doom had fallen upon a knight in the

act of running away. In a third, a serving man was standing eternally

trying to convey a piece of beef to his mouth, and all around them were

others, still preserving for evermore the attitudes they were in when

the wizard had commanded ‘From henceforth be turned into marble.’ In the

castle, and round the castle all was dismal and desolate. Trees there

were, but without leaves; fields there were, but no grass grew on them.

There was one river, but it never flowed and no fish lived in it. No

flowers blossomed, and no birds sang.

Three times during the day food appeared, as if by magic, for the prince

and his servants. And it was not until supper was ended that the wizard

appeared, as on the previous evening, and delivered the princess into

the care of the prince.

All four determined that this time they would keep awake at any cost.

But it was no use. Off they went as they had done before, and when the

prince awoke the next morning the room was again empty.

With a pang of shame, he rushed to find Quickeye. ‘Awake! Awake!

Quickeye! Do you know what has become of the princess?’

Quickeye rubbed his eyes and answered: ‘Yes, I see her. Two hundred

miles from here there is a mountain. In this mountain is a rock. In the

rock, a precious stone. This stone is the princess. Long shall take me

there, and we will be back before you can turn round.’

So Long took him on his shoulders and they set out. At every stride they

covered twenty miles, and as they drew near Quickeye fixed his burning

eyes on the mountain; in an instant it split into a thousand pieces,

and in one of these sparkled the precious stone. They picked it up and

brought it to the prince, who flung it hastily down, and as the stone

touched the floor the princess stood before him. When the wizard came,

his eyes shot forth flames of fury. Cric-crac was heard, and another of

his iron bands broke and fell. He seized the princess by the hand and

led her off, growling louder than ever.

All that day things went on exactly as they had done the day before.

After supper the wizard brought back the princess, and looking him

straight in the eyes he said, ‘We shall see which of us two will gain

the prize after all!’

That night they struggled their very hardest to keep awake, and even

walked about instead of sitting down. But it was quite useless. One

after another they had to give in, and for the third time the princess

slipped through their fingers.

When morning came, it was as usual the prince who awoke the first, and

as usual, the princess being gone, he rushed to Quickeye.

‘Get up, get up, Quickeye, and tell me where is the princess?’

Quickeye looked about for some time without answering. ‘Oh, my lord, she

is far, very far. Three hundred miles away there lies a black sea. In

the middle of this sea there is a little shell, and in the middle of the

shell is fixed a gold ring. That gold ring is the princess. But do not

vex your soul; we will get her. Only to-day, Long must take Broad with

him. He will be wanted badly.’

So Long took Quickeye on one shoulder, and Broad on the other, and they

set out. At each stride they left thirty miles behind them. When they

reached the black sea, Quickeye showed them the spot where they must

seek the shell. But though Long stretched down his hand as far as it

would go, he could not find the shell, for it lay at the bottom of the

sea.

‘Wait a moment, comrades, it will be all right. I will help you,’ said

Broad.

Then he swelled himself out so that you would have thought the world

could hardly have held him, and stooping down he drank. He drank so much

at every mouthful, that only a minute or so passed before the water had

sunk enough for Long to put his hand to the bottom. He soon found the

shell, and pulled the ring out. But time had been lost, and Long had a

double burden to carry. The dawn was breaking fast before they got back

to the castle, where the prince was waiting for them in an agony of

fear.

Soon the first rays of the sun were seen peeping over the tops of the

mountains. The door burst open, and finding the prince standing alone

the wizard broke into peals of wicked laughter. But as he laughed a loud

crash was heard, the window fell into a thousand pieces, a gold ring

glittered in the air, and the princess stood before the enchanter. For

Quickeye, who was watching from afar, had told Long of the terrible

danger now threatening the prince, and Long, summoning all his strength

for one gigantic effort, had thrown the ring right through the window.

The wizard shrieked and howled with rage, till the whole castle trembled

to its foundations. Then a crash was heard, the third band split in two,

and a crow flew out of the window.

Then the princess at length broke the enchanted silence, and

blushing like a rose, gave the prince her thanks for her unlooked-for

deliverance.

But it was not only the princess who was restored to life by the flight

of the wicked black crow. The marble figures became men once more, and

took up their occupations just as they had left them off. The horses

neighed in the stables, the flowers blossomed in the garden, the birds

flew in the air, the fish darted in the water. Everywhere you looked,

all was life, all was joy!

And the knights who had been turned into stone came in a body to offer

their homage to the prince who had set them free.

‘Do not thank me,’ he said, ‘for I have done nothing. Without my

faithful servants, Long, Broad, and Quickeye, I should even have been as

one of you.’

With these words he bade them farewell, and departed with the princess

and his faithful companions for the kingdom of his father.

The old king, who had long since given up all hope, wept for joy at the

sight of his son, and insisted that the wedding should take place as

soon as possible.

All the knights who had been enchanted in the Iron Castle were invited

to the ceremony, and after it had taken place, Long, Broad, and Quickeye

took leave of the young couple, saying that they were going to look for

more work.

The prince offered them all their hearts could desire if they would only

remain with him, but they replied that an idle life would not please

them, and that they could never be happy unless they were busy, so they

went away to seek their fortunes, and for all I know are seeking still.

[Contes populaires. Traduits par Louis Léger. Paris: Leroux, éditeur.]