Once upon a time a man had a shepherd who served him many years
faithfully and honestly. One day, whilst herding his flock, this
shepherd heard a hissing sound, coming out of the forest near by, which
he could not account for. So he went into the wood in the direction of
the noise to try to discover the cause. When he approached the place
he found that the dry grass and leaves were on fire, and on a tree,
surrounded by flames, a snake was coiled, hissing with terror.
The shepherd stood wondering how the poor snake could escape, for
the wind was blowing the flames that way, and soon that tree would be
burning like the rest. Suddenly the snake cried: 'O shepherd! for the
love of heaven save me from this fire!'
Then the shepherd stretched his staff out over the flames and the snake
wound itself round the staff and up to his hand, and from his hand
it crept up his arm, and twined itself about his neck. The shepherd
trembled with fright, expecting every instant to be stung to death, and
said: 'What an unlucky man I am! Did I rescue you only to be destroyed
myself?' But the snake answered: 'Have no fear; only carry me home to my
father who is the King of the Snakes.' The shepherd, however, was much
too frightened to listen, and said that he could not go away and leave
his flock alone; but the snake said: 'You need not be afraid to leave
your flock, no evil shall befall them; but make all the haste you can.'
So he set off through the wood carrying the snake, and after a time he
came to a great gateway, made entirely of snakes intertwined one with
another. The shepherd stood still with surprise, but the snake round his
neck whistled, and immediately all the arch unwound itself.
'When we are come to my father's house,' said his own snake to him, 'he
will reward you with anything you like to ask--silver, gold, jewels,
or whatever on this earth is most precious; but take none of all these
things, ask rather to understand the language of beasts. He will refuse
it to you a long time, but in the end he will grant it to you.'
Soon after that they arrived at the house of the King of the Snakes, who
burst into tears of joy at the sight of his daughter, as he had given
her up for dead. 'Where have you been all this time?' he asked, directly
he could speak, and she told him that she had been caught in a forest
fire, and had been rescued from the flames by the shepherd. The King of
the Snakes, then turning to the shepherd, said to him: 'What reward will
you choose for saving my child?'
'Make me to know the language of beasts,' answered the shepherd, 'that
is all I desire.'
The king replied: 'Such knowledge would be of no benefit to you, for if
I granted it to you and you told any one of it, you would immediately
die; ask me rather for whatever else you would most like to possess, and
it shall be yours.'
But the shepherd answered him: 'Sir, if you wish to reward me for saving
your daughter, grant me, I pray you, to know the language of beasts. I
desire nothing else'; and he turned as if to depart.
Then the king called him back, saying: 'If nothing else will satisfy
you, open your mouth.' The man obeyed, and the king spat into it, and
said: 'Now spit into my mouth.' The shepherd did as he was told, then
the King of the Snakes spat again into the shepherd's mouth. When they
had spat into each other's mouths three times, the king said:
'Now you know the language of beasts, go in peace; but, if you value
your life, beware lest you tell any one of it, else you will immediately
die.'
So the shepherd set out for home, and on his way through the wood he
heard and understood all that was said by the birds, and by every living
creature. When he got back to his sheep he found the flock grazing
peacefully, and as he was very tired he laid himself down by them to
rest a little. Hardly had he done so when two ravens flew down and
perched on a tree near by, and began to talk to each other in their own
language: 'If that shepherd only knew that there is a vault full of gold
and silver beneath where that lamb is lying, what would he not do?' When
the shepherd heard these words he went straight to his master and told
him, and the master at once took a waggon, and broke open the door of
the vault, and they carried off the treasure. But instead of keeping it
for himself, the master, who was an honourable man, gave it all up to
the shepherd, saying: 'Take it, it is yours. The gods have given it to
you.' So the shepherd took the treasure and built himself a house. He
married a wife, and they lived in great peace and happiness, and he was
acknowledged to be the richest man, not only of his native village, but
of all the country-side. He had flocks of sheep, and cattle, and horses
without end, as well as beautiful clothes and jewels.
One day, just before Christmas, he said to his wife: 'Prepare everything
for a great feast, to-morrow we will take things with us to the farm
that the shepherds there may make merry.' The wife obeyed, and all was
prepared as he desired. Next day they both went to the farm, and in the
evening the master said to the shepherds: 'Now come, all of you, eat,
drink, and make merry. I will watch the flocks myself to-night in your
stead.' Then he went out to spend the night with the flocks.
When midnight struck the wolves howled and the dogs barked, and the
wolves spoke in their own tongue, saying:
'Shall we come in and work havoc, and you too shall eat flesh?' And
the dogs answered in their tongue: 'Come in, and for once we shall have
enough to eat.'
Now amongst the dogs there was one so old that he had only two teeth
left in his head, and he spoke to the wolves, saying: 'So long as I have
my two teeth still in my head, I will let no harm be done to my master.'
All this the master heard and understood, and as soon as morning dawned
he ordered all the dogs to be killed excepting the old dog. The farm
servants wondered at this order, and exclaimed: 'But surely, sir, that
would be a pity?'
The master answered: 'Do as I bid you'; and made ready to return home
with his wife, and they mounted their horses, her steed being a mare.
As they went on their way, it happened that the husband rode on ahead,
while the wife was a little way behind. The husband's horse, seeing
this, neighed, and said to the mare: 'Come along, make haste; why are
you so slow?' And the mare answered: 'It is very easy for you, you carry
only your master, who is a thin man, but I carry my mistress, who is so
fat that she weights as much as three.' When the husband heard that he
looked back and laughed, which the wife perceiving, she urged on the
mare till she caught up with her husband, and asked him why he laughed.
'For nothing at all,' he answered; 'just because it came into my head.'
She would not be satisfied with this answer, and urged him more and more
to tell her why he had laughed. But he controlled himself and said: 'Let
me be, wife; what ails you? I do not know myself why I laughed.' But the
more he put her off, the more she tormented him to tell her the cause of
his laughter. At length he said to her: 'Know, then, that if I tell it
you I shall immediately and surely die.' But even this did not quiet
her; she only besought him the more to tell her.
Meanwhile they had reached home, and before getting down from his horse
the man called for a coffin to be brought; and when it was there he
placed it in front of the house, and said to his wife:
'See, I will lay myself down in this coffin, and will then tell you why
I laughed, for as soon as I have told you I shall surely die.' So he lay
down in the coffin, and while he took a last look around him, his old
dog came out from the farm and sat down by him, and whined. When the
master saw this, he called to his wife: 'Bring a piece of bread to give
to the dog.' The wife brought some bread and threw it to the dog, but he
would not look at it. Then the farm cock came and pecked at the bread;
but the dog said to it: 'Wretched glutton, you can eat like that when
you see that your master is dying?' The cock answered: 'Let him die, if
he is so stupid. I have a hundred wives, which I call together when I
find a grain of corn, and as soon as they are there I swallow it myself;
should one of them dare to be angry, I would give her a lesson with my
beak. He has only one wife, and he cannot keep her in order.'
As soon as the man understood this, he got up out of the coffin, seized
a stick, and called his wife into the room, saying: 'Come, and I will
tell you what you so much want to know'; and then he began to beat her
with the stick, saying with each blow: 'It is that, wife, it is that!'
And in this way he taught her never again to ask why he had laughed.
