THE KNIGHTS OF THE FISH

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Once upon a time there lived an old cobbler who
worked hard at his trade from morning till night, and
scarcely gave himself a moment to eat. But, industrious
as he was, he could hardly buy bread and cheese for
himself and his wife, and they grew thinner and thinner
daily.

For a long while they pretended to each other that
they had no appetite, and that a few blackberries from
the hedges were a great deal nicer than a good strong
bowl of soup. But at length there came a day when
the cobbler could bear it no longer, and he threw away
his last, and borrowing a rod from a neighbour he went
out to fish.

Now the cobbler was as patient about fishing as he
had been about cobbling. From dawn to dark he stood
on the banks of the little stream, without hooking anything
better than an eel, or a few old shoes, that even
he, clever though he was, felt were not worth mending.
At length his patience began to give way, and as he
undressed one night he said to himself: ‘Well, I will
give it one more chance; and if I don’t catch a fish to-morrow,
I will go and hang myself.’

He had not cast his line for ten minutes the next
morning before he drew from the river the most beautiful
fish he had ever seen in his life. But he nearly fell into
the water from surprise, when the fish began to speak to
him, in a small, squeaky voice:

‘Take me back to your hut and cook me; then cut
me up, and sprinkle me over with pepper and salt. Give
[Pg 344]
two of the pieces to your wife, and bury two more in the
garden.’

The cobbler did not know what to make of these
strange words; but he was wiser than many people, and
when he did not understand, he thought it was well to
obey. His children wanted to eat all the fish themselves,
and begged their father to tell them what to do with the
pieces he had put aside; but the cobbler only laughed,
and told them it was no business of theirs. And when
they were safe in bed he stole out and buried the two
pieces in the garden.

By and by two babies, exactly alike, lay in a cradle,
and in the garden were two tall plants, with two brilliant
shields on the top.

Years passed away, and the babies were almost men.
They were tired of living quietly at home, being mistaken
for each other by everybody they saw, and determined
to set off in different directions, to seek adventures.

So, one fine morning, the two brothers left the hut,
and walked together to the place where the great road
divided. There they embraced and parted, promising
that if anything remarkable had happened to either,
he would return to the cross roads and wait till his
brother came.

The youth who took the path that ran eastwards
arrived presently at a large city, where he found everybody
standing at the doors, wringing their hands and
weeping bitterly.

‘What is the matter?’ asked he, pausing and looking
round. And a man replied, in a faltering voice, that each
year a beautiful girl was chosen by lot to be offered up
to a dreadful fiery dragon, who had a mother even worse
than himself, and this year the lot had fallen on their
peerless princess.

‘But where is the princess?’ said the young man
once more, and again the man answered him: ‘She
[Pg 345]
is standing under a tree, a mile away, waiting for the
dragon.’

This time the Knight of the Fish did not stop to
hear more, but ran off as fast as he could, and found
the princess bathed in tears, and trembling from head to
foot.

She turned as she heard the sound of his sword, and
removed her handkerchief from her eyes.

‘Fly,’ she cried; ‘fly while you have yet time,
before that monster sees you.’

She said it, and she meant it; yet, when he had
turned his back, she felt more forsaken than before. But
in reality it was not more than a few minutes before he
came back, galloping furiously on a horse he had borrowed,
and carrying a huge mirror across its neck.

‘I am in time, then,’ he cried, dismounting very
carefully, and placing the mirror against the trunk of a
tree.

‘Give me your veil,’ he said hastily to the princess.
And when she had unwound it from her head he covered
the mirror with it.

‘The moment the dragon comes near you, you must
tear off the veil,’ cried he; ‘and be sure you hide behind
the mirror. Have no fear; I shall be at hand.’

He and his horse had scarcely found shelter amongst
some rocks, when the flap of the dragon’s wings could be
plainly heard. He tossed his head with delight at the
sight of her, and approached slowly to the place where
she stood, a little in front of the mirror. Then, still
looking the monster steadily in the face, she passed one
hand behind her back and snatched off the veil, stepping
swiftly behind the tree as she did so.

The princess had not known, when she obeyed the orders
of the Knight of the Fish, what she expected to happen.
Would the dragon with snaky locks be turned to stone, she
wondered, like the dragon in an old story her nurse had
told her; or would some fiery spark dart from the heart
of the mirror, and strike him dead? Neither of these
[Pg 346]
things occurred, but, instead, the dragon stopped short
with surprise and rage when he saw a monster before
him as big and strong as himself. He shook his mane
with rage and fury; the enemy in front did exactly the
same. He lashed his tail, and rolled his red eyes, and the
dragon opposite was no whit behind him. Opening his
mouth to its very widest, he gave an awful roar; but
the other dragon only roared back. This was too much,
and with another roar which made the princess shake in
her shoes, he flung himself upon his foe. In an instant
the mirror lay at his feet broken into a thousand pieces,
but as every piece reflected part of himself, the dragon
thought that he too had been smashed into atoms.

It was the moment for which the Knight of the Fish
had watched and waited, and before the dragon could
find out that he was not hurt at all, the young man’s
lance was down his throat, and he was rolling, dead, on
the grass.

Oh! what shouts of joy rang through the great city,
when the youth came riding back with the princess sitting
behind him, and dragging the horrible monster by a cord.
Everybody cried out that the king must give the victor
the hand of the princess; and so he did, and no one had
ever seen such balls and feasts and sports before. And
when they were all over the young couple went to the
palace prepared for them, which was so large that it was
three miles round.

The first wet day after their marriage the bridegroom
begged the bride to show him all the rooms in the palace,
and it was so big and took so long that the sun was shining
brightly again before they stepped on to the roof to
see the view.

‘What castle is that out there,’ asked the knight;
‘it seems to be made of black marble?’

‘It is called the castle of Albatroz,’ answered the
princess. ‘It is enchanted, and no one that has tried to
enter it has ever come back.’

[Pg 347]
Her husband said nothing, and began to talk of something
else; but the next morning he ordered his horse,
took his spear, called his bloodhound, and set off for the
castle.

It needed a brave man to approach it, for it made your
hair stand on end merely to look at it; it was as dark as
the night of a storm, and as silent as the grave. But the
Knight of the Fish knew no fear, and had never turned
his back on an enemy; so he drew out his horn, and blew
a blast.

The sound awoke all the sleeping echoes in the castle,
and was repeated now loudly, now softly; now near, and
now far. But nobody stirred for all that.

‘Is there anyone inside?’ cried the young man in his
loudest voice; ‘anyone who will give a knight hospitality?
Neither governor, nor squire, not even a page?’

‘Not even a page!’ answered the echoes. But the
young man did not heed them, and only struck a furious
blow at the gate.

Then a small grating opened, and there appeared the
tip of a huge nose, which belonged to the ugliest old
woman that ever was seen.

‘What do you want?’ said she.

‘To enter,’ he answered shortly. ‘Can I rest here this
night? Yes or No?’

‘No, No, No!’ repeated the echoes.

Between the fierce sun and his anger at being kept
waiting, the Knight of the Fish had grown so hot that he
lifted his visor, and when the old woman saw how handsome
he was, she began fumbling with the lock of the
gate.

‘Come in, come in,’ said she, ‘so fine a gentleman will
do us no harm.’

‘Harm!’ repeated the echoes, but again the young man
paid no heed.

‘Let us go in, ancient dame,’ but she interrupted him.

‘You must call me the Lady Berberisca,’ she answered,
[Pg 348]
sharply; ‘and this is my castle, to which I bid you
welcome. You shall live here with me and be my
husband.’ But at these words the knight let his spear
fall, so surprised was he.

‘I marry you? why you must be a hundred at least!’
cried he. ‘You are mad! All I desire is to inspect the
castle and then go.’ As he spoke he heard the voices
give a mocking laugh; but the old woman took no notice,
and only bade the knight follow her.

Old though she was, it seemed impossible to tire her.
There was no room, however small, she did not lead him
into, and each room was full of curious things he had
never seen before.

At length they came to a stone staircase, which was
so dark that you could not see your hand if you held it
up before your face.

‘I have kept my most precious treasure till the last,’
said the old woman; ‘but let me go first, for the stairs are
steep, and you might easily break your leg.’ So on she
went, now and then calling back to the young man in the
darkness. But he did not know that she had slipped
aside into a recess, till suddenly he put his foot on a trap
door which gave way under him, and he fell down, down,
as many good knights had done before him, and his voice
joined the echoes of theirs.

‘So you would not marry me!’ chuckled the old witch.
‘Ha! ha! Ha! ha!’

Meanwhile his brother had wandered far and wide,
and at last he wandered back to the same great city
where the other young knight had met with so many
adventures. He noticed, with amazement, that as he
walked through the streets the guards drew themselves
up in line, and saluted him, and the drummers played
the royal march; but he was still more bewildered when
several servants in livery ran up to him and told him
that the princess was sure something terrible had befallen
[Pg 349]
him, and had made herself ill with weeping. At last it
occurred to him that once more he had been taken for his
brother. ‘I had better say nothing,’ thought he; ‘perhaps
I shall be able to help him after all.’

So he suffered himself to be borne in triumph to the
palace, where the princess threw herself into his arms.

‘And so you did go to the castle?’ she asked.

‘Yes, of course I did,’ answered he.

‘And what did you see there?’

‘I am forbidden to tell you anything about it, until
I have returned there once more,’ replied he.

‘Must you really go back to that dreadful place?’ she
asked wistfully. ‘You are the only man who has ever
come back from it.’

‘I must,’ was all he answered. And the princess, who
was a wise woman, only said: ‘Well, go to bed now,
for I am sure you must be very tired.’

But the knight shook his head. ‘I have sworn never
to lie in a bed as long as my work in the castle remains
standing.’ And the princess again sighed, and was silent.

Early next day the young man started for the castle,
feeling sure that some terrible thing must have happened
to his brother.

At the blast of his horn the long nose of the old woman
appeared at the grating, but the moment she caught sight
of his face, she nearly fainted from fright, as she thought
it was the ghost of the youth whose bones were lying in
the dungeon of the castle.

‘Lady of all the ages,’ cried the new comer, ‘did you
not give hospitality to a young knight but a short time
ago?’

‘A short time ago!’ wailed the voices.

‘And how have you ill-treated him?’ he went on.

‘Ill-treated him!’ answered the voices. The woman
did not stop to hear more; she turned to fly; but the
knight’s sword entered her body.

‘Where is my brother, cruel hag?’ asked he sternly.

[Pg 350]
‘I will tell you,’ said she; ‘but as I feel that I am
going to die I shall keep that piece of news to myself,
till you have brought me to life again.’

The young man laughed scornfully. ‘How do you
propose that I should work that miracle?’

‘Oh, it is quite easy. Go into the garden and gather
the flowers of the everlasting plant and some of dragon’s
blood. Crush them together and boil them in a large tub
of water, and then put me into it.’

The knight did as the old witch bade him, and, sure
enough, she came out quite whole, but uglier than ever.
She then told the young man what had become of his
brother, and he went down into the dungeon, and brought
up his body and the bodies of the other victims who lay
there, and when they were all washed in the magic water
their strength was restored to them.

And, besides these, he found in another cavern the
bodies of the girls who had been sacrificed to the dragon,
and brought them back to life also.

As to the old witch, in the end she died of rage at
seeing her prey escape her; and at the moment she drew
her last breath the castle of Albatroz fell into ruins with
a great noise.

[From Cuentos, Oraciones, Adivinas recogidos por Fernan Caballaro.]

Transcriber's Note

The note at the end of the story 'Pivi and Kabo' includes a reference to pp.
613-365. This should probably read 613-635, but the transcriber has been unable
to verify this against the source. It has therefore been preserved as printed.

Punctuation errors have been repaired. Hyphenation and use of accents has been
made consistent within stories. Archaic spelling is preserved as printed.

The following typographic errors have been amended:

Page 125—Neuislandischem amended to Neuisländischen—"[From Neuisländischen
Volksmärchen.]"

Page 274—Neuisländische amended to Neuisländischen—"[Adapted from the
Neuisländischen Volksmärchen.]"

Page 345—his amended to her—"... and removed the handkerchief from her
eyes."

Page 350—Adicinas amended to Adivinas—"[From Cuentos, Oraciones, Adivinas
recogidos por Fernan Caballaro.]"

The frontispiece has been moved to follow the title page. Other illustrations
have been moved where necessary so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph.

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