In times gone by there was a king who had at the back of his castle a beautiful pleasure-garden, in which stood a tree that bore golden apples. As the apples ripened they were counted, but one morning one was missing. Then the king was angry, and he ordered that watch should be kept about the tree every night.
Now the king had three sons, and he sent the eldest to spend the whole night in the garden; so he watched till midnight, and then he could keep off sleep no longer, and in the morning another apple was missing. The second son had to watch the following night; but it fared no better, for when twelve o'clock had struck he went to sleep, and in the morning another apple was missing. Now came the turn of the third son to watch, and he was ready to do so; but the king had less trust in him, and believed he would acquit himself still worse than his brothers, but in the end he consented to let him try. So the young man lay down under the tree to watch, and resolved that sleep should not be master.
When it struck twelve something came rushing through the air, and he saw in the moonlight a bird flying towards him, whose feathers glittered like gold. The bird perched upon the tree, and had already pecked off an apple, when the young man let fly an arrow at it. The bird flew away, but the arrow had struck its plumage, and one of its golden feathers fell to the ground: the young man picked it up, and taking it next morning to the king, told him what had happened in the night. The king called his council together, and all declared that such a feather was worth more than the whole kingdom. "Since the feather is so valuable," said the king, "one is not enough for me; I must and will have the whole bird."
So the eldest son set off, and relying on his own cleverness he thought he should soon find the golden bird. When he had gone some distance he saw a fox sitting at the edge of a wood, and he pointed his gun at him. The fox cried out, "Do not shoot me, and I will give you good counsel. You are on your way to find the golden bird, and this evening you will come to a village, in which two taverns stand facing each other. One will be brightly lighted up, and there will be plenty of merriment going on inside; do not mind about that, but go into the other one, although it will look to you very uninviting.''
"How can a silly beast give one any rational advice?" thought the king's son and let fly at the fox, but missed him, and he stretched out his tail and ran quick into the wood. Then the young man went on his way, and towards evening he came to the village, and there stood the two taverns; in one singing and dancing was going on, the other looked quite dull and wretched. "I should be a fool," said he, "to go into that dismal place, while there is anything so good close by." So he went into the merry inn, and there lived in clover, quite forgetting the bird and his father, and all good counsel.
As time went on, and the eldest son never came home, the second son set out to seek the golden bird. He met with the fox, just as the eldest did, and received good advice from him without attending to it. And when he came to the two taverns, his brother was standing and calling to him at the window of one of them, out of which came sounds of merriment; so he could not resist, but went in and revelled to his heart's content. And then, as time went on, the youngest son wished to go forth, and to try his luck, but his father would not consent. "It would be useless," said he; "he is much less likely to find the bird than his brothers, and if any misfortune were to happen to him he would not know how to help himself; his wits are none of the best." But at last, as there was no peace to be had, he let him go.
By the side of the wood sat the fox, begged him to spare his life, and gave him good counsel. The young man was kind, and said, "Be easy, little fox, I will do you no harm." "You shall not repent of it," answered the fox, "and that you may get there all the sooner, get up and sit on my tail." And no sooner had he done so than the fox began to run, and off they went over stock and stone, so that the wind whistled in their hair. When they reached the village the young man got down, and, following the fox's advice, went into the mean-looking tavern, without hesitating, and there he passed a quiet night.
The next morning, when he went out into the field, the fox, who was sitting there already, said, "I will tell you further what you have to do. Go straight on until you come to a castle, before which a great band of soldiers lie, but do not trouble yourself about them, for they will be all asleep and snoring; pass through them and forward into the castle, and go through all the rooms, until you come to one where there is a golden bird hanging in a wooden cage. Near at hand will stand empty a golden cage of state, but you must beware of taking the bird out of his ugly cage and putting him into the fine one; if you do so you will come to harm." The king's son sat him down upon the fox's tail, and away they went over stock and stone, so that the wind whistled through their hair.
And when the king's son reached the castle he found everything as the fox had said: and he at last entered the room where the golden bird was hanging in a wooden cage, while a golden one was standing by; the three golden apples too were in the room. Then, thinking it foolish to let the beautiful bird stay in that mean and ugly cage, he opened the door of it, took hold of it, and put it in the golden one. In the same moment the bird uttered a piercing cry. The soldiers awaked, rushed in, seized the king's son and put him in prison. The next morning he was brought before a judge, and condemned to death. But the king said he would spare his life on one condition, that he should bring him the golden horse whose paces were swifter than the wind, and that then he should also receive the golden bird as a reward.
So the king's son set off to find the golden horse, but he sighed, and was very sad, for how should it be accomplished? And then he saw his old friend the fox sitting by the roadside. "Now, you see," said the fox, "all this has happened, because you would not listen to me. But be of good courage, I will bring you through. You must go straight on until you come to a castle, where the horse stands in his stable; before the stable-door the grooms will be lying, but they will all be asleep and snoring; and you can go and quietly lead out the horse. But one thing you must mind - take care to put upon him the plain saddle of wood and leather, and not the golden one, which will hang close by; otherwise it will go badly with you."
Then the fox stretched out his tail, and the king's son seated himself upon it. And everything happened just as the fox had said, and he came to the stall where the golden horse was. But he thought, "Such a beautiful animal would be disgraced were I not to put on him the good saddle." No sooner did the horse feel the golden saddle than he began to neigh. And the grooms all awoke, seized the king's son and threw him into prison. The king promised him his life if he could convey thither the beautiful princess of the golden castle.
With a heavy heart the king's son set out, but by great good luck he soon met with the faithful fox. "I ought now to leave you to your own ill-luck," said the fox, "but I am sorry for you. Your way lies straight up to the golden castle: you will arrive there in the evening, and at night, when all is quiet, the beautiful princess goes to the bath. Go up to her and give her a kiss, then she will follow you; but do not suffer her first to go and take leave of her parents, or it will go ill with you."
And when he came to the golden castle, he waited until midnight, gave the princess a kiss, and she promised to go with him, but begged him earnestly that he would let her first go and take leave of her parents. At first he denied her prayer, but as she wept so much the more, he gave in at last. No sooner had the princess reached her father's bedside than he waked up, and the young man was seized and thrown into prison. The king said, "Thou shalt find grace if thou canst level that mountain that lies before my windows within eight days."
But on the evening of the seventh day the fox appeared, and said, "Go lie down to sleep, and I will do the work for you." The next morning the mountain had disappeared. The young man hastened full of joy to the king. So they both went away together, and it was not long before the faithful fox came up to them. "Well, you have got the best first," said he; "but you must know the golden horse belongs to the princess of the golden castle."
"First, go to the king who sent you to the golden castle, and take to him the beautiful princess. There will then be very great rejoicing; he will willingly give you the golden horse. Mount him without delay, and stretch out your hand to take leave, and last of all to the princess, and when you have her by the hand swing her up on the horse behind you, and off you go!" And so it was all happily done, and the king's son carried off the beautiful princess on the golden horse.
"Now, I will help you to get the golden bird. When you draw near the castle where the bird is, let the lady alight, and I will take her under my care; then you must ride the golden horse into the castle-yard, they will bring out to you the golden bird; as soon as you have the cage in your hand, you must start off back to us." The plan was successfully carried out.
When the young man returned with the treasure, the fox said, "Now, what will you give me for my reward? I desire that you should slay me, and cut my head and feet off." "That were a strange sign of gratitude," said the king's son, "and I could not possibly do such a thing." Then said the fox, "If you will not do it, I must leave you; but beware of two things: buy no gallows-meat, and sit at no brook-side."
The young man rode on with the beautiful princess, and their way led them through the village where his two brothers had stayed. There he heard that two people were going to be hanged. It was his two brothers, who had wasted all their goods. He bought them off, and they all went on their journey together.
After a while they came to the wood where the fox had met them first. "Let us rest here for a little by the brook," said the brothers. The young man consented, quite forgetting the fox's warning, and he seated himself by the brook-side. But the two brothers thrust him backwards into the brook, seized the princess, the horse, and the bird, and went home to their father.
"Is not this the golden bird that we bring?" said they. Then there was great rejoicing, but the horse did not feed, the bird did not chirp, and the princess wept. The youngest brother, however, had fallen on soft moss. The faithful fox came up and drew him up again. "Your brothers have surrounded the wood with sentinels," said he. The young man changed clothes with a beggar, and went into the king's courtyard. Nobody knew him, but the bird began to chirp, and the horse began to feed, and the princess ceased weeping.
"It is to me as if my rightful bridegroom had returned," said the princess. Then she told the king all that happened. The king ordered every person to be brought before him. The princess knew the beggar and fell on his neck. The wicked brothers were punished, and the youngest brother was married to the princess.
Long afterwards the king's son met the fox, who said, "My misfortunes never come to an end, and it lies in your power to free me." And once more he prayed him to slay him. So, at last, he consented, and no sooner was it done than the fox was changed into a man, who was no other than the brother of the beautiful princess; and thus he was set free from a spell. And now, indeed, there lacked nothing to their happiness as long as they lived.
