Once upon a time there was a king who determined to take a long voyage.
He assembled his fleet and all the seamen, and set out. They went
straight on night and day, until they came to an island which was
covered with large trees, and under every tree lay a lion. As soon as
the King had landed his men, the lions all rose up together and tried
to devour them. After a long battle they managed to overcome the
wild beasts, but the greater number of the men were killed. Those who
remained alive now went on through the forest and found on the other
side of it a beautiful garden, in which all the plants of the world
flourished together.
There were also in the garden three springs: the first flowed with
silver, the second with gold, and the third with pearls. The men
unbuckled their knapsacks and filled them with those precious things. In
the middle of the garden they found a large lake, and when they reached
the edge of it the Lake began to speak, and said to them, ‘What men are
you, and what brings you here? Are you come to visit our king?’ But they
were too much frightened to answer.
Then the Lake said, ‘You do well to be afraid, for it is at your peril
that you are come hither. Our king, who has seven heads, is now asleep,
but in a few minutes he will wake up and come to me to take his bath!
Woe to anyone who meets him in the garden, for it is impossible to
escape from him. This is what you must do if you wish to save your
lives. Take off your clothes and spread them on the path which leads
from here to the castle. The King will then glide over something soft,
which he likes very much, and he will be so pleased with that that he
will not devour you. He will give you some punishment, but then he will
let you go.’
The men did as the Lake advised them, and waited for a time. At noon the
earth began to quake, and opened in many places, and out of the openings
appeared lions, tigers, and other wild beasts, which surrounded the
castle, and thousands and thousands of beasts came out of the castle
following their king, the Seven-headed Serpent. The Serpent glided over
the clothes which were spread for him, came to the Lake, and asked it
who had strewed those soft things on the path? The Lake answered that
it had been done by people who had come to do him homage. The King
commanded that the men should be brought before him. They came humbly on
their knees, and in a few words told him their story. Then he spoke to
them with a mighty and terrible voice, and said, ‘Because you have dared
to come here, I lay upon you the punishment. Every year you must bring
me from among your people twelve youths and twelve maidens, that I may
devour them. If you do not do this, I will destroy your whole nation.’
Then he desired one of his beasts to show the men the way out of the
garden, and dismissed them. They then left the island and went back to
their own country, where they related what had happened to them. Soon
the time came round when the king of the beasts would expect the
youths and maidens to be brought to him. The King therefore issued
a proclamation inviting twelve youths and twelve maidens to offer
themselves up to save their country; and immediately many young people,
far more than enough, hastened to do so. A new ship was built, and set
with black sails, and in it the youths and maidens who were appointed
for the king of the beasts embarked and set out for his country. When
they arrived there they went at once to the Lake, and this time the
lions did not stir, nor did the springs flow, and neither did the Lake
speak. So they waited then, and it was not long before the earth quaked
even more terribly than the first time. The Seven-headed Serpent came
without his train of beasts, saw his prey waiting for him, and devoured
it at one mouthful. Then the ship’s crew returned home, and the same
thing happened yearly until many years had passed.
Now the King of this unhappy country was growing old, and so was the
Queen, and they had no children. One day the Queen was sitting at the
window weeping bitterly because she was childless, and knew that the
crown would therefore pass to strangers after the King’s death. Suddenly
a little old woman appeared before her, holding an apple in her hand,
and said, ‘Why do you weep, my Queen, and what makes you so unhappy?’
‘Alas, good mother,’ answered the Queen, ‘I am unhappy because I have no
children.’
‘Is that what vexes you?’ said the old woman. ‘Listen to me. I am a nun
from the Spinning Convent,(10) and my mother when she died left me this
apple. Whoever eats this apple shall have a child.’
(10) Convent Gnothi.
The Queen gave money to the old woman, and bought the apple from her.
Then she peeled it, ate it, and threw the rind out of the window, and it
so happened that a mare that was running loose in the court below ate up
the rind. After a time the Queen had a little boy, and the mare also had
a male foal. The boy and the foal grew up together and loved each other
like brothers. In course of time the King died, and so did the Queen,
and their son, who was now nineteen years old, was left alone. One day,
when he and his horse were talking together, the Horse said to him,
‘Listen to me, for I love you and wish for your good and that of the
country. If you go on every year sending twelve youths and twelve
maidens to the King of the Beasts, your country will very soon be
ruined. Mount upon my back: I will take you to a woman who can direct
you how to kill the Seven-headed Serpent.’
Then the youth mounted his horse, who carried him far away to a mountain
which was hollow, for in its side was a great underground cavern. In the
cavern sat an old woman spinning. This was the cloister of the nuns, and
the old woman was the Abbess. They all spent their time in spinning, and
that is why the convent has this name. All round the walls of the cavern
there were beds cut out of the solid rock, upon which the nuns slept,
and in the middle a light was burning. It was the duty of the nuns to
watch the light in turns, that it might never go out, and if anyone of
them let it go out the others put her to death.
As soon as the King’s son saw the old Abbess spinning he threw himself
at her feet and entreated her to tell him how he could kill the
Seven-headed Serpent.
She made the youth rise, embraced him, and said, ‘Know, my son, that it
is I who sent the nun to your mother and caused you to be born, and with
you the horse, with whose help you will be able to free the world from
the monster. I will tell you what you have to do. Load your horse with
cotton, and go by a secret passage which I will show you, which is
hidden from the wild beasts, to the Serpent’s palace. You will find the
King asleep upon his bed, which is all hung round with bells, and
over his bed you will see a sword hanging. With this sword only it is
possible to kill the Serpent, because even if its blade breaks a new one
will grow again for every head the monster has. Thus you will be able
to cut off all his seven heads. And this you must also do in order to
deceive the King: you must slip into his bed-chamber very softly, and
stop up all the bells which are round his bed with cotton. Then take
down the sword gently, and quickly give the monster a blow on his tail
with it. This will make him waken up, and if he catches sight of you he
will seize you. But you must quickly cut off his first head, and then
wait till the next one comes up. Then strike it off also, and so go on
till you have cut off all his seven heads.’
The old Abbess then gave the Prince her blessing, and he set out upon
his enterprise, arrived at the Serpent’s castle by following the secret
passage which she had shown him, and by carefully attending to all her
directions he happily succeeded in killing the monster. As soon as
the wild beasts heard of their king’s death, they all hastened to the
castle, but the youth had long since mounted his horse and was already
far out of their reach. They pursued him as fast as they could, but they
found it impossible to overtake him, and he reached home in safety. Thus
he freed his country from this terrible oppression.
‘Die Siebenkopfige Schlange,’ from Schmidt’s Griechische Mahrchen
