Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks | Page 7

men with his club and spear, and even giants with his
sword and battle-axe; but how to correct his little daughter, whom he
loved as his own eyes, was too much for him. He had no son and the
princess was his only child, and the hopes of the family all rested on
her. The king wondered how she would govern his people, after he
should die, and she became the queen. Yet he was glad for one thing:
that, with all her naughtiness, she was, like her father, always kind to
animals. Her pet was a little aurochs calf. Some hunters had killed the
mother of the poor little thing in winter time. So the princess kept the

creature warm and it fed out of her hand daily.
It was in gloom and with a sad face that the king walked in the woods,
thinking how to make a sweet-tempered lady out of his petulant
daughter, who was fast growing up to be a tall, fine-looking woman.
Now when the king had been himself a little boy, he was very kind to
all living creatures, wild and tame, dumb and with voice--yes, even to
the trees in the forest. When a prince, the boy would never let the axe
men cut down an oak until they first begged pardon of the fairy that
lived in the tree.
There was one big oak, especially, which was near the mansion of his
father, the king. It was said that the doctors found little babies in its
leafy branches, and brought them to their mothers. The prince-boy took
great care of this tree. He was taught by a wise man to cut off the dead
limbs, keep off the worms, and warn away all people seeking to break
off branches--even for Yule-tide, which came at our Christmas time.
Once when some hunters had chased a young she-aurochs, with her two
calves, into the king's park, the prince, though he was then only a boy,
ran out and drove the rough fellows away. Then he sheltered and fed
the aurochs family of three, until they were fresh and fat. After this he
sent a skilled hunter to imitate the sound of an aurochs mother, to call
the aurochs father to the edge of the woods. He then let them all go free,
and was happy to see the dumb brutes frisking together.
Now that the boy-prince was grown to be a man and had long been
king, and had forgotten all about the incident of his earlier years, he
was one day walking in the forest.
Suddenly a gentle breeze arose and the leaves of the old oak tree began
first to rustle and then to whisper. Soon the words were clear, and the
spirit in the oak said:
"I have seen a thousand years pass by, since I was an acorn planted
here. In a few moments I shall die and fall down. Cut my body into
staves. Of these make a wooden petticoat, like a barrel, for your

daughter. When her temper is bad, let her put it on and wear it until she
promises to be good."
The king was sad at the thought of losing the grand old tree, under
which he had played as a boy and his fathers before him. His
countenance fell.
"Cheer up, my friend," said the oak, "for something better shall follow.
When I pass away, you will find on this spot a blue flower growing.
Where the forest was shall be fields, on which the sun shines. Then, if
your daughter be good, young women shall spin something prettier
than wooden petticoats. Watch for the blue flower. Moreover," added
the voice of the tree, "that I may not be forgotten, do you take,
henceforth, as your family name Ten Eyck" (which, in Dutch, means
"at the oak ").
At this moment, a huge aurochs rushed into the wood. Its long hair and
shaggy mane were gray with age. The king, thinking the beast would
lower his horns and charge at him, drew his sword to fight the mighty
brute that seemed to weigh well-nigh a ton.
But the aurochs stopped within ten feet of the king and bellowed; but,
in a minute or two, the bellowing changed to a voice and the king heard
these good words:
"I die with the oak, for we are brothers, kept under an enchantment for
a thousand years, which is to end in a few moments. Neither a tree nor
an aurochs can forget your kindness to us, when you were a prince. As
soon as our spirits are released, and we both go back to our home in the
moon, saw off my right horn and make of it a comb for use on your
daughter's curls. It