World Fairy Tales

QUEEN CRANE (Sweden🇸🇪)

"Queen Crane" is a captivating story from "The Swedish Fairy Book" penned by Klara Stroebe and initially released in 1921. The tale is part of a collection of enchanting and timeless stories that continue to delight readers of all ages.

Let's Read;

ONCE upon a time, there was a poor, poor boy. He went to the king and begged to be taken into service as a shepherd, and all called him "Sheep-Peter." While he was herding his sheep, he used to amuse himself with his crossbow. One day he saw a crane sitting in an oak tree and wanted to shoot her. The crane, however, hopped down further and further, and at last settled in the lowest branches. Then she said: "If you promise not to shoot me, I will help you whenever you are in trouble. You need only to call out: 'God aid me, and Queen Crane stay by me, and I will succeed!'" With that, the bird flew away.

              At length, war broke out and the king had to take the field. Then Sheep-Peter came to the king and asked whether he might not be allowed to go along to war. They gave him an old nag to ride, and he rode into a swamp along the highway, and there the horse died. So he sat down and clicked with his tongue, but the horse would not move. And the people who rode by had their sport with him; while the youth pretended to feel sad.

              When the people had all passed by, the youth went to the oak in which the Queen Crane dwelt. Here he was given a black steed, a suit of brazen armor, and a silver sword. Thus he rode to battle and got there as quickly as he could wish. Then he said: "God aid me, and Queen Crane stays by me, and I will succeed!" With that, he killed all the enemy and rode away again. But the king thought that an angel had come to help him, and wanted to hold him back. The youth, however, rode quickly back to the oak, took off his armor, went down to the swamp, and once more began to click to his horse. When the people rode by they laughed and said: "You were not alone today, so you missed seeing how an angel came and killed all the enemy." And the youth pretended to feel sad, so sad.

              The following day the king once more had to take the field. And Sheep-Peter came to him and said he wanted to go along. So they gave him an old nag to ride, and he rode into a swamp beside the highway. Then he sat down and clicked with his tongue, but the horse would not move. When the people rode by they had their sport with them; but the youth pretended to feel sad, so sad. When the people had gone by, he went to the oak in which Queen Crane dwelt and was given a white steed, a suit of silver armor, and a golden sword. Thus equipped he rode to battle. When he arrived he said: "God aid me, and Queen Crane ... and I will succeed!" But he had forgotten to say "Stay by me," and so he was shot in the leg. But the king took out his handkerchief and tied up his leg. Then the youth said once more: "God aid me, and Queen Crane stays by me, and I will succeed!" And he slew all of the enemy. Then the king thought he was an angel from heaven, and wanted to hold him. But the youth rode quickly to the oak, took off his armor, and then went down to his nag in the swamp and tried to get it to move, while the soldiers were passing. They laughed and said: "You were not alone today, and did not see how an angel came from heaven and killed all of the enemy." The youth pretended to be very sad.

              On the third day, all happened as before. The king took the field. The youth was given a wretched nag and rode it into a swamp beside the highway. Then he began to click with his tongue but the nag would not go on, and the people who rode past laughed at him. He pretended to feel very sad; but when the people had passed, he went to the oak in which Queen Crane dwelt, and she gave him a red steed, a golden sword, and a golden suit of armor. Thus equipped he rode to war, and all happened as before. He said: "God aid me, and Queen Crane stays by me, and I will succeed!" and slew all the enemy. The king thought he was an angel from heaven and wanted to hold him back by all means; but the youth rode quickly to the oak, took off his armor, and rode down to the swamp where he had his three nags. He hid the king's handkerchief, and when the people passed by he was clicking with his tongue as usual.