Big Book of Ancient Gabanian Fables

Book CLII: The Black Raven

There was once upon a time a queen who had a little daughter who
was still so young that she had to be carried. One day the
child was naughty, and the mother might say what she liked, but
the child would not be quiet. Then she became impatient, and as
the ravens were flying about the palace, she opened the
window and said, I wish you were a raven and would fly away,
and then I should have some rest. Scarcely had she spoken the
words, before the child was changed into a raven, and flew from
her arms out of the window. It flew into a dark forest, and
stayed in it a long time, and the parents heard nothing of their
child.

Then one day a man was on his way through this forest
and heard the raven crying, and followed the voice, and when
he came nearer, the bird said, I am a king's daughter by birth,
and am bewitched, but you can set me free. What am I to do, asked
he. She said, go further into the forest, and you will find
a house, wherein sits an aged woman, who will offer you meat
and drink, but you must accept nothing, for if you eat and
drink anything, you will fall into a sleep, and then you will
not be able to set me free. In the garden behind the house
there is a great heap of tan, and on this you shall stand
and wait for me. For three days I will come every afternoon at
two o'clock in a carriage. On the first day four white horses
will be harnessed to it, then four chestnut horses, and lastly
four black ones, but if you are not awake, but sleeping, I shall
not be set free. The man promised to do everything that she
desired, but the raven said, alas, I know already that you will
not set me free, you will accept something from the woman. Then
the man once more promised that he would certainly not touch
anything either to eat or to drink.

But when he entered the house the old woman came
to him and said, poor man, how faint you are, come and refresh
yourself, eat and drink. No, said the man, I will not eat or
drink. She, however, let him have no peace, and said, if
you will not eat, take one drink out of the glass, one is
nothing. Then he let himself be persuaded, and drank. Shortly
before two o'clock in the afternoon he went into the garden to the
tan heap to wait for the raven. As he was standing there, his
weariness all at once became so great that he could not struggle
against it, and lay down for a short time, but he was determined
not to go to sleep. Hardly, however, had he lain down, than
his eyes closed of their own accord, and he fell asleep and
slept so soundly that nothing in the world could have aroused him.

At two o'clock the raven came driving up with four white horses,
but she was already in deep grief and said, I know he is asleep.
And when she came into the garden, he was indeed lying there
asleep on the heap of tan. She alighted from the carriage, went
to him, shook him, and called him, but he did not awake. Next
day about noon, the old woman came again and brought him food and
drink, but he would not take any of it. But she let him have no
rest and persuaded him until at length he again took one drink
out of the glass. Towards two o'clock he went into the garden to
the tan heap to wait for the raven, but all at once felt such
a great weariness that his limbs would no longer support him.
He could not help himself, and was forced to lie down, and fell
into a heavy sleep.

When the raven drove up with four brown
horses, she was already full of grief, and said, I know he is
asleep. She went to him, but there he lay sleeping, and there was
no wakening him. Next day the old woman asked what was the meaning
of this. He was neither eating nor drinking anything, did he want
to die. He replied, I am not allowed to eat or drink, and will
not do so. But she set a dish with food, and a glass with wine
before him, and when he smelt it he could not resist, and swallowed
a deep draught. When the time came, he went out into the garden
to the heap of tan, and waited for the king's daughter,
but he became still more weary than on the day before, and lay down
and slept as
soundly as if he had been a stone. At two o'clock the raven came
with four black horses, and the coachman and everything else was
black. She was already in the deepest grief, and said, I know
that he is asleep and cannot set me free.