登陆注册
15316000000036

第36章 The Gifts Of The Magician(2)

The king was delighted when he was told what the horse had said, and took the animal at once to the stables, and placed it in his own particular stall.Sure enough, the horse had scarcely eaten a mouthful of corn out of the manger, when the rest of the horses seemed to have undergone a transformation.Some of them were old favourites which the king had ridden in many wars, and they bore the signs of age and of service.But now they arched their heads, and pawed the ground with their slender legs as they had been wont to do in days long gone by.The king's heart beat with delight, but the old groom who had had the care of them stood crossly by, and eyed the owner of this wonderful creature with hate and envy.Not a day passed without his bringing some story against the youth to his master, but the king understood all about the matter and paid no attention.At last the groom declared that the young man had boasted that he could find the king's war horse which had strayed into the forest several years ago, and had not been heard of since.Now the king had never ceased to mourn for his horse, so this time he listened to the tale which the groom had invented, and sent for the youth.'Find me my horse in three days,'

said he, 'or it will be the worse for you.'

The youth was thunderstruck at this command, but he only bowed, and went off at once to the stable.

'Do not worry yourself,' answered his own horse.'Ask the king to give you a hundred oxen, and to let them be killed and cut into small pieces.Then we will start on our journey, and ride till we reach a certain river.There a horse will come up to you, but take no notice of him.Soon another will appear, and this also you must leave alone, but when the third horse shows itself, throw my bridle over it.'

Everything happened just as the horse had said, and the third horse was safely bridled.Then the other horse spoke again: 'The magician's raven will try to eat us as we ride away, but throw it some of the oxen's flesh, and then I will gallop like the wind, and carry you safe out of the dragon's clutches.'

So the young man did as he was told, and brought the horse back to the king.

The old stableman was very jealous, when he heard of it, and wondered what he could do to injure the youth in the eyes of his royal master.At last he hit upon a plan, and told the king that the young man had boasted that he could bring home the king's wife, who had vanished many months before, without leaving a trace behind her.Then the king bade the young man come into his presence, and desired him to fetch the queen home again, as he had boasted he could do.And if he failed, his head would pay the penalty.

The poor youth's heart stood still as he listened.Find the queen?

But how was he to do that, when nobody in the palace had been able to do so! Slowly he walked to the stable, and laying his head on his horse's shoulder, he said: 'The king has ordered me to bring his wife home again, and how can I do that when she disappeared so long ago, and no one can tell me anything about her?'

'Cheer up!' answered the horse, 'we will manage to find her.You have only got to ride me back to the same river that we went to yesterday, and I will plunge into it and take my proper shape again.

For I am the king's wife, who was turned into a horse by the magician from whom you saved me.'

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 星星诗库:山中随笔

    星星诗库:山中随笔

    山中随笔 一 整个苏坝小镇似乎就我一个人醒着,或者,就我一个人活着。我听不到一个 人的声音,当然,我也看不到空绰的街面上行人的踪影。 人们都跑到何处去了呢?如果说人类懒惰到极致的方式之一就是午眠的话, 那午眠就是人类莅临死亡已不远的征兆了。如此亮丽的夏天,瞧瞧阳光的力度、 空气的透明度和风的温柔度都不能使人产生好奇、亲近和愉悦,人们反而乐陷于 一张床榻,一件廉价的电器鼓吹的热风和两三个小时
  • 诸神的葬礼

    诸神的葬礼

    喜欢《爵迹》的书友,可以一起来关注本书啦。《爵迹》小说的再现!但不是同人!空涯因为体内生来就有一个奇怪的封印,有人说他成不了奥术师。所以家人就让他从小生活在一个幻境之中,把所有关于奥术师的秘密都隐藏起来。直到有一天,空涯在后山的神秘空间内发现了奥术师的秘密,后来也有人告诉他,那个封印正是强大的奥术师的象征……
  • TFboys蓝色天空不落泪

    TFboys蓝色天空不落泪

    听说天空也会哭泣,那雨滴应该是她的眼泪吧,你问我的愿望是什么?嗯,我希望天空永远那么蓝,永远不会掉眼泪。
  • 苏慕遮思

    苏慕遮思

    他是战神,亦是太子。世人只知他荣勋加身,不知他夜夜梦魇,只为再见她一面,只要她还活着他愿意用任何东西来换,他曾经拼命保护的国家甚至是他的性命。他是周慕。她是两国的公主,本该受尽万千宠爱,无忧无虑的成长,可是却遇上了自己一生的劫难,从此国不再有,家亦不再有,这样苍凉的命运她避无可避。她是苏宁。他身居高位是为她,一身白衣也是为她,可这一世她注定不是为了他,那又何妨?“苏宁,你的生生世世我都要陪在你的身边,你生我生,你死我死。”他是木落。她以为只要她安分的陪在他身边,他终会看到她,可是当那个小姑娘出现的时候,她才发现她如此可笑。她面容姣好,身段姣好,为了他用尽了手段,却是让他厌了她。她是柳姣姣。原来,我看到的世界始终都是不完整的,原来我们努力想要遮掩的不仅仅是不能说出口的思念,还有那些血淋淋的伤口。
  • 往日的情书

    往日的情书

    《往日的情书》可说是一部真情实录,其中收录了叶辛和当年的恋人王淑君从萌生初恋到进入热恋及两地相思期间的所有通信。时间跨度是从1969年的12月至1973年的5月。知识青年上山下乡30周年时,出版社酝酿出版一套《老三届著名作家回忆录》。当时由于叶辛参与主持上海作协日常工作,天天上班,挤不出时间撰写大块的回忆文章。出版社复印了叶辛夫妇这段时间的通信,除了一些辨认不清的字句,几乎是原封原样编撰了这本书,当年印刷了一万五千册销售一空。这一次收进文集,仅在体例上做了调整,所有文字仍按复印信件出版。虽是年轻恋人的通信,可在字里行间,仍能读出知青生活里男女情人间的相思和意味。
  • 冰封三生三世情

    冰封三生三世情

    复活的魔女,封存的记忆,逝去的灵魂,不变的初心;相识、相知、相伴,谁会在冰封之中等待一人之心?
  • 虽孤单但有你之王俊凯

    虽孤单但有你之王俊凯

    “从此以后,我们俩已经没有关系了。”这话已经说出来,想后悔也来不及了。如果不是李雅琪,我跟王俊凯就根本不会变成现在这个样子。而王俊凯却一直不知道,他要找的人就是她。----------虽孤单但有你。
  • 花千骨之不问永世缘劫

    花千骨之不问永世缘劫

    山有木兮木有枝,心悦君兮君不知。她只想护他一世平安,却被一而再再而三的伤害。在她重生时,给了他一份大礼,敬请期待!
  • 穿越之天启

    穿越之天启

    2090年,爆发第三次世界大战,两年后,世界上仅存7个国家——中国、美国、欧盟、阿拉伯、澳大利亚、印度、南非。十年后,传出消息,猎户座中,发现一颗疑似存在生命的星球,于是除了南非之外其他六国在纽约再开紧急会议,最终决定,派出一支一千人的考察队前往猎户座,其中中国和美国各占四分之一,欧盟占五分之一,其余三个国家各占十分之一,八年后,地球收到来自那支探险队传来的视频,画面显示那支探险队刚进入猎户座,就被黑洞给吞噬了。
  • 空间重生之最强女学霸

    空间重生之最强女学霸

    重生到异世,林雪变成了一个191.2斤的肥妹子!这简直不能忍!她要写文赚钱!这辈子,她依旧要做一个学霸!从现在开始,她要努力的减肥,变成一个漂亮妹子!--天啊,她竟然得到了一个脂腔空间!一个以吸收脂肪来升级的空间!!于是她身上的110斤脂肪瞬间就被吸收得干干净净!天啊,真是一秒变美女!对了!她有了脂肪空间,可以开一家专门减肥的美容院!林雪眼睛唰的一下亮成了小灯泡,她要赚钱,赚好多好多的钱!--“这个同学好漂亮,咦,竟是我们班的?不会吧,以前怎么没见过?”“天啊,这个竟然是林雪,搞没搞错!是那个肥妞?!!”“快捏捏我的脸,我是做梦吧!眼前这漂亮水嫩的嫩妹子怎么会跟那土肥圆林雪重名?!”——肥妹子逆袭归来,闪瞎众人的眼睛!“全校第一,天啊,林雪你好厉害啊!”“什么,含笑半步颠是你的笔名?天啊,你就是XX网大神么!”