Chapter 59 58. Dragon with seven heads

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who had been married for many years, but his wife did not bear him a child.One day, he took a fishing net and went fishing in a nearby lake, and caught a beautiful and fat fish on the net.As soon as the fish was pulled out of the water, he begged the fisherman to let him go, and promised the fisherman that, in return for his kindness, he would point him to a nearby pond to fish, and he would be able to fill the net in just a moment.Hearing that the fish could talk, the fisherman was startled at first, and released it without much thought. The big fish got into the water and disappeared in an instant.The fisherman tried two nets in the pond, and sure enough, there were a lot of fish in the net. When he returned home, the fish he brought back could not even be carried by a donkey.

His wife asked him what was going on today, and he caught so many fish, so he told his wife all about today's adventure.As soon as the wife heard this, she scolded him: "Stupid! You let go of such a good fish! Go back tomorrow, bring it up for me, and bring it home, I will cook it with sauce Quench your hunger." The next day, in order to please his wife, the fisherman came to the lake again, cast down the net, and pulled up the talking fish again.But this time he was moved by its pleading and tears again, and let it go again, and then went to the pond yesterday to catch many other fish and brought them home.After hearing what the fisherman said, the wife became even more angry.She put her hands on her hips and yelled: "Idiot! What a fool, you don't even know what to do if you are lucky enough to bump into you? Tomorrow you either bring that fish back to me, or I want you to look good. Do you understand?"

Early in the morning, the fisherman came to the lake again.Cast the net, pull it, and the fish is in the net again.This time, the fisherman neither listened to the fish's explanation nor shed tears, and ran home quickly, and handed the fish alive to his wife, who put it in a water tank.The two leaned against the tank and stared at the fish. Seeing that it was fat and big, they discussed the best way to cook it.At this time, I saw the fish put its head out of the water and said: "I know I'm going to die, but at least let me leave some last words." The fisherman and his wife immediately agreed, and only heard the fish say: "After I die, I will cook and divide into two parts. My meat will be eaten by the women, and my soup will be eaten by the mare at home. My head To that bitch, my three biggest thorns shall stand up in the vegetable garden, and my bile shall hang on the kitchen beam. You shall have sons, but when any son is in trouble, the bile shall be It will bleed out."

After the fish was killed and cooked, the husband and wife prepared each piece according to the fish's dying instructions. Soon the woman, the mare, and the bitch were pregnant, and that same night, the bitch gave birth to three puppies, the mare three foals, and the woman three little boys.The fisherman said: "God, I gave birth to nine twins in one night!" The triplets resembled each other so much that it would be difficult to tell them apart without marking them.And those three fishbone stuck in the vegetable garden have turned into three sharp swords. When the three brothers grew up, their father gave them a horse, a dog, a sword, and a shotgun for each of them.The boss has long been tired of the poor life in his hometown, and wants to go out and try his luck.He rode on his horse, took his own harness, put his sword and shotgun on his shoulders, said goodbye to his family, and left.Before he set off, he said to his two younger brothers: "If you see bile dripping blood, you come to me, it means that I am either dead or in disaster. Goodbye." After finishing speaking, he galloped away.

After riding for many days, passing through many unknown villages and towns, the eldest brother came to the gate of a big kingdom. The gate was wide open and no one was guarding it. He went into the city.The residents were all dressed in black, and all of them had sad expressions on their faces.He came to an inn, sat down at a small table, and while eating, asked the owner what sad thing had happened here.The innkeeper said: "What? Haven't you heard of a dragon with seven heads? It comes to the bridge every day at noon and asks a girl to eat, and if it doesn't satisfy it, it immediately comes to the city and devours it." Everyone I met. The residents draw lots every day to decide to send a girl. Today is the princess’s turn. She will go to the bridge at noon and feed it to the dragon. The king has posted a notice, which says, who can save The next princess, marry her to whomever."

The boy said, "Is there no one to rescue the princess and free the whole city from this plague? I have a sharp sword, a strong dog and a strong horse. Go! Take me to the king." The innkeeper immediately led him to His Majesty the King, and the young man asked permission to go and fight the dragon and kill it. But the king said: "Brave boy, do you know that many men before you have attempted this feat and lost their lives? It is so tragic! If you will take the risk and defeat the dragon, you can marry the princess wife, and to inherit my throne after my death." The young man was not afraid. He took the dog and the horse, went to the bridge, sat on the railing and waited.

It was noon, and the king's daughter was dressed in black, followed by her maids of honor and attendants.When she reached the middle of the bridge, the attendants left her there alone, and went back crying.She turned her head and saw a young man with a dog sitting beside her, so she said to him: "Strong man, what are you doing here? Don't you know that the dragon will come and eat me soon? If it sees you, it will eat you too." "Of course I know," replied the young man, "I came here to save you and marry you." The princess cried and said, "Go, poor thing. Otherwise, the dragon will eat us both today, and let me die alone. The dragon is full of magic, how can you kill it?" "

As soon as the young man saw the princess, he fell in love with her at once, and said, "Whatever it is, I am willing to risk it for your love, and I will leave it to my fate." No sooner had they finished speaking than the great clock of the palace struck noon, and the earth shook violently, and a hole was seen in the ground, and the seven-headed dragon emerged from the fireworks.Its seven mouths were all open, and it rushed towards the princess. Seeing that there was another person beside it, it hissed happily, thinking that it had prepared an extra life for it today.But the lad didn't stand there waiting to die as he thought.He jumped on his horse and called the dogs to charge towards the dragon.

The sword in his hand swung left and right, chopping off the heads of the six dragons one by one. At this time, the dragon proposed to take a rest, and the young man was panting, so he said, "Then we will rest for a while and fight again." Unexpectedly, Long rubbed the remaining head on the ground, and the six fallen heads grew back on his body one by one.Seeing this, the young man immediately understood that in order to kill it, all seven heads had to be chopped off at once.He swung his sword forward vigorously, slashing left and right, and finally chopped off all seven dragon heads.Then he cut off seven dragon tongues with his sword, and said to the princess, "Do you have a handkerchief?"

The princess handed him a handkerchief, and the boy wrapped up the seven tongues and put them away.Then he mounted his horse again and went to an inn, intending to change his clothes, which were full of dust and dragon's blood, and to meet the king in a clean state. What a surprise.It happened that in a small shed next to this bridge lived a sinister and cunning charcoal burner.He saw the whole process of the young man fighting the dragon from a distance, and thought: This foolish boy left all seven dragon heads here, wasting time to change clothes and dress up, I should make good use of this opportunity! So he cut off the dragon head The seven dragon heads were collected and put in a pocket, and a knife was dipped in some dragon blood, and hurriedly ran to the king, saying: "Your Majesty wise! I am the one who kills the dragon, and this is my knife." The seven dragon heads were cut off one by one. Your Majesty, you must fulfill your promise and marry the princess to me."

The king felt very uncomfortable when he saw this ugly guy in front of him.He didn't see the struggle with his own eyes, but he guessed in his heart: the brave young man must have been eaten by the dragon. The charcoal burner rushed over when the dragon was about to die, and picked up the dragon just by giving the dragon a knife. Big deal.But in any case, the king could not go back on his promise, so he replied: "If it is true, my daughter is your wife, and you can marry her." At this moment the Princess was in the anteroom, and when she heard this decision, she cried out, and said that the charcoal burner was a liar, and that it was not he who killed the dragon, but another young man, who would come to the palace in a moment.The princess quarreled with the charcoal burner, but the charcoal burner insisted that he killed the dragon, and there were seven dragon heads to prove it.The king, seeing this fact, could not deny it, and had to order his daughter to be quiet, and make her ready to marry the charcoal burner. The king immediately sent someone to inform his subjects that there would be a three-day banquet in the palace to celebrate the victory, and the wedding ceremony for the princess would be held at the banquet on the third day.At this time, the real dragon-slaying hero came to the palace, but the guard at the gate refused to let him enter the palace. At the same time, he heard the palace herald announce in the square that the princess would marry the charcoal burner.The boy argued repeatedly and begged to be allowed to appear before the king to clarify the facts.But the guards didn't listen to his request at all, as indifferent as a stone.At this time, the charcoal burner appeared, and he told the guards to show no mercy to the young man and drive him away immediately.The poor boy had to leave the palace full of resentment, and returned to the inn, and began to think hard how to prevent the marriage, how to expose the charcoal burner's tricks, and how to let people know that he was the real dragon slayer. The palace banquet is ready.The king invited all the great families to attend.The charcoal burner sat beside the princess in velvet.Because of his short stature, the servants put seven cushions on his chair so that he seemed a little taller. In the inn, the young man racked his brains.He woke up the dog lying at his feet and said: "Fido, you go to find the princess and play with her, but I tell you, you can only play with her alone. Disturb your food and run back. Be careful not to let them catch you." This dog, as soon as it listens to its master, understands its master's intentions.It ran out, came to the palace, jumped on the princess's lap, barked, and then licked and rubbed on the princess's face and hands.The princess recognized it, looked at it with joy, stroked it, and asked into its ear where the man who had saved her was.But the charcoal burner saw that the princess was so affectionate with the dog, he was suspicious and wanted to drive it out of the banquet hall.At this time, the servant brought a soup and put it on the table. The dog bit the corner of the tablecloth and pulled it down so hard that the tablecloth and everything on it fell to the ground, and there were pieces all over the floor.Then the dog ran up the stairs, and no one could catch it, and no one saw where it was hiding, and the banquet hall was in such chaos that the banquet was called off, and the whole city was aroused. When the second banquet was held, the young man said to the dog: "Go again, Fido, and do it again like yesterday." The princess laughed happily when she saw Fido appearing again, but the charcoal burner said He was afraid and suspicious, and determined to beat it out.The princess tried her best to protect Fido, so that although the charcoal burner hated him, he did not dare to fight against the princess.This time, when the soup was served, the dog bit the tablecloth again, threw everything to the floor, and fled like the wind.The guards and servants ran after the dog, out of breath, and finally let it run. At the third banquet, the boy said again: "Fido, go again and do the same thing as the last two times, but this time, let them chase you and find me." Again the dog turned the feast upside down, and the guards pursued him to the lad's room, and they seized him and brought him before the king.The king recognized him: "Aren't you the boy who wants to kill the dragon and save my daughter?" "It was I, Your Majesty, who saved her." Hearing his words, the charcoal burner howled: "False! I killed the dragon with my own hands, and I brought its seven heads." After speaking, he ordered his servants to put the seven dragon heads on the king's chest. underfoot. The young man was unhurried. He turned to the king and said, "He brought back seven dragon heads, but I thought the dragon heads were too heavy, so I only brought back seven dragon tongues. Let's see if there are still tongues in the mouths of these dragons." .” Sure enough, the tongue in the dragon head was gone.At this time, the young man took out the handkerchief wrapped with the dragon's tongue from his pocket, and told everyone what happened in detail.The charcoal burner didn't want to admit defeat, so he suggested that the tongues must be aligned with the dragon's mouth one by one to see if they were on top; but they all matched exactly, and he was so angry that he threw out a tongue every time he matched. Throw away all the cushions on my chair, until the seven cushions.In the end, he slipped under the dining table and hid before escaping.But the guards caught him immediately, and after receiving the king's order, they immediately took him to the square and hanged him. The palace was full of joy, the king, the princess and the guests sat down at the dining table and reveled, and the wedding was held immediately.At night, everyone went their separate ways.At dawn the next day, the young man got up and got out of bed, opened the window, and saw a large forest opposite, filled with various birds, and excitedly wanted to go in and hunt.But the bride begged him not to go, because it was an enchanted forest, and people could get in but not get out.The more others said it was dangerous there, the more emotional the young man was.Armed with horses, dogs, sword, and shotgun, he set off.He had shot a lot of birds and was about to go home when the sky changed drastically, with a strong wind, torrential rain, and thunder and lightning, as if it was the end of the world.The young man was soaked through, and he couldn't find his way home when it was dark, so he hid in a cave when he saw it.There are stone statues everywhere in the cave, all made of white marble, with different expressions.But the young man was too tired and wet to watch.He picked up some dry sticks, lit a pile of wood with a flint and steel, and while he was roasting clothes, he burned the bird meat. After a while, an old woman also went into the cave to hide from the rain. She was drenched from head to toe, and her teeth chattered from the cold. She begged the young man to let her go and warm herself by the fire.The boy said, "Come, old woman, come and be my company." The old woman sat down by the fire, and gave the boy some salt to dip in the roasted bird, and some drum chaff for his horse, and gave the dog a bone, and then took out some fat for him to put on his sword. But as soon as the boy, the horse, and the dog had eaten, and the sword had been greased, they all turned into statues made of salt, and stood motionless where they had been. When the princess saw that her husband had not come back, she thought he was dead, and the king sadly issued an order that the whole city should wear mourning. At this time, in the fisherman's house, since the eldest brother went out, the father and the two brothers went to the kitchen every day to have a look at the bile hanging on the beam.One day, they found that the kitchen floor was flooded with blood, and bile was dripping blood like rain.The second child said: "My elder brother is either dead or in a catastrophe. I'll go find him, goodbye." After speaking, he got on his horse, took his dog with him, picked up his sword and shotgun, and galloped away. Every time he went to a place, the second child asked people about his elder brother: "'Have you ever seen a young man who looks like me?" Everyone laughed: "Joke! Didn't you pass by here last time?" Then the young man realized that his brother must have passed by here too, and went on.When they came to the capital city, when the people in black and mourning saw him coming in, they were surprised and said, "It's him, it's him! He's still alive! He's alive! Our king's son-in-law is still alive!" People took him to the palace, the king and the court, and even the princess regarded him as the boss.The king blamed him for being so reckless, and asked him to pay attention in the future.The second child pretended nothing happened, asked everyone to forgive, and then pretended to be reconciled with the princess as before.He answered everyone's questions fluently, and learned all about his brother, including his marriage and disappearance. When it was time to go to bed at night, the second child drew his sword, placed it with the blade up between them, and said to the princess that they should sleep on each side.Although the princess could not understand the reason, she had no choice but to go to bed. In the morning, as soon as he got up, the second child also opened the window, saw the forest opposite, and said, "I want to go hunting there." The princess immediately said: "You finally took your life back, isn't that enough? Do you want me to endure this fear?" The second child disobeyed the princess, mounted his horse, and set off with a dog, a sword, and a shotgun. What happened to the boss, he also suffered, and he also stayed in the cave and became a salt statue.The princess couldn't wait, waited and didn't see him, thinking that he really couldn't come back this time, and the whole city was covered with black veil according to the king's order. In the fisherman's house, bile bleeds again from the kitchen beams.The third child didn't think much, and immediately mounted his horse, took the dog, sword and shotgun and went out to look for the two brothers.The horse galloped along, and he asked all the way: "Have you seen two young men like me passing by here?" People replied: "You are so funny! Why do you keep asking the same questions? Isn't it you? Weird!" The third child knew that he was on the right path and came all the way to that city.The people greeted him with joy, as if they had seen a dead man come back to life, and the king, princess, and palace all regarded him as the boss again.In the evening, he also went to bed with the princess, and put the sword in the middle of the bed, and they both slept in half.In the morning, when he came to the window and saw the forest outside, he said, "I want to go hunting." The princess once again warned him dissatisfied: "Do you just want to die? Do you still love me or not? It scares me to death every time!" But the third child was anxious to find his two brothers back, so he set off.In order to escape the storm, he also came to the cave, and looking at the statues one by one, he recognized that the two brothers were also inside.He thought to himself: There must be a famous place here, I have to be careful. He had lighted the fire, and was about to roast some bird meat, when an old woman appeared at the mouth of the cave, and she politely begged to be allowed to join the fire, but the boy cast a sidelong glance, and said, "Don't come in, you old hag, Don't come near me." The old woman looked distressed at his rudeness, and whimpered, "Don't you have any compassion for others? I just want to give you something to eat better, these salts are baked For the birds, the chaff for the horses, the bones for the dogs, and the butter for you to put on your sword to keep it from rusting." The young man said: "You treacherous old hag, don't try to trick me." As he said, he rushed towards her, threw her to the ground, pinned her down with his knees, then grabbed her throat with his left hand, and drew out his sword with his right hand to hold her. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You despicable witch, either give back my brother, or I'll kill you right now." The old witch still wanted to quibble, saying that she had never done anything harmful to nature, but the young man immediately pressed the sword down her throat, and finally forced her to confess the process of casting the magic, and promised to listen to his wishes and save her. To save their lives, he immediately took out a bottle of ointment from his pocket that could bring the stone statue back to life.But the young man didn't want to let go of the witch at all. He held her back with a knife and forced her to apply the antidote to the stone statue.One by one, all the stone statues turned back into living beings, and soon the cave was crowded.The three brothers hugged each other tightly as soon as they met, excited.The other rescued people also came over to pay respects to the third child with gratitude.In the midst of the noise, the witch wanted to take the opportunity to slip away. As soon as she reached the entrance of the cave, the three brothers spotted her. They all rushed forward and chopped up the witch mercilessly. The forest's spell was broken, and the boss snatched the potion that brought the dead back to life from the witch. On the way back to the city, everyone discussed in groups of three and groups of two, and the three brothers told each other about their experiences.When the boss heard that the two younger brothers had slept with his wife, the princess, he was so jealous that he drew his sword and killed them. But after he committed the crime, he regained his senses and immediately felt guilty.He aimed the sword at his own throat desperately, and did not commit suicide because everyone stopped him.At this time, he thought of the bottle of ointment. He applied the medicine to the wounds of the two younger brothers, and they immediately came back to life, healthy as if nothing had happened.In the midst of joy, the eldest begged his brothers to forgive him.They all forgave him, and explained to him that they slept with their swords in the middle of their beds, so that he might not misunderstand.After walking for a while, they all arrived at the palace. Everyone greeted the princess to come out. At this time, the princess was almost crying dry.After seeing the three brothers, she couldn't tell which one was her husband for a moment.At this time, the elder took the initiative to greet the princess and introduced his two brothers to the princess. The king immediately selected two daughters of nobles from among the people they rescued, let them marry the two brothers, and then appointed them in the court. As an official, he also brought the old fisherman and his wife into the palace to live together. (Montale Pistoia area)