The Man of Iron
Once upon a time there was a King who possessed a great wood which lay behind his castle, and wherein it was his pleasure to hunt. One day it happened that one of his huntsmen who had gone into this wood in the morning did not return as usual. The next day, therefore, the King despatched two others to seek him; but they likewise never reappeared; and so the King then ordered all his huntsmen to make themselves ready to scour the whole forest in search of their missing companions. But, after they had set out, not one of them ever returned again, nor even a single dog out of the whole pack that accompanied them. After this occurrence an edict was issued that nobody should venture into the forest; and from that day a profound stillness and deep solitude crept over the whole forest, and one saw nothing but owls or eagles which now and then flew out. This lasted a long time, till once came a strange Huntsman to the King, and, begging an audience, said he was ready to go into the dangerous forest. The King would not at first give his consent, saying, “I am afraid it will fare no better with you than with the others, and that you will never return;” but the Huntsman replied, “I will dare the danger, for I know nothing of fear.”
Thereupon the Huntsman entered the forest with his dog, and in a few minutes the hound espying a wild animal on the road pursued it; but it had scarcely gone a couple of yards before it fell into a deep pool, out of which a naked arm stretched itself, and catching the dog drew it down beneath the water. As soon as the Huntsman saw this he went back and fetched three men who came with pails to bale out the water. When they came to the bottom they found a Wild Man, whose body was brown like rusty iron, and his hair hung over his face down to his knees. They bound him with cords and led him away to the King, who caused an immense iron cage to be fixed in the courtyard, and forbade any one on pain of death to open the door of the cage, of which the Queen had to keep the key in her charge. After this time anybody could go with safety into the forest.
Now, the King had a son eight years old, who was once playing in the courtyard, and during his play his ball accidentally rolled into the iron cage. He ran up to it and demanded his ball of the prisoner. “Not till you open my door,” replied the Man. “No, that I cannot,” said the Boy, “for my father the King has forbidden it;” and so saying he ran away. But the next morning he came again and demanded his golden ball. “Open my door,” said the Wild Man; but the Boy refused. The third morning the King went out a hunting; and presently the Boy went again to the cage, and said, “Even if I would open the door, I have not got the key to do it.” “It lies under your mother’s pillow,” said the Wild Man, “and you can get it if you like.” So the Boy, casting all other thoughts to the winds but his wish to have his ball, ran and fetched the key. The door swung heavily, and the boy jammed his finger; but soon it opened, and the Wild Man, giving him the golden ball, stepped out and hurried off. At this the Boy became alarmed, and cried, and called after the Man, “Wild Man, do not go away or I shall be beaten!” The Man turned round, and, raising the boy up, set him upon his shoulders and walked into the forest with hasty strides. As soon afterwards the King returned, he remarked the empty cage, and asked the Queen what had happened. She called her Boy, but no one answered, and the King sent out people over the fields to search for him but they returned empty-handed. Then he easily guessed what had really happened, and great grief was shown at the royal court.
Meanwhile, as soon as the Wild Man had reached his old haunts, he set the Boy down off his shoulders, and said to him, “Your father and mother you will never see again; but I will keep you with me, for you delivered me, and therefore I pity you. If you do all that I tell you, you will be well treated, for I have enough treasure and money; in fact, more than any one else in the world.” That evening the Iron Man let the Boy sleep on some moss, and the next morning he took him to the pool, and said, “See you, this golden water is bright and clear as crystal; hereby you must sit, and watch that nothing falls into it, or it will be dishonoured. Every evening I will come, and see if you have obeyed my commands.” So the Boy sat down on the bank of the pool; but by-and-by, while he watched, such a sudden pain seized one of his fingers that he plunged it into the water to cool it. He quickly drew it out again; but lo! it was quite golden, and in spite of all his pains he could not rub off the gold again. In the evening came the Iron Man, and, after looking at the Boy, he asked, “What has happened to my pool?” “Nothing, nothing!” replied the Boy, holding his finger behind him, that it might not be seen. But the Man said, “You have dipped your finger into the water; this time, however, I will overlook it, only take care it does not happen again.”
The next day the Boy resumed his post at the first daybreak; but in the course of a little while his finger ached again, and this time he put it to his head, and unluckily pulled off a hair which fell into the water. He took it out again very quickly; but it had changed into gold, and by-and-by the Iron Man returned, already conscious of what had occurred. “You have let a hair fall into the pool,” he said to the boy; “but once more I will overlook your fault, only if it happens again the pool will be dishonoured, and you can remain with me no longer.”
The Boy took his usual seat again on the third morning, and did not once move his finger, in spite of the pain. The time, however, passed so slowly that he fell to looking at his face reflected in the mirror of the waters, and, while he bent down to do so, his long hair fell down from his shoulders into the pool. In a great hurry he raised his head again; but already his locks were turned to gold, and shone in the sun. You may imagine how frightened the poor Boy was! He took his pocket-handkerchief and bound it round his head, so that no one might see his hair; but as soon as the Iron Man returned he said to him, “Untie your handkerchief!” for he knew what had happened. Then the golden hair fell down on the Boy’s shoulders, and he tried to excuse himself, but in vain. “You have not stood the proof,” said the Iron Man, “and must remain here no longer. Go forth into the world, and there you will see how poverty fares; but because your heart is innocent, and I mean well towards you, I will grant you this one favour—when you are in trouble come to this forest, call my name, and I will come out and help you. My power is great, and I have gold and silver in abundance.”
So the young Prince had to leave the forest, and travelled over many rough and smooth roads till he came at length to a large town. There he sought work, but without success, for he had learnt nothing which was of use, and at last he went to the King’s palace itself and inquired if they could take him in. The court servants were unaware of any vacancy which he could fill, but because he seemed well favoured they allowed him to remain. Soon afterwards the Cook took him into his service, and told him he might fetch wood and water for the fire and sweep up the ashes. One day, however, as no one else was at hand, the Prince had to carry in a dish for the royal table but, because he would not allow his golden hair to be seen, he entered the room with his cap on his head. “If you come to the royal table,” exclaimed the King when he saw him, “you must pull off your cap!” “Ah! your majesty,” replied the Prince, “I dare not, for I have a bad disease on my head.” Thereupon the King ordered the Cook into his presence, and scolded him because he had taken such a youth into his service, and further commanded him to discharge him. But the Cook pitied the poor lad and changed him with the Gardener’s Boy.
Now, the Prince had to plant and sow, to dig and chop, in spite of all weathers, for he must bear the wind and rain. One day in summer, as he was working alone in the garden, he took off his cap to cool his head in the breeze, and the sun shone so upon his hair that the golden locks glittered, and their brightness became reflected in the mirror in the chamber of the King’s daughter. She jumped up to see what it was, and, perceiving the Gardener’s Boy, called him, to bring her a nosegay of flowers. In a great hurry he put on his cap and plucked some wild flowers, which he arranged together. But, as he was going up the steps with them to the Princess, the Gardener met him, and said, “How can you take the Princess such a nosegay of bad flowers? go back and fetch the rarest and most beautiful.” “Oh, no!” said the Boy, “the wild flowers bloom the longest and will please the best.” So he went up to the chamber, and there the Princess said to him, “Take off your cap; it is not becoming of you to wear it here!”
The Boy, however, replied he dared not remove it, because his head was too ugly to look at, but she seized his cap and pulled it off, and his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, most beautiful to see. The Boy would have run away, but the Princess detained him and gave him a handful of ducats. Then he left her and took her money to the Gardener, whom he told to give it to his children to play with, for he despised money. The following day the Princess called him again to give her a bouquet of wild flowers, and when he entered with them she snatched again at his cap, but this time he held it fast with both hands, and would not let it go. She gave him still another handful of ducats, but he would not keep them, but gave them to the Gardener’s children for playthings. The third day it was just the same: the Princess could not get his cap and he would not keep her ducats.
Not long after these events the country was drawn into a war, and the King collected all his people, for he knew not whether he should be able to make a stand against the enemy, who was very powerful, and led an immense army. Amongst others, the Gardener’s Boy asked for a horse, saying he was grown up and ready to take his part in the fight. The others, however, laughed at him, and said, “When we are gone we will leave behind a horse for you, but take care of yourself!” So, as soon as the rest had set out, the young Prince went into the stable, and found there a horse which was lame, and clicked its feet together. Nevertheless, he mounted it, and rode away to the gloomy forest; and as soon as he arrived there he called, “Iron Man, Iron Man!” in such a loud voice that the trees re-echoed it. Soon the wild man appeared, and asked, “What do you desire?” “I desire a strong horse, for I am going to battle,” said the Youth. “That you shall have, and more than you desire,” said the Iron Man; and, diving in among the trees, a page suddenly made his appearance, holding a horse so fiery and mettlesome that he was scarcely to be touched. Behind the steed followed a troop of warriors, all clad in iron, with swords which glittered in the sun. The Youth, thereupon, delivered up his three-legged horse to the page, and, mounting the other, rode off at the head of his troop. Just as he reached the field of battle he found the greater part of the King’s army already slain, and the rest were on the point of yielding. The Youth, therefore, charged at once with his iron troop, like a storm of hail, against the enemy, and they cut down all who opposed them. The enemy turned and fled, but the young Prince pursued and cut to pieces all the fugitives, so that not one man was left. Then, instead of leading his troop before the King, he rode back with them to the forest, and summoned the Iron Man. “What do you desire now?” he inquired.
“Take back all these soldiers and your steed, and restore me my three-legged horse.” All this was done as he desired, and he rode home on his limping animal. When the King arrived afterwards, his Daughter greeted him, and congratulated him on his victory. “I do not deserve it,” he said; “the victory was owing to a strange knight who came to our aid with his troop.” His Daughter inquired then who he was; but the King told her he did not know, for he had pursued the enemy and had not returned again. The Princess afterwards inquired of the Gardener respecting his boy, and he laughed, and said he had just returned home on his three-legged steed; while the others had laughed at him, saying, “Here comes our Hop-a-da-hop!” They asked also behind what hedge he had hid himself, and he replied, “I have done the best I could, and without me you would have fared badly.” And for this speech the poor boy was still more mocked.
Some time after this the King said to his Daughter, “I will cause a great festival to be held, which shall last three days, and you shall throw a golden apple, for which perhaps the unknown knight will contend.”
As soon as the proclamation was made, the young Prince went to the forest, and called for the Iron Man.
“What do you desire?” he asked. “That I may catch the golden apple!”
“It is all the same as if you had it now,” said the Iron Man; “but you shall have a red suit of armour for the occasion, and ride there upon a proud fox-coloured horse.”
When the appointed day came, the youth ranged himself along with the other knights, and was not recognised by any one. Presently the Princess stepped forward and threw up the golden apple, which nobody could catch but the Red Knight, who coursed away as soon as he obtained it. The second day the Iron Man dressed the youth as a White Knight, and gave him a grey horse; and again he caught the apple, and he alone. The King was angry when the Knight ran away with the prize, and said, “That is not right; he must appear before me and declare his name.” Then he ordered, if the Knight who had caught the apple did not return the next day, some one should pursue him; and, if he would not return willingly, cut him to pieces. The third day the Prince received from the Iron Man a black coat of armour and a black steed, and caught again the apple when it was thrown. When he rode away the King’s people pursued him, and one came so near him that he wounded the Black Knight with the point of his sword. Still he escaped them; but his horse jumped so violently that the helmet fell off the Knight’s head, and his golden hair was seen. The knights there upon rode back and told the King.
The day following these sports the Princess inquired of the Gardener after his boy. “He is working in the garden,” he replied; “the wonderful fellow has also been to the festival, and yesterday evening he returned home and gave my children three golden apples which he won there.” When the King knew of this, he caused the Youth to be brought before him, and he appeared as usual with his cap on his head. But the Princess went up to him and took it off; and then his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, and he appeared so handsome that every one was astonished. “Are you the knight who appeared each day at the festival, and always in a different colour, and won the three golden apples?” asked the King. “Yes!” he replied, “and these are the apples;” and, so saying, he took them out of his pocket and handed them to the King. “If you desire any other proof,” he continued, “I will show you the wound which your people gave me as I rode away; but I am also the knight who won the victory for you over your enemy.”
“If you can do such deeds,” said the King, “you are no gardener’s boy; tell me, who is your father?”
“My father is a mighty King, and of gold I have not only my desire, but more even than can be imagined,” said the young Prince.
“I own,” said the King, “that I am indebted to you; can I do anything to show it?”
“Yes, if you give me your daughter to wife!” replied the Youth. The Princess thereupon laughed, and said, “He makes no roundabout tale; but I saw long ago that he was no gardener’s boy from his golden hair;” and with these words she went and kissed him.
By-and-by the wedding was celebrated, and to it came the Prince’s father and mother, who had long ago given up their son for dead, and lost all hope of seeing him again.
While they sat at the bridal feast, all at once music was heard, and, the doors opening, a proud King entered, attended by a long train. He went up to the young Prince, and embraced him, and said, “I am the Iron Man, whom you saved from his wild nature; all the treasures which belong to me are henceforth your property!”