Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 2,2): Zeus god of the dark sky (thunder and lightning): Appendixes and index (Cambridge, 1925)

Dioskouroi and Helene in Folk-Tales 1009

golden basons made, and the Dancing Water leaped from one to the other. Again
the aunts told the nurse, and again the nurse visited the girl and said that now
she wanted the Singing Apple. The same brother rode off to get it. After a time
he met the first hermit, who sent him to an older one, <who sent him to an older
one still >. He said : ' Climb the mountain ; beware of the giants, the door, and
the lions ; then you will find a little door and a pair of shears in it; if the shears
are open, enter; if closed, do not risk it.' The lad did so, and found everything
favourable. When he saw the shears open, he went into a room and saw a won-
derful tree, on the top of which was an apple. He climbed up and tried to pick
the apple, but the top of the tree swayed now this way, now that. He waited
until it was still a moment, seized the branch, and picked the apple. He got away
in safety and, as he rode home, the apple kept making a sound. Once more the
aunts told the nurse, and once more the nurse visited the girl and said that, should
she set eyes on the Speaking Bird, there would be nothing left for her to see. The
same brother undertook the quest. As before, he met the first hermit, who sent
him to the second, who sent him to the third, who said : ' Climb the mountain and
enter the palace. You will find many statues. Then you will come to a garden,
in the midst of which is a fountain, and on the bason is the Speaking Bird. If it
should say anything to you, do not answer. Pick a feather from the bird's wing,
dip it into a jar that you will find there, and anoint all the statues. Keep your
eyes open, and all will go well.' The lad soon found the garden and the bird.
But, when the bird exclaimed 'Your mother has been sent to the tread-mill,'
' My mother in the tread-mill?' he cried, and straightway became a statue like
all the rest. In the meantime his sister at home looked at her ring and saw that
it had changed its colour to blue. So she sent the second brother after the first.
Everything happened to him in the same way. He too met the hermits, found
the palace, saw the garden with the statues, and heard the Speaking Bird. And,
when the bird said 'What has become of your brother? Your mother has been
sent to the tread-mill,' he too cried out 'Alas, my mother in the tread-mill !' and
became a statue. The sister now looked at her ring again, and it was black.
Thereupon she dressed herself like a page and set out. She met the hermits and
received their instructions. The third ended by saying : ' Beware, for, if you
answer when the bird speaks, you will lose your life.' When she reached the
garden, the bird exclaimed : 'Ah ! you here, too? Now you will meet the same
fate as your brothers. Do you see them ? One, two, and you make three. Your
father is at the war. Your mother is in the tread-mill. Your aunts are rejoicing.'
She made no answer, but caught it, pulled a feather from its wing, dip'ped it into
the jar, and anointed her brothers' nostrils. The brothers at once came to life
again. Then she did the same to all the other statues, the lions, and the giants :
all were restored to life. After that she departed with her brothers; and all the
noblemen, princes, barons, and kings' sons rejoiced greatly. When they had
recovered their life, the palace disappeared; and so did the hermits, for they were
the three fairies. On reaching the city they had a gold chain made for the bird ;
and, the next time that the aunts looked out, they saw in the window of the palace
opposite the Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird. ' Well,'
said they, 'the real trouble is coming now!' At length the king returned from
the war and noticed the palace opposite equipped more magnificently than his
own. WThen he saw the brothers with apples in their hands and the sister with
a star on her brow, he cried : ' Gracious ! If I did not know that my wife had
given birth to three puppies, I should say that those were my children.' Another
day, as he stood by the window and enjoyed the Dancing Water and the Singing

C. II. 64