Princess Dangober
Once upon a time, there lived a king named Dangober. He had a golden-haired daughter, so beautiful that suitors from all over the world came to woo her. But she remained indifferent to their advances, and many of them, losing hope of winning her favor, took their own lives.One of the suitors turned out to be a sorcerer. He transformed the princess into a scorpion and carried her off to his castle, which hung on golden chains between the sky and the sea. This castle was located a hundred miles from the North Pole, its walls were lined with silver six-franc coins, and its corners were adorned with pure gold. The approaches to the castle were vigilantly guarded.
King Dangober, who dearly loved his daughter and was deeply grieved by her disappearance, ordered a proclamation to be made everywhere: whoever could free the princess would marry her and inherit the royal crown.
By his decree, the most skilled carpenters in the land built a ship to carry the brave souls who would attempt to rescue the princess. Many people from different places and walks of life came forward: sailors and plowmen, princes, coal miners, a general, and even a ragpicker.
At the moment when the ship was setting sail, the king said to those on board:
"The castle has four doors, and you must pass through all four to see the princess, who has been turned into a scorpion. The first door is made of iron and is guarded by a winged serpent, the second by a roaring lion, the third by a seven-headed monster, and the fourth is watched day and night by a giant. You now see for yourselves that you have taken on a difficult task, and if you wish to complete it successfully, do not act recklessly."
The ship set sail, carrying the adventurers with it. They were very merry on the journey, for the ship was well-stocked with everything they needed, including three iron boats with oars made of pure silver—these boats were to be used to approach the castle when the time came to rescue the princess.
The weather was fine, and a favorable wind blew. The travelers sailed and sailed, but nowhere did they see the castle hanging in the air. Finally reaching the North Pole, the captain went ashore and learned from the locals that they had gone too far. The ship turned around and continued its search.
Three days passed, and the coal miner, who, along with the others, had been keeping a keen eye out, called the captain.
"Captain," he said, "I'm not entirely sure, but what is that shining so brightly in the distance that it hurts to look at? Do you think it's the castle we're looking for, or just a glowing cloud?"
The sailors climbed up to the yards, and the captain took out a telescope and saw the castle, hanging on golden chains between the sky and the sea. The ship headed toward the castle and, an hour later, dropped anchor within cannon-shot distance. One of the iron boats with silver oars was lowered, and several men boarded it and rowed under the gleaming structure, at first not noticing any iron door. Finally, the coal miner spotted it and was the first to climb up to try his luck.
He saw the winged serpent, which, like a swift gull, circled above the castle. The adventurers tried throwing fish and meat at it, hoping to kill it while it was distracted by the food. But the serpent did not even touch the offerings and remained steadfastly guarding the door.
The next day, they placed a barrel of vodka with pieces of bread floating in it before the serpent, and it tasted them. On the following day, they brought a second barrel. For two days, the winged serpent drank to its fill, but when drunk, it became even fiercer and would likely have devoured all the sailors had they not protected themselves with an iron grate. Finally, the serpent fell asleep, and the coal miner, with the help of two sailors, killed it with a spear.
The first door was now free.
The second door was guarded by a roaring lion, with flames shooting from its nostrils. They began throwing pieces of meat soaked in wine at it, and it greedily swallowed them. But the more it ate, the fiercer and more terrifying it became, so that on the first day, the adventurers made no progress in approaching it. The next day, the captain, two sailors, a prince, and the ragpicker boarded the boat. They brought the lion a bull and a ram soaked in liqueur. It swallowed everything and finally fell asleep. Using the iron grate as a shield, the brave men seriously wounded the lion but could not finish it off, and it, enraged and roaring in pain, remained at the door for five days. Through its roars, the singing of a siren could be heard from the castle.
On the fifth day, the captain managed to kill the lion with a spear thrust.
Then they approached the third door. It was guarded by a seven-headed monster. The creature hid deep within a dark cave, but when it emerged into the light, its terrifying appearance struck such fear into everyone that they all fled in panic.
Finally, the adventurers gathered their courage and, shielding themselves with the iron grate, broke through the door. The monster roared terribly, but one of the sailors struck it in the chest, and the coal miner cut off one of its heads with an axe.
That day, the monster lost three heads and retreated deep into its cave. Since the brave men could not see it in the darkness, they had to return to the ship.
The next day, they approached the castle again, and as soon as the beast appeared, the captain cut off two more heads, one after the other.
"Well," said the coal miner, "now it only has two heads left! I'll cut them off, since I was the one who cut off the first head."
"No," objected the captain, "I should be the one to finish it off."
He cut off another head and ordered his companions to remove the grate and release the monster, which now had only one head; he wanted to kill it without any help. But as the captain approached, the monster grabbed him across the torso and bit him in half. Using the iron grate as a shield, the adventurers attacked the beast again, and finally, its last head fell. After that, they returned to the ship, deeply saddened by the loss of their captain.
Only the fourth door remained, guarded by a giant. The ragpicker said to his companions:
"Follow my lead and don't interfere; I'll help you finish off the giant."
Following the ragpicker's advice, his companions placed him in a sack of rags and threw it at the feet of the giant guarding the door. The giant, thinking the sack contained dirty laundry, paid no attention to it and began defending himself against the attackers. The adventurers fared poorly, as the fierce guardian scattered them all. But when he tried to wrest the iron grate, which served as their shield, from their hands, the ragpicker cut a hole in the sack with a knife and shot the giant with a pistol, killing him.
Then the ragpicker quickly jumped out of the sack, opened the fourth door, and, passing through a long series of chambers, entered a room where a huge scorpion lay on a table. As soon as the ragpicker touched it with his hand, the scorpion transformed into a beautiful maiden with golden hair that reached her feet.
The siren was there as well, singing in such a pleasant voice that everyone listened in admiration. The princess, along with the siren, boarded the boat with her rescuers and climbed aboard the ship. The captain's assistant took command, and the castle, hanging between the sky and the sea, was tied to the stern with thick ropes, and the ship sailed back to the North Pole, where King Dangober eagerly awaited the outcome of the dangerous venture. Seeing that the spell had been lifted from his daughter, he was overjoyed, and when he was told how everything had happened, he said to the princess:
"The ragpicker has earned your hand. Of course, I would have preferred a prince as my son-in-law, but in fairness, I must keep my word."
The ragpicker was pleased and honored to become the king's son-in-law, and he also won the princess's heart, who was now inseparable from the siren.
A grand wedding was held, and all the villagers and those who had made the journey on the ship were invited.
The king passed his crown and all his possessions to the ragpicker. However, nothing in the new king's castle was better than the siren. I believe she still lives and sings there to this day.
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