Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/270

 244 thy wages." He stayed with him, and the shepherd clothed him, maintained him, and loved him very much; and the Lord blessed the shepherd for his sake. He entrusted to him all he had.

It happened once when the king was sitting in his house, together with his princes and servants, that there gathered upon his house a huge army of ravens, so that the whole house was covered with them. They divided themselves into two bands on the two sides of the palace, and between the two bands there were three ravens, two males and a female between them. These three sat there and would not stir from their place, while two other ravens were going from one band to the other as if they were messengers. Moreover, nobody was able to drive them away, neither by (the shooting of) arrows, nor by throwing stones, nor by any other means. The king and princes and all the onlookers were amazed; for they had neither heard of, nor seen, anything like this before. The king then sent messengers to all the provinces of his kingdom, in order to gather together every wise man, every man of understanding, every counsellor, every enchanter and wizard to come at an appointed time. All of them accordingly assembled and came before the king. The king said: "Whoever will be able to interpret this thing to the king, to him will be given the king's daughter for wife and half of his kingdom, during the king's lifetime, and the whole after his death." Some of them came to the king, and said: "My lord, the king, this thing points to famine and want." Others again interpreted it to mean, that he would beget sons and bury them. Each one of them interpreted it to be, in any case, a sign of woe. But their words did not enter the heart of the king, so that he said: "Not one of them is able to speak such things as will enter my ears, for they all speak lies." The king then sat on the floor in bitterness and sorrow, and he was grieved to the heart, so that he desired neither to eat nor drink. They all came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. When the lad saw the intense grief of the king, and that he had vowed to confer such great honour upon the man who would be able to interpret the mystery, he rose up as a wise and courageous man and went up to the garden of the king's palace, to the door of his bed-chamber, and wished to enter therein to speak to the king. When the gate-keepers saw him, that his clothes were torn, and his hair dishevelled, just as he was in the field with his flock, although he was beautiful in stature and appearance, they said to him: "What is thy business with the king?" "I desire to speak to the king, and to tell him what he wishes." The gate-keepers ran and told the king, and said: "Our lord, the king, there is a certain lad standing at the door of the chamber, who wishes to speak to thee; he says, he will tell thee whatever thou hast hidden in thine heart." The king said: "Let him come in." The lad, then entering before the king, made obeisance to him, and said: "Long live the king! behold I am a young man in years, while all thy wise men are old; but God has given me knowledge and understanding to tell the king what he has buried in his heart; but it is not from me, but from God, who has revealed his secret to his servant. Now, my lord, O king, thou hast promised to give thy daughter and one half of thy kingdom to him who shall be able to tell thee,