Atondido Stories
Golden Castle and ask him. But wait! I can’t let you go away
hungry. Hi, mother, bring out the dumplings!”
Yezibaba brought the dumplings on a large silver dish and
put them on the table.
“Eat!” shouted her son.
The prince saw they were silver dumplings, so he said he
wasn’t hungry just then, but he’d like to take some with him for
the journey.
“Take as many as you want,” shouted the ogre. “And give my
greetings to my brother and my aunt.”
So the prince took some silver dumplings, made suitable thanks,
and departed.
He journeyed on from the Silver Castle three days and three
nights, through dense forests and over rough mountains, not
knowing where he was nor which way to turn. At last all worn
out he threw himself down in the shade of a beech tree to rest.
As the sword clanked on the ground, its silver voice rang out
and a flock of thirty-six ravens circled over his head.
“Caw! Caw!” they croaked. Then, frightened by the sound of
the sword, they flew away.
“Praise God!” cried the prince. “The Golden Castle can’t be
far!”
He jumped up and started eagerly off in the direction the ra-
vens had taken. As he left a valley and climbed a little hill he saw
before him a beautiful wide meadow in the midst of which stood
the Golden Castle shining like the sun. Before the gate of the cas-
tle stood a bent old Yezibaba leaning on a golden staff.
“Yi, yi, my boy,” she cried to the prince, “how did you get
here? Why, not even a little bird or a tiny butterfly comes here,
much less a human being! You’d better escape if life is dear to
you, or my son, when he comes home, will eat you!”
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