FAIRY TALES (text) - 73. THE CANE COMES OUT OF THE WELL

THE CANE COMES OUT OF THE WELL

Once upon a time there was an Albanian man called Gjoke Kodheli. He strangled all the barbers who shaved him. One day he called a young boy to go and shave him the next day. The boy turned home and he didn’t eat a thing. The mother saw him sad like never before and asked him about what had happened. He tried to not tell her anything, but later he said he was going to shave Gjoke Kodheli.

– Go to sleep and don’t worry, I’ll fix this. – said his mother.

The boy went to sleep and the next morning he woke up early. The mother had made two buns and a pancake, she gave those to her son and said:

– When you’ll be shaving him, tell: ‘‘Oh! My mother has given me two buns and I’ve forgotten them inside the pocket, take one and eat it’’, so he won’t do anything to you.

The boy took the buns and went to Gjoke Kodheli. When he was shaving Gjoke, he said:

– Oh! My mother has given me two buns and I’ve forgotten them inside the pocket, take one and eat it.

Gjoke took the bun and ate it, and after he finished with it he told the boy:

– I will forgive you, but promise me you won’t tell anybody about what you saw.

The boy swore he wouldn’t tell a word and went away. But he couldn’t keep the secret and he was passing by a well when he put his head inside it and cried out loud:

– Oh what I’ve seen, Gjoke Kodheli has horns on his head!

But there was a cane in the well and after a little time it grew so much that a shepherd snapped it and made a fife with it. When the shepherd began to play the fife, it began to sing:

– Tyryly! Tyryly! Oh what I’ve seen, Gjoke Kodheli has horns on his head!

The shepherd was surprised of that and began to play the fife all around the city and everyone knew about Gjoke Kodheli and his horns.

When Gjoke Kodheli heard that everyone knew, he called the boy and said:

– You didn’t keep the secret, how did you go and tell everyone in the city about this!

The boy answered terrified:

– It’s not like that my king, it’s not the truth! I couldn’t keep it inside and went to scream inside a dry well, but there had been a cane that a shepherd had snapped and has made a fife with it, and is the fife that says those words!

Then Gjoke Kodheli forgave the boy and that day on he didn’t kill the barbers that shaved him.

Once upon a time there were two traders who were comrades loved each-other so much that decided that if their wives would gave birth to a boy and a girl, they would marry children with each-other.
After a long time the wife of one of the traders gave birth to a girl and the other to a boy. They grew up they sent the children to the city to learn at school. Both son and the girl knew that their parents had decided to marry them with each-other. It was not too long when the boy left school and sat at the cafes to write poems. The girl knew that the boy had left school and was being naughty and sent words to his father and said: – I do not want that guy anymore because he has turned aside. 

The boy became a very good writer, he learned to play the violin, returned home to his father and said: – I need you to give me some money.

The father gave the money to the boy and he turned again to the city where the girl lived. He went to the jeweler and bought a pair of earrings and a golden bracelet. Then he went to a café near the girls’ school and played the violin every day, while he hung the earrings and bracelet at the door of the café. One day the girl’s maid passed in front of the cafe and when she looked the earrings and the bracelet and said to the: – It’s a guy in the cafe that plays violin very well and also has a pair of earrings and a bracelet that get you dizzy, if you want to buy them, I’ll go and ask how much do they cost. The maid went to ask him for the earrings and the bracelet and the boy replied: -I want to come only once at home and play the violin for the mistress, nothing else. 

The girl asked him to come and the maid went to tell him the words of the mistress. The boy had changed so much that the girl did not know him. He played violin so good that the lady and maid fell asleep. The boy went to take the shirt of the girl, then he left the earrings and the bracelet on her chest and left. The girl finished school and turned back to her home because it was the time for her to get married and the father had engaged her with another man. When the boy heard about that, he ran to her house and saw that the room was full of guests. At that time it was the custom that all the wedding guests should tell a fairy tale. Once all finished telling a story it was the boy’s turn but the girl’s father didn’t want him to speak, and after the guests persuaded him, he allowed the boy to talk and the boy started: 

– Once upon a time there was once a boy and one day went out for hunting. When he was hunting he shot a deer. Once he took the skin, he put the meat inside an epistle and left it somewhere to take it back later. After the boy left, a man found the meat and took it with him at home. Now I want to ask you: who deserves the meat, he who killed the deer or he who found the meat? 

– He who killed the deer – said all the guests.

Then the boy said: – Well that is the same situation with this girl who is getting married, she was engaged with me but then she changed her mind. So I went home and took her shirt, so I killed the deer and took the skin. Now tell me who deserves this girl to be his wife, me or the other one?
They all said that the boy deserved the girl and after the long discussion, it was the boy who married the girl.