In the midst of wild mountains lay a small straw hut, where lived an old man with his three sons. Every day the father went out to look for fuel, and once he met in the wood an aged widow in white clothes, who was seated on a square stone playing chess. As the old man was a keen player himself, he stopped to watch the game. ‘Will you play with me?’ asked the widow. ‘Certainly,’ said the old man, and when the widow asked for what stakes they should play he suggested playing for his wood. But the old woman said: ‘No, we can’t play for wood, because I don’t own any. How many children have you, though?’ When she heard that the old man had three sons she was very pleased and said: ‘That is perfect. I have three daughters. If you win, I will send them as brides for your three sons; but if I win, you must send me your sons as sons-in-law.’
The old man stroked his beard for a while, but finally gave his assent. He lost each of the games they played, and when the widow got up to leave, she said, pointing into a dark valley: ‘There is my house. Tomorrow send me your eldest son, three days later the second, and again after three days, the youngest.’ She then departed, and the old man went home without collecting any more wood, to tell his sons what had happened. How pleased they were when they heard it!
The next day he sent the eldest son. Three days later, the second, and on the sixth day he sent the youngest.
As the third son was wandering along, he met an old hermit with a white beard who asked him where he was going. ‘I am going to be the son-in-law of the widow in the valley. My two brothers are there already,’ said the youngest son. The hermit sighed and said: ‘This widow is an old witch. She has only one daughter with whom she has decoyed many young men and killed them. Your elder brother was eaten by the lion that waits by the outer gate, and your second brother by the tiger that waits by the inner door. You have had the good luck to meet me,’ and taking an iron pearl from his breast, he continued: ‘Throw this to the lion by the outer gate.’ Then he gave him an iron rod, saying: Give this to the tiger by the inner gate. Then cut off a stick from the cherry tree by the stream, and when you reach the third door, push the door open with it, and you can enter safely.’
The young man took the pearl and the rod, went into the cherry wood to cut off a branch, and after thanking the hermit, entered the valley. Soon he came upon a large high house, and at the outer door he threw the iron pearl to the lion, who began to play with it. At the second door he threw the iron rod to the tiger, who also began to play. The third door was fast shut, but he gave it a push with his cherry stick, and ‘bum,’ a thousand-pound block of iron fell down and the door opened. If he had opened it with his hand he would certainly have been crushed.
The witch was seated sewing in her room when she heard a noise at the door. She looked out and saw a young man come in, who she knew must be the third son of the old man. She wondered how he had passed safely through all three doors, but as he entered she pretended to be very pleased, and said: ‘You have arrived just at the right time. I have got a bushel of linseed that I want you to sow in the field before it rains. When you come back we will have the wedding.’ The young man looked out, and sure enough the sky was full of dark clouds, which looked like rain. He took the bushel of linseed and went out into the field; but the ground was so covered with weeds that he said to himself: ‘How can one sow this field without a bullock and a plough?’ He tried to pull up a few weeds, but then lay down and went to sleep. When he woke up towards evening he saw that a herd of swine had turned up the soil and pulled up all the weeds; so he sowed the linseed, thanked the swine for their help, and went back to the old woman.
When she saw him coming, she asked: ‘Have you finished the sowing?’ ‘Yes,’ said the young man. But the widow frowned. ‘You don’t trouble to look at the sky,’ she grumbled. ‘How could you sow the linseed? All the clouds are gone, the moon is shining brightly and no rain will fall, and the seeds won’t sprout. You must collect them all again and not one must be missing. When you come back we will have the wedding.’ The youngest son bit his lip, took the empty measure, and went out into the field to search for the seeds. Long he searched, little he found, though his back ached from bending. As he was sadly regarding the moon he looked round and saw thousands and thousands of ants appear, each of which dropped a seed into the measure. In no time it was full and the son returned to the widow after thanking the ants. When she saw him she asked: ‘Have you got the seeds?’ ‘Yes,’ said the son. ‘Good,’ she nodded. ‘I am going to sleep now. To-morrow I have a new task for you.’
Next morning the old witch told him: ‘I am going to hide. If you can find me, we will have the wedding.’ And no sooner had she spoken than she was gone. The son searched high and low but could find no trace of her. While he was looking he heard a voice call out from the top of the house: ‘My mother has hidden in the garden. She has turned herself into a half-red, half-green peach that is hanging on a tree against the wall. The green part is her back, the red her cheek. Bite her in the cheek and she will turn back again.’ The son looked up and saw a maiden in a sea-green dress, with rose-pink cheeks like the half-opened flower of a lotus. He knew she must be the witch’s daughter, and, blushing with confusion, he went quickly into the garden. Sure enough, there on the wall was a Deach tree, and hanging on it was a half-green, half-red peach. He plucked it, bit the red side, and flung it on to a stone, whereupon the old woman stood before him, with a stream of blood running down her cheek: ‘Son-in-law! Son-in-law! you nearly crushed me to death,’ she said. But the son answered: ‘How could I know you had turned into a peach?’ The old woman turned to go, saying as she was leaving: ‘Bring me a bed of white jade from the palace of the Dragon King, and we will have the wedding.’
While he was standing in the garden with a drooping head, the daughter came to him and asked what was on his mind. ‘Your mother told me to bring her a bed of white jade from the palace of the Dragon King,’ he said. ‘But no mortal can pass through the sea to his kingdom.’ But the daughter consoled him: ‘That is quite simple. I have got a golden fork. If you draw a line across the sea with this, a way will form and you can go wherever you want.’ The young man took the fork, went to the seashore and drew a line; and in a flash a way was formed in the waves that led straight to the palace of the Dragon King. When he arrived he saw the King and told him that he had come to borrow a bed of white jade. ‘Certainly,’ the King said. ‘In the back palace there are many beds of white jade, just choose one of them.’ The young man was very pleased and, having selected a bed of white jade, he returned to the widow.
When she saw that he had brought back the bed, she said to him: ‘In the west, on the mountain of the Monkey King, there is a big drum. Bring it back and we will beat it at the wedding.’ Just as the son was going away, the daughter appeared and asked: ‘What task has mother given you now?’ ‘I must steal the big drum from the mountain of the Monkey King,’ he said. ‘I have heard,’ the daughter told him, ‘that the Monkey King has gone in the Western Heaven and not yet returned. Below the mountain there is a lake of mud. If you roll about in the mud like the Monkey King, the little apes will think you are their ancestor and will take you to their homes. I will give you a needle, some lime, and some bean-oil. These you must take with you, and when danger threatens, throw first the needle, then the lime, and lastly the oil behind you.’
The son took the three things, went to the lake of mud below the mountain, and rolled about until his whole body except his eyes were caked with mud. He went quickly up the hill, and all the little apes came down from the trees and cried: ‘Grandfather, you have arrived!’ Then they gathered round him and bore him off in a big chest. The son clapped his hands and said: ‘Your grandfather has come a long way and is very hungry. Quickly, go into the peach orchard and bring me some peaches.’ Off they ran, as quickly as they could, into the peach orchard with baskets of all sizes. But the young man jumped down from the chest, seized the big drum that he saw hanging in a shelter, and ran away.
He had not gotten far from the hill of the monkeys when he heard them pursuing him, screaming: ‘Big black thief! You pretend to be our grandfather and steal our big drum! Wait till we catch you!’ The son quickly took the needle out of his pocket and threw it behind him, where it turned into a needle mountain. The little apes pricked their skin and scratched their eyes on it, but they followed him farther. Then he took out the lime and threw it behind him, where it turned into a mountain of lime. The little apes with their torn skin and bleeding eyes stuck to the lime and suffered such terrible tortures that some died, but still the others followed him farther. Then he threw behind him the bottle of bean-oil, out of which the oil poured and turned into a slippery mountain. Whenever the little apes wanted to climb up they slipped down again, and the son escaped and returned to the old woman before the sun had set.
When the widow saw he had brought the big drum, she said to him: ‘It is still early in the day. Go into the garden and cut down two hair-bamboo sticks, so that we can make a mosquito frame for you.’ But the son thought to himself: ‘What sorcery is there in the garden?’ He plucked up his courage and asked the daughter. ‘The gardener is a hairy man,’ she said. ‘He likes to flay men and eat their fingers. If you must cut down the bamboos, it is certainly very dangerous.’ She took out a coat of cocoanut and put it on his shoulders, placed ten small bamboo reeds on his fingers and gave him a two-edged hatchet. ‘Be quick,’ she said, ‘and nothing can happen to you.’ The son hurried into the garden, found the bamboo, and cut it down, but a dark hairy man came out of the thicket, seized the cocoanut coat with one hand and pulled off the bamboo reeds with the other. Thinking the coat was the skin, and the bamboo were the fingers, he began to eat them, and in the meantime the son ran away.
When the old woman saw him coming, she asked: ‘Have you brought the bamboo?’ ‘Yes,’ said the son. ‘Good,’ said the widow, ‘but you have not eaten anything all day. Here are some noodles of wheaten flour you can have.’ The son was really very hungry, and going into the kitchen, he took the cover off the pot. He seized the delicious white noodles in his hands and began to eat them, but soon after he felt pains, terrible pains. The door opened and in came a servant-girl with a lamp, who said: ‘My mistress asked you to join her.’ He went up to the beautiful maiden, who told the servant to hang the young man on a beam, pull off his shoes, and beat his body with them. After a few blows, ten small snakes fell out of his mouth and crawled about on the floor. The maiden untied the young man and said: ‘My mother always wants to harm you. She gave you snakes instead of noodles to eat. Now ask her to have the wedding quickly.’
The next evening, the wedding really took place. In front of the hall the drum of the Monkey King was beaten, in the room stood the bed of white jade from the palace of the Dragon King, and a beautiful mosquito net had been made with the bamboo; everything was very fine and beautiful. But when they went to bed, there was a broad river flowing down the bed between him and the maiden. His wife said: ‘This is another trick of my mother’s.’ And she looked everywhere until under the dressing-table she found a pitcher of water with a bit of wood floating in it. She took out the wood, threw the water away, and the river vanished at once. But she said to her husband: ‘We must flee quickly; my mother will certainly try to do us more harm,’ and taking a torn umbrella and a cock, she gave them both to her husband, and they fled away in the middle of the night.
The moon was half-full and lit up the road in the hills. They had gone but a few miles, when suddenly they heard a whirring sound over their heads. The wife took the umbrella and said: ‘My mother has sent a flying knife after us. If the knife sees blood it falls, so throw out the cock and the knife will kill it.’ He did as he was told and the knife vanished at once. A little later, the wife said: ‘The knife will certainly return. Chicken blood is sweet, human blood is salt. My mother will know that she did not kill us last time. What are we to do?’ The son listened carefully, and he soon heard again the whirring of the flying knife. Then he began to cry and said: ‘I will die.’ But the maiden refused: ‘No, I must die, because I can come to life again. After my death you must carry my body home, and buy a large lotus pail to put it in. In seven times seven days I will come to life again.’ When she had finished speaking, she stepped out and the noise of the knife ceased. The young man saw his bride lying on the ground, her eyes closed, and her face white as a pear-blossom, with the knife sticking in her heart and blood pouring out. He wept bitterly and carried her to his home.
It was not yet light in the east when he arrived. He told his father all that had happened, and the father began to weep when he heard how his elder sons had been killed by the witch. But the son bought a pail, covered up the maiden’s body, and watched.
After forty-eight days, he heard loud groans coming from the pail, as if someone was in great pain. Then he thought: ‘If I don’t let her out now, but wait another day, she will perhaps die again,’ So he took the lid off the pail. The maiden slowly lifted up her head, and said softly: ‘Why did you uncover me a day too soon? Obviously fate had not intended us for each other.’ Then her head slowly sank down and her eyes closed fast. She was dead for ever.