When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew (4 page)

“No one has come to my hut in more than a hundred years,” she said. “What brings you here?”

“I am searching for Bonnet Rouge,” Ti-Jean told her.

“Bonnet Rouge is my brother,” the old woman exclaimed.

“If Bonnet Rouge is your brother, surely you will be able to help me find him,” Ti-Jean said.

“I fear I will not,” the old woman answered. “I am the youngest in the family. He does not come to see me.”

“Is there nothing you can tell me?” Ti-Jean cried.

“There is nothing I can tell you, but we have a sister,” said the old woman. “She is two hundred years older than I am. She lives some distance beyond here. He may have visited her.”

“Show me how to get to her, I beg you.”

“I will show you,” the old woman said. “But I will show you in the morning. For tonight I will give you a place to rest and food to eat before you go on.”

Ti-Jean went into the old woman's hut. He ate well and he slept. In the morning, she gave him a pair of boots made of steel.

“Put these boots on and walk to the southwest. They will carry you to my sister,” she told him. “But as soon as you arrive at her hut, you must take the boots off. You must say to them, ‘Boots, go on your way,' so they will return to me.”

Ti-Jean thanked the old woman. He put on the boots and set off. He walked for several more days.

He was almost ready to give up when he came upon another hut. The boots stopped in front of the door.

Before he knocked, he remembered what the first old woman had told him. He took the boots off his feet.

“Boots, go on your way,” he ordered, and he watched them march away.

Just as the first old woman had said, an even older woman lived here.

“Why have you come? What are you seeking?” she asked.

“Your sister told me you would know how to find Bonnet Rouge,” Ti-Jean answered.

“Bonnet Rouge! I have not seen him for three hundred years.”

“I must find him or I will lose my life,” Ti-Jean insisted.

“I will do what I can to help you. Listen! I have another sister. She is one hundred years older than Bonnet Rouge. She knows everything about our family.”

“Show me how to get to her, I beg you,” Ti-Jean cried.

“I will. But I will show you in the morning. For tonight you must let me give you a place to rest and food to eat.”

Ti-Jean went into the second old woman's hut. He ate well and he slept. In the morning, she, too, brought him a pair of boots, but these boots were made of silver.

“The boots will take you to my older sister,” she told him. “Remember, though, as soon as you arrive, you must take the boots off. You must say to them, ‘Boots, go on your way,' so that they may return to me.”

Ti-Jean thanked the second old woman. He promised he would send the boots back to her and he set off.

The boots of silver traveled very quickly. In no time at all he was standing in front of a hut so old that it was covered with moss.

He went to knock, but then he remembered he must take off the boots.

“Boots, go on your way,” he said, and they marched back.

Now he met a woman who was so old she was almost bent double.

“You must be looking for someone of much importance to you,” she said. “It is six hundred years since anyone came by here.”

“I am looking for Bonnet Rouge. I have met your two sisters. They have told me you can help me find him.”

“Bonnet Rouge!” said the old woman. “You do not wish to see Bonnet Rouge. He brings only trouble to all he meets.”

“But if I do not meet him, the worst will come to me. If I do not meet him, I will lose my life,” Ti-Jean cried out. He told the third old woman all that had happened.

“You are right, you must find him,” she agreed. “I will help you but come in, rest, and let me give you food and drink, for you have much toil and misery ahead.”

Ti-Jean went into the old woman's hut. He stayed for three nights and two days. Before dawn on the third day, the old woman came to him carrying a golden ball.

“The ball will guide you,” she told him. “It will lead you to a lake. If you wait by the lake, you will see three pigeons. They will circle the lake three times. Each one will drop a feather. They are my brother's daughters. Every day they take the form of pigeons so that they may fly to the lake and bathe. The feathers are their clothes. The one who looks the oldest and dirtiest is the one who is the youngest and prettiest. You must find her feather and keep it. You must tell her you will give it to her only if she will help you.”

Ti-Jean thanked the old woman. The golden ball began to roll ahead of him. All he had to do was follow.

At last, it stopped by a lake. Ti-Jean hid among the reeds.

Quite soon he saw three pigeons flying. They circled the lake three times. They each dropped a feather and then dived down to bathe.

Ti-Jean could see well that one of the pigeons looked older and dirtier and less pleasing than the other two. He went to her feather and picked it up.

In about an hour, the pigeons began to search for their feathers. The two oldest found theirs and flew away. The youngest was left alone.

“Where are my clothes? Oh, where are my clothes?” she cried.

“I have them,” said Ti-Jean, stepping out to where she could see him.

“Then you must give them back.”

“I will do so gladly, but you must promise you will take me to your father.”

“I cannot, for he will be so angry,” she replied.

“If you cannot take me to your father, then I am sorry.”

“But I must have my clothes. I must.”

She argued and she argued. When she saw Ti-Jean would not give in, she said, “I will tell you what to do but you must understand that we cannot go to meet my father together. If he knows that I have brought you, he will kill us both.”

“I understand,” said Ti-Jean.

“Then follow me until we are almost at the castle. I will go in the front door but you must go to the side. You must knock three times. My mother will answer. Tell her you have a message for my father and she will let you in.”

This was enough for Ti-Jean. He gave her back her feather.

As she took it, he saw she was a princess — the most beautiful in all the world.

“I hope I will see you again,” he said.

“You will,” said the princess, “because again you will need my help. Your troubles are only just beginning. My father is going to give you some tasks. There are two things you must remember. First, you must always make him believe the tasks are easy for you. Second, if he should give you a choice you must always choose the object that is the oldest and dirtiest.”

“I will remember,” said Ti-Jean.

They began to walk toward the castle. Ti-Jean went to the side door. He knocked three times. He said he had come with a message. The princess's mother let him in.

He had hardly stepped inside when he saw Bonnet Rouge coming toward him carrying an ax.

“You have arrived just in time. I was about to set out to take your life,” said Bonnet Rouge.

He did not seem glad to see Ti-Jean. He did not welcome him in any way.

“I will give you a bed of nails to sleep on,” he announced.

Ti-Jean was shocked, but he remembered what the princess had told him.

“A bed of nails will be perfect for me,” he said.

Of course, the bed was not perfect. It was most uncomfortable. Still, in the morning when Bonnet Rouge asked him how he had slept, Ti-Jean said he had slept very well.

“That is good,” said Bonnet Rouge, “for today I will set you to work. Behind the barn there is a field that has not yet been prepared for planting. You must cut down the trees, till the soil and sow the seed, before the setting of the sun.”

He held out two axes. One was new and shining, the other old and rusted.

Ti-Jean did not hesitate.

“The old one will be the best for me,” he declared.

He went out to the field and set to work, but by noon he had cut down no more than six trees. The task appeared so hopeless that he believed he might as well give up.

He stretched out on the earth there.

I did not sleep in the night, he thought. I will sleep now and accept whatever Bonnet Rouge will do to me.

He had not been sleeping long when the princess came to him.

“Why are you sleeping when the job is not finished?” she asked.

“The job is too much for me. I cannot accomplish even a hundredth of it,” Ti-Jean said.

“You can do it with my help.” The princess went to the ax and touched it.

“Ax, cut down the trees,” she ordered.

The ax began to cut the trees at once. In no time they had all been felled and piled around the edges of the field.

“Earth, set to work,” the princess commanded.

The earth began to till itself. In less than an hour, the field had been plowed and the seeds had been sown.

“You must go now to my father,” the princess told Ti-Jean. “You must tell him the task is done but you must be careful. He will suspect that I have helped you and he will watch me. Do not try to speak to me again. Wait in your room until you hear my knock. Let me in so that I can tell you how to succeed tomorrow as well.”

Ti-Jean went to Bonnet Rouge. Bonnet Rouge was angry. He was very angry indeed.

“The next task will be harder,” he shouted.

“But this one was so easy,” Ti-Jean said.

On this night, Bonnet Rouge gave him a good mattress. Ti-Jean was so tired that he fell asleep at once. He slept like a log.

At midnight, the princess came knocking on the door, but he did not hear her. She knocked and she knocked and then she went away.

At dawn, Bonnet Rouge came to wake him.

“I will give you your second task,” he said. “On the castle grounds there is a lake. Seven years ago, my wife was rowing upon it in her boat. She dropped her golden ring into the water. You must empty the lake and find the ring and you must do it before the setting of the sun.”

He held out two buckets. One was brand new. The other looked as if it might have holes in it. Still, Ti-Jean remembered what the princess had told him.

“The old bucket will be the best for me,” he said.

He took it and set off whistling. Bonnet Rouge was even angrier.

How would Ti-Jean know that he must choose the older bucket? he asked himself.

Ti-Jean was happy. He thought he knew what to do. He reached the lake and touched the bucket.

“Bucket, drain the lake,” he said.

The bucket did nothing.

“Lake, drain yourself,” Ti-Jean commanded.

The lake did not move.

Ti-Jean filled the bucket as best he could, but there was nowhere for the water to go and soon it started running back.

The lake was not shrinking. It was not shrinking at all.

Ti-Jean called for the princess but she did not come to him. He knew then what had happened.

I have upset her. I must have slept so soundly I did not hear her knock, he thought.

Once more he decided that he might as well lie down and rest.