From my Writers Club SLEEPY JOHN. Once there was a lad named John and he used to go to sleep always and everywhere. One day he arrived at a village where the farmers were feeding their horses. So he crept to the cart and lay down and went to sleep. When the farmers had traveled some distance they noticed John asleep in the cart. They thought, “What are we to do with him? We have a beer cask here. We’ll put him in it and leave him in the forest.” So they put him in the cask and off they drove. John went on sleeping in the cask for a long time. When he woke up he found himself in the cask but he didn’t know how he got into it neither did he know where he was. There was something running to and fro near him so he looked through the bunghole and saw a great number of wolves gathering under a rock. They had flocked around after having been attracted by the human smell. One of the wolves pushed his tail through the hole and sleepy John began to think the hour of his death was approaching. So he wound the wolf’s tail around his hand. The wolf was terrified and dragging the cask after him the wolves ran off with the rest of the wolves which set off in every direction. The tail grew greater and greater as the cask bounced after him. At last the cask struck against a rock and was smashed. He took himself off as fast as he could. John found himself in a wild mountain region he began walking about and he met a hermit. The hermit said “You might stay with me. I shall die in a few days bury me then and I will pay you well for it.” So John stayed with him and when the third day came, the hermit, who was about to die, gave him a stick saying, “At whatever direction you point this stick you shall find yourself there.” Then he gave him a knapsack saying, “Anything you want you will find in this knapsack.” Then he gave him a cap saying “As soon as you put this cap on nobody will be able to see you.” Soon the hermit died and John buried him. John gathered his things together and pointed his stick saying “Let me be instantly in the town where the king lives.” He found himself there in an instant and he was told that the queen every night would wear out twelve pairs of shoes yet nobody was ever able to follow her tracks. The lords were all flocking to offer to follow the queen’s traces and John went too. He went to the palace and had himself announced to the king. When he came before the king he said he would like to trace the queen. The king asked him “Who are you?” He answered” Sleepy John.” The king asked “And how are you going to trace her when you’re sleeping all the time? If you fail to trace her you will lose your head.” John offered that he would try to trace her all the same. When evening came the queen went to bed in one room and John went to bed in the next room where the queen had to pass. He did not care to sleep but when the queen went by he pretended to be in a deep slumber. The queen lit a candle and scorched the soles of John’s feet to make sure he was asleep but John didn’t stir so she was certain he was asleep. She took her twelve pairs of new shoes and off she went. John got up, put his cap on, pointed with his stick and said “Let me be where the queen is.” Now when the queen came to a certain rock the earth opened before her and a dragon came to meet her. It took her on its back and took her as far as the lake forest. John said “Let me be where the queen is” and instantly he was in the lake forest and he broke off a twig for proof and put it in his knapsack. But when he broke off the twig it gave off a shrill sound as if a bell was ringing. The queen was frightened but went on. John pointed his stick and said “Let me be where the queen is” and instantly he was in the tin forest. He broke off a twig again and put it in his knapsack and it rang again. The queen turned pale but she went on again. John pointed his stick again and said “Let me be where the queen is” and instantly he was in the silver forest. He broke off a twig again and put it into his knapsack and there came a ringing sound. The queen fainted. The dragon hastened until he came to a green meadow. A crowd of devils came to meet him here and they revived the queen. Then they had a feast. Lazy John was there too. The cook was not home so John sat down in his place and as he had his cap on, nobody could see him. They put aside a parcel of food for the cook but John ate it all. They were surprised to see all the food they had put aside disappear. They couldn’t make out what was happening but they didn’t care very much. And when the banquet was at an end the devils began to dance with the queen and they kept dancing until the queen had worn out all her shoes. When her shoes were worn out the dragon took her on his back again and brought her to the place where the earth opened before her. John pointed his stick and said “Let me be where the queen is.” By this time she was walking on the earth again. When they came near the palace he went ahead of the queen and went to bed. And as the queen went by John’s room she saw him sleeping. So she went to her own room and lay down and slept. In the morning the lords gathered together and the king asked if any of them were able to catch the queen. None of them were able to say yes. Then he summoned sleepy John before him. John said “greatest lord king, I did indeed track her and I know that she used up those twelve pair of shoes upon the green meadows in hell.” The queen stood forth at once and John took from his knapsack the stick. “The queen was carried by a dragon towards hell as she came to the legend forest. There I broke off this twig and the queen was frightened. The king said “That’s no good you might have made up the story.” So John produced the tin twig from his knapsack and said “after that the queen went through the tin forest and there I broke off this twig.” That time the queen grew pale. The king said” You might have made even this twig. So John produced the silver twig and said “Afterwards the queen drove through the silver forest and when I broke off this twig the queen fainted and so she was until the devils brought her to life again.” The queen, seeing that all was known cried out “then the earth swallowed me” and she was swallowed by the earth. Sleepy John got half of the kingdom and when the king died the other half too.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 04:13:49 +0000
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