THE MAN WITH TWO DOGS
The card game.
The Princess rubbed so hard the nail that she brought Jean back to life, for the third time.
"Victory!", she then cried, "We are saved! The devils no longer have any power over us, everything here belongs to you, oh courageous prince, even myself!"
And at the same time, they saw a crowd of people from all walks of life appear from all sides, who came to thank their liberator, then left in all directions to return to their country.
As for Jean and the Princess, they married and stayed in the castle, which now belonged to them.
But since they are calm and happy, let us return to the queen, sister of Jean, and see if she too is happy.
She had poisoned her husband and, to escape the resentment of her people and the punishment that awaited her, she was forced to leave alone during the night, disguised as a beggar. She wandered for a long time, abandoned by everyone, and asking for alms from door to door. By walking so hard, to get away from her country, she ended up arriving at the gate of the castle where Jean and the Princess were. Her brother recognized her and, as he had a good heart, forgot everything and received her, as if she had never harmed him. But misfortune had not corrected her and, seeing her brother happy, she quickly became jealous of his happiness and again looked for ways to lose him. She went to an old witch who lived in the neighboring forest and consulted her on how to get rid of him. The witch told her:
"Go to bed and say that you are dangerously ill. Your brother will come to you and ask you what would make you happy. Tell him that a little pure wheat porridge would do you a lot of good, but that he must go and get the flour from the mill himself. He will go there with haste, and when he returns, through the woods, I will dig a deep well under his feet, into which he will fall, never being able to escape alive.
The wicked sister came home and did everything the witch had advised her. She went to bed, as soon as she arrived, sent her brother to the mill, and he, on his return, fell into the abyss that the witch opened under his feet. In this desperate situation, he called his two dogs for help. As soon as he said their names, they came running and pulled him out of the well. His sister was very surprised to see him again. But she ate some porridge made with the flour he had brought from the mill and said she was cured immediately.
Eight days later, she went to find the witch again, for the same reason. She was surprised to know that Jean had managed to get out of the well, and she said:
"Play sick again, tell your brother that a little fresh water from the fountain in the woods would do you a lot of good, and ask him to go and get it for you himself. He will rush to grant your desire. I have fifty invisible knights, armed with invincible swords, at my service; I will send them and they will deliver you from him without difficulty."
So she went to bed again and told her brother that nothing could relieve her like a little fresh water from the fountain in the woods, but drawn from the spring by himself.
Jean immediately took a vial and headed towards the fountain, without thinking of harm. But his two dogs, seeing him leave, ran to him and followed him, whatever he did to make them stay at home. He drew fresh water from the fountain and was returning quietly when suddenly he saw the swords of the witch's fifty knights flashing menacingly toward him. He only saw the swords, brandished by invisible hands. The two dogs also saw them, and, without giving them time to reach their master, they rushed on them and put them to flight.
Seeing that Jean returned again safe and sound, his sister turned pale with fury, but she concealed it and welcomed him, and the next day she was still in perfect health. However, after two failed attempts, she did not believe the game was lost, and a few days later, she returned to consult the witch again.
Source: L’Homme aux deux chiens. from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
Jean was lucky to have the Princess to resuscitate him three times. Now, he is happy after marrying the Princess.
This is not the same story for his sister who has been chased out of her kingdom. Even after Jean greeted her in the castle, she was still trying to kill him. What a nasty woman!
Fortunately, Jean has his two dogs to rescue him.
Recently, we went for my favorite walk, on a dyke along a slough.
This slough has been artificially created when the dyke was erected.
I call this walk "Third post" because it ends at the third electric post on the dyke. The electric line is there to power some big pumps that take the water from the slough to the river, to avoid the fields being flooded when it has been raining a lot.
While walking we met some ducks.
This time, we even saw two great blue herons. We will see more birds during spring.
I really like this walk.
-- Vincent Celier