The Magic Cloak

A young soldier, who had
been away for nearly two years,
was returning home. He was
passing through a thick forest
when darkness fell and so he
decided to sleep the night
beneath a tree.

He collected some wood and
made a bright fire to frighten
away the wild animals. Then
he rolled up in his blanket and
soon fell into a deep sleep. He
dreamed a pleasant dream, that
he was falling in love with a
beautiful princess and in the
dream he was just about to
ask her to marry him, when he
was suddenly awakened by a
loud noise. The soldier jumped
to his feet and looked around
him and there, half hidden in
the gloom of the forest, stood
a dwarf.

The little dwarf had a long
white beard and pointed ears
and the soldier saw at once
that he looked very cold and
hungry. Taking pity on him,
the soldier asked the dwarf to
come closer and share some
food and warm himself by the
fire. The poor little dwarf
happily accepted. When he
had eaten enough and was quite
warm again, he told the soldier
that he wished to reward his
kindness by giving him a magic
cloak. Anyone who wore the
cloak had only to make a wish
and it would be granted. The
dwarf said goodbye to the
soldier and then vanished
among the trees.

The soldier was eager to try
out the cloak so he put it
around his shouldeTs and
wished. He wished that he had
a huge castle with hundreds of



servants and dogs and horses.
He wished that the cellar; of
the castle were full to the ceil-
ings with gold and gleaming
jewels. Suddenly, there was a
clap of thunder and a flash of
lightning and the young soldier
found himself standing outside
a huge castle.

All the wonderful things that
he had wished for were there.
Groups of servants stood in the
grounds that surrounded the
castle and they bowed as he
passed by. Inside, there were
fine pictures and long mirrors
on every wall and as the soldier
passed by one of these he saw
his reflection.* He was dressed
in the finest clothes of gold and
damask. The soldier looked so
different he could hardly re-
cognise himself.

From then on a gay life of
hunting and dancing began for
the young man. He mixed with
all the lords and ladies in the
land and the horse-riding, the



dancing and the banquets were
never-ending.

One day, he was invited to
attend a grand ball at the palace
of the king and queen. It was
a splendid ball and the young
soldier danced with the king's
daughter all the evening.

The king's daughter, how-
ever, was not a very nice girl.
She had often wondered how
this handsome young man,
whom nobody had ever heard
of before, came to be so rich
and powerful. Throughout the
evening, she made careful
enquiries about him and even-
tually found out that he pos-
sessed a magic cloak. Then,
while the soldier was dancing
with another lady of the Court,
the greedy princess slipped away
from her father's castle and
went to the house of the young
man. There, she introduced
herself to the servants, who, of
course, at once let her into the
¦castle. She succeeded in stealing



the cloak from the young man's
room without being seen and
then quickly rode back to her
father's castle, before anyone
realised she had left the ball.

The next morning, the soldier,
who returned to his castle, dis-
covered that his magic cloak had
disappeared. He made every
servant search the castle high
and low for it, but it could not
be found. As the young man sat
thinking, he suddenly remem-
bered that the princess had
disappeared half way through
the evening. He remembered
all the questions she had asked
him and he realised that it was
she who had stolen the cloak.

He was wondering how he
could get it back when, suddenly,
the little dwarf he had met in
the forest appeared again. The
soldier told the dwarf about
his problem and the little dwarf
said he would help him. Rea-
ching into his pocket he. pulled
out his handkerchief and un-
wrapped it. Inside there was a
lovely, rosy apple. It was the
reddest apple you have ever
seen and it made you lick your
lips just to look at it. The
dwarf told the young man to
give it to the princess and to
watch what happened.

In the afternoon, the soldier



ordered his horse to be saddled
and off he rode to the palace
again. When he arrived, he
asked to see the princess and
was immediately shown to her
room. The soldier gave the
apple to the princess and said
he had brought it as a gift, for
it was the most wonderful apple
he had ever seen.

Now, of course, as soon as
she saw the red, rosy apple the
greedy girl could not resist it.
Taking it from the soldier's
hand, she took a large bite
from it, but, alas, almost at
once, a very strange thing began
to happen. As she looked in
the mirror she saw something
happening to her pretty, little
nose. It began to grow and
grow. Across the room it grew
and out of the window, getting
longer and longer. Down the
castle walls and on to the ground
it went, growing and growing.
The poor princess did not know
what to do and still her nose
grew longer. Now it was out-
side the castle grounds and
travelling at tremendous speed
over the hills and valleys and
into the next country. It was
still growing long after it had
disappeared over the horizon.

Imagine the fury and the un-
happiness of the princess, who



realised that her nose must
now be at least a hundred miles
long.

She would not be able to
move from the room in which
she was now sitting. There
could be no more hunting and
dancing, and as for getting mar-
ried to a handsome prince, that
was right out of the question,
now that she looked so ugly.

"What would happen," she
thought, "if somebody, several
miles away, accidentally trod
on my nose?" Besides, in the
Winter it would be terribly cold
and her nose would turn a
bright red. She realised that
there was only one way out.

Tearfully, she begged the sol-
dier to release her from the
terrible spell and said she would
do anything if only she could
have her own nose back. The
soldier was not so easily satisfied,



he knew how cunning and artful
the princess was. He said that
either the princess must give
him back the magic cloak or
her nose would keep on growing
for ever.

Of course, the princess did
not want to part with such a
priceless treasure, but she had
to give in. She ordered her
maid to fetch the cloak from
its hiding place and give it
back to the young man. As
soon as the maid had done so,
the princess's nose began to
shrink and within a few minutes
it had returned to its normal
size. From that day on the
cunning and greedy princess
never played any more tricks
on her father's guests and the
young man returned t6 his castle
with his magic cloak, to con-
tinue his happy life of fun and
gaiety.