A Story for Children, from the French of E. Laboulaye.
T one time there lived at Salerno a young wood-cutter of the name of Zerbin. Poor, and an orphan, he had no friends; sullen and uncouth, he shrank from all observation. As he held himself so much aloof from the concerns of others, he was generally taken for a fool. He had been nicknamed the "Savage," a name that suited him well.
At daybreak, when all in the town were still asleep, he started off for the mountain with his hatchet on his shoulder; he spent the whole day alone in the woods, returning only at dusk, dragging after him a wretched bundle of wood, which he sold for a supper.
One day, after cutting down the branches of an old tree, Zerbin became so exhausted that he was glad to take a rest beside a pool fringed with fine trees. To his surprise, he saw lying upon the grass a young girl of most exquisite beauty, whose robe was composed of the plumes of the swan. Her face looked troubled, and she moved her hands restlessly as if some frightful dream were oppressing her.
"All women are fools," said Zerbin. "How ridiculous to sleep at noon with the sun on one's face!"
He arranged some branches so as to form a screen above her head, and upon this he placed his workman's blouse to keep the sun's rays from penetrating.
He had just finished his work when he was startled by perceiving near the fair sleeper a viper, with protruding tongue, crawling towards her.
"Ha!" said Zerbin, "so small and already so venomous." And with two blows from his hatchet he slashed the serpent into three pieces.
The noise of this awoke the fairy, who started to her feet, her eyes sparkling with delight.
"Zerbin!" she cried. "Zerbin! you have saved more than my life."
"I have done nothing at all," replied Zerbin, with his usual courtesy. "Take my advice, another time be careful not to sleep upon the grass without looking for serpents. Now leave me in peace, I am going to sleep."
He then stretched himself upon the grass and closed his eves.
"Zerbin," said the fairy, "have you nothing to ask of me?"
"Nothing, except to leave me alone," said Zerbin. "When people have no desires, they have everything they want; when they have what they want, they are happy. Good-night." And the boor began to snore.
