Page:Turkish fairy tales and folk tales (1901).djvu/268

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

courage when she saw how well she was treated, and said:

"Tell me now, how can the Sun be ever vexed, seeing that he is so beauteous, and doeth so much good to mortals?"

"I'll tell thee," replied the mother of the Sun. "In the morning he stands in the gate of Heaven, and then he is merry, so merry, and smiles upon the whole world. But at mid-day he is full of disgust, inasmuch as he sees all the follies of men, and so his wrath burns and he gets hotter and hotter; while in the evening he is vexed and sorrowful because he stands in the gate of Hades, for that is the usual way by which he comes home."

She told her besides that she had asked about her husband, and her son had replied that he knew not anything about him, as he was living in the midst of a vast and dense forest, so that his beams could not pierce through the thick foliage; the only thing to do was to go and ask the Wind about it. Then she also gave her a roast fowl, and told her to take great care of the bones.

So the daughter of the Emperor pitched away the second pair of iron sandals that she had worn out, tied up the bones, took her child on her arm and a third staff in her hand, and went after the Wind.

On this journey she met with hardships greater