Tartarus and Heren-Suge

Here is the tale Basque on the Tartaro / Tartarus and the Heren-Suge.

the Tartaro the Tartarus and the Heren-Suge

The Tartaro / the Tartarus and the Heren-Suge

LIKE many of us who are, have been, and will be in the world, there was a king, his wife, and three sons. The king went hunting one day and caught a Tartar. He takes him home, locks him in prison in a stable, and proclaims, to the sound of the trumpet, that all his court would meet the next day at his house, that he would give them a big dinner, and then show them an animal. like they had never seen.

The next day, the king's two sons were playing ball against (the wall of) the stable where Tartarus was locked up, and the ball entered the stable. One of the boys goes and asks Tartarus...

“Return my ball to me, please.

He said to him: “Yes, if you deliver me. »

He replies "Yes, yes" and throws the ball at her.

A moment later, the ball returns to Tartaro. He asks for it again; and Tartarus says:

“If you deliver me, I will give it to you. »

The boy says "Yes, yes", takes his ball and leaves.

The ball goes there for the third time, but the Tartaro will not give it away until it is out. The boy says he doesn't have the key. The Tartar said to him:

“Go to your mother, and tell her to look in your right ear, because something hurts you there. Your mother will have the key in her left pocket, and take it out. »

The boy leaves and does as the Tartarus told him. He takes his mother's key, and book Tartarus. When he let him go, he said to him:–

"What should I do with the key now?" I'm lost.

The Tartar said to him:

"Go back to your mother, and tell her your left ear hurts, and ask her to look, and you'll slip the key into her pocket." »

The Tartarus also tells him that he will soon need him, that he will only have to call him and that he will be his servant forever.

He hands over the key; and everyone came to dinner. When they had eaten well, the king told them that they must go and see this curious thing. He takes them all with him. When they arrived at the barn, he found it empty. Judge of this king's wrath and shame. He said:

“I would like to eat the half-cooked, unsalted heart of the one who released my animal. »

Some time later, the two brothers argued in the presence of their mother, and one said to the other:

“I will tell our father about the Tartar affair. »

When the mother heard this, she was afraid for her son and said to him:

“Take as much money as you want. »

And she gave him the Fleur-de-lis. “By this you will be known everywhere as the son of a king. »

Little Yorge leaves, then, far, far, very far. He spends and squanders all his money, and doesn't know what else to do. He remembers Tartarus, and calls him directly. He comes, and Little Yorge tells him all his misfortunes; that he has no more money, and that he does not know what will become of him. The Tartar said to him:

“When you've come a little way from here, you'll come to a town. A king lives there. You will go to his house, and we will take you as gardener. You will uproot everything in the garden, and the next day everything will be more beautiful than before. Also, three beautiful flowers will bloom, and you will take them to the king's three daughters, and you will give the most beautiful to the youngest daughter.

So he leaves, as he had told her, and he asks them if they want a gardener. They say, “Yes, indeed, a lot. He goes to the garden, and pulls up the beautiful cabbages, and also the beautiful leeks. The youngest of the king's daughters sees him, and she tells her father, and her father says to her:

“Leave him alone, we'll see what he does next. And, indeed, the next day, he sees cabbages and leeks such as he had never seen. Little Yorge brings a flower to each of the young ladies. The eldest said:

“I have a flower that the gardener brought me, which has no equal in the world. »

And the second says that she has one, too, and that no one has ever seen such a beautiful one. And the youngest said that hers was even more beautiful than theirs, and the others admit it too. The youngest of the young ladies found the gardener very to her liking. Every day she brought him his dinner. After a while, she said to him:

“You have to marry me. »

The boy said to him,

" It's impossible. The king would not like such a marriage. »

The girl also says

“Well, indeed, it is hardly worth the trouble. In eight days, I will be eaten by the serpent. »

For eight days she again brought him his dinner. In the evening she tells him that this is the last time she brought him. The young man says to her: “No”, that she will bring him back; someone will help him.

The next day, Petit Yorge leaves at eight o'clock to call Tartarus. He tells her what happened. Tartarus gives him a fine horse, a fine robe, and a sword, and tells him to go to such a place, and open the carriage door with his sword, and that he will cut off two of the serpent's heads. Little Yorge goes to that place. He finds the young woman in the car. He asks her to open the door. The young lady says she can't open it, there are seven doors, and he'd better go; that it is enough for one person to be eaten.

Little Yorge opens the doors with his sword, and sits down next to the maid. He tells her that he hurt his ear and asks her to look at it; 1 and at the same time he cuts seven pieces of the seven dresses she was wearing, without the girl seeing him. At the same moment the serpent comes and says to him:

“Instead of one, I will have three to eat. »

Little Yorge jumps on his horse and says to him: "You won't touch one, you won't get one from us."

And they start to fight. With his sword he cut off one head, and the horse with his feet another; 1 and the snake asks for quarter until the following day. Little Yorge leaves the young lady there. The young woman is full of joy; she wants to take the young man home. He won't go by any means (he said); that he cannot; that he made a vow to go to Rome; but he tells her that “tomorrow my brother will come, and he too can do something”. The young lady returns home, and Little Yorge in his garden. At noon, she comes to his house with dinner, and Little Yorge says to her:

“You see it really happened as I told you – it didn't eat you. »

“No, but tomorrow he will eat me. How could it be otherwise?

" No no ! Tomorrow you will bring me my dinner again. Help will come to you.

The next day, Little Yorge goes off at eight o'clock to Tartarus, who gives him a new horse, another coat and a fine sword. At ten o'clock he arrives at the young lady's. He asks her to open the door. But she tells him that there is no way she can open fourteen doors; she is there, and that she cannot open them, and that he must go away; that only one is enough to be eaten; she is sorry to see him there. As soon as he touches them with his sword, the fourteen gates open. He sits next to the young woman and tells her to look behind her ear, because she is hurting him. At the same time, he cuts fourteen pieces of the fourteen dresses she wore. As soon as he had done this, the serpent came, saying joyfully:

“I won't eat one, but three. »

Little Yorge said, “Not even one of us.

He jumps on his horse and starts to fight with the snake. The snake makes terrible leaps. After having fought for a long time, Little Yorge is finally victorious. He cuts off one head, and the horse another with his foot. The snake asks for quarter until the next day. Little Yorge grants it, and the snake leaves.

The young lady wants to take the young man home, to show him to her father; but he won't go by any means.

He tells her that he must go to Rome and leave the same day; that he has made a wish, but that tomorrow he will send his cousin, who is very bold and fearless.

The young lady goes to her father, Little Yorge in his garden. His father is delighted and does not understand at all. The young lady leaves with dinner. The gardener said to him:

“You see you came back today, just like I told you. Tomorrow you will come back, all the same. »

“I should be very happy with him. »

The next day Little Yorge left at eight o'clock for Tartarus. He told her that the snake had. three more heads to be cut off, and that he still needed all his help. The Tartar said to him:

“Shut up, shut up, you will defeat him. »

He gives her a new dress, more beautiful than the others, a more spirited horse, a terrible dog, a sword and a bottle of good perfumed water. He tells him,

“The snake will say to you: “Ah! if I had a spark between my head and my tail, how I would burn you, you and your lady, and your horse and your dog. And you, you will then say to him: “Me, if I had perfumed water to smell, I would cut off your head, the horse another, and the dog another. You will give this bottle to the young lady, who will put it on her bosom, and, the very moment you say that, she will have to throw it in your face, and at the horse and the dog too.

He then goes away without fear, for Tartarus had given him this assurance. He then comes to the car. The young woman said to him:

" Where are you going? The serpent will be here directly. It's enough if he eats me. »

He said, “Open the door.

She tells him it's impossible; that there are twenty-one gates. This young man touches them with his sword, and they open themselves. This young man said to him while giving him the bottle,

“When the snake will say: 'If I had a spark between my head and my tail, I would burn you', I will say to him: 'If I had under my nose a drop of fragrant water';' you will take the bottle and you will throw some to me presently.

He then makes her look into his ear and, while she watches, he cuts twenty-one pieces of the twenty-one dresses she was wearing. At the same moment the serpent comes, saying with joy:

“Instead of one, I will have four to eat. »

The young man said to him: “And you will not touch any of us, in any case.

He jumps on his fiery horse, and they fight more fiercely than ever. The horse leapt as high as a house, and the serpent, furious, said to him:

“If I had a spark of fire between my tail and my head, I would burn you and your lady, and that terrible horse and dog. »

The young man says,

“I, if I had perfumed water under my nose, I would cut off your head, and the horse another, and the dog another. »

Saying this, the young woman jumps up, opens the bottle and very skillfully throws the water where it is wanted. The young man cuts off one head with his sword, his horse another, and the dog another; and so they make the serpent disappear. This young man takes the seven languages with him and throws the heads. Judge of the joy of this young lady. She wanted to go directly to her father with her curator (she said), that her father should also thank him; that he owes her his daughter. But the young man tells him that it is quite impossible for him; that he must go and meet his cousin in Rome; that they have made a vow, and that when they return, they will all three come to his father's house.

The young woman is upset, but she leaves without wasting time to tell her father what has happened. The father is very happy that the snake has been completely destroyed; and he proclaims throughout the land that whoever killed the serpent must bring the proof.

The young lady leaves with the dinner at the gardener's. He tells him,

"I told you true, then, that you wouldn't be eaten?"

So something killed the snake? »

She tells him what happened.

But there ! a few days later, a black coalman appeared who said that he had killed the snake and that he had come to claim the reward. When the young lady saw the coalman, she immediately said that it was certainly not him; that he was a handsome gentleman on horseback, and not a plague-ridden man like himself. The charcoal burner shows the serpent's heads; and the king said that verily it must be the man. The king had only one word to say, she had to marry him. The young woman says she won't at all; and the father began to constrain her, (saying) that no other man came forward. But, as the girl did not consent to delay, the king proclaimed throughout the country that whoever killed the serpent would also be able to do other things, and that on that day all the young men should assemble , that he would hang a diamond ring on a bell, and whoever rode under it should pierce the ring with his sword, should certainly have his daughter.

From all sides come young men. Our little Yorge goes to Tartarus, and tells him what happened, and that he still needs him. The Tartar gives him a fine horse, a superb robe and a splendid sword. Thus equipped, Little Yorge goes with the others. He prepares himself. The young woman recognizes him immediately and tells her father. He is lucky enough to take away the ring of his sword; but he does not stop at all, and gallops off as hard as his horse can go. The king and his daughter were on a balcony, looking at all these gentlemen. They saw that he continued. The young woman said to her father:

“Dad, call him! »

The father said to him, in an angry tone:

"He's leaving, because apparently he doesn't want to have you." And he throws his spear at her. He kicks him in the leg. He is still rolling. You can well imagine what grief for the young woman.

The next day, she accompanies the gardener's dinner. She sees him with his leg bandaged. She asks him what it is.

The young woman begins to suspect something, and goes to tell her father how the gardener had his leg tied, and that he must go and ask him what is going on. That he told her it was nothing.

The king wouldn't go, (and said) she had to get him out of the gardener; but to please his daughter, he says he will go there. He then goes away and asks her: “What is it? He tells her that a blackthorn fell on him. The king gets angry and says "there is not a blackthorn in all his garden, and he is telling him a lie".

The girl says to him:

“Tell him to show it to us. »

He shows it to them, and they are amazed to see that the spear is still there. The king did not know what to think of all this. This gardener cheated on him, and he has to give him his daughter. But Little Yorge, discovering his. breast, shows the "fleur-de-lys" there. The king did not know what to say; but the girl said to him:

“He's my curator, and I won't marry anyone but him. »

Little Yorge asks the king to bring five seamstresses, the best in town, and five butchers. The king sends for them.

Little Yorge asks the dressmakers if they've ever made any new dresses that had a piece; and upon the tailors saying "No", he counts the pieces and gives them to the tailors, asking if that was how they had given the dresses to the princess. They say, “Certainly not. »

So he goes to the butchers and asks them if they have ever killed animals without a tongue? They say, “No! He then told them to look into the serpent's heads. They see that the tongues are not there, then he takes out the tongues he has.

The king, having seen all this, has nothing more to say. He gives her his daughter. Little Yorge tells her that he must invite his father to the wedding, but on behalf of the girl's father; and that they will serve him for dinner a heart of mutton half-cooked and without salt. They have a big party, and put that heart before that father. They have him sculpt himself, and he is very indignant. The son then said to him:

" I expected that ; and he adds: “Ah! my poor father, have you forgotten how you said you wanted to eat the half-cooked, unsalted heart of the one who let Tartarus pass? It's not my heart, but a sheep's heart. . I did this to remind your memory of what you said, and to make you recognize me.

They kiss and tell each other all their news, and what services Tartarus has rendered him. The father returned to his house happily, and Little Yorge lived very happily with his young lady with the king; and they wanted nothing, because they still had Tartarus in their service.