Halfman

Halfman

Greece

Once upon a time there was a woman who had no children. She was so unhappy about this that one day she prayed to God, "Dear God, give me a child, even if it were only half a child."
Then God gave her a boy with half a head, half a nose, half a mouth, half a body, one hand and one foot. He was so misshapen that the mother always kept him at home and did not send him out to work.

One day, however, he became bored, and he said to his mother, "Mother, I do not want to stay at home any longer. Give me an ax and a mule. I want to go out into the woods to fetch wood."

His mother replied, "How can you chop wood, dear child? You are only half a person."

Nonetheless, he begged so long that finally his mother gave him an ax and a mule. He took these into the woods. He chopped wood and brought it back home. He did this work so well that his mother allowed him to continue.

One day when he was fetching wood he passed by the princess's castle. When she saw him with one foot and one arm sitting on the mule she laughed out loud and called to her maidservants, "Come and see the half man!"

This embarrassed Halfman so much that he dropped his ax. He thought for a moment, then asked himself, "Shall I get off and pick it up, or shall I not?"

In the end he did not get off, but instead left the ax lying there rode on.

The princess said to the maidservants, "Just look at Halfman! He drops his ax and doesn't even get off to pick it up!"

This embarrassed Halfman even more, and he dropped his rope. Once again he thought for a moment, then said to himself, "Shall I get off and pick up the rope, or shall I not?"

In the end he rode off, leaving the rope lying there.

With that the princess called to her maidservants, "Just look at Halfman! He drops his ax and his rope and doesn't even get off to pick them up!"

Halfman rode on to the place where he was gathering wood, but arriving there he said to himself, "How can I chop wood, and how can I tie it together?"

A lake was there, and while he stood there looking into the water he saw a fish swim up to the bank. He quickly threw his ragged coat onto it and caught it.

The fish begged for its life, saying, "Let me loose, Halfman, and I will teach you a charm to make all your wishes come true."

Then Halfman said, "If what you say is true, then load my mule with wood."

The fish said, "By the first word of God and the second word of the fish, the mule shall be loaded with wood!"

And behold, before he finished speaking this charm, the mule was loaded with wood.

Seeing this, Halfman said to the fish, "If you will teach me the charm I will set you free."

The fish said, "Whenever you want something to happen, just say, 'By the first word of God and the second word of the fish,' and whatever you wish for shall be granted."

With that Halfman set the fish free, took his loaded mule, and walked off toward the princess's castle.

When the princess saw him she called to her maidservants, "Come quickly and see how Halfman has loaded his mule without an ax or a rope." Then they all laughed until they could laugh no more.

This made Halfman angry, and he said, "By the first word of God and the second word of the fish, let the princess become pregnant!"

When her time came she bore a child, and no one knew who the father was.

Her father summoned her and asked her who the father was, but she answered repeatedly, "I have not even spoken with a man. I do not know where the child came from."

When the child was older the king summoned everyone to his capitol. After they had all gathered there he gave the child an apple and said, "Go forth and give this to your father."

While the child was walking about and playing with the apple, he dropped it onto the ground, and it rolled away from him, finally coming to a rest in the corner where Halfman was standing. The child bent over to pick up the apple, then lifting his head he saw Halfman and said, "Here Papa! Take the apple!"

Hearing this, the people took hold of Halfman and brought him before the king.

The king said, "Because it was Halfman who did this, we must kill them all: him, the princess, and the child."

However, some of his councilors said to him, "What you say is unjust. The princess is your daughter, and you cannot shed your own blood. It would be better to make an iron cask, put the princess, Halfman, and the child inside, and throw them into the sea. Give them only a bunch of figs for the child, so that it will not die too quickly."

This advice pleased the king. Thus he had the cask made, the three placed inside, and thrown into the sea.

Now seated inside the cask, the princess said to Halfman, "I have never seen you before. How is it that we are now here together?"

"Give me a fig," replied Halfman, "and I will tell you about it."

The princess gave him a fig from those that they had brought along for the child. After he had eaten it, Halfman said, "Don't you remember how you laughed at me when I passed by the castle, and I dropped my ax and my rope?"

"Yes, I remember that," replied the princess.

"Now I know a charm, and when I repeat it my every wish is fulfilled. At that time I wished that you should become pregnant, and that is why you became pregnant."

To that the princess said, "If you know such a charm that fulfills your every wish, then wish us out of this cask and onto dry land."

Halfman replied, "Give me a fig, and I will do so."

So the princess gave him a fig, and he secretly said, "By the first word of God and the second word of the fish, may this cask drift onto dry land and open itself so that we can get out."

And immediately the cask hit dry land, opened itself, and they all got out.

It was raining outside, and the princess said, "Speak your charm so that we can find shelter and not get wet."

Halfman said, "Give me a fig, and I will do so."

So the princess gave him a fig, and he said to himself, "By the first word of God and the second word of the fish, let there be shelter here!"

Suddenly such was the case, and they got under it.

The princess said to Halfman, "Until now you have done very well! Now speak your charm and give us a large castle whose stones and timbers and furnishings all can speak."

Halfman said, "Give me a fig, and I will do so."

So the princess gave him a fig, and he said to himself, "By the first word of God and the second word of the fish, let there be castle whose stones and timbers and furnishings all can speak!"

Suddenly such a castle was there, and everything connected to it could speak, and they went inside to live there, and Halfman brought forth everything that they needed and whatever the princess wished for herself.

One day the king was out hunting, and he saw in the distance a castle that he had never seen before. He sent two of his servants thither, saying to them, "Take these partridges, go to that castle and broil them there, and see what kind of castle it is, for I have often been here hunting, but I have never before noticed it."

The servants, thus commanded by the king, took the partridges and went to the castle. When they approached the outer door, it said to them, "What do you want here?"

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