Tinkling Call

Once upon a time, on this side of the plains, beyond the hills, a peasant's sandal away from the Iron Gates, at a stone's throw from the stony path, lay the kingdom of King Icicle. In the middle of the path, under the white collar of the death cap mushroom there was a hole that led to a big cave. The walls were made of limestone and were covered with soft silky moss. The light of the sun would penetrate here and there, illuminating only some corners of the sea of rocks.

Nobody knew of that cave, although the majestic palace of King Icicle lay in it. No, this was not the crystal palace with golden pillars encrusted with gems. Nor were the windows adorned with diamonds… But were there any frosty flowers? Yes, plenty of them. Ice columns arrayed the entrance, ice tuberoses were taking shape on the floor and on the ceiling thousands and thousands of milky icicles were clinking and clanging. 
In this palace lived Queen Icicle and King Icicle, together with their daughter, princess Tinkling Call.

Every morning, the princess would go out of the palace and sit on the bank of the glacial pond. In the pond there lived some reddish fish, the blind salmons. They didn't have any eyes, yet they had as many ears as the scales on their back! The princess would play with the fish all day long and she would strike up a crystalline melody that not only would the blind salmons frolic as she sang but also the icicles would clink, clang and rattle. This singing in a loud voice could be heard all the way to the Iron Gates.

A peasant's sandal away from the Iron Gates the Woodcutter was working, when suddenly a sound tickled his ear.

-“I wonder what is this clinking and clanging. I will find out very soon”, the Woodcutter thought. He laid his ax on his back, picked up his knapsack and set out to find the tinkling voice.

-“Your voice brings me to my senses, your song makes me dizzy, lift up your tinkling call!” the Woodcutter would shout.

However, Princess Tinkling Call would answer him from the cave:

“On this side of the black fields,
Under the mushroom of death cap,
Beyond the valleys and the hills,
In a cave, in its depth,
In a palace with frosty flowers,
Icicles sing and play
In a glacial pond
Six little salmons dance.
Eeney, meeney, miney moe,
Knock-knock, I will not go!”

The woodcutter walked and walked, but did not come upon the tinkling call. He lay down next to the white collar of the death cap mushroom, pulled out his knapsack and started eating his food heartily. He threw the remains from the bread in the hole underneath the mushroom and they fell right next to King Icicle's palace, in the glacial pond.

The woodcutter searched for the tinkling call a little while longer and disappointed, set out on his way.

The princess watched with sadness the woodcutter's food floating in the pond. The blind salmons could hardly push the bread crumbs to the side of the pond. Tinkling Call gathered the crumbs then sat on the bank of the pond and sang her little song:

-“On this side of the black fields,
Under the mushroom of death cap,
Beyond the valleys and the hills,
In a cave, in its depth,”

Hardly had she begun to sing then suddenly, tramp-tramp, a horrible trampling disturbed the princess and the blind salmons play. An army of soldiers riding on big horses had passed nearby and the tinkling voice allured them as well.

The soldiers were rummaging throughout the whole forest. They even glanced under the white collar of the death cap mushroom but in vain; nobody realized the hole was so deep and it was actually the mouth of a cave.

-“Reveal yourself, reveal yourself, whoever you are, Tinkling Call!” the soldiers called the princess.

But she would not come out of her hiding place:

 -“On this side of the black fields,
Under the mushroom of death cap,
Beyond the valleys and the hills,
In a cave, in its depth,
In a palace with frosty flowers,
Icicles sing and play
In a glacial pond
Six little salmons dance.
Eeney, meeney, miney moe,
Knock-knock, I will not go!”

The soldiers sat down next to the death cap mushroom and started a party that lasted three days and three nights. They ate, drank, hopped, rolled over, did cartwheels and threw into the hole all the wickers, the carafes, the knives, the forks, the helmets, the armours and the crumbled food.

They left without even thinking about the harm they had done. The glacial pond was now full of dirty objects.

The princess was crying, the fish were wailing as well, the pond itself became sad and King Iciclels heart shook with anger:

-“You ate, you drank and you were merry
 But your litter you did not carry!
 You poisoned the glacial pond
 And my palace you destroyed
 Good humour you had, I suppose
 Now angry sparks from my eyes soar”

Seven days and seven nights worked the servants of the palace from morning till night, till all the mess they cleaned up. But the eighth day everything started over. The princess was singing, the blind salmons were dancing and one at a time, artisans, heroes, even kings and princesses reached the mouth of the cave.

The music of the icicles enchanted everybody. But in vain did they rummage and search everywhere; they could not find the owner of the tinkling call. Not being able to find her, they would throw their old stuff in the hole under the mushroom. They threw and threw until the entire palace was filled with garbage. The brilliance of the ice columns and tuberoses faded away, the blind salmons got sick.

Deeply distressed and with tearful eyes, the princess locked herself in her room. In vain did her mother try to ease her pain; Tinkling Call could not get over her sadness. The King's eyes were either shooting sparks or gleamed with tears. He went out on the bank of the glacial pond and yelled as much as he could but because of the piles of garbage only a few sounds reached the top:

-“You poisoned my pond
 And my palace you destroyed
 My kingdom shall reign
 My daughterls hand shall have
 The one who my icicles will c’ean
 And my salmons will heal!”

The death cap mushroom was awakened by the kingls lament.

One, two, three, he passed on the news to the owl. So the owl told the sparrow, the sparrow told the bloodhound, the bloodhound told the gopher, the gopher told the squirrel, the squirrel told the tree frog and the tree frog told the bull that King Icicle offers his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to the one who will clean the palace of all the garbage in it.
The news spread swiftly as an arrow and reached the ears of the Poor Lad. Well, since then, the lad had no rest day and night. He constantly thought of the singing palace. He thought and thought and one day he threw some food for the road in his knapsack and set out to look for the palace from the cave.
He walked and walked, beyond the fields, beyond the hills and beyond the woods until he got lost. The road led him to a stubble field, where the Sheafer was binding a sheaf.

-“What are you looking for, lad?” the Sheafer asked.

-"A deep palace made of ice
Where the icicles all dance…  
You tell me what road to take
So a bride for me Ild chance."

- “Well, my dear friend, I am the only one that knows where this palace is.

It is in a cave whose mouth is under a white mushroom and is very hard to spot. But ever since the world began, one hand washes the other and they both wash the face, said the Sheafer. If you repair my reaper, I'll tell you how to get there.”

The Poor Lad made the deal. He worked with screws from morning till night till the reaper was fixed. The Sheafer was an honest man. Word by word he explained to the lad which way to take, turn right, take a left and then keep going. Moreover, he took out a circle of rope, pulled it up on the lad's shoulder then let him go.

The Poor Lad walked and walked, turned right then took a left and darkness started to fall. He noticed a small light nearby.

He made for it. He reached a house and knocked on the door. It was the house of the Chief Iron Worker.

-"Who is it? Who disturbs me in my home?" spoke in a stuck-up voice the Chief Iron Worker and slightly opened the door.

-"Chief Iron Worker, I come in peace. I'm only looking for a roof over my head… Well, and something to eat would not hurt my hungry stomach", said the Poor Lad politely.

-"So be it! You will get shelter and food, but by the day after tomorrow you will have founded one thousand cast-iron kettles", said the Chief Iron Worker.
-"It's a deal", answered the lad and stretched out his hand through the door's crack.

Chief Iron Worker let him inside. The two of them ate a very good meal and then they rested. The Poor Lad woke up the next morning at daybreak, set a huge fire, melted the iron and stirred it vigorously from morning till night. Then he moulded one thousand cast-iron kettles and put each of them on top of another, forming a big mountain of iron that astonished even the birds of the air. Then the Chief Iron Worker said:

-“You kept your promise and made a thousand cast-iron kettles. You take one, too!” and pushed a big cast-iron kettle towards the lad. 

 The lad thanked him for the gift and proceeded on his way. From here the road was straight and in a blink of an eye, he got to the death cap mushroom. Yet he didn't see the mushroom, or the hole, or the moss or the ray of the sun. Instead, he found helmets, spoons, knives, rusty forks and worn out boots. The Poor Lad took out the big cast-iron kettle and started to gather the mess. He worked for seven days and seven nights, but with no visible results. And alas! On the eighth day, the Poor Lad sat down gloomy under the shade of an oak and said to himself that the ice palace would perish because he could not fight the garbage by himself. All of a sudden he heard the owl from the oak:

 -"Who-who-who-who, don't give in,
 For we will help you get it clean.
 The icicles we will wash
 And the garbage we will cart." 

The Poor Lad was dumbfounded at the sound of this weird voice. Hardly did he pull himself together then the owl called the sparrow, the sparrow called the bloodhound, the bloodhound called the gopher, the gopher called the squirrel, the squirrel called the tree frog and the tree frog called the bull. The animals set to work. The gopher, the squirrel and the tree frog gathered the garbage. The bloodhound and the bull carried the cast-iron kettle to the garbage dump. This is the way they worked from dawn till evening, every day.  
A long time passed.

By the time they managed to take out all of the rotten things in the cave, the Poor Lad grew a long beard. After finishing, he drew out the rope he got from the Sheafer and tied it to the thick trunk of the oak. He filled the big cast-iron kettle with water from the well, let it down deep in the cave then he went down as well.

He was dumbfounded at the sight of the huge palace.

Ice columns arrayed the entrance, ice tuberoses were taking shape on the floor and on the ceiling thousands and thousands of milky icicles were clinking and clanging.

The Poor Lad took out some water from the cast-iron kettle and washed the entrance, scrubbed the frosty flowery floor and wiped clean all of the pale icicles, one by one. He filled the pond with clean water and thoroughly washed the sick salmons. And what a miracle! The salmons got healed all of a sudden and started dancing and singing:

 "Clean water in the pond!
Six blind salmons are staring now!
Trump-trump-trump, come play with me,
And my match now you will be!"

-"Where is this music coming from?" asked Princess Tinkling Call and ran to the bank of the pond. 

 She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the palace shining again. She was beside herself with joy, so she started singing and the icicles were going clink! clink! clink!

-"On this side of the black fields,
Under the mushroom of death cap,
Beyond the valleys and the hills,
In a cave, in its depth,
In a palace with frosty flowers,
Icicles sing and play
In a glacial pond
Six little salmons dance.
Eeney, meeney, miney moe,
Knock-knock, I will not go!"

Meanwhile, the king, the queen and all the servants of the palace scampered outside and danced with joy.

The Poor Lad was standing proud as the hero that he was, but he couldn't utter anything. Never in his life had he heard a more alluring song or had he seen a more beautiful girl than Tinkling Call. He took heart, took a step towards King Icicle and spoke:

 -"Your pond I cleaned, 
Your salmons I healed,
The icicles are singing and playing
Give me the princess to marry!"

The old king patted the lad on the shoulder and said:

 -"My dear boy, from now on you will rule this palace! Here's my daughter's hand in marriage. May our young people live well and thousands of icicles c’ink as well!"

The Poor Lad and the Princess Tinkling Call had a wedding whose report was heard on this side of the plains, beyond the hills, a peasant's sandal away from the Iron Gates, a stone's throw from the stony path, and they lived happily ever after, and maybe are still alive today…