The Hairy Man
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The Hairy Man is a Russian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
[edit] Synopsis
Two of a king's ricks of rape are burned every night. Finally, a shepherd with two dogs keeps watch and catches the hairy man responsible. The king put him in a cage. The hairy man pled with the king's son so earnestly that the prince freed him. For that, the king ordered him taken to the forest and killed, and his lungs and liver be brought back as proof. The man who takes him kills a dog instead. The boy wanders the forest for five years until he comes to a cottage, where an old man, who was once the hairy man, lived. There he stayed for two years, until he wanted to go on. The man gave him a golden apple, which contained a golden staff and a golden-maned horse; a silver apple, which contained a silver staff and hussars; and a copper apple, which contained a copper staff and footsoldiers. He took service with a king.
One day, the king, who had a small army, was threatened by another. The boy used the apples to make reinforcements for the king. The youngest princess gave him a ring, and his sister gave him half her handkerchief. The prince's men destroyed the enemy so thoroughly that only two lived, and them because they were wanted as messengers. He had fallen in love with the youngest princess, and she with him, so he gave her the copper apple. The princess guessed who he was, and had his room searching, which turned up the ring and the half handkerchief. When the king heard he was a prince, he married him to his youngest daughter.
