Big Book of Ancient Gabanian Fables

Book CLV: The Water of Life

There was once a king who had an illness, and no one believed that hewould come out of it with his life. He had three sons who were muchdistressed about it, and went down into the palace-garden and wept.There they met an old man who inquired as to the cause of theirgrief. They told him that their father was so ill that he would mostcertainly die, for nothing seemed to cure him. Then the old mansaid, "I know of one more remedy, and that is the water of life. Ifhe drinks of it he will become well again, but it is hard to find."The eldest said, "I will manage to find it." And went to the sickking, and begged to be allowed to go forth in search of the water oflife, for that alone could save him. "No," said the king, "thedanger of it is too great. I would rather die."But he begged so long that the king consented. The prince thought inhis heart, "If I bring the water, then I shall be best beloved of myfather, and shall inherit the kingdom." So he set out, and when hehad ridden forth a little distance, a dwarf stood there in the roadwho called to him and said, "Whither away so fast?" "Silly shrimp,"said the prince, very haughtily, "it is nothing to do with you." Androde on. But the little dwarf had grown angry, and had wished anevil wish. Soon after this the prince entered a ravine, and thefurther he rode the closer the mountains drew together, and at lastthe road became so narrow that he could not advance a step further.It was impossible either to turn his horse or to dismount from thesaddle, and he was shut in there as if in prison. The sick kingwaited long for him, but he came not.Then the second son said, "father, let me go forth to seek thewater." And thought to himself, "If my brother is dead, then thekingdom will fall to me." At first the king would not allow him to goeither, but at last he yielded, so the prince set out on the sameroad that his brother had taken, and he too met the dwarf, whostopped him to ask whither he was going in such haste. "Littleshrimp," said the prince, "that is nothing to do with you." And rodeon without giving him another look. But the dwarf bewitched him, andhe, like the other, rode into a ravine, and could neither go forwardsnor backwards. So fare haughty people.As the second son also remained away, the youngest begged to beallowed to go forth to fetch the water, and at last the king wasobliged to let him go. When he met the dwarf and the latter askedhim whither he was going in such haste, he stopped, gave him anexplanation, and said, "I am seeking the water of life, for my fatheris sick unto death.""Do you know, then, where that is to be found?""No," said the prince."As you have borne yourself as is seemly, and not haughtily like yourfalse brothers, I will give you the information and tell you how youmay obtain the water of life. It springs from a fountain in thecourtyard of an enchanted castle, but you will not be able to makeyour way to it, if I do not give you an iron wand and two smallloaves of bread. Strike thrice with the wand on the iron door of thecastle and it will spring open, inside lie two lions with gapingjaws, but if you throw a loaf to each of them, they will be quieted.Then hasten to fetch some of the water of life before the clockstrikes twelve else the door will shut again, and you will beimprisoned."The prince thanked him, took the wand and the bread, and set out onhis way. When he arrived, everything was as the dwarf had said. Thedoor sprang open at the third stroke of the wand, and when he hadappeased the lions with the bread, he entered the castle, and came toa large and splendid hall, wherein sat some enchanted princes whoserings he drew off their fingers. A sword and a loaf of bread werelying there, which he carried away. After this, he entered achamber, in which was a beautiful maiden who rejoiced when she sawhim, kissed him, and told him that he had set her free, and shouldhave the whole of her kingdom, and that if he would return in a yeartheir wedding should be celebrated. Likewise she told him where thespring of the water of life was, and that he was to hasten and drawsome of it before the clock struck twelve. Then he went onwards, andat last entered a room where there was a beautiful newly-made bed,and as he was very weary, he felt inclined to rest a little. So helay down and fell asleep.When he awoke, it was striking a quarter to twelve. He sprang up ina fright, ran to the spring, drew some water in a cup which stoodnear, and hastened away. But just as he was passing through the irondoor, the clock struck twelve, and the door fell to with suchviolence that it carried away a piece of his heel.He, however, rejoicing at having obtained the water of life, wenthomewards, and again passed the dwarf. When the latter saw the swordand the loaf, he said, "With these you have won great wealth, withthe sword you can slay whole armies, and the bread will never come toan end." But the prince would not go home to his father without hisbrothers, and said, "Dear dwarf, can you not tell me where my twobrothers are? They went out before I did in search of the water oflife, and have not returned.""They are imprisoned between two mountains," said the dwarf. "I havecondemned them to stay there, because they were so haughty." Then theprince begged until the dwarf released them, but he warned him andsaid, "Beware of them, for they have bad hearts." When his brotherscame, he rejoiced, and told them how things had gone with him, thathe had found the water of life and had brought a cupful away withhim, and had rescued a beautiful princess, who was willing to wait ayear for him, and then their wedding was to be celebrated and hewould obtain a great kingdom.After that they rode on together, and chanced upon a land where warand famine reigned, and the king already thought he must perish, forthe scarcity was so great. Then the prince went to him and gave himthe loaf, wherewith he fed and satisfied the whole of his kingdom,and then the prince gave him the sword also wherewith he slew thehosts of his enemies, and could now live in rest and peace. Theprince then took back his loaf and his sword, and the three brothersrode on. But after this they entered two more countries where warand famine reigned and each time the prince gave his loaf and hissword to the kings, and had now delivered three kingdoms, and afterthat they went on board a ship and sailed over the sea. During thepassage, the two eldest conversed apart and said, "The youngest hasfound the water of life and not we, for that our father will give himthe kingdom - the kingdom which belongs to us, and he will rob us ofall our fortune." They then began to seek revenge, and plotted witheach other to destroy him. They waited until they found him fastasleep, then they poured the water of life out of the cup, and tookit for themselves, but into the cup they poured salt sea-water.Now therefore, when they arrived home, the youngest took his cup tothe sick king in order that he might drink out of it, and be cured.But scarcely had he drunk a very little of the salt sea-water than hebecame still worse than before. And as he was lamenting over this,the two eldest brothers came, and accused the youngest of havingintended to poison him, and said that they had brought him the truewater of life, and handed it to him. He had scarcely tasted it, whenhe felt his sickness departing, and became strong and healthy as inthe days of his youth.After that they both went to the youngest, mocked him, and said, "Youcertainly found the water of life, but you have had the pain, and wethe gain, you should have been cleverer, and should have kept youreyes open. We took it from you whilst you were asleep at sea, andwhen a year is over, one of us will go and fetch the beautifulprincess. But beware that you do not disclose aught of this to ourfather, indeed he does not trust you, and if you say a single word,you shall lose your life into the bargain, but if you keep silent,you shall have it as a gift."The old king was angry with his youngest son, and thought he hadplotted against his life. So he summoned the court together and hadsentence pronounced upon his son, that he should be secretly shot.And once when the prince was riding forth to the chase, suspecting noevil, the king's huntsman was told to go with him, and when they werequite alone in the forest, the huntsman looked so sorrowful that theprince said to him, "Dear huntsman, what ails you?" The huntsmansaid, "I cannot tell you, and yet I ought." Then the prince said,"Say openly what it is, I will pardon you." "Alas," said thehuntsman, "I am to shoot you dead, the king has ordered me to do it."Then the prince was shocked, and said, "Dear huntsman, let me live,there, I give you my royal garments, give me your common ones intheir stead." The huntsman said, "I will willingly do that, indeed Iwould not have been able to shoot you." Then they exchanged clothes,and the huntsman returned home, while the prince went further intothe forest.After a time three waggons of gold and precious stones came to theking for his youngest son, which were sent by the three kings who hadslain their enemies with the prince's sword, and maintained theirpeople with his bread, and who wished to show their gratitude for it.The old king then thought, "Can my son have been innocent?" And saidto his people, "Would that he were still alive, how it grieves methat I have suffered him to be killed." "He still lives," said thehuntsman, "I could not find it in my heart to carry out yourcommand." And told the king how it had happened. Then a stone fellfrom the king's heart, and he had it proclaimed in every country thathis son might return and be taken into favor again.The princess, however, had a road made up to her palace which wasquite bright and golden, and told her people that whosoever cameriding straight along it to her, would be the right one and was to beadmitted, and whoever rode by the side of it, was not the right oneand was not to be admitted.As the time was now close at hand, the eldest thought he would hastento go to the king's daughter, and give himself out as her rescuer,and thus win her for his bride, and the kingdom to boot. Thereforehe rode forth, and when he arrived in front of the palace, and sawthe splendid golden road, he thought, it would be a sin and a shameif I were to ride over that. And turned aside, and rode on the rightside of it. But when he came to the door, the servants told him thathe was not the right one, and was to go away again.Soon after this the second prince set out, and when he came to thegolden road, and his horse had put one foot on it, he thought, itwould be a sin and a shame, a piece might be trodden off. And heturned aside and rode on the left side of it, and when he reached thedoor, the attendants told him he was not the right one, and he was togo away again.When at last the year had entirely expired, the third son likewisewished to ride out of the forest to his beloved, and with her forgethis sorrows. So he set out and thought of her so incessantly, andwished to be with her so much, that he never noticed the golden roadat all. So his horse rode onwards up the middle of it, and when hecame to the door, it was opened and the princess received him withjoy, and said he was her saviour, and lord of the kingdom, and theirwedding was celebrated with great rejoicing. When it was over shetold him that his father invited him to come to him, and had forgivenhim.So he rode thither, and told him everything, how his brothers hadbetrayed him, and how he had nevertheless kept silence. The old kingwished to punish them, but they had put to sea, and never came backas long as they lived.