Read Snowdrop & Other Tales Page 23


  The Water of Life

  There was once a King who was so ill that it was thought impossiblehis life could be saved. He had three sons, and they were all in greatdistress on his account, and they went into the castle gardens andwept at the thought that he must die. An old man came up to them andasked the cause of their grief. They told him that their father wasdying, and nothing could save him. The old man said, 'There is onlyone remedy which I know; it is the Water of Life. If he drinks of it,he will recover, but it is very difficult to find.'

  The eldest son said, 'I will soon find it'; and he went to the sickman to ask permission to go in search of the Water of Life, as thatwas the only thing to cure him.

  'No,' said the King. 'The danger is too great. I would rather die.'

  But he persisted so long that at last the King gave his permission.

  The Prince thought, 'If I bring this water I shall be the favourite,and I shall inherit the kingdom.'

  So he set off, and when he had ridden some distance he came upon aDwarf standing in the road, who cried, 'Whither away so fast?'

  'Stupid little fellow,' said the Prince, proudly; 'what business is itof yours?' and rode on.

  The little man was very angry, and made an evil vow.

  Soon after, the Prince came to a gorge in the mountains, and thefurther he rode the narrower it became, till he could go no further.His horse could neither go forward nor turn round for him to dismount;so there he sat, jammed in.

  The sick King waited a long time for him, but he never came back.Then the second son said, 'Father, let me go and find the Water ofLife,' thinking, 'if my brother is dead I shall have the kingdom.'

  The King at first refused to let him go, but at last he gave hisconsent. So the Prince started on the same road as his brother, andmet the same Dwarf, who stopped him and asked where he was going insuch a hurry.

  'Little Snippet, what does it matter to you?' he said, and rode awaywithout looking back.

  But the Dwarf cast a spell over him, and he, too, got into a narrowgorge like his brother, where he could neither go backwards norforwards.

  This is what happens to the haughty.

  As the second son also stayed away, the youngest one offered to go andfetch the Water of Life, and at last the King was obliged to let himgo.

  When he met the Dwarf, and he asked him where he was hurrying to, hestopped and said, 'I am searching for the Water of Life, because myfather is dying.'

  'Do you know where it is to be found?'

  'No,' said the Prince.

  'As you have spoken pleasantly to me, and not been haughty like yourfalse brothers, I will help you and tell you how to find the Water ofLife. It flows from a fountain in the courtyard of an enchantedcastle; but you will never get in unless I give you an iron rod andtwo loaves of bread. With the rod strike three times on the iron gateof the castle, and it will spring open. Inside you will find two Lionswith wide-open jaws, but if you throw a loaf to each they will bequiet. Then you must make haste to fetch the Water of Life before itstrikes twelve, or the gates of the castle will close and you will beshut in.'

  The Prince thanked him, took the rod and the loaves, and set off. Whenhe reached the castle all was just as the Dwarf had said. At the thirdknock the gate flew open, and when he had pacified the Lions with theloaves, he walked into the castle. In the great hall he found severalenchanted Princes, and he took the rings from their fingers. He alsotook a sword and a loaf, which were lying by them. On passing into thenext room he found a beautiful Maiden, who rejoiced at his coming. Sheembraced him, and said that he had saved her, and should have thewhole of her kingdom; and if he would come back in a year she wouldmarry him. She also told him where to find the fountain with theenchanted water; but, she said, he must make haste to get out of thecastle before the clock struck twelve.

  Then he went on, and came to a room where there was a beautiful bedfreshly made, and as he was very tired he thought he would take alittle rest; so he lay down and fell asleep. When he woke it wasstriking a quarter to twelve. He sprang up in a fright, and ran to thefountain, and took some of the water in a cup which was lying near,and then hurried away. The clock struck just as he reached the irongate, and it banged so quickly that it took off a bit of his heel.

  He was rejoiced at having got some of the Water of Life, and hastenedon his homeward journey. He again passed the Dwarf, who said, when hesaw the sword and the loaf, 'Those things will be of much service toyou. You will be able to strike down whole armies with the sword, andthe loaf will never come to an end.'

  The Prince did not want to go home without his brothers, and he said,'Good Dwarf, can you not tell me where my brothers are? They went insearch of the Water of Life before I did, but they never came back.'

  'They are both stuck fast in a narrow mountain gorge. I cast a spellover them because of their pride.'

  Then the Prince begged so hard that they might be released that atlast the Dwarf yielded; but he warned him against them, and said,'Beware of them; they have bad hearts.'

  {Good Dwarf, can you not tell me where my brothers are?}]

  He was delighted to see his brothers when they came back, and toldthem all that had happened to him; how he had found the Water ofLife, and brought a goblet full with him. How he had released abeautiful Princess, who would wait a year for him and then marry him,and he would become a great Prince.

  Then they rode away together, and came to a land where famine and warwere raging. The King thought he would be utterly ruined, so great wasthe destitution.

  The Prince went to him and gave him the loaf, and with it he fed andsatisfied his whole kingdom. The Prince also gave him his sword, andhe smote the whole army of his enemies with it, and then he was ableto live in peace and quiet. Then the Prince took back his sword andhis loaf, and the three brothers rode on. But they had to pass throughtwo more countries where war and famine were raging, and each time thePrince gave his sword and his loaf to the King, and in this way hesaved three kingdoms.

  After that they took a ship and crossed the sea. During the passagethe two elder brothers said to each other, 'Our youngest brother foundthe Water of Life, and we did not, so our father will give him thekingdom which we ought to have, and he will take away our fortune fromus.'

  This thought made them very vindictive, and they made up their mindsto get rid of him. They waited till he was asleep, and then theyemptied the Water of Life from his goblet and took it themselves, andfilled up his cup with salt sea water.

  As soon as they got home the youngest Prince took his goblet to theKing, so that he might drink of the water which was to make him well;but after drinking only a few drops of the sea water he became moreill than ever. As he was bewailing himself, his two elder sons came tohim and accused the youngest of trying to poison him, and said thatthey had the real Water of Life, and gave him some. No sooner had hedrunk it than he felt better, and he soon became as strong and well ashe had been in his youth.

  Then the two went to their youngest brother, and mocked him, saying,'It was you who found the Water of Life; you had all the trouble,while we have the reward. You should have been wiser, and kept youreyes open; we stole it from you while you were asleep on the ship.When the end of the year comes, one of us will go and bring away thebeautiful Princess. But don't dare to betray us. Our father willcertainly not believe you, and if you say a single word you will loseyour life; your only chance is to keep silence.'

  The old King was very angry with his youngest son, thinking that hehad tried to take his life. So he had the Court assembled to givejudgment upon him, and it was decided that he must be secretly got outof the way.

  One day when the Prince was going out hunting, thinking no evil, theKing's Huntsman was ordered to go with him. Seeing the Huntsman looksad, the Prince said to him, 'My good Huntsman, what is the matterwith you?'

  The Huntsman answered, 'I can't bear to tell you, and yet I must.'

  The Prince said, 'Say it out; whatever it is I will forgive you.'

/>   'Alas!' said the Huntsman, 'I am to shoot you dead; it is the King'scommand.'

  The Prince was horror-stricken, and said, 'Dear Huntsman, do not killme, give me my life. Let me have your dress, and you shall have myroyal robes.'

  The Huntsman said, 'I will gladly do so; I could never have shot you.'So they changed clothes, and the Huntsman went home, but the Princewandered away into the forest.

  After a time three wagon loads of gold and precious stones came to theKing for his youngest son. They were sent by the Kings who had beensaved by the Prince's sword and his miraculous loaf, and who nowwished to show their gratitude.

  Then the old King thought, 'What if my son really was innocent?' andsaid to his people, 'If only he were still alive! How sorry I am thatI ordered him to be killed.'

  'He is still alive,' said the Huntsman. 'I could not find it in myheart to carry out your commands,' and he told the King what had takenplace.

  A load fell from the King's heart on hearing the good news, and hesent out a proclamation to all parts of his kingdom that his son wasto come home, where he would be received with great favour.

  In the meantime, the Princess had caused a road to be made of pureshining gold leading to her castle, and told her people that whoevercame riding straight along it would be the true bridegroom, and theywere to admit him. But any one who came either on one side of the roador the other would not be the right one, and he was not to be let in.

  When the year had almost passed, the eldest Prince thought that hewould hurry to the Princess, and by giving himself out as herdeliverer would gain a wife and a kingdom as well. So he rode away,and when he saw the beautiful golden road he thought it would be athousand pities to ride upon it; so he turned aside, and rode to theright of it. But when he reached the gate the people told him that hewas not the true bridegroom, and he had to go away.

  Soon after the second Prince came, and when he saw the golden road hethought it would be a thousand pities for his horse to tread upon it;so he turned aside, and rode up on the left of it. But when he reachedthe gate he was also told that he was not the true bridegroom, and,like his brother, was turned away.

  When the year had quite come to an end, the third Prince came out ofthe wood to ride to his beloved, and through her to forget all hispast sorrows. So on he went, thinking only of her, and wishing to bewith her; and he never even saw the golden road. His horse canteredright along the middle of it, and when he reached the gate it wasflung open and the Princess received him joyfully, and called him herDeliverer, and the Lord of her Kingdom. Their marriage was celebratedwithout delay, and with much rejoicing. When it was over, she told himthat his father had called him back and forgiven him. So he went tohim and told him everything; how his brothers had deceived him, andhow they had forced him to keep silence. The old King wanted to punishthem, but they had taken a ship and sailed away over the sea, and theynever came back as long as they lived.

  {A dwarf.}]