Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 20 Looking for the Prince of the Longevity Kingdom

Chapter 20 Looking for the Prince of the Longevity Kingdom (1)
Once upon a time there was a city in the middle of a great country, and in the city was a palace, and in the palace was a king.The king had a son, and he thought his son was the wisest.Indeed, the king spared no effort to make him so.When he was a boy, the king had chosen his governess carefully.When the prince was a teenager, the king made him travel so he could see how other people lived.

Now, a year had passed since the prince returned from his travels, and his father felt it was time for him to learn how to rule the kingdom, which would be his sooner or later.But the prince's personality appears to have completely changed during his long-term odyssey.He went from a happy, carefree boy to a brooding, brooding man.

The king didn't know what caused this change, and he was anxious about it all day long, and finally he thought of a reason-the young son must have fallen in love!
The prince never talked about his feelings—he never talked about such things.Father knew that to find out why the prince was depressed, he would have to think of something else.One day, after eating, he took his son's arm and led him to another room full of beautiful portraits.The girls in the portraits are getting prettier one by one.

"Dear son," said he, "you are unhappy, perhaps after that wandering, and you find it dull to live alone with me. It would be much better if you would marry, which I have collected here. Portraits of some of the most beautiful women in the world who are like you. Choose one of them to be your wife, and I will send envoys to her father to propose marriage to her."

"Alas, my lord," replied the prince, "it is neither love nor marriage that makes me so melancholy, but the thought that haunts me day and night, that all men, even kings, must die. I am only happy in the country where I know what death is. I decided to devote the rest of my life to it until I find the country of longevity."

The king listened dejectedly to his words, and things were worse than he had expected.He tried to convince his son, told him that he had been looking forward to his return all these years, so that he could leave the throne and put aside the worries that weighed on him.But his conversation failed, and the prince could not listen to anything, and next morning he took up his sword and set out on a journey.

He traveled for many days and left his home country.One day, he found a big tree by the side of the road, and an eagle was standing on the top branch of the tree, shaking the branch with all his strength.It looked very odd, not like the behavior of an eagle, and the Prince stopped short in surprise.The eagle saw him and flew down to the ground.The moment the paw touched the ground, it suddenly became a king.

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked.

"I wonder why you shake the branch so violently," answered the Prince.

"I can't help it, because I and my family can die only after I uproot this big tree," replied the Eagle King, "but it's evening now, and I don't have to work today. Come back with me Go to my house and be a guest at my house tonight."

The Prince gratefully accepted the Eagle King's invitation, already tired and hungry.They were received in the palace by the Eagle King's fair daughter, and she ordered supper to be brought to them at once.While they were eating, the Eagle King inquired about his guest's travels, whether he was wandering for pleasure or for a special purpose.Then the Prince told him all, and said that he would never return until he had found the Land of Immortality.

"My dear brother," said the Eagle King, "you have found it, and I am glad to think that you will stay with us. Didn't you hear me say that before that tree was uprooted, death was a death to me and Ben?" Is the family powerless? I need to work hard for 600 years to unplug it. So, marry my daughter and let us live happily here together. 600 years is a long life after all!"

"Ah, my dear king," answered the young man, "your proposal is very tempting! But in 600 years we will still be dead, so that will not be much better! No, I must keep looking until I find a place where there is no death at all." until the kingdom."

So the princess spoke, and she tried to persuade the guest to change his mind, but he shook his head sadly.At last, seeing that he had made up his mind, she took from a cupboard a little box with her picture in it, gave it to him, and said:

"Since you don't want to be with us, prince, just accept this box, it will remind you of us often. Before you find the land of immortality, when you are tired from traveling, open it and look at my portrait, it will Carrying you on the ground or in the air, it gallops like a whirlwind."

The Prince thanked her, put the gift in his long jacket, and said goodbye sadly to the Eagle King and his daughter.

There was no gift in the world more useful than the little box, and he was grateful for the princess' kind attention.One night the box carried him to the top of a high mountain.There he saw a bald man busily shoveling shovelfuls of dirt into a basket.When the basket was full he would carry it away, come back with an empty basket, and shovel it full again.The prince stopped and looked at him for a while, and at last the bald man raised his head and said to him:
"My dear brother, what surprised you so much?"

"I don't understand why you put soil in the basket," replied the prince.

"Oh!" replied the man, "I had to, because my family and I could die only after I dug up the whole mountain and made it equal to the plain. But, well, it's getting dark, and I No more work." He plucked a leaf from a nearby tree, and in an instant he was transformed from a rough digger into a noble bald king. "Come home with me," said he, "you must be tired and hungry, and my daughter will prepare supper for us." The prince accepted the invitation with joy, and they returned to the palace.They were met at the door by the bald King's daughter, more beautiful than all the princesses who had been before, and led them into a hall to a table covered with silver platters.While they were eating, the bald king asked the prince why he had wandered here.The young man told him everything, and said that he was looking for the land of immortality. "You have found it," replied the King, "for my family and I will die after I have dug this mountain, and that will take more than 800 years. Live here with us and marry my daughter. 800 years is really long enough."

"Oh, of course," replied the Prince, "but I would like to seek places where there is no death at all."

So next morning, in spite of the princess's best efforts to beg the prince to stay, he took their leave of them.Seeing that she could not convince him, the princess gave him a gold ring as a souvenir.This ring is more useful than the previous box, for it will take you wherever you think of it, without even the trouble of flying through the air.The prince put it on his finger, thanked her heartily, and went on his way.

He walked a little way on, and then he remembered the ring, and thought he might try it to see if it really had the power the princess said it had. "I want to go to the end of the world." He closed his eyes and said, when he opened them, he was already standing on a street full of marble palaces.The people who passed before him were tall, strong, and richly dressed.He stopped several people and asked what the name of the city was in 27 languages ​​he knew, but no one answered him.So his mood fell down.What could he do in this strange city if no one could understand him?Suddenly, his eyes fell on a man dressed like a native of his own country, and he ran to him and spoke to him in his native language. "What city is this, my friend?" he asked.

"This is the capital of the country of Blue," answered the man, "but the king is dead, and now his daughter is the ruler of the country."

The prince was pleased with this news, and asked his countryman to show him the way to the palace of the young queen.

The man led him through several streets and into a large square.One side of the square was occupied by a magnificent building, which seemed to be supported on slender pale green marble columns.In front of it is a set of steps, on which the queen, covered in a gleaming veil of milky silver thread, listens to the complaints of her subjects and seeks justice for them.The prince stepped forward, and she saw at once that he was no idler, and told the attendants to dismiss the petitioners who had come that day.

She motioned the prince to follow her into the palace.Fortunately, she had learned their country's language as a child, so they had no trouble talking together.

The prince told her all his experiences, and how he had traveled to find the Land of Eternal Life.As soon as he had finished speaking, the absorbed Princess rose, took him by the arm, and led him to the door of another room.

The floor of that room was lined with needles, and they were so closely spaced that there was no space for another needle to be inserted.

(End of this chapter)

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