Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 21 Looking for the Prince of the Longevity Kingdom (2)
"Prince," she said, turning to him, "do you see these needles? You know, neither my family nor I will die until I wear them out in my sewing. It will take at least a thousand years to wear them out Time. Stay and reign with me, 1000 years is long enough!"

"Of course," he replied, "but I will still have to die in 1000 years! No, I must go to the place where there is no death."

The queen tried her best to persuade him to stay, but her words had no effect, and finally she had to give up.So, she said to him: "Since you don't want to stay, then accept this little golden stick as a souvenir. In times of crisis, it can become whatever you want it to be."

So the prince thanked her, put the stick in his pocket, and went on his way again.

As soon as he left the city, he came to a wide river, because he was standing at the end of the world, and this river went around the world for a week, so no one could cross it.He didn't know what to do next, so he walked along the river bank for a short distance.At this time, he found a beautiful city floating in the sky above his head.He wanted to go to that city very much, but how could he get there?There are no roads or bridges in sight.Yet the city fascinated him deeply.He felt he had finally found the city he was looking for.He suddenly remembered the golden rod that the queen in the milky white veil had given him.He dropped it on the ground, heart beating wildly, and desperately wished it would become a bridge, but feared it might be beyond the reach of the golden rod.But this is not the case, the golden rod is gone, replaced by a straight golden ladder leading to the city in the sky.He was about to enter the golden gate when a monster with many heads rushed at him.He had never seen such a monster. "Sword drawn," cried the Prince, stepping back with a cry.The sharp sword jumped out of the scabbard and cut off some of the monster's heads, but other heads grew back immediately.The prince's face was pale with fright, and he stood there yelling for help.

The queen of the city heard the commotion, and looked out of the window to see what was happening.She summoned a servant and told him to rescue the stranger and bring him to her.The prince gratefully obeyed her orders, and went to see the queen.

The moment the queen saw him, she also felt that he was not an ordinary person.She greeted him kindly, and asked him why he had come to this city.In order to answer this question, the Prince told her all his history, and how he had traveled for a long time and traveled a long way to find the Land of Immortality.

"You have found it," she said, "for I am the Queen of life and death. Here you can live among those who live forever."

A thousand years had passed since the prince first entered the city, but the thousand years passed so quickly that it seemed only six months.During these 1000 years, the prince has never been unhappy for a moment, until one night he dreamed of his parents, and the situation changed.Then the longing to go home came over him.The next morning he told the Queen of the Land of the Immortals that he had to go and see his parents again.The Queen stared at him in amazement and exclaimed:
"Ah, Prince, have you lost your mind? Your parents have been dead for more than 800 years! Even their remains are gone."

"I still have to go back," he said.

"Well, don't be in such a hurry," continued the queen, knowing that she could not stop him, "and wait until I have made some preparations for your trip." So she opened the huge treasure chest and took out two beautiful bottles, one gold and one silver.She hung them around his neck, and then, pointing out to him a small trapdoor in the floor in one corner of the room, she said, "The silver bottle is filled with water from under the trapdoor. The water is bewitched." , no matter who, even if he has lived for 1000 years, as long as you sprinkle this water on him, he will immediately become a dead person. You have to fill this water in the golden bottle," she pointed to another corner Another well said: "It comes from the stone of longevity, you only need to sprinkle a few drops on the bones, even if he has been dead for 1000 years, he can come back to life."

The prince thanked the queen for giving him the gift, said goodbye to her and started on his way.

Soon the prince came to the city ruled by the queen in milky white veil.The whole city had changed, and he could hardly find his way across the streets.It was very quiet in the palace, and no one came out to stop him as he wandered through the rooms.At last he entered the Queen's bedroom.The queen lay there asleep, still holding the embroidery.

He tugged at her clothes, but she didn't wake up.At that time, a terrible idea came to his mind. He ran to the room where the needles were stored, but there was nothing in it.When the queen was working on the embroidery in her hand, she broke the last needle, and the spell was broken, and she lay there dead.

The prince quickly took out the golden bottle, and sprinkled a few drops of water on the queen.Immediately she moved slightly, raised her head and opened her eyes.

"Oh, dear friend, I am so glad you woke me up. I must have slept a long time!"

"If I had not come here to wake you," answered the Prince, "you would have slept forever."

After hearing this, the queen thought of those needles.Now she understands that she is dead and that the prince brought her back to life.She thanked him sincerely for saving her life, and vowed to repay him at the first opportunity.

The prince left the palace and marched towards the country ruled by the bald king.As he approached the place, he saw that the whole mountain had been dug away, and the King lay dead on the ground, with the shovel and the basket beside him.As soon as the water in the golden bottle spilled on him, he yawned, stretched and slowly got up. "Oh, my dear friend, I am so glad to see you," he exclaimed, "I must have slept a long time!"

"If I had not come here to wake you, you would have slept forever," answered the Prince.Then the king remembered the mountain and the spell, and vowed to repay him for his help, as soon as he could.

The Prince went on along the road to his old home, and he found the great tree uprooted, and the Eagle King sitting dead on the ground, with his wings outstretched, as if ready to fly.As soon as the water from the golden pot was spilled on him, his wings flapped, and the eagle raised its beak from the ground and said, "Oh, I must have slept a long time! How can I thank you for waking me up, my dear?" good friend!"

"If I had not come here to wake you, you would have slept forever," answered the Prince.Then the King remembered the tree, and knowing that he was dead, promised to repay the Prince for all that he had done for him, as soon as he could.

At last he returned to the capital of his father's kingdom, to the spot where the palace had once stood, and the marble corridors in which he had often played were gone, and in their place was a great lake of sulphur, whose blue smoke rose into the air.How could he find his parents and bring them back to life if they were lying under that terrible lake?He left the lake sadly, turned and walked into the street, not knowing where he was going.

At this moment, a voice behind him shouted: "Stop, Prince, I finally caught you! I have been looking for you for 1000 years." An old man with a white beard, the God of Death, stood beside him.He took the ring off his finger at once, and the Eagle King, the Bald King, and the Milky Veiled Queen ran to his rescue.They seized Death at once, and held him fast, and did not let him go until the Prince had time to return to the Land of Immortality.But they don't know how fast death flies.No sooner had the Prince stepped into the borders of the Land of Immortality than he felt someone seize him from behind, and heard the voice of Death cry, "Stop! I've got you now."

The Queen of the Immortal Land was looking out of the window, and she said aloud to Death that he had no such power in her kingdom, and that he had to seek his prey elsewhere.

"You are right," replied Death, "but his foot is within my domain, and it is mine!"

"Half of him is mine at least," replied the Queen, "and what use is the other half to you? The half is neither to you nor to me! This time I grant you permission to step into my kingdom, we shall decide by betting Who does he belong to?"

That's how the matter was resolved.The god of death stepped over the thin rope that surrounded the place of immortality.The queen proposes a bet that will decide the prince's fate. "I threw him up into the sky," she said, "up to the stars, and if he falls inside the city, he's mine. If he falls outside the walls, he's yours."

There is a huge open-air square in the middle of the city, where the queen wants to bet.After everything was ready, she threw the prince into the sky.He flew up, flew up, high up into the stars where no one could see him.Did the Queen worry about throwing him straight into the sky?For if he had not been thrown straight up, he would have fallen over the walls, and she would have lost him forever.She and Reaper stood there staring at the sky, waiting to see whose prize the Prince would be for what seemed a long time.Suddenly, they both saw a small speck no bigger than a wasp in the blue sky overhead.Did he fall straight down?No!yes!But as he approached the city, a slight wind arose and blew him towards the walls.He was about to fall half in and half out of the city, and the queen leaped forward, took him in her arms, and threw him into the castle.Then she ordered her servants to throw Death out of the city, and they threw him out, and beat him so badly that he never dared to appear again in the Land of Eternal Life.

(End of this chapter)