Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Fairy tales
He was delighted to see his brothers when they came back, and told
them all that had happened to him; how he had found the Water of
Life, and brought a goblet full with him. How he had released a
beautiful 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 war
were raging. The King thought he would be utterly ruined, so great was
the destitution.
The Prince went to him and gave him the loaf, and with it he fed and
satisfied his whole kingdom. The Prince also gave him his sword, and
he smote the whole army of his enemies with it, and then he was able
to live in peace and quiet. Then the Prince took back his sword and
his loaf, and the three brothers rode on. But they had to pass through
two more countries where war and famine were raging, and each time the
Prince gave his sword and his loaf to the King, and in this way he
saved three kingdoms.
After that they took a ship and crossed the sea. During the passage
the two elder brothers said to each other, 'Our youngest brother found
the Water of Life, and we did not, so our father will give him the
kingdom which we ought to have, and he will take away our fortune from
us.'
This thought made them very vindictive, and they made up their minds
to get rid of him. They waited till he was asleep, and then they
emptied the Water of Life from his goblet and took it themselves, and
filled up his cup with salt sea water.
As soon as they got home the youngest Prince took his goblet to the
King, 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 more
ill than ever. As he was bewailing himself, his two elder sons came to
him and accused the youngest of trying to poison him, and said that
they had the real Water of Life, and gave him some. No sooner had he
drunk it than he felt better, and he soon became as strong and well as
he 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 your
eyes 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 the
beautiful Princess. But don't dare to betray us. Our father will
certainly not believe you, and if you say a single word you will lose
your life; your only chance is to keep silence.'
The old King was very angry with his youngest son, thinking that he
had tried to take his life. So he had the Court assembled to give
judgment upon him, and it was decided that he must be secretly got out
of the way.
One day when the Prince was going out hunting, thinking no evil, the
King's Huntsman was ordered to go with him. Seeing the Huntsman look
sad, the Prince said to him, 'My good Huntsman, what is the matter
with you?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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