“Well, do not be in a hurry,” continued the queen, understanding that
he would not be prevented. “Wait till I make some preparations for your
journey.” So she unlocked her great treasure chest, and took out two
beautiful flasks, one of gold and one of silver, which she hung round
his neck. Then she showed him a little trap-door in one corner of the
room, and said: “Fill the silver flask with this water, which is below
the trap-door. It is enchanted, and whoever you sprinkle with the water
will become a dead man at once, even if he had lived a thousand years.
The golden flask you must fill with the water here,” she added,
pointing to a well in another corner. “It springs from the rock of
eternity; you have only to sprinkle a few drops on a body and it will
come to life again, if it had been a thousand years dead.”
The prince thanked the queen for her gifts, and, bidding her farewell,
went on his journey.
He soon arrived in the town where the mist-veiled queen reigned in her
palace, but the whole city had changed, and he could scarcely find his
way through the streets. In the palace itself all was still, and he
wandered through the rooms without meeting anyone to stop him. At last
he entered the queen’s own chamber, and there she lay, with her
embroidery still in her hands, fast asleep. He pulled at her dress, but
she did not waken. Then a dreadful idea came over him, and he ran to
the chamber where the needles had been kept, but it was quite empty.
The queen had broken the last over the work she held in her hand, and
with it the spell was broken too, and she lay dead.
Quick as thought the prince pulled out the golden flask, and sprinkled
some drops of the water over the queen. In a moment she moved gently,
and raising her head, opened her eyes.
“Oh, my dear friend, I am so glad you wakened me; I must have slept a
long while!”
“You would have slept till eternity,” answered the prince, “if I had
not been here to waken you.”
At these words the queen remembered about the needles. She knew now
that she had been dead, and that the prince had restored her to life.
She gave him thanks from her heart for what he had done, and vowed she
would repay him if she ever got a chance.
The prince took his leave, and set out for the country of the
bald-headed king. As he drew near the place he saw that the whole
mountain had been dug away, and that the king was lying dead on the
ground, his spade and bucket beside him. But as soon as the water from
the golden flask touched him he yawned and stretched himself, and
slowly rose to his feet. “Oh, my dear friend, I am so glad to see you,”
cried he, “I must have slept a long while!”
“You would have slept till eternity if I had not been here to waken
you,” answered the prince. And the king remembered the mountain, and
the spell, and vowed to repay the service if he ever had a chance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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