When he had been at home for some days his mother wanted him to go up
to the palace, to show the King what a great man he had become.
The father said, ‘No; he must not do that, for if he does we shall have
no more delight in him this time;’ but he spoke in vain, for the mother
begged and prayed until at last he went.
When he arrived there he was more splendid, both in raiment and in all
else, than the other King, who did not like it, and said:
‘Well, you can see what kind of Queen mine is, but I can’t see yours. I
do not believe you have such a pretty Queen as I have.’
‘Would to heaven she were standing here, and then you would be able to
see!’ said the young King, and in an instant she was standing there.
But she was very sorrowful, and said to him, ‘Why didst thou not
remember my words, and listen only to what thy father said? Now must I
go home again at once, and thou hast wasted both thy wishes.’
Then she tied a ring in his hair, which had her name upon it, and
wished herself at home again.
And now the young King was deeply afflicted, and day out and day in
went about thinking of naught else but how to get back again to his
Queen. ‘I will try to see if there is any place where I can learn how
to find Whiteland,’ he thought, and journeyed forth out into the world.
When he had gone some distance he came to a mountain, where he met a
man who was Lord over all the beasts in the forest—for they all came to
him when he blew a horn which he had. So the King asked where Whiteland
was.
‘I do not know that,’ he answered, ‘but I will ask my beasts.’ Then he
blew his horn and inquired whether any of them knew where Whiteland
lay, but there was not one who knew that.
So the man gave him a pair of snow shoes. ‘When you have these on,’ he
said, ‘you will come to my brother, who lives hundreds of miles from
here; he is Lord over all the birds in the air—ask him. When you have
got there, just turn the shoes so that the toes point this way, and
then they will come home again of their own accord.’
When the King arrived there he turned the shoes as the Lord of the
beasts had bidden him, and they went back.
And now he once more asked after Whiteland, and the man summoned all
the birds together, and inquired if any of them knew where Whiteland
lay. No, none knew this. Long after the others there came an old eagle.
He had been absent ten whole years, but he too knew no more than the
rest.
‘Well, well,’ said the man, ‘then you shall have the loan of a pair of
snow shoes of mine. If you wear them you will get to my brother, who
lives hundreds of miles from here. He is Lord of all the fish in the
sea—you can ask him. But do not forget to turn the shoes round.’
The King thanked him, put on the shoes, and when he had got to him who
was Lord of all the fish in the sea, he turned the snow shoes round,
and back they went just as the others had gone, and he asked once more
where Whiteland was.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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