The Prince and the Three Fates

The Prince and the Three Fates

Once upon a time a little boy was born to a king who ruled over a great

country through which ran a wide river. The king was nearly beside

himself with joy, for he had always longed for a son to inherit his

crown, and he sent messages to beg all the most powerful fairies to

come and see this wonderful baby. In an hour or two, so many were

gathered round the cradle, that the child seemed in danger of being

smothered; but the king, who was watching the fairies eagerly, was

disturbed to see them looking grave. “Is there anything the matter?” he

asked anxiously.

The fairies looked at him, and all shook their heads at once.

“He is a beautiful boy, and it is a great pity; but what IS to happen

WILL happen,” said they. “It is written in the books of fate that he

must die, either by a crocodile, or a serpent, or by a dog. If we could

save him we would; but that is beyond our power.”

And so saying they vanished.

For a time the king stood where he was, horror-stricken at what he had

heard; but, being of a hopeful nature, he began at once to invent plans

to save the prince from the dreadful doom that awaited him. He

instantly sent for his master builder, and bade him construct a strong

castle on the top of a mountain, which should be fitted with the most

precious things from the king’s own palace, and every kind of toy a

child could wish to play with. And, besides, he gave the strictest

orders that a guard should walk round the castle night and day.

For four or five years the baby lived in the castle alone with his

nurses, taking his airings on the broad terraces, which were surrounded

by walls, with a moat beneath them, and only a drawbridge to connect

them with the outer world.

One day, when the prince was old enough to run quite fast by himself,

he looked from the terrace across the moat, and saw a little soft

fluffy ball of a dog jumping and playing on the other side. Now, of

course, all dogs had been kept from him for fear that the fairies’

prophecy should come true, and he had never even beheld one before. So

he turned to the page who was walking behind him, and said:

“What is that funny little thing which is running so fast over there?”

“That is a dog, prince,” answered the page.

“Well, bring me one like it, and we will see which can run the faster.”

And he watched the dog till it had disappeared round the corner.

The page was much puzzled to know what to do. He had strict orders to

refuse the prince nothing; yet he remembered the prophecy, and felt

that this was a serious matter. At last he thought he had better tell

the king the whole story, and let him decide the question.

“Oh, get him a dog if he wants one,” said the king, “he will only cry

his heart out if he does not have it.” So a puppy was found, exactly

like the other; they might have been twins, and perhaps they were.

Years went by, and the boy and the dog played together till the boy

grew tall and strong. The time came at last when he sent a message to

his father, saying:

“Why do you keep me shut up here, doing nothing? I know all about the

prophecy that was made at my birth, but I would far rather be killed at

once than live an idle, useless life here. So give me arms, and let me

go, I pray you; me and my dog too.”

And again the king listened to his wishes, and he and his dog were

carried in a ship to the other side of the river, which was so broad

here it might almost have been the sea. A black horse was waiting for

him, tied to a tree, and he mounted and rode away wherever his fancy

took him, the dog always at his heels. Never was any prince so happy as

he, and he rode and rode till at length he came to a king’s palace.

The king who lived in it did not care about looking after his country,

and seeing that his people lived cheerful and contented lives. He spent

his whole time in making riddles, and inventing plans which he had much

better have let alone. At the period when the young prince reached the

kingdom he had just completed a wonderful house for his only child, a

daughter. It had seventy windows, each seventy feet from the ground,

and he had sent the royal herald round the borders of the neighbouring

kingdoms to proclaim that whoever could climb up the walls to the

window of the princess should win her for his wife.

The fame of the princess’s beauty had spread far and wide, and there

was no lack of princes who wished to try their fortune. Very funny the

palace must have looked each morning, with the dabs of different colour

on the white marble as the princes were climbing up the walls. But

though some managed to get further than others, nobody was anywhere

near the top.

They had already been spending several days in this manner when the

young prince arrived, and as he was pleasant to look upon, and civil to

talk to, they welcomed him to the house, which had been given to them,

and saw that his bath was properly perfumed after his long journey.

“Where do you come from?” they said at last. “And whose son are you?”

But the young prince had reasons for keeping his own secret, and he

answered:

“My father was master of the horse to the king of my country, and after

my mother died he married another wife. At first all went well, but as

soon as she had babies of her own she hated me, and I fled, lest she

should do me harm.”

The hearts of the other young men were touched as soon as they heard

this story, and they did everything they could think of to make him

forget his past sorrows.

“What are you doing here?” said the youth, one day.

“We spend our whole time climbing up the walls of the palace, trying to

reach the windows of the princess,” answered the young men; “but, as

yet, no one has reached within ten feet of them.”

“Oh, let me try too,” cried the prince; “but to-morrow I will wait and

see what you do before I begin.

So the next day he stood where he could watch the young men go up, and

he noted the places on the wall that seemed most difficult, and made up

his mind that when his turn came he would go up some other way.

Day after day he was to be seen watching the wooers, till, one morning,

he felt that he knew the plan of the walls by heart, and took his place

by the side of the others. Thanks to what he had learned from the

failure of the rest, he managed to grasp one little rough projection

after another, till at last, to the envy of his friends, he stood on

the sill of the princess’s window. Looking up from below, they saw a

white hand stretched forth to draw him in.

Then one of the young men ran straight to the king’s palace, and said:

“The wall has been climbed, and the prize is won!”

“By whom?” cried the king, starting up from his throne; “which of the

princes may I claim as my son-in-law?”

“The youth who succeeded in climbing to the princess’s window is not a

prince at all,” answered the young man. “He is the son of the master of

the horse to the great king who dwells across the river, and he fled

from his own country to escape from the hatred of his stepmother.”

At this news the king was very angry, for it had never entered his head

that anyone BUT a prince would seek to woo his daughter.

“Let him go back to the land whence he came,” he shouted in wrath;

“does he expect me to give my daughter to an exile?” And he began to

smash the drinking vessels in his fury; indeed, he quite frightened the

young man, who ran hastily home to his friends, and told the youth what

the king had said.

Now the princess, who was leaning from her window, heard his words and

bade the messenger go back to the king her father and tell him that she

had sworn a vow never to eat or drink again if the youth was taken from

her. The king was more angry than ever when he received this message,

and ordered his guards to go at once to the palace and put the

successful wooer to death; but the princess threw herself between him

and his murderers.

“Lay a finger on him, and I shall be dead before sunset,” said she; and

as they saw that she meant it, they left the palace, and carried the

tale to her father.

By this time the king’s anger was dying away, and he began to consider

what his people would think of him if he broke the promise he had

publicly given. So he ordered the princess to be brought before him,

and the young man also, and when they entered the throne room he was so

pleased with the noble air of the victor that his wrath quite melted

away, and he ran to him and embraced him.

“Tell me who you are?” he asked, when he had recovered himself a

little, “for I will never believe that you have not royal blood in your

veins.”

But the prince still had his reasons for being silent, and only told

the same story. However, the king had taken such a fancy to the youth

that he said no more, and the marriage took place the following day,

and great herds of cattle and a large estate were given to the young

couple.

After a little while the prince said to his wife: “My life is in the

hands of three creatures—a crocodile, a serpent, and a dog.”

“Ah, how rash you are!” cried the princess, throwing her arms round his

neck. “If you know that, how can you have that horrid beast about you?

I will give orders to have him killed at once.”

But the prince would not listen to her.

“Kill my dear little dog, who had been my playfellow since he was a

puppy?” exclaimed he. “Oh, never would I allow that.” And all that the

princess could get from him was that he would always wear a sword, and

have somebody with him when he left the palace.

When the prince and princess had been married a few months, the prince

heard that his stepmother was dead, and his father was old and ill, and

longing to have his eldest son by his side again. The young man could

not remain deaf to such a message, and he took a tender farewell of his

wife, and set out on his journey home. It was a long way, and he was

forced to rest often on the road, and so it happened that, one night,

when he was sleeping in a city on the banks of the great river, a huge

crocodile came silently up and made its way along a passage to the

prince’s room. Fortunately one of his guards woke up as it was trying

to steal past them, and shut the crocodile up in a large hall, where a

giant watched over it, never leaving the spot except during the night,

when the crocodile slept. And this went on for more than a month.

Now, when the prince found that he was not likely to leave his father’s

kingdom again, he sent for his wife, and bade the messenger tell her

that he would await her coming in the town on the banks of the great

river. This was the reason why he delayed his journey so long, and

narrowly escaped being eaten by the crocodile. During the weeks that

followed the prince amused himself as best he could, though he counted

the minutes to the arrival of the princess, and when she did come, he

at once prepared to start for the court. That very night, however,

while he was asleep, the princess noticed something strange in one of

the corners of the room. It was a dark patch, and seemed, as she

looked, to grow longer and longer, and to be moving slowly towards the

cushions on which the prince was lying. She shrank in terror, but,

slight as was the noise, the thing heard it, and raised its head to

listen. Then she saw it was the long flat head of a serpent, and the

recollection of the prophecy rushed into her mind. Without waking her

husband, she glided out of bed, and taking up a heavy bowl of milk

which stood on a table, laid it on the floor in the path of the

serpent—for she knew that no serpent in the world can resist milk. She

held her breath as the snake drew near, and watched it throw up its

head again as if it was smelling something nice, while its forky tongue

darted out greedily. At length its eyes fell upon the milk, and in an

instant it was lapping it so fast that it was a wonder the creature did

not choke, for it never took its head from the bowl as long as a drop

was left in it. After that it dropped on the ground and slept heavily.

This was what the princess had been waiting for, and catching up her

husband’s sword, she severed the snake’s head from its body.

The morning after this adventure the prince and princess set out for

the king’s palace, but found when they reached it, that he was already

dead. They gave him a magnificent burial, and then the prince had to

examine the new laws which had been made in his absence, and do a great

deal of business besides, till he grew quite ill from fatigue, and was

obliged to go away to one of his palaces on the banks of the river, in

order to rest. Here he soon got better, and began to hunt, and to shoot

wild duck with his bow; and wherever he went, his dog, now grown very

old, went with him.

One morning the prince and his dog were out as usual, and in chasing

their game they drew near the bank of the river. The prince was running

at full speed after his dog when he almost fell over something that

looked like a log of wood, which was lying in his path. To his surprise

a voice spoke to him, and he saw that the thing which he had taken for

a branch was really a crocodile.

“You cannot escape from me,” it was saying, when he had gathered his

senses again. “I am your fate, and wherever you go, and whatever you

do, you will always find me before you. There is only one means of

shaking off my power. If you can dig a pit in the dry sand which will

remain full of water, my spell will be broken. If not death will come

to you speedily. I give you this one chance. Now go.”

The young man walked sadly away, and when he reached the palace he shut

himself into his room, and for the rest of the day refused to see

anyone, not even his wife. At sunset, however, as no sound could be

heard through the door, the princess grew quite frightened, and made

such a noise that the prince was forced to draw back the bolt and let

her come in. “How pale you look,” she cried, “has anything hurt you?

Tell me, I pray you, what is the matter, for perhaps I can help!”

So the prince told her the whole story, and of the impossible task

given him by the crocodile.

“How can a sand hole remain full of water?” asked he. “Of course, it

will all run through. The crocodile called it a ‘chance’; but he might

as well have dragged me into the river at once. He said truly that I

cannot escape him.”

“Oh, if that is all,” cried the princess, “I can set you free myself,

for my fairy godmother taught me to know the use of plants and in the

desert not far from here there grows a little four-leaved herb which

will keep the water in the pit for a whole year. I will go in search of

it at dawn, and you can begin to dig the hole as soon as you like.

To comfort her husband, the princess had spoken lightly and gaily; but

she knew very well she had no light task before her. Still, she was

full of courage and energy, and determined that, one way or another,

her husband should be saved.

It was still starlight when she left the palace on a snow-white donkey,

and rode away from the river straight to the west. For some time she

could see nothing before her but a flat waste of sand, which became

hotter and hotter as the sun rose higher and higher. Then a dreadful

thirst seized her and the donkey, but there was no stream to quench it,

and if there had been she would hardly have had time to stop, for she

still had far to go, and must be back before evening, or else the

crocodile might declare that the prince had not fulfilled his

conditions. So she spoke cheering words to her donkey, who brayed in

reply, and the two pushed steadily on.

Oh! how glad they both were when they caught sight of a tall rock in

the distance. They forgot that they were thirsty, and that the sun was

hot; and the ground seemed to fly under their feet, till the donkey

stopped of its own accord in the cool shadow. But though the donkey

might rest the princess could not, for the plant, as she knew, grew on

the very top of the rock, and a wide chasm ran round the foot of it.

Luckily she had brought a rope with her, and making a noose at one end,

she flung it across with all her might. The first time it slid back

slowly into the ditch, and she had to draw it up, and throw it again,

but at length the noose caught on something, the princess could not see

what, and had to trust her whole weight to this little bridge, which

might snap and let her fall deep down among the rocks. And in that case

her death was as certain as that of the prince.

But nothing so dreadful happened. The princess got safely to the other

side, and then became the worst part of her task. As fast as she put

her foot on a ledge of the rock the stone broke away from under her,

and left her in the same place as before. Meanwhile the hours were

passing, and it was nearly noon.

The heart of the poor princess was filled with despair, but she would

not give up the struggle. She looked round till she saw a small stone

above her which seemed rather stronger than the rest, and by only

poising her foot lightly on those that lay between, she managed by a

great effort to reach it. In this way, with torn and bleeding hands,

she gained the top; but here such a violent wind was blowing that she

was almost blinded with dust, and was obliged to throw herself on the

ground, and feel about after the precious herb.

For a few terrible moments she thought that the rock was bare, and that

her journey had been to no purpose. Feel where she would, there was

nothing but grit and stones, when, suddenly, her fingers touched

something soft in a crevice. It was a plant, that was clear; but was it

the right one? See she could not, for the wind was blowing more

fiercely than ever, so she lay where she was and counted the leaves.

One, two, three—yes! yes! there were four! And plucking a leaf she held

it safe in her hand while she turned, almost stunned by the wind, to go

down the rock.

When once she was safely over the side all became still in a moment,

and she slid down the rock so fast that it was only a wonder that she

did not land in the chasm. However, by good luck, she stopped quite

close to her rope bridge and was soon across it. The donkey brayed

joyfully at the sight of her, and set off home at his best speed, never

seeming to know that the earth under his feet was nearly as hot as the

sun above him.

On the bank of the great river he halted, and the princess rushed up to

where the prince was standing by the pit he had digged in the dry sand,

with a huge water pot beside it. A little way off the crocodile lay

blinking in the sun, with his sharp teeth and whity-yellow jaws wide

open.

At a signal from the princess the prince poured the water in the hole,

and the moment it reached the brim the princess flung in the

four-leaved plant. Would the charm work, or would the water trickle

away slowly through the sand, and the prince fall a victim to that

horrible monster? For half an hour they stood with their eyes rooted to

the spot, but the hole remained as full as at the beginning, with the

little green leaf floating on the top. Then the prince turned with a

shout of triumph, and the crocodile sulkily plunged into the river.

The prince had escape for ever the second of his three fates!

He stood there looking after the crocodile, and rejoicing that he was

free, when he was startled by a wild duck which flew past them, seeking

shelter among the rushes that bordered the edge of the stream. In

another instant his dog dashed by in hot pursuit, and knocked heavily

against his master’s legs. The prince staggered, lost his balance and

fell backwards into the river, where the mud and the rushes caught him

and held him fast. He shrieked for help to his wife, who came running;

and luckily brought her rope with her. The poor old dog was drowned,

but the prince was pulled to shore. “My wife,” he said, “has been

stronger than my fate.”

[Adapted from Les Contes Populaires de l’Egypte Ancienne.]