by Howard Pyle
The Salt of Life.
Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, and by thetime that the youngest prince had down upon his chin the kinghad grown so old that the cares of the kingdom began to restover-heavily upon his shoulders. So he called his chief councillorand told him that he was of a mind to let the princes reign in hisstead. To the son who loved him the best he would give the largestpart of his kingdom, to the son who loved him the next best thenext part, and to the son who loved him the least the least part.The old councillor was very wise and shook his head, but theking’s mind had long been settled as to what he was about to do. Sohe called the princes to him one by one and asked each as to howmuch he loved him.
“I love you as a mountain of gold,” said the oldest prince, and theking was very pleased that his son should give him such love.
“I love you as a mountain of silver,” said the second prince, andthe king was pleased with that also.
But when the youngest prince was called, he did not answer atfirst, but thought and thought. At last he looked up. “I love you,”said he, “as I love salt.”
When the king heard what his youngest son said he was filled withanger. “What!” he cried, “do you love me no better than salt--astuff that is the most bitter of all things to the taste, and thecheapest and the commonest of all things in the world? Away withyou, and never let me see your face again! Henceforth you are noson of mine.”
The prince would have spoken, but the king would not allow him, andbade his guards thrust the young man forth from the room.
Now the queen loved the youngest prince the best of all her sons,and when she heard how the king was about to drive him forth intothe wide world to shift for himself, she wept and wept. “Ah, myson!” said she to him, “it is little or nothing that I have to giveyou. Nevertheless, I have one precious thing. Here is a ring; takeit and wear it always, for so long as you have it upon your fingerno magic can have power over you.”
Thus it was that the youngest prince set forth into the wide worldwith little or nothing but a ring upon his finger.
For seven days he travelled on, and knew not where he was going orwhither his footsteps led. At the end of that time he came to thegates of a town. The prince entered the gates, and found himself ina city the like of which he had never seen in his life before forgrandeur and magnificence--beautiful palaces and gardens, storesand bazaars crowded with rich stuffs of satin and silk and wroughtsilver and gold of cunningest workmanship; for the land to whichhe had come was the richest in all of the world. All that day hewandered up and down, and thought nothing of weariness and hungerfor wonder of all that he saw. But at last evening drew down, andhe began to bethink himself of somewhere to lodge during the night.
Just then he came to a bridge, over the wall of which leaned anold man with a long white beard, looking down into the water.He was dressed richly but soberly, and every now and then hesighed and groaned, and as the prince drew near he saw the tearsfalling--drip, drip--from the old man’s eyes.
The prince had a kind heart, and could not bear to see one indistress; so he spoke to the old man, and asked him his trouble.
“Ah, me!” said the other, “only yesterday I had a son, tall andhandsome like yourself. But the queen took him to sup with her, andI am left all alone in my old age, like a tree stripped of leavesand fruit.”
“But surely,” said the prince, “it can be no such sad matter to supwith a queen. That is an honor that most men covet.”
“Ah!” said the old man, “you are a stranger in this place, or elseyou would know that no youth so chosen to sup with the queen everreturns to his home again.”
“Yes,” said the prince, “I am a stranger and have only come hitherthis day, and so do not understand these things. Even when I foundyou I was about to ask the way to some inn where folk of goodcondition lodge.”
“Then come home with me to-night,” said the old man. “I liveall alone, and I will tell you the trouble that lies upon thiscountry.” Thereupon, taking the prince by the arm, he led himacross the bridge and to another quarter of the town where hedwelt. He bade the servants prepare a fine supper, and he and theprince sat down to the table together. After they had made an endof eating and drinking, the old man told the prince all concerningthose things of which he had spoken, and thus it was:
* * * * *
“When the king of this land died he left behind him threedaughters--the most beautiful princesses in all of the world.
“Folk hardly dared speak of the eldest of them, but whisperingssaid that she was a sorceress, and that strange and gruesome thingswere done by her. The second princess was also a witch, though itwas not said that she was evil, like the other. As for the youngestof the three, she was as beautiful as the morning and as gentle asa dove. When she was born a golden thread was about her neck, andit was foretold of her that she was to be the queen of that land.
“But not long after the old king died the youngest princessvanished--no one could tell whither, and no one dared to ask--andthe eldest princess had herself crowned as queen, and no one daredgainsay her. For a while everything went well enough, but by-and-byevil days came upon the land. Once every seven days the queen wouldbid some youth, young and strong, to sup with her, and from thattime no one ever heard of him again, and no one dared ask whathad become of him. At first it was the great folk at the queen’spalace--officers and courtiers--who suffered; but by-and-by thesons of the merchants and the chief men of the city began to betaken. One time,” said the old man, “I myself had three sons--asnoble young men as could be found in the wide world. One daythe chief of the queen’s officers came to my house and asked meconcerning how many sons I had. I was forced to tell him, and in alittle while they were taken one by one to the queen’s palace, andI never saw them again.
“But misfortune, like death, comes upon the young as well as theold. You yourself have had trouble, or else I am mistaken. Tell mewhat lies upon your heart, my son, for the talking of it makes theburthen lighter.”
The prince did as the old man bade him, and told all of his story;and so they sat talking and talking until far into the night, andthe old man grew fonder and fonder of the prince the more he saw ofhim. So the end of the matter was that he asked the prince to livewith him as his son, seeing that the young man had now no fatherand he no children, and the prince consented gladly enough.
So the two lived together like father and son, and the good old manbegan to take some joy in life once more.
But one day who should come riding up to the door but the chief ofthe queen’s officers.
“How is this?” said he to the old man, when he saw the prince. “Didyou not tell me that you had but three sons, and is this not afourth?”
It was of no use for the old man to tell the officer that theyouth was not his son, but was a prince who had come to visit thatcountry. The officer drew forth his tablets and wrote somethingupon them, and then went his way, leaving the old man sighing andgroaning. “Ah, me!” said he, “my heart sadly forebodes trouble.”
Sure enough, before three days had passed a bidding came to theprince to make ready to sup with the queen that night.
When evening drew near a troop of horsemen came, bringing a whitehorse with a saddle and bridle of gold studded with preciousstones, to take the prince to the queen’s palace.
As soon as they had brought him thither they led the prince toa room where was a golden table spread with a snow-white clothand set with dishes of gold. At the end of the table the queensat waiting for him, and her face was hidden by a veil of silvergauze. She raised the veil and looked at the prince, and when hesaw her face he stood as one wonder-struck, for not only was she sobeautiful, but she set a spell upon him with the evil charm of hereyes. No one sat at the table but the queen and the prince, and ascore of young pages served them, and sweet music sounded from acurtained gallery.
At last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong sounded from thecourt-yard outside. Then in an instant the musi
c was stopped, thepages that served them hurried from the room, and presently all wasas still as death.
Then, when all were gone, the queen arose and beckoned the prince,and he had no choice but to arise also and follow whither she led.She took him through the palace, where all was as still as thegrave, and so came out by a postern door into a garden. Beside thepostern a torch burned in a bracket. The queen took it down, andthen led the prince up a path and under the silent trees until theycame to a great wall of rough stone. She pressed her hand upon oneof the great stones, and it opened like a door, and there was aflight of steps that led downward. The queen descended these steps,and the prince followed closely behind her. At the bottom was along passage-way, and at the farther end the prince saw what lookedlike a bright spark of light, as though the sun were shining. Shethrust the torch into another bracket in the wall of the passage,and then led the way towards the light. It grew larger and largeras they went forward, until at last they came out at the fartherend, and there the prince found himself standing in the sunlightand not far from the sea-shore. The queen led the way towards theshore, when suddenly a great number of black dogs came runningtowards them, barking and snarling, and showing their teeth asthough they would tear the two in pieces. But the queen drew fromher bosom a whip with a steel-pointed lash, and as the dogs camespringing towards them she laid about her right and left, till theskin flew and the blood ran, and the dogs leaped away howling andyelping.
At the edge of the water was a great stone mill, and the queenpointed towards it and bade the prince turn it. Strong as hewas, it was as much as he could do to work it; but grind it hedid, though the sweat ran down his face in streams. By-and-by aspeck appeared far away upon the water; and as the prince groundand ground at the mill the speck grew larger and larger. It wassomething upon the water, and it came nearer and nearer as swiftlyas the wind. At last it came close enough for him to see that itwas a little boat all of brass. By-and-by the boat struck upon thebeach, and as soon as it did so the queen entered it, bidding theprince do the same.
No sooner were they seated than away the boat went, still asswiftly as the wind. On it flew and on it flew, until at lastthey came to another shore, the like of which the prince hadnever seen in his life before. Down to the edge of the water rana garden--but such a garden! The leaves of the trees were all ofsilver and the fruit of gold, and instead of flowers were preciousstones--white, red, yellow, blue, and green--that flashed likesparks of sunlight as the breeze moved them this way and that way.Beyond the silver trees, with their golden fruit, was a greatpalace as white as snow, and so bright that one had to shut one’seyes as one looked upon it.
The boat ran up on the beach close to just such a stone mill as theprince had seen upon the other side of the water, and then he andthe queen stepped ashore. As soon as they had done so the brazenboat floated swiftly away, and in a little while was gone.
“Here our journey ends,” said the queen. “Is it not a wonderfulland, and well worth the seeing? Look at all these jewels and thisgold, as plenty as fruits and flowers at home. You may take whatyou please; but while you are gathering them I have another matterafter which I must look. Wait for me here, and by-and-by I will beback again.”
So saying, she turned and left the prince, going towards the castleback of the trees.
But the prince was a prince, and not a common man; he cared nothingfor gold and jewels. What he did care for was to see where thequeen went, and why she had brought him to this strange land. So,as soon as she had fairly gone, he followed after.
He went along under the gold and silver trees, in the direction shehad taken, until at last he came to a tall flight of steps that ledup to the doorway of the snow-white palace. The door stood open,and into it the prince went. He saw not a soul, but he heard anoise as of blows and the sound as of some one weeping. He followedthe sound, until by-and-by he came to a great vaulted room in thevery centre of the palace. A curtain hung at the doorway. Theprince lifted it and peeped within, and this was what he saw:
In the middle of the room was a marble basin of water as clearas crystal, and around the sides of the basin were these words,written in letters of gold:
“_Whatsoever is False, that I make True_.”
Beside the fountain upon a marble stand stood a statue of abeautiful woman made of alabaster, and around the neck of thestatue was a thread of gold. The queen stood beside the statue, andbeat and beat it with her steel-tipped whip. And all the while shelashed it the statue sighed and groaned like a living being, andthe tears ran down its stone cheeks as though it were a sufferingChristian. By-and-by the queen rested for a moment, and said,panting, “Will you give me the thread of gold?” and the statueanswered “No.” Whereupon she fell to raining blows upon it as shehad done before.
So she continued, now beating the statue and now asking it whetherit would give her the thread of gold, to which the statue alwaysanswered “No,” and all the while the prince stood gazing andwondering. By-and-by the queen wearied of what she was doing, andthrust the steel-tipped lash back into her bosom again, upon whichthe prince, seeing that she was done, hurried back to the gardenwhere she had left him and pretended to be gathering the goldenfruit and jewel flowers.
The queen said nothing to him good or bad, except to command himto grind at the great stone mill as he had done on the other sideof the water. Thereupon the prince did as she bade, and presentlythe brazen boat came skimming over the water more swiftly thanthe wind. Again the queen and the prince entered it, and again itcarried them to the other side whence they had come.
No sooner had the queen set foot upon the shore than she stoopedand gathered up a handful of sand. Then, turning as quick aslightning, she flung it into the prince’s face. “Be a black dog,”she cried in a loud voice, “and join your comrades!”
And now it was that the ring that the prince’s mother had given himstood him in good stead. But for it he would have become a blackdog like those others, for thus it had happened to all before himwho had ferried the witch queen over the water. So she expected tosee him run away yelping, as those others had done; but the princeremained a prince, and stood looking her in the face.
When the queen saw that her magic had failed her she grew as paleas death, and fell to trembling in every limb. She turned andhastened quickly away, and the prince followed her wondering, forhe neither knew the mischief she had intended doing him, nor howhis ring had saved him from the fate of those others.
So they came back up the stairs and out through the stone wall intothe palace garden. The queen pressed her hand against the stone andit turned back into its place again. Then, beckoning to the prince,she hurried away down the garden. Before he followed he picked upa coal that lay near by, and put a cross upon the stone; then hehurried after her, and so came to the palace once more.
By this time the cocks were crowing, and the dawn of day was justbeginning to show over the roof-tops and the chimney-stacks of thetown.
As for the queen, she had regained her composure, and, bidding theprince wait for her a moment, she hastened to her chamber. Thereshe opened her book of magic, and in it she soon found who theprince was and how the ring had saved him.
When she had learned all that she wanted to know she put on asmiling face and came back to him. “Ah, prince,” said she, “I wellknow who you are, for your coming to my country is no secret to me.I have shown you strange things to-night. I will unfold all thewonder to you another time. Will you not come back and sup with meagain?”
“Yes,” said the prince, “I will come whensoever you bid me;” for hewas curious to know the secret of the statue and the strange thingshe had seen.
“And will you not give me a pledge of your coming?” said the queen,still smiling.
“What pledge shall I give you,” said the prince.
“Give me the ring that is upon your finger,” said the queen; andshe smiled so bewitchingly that the prince could not have refusedher had he desired to do so.
Alas for him!
He thought no evil, but, without a word, drew off thering and gave it to the queen, and she slipped it upon her finger.
“O fool!” she cried, laughing a wicked laugh, “O fool! to give awaythat in which your safety lay!” As she spoke she dipped her fingersinto a basin of water that stood near by and dashed the drops intothe prince’s face. “Be a raven,” she cried, “and a raven remain!”
In an instant the prince was a prince no longer, but a coal-blackraven. The queen snatched up a sword that lay near by and struckat him to kill him. But the raven-prince leaped aside and the blowmissed its aim.
By good luck a window stood open, and before the queen could strikeagain he spread his wings and flew out of the open casement andover the house-tops, and was gone.
On he flew and on he flew until he came to the old man’s house, andso to the room where his foster-father himself was sitting. He litupon the ground at the old man’s feet and tried to tell him whathad befallen, but all that he could say was “Croak! croak!”
“What brings this bird of ill omen?” said the old man, and hedrew his sword to kill it. He raised his hand to strike, but theraven did not try to fly away as he had expected, but bowed hisneck to receive the stroke. Then the old man saw that the tearswere running down from the raven’s eyes, and he held his hand.“What strange thing is this?” he said. “Surely nothing but theliving soul weeps; and how, then, can this bird shed tears?” Sohe took the raven up and looked into his eyes, and in them he sawthe prince’s soul. “Alas!” he cried, “my heart misgives me thatsomething strange has happened. Tell me, is this not my foster-son,the prince?”
The raven answered “Croak!” and nothing else; but the good old manunderstood it all, and the tears ran down his cheeks and trickledover his beard. “Whether man or raven, you shall still be my son,”said he, and he held the raven close in his arms and caressed it.
He had a golden cage made for the bird, and every day he would walkwith it in the garden, talking to it as a father talks to his son.
One day when they were thus in the garden together a strangelady came towards them down the pathway. Over her head and facewas drawn a thick veil, so that the two could not tell who shewas. When she came close to them she raised the veil, and theraven-prince saw that her face was the living likeness of thequeen’s; and yet there was something in it that was different. Itwas the second sister of the queen, and the old man knew her andbowed before her.
“Listen,” said she. “I know what the raven is, and that it is theprince, whom the queen has bewitched. I also know nearly as much ofmagic as she, and it is that alone that has saved me so long fromill. But danger hangs close over me; the queen only waits for thechance to bewitch me; and some day she will overpower me, for sheis stronger than I. With the prince’s aid I can overcome her andmake myself forever safe, and it is this that has brought me hereto-day. My magic is powerful enough to change the prince back intohis true shape again, and I will do so if he will aid me in whatfollows, and this is it: I will conjure the queen, and by-and-bya great eagle will come flying, and its plumage will be as blackas night. Then I myself will become an eagle, with black-and-whiteplumage, and we two will fight in the air. After a while we willboth fall to the ground, and then the prince must cut off the headof the black eagle with a knife I shall give him. Will you dothis,” said she, turning to the raven, “if I transform you to yourtrue shape?”
The raven bowed his head and said “Croak!” And the sister of thequeen knew that he meant yes.
Therewith she drew a great, long, keen knife from her bosom, andthrust it into the ground. “It is with this knife of magic,” saidshe, “that you must cut off the black eagle’s head.” Then thewitch-princess gathered up some sand in her hand, and flung it intothe raven’s face. “Resume,” cried she, “your own shape!” And in aninstant the prince was himself again. The next thing the sisterof the queen did was to draw a circle upon the ground around theprince, the old man, and herself. On the circle she marked strangefigures here and there. Then, all three standing close together,she began her conjurations, uttering strange words--now under herbreath, and now clear and loud.
Presently the sky darkened, and it began to thunder and rumble.Darker it grew and darker, and the thunder crashed and roared. Theearth trembled under their feet, and the trees swayed hither andthither as though tossed by a tempest. Then suddenly the uproarceased and all grew as still as death, the clouds rolled away,and in a moment the sun shone out once more, and all was calm andserene as it had been before. But still the princess muttered herconjurations, and as the prince and the old man looked theybeheld a speck that grew larger and larger, until they saw thatit was an eagle as black as night that was coming swiftly flyingthrough the sky. Then the queen’s sister also saw it and ceasedfrom her spells. She drew a little cap of feathers from her bosomwith trembling hands. “Remember,” said she to the prince; and, sosaying, clapped the feather cap upon her head. In an instant sheherself became an eagle--pied, black and white--and, spreading herwings, leaped into the air.
For a while the two eagles circled around and around; but at lastthey dashed against one another, and, grappling with their talons,tumbled over and over until they struck the ground close to the twowho stood looking.
Then the prince snatched the knife from the ground and ran to wherethey lay struggling. “Which was I to kill?” said he to the old man.
“Are they not birds of a feather?” cried the foster-father. “Killthem both, for then only shall we all be safe.”
The prince needed no second telling to see the wisdom of what theold man said. In an instant he struck off the heads of both theeagles, and thus put an end to both sorceresses, the lesser aswell as the greater. They buried both of the eagles in the gardenwithout telling any one of what had happened. So soon as that wasdone the old man bade the prince tell him all that had befallenhim, and the prince did so.
“Aye! aye!” said the old man, “I see it all as clear as day. Theblack dogs are the young men who have supped with the queen; thestatue is the good princess; and the basin of water is the water oflife, which has the power of taking away magic. Come; let us makehaste to bring help to all those poor unfortunates who have beenlying under the queen’s spells.”
The prince needed no urging to do that. They hurried to the palace;they crossed the garden to the stone wall. There they found thestone upon which the prince had set the black cross. He pressed hishand upon it, and it opened to him like a door. They descended thesteps, and went through the passageway, until they came out uponthe sea-shore. The black dogs came leaping towards them; but thistime it was to fawn upon them, and to lick their hands and faces.
The prince turned the great stone mill till the brazen boat cameflying towards the shore. They entered it, and so crossed the waterand came to the other side. They did not tarry in the garden, butwent straight to the snow-white palace and to the great vaultedchamber where was the statue. “Yes,” said the old man, “it is theyoungest princess, sure enough.”
The prince said nothing, but he dipped up some of the water in hispalm and dashed it upon the statue. “If you are the princess, takeyour true shape again,” said he. Before the words had left his lipsthe statue became flesh and blood, and the princess stepped downfrom where she stood, and the prince thought that he had never seenany one so beautiful as she. “You have brought me back to life,”said she, “and whatever I shall have shall be yours as well asmine.”
Then they all set their faces homeward again, and the prince tookwith him a cupful of the water of life.
When they reached the farther shore the black dogs came running tomeet them. The prince sprinkled the water he carried upon them, andas soon as it touched them that instant they were black dogs nolonger, but the tall, noble young men that the sorceress queen hadbewitched. There, as the old man had hoped, he found his own threesons, and kissed them with the tears running down his face.
But when the people of that land learned that their youngestprincess, and the one whom they
loved, had come back again, andthat the two sorceresses would trouble them no longer, theyshouted and shouted for joy. All the town was hung with flags andilluminated, the fountains ran with wine, and nothing was heard butsounds of rejoicing. In the midst of it all the prince married theprincess, and so became the king of that country.
* * * * *
And now to go back again to the beginning.
After the youngest prince had been driven away from home, and theold king had divided the kingdom betwixt the other two, thingswent for a while smoothly and joyfully. But by little and littlethe king was put to one side until he became as nothing in his ownland. At last hot words passed between the father and the two sons,and the end of the matter was that the king was driven from theland to shift for himself.
Now, after the youngest prince had married and had become king ofthat other land, he bethought himself of his father and his mother,and longed to see them again. So he set forth and travelled towardshis old home. In his journeying he came to a lonely house at theedge of a great forest, and there night came upon him. He sent oneof the many of those who rode with him to ask whether he could notfind lodging there for the time, and who should answer the summonsbut the king, his father, dressed in the coarse clothing of aforester. The old king did not know his own son in the kingly youngking who sat upon his snow-white horse. He bade the visitor toenter, and he and the old queen served their son and bowed beforehim.
The next morning the young king rode back to his own land, and thensent attendants with horses and splendid clothes, and bade thembring his father and mother to his own home.
He had a noble feast set for them, with everything befitting theentertainment of a king, but he ordered that not a grain of saltshould season it.
So the father and the mother sat down to the feast with their sonand his queen, but all the time they did not know him. The old kingtasted the food and tasted the food, but he could not eat of it.
“Do you not feel hungry?” said the young king.
“Alas,” said his father, “I crave your majesty’s pardon, but thereis no salt in the food.”
“And so is life lacking of savor without love,” said the youngking; “and yet because I loved you as salt you disowned me and castme out into the world.”
Therewith he could contain himself no longer, but with the tearsrunning down his cheeks kissed his father and his mother; and theyknew him, and kissed him again.
Afterwards the young king went with a great army into the countryof his elder brothers, and, overcoming them, set his father uponhis throne again. If ever the two got back their crowns you maybe sure that they wore them more modestly than they did the firsttime.
* * * * *
_So the Fisherman who had one time unbottled the Genie whom Solomonthe Wise had stoppered up concluded his story, and all of the goodfolk who were there began clapping their shadowy hands._
_“Aye, aye,” said old Bidpai, “there is much truth inwhat you say, for it is verily so that that which mencall--love--is--the--salt--of--”_ * * *
_His voice had been fading away thinner and thinner and smaller andsmaller--now it was like the shadow of a voice; now it trembled andquivered out into silence and was gone._
* * * * *
_And with the voice of old Bidpai the pleasant Land of Twilight wasalso gone. As a breath fades away from a mirror, so had it fadedand vanished into nothingness._
* * * * *
_I opened my eyes._
_There was a yellow light--it came from the evening lamp. Therewere people of flesh and blood around--my own dear people--andthey were talking together. There was the library with the rowsof books looking silently out from their shelves. There was thefire of hickory logs crackling and snapping in the fireplace, andthrowing a wavering, yellow light on the wall._
_Had I been asleep? No; I had been in Twilight Land._
_And now the pleasant Twilight Land had gone. It had faded out, andI was back again in the work-a-day world._
_There I was sitting in my chair; and, what was more, it was timefor the children to go to bed._
THE END
Transcribers Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Hyphenation used inconsistently was not changed:
Both “anteroom” and “ante-room” are used in the text.
Both “byways” and “by-ways” are used in the text.
Both “livelong” and “live-long” are used in the text.
Both “merrymaking” and “merry-making” are used in the text.
Both “passageway(s)” and “passage-way(s)” are used in the text.
Apparent printing errors in hyphenation and spelling were repaired:
page 117: “door-way” changed to “doorway” (through an arch doorway into a garden)
page 358: “twelve-month” changed to “twelvemonth” (had I known that in a twelvemonth it would all come tumbling down)
page 384: missing “e” added (All Things are as Fate wills.)
page 437: “ana” changed to “and” (His voice had been fading away thinner and thinner)
