There was, and there was not, a king who had three sons. An Apple-Tree of Immortality grew in his garden, and what a garden that was! Trees and flowers from every part of the world; birds of every hue glorifying men’s hearts with their songs. But the most beautiful and valued tree in the king’s garden was an Apple-Tree of Immortality. When the Apple-Tree bloomed the fragrance of its pink-and-white blossoms filled the whole kingdom. People who smelled these blossoms didn’t care to eat or drink; all they wanted was to breathe in their heavenly odour. The Apple-Tree of Immortality was the wonder of the whole world.
The king’s gardeners took very good care of this Tree, but the king never ate its apples to stay young, for every year, when they were ripe enough to be picked, somebody sneaked into the garden and stole them.
One day the king summoned his three sons and said:
‘O my sons, my young lions, this can’t go on, we must catch the thief.’
The eldest son said: ‘O Father, we are just as puzzled as you are. It dishonours our family name not to be able to catch the thief. Let me guard the Apple-Tree this year, and when I lay my hands on the man who has been stealing our apples I’ll tear him to pieces!’
‘I hope you catch him, son.’
The prince slung on his arms and went out to the garden to watch that Tree day and night. On the last night, when the apples were ripe and he intended to pick them the next morning, his eyes grew heavy with sleep. He struggled hard to stay awake. The sky glittered with stars and the trees, swaying in the breeze, whispered in his ears: ‘Sleep, O prince, sleep.’ By midnight he was fast asleep, and when he woke in the morning he saw that not a single apple was left on the Tree, it was stripped bare again. He went home shame-faced, and told his father what had happened.
‘I wasn’t asleep more than an hour!’ he cried.
The next year the middle son said to the king: ‘O Father, it is now my turn to guard the Apple-Tree.’
‘Very well, you be our watchman this year.’
The middle son slung on his arms and went out to the garden to keep his vigil under the Apple-Tree, and he too fell asleep as he lay in the grass looking at the stars and listening to the nightingale. In the morning all the apples were gone. He was afraid to face his father but he had to tell the king what happened.
‘You and your eldest brother are alike, you talk big, and do nothing,’ said the king, and dismissed him from his presence.
Then the king’s youngest son said: ‘O Father, it’s now my turn to guard the Apple-Tree.’
‘O my son, how can you expect to catch the thief when your older brothers tried and failed?’
The youth insisted, and the king gave his consent. The youngest son slung on his arms and went out to the garden, where he watched the Apple-Tree for a week, two weeks, three weeks, until the apples were fully ripe. ‘I’ll pick them early in the morning,’ he said to himself as he lay in the grass, keeping a wary eye on the Tree, but for him too it was hard to stay awake on a clear August night, when the sky was aglow with the Milky Way, the moon rising from behind a mountain with all the grace of a new bride, and cool mountain breezes laden with the fragrance of apples and roses blowing on his face. He dozed off for a while, but woke with a start, and by cutting his finger with his pocket knife and sprinkling salt on the wound he stayed awake for the rest of the night.
All of a sudden, as day broke, there was a crash in the garden and the king’s youngest son saw a giant monster with seven heads come growling and pounding through the trees and wind himself around the Apple-Tree. The youth drew his sword and struck at the monster so hard that he slashed off four of the giant’s heads, and the huge monster fell with a crash, but it scrambled to its feet and ran before the king’s youngest son could kill it. The monster ran and ran with the young prince hard at its heels. The youth lost sight of it in the murky light, but by following the track of blood the monster left behind he got onto the giant’s trail again, until the monster jumped into a well and disappeared with another crash. The youth peered down the well, but it was so deep he could not see the bottom. He marked the place with the tip of an arrow and returned to the orchard. He picked all the apples and took them to his father.
The king thanked him, kissed him on the brow and said: ‘Your brothers are worthless. You are my true successor.’
‘O Father, we have to kill that dev or he will be back next summer,’ said the youngest son.
The three brothers slung on their arms, took a long rope with them, and went to the well to kill the giant monster.
‘Let me go down first,’ said the eldest.
They tied the rope around his waist and lowered him into the well, but they had to pull him up when he screamed: ‘I can’t stand the heat! I’m burning, broiling!’
They lowered the middle brother into the well, and he too screamed: ‘Pull me up, fast, I’m roasting!’
Even after his brothers’ screams the king’s youngest son wasn’t afraid to go down into the well and said: ‘Give no heed to my cries. Don’t pull me up no matter how much I scream about the burning heat. Keep lowering the rope until I reach the bottom of the well.’
He went down, down, and called out from the bottom of the well: ‘Brothers, you can now pull up the rope, I’ve reached the bottom, and I’m going after that dev to finish him off.’
He peered around and saw a door in the wall of the well. He opened this door and found himself in the chamber of an underground castle, where he saw a beautiful houri-like maiden seated on a golden seat, doing her needlework. On the gold tray before her a gold hound chased after a gold fox. And the Seven-Headed monster was asleep with his remaining three heads lying in the maiden’s lap.
The maiden gasped when she saw the king’s youngest son. ‘Oh, how did you get in? No snake on its belly dares crawl into this place, no bird on the wing dares fly over it. And pray, what brings you here?’
‘The love I bear for you,’ said the king’s youngest son.
‘May you always be in love! But aren’t you afraid of the Seven-Headed dev? He will gobble you down when he wakes up.’
‘I’m not afraid of devs. I came here to finish him off. Wake him up. We’ll fight.’
The maiden was in despair, and in the end woke up the giant monster.
The king’s youngest son, with a single blow of his sword, slashed off the remaining heads of the monster.
‘If you are so strong and fearless, I dare you to kill his brother also,’ said the maiden, glad to see the monster dead. ‘You will find him in the next chamber with my middle sister.’
And the king’s youngest son strode into the other chamber and saw an even more beautiful maiden seated in a gold seat, busy with needle and thread. A gold hen and a gold cock fluttered around on the gold tray before her. And the Twelve-Headed monster was fast asleep with his heads lying in the maiden’s lap.
She too gasped when she saw the daring youth. ‘Oh, how did you get in? No snake on its belly dares crawl into this place, no bird on the wing dares fly over it. And pray, what brings you here?’
‘The love I bear for you,’ he said.
‘May you always be in love! But aren’t you afraid of the Twelve-Headed dev? He will chop you up into mincemeat when he wakes up. I pity you, boy. Get out of here before it’s too late.’
The king’s youngest son said: ‘I’m not afraid of devs. I came here to kill him. Wake him up. We’ll fight.’
And in her despair the maiden woke up the giant monster. The king’s youngest son slashed off all of its twelve heads and the monster lay dead at his feet.
The maiden cried in her joy: ‘Ah, if you are so strong and fearless, I dare you to kill also his brother. You will find him in the next chamber with my youngest sister.’
The king’s youngest son opened the door of the other chamber and walked in. A maiden so incredibly lovely that he could gaze at her for seven days and seven nights without eating and drinking and just feasting his eyes upon her wondrous beauty sat in her gold seat and did her needlework, with a couple of gold partridges fluttering around on the gold tray before her. This maiden seemed to say to the sun: ‘Stand back, and let me come out and shine in your stead.’ It was a sight to drive a man out of his mind. The Forty-Headed monster slept with his heads lying in the maiden’s lap.
She could not believe her eyes when she saw the fearless youth. ‘You, an earthly mortal, here, in my chamber? What will you do when the Forty-Headed dev wakes up? Oh, I pity you, you are so young. Get out of here quick, and save your life before the dev eats you up.’
‘I’m not afraid of devs. I came here to kill him. Wake him up. We’ll fight.’
And the maiden was in despair, but she saw that he really meant to kill the Forty-Headed monster.
‘Be sure you cut off his heads at a single blow,’ she warned him. ‘When the dev says, “Strike me again,” don’t! The dev will revive if you strike him again.’
The earth shook as the Forty-Headed monster and the king’s youngest son fought it out in this underground castle, and the noise they made rumbled through the Lower World like cracks of thunder. All forty heads of the giant flew off under a single blow of the youth’s sword.
The monster cried: ‘Boy, strike me again!’
‘One blow is enough. I wasn’t born of my mother twice to strike you twice.’
The giant sprawled dead at his feet. The maiden ran up to the fearless prince and threw her arms around his neck, crying in her joy:
‘You are mine and I am thine!’
The king’s youngest son wiped off his sword and put it back in its scabbard. He sat down and chatted with the maiden, who looked upon him as her saviour.
‘We are three sisters,’ she said, ‘daughters of a king. These devs abducted us and made us their wives. For years now we have been suffering at the hands of these monsters. You came just in time to save us.’
‘It all turned out for the best,’ said the king’s youngest son. ‘We are three brothers, and all three of us are single. My eldest brother can marry your eldest sister, my middle brother can marry your middle sister, and as for you, you are mine.’
They went to the other chambers and the three sisters helped the youth carry the treasure-hoard of the giant monsters to the centre of the well.
‘Brothers, lower the rope!’ the king’s youngest son shouted from the bottom of the well. ‘I found three devs and I killed all three. Haul up their treasure. Besides, I’ve got three beautiful brides for us.’
His brothers were very glad to lower the rope and haul up the treasure. Then he tied the rope around the waist of the oldest sister. ‘Here is the bride for our big brother!’
They pulled her up.
‘This one is for our middle brother!’
They pulled her up also.
It was now the turn for the youngest sister, and she said: ‘You go up first. I will wait.’
‘No, you go up first,’ he insisted.
‘I do not trust your brothers. If they leave you alone in this well go to the spring near here, and wait for three rams -- one Black, one White, one Red -- that come every Friday to drink from the spring. Jump on the back of the Black ram. The Black ram will throw you over to the Red ram, the Red ram will throw you over to the White ram, and the White ram will take you to the Upper World. Now be sure you jump first on the back of the Black ram, and not the White ram, because the White ram will throw you over to the Red ram, the Red ram will throw you over to the Black ram and the Black ram will take you down to the dark Lower World.’
The maiden took out her charm, a flint-stone, and gave it to him. ‘It’s my talisman. Take it. You might need it. When you strike this flint-stone you’ll find our three gold trays before you.’
His brothers lowered the rope, he tied it around the waist of the youngest sister, and called to them: ‘Here is my bride!’
They pulled her up and saw that she was the prettiest of all. ‘What will Father think when he learns his youngest son killed the devs and also won the fairest bride?’ they muttered in their envy. ‘We’ll be disgraced.’
They lowered the rope, and the king’s youngest son tied it around his own waist.
‘Brothers, you can pull me up now, I am ready to come up.’
They pulled him up only half way. Suddenly they cut the rope and the king’s youngest son fell to the bottom of the well. His brothers took all that treasure, and the three beautiful sisters he had rescued from the giant monsters, and went back to the royal palace.
‘O my sons, where is your youngest brother?’ the king asked them.
‘The devs ate him up before we could save him,’ they said. ‘We killed the devs and took everything they had, but we lost our brother.’
Let us now leave them and turn to the king’s youngest son, abandoned by his brothers in the well. He saw there was no way out of it. But he found the spring, and waited for the three rams, hoping one of them would take him up to the daylight world above. The rams did come on Friday, one Black, one White, one Red, each more striking and perfect than the others, and drank from the spring, as the youngest sister told him they would. When they turned to go, he jumped, in his haste, on the back of the White ram, which threw him over to the Red ram, and the Red ram threw him over to the Black ram, and the Black ram carried him down to the dark Lower World.
The king’s youngest son wandered around in the Lower World feeling very sad. An old woman gave him shelter, after he gave her a fistful of gold coins.
‘Mamik, can you give me some water?’ he said. ‘I haven’t had a drop of water for three days.’
The old woman gave him a bowl of muddy water.
‘How can you drink this muddy water?’
‘Son, that’s the only kind of water we ever get down here, and sometimes we have no water at all. Why should I hide it from you, when I can’t hide it from God? Water is very scarce in this town. The Seven-Headed Dragon guards our spring and we have to feed it a young maiden every week before it will let us have any water. And today it’s the turn of the king’s daughter to be fed to the Dragon, which has already eaten thousands of maidens like her.’
‘Can’t you kill the Dragon?’
‘Son, nobody can kill this dreadful Dragon. Even our king is helpless against it.’
The king’s youngest son stepped out of the old woman’s house and quickly went to the spring, where the king’s courtiers, friends, and servants had already gathered, and the servants carried trayfuls of tasty foods for the crowd. People waited with pitchers in their hands as the king’s daughter, dressed in black, was led ceremoniously to the Dragon. The youth followed the princess. The Dragon opened its jaws and waited for them both, glad to see it would have two people for its meal, but the king’s youngest son drew his sword and struck so fast that he cut the Dragon in two.
‘Boy, strike me again!’ the Dragon howled, writhing in a pool of blood.
‘No, I was born of my mother only once, and I strike only once.’
The Dragon dropped dead before him, and the king’s youngest son rescued the princess. He did not see her dip her hand in the blood and stamp it on his back.
The water flowed, and people filled their pitchers and went home, glad to know they were rid of the Dragon for good, their daughters at last were safe, and there would now be plenty of water for everybody. The happy princess also went home, and told her parents how a youth she never saw before slew the Dragon and saved her life. She had no idea who he was.
‘Would you recognize the fellow if you saw him again?’ the joyous king asked her.
‘Of course I would,’ said the princess.
The king’s heralds proclaimed throughout the city that all men should gather before the royal palace. And not a single man was missing in the throng that stood before the king.
‘Take a good look at all these men and see if you can recognize the fellow who saved your life,’ the king said to his daughter.
Her gaze swept over the crowd of men, and suddenly she saw him.
‘There he is, that’s the boy!’
The king’s men brought the youth before him.
‘O Father,’ said the princess, ‘I stamped his back with the Dragon’s blood, using my hand.’
They saw it on the youth’s back, and the king said: ‘Name your reward, my brave lad, and it shall be yours.’
‘May the king live long, I want no reward.’
The king said: ‘No, no, I must reward you for your courage! Would you like to have my daughter as wife, or is it perhaps half of my kingdom that you desire? Just tell me what you want and it shall be yours.’
‘May the king live long, my sole desire is to get back to the Upper World. I want no other reward from you.’
‘That, son, would be very difficult. I couldn’t take you to the Upper World myself. And there is not a single wiseman in my kingdom who knows the way to the Upper World. Only the Emerald Bird can take you there. This Bird has been complaining to me about a Dragon that has been eating her young year after year. Now, if you can kill that Dragon also, the Emerald Bird I am sure will do anything for you.’
And the king told him where he might find that bird. The youth crossed seven mountains and seven valleys searching for the Emerald Bird. He stretched out under a tall tree to rest. Its branches reached up to the sky, and it was so thick with leaves that not a gleam of light penetrated it. All of a sudden he saw a great big Dragon, the size of a mountain, crawl up the tree baring its fangs. And the king’s youngest son also hacked this Dragon to pieces with his sword. He was so worn out by now that he fell asleep under the tree.
The Emerald Bird came flying over the woods to feed its young and thought the man lying under the tree, covered all over with blood, had again eaten its young. The bird swooped down to peck him to bits, but her young screeched from above, fluttering their little wings on top of the tree: ‘He saved us from the Dragon, Mother!’
The bird spread out its immense wings to fan and shield the sleeping youth. And when the king’s youngest son awoke the Emerald Bird said: ‘O my friend, you saved my nestlings from the Dragon. I’ll give you anything you want.’
‘All I want is to get back to the Upper World.’
‘Too bad you met me in my old age. That would have been child’s play in my youth. But old as I am, I shall do my best to take you to the Upper World. Ask the king to give you forty large skins of water and forty fat sheep-tails. You will have to feed me and water me during our flight to the Upper World.’
The youth received these supplies from the king of the Lower World and loaded them on the giant vulture.
‘Now sit on my back. We are ready to go. When I say, “Boo!” give me a skinful of water, and when I say “Ghee!” toss a sheep-tail into my mouth.’
The mighty bird flew away and soared to the Upper World, the king’s youngest son feeding her the sheep-tails and giving her skinfuls of water to drink until at last he saw sunlight. He got off in his father’s kingdom and walked toward his own city. The Emerald Bird flew back to the Lower World.
On his way to the city the king’s youngest son met a shepherd.
‘Good day, brother shepherd.’
‘God’s day, king’s kin.’
‘Would you mind trading your clothes with mine, brother shepherd? I’ll pay for them.’
The shepherd was glad to take off his rags and wear the royal garments of the king’s son, and to be paid for his rags into the bargain. Disguised as a poor shepherd, the king’s youngest son entered the city and roamed around in the bazaar. He paused before the shop of the king’s goldsmith, who asked him what he wanted.
‘Master, I am a stranger here, looking for work. I wouldn’t have to go hungry if I could learn a good trade, like yours.’
‘Would you like to work as my apprentice?’
‘Or course I would, dear master. And I would kiss your hand for it.’
So the king’s goldsmith took him on as an apprentice.
Let us now see what happened to his older brothers. The king suspected some treachery and sent messengers to many lands with orders to find his youngest son, and meanwhile he did not allow his older sons to marry until his youngest was found.
The king’s men searched for the young prince everywhere. A year passed; two years, three years passed, and still no sign of the boy. The king’s chamberlain said: ‘When are you going to let your two sons marry? They have been waiting for three years now. What will your subjects think?’
‘Very well, then, let them marry,’ the king sighed.
His eldest son married the eldest sister, and his middle son married the middle sister. After the double wedding the king drew the youngest sister aside and said:
‘O my daughter, we have not found your betrothed, and we do not know what happened to him, he must have suffered some misfortune. My youngest son may never come back. You have to think about yourself too. You cannot remain single forever. Isn’t there, perhaps, some other man you would like to wed?’
‘May the king live long, any man you choose would be agreeable to me.’ ‘Would you care to wed the son of my chamberlain?’
‘Yes, if you wish it.’
‘Then it’s settled. I shall give you to the son of my chamberlain, and announce your betrothal.’
‘May the king live long, I have three requests to make of you before I marry the chamberlain’s son.’
‘My child, I would gladly grant any request you make.’
‘May the king live long, I want from you three gold trays. One with a couple of gold partridges fluttering on it. Another with a gold cock and a gold hen on it. And on the third tray a gold hound chasing after a gold fox.’
‘I shall call my goldsmith at once and order these trays for you.’
The king sent for his goldsmith and gave him the order.
‘I will chop off your head if you do not deliver these trays in a month,’ he added.
The goldsmith went back to his shop with a heavy heart, and his apprentice asked him: ‘What happened, master? Why do you look so sad and worried?’
The goldsmith did not tell him why. He worked on the king’s order, destroying what he made, then starting again, until only two days were left and he had nothing to show the king for his efforts.
‘My dear master, what are you trying to make, what’s troubling you? Do tell me!’
‘Oh, don’t bother me with your silly questions. It’s my worry, not yours.’
‘Maybe I can help you.’
And the goldsmith at last told him about the king’s order.
‘Is that all? That’s nothing to worry about. I will have these trays ready for you tomorrow morning. Just give me a bag of walnuts and a bag of hazelnuts and let me sleep tonight in the shop. You can come in the morning and see if I’ve kept my promise.’
‘That boy is a fool to think he can do it, but I’ll let him try anyway,’ the goldsmith said to himself, and gave his apprentice the two bags of nuts he asked for. The goldsmith let him stay in the shop all night to work on the king’s order. He closed the door of the shop behind him and went home.
His apprentice spent the night cracking and eating nuts. And just before daybreak he took out the flint-stone the youngest sister gave him as her talisman and struck it against the wall. Instantly, the three gold trays with all the gold things on them were in the shop before him. The goldsmith was waiting outside, not daring to go in until his apprentice called him.
‘Master, you can come in now, everything is ready.’
The goldsmith entered his shop and could not believe his eyes when he saw the three gold trays. He kissed his apprentice on the brow and said: ‘You saved my neck! I’ll get a big reward for this.’
It was the last day of the month. The goldsmith took the gold trays and rushed to the palace. The king was delighted with them, and the goldsmith returned to his shop with a big reward from the royal treasury.
The king called the youngest sister to his side and asked her: ‘My child, are these the gold trays you wanted?’
‘Yes, my king.’
She bit her finger, thinking: ‘He is back, my betrothed is alive! I gave him my talisman, and I know that no one but he could make these trays.’ She took a deep sigh of relief, and told the king his youngest son was alive and working most likely in the royal goldsmith’s shop.
The king sent for the apprentice. The lad came to the palace and kissed his father’s hand, and told him everything.
‘Executioners!’
The executioners came in and bowed.
‘Seize these two treacherous brothers and cut off their heads!’
But the king’s youngest son fell on his knees and implored the king to spare their lives. ‘O Father, I wish my brothers no harm, may God be their judge.’
‘I will spare their lives for your sake.’
The king stepped down from the throne and had his youngest son sit on it. He called off the betrothal of the youngest sister to his chamberlain’s son two days before the wedding was to take place, and that lovely sunbright maiden married his own son and became the queen of the new king, amid great rejoicings. The wedding feast, to which all his subjects were invited, lasted for seven days and seven nights.