Once upon a time there was a woman who was a baker; she had one son. Left a widow and a poor woman, she had her oven, and she used to go to the mountain to cut wood and bring it to the village and heat the oven: thus for one woman she would bake her bread and for another her meat. They paid her and so she and her son made their living.
One day she rose up to go to the mountain. The boy began to cry: ‘I want to go too; I want to go too.’ His mother did not want to take him and said: ‘I won’t take you; you can’t come because there is no water there. You will get thirsty and there will be nothing for you to drink.’ ‘No, no,’ said the boy, ‘I shan’t get thirsty, and if I am, I won’t ask you for water. You shall do your work and I’ll do without drinking until we come back to the village. Let me come and you shall see.’
Finally she took the boy and they went off. When they came to the mountain the boy ran about and played till he was tired. He sat down to eat a couple of olives and a little piece of bread his mother gave him. When he had eaten he was thirsty. He said nothing to his mother but rose up and began to look to see if he could find water anywhere. Then a little lower down on the other side of the mountain he saw a tower. The door was open and there was a fine garden, and among the trees and flowers there was a stream flowing. Full of delight he went to his mother and said: ‘Look, mother, I have found water inside the castle; I am going there to drink.’ His mother began to cry and told him not to go: the tower was haunted. If anyone went there to drink, the door shut and the man was lost: no one ever came back again. She went on entreating the boy and told him that they would go off back again to the village. ‘Just let me tie up the wood and make it into faggots,’ said she. ‘Then we can make up our loads and go off at once. Don’t go into the tower, my boy, for I shall lose you.’
The boy made as if he would not go, and his mother set to tying up the faggots, but he tricked her and went to the castle and drank of the water. As he was going out after quenching his thirst, the door shut. He wept and called out for his mother. She ran up and banged at the door but there was no reply to her entreaties.
The mother went all round and round the castle crying out to her son. When the boy saw that the door would not open, he said that he must go farther and perhaps he might find some other door to go out by. Straying a long way from his mother he lost her. The mother stayed there until late in the evening, and when she saw that the boy was lost she went back to the village with a sore heart.
Now we must leave the mother lamenting her fate—she had lost her son and was left desolate like a reed in the field—and we must see what happened to the boy. He turned and walked about to find a way out. Night fell and he was tired; what with walking and weeping he had no more strength. He lay down under a tree, stretched himself out and went to sleep. At dawn there came up to him a monster, a haunting spirit from the castle. He saw the boy and went up close and looked at him. He laid hold of his arms and his body, and said: ‘A little feeble; I must feed him up and then I can eat him.’ He pushed the boy and said: ‘Get up and come inside with me.’ Johnnie was angry and said: ‘Why are you pushing me? Why must I get up? I am sleepy. Leave me to sleep.’ ‘Get up quickly, you who think so much of yourself,’ said the ogre. The boy without losing his wits at all sat down under the tree and said: ‘I won’t go. I am very well here. And if you dare, you may come and fetch me away.’
The ogre rushed at him and they began their struggle. The ogre seized the boy and drove him down into the earth to his ankles. Johnnie seized the ogre and dealt him a stroke and pushed him down into the earth as far as his knees. The ogre said: ‘Enough! You have conquered me. Now I must go hence; everything here will be left as yours. Take these keys: there are forty of them and you are to open the thirty-nine cupboards you will find in the castle. All that you find shall be yours. Only, the last cupboard you must not open: if you do it will be your death. All those who have opened it have gone on the road by which there is no returning. They have never been seen again. In the first little cupboard you will find the shoes: if you put them on no one will hear your steps. Also the cap: if you wear it no one can see you. Also the sword unconquerable: when you draw it you will victoriously slay every one. Put on all these and go to the stable and there you will find the horse with the gift of speech. When he sees you with the sword, he will know you for his master and carry you wherever you please.’ As soon as he had said all this, the ogre disappeared from sight.
Johnnie was left all dazed. He could not well understand what all this was that the ogre had said to him. He took the keys and thought a little; perhaps it was a dream. Then he said: ‘Come, I must open these cupboards and see what I shall find.’ He opened the first and the second; he found the sword and the cap and the shoes. Also he found sweets and fruit and food; he found golden clothes, gold coins and diamonds: every kind of fine thing. He found also four golden apples, of which the ogre had said that they were enchanted and were the apples of his fate. As long as he was well, the apples would remain rosy red, and their leaves green and fresh. But if he were sick or in danger the apples would wither and the leaves fall. He took the apples as well as the other things.
Thus he opened all the thirty-nine cupboards. Then he came to the last one; he still had the key in his hand and was thinking: ‘Shall I open it? Shall I not open it?’ He was of two minds. Then said he: ‘And why should I not open it? Think of all the things I found in the thirty-nine other cupboards! I must try to see what treasures the ogre had stored up in it. Also the ogre told me that I might have everything; why should I spare only what is here? Come, I will open it and see what is inside.’
He put in the key and opened the cupboard. As soon as he opened it, the place was flooded with brightness. It was a girl, the Fair One of the World; she was shut in there and looking at him. He thrust forward to take her. She with her hands pushed him away, saying: ‘Do not lay hands on me. You have not yet proved yourself worthy to be mine. I must go off to where the Golden Boughs are. If you prove worthy and can find out where that is, then I will be yours.’ She turned into a spirit of the air, a puff of smoke, and vanished from his sight.
Losing her, Johnnie came near to losing his senses: such beauty as never was! He said: ‘I must go and find the Golden Boughs even if I have to search over all the world. I will never give her up.’ He girt on the sword, put on the shoes, and took the cap. Then he went down to the stable and found the horse and greeted him and to please him gave him some of the sugar buns he had found in the cupboards. He said: ‘My good horse, I want you to carry me to find the Golden Boughs; I know you know all about it.’ ‘I will carry you where you please,’ said the horse. ‘All the world I know well, but of the Golden Boughs I know nothing. Give up this intent; it will not be for your good. We shall never be able to find this place.’ But Johnnie was firm in his intent and kept saying: ‘I want to go there, my good horse, I do indeed; we must go and find the Golden Boughs. I do beg of you, carry me there.’ Then the horse said: ‘Since you wish it, let us go, and may God help us.’
They went on and on and on. The horse loved Johnnie and was highly pleased to have a man as his master and not the ogre. He used to talk to him and tell him what was the right thing, what he ought to do. One day at dawn they came to a place, and as the sun rose they saw a man riding on a white horse and coming towards them. The horse said: ‘Do you see that rider? He is the Son of the Sun. When he comes near us you must hit him in the eye and then say good day.’ This seemed strange to Johnnie, but he said nothing because he knew that the horse was always right. When the rider came near Johnnie gave him a blow, and then said: ‘Good day to you, brother.’ ‘Good day, brother; where are you going?’ said the Son of the Sun. ‘I am on my way to find the Golden Boughs and I don’t know where they are,’ said Johnnie. ‘I will come with you, brother,’ said the Son of the Sun: ‘The sad thing is that neither do I know where they are.’
So they became brothers. The Son of the Sun followed Johnnie and accepted him as his leader; by the lightning blow he had given him he had recognized him as his master. They went on all day together, and on and on and on. Then in the evening when the sun was setting, they saw a rider on a silver horse coming in their direction. Again the horse spoke to Johnnie: ‘Do you know this rider? This one is the Son of the Moon. Give him too a blow, for if you do not he will not recognize you as his leader, and will try to fight with you to see which will overcome the other.’ Again Johnnie gave the rider a blow saying: ‘Good evening, brother.’ This man too joined him and that made them three.
When they reached the sea-shore they met another rider: he was the Son of the Sea. Again the horse spoke to Johnnie, and he gave this man too a buffet and made him his brother. He too went with them, so they were now four and Johnnie was their leader. Then they fared from place to place to find out where the Golden Boughs were. But wherever they ent and wherever they asked no one could tell them. Time passed and Johnnie was much vexed to think of these three fellows of his; he was giving them all the toil of going round with him on the quest.
One day they came to a town and they heard a crier making a proclamation: ‘Whoever can on his horse cross over this ditch, leap over it and turn and come back again, that man shall have the princess as his wife.’ When Johnnie heard this he said: ‘It would be fine if I could set up one of my brothers here; he would marry the princess and stay here to become king. Think of all these years he has been toiling with me!’
Johnnie went to the horse and caressed him lovingly and asked: ‘What do you say to this, my good horse? Could you leap over the ditch and then we could get the princess to be a wife for my brother?’ The horse said: ‘It is no easy matter but yet I can leap over the ditch.’ Then Johnnie said to the king: ‘I will leap the ditch, and if I succeed my brother, the Son of the Sun, shall have the princess.’ The king consented.
Johnnie on his horse went and leaped right across the ditch; then he leaped back again. What rejoicings, cries of hurray, clappings of hands! Everyone was there and the wedding took place among the greatest rejoicings. About a month passed and Johnnie said: ‘Brother, I must go forward. I leave with you this apple. As long as you see it whole and fresh, that will mean that I am well. When you see it withered and the leafage yellow, that will mean that some ill fortune has befallen me. If you love me, take the eastwards road, the road facing the sun, and search until you find me, alive or dead.’
The three of them started off, and went on and on and on, seeking for the Golden Boughs, but in vain. Some time passed and again they came to a city. They met a crier proclaiming: ‘Whoever can watch by the princess all night without sleeping and see where she goes and what she does every evening when she lies down to sleep, that man shall have her as his wife.’ This princess was under an enchantment; she was not willing to be married. It was a blackamoor who had enchanted her and she had no eyes for any other man in the world. Every evening he came and carried her away and no one knew where they went and what they did all night. The father tried to find her a husband but she would not listen to him. She and the king had made an agreement that she would marry whoever could succeed in following her and seeing where she went every night. But whoever was overcome by sleep, he should have his head cut off.
Up to the day when Johnnie came thirty-nine princes had come forward, and with their heads the princess had built a fine big tower. When she could cut off one more head and make up the forty then the tower would be finished, and the king had promised that he would leave her at peace and talk to her no more of marriage. When Johnnie heard the crier he said: ‘A fine thing it would be to marry my brother the Son of the Moon to this princess.’ Johnnie went to the king and said that he himself wanted to stay there and keep watch to see if he could find out where the princess went, and his brother the Son of the Moon could marry her. The king was grieved about Johnnie and told him not to go; it would be a sin that so fine and handsome a youth should lose his life. Johnnie would not listen to him. Then they agreed that he should go there in the evening and if he succeeded his brother should marry the princess.
Johnnie went off to his horse and asked him what he was to do to manage to stay awake. The horse told him to take good care not to drink the coffee they would serve him; only to pretend to drink it and to pour it away. Then he must pretend to have gone to sleep, and when the princess rose up to go away then he too must follow behind her and be careful to take some token from the place where she went, and in this way be able to get the better of the princess. For she might say that he was telling lies and he not be able to prove what he had said. ‘In order that she may not hear you when you are going after her you must wear the shoes which make no sound when you walk, and the cap so that you cannot be seen.’ These were the horse’s last orders. ‘I thank you, my good horse,’ said Johnnie and caressed him and gave him sweets and kissed him and then went off. In the evening Johnnie came to the princess’s room, and she gave him some coffee to drink. Johnnie poured it inside the neck of his shirt where he had put a sponge. A little time passed and he pretended to yawn as if he could not stay awake. He lay down and began seemingly to snore. ‘Ah, he’s off like the rest!’ said the princess.
At midnight Johnnie heard thunder; the fire-place split open in two parts and into the room there came a blackamoor, a terror to behold. He said: ‘Good evening, my little dove; Good evening my golden dear.’ ‘Good evening, my love,’ said the princess. ‘Well, what about it? It is time now,’ and they embraced and kissed one another and out they went through the split in the fire-place. Johnnie rose up and put on his cap and went with them. They entered a carriage, Johnnie following them.
They came to a beautiful garden. They got down and went to a table set ready for them. They sat down to eat, Johnnie at the side of the princess. The blackamoor set food before her; he set it down and Johnnie ate it from off her plate. Before you could turn round and look, lo, the plate was empty. The blackamoor said: ‘What an appetite you have tonight, my love! I can’t bring the food quickly enough for you.’ ‘It is because of my joy,’ said the princess. ‘Tonight is the end of the term granted by my father. Counting the fool who is now asleep in my room, the heads are forty. So I can finish building the tower and my father has given me his word he will speak to me no more of marriage. Now you will be able to come every night and sleep with me in the palace. There will be no one to stand in our way.’ The blackamoor said: ‘We shall be all the night together. I shall have you as my wife. In case you ever want me to come to you by day as well, I will give you this egg. When you want me, break it and at once I will be with you.’ The princess took the egg and put it in her pocket and went on caressing the blackamoor, saying: ‘Whatever you want for your pleasure that I will do. I will throw myself into the fire if you tell me.’ As she was caressing him like this, Johnnie stooped down and took the egg from her pocket and hid it in his bosom: they did not notice him.
When dawn was near they rose up and went away again in the carriage to go to the palace. They went into her room by the way of the fireplace. Johnnie passed in in front of them and went and lay down; he took off his cap and pretended to be asleep. The princess lay down and went to sleep and so did Johnnie until the dawn. In the morning the king came; he unlocked the door and found his daughter already awake. She said: ‘Come, father; take this fellow too; get him up and go and cut off his head so I can finish my tower. I have won the wager.’
The king was much distressed but he pushed Johnnie to wake him up. Johnnie opened his eyes and he saw the king and his soldiers all round him. He rose up and said: ‘Pardon me, my king. All night long I was following round after your daughter; this tired me and sleep came upon me.’ ‘What are you saying?’ said the king. ‘You went sound asleep and all night long never woke up. You must have seen all this in your sleep.’ Johnnie began to tell the king how the fire-place had split and about the blackamoor and everything else. The princess denied it. Johnnie told about the garden and about the dinner. The princess was trembling with dismay. How had Johnnie seen all this when she had never seen him there? She went on with her denials. ‘And to show you that all this is true,’ said Johnnie, ‘take this egg, O king, and break it and you will see that the blackamoor will come here: you shall see him for yourself and then you will believe my story.’
When the princess heard about the egg, she felt in her pocket but she could not find it. She fell fainting. The king took the egg and broke it: a blackamoor presented himself: a real monster. When they saw him everyone’s blood froze. When he saw the princess in a faint in his eager desire the blackamoor ran to embrace her; Johnnie was before him and drew his sword and with one stroke hewed off his head. When the princess came to, she opened her eyes and fell into the arms of her father, delivered from her enchantment. All rejoiced and with pleasure fell to laughing; in a few days the princess was married to the Son of the Moon with songs, dances, music and all manner of rejoicings.
About a month passed and with the Son of the Sea Johnnie rose up and took with him his sword and his horse and all his gear. He said farewell to the king and also to his brother and his wife the princess. With him he left an enchanted apple, saying that if it withered he must wait for his other brother the Son of the Sun and the two must go off together to find him. He kissed him good-bye and was off.
They went on and on, the two of them by themselves, and going this way and that they came to a kingdom where the princess was refusing to speak and the king had sent out a crier to proclaim: ‘Whoever can succeed in making the princess speak may have her as his wife. If he fails he must be slain.’ Again Johnnie asked his horse: ‘What am I to do, my good horse, to get the princess to speak so that I may marry her to my brother here, and he too find rest and be no more at the pains of travelling about with us?’
‘This is the most difficult task of all,’ said the horse. ‘In one way only can you succeed. You must tell the king to make you a double-faced mirror and inside it you must conceal the Son of the Sea, and when you see that you can’t get the princess to speak, then at dawn you must speak to the mirror and say: “Mirror, my little mirror, since the princess will not talk to me, will you not talk to me and console me, for this is my very last night. Tell me some story that I may forget my grief.” Then the Son of the Sea will begin to talk to you from inside the mirror and perhaps the princess will become curious and speak herself to question you and find out how it is that the mirror talks.’ Johnnie did as the horse told him. The king made him the mirror. His companion was shut up inside it, and when in the evening the mirror was carried into the princess’s room Johnnie went in with it. Then Johnnie began to talk to her; he besought her and also told her amusing stories. But from the princess, not a word! You would have said she wasn’t there.
When it was near dawn and he saw that all his talking was to no purpose, Johnnie turned and said to the mirror: ‘My good mirror, since the people here are so hard of heart that they have no pity for me, I who am so young and must die, and yet they won’t speak a word to me, speak to me yourself, I pray you; you who have no life in you, you give me your company.’ The Son of the Sea started and spoke from inside the mirror: ‘And what do you want me to say to you?’ ‘Tell me a story to pass the time a little until the day comes and they put me to death,’ said Johnnie. The mirror said: ‘With pleasure I will tell you a story.
‘Once upon a time there was a poor man and he had only one son, and him he loved dearly. But how poor he was and no work to do! He was in despair and said to his wife: “I will take our son off to the town that he may learn some craft so as not to starve when he is grown up.” He took the boy; they had no money and so they started off on foot. On the way when they came to Alortho Pouri they were tired and sat down to eat a little and refresh themselves. The father, feeling very sad that he would be leaving his son in the hands of strangers, said with a sigh: “Woe is me! Woe is me!” As he said this he saw the sea swelling up and a wave coming down over him, a wave as high as a mountain. He was afraid and wanted to run away. As this was in his mind, the wave opened and from the midst of it there came an angry spirit which said to him: “Why did you call for me? What do you want?” The poor father was frightened and said: “I said nothing to you, master. I only sighed and said: ‘Oh alas and thrice alas for my cruel fortune and for my poverty which deprives me of my son, for I must leave him all alone in the hands of strangers, all for him to learn a craft.’”
‘The spirit said: “As you have called for me, be patient and I will help you; I will take your son with me and teach him a craft. After two years come here to this same place, call for me, and take your son back again.” The spirit took the boy with him, and one two, he drew him down under the sea to his palace. There he had with him other children as well, whom he had carried off long before: from the waist downwards they had been turned to stone. He put the boy there to wait upon the others and told him what he had to do. He told him he must be careful not to open a cupboard which stood there in the corner; above all he must not touch the books there; if he did, he would suffer grievous trouble.
‘The boy was lively and clever and he said: “Why should I not try to read the books and see what is written in them? Then I too might learn and have my eyes opened.” So he began to read. The books were of magic and Woe-is-me had told him not to read them to prevent him learning this art. But the boy was clever and read the books and learned magic arts, and not only what Woe-is-me knew but yet one thing more. He learned to know another man’s thoughts.
‘The two years passed. The father came to Alortho Pouri and cried aloud. Woe-is-me came out from the sea and caught hold of him saying: “Come, and you shall see your son.” They went down into the palace. Woe-is-me called for the boy: Oh what delight; kisses and caresses! But the boy who had learned to know what another man was thinking understood what Woe-is-me had in his mind to do. So he said to his father: “Father, that one there is not willing to let you have me. He will turn me into a horse with all the other boys whom he has brought together and locked up here. He will say to you that you may have me if you can recognize me. Now you must know that I will be right in the front and be the first horse to arrive. When he asks you which of them is your son, then you will be able to point to me.”
‘Presently Woe-is-me came and said to the father: “Eh? Isn’t it time for you to go away?” The father said: “I will go, but I must have my son to take him with me.” “If you know which is your son and can pick him out from the rest when I show them to you all together, then I will let you have him.’ So said Woe-is-me.
‘Then he took the father and brought him into a big field. Presently there came into the field some hundred young horses. Woe-is-me then said: “All these horses are boys; I enchanted them and turned them into horses. Which of them is your son?” The old man went round and looked at all the horses; he pretended to be searching, and presently he pointed at the horse who was in front of the others and said: “This one is my son,” and so in truth he was. Since the father had recognized him Woe-is-me could do nothing. He brought them up out of the sea and let them go, and off they went.
‘As they were on the road to the village they saw a shepherd going in front of them. The boy said to his father: “Father, I have learned the magic art and I will now turn into a horse for you to sell me to the shepherd and we will have ten pounds from him. Then I will leave him and turn back into a man again and so we shall have the money.” On this they agreed, and the boy turned into a horse. The old man led him by the halter. The shepherd said: “I say, friend, will you sell me your horse?” “Yes, gladly I will sell him: if you give me ten pounds, he is yours.” The shepherd paid the ten pounds and went off with the horse. The father followed them secretly to see what would happen. The boy, tied and led by the shepherd, began to rub himself against his hands and to lick them. The shepherd said: “Now he knows me, and I will let him loose a little.” Scarcely had he loosed him when the horse dropped behind and turned into a boy again and went to his father, saying: “Forward; time to be off.” And thus they went on. The shepherd ran back to look; he searched but to no purpose.
‘Then Woe-is-me came intending to find the boy and take him back again; he had changed his mind and was sorry he had let him go. As soon as the shepherd asked him if he had seen a horse, Woe-is-me understood that this horse was the boy and that he had learnt the art of magic.
‘At once Woe-is-me turned into a hawk and flew off to find the boy. When the boy saw him coming he turned into an eagle and swooped down on Woe-is-me. Woe-is-me turned into some bigger bird and tried to devour the eagle. The boy turned into two grains of corn: one fell into the lap of the princess as she sat there in the garden; the other fell to the ground. Woe-is-me at once turned into a dove and perched on the princess’s lap and swallowed the grain that was there. As the dove was hopping down to eat the other grain, the one that had the boy in it, the boy turned into a hawk, caught the dove in his talons, and tore it all to pieces. This was the death of Woe-is-me. The boy was delivered; so too were all of them set free from his enchantments and lived happily.’
‘Well, do you like my story?’ said the mirror. ‘Thank you, my dear little mirror,’ said Johnnie, ‘it was a fine story.’ When the mirror began to talk, the princess left her place and came near and looked: once at the mirror and once at Johnnie. How this marvel had happened she could not understand. As she looked at Johnnie and saw how handsome he was, she began to like him and to find it a pity that he should be put to death. Yet she did not want it to appear that he pleased her so well. She acted as though she could not restrain her curiosity about the mirror, and looking in the mirror she could keep watch on Johnnie. When the story came to an end she said: ‘But how is it that the mirror talks?’ Johnnie rose and went up to her and said: ‘I have conquered you, my princess.’
She was loath to admit this, and he had scarcely spoken when she changed her mind and again shut her mouth and sat down where she was with not a word said. Johnnie said: ‘I have conquered you for you have spoken a word and I have a witness too.’ He went and opened the mirror and brought out the Son of the Sea, saying: ‘This is he who has conquered you, for it was he inside the mirror speaking. He shall be your husband.’ And now what could the princess do? She was forced to accept. Together they went out of her room and went off to the king. Johnnie made the marriage of this couple also, and with the man he left an apple. Then he went off, he and the horse. His only companion now was the horse, and with him he talked and the horse told him what he must do.
They went on and on, and one morning they stood at the very edge of the world. Away beyond the boundary of the world the horse saw something shining in the sunshine. He said to Johnnie: ‘Here, I think, are the Golden Boughs; what do you say? Shall we go there?’ ‘Let us go,’ said Johnnie.
They passed right beyond the world, and as they went forward they saw they were approaching a whole forest of Golden Boughs. In the midst was a tower with a garden, and all round it were trees, all with Golden Boughs: it was a real paradise. Outside the door of the tower an old woman was sitting. When she saw Johnnie she was astonished and said: ‘How have you come here?’ Johnnie said: ‘I have come to find the Golden Boughs, that I may win the Fair One of the World. Do you know where she is?’ ‘She is here,’ said the old woman. ‘Wait for me to tell her that you have come.’ She went and told the Fair One and then brought Johnnie into the tower. Johnnie could never have his fill of gazing at her. Then said the Fair One of the World: ‘Now that you have shown yourself worthy to come here and have succeeded in finding me, you shall be my husband.’
Then they lived there together, and she fell in love with him, and to give him pleasure became his wife, even as women do: she ceased to be a spirit of the air. She transported the garden and the Golden Boughs and the tower all of them near to where men dwell in this world. Johnnie was mad with love of her; he could not stay a moment away from her. She used to tell him to go out of the tower and go hunting, lest his health should fail, always shut up in the tower. He must go and mix with other men now that they were back again in the world. His answer was that he could not endure a moment without seeing her. ‘Is that all?’ said the girl. ‘Stay a moment and I will give you my picture, and that you can have with you wherever you go.’ She gave him her picture, and he put it into his bosom and went off hunting. He went hunting all over the mountain going up and coming down. Then he became tired and thirsty. He came to a spring and stooped down to drink; then he sat down to rest. When he was stooping to drink the picture fell out without his noticing it. He rose up and went back to the palace and to his wife.
In the evening the king’s servants went to water the horses at the spring. The horses would not drink; they took fright and were off. The servants went back to the palace and the king asked them if they had watered the horses. They told him what had happened. The king took the horses and himself led them to the spring. He stooped down to see what was in the water to prevent them from drinking. So he found the picture. He had hardly seen it when he fell madly in love. Then the king sent out a crier: Whoever could be found to tell him who the girl was and where he could find her, to that man he would give a half of his kingdom. An old woman sent out by the Fair One of the World went down to the grocer’s to do her shopping. She heard the crier and went to the king and said: ‘Be at rest; I will bring her to you. Only your servants must come with me to carry her off because she will be unwilling and they must help me and be at my orders.’ The servants went with the old woman and she hid them in the tower.
Next day Johnnie went off hunting. When he came back tired he had a meal and lay down to sleep. His wife was sitting by him at her embroidery and the old woman said to her: ‘Come and do your embroidery downstairs, my lady; you may wake him up.’ She went down and the old woman went off and called the king’s servants. They killed the horse to prevent him from telling Johnnie; then they took and bound the Fair One. The old woman went upstairs and took Johnnie’s sword; she went to him as he slept and with a single stroke she killed him. The old woman called for the king’s servants and they cut the boy into three pieces and the horse too into three pieces. They dug a deep hole and threw the pieces into it, and with them the shoes and the cap: they buried them all together. The sword they threw into the sea. They carried off the Fair One and locked up the tower; with the old woman they went off to the king’s palace. The king was full of joy. To the old woman he gave a half of his kingdom. The Fair One he placed in a chamber all of gold with servants and handmaids to attend upon her. Every morning he went and looked at her. She would neither look at him nor listen to him; all the time she sat crying.
Now we must leave the princess and tell of Johnnie’s three brothers. They were living in their kingdoms with their wives, all in great good fortune. One morning the Son of the Sun woke up and went to look at the apple which Johnnie had left with him in order to see how his brother was. He saw the apple all withered and its leafage yellow and dry. He went to his wife and said: ‘My brother Johnnie is in some evil plight; I must go and find him.’ He mounted his horse and went off and joined the two other brothers. They went on and on asking if anyone could tell them where Johnnie was. The Son of the Sun said: ‘Stay; we must ask my father.’ So they asked the Sun and he said: ‘You must go to such and such a place and you will find the tower. Then dig and you will find him.’ They dug and found Johnnie and the horse. They brought the pieces of the bodies together, but they had none of the Water of Life.
Again they questioned the Sun and he said: ‘All day I make my circle, yet that Water have I seen nowhere. Go and ask the Moon; it may be that he has seen it at night.’ The Son of the Moon went and asked the Moon. The Moon said: ‘I know where it is. It is behind yonder mountain, in the place where it opens and closes again. Tie a little vessel to a dove’s tail and let it loose. The dove will pass through and dip the bottle into the Water and be in time to come out before the mountain shuts again.’ With the vessel tied to its tail the dove passed through the mountain and brought them the Water of Life. They took it and sprinkled it over Johnnie and over the horse, and they came to life again. What joy! What embracings and kissings! Then said Johnnie: ‘I thank you, my brothers, for delivering me. Now I want to find my sword to slay all these people who have carried away my wife and brought me to death.’
Then the three went off and the Son of the Sun asked his father. The Sun said: ‘I can’t see it; I don’t know where it is.’ The Son of the Moon asked his father and the Moon replied: ‘I have not seen it.’ The Son of the Sea asked and the Sea answered her son: ‘I have the sword.’ The Son of the Sea dived down into the embraces of his mother; he searched and found the sword and gave it to Johnnie. Then Johnnie thanked his brothers and again they kissed one another. The brothers went off to their kingdoms and their wives.
Johnnie mounted his horse and leaning forward to caress him he said: ‘Well, my good horse, now we must go and set free our lady.’ So he said, and the horse darted forward and in two moments was standing outside the king’s palace. Scarcely had the soldiers seen Johnnie than they trembled: how could he be alive again? They had buried him; they had seen him dead. They went to bar the door against his entry, but Johnnie drew his sword, hewing this way and that, and he killed them all. He went into the palace and killed the king; he found the old woman and cut her all into little pieces. He went to the room where his wife was and took her. They mounted the horse and went to their tower. The Fair One of the World by her magic arts removed the tower and the Golden Boughs and carried it far away from the world back to the place where it had been before. The two of them, Johnnie and his wife, lived in joy and love and it may be they are still alive to this day.