--- title: "A Pavilion neither in the Sky nor on the Earth" story_id: "90a337c6-e28d-4ab9-a9eb-e7ce57bfb15a" text_id: "0bec587f-4c16-4ae7-b336-9334ea552bfe" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/a-pavilion-neither-in-the-sky-nor-on-the-earth" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/a-pavilion-neither-in-the-sky-nor-on-the-earth" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # A Pavilion neither in the Sky nor on the Earth > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/a-pavilion-neither-in-the-sky-nor-on-the-earth) Version: Modernized In this Serbian folktale, a dragon carries off a princess. Her three brothers set out to find her, and their search leads them to a pavilion hanging between earth and sky. Reaching it will take more courage than they expect. **Content warning:** This story includes abduction, the killing of an animal, and fatal blows. Once upon a time there lived a tsar, who had three sons and one daughter. The latter was kept in a cage by her father, for he loved her as he loved his own eyes. When the girl grew up she begged her father’s permission to go out one evening with her brothers, and the tsar granted her wish. No sooner had she left the palace than a dragon flew down, seized the princess and disappeared with her into the clouds before her brothers could stop him. The princes hastened to tell their father what had happened, and they implored him to let them go in search of their sister. Then their unhappy father gave each of them a horse and other necessary equipment for a long journey, and they started out upon their quest. After journeying a long way, they sighted in the distance a pavilion, which was neither in the sky nor on the earth, but was hanging midway between. When they came underneath it, it occurred to them that their sister might be hidden in it, and they began to consider how best they might reach it. Finally they decided that one of them must kill his horse, cut its hide into strips, and make a long leather strap. They would fasten one end to an arrow and shoot it with enough force to lodge it deep in the pavilion’s wooden frame. Then they could climb up the strap. The two younger brothers proposed to the eldest that he should kill his horse, but he refused. Neither would the second brother consent to do so. Then the youngest brother, seeing that it could not be helped, killed his horse, made its hide into a long strap, fixed one end to his arrow, and shot straight up to the pavilion, where the arrow stuck firmly. Next they had to discuss who should climb up the strap. Again the two elder brothers refused, so it fell to the youngest to make the climb. Being very agile, he soon reached the pavilion. Wandering from one room to another, he finally came to a room where, to his great joy, he saw his sister sitting with the sleeping dragon’s head on her knee. When the princess saw her brother, she was very afraid for his life, and implored him to escape before the dragon awoke. ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/f9e59012-03dc-4277-adaf-0a7496b44198) ### The Prince slays the Dragon The courageous youth, however, would not do as his sister asked. He seized his mace and struck the dragon on the head. The monster pointed with one of his claws to the place where he had been struck and said to the maiden: “Something bit me here!” Again the prince raised his mace and delivered a blow upon the monster’s head; but the dragon apparently did not mind, for he pointed again indifferently to the place, saying: “Again something has bitten me!” The young prince was about to strike a third time when his sister pointed out where a blow could kill the dragon. The prince aimed there, and the dragon died instantly. The princess immediately moved the dragon’s head off her lap, ran swiftly to kiss her brother, and then was eager to show him the different rooms. First, she took him into a room in which stood a black steed fastened to a stall and decked with a saddle and harness adorned with pure silver. Next she led him into a second room, where they found a white horse, also ready to be mounted, but its harness was of pure gold. Then she took him into a third room, where was a beautiful Arab steed whose saddle, stirrups and bridle were studded with precious stones. The princess next conducted her brother to a chamber in which a maiden was sitting at a golden embroidery frame engaged in embroidering with golden threads. From there she led him into a second room where a girl was spinning gold threads. At last they entered a third room in which a maiden sat threading pearls, and before her, upon a golden plate, was a golden hen with its chickens, sorting the pearls. Having satisfied his curiosity, the prince returned to the room where he had left the dead dragon and threw the body down to earth. At the mere sight of the dragon’s body the two brothers were terrified out of their wits. Next the prince slowly let down his sister, and, after her, the three maidens, together with their work. As he did this, he shouted to his brothers and made gestures indicating which girl should marry each brother. He reserved for himself the one who had been threading pearls, not forgetting the golden hen and the chickens. ### The Brothers’ Betrayal His brothers, envying the heroism of the young prince and jealous of his successful exploits, were now guilty of a wicked trick. They cut the strap so that he could not reach the earth, then hurried away with their sister and all the treasure. On the way home the princes met a shepherd watching his sheep, and they persuaded him to disguise himself and pretend to be their youngest brother. They ordered their sister and the three maidens to keep their secret. Some time elapsed, and one day the youngest prince heard that his brothers and the disguised shepherd were about to marry the three maidens. This information seems to have been singularly complete, for on the day of his eldest brother’s wedding, he mounted the black steed, flew down and landed in front of the church. There he waited for the procession to come out. As his brother was preparing to mount his horse, he swiftly approached him, raised his club and struck him so hard that he fell instantly. The young prince then remounted the black horse and was instantly transported to the mysterious pavilion. On his second brother’s wedding day, he repeated the feat, this time on the white horse. No one guessed who the strange attacker was. Next came the turn of the shepherd. On the day of his wedding with the third maiden, the young prince, mounted on the Arab horse, landed in the churchyard just at the moment when the wedding procession started to return. This time he struck the bridegroom on the head so heavily that he fell dead. The guests hurriedly dismounted and surrounded the prince, who made no attempt to escape, but revealed himself as the third son of their tsar. He told them that the pretended prince, whom he had just killed, was only a common shepherd, and that his brothers, out of envy, had left him trapped in the magic pavilion where he had discovered his sister and killed the dragon. All that he said was immediately confirmed by his sister and the three maidens. When the tsar heard this, he was very angry with his two elder sons, and banished them from his palace for ever. But as for his valiant youngest son, he married him to the third maiden and left him the crown and all he possessed when he died. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, 1914, George G. Harrap & Company, London - author: Woislav M. Petrovitch ## Illustration [Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/f9e59012-03dc-4277-adaf-0a7496b44198) — Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, 1921, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London; Sydney ## Reading music Kozarica Kolo Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band (brass and percussion) Ernie Indradat (recording engineer) Mike Cades (assistant engineer) Rob Weisberg (producer) WFMU (source) [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) ## Quiz ### This tale comes from the Serbian tradition. What is the capital of Serbia? - Belgrade (Correct answer) - Prague - Helsinki Belgrade is the capital of Serbia. It stands where the Sava meets the Danube. The tale belongs to a collection of Serbian stories, rather than a story about the modern city. [National Tourism Organisation of Serbia — Belgrade](https://www.serbia.travel/en/belgrade/) ### One maiden embroiders with golden thread. What is hand embroidery? - Carving a pattern into stone - Decorating fabric with stitches (Correct answer) - Weaving a basket from branches Hand embroidery decorates fabric using stitches made with a needle and thread. It has many different styles around the world. A frame can hold the fabric while the embroiderer works. [Victoria and Albert Museum — Embroidery styles](https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/embroidery-styles-an-illustrated-guide) ### Where do real natural pearls form? - Inside rocks on mountains - In the heart of a flower - Inside certain mollusks (Correct answer) Pearls form in certain mollusks, including oysters and mussels. The hen sorting pearls in the tale belongs to its magical world. [Gemological Institute of America — Pearl research](https://www.gia.edu/pearl-research) ### The prince uses a mace. What kind of object is a mace? - A stringed musical instrument - A club with a head on a handle (Correct answer) - A bow that shoots arrows A mace is a type of club, with a head mounted on a handle. Historical examples could have stone or metal heads. It is different from a sword with a cutting blade. [The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Mace head](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310671) ### How are dancers usually arranged in a Serbian kolo? - In a linked group, often a semicircle (Correct answer) - Each dancer alone in a separate room - In pairs sitting back to back Kolo dancers form a linked group, usually following a semicircular line. They move to music together, and the dance is part of many celebrations in Serbia. [National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia — Kolo](https://nkns.rs/en/popis-nkns/kolo-dance-three-steps-kolo-six-steps-kolo-kolo-kolo-u-tri-kolo-u-shest) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)