--- title: "The Water of Life" story_id: "a8527da0-8c29-4cc2-9312-0db2cbfd0113" text_id: "bc17dcdb-3b3e-44c9-bc4f-5bc8f679dc4d" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-water-of-life" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-water-of-life" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Water of Life > 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/the-water-of-life) Version: Modernized In this German story collected by the Brothers Grimm, three princes seek a wonderful water that could cure their father. The journey tests their kindness and their loyalty to one another. **Content warning:** The story includes a life-threatening illness, war, an injury and an order to kill a young man. Once upon a time there was a King who had an illness, and no one believed that he would survive it. He had three sons who were much distressed about it, and went down into the palace-garden and wept. There they met an old man who asked why they were so sad. They told him that their father was so ill that he would most certainly die, for nothing seemed to cure him. Then the old man said, “I know of one more remedy, and that is the water of life; if he drinks of it he will become well again; but it is hard to find.” The eldest said, “I will manage to find it,” and went to the sick King, and begged to be allowed to set out in search of the water of life, for that alone could save him. “No,” said the King, “the danger of it is too great. I would rather die.” But he begged so long that the King agreed. The prince thought to himself, “If I bring the water, then I shall be my father’s favourite, and shall inherit the kingdom.” So he set out, and when he had ridden out a little distance, he met a dwarf in the road, who called out, “Where are you going so fast?” “Silly shrimp,” said the prince, very haughtily, “it’s none of your business,” and rode on. But the little dwarf had grown angry, and had cast an evil spell. Soon after this the prince entered a ravine, and the further he rode the closer the mountains drew together, and at last the road became so narrow that he could not advance a step further; he could neither turn his horse round nor climb down from the saddle, and he was shut in there as if in prison. The sick King waited long for him, but he did not come. Then the second son said, “Father, let me set out to seek the water,” and thought to himself, “If my brother is dead, then the kingdom will fall to me.” At first the King would not allow him to go either, but at last he gave in, so the prince set out on the same road that his brother had taken, and he too met the dwarf, who stopped him to ask where he was going in such a hurry. “Little shrimp,” said the prince, “that’s none of your business,” and rode on without giving him another look. But the dwarf bewitched him, and he, like the other, rode into a ravine, and could neither go forwards nor backwards. That is how it goes with haughty people. As the second son also remained away, the youngest begged to be allowed to set out to fetch the water, and at last the King was obliged to let him go. When he met the dwarf and the latter asked him where he was going in such a hurry, he stopped, gave him an explanation, and said, “I am seeking the water of life, for my father is so ill he is dying.” “Do you know where to find it?” “No,” said the prince. “You have been polite, unlike your proud, dishonest brothers, so I will tell you how to find the water of life. It springs from a fountain in the courtyard of an enchanted castle, but you will not be able to make your way to it, if I do not give you a thin iron rod and two small loaves of bread. Strike three times with the rod on the iron door of the castle and it will spring open: inside lie two lions with their jaws wide open, but if you throw a loaf to each of them, they will be calmed. Then hurry to fetch some of the water of life before the clock strikes twelve, or the door will shut again, and you will be imprisoned.” The prince thanked him, took the rod and the bread, and set out on his way. When he arrived, everything was as the dwarf had said. The door sprang open at the third stroke of the rod, and once he had calmed the lions with the bread, he entered the castle. He came to a large and splendid hall where princes sat under a spell. He took the rings from their fingers. A sword and a loaf of bread were lying there, which he carried away. Next he entered a room where he found a beautiful young woman. She was overjoyed to see him and kissed him. She told him he had freed her and would receive her whole kingdom. If he returned in a year, they would be married. She also showed him where to find the spring of the water of life and told him to hurry and fetch some before the clock struck twelve. He went on, and at last entered a room where there was a beautiful newly-made bed, and as he was very tired, he wanted to rest a little. So he lay down and fell asleep. When he awoke, it was striking a quarter to twelve. He sprang up in a fright, ran to the spring, drew some water in a cup which stood near, and hurried away. But just as he was passing through the iron door, the clock struck twelve, and the door slammed shut so violently that it badly hurt his heel. Delighted to have the water of life, he set off for home and met the dwarf again. When the latter saw the sword and the loaf, he said, “With these you have won great wealth; with the sword you can kill whole armies, and the bread will never run out.” But the prince would not go home to his father without his brothers, and said, “Dear dwarf, can you not tell me where my two brothers are? They went out before I did in search of the water of life, and have not returned.” “They are imprisoned between two mountains,” said the dwarf. “I have condemned them to stay there, because they were so haughty.” The prince begged until the dwarf released his brothers. But the dwarf warned him, “Beware of them, for they have bad hearts.” When his brothers came, he rejoiced, and told them how things had gone with him, that he had found the water of life and had brought a cupful away with him, and had rescued a beautiful princess, who was willing to wait a year for him, and then their wedding was to be celebrated and he would obtain a great kingdom. After that they rode on together, and came to a land suffering from war and famine, and the King himself thought he would die, because there was so little food. Then the prince went to him and gave him the loaf, which fed everyone in the kingdom. Then he gave the King the sword. With it, the King killed the enemy armies and could finally live in peace. The prince then took back his loaf and his sword, and the three brothers rode on. They then entered two more countries suffering from war and famine. Each time, the prince lent the king his loaf and sword. He had now saved three kingdoms. After this, the brothers boarded a ship and sailed across the sea. During the passage, the two eldest talked privately and said, “The youngest has found the water of life and not we, so our father will give him the kingdom—the kingdom which belongs to us, and he will rob us of all our fortune.” They then began to seek revenge, and plotted with each other to destroy him. They waited until they found him fast asleep, then they poured the water of life out of the cup, and took it for themselves, but into the cup they poured salt sea-water. When they arrived home, the youngest took his cup to the sick King so he could drink from it and recover. But scarcely had he drunk a very little of the salt sea-water when he became still worse than before. And as he was lamenting over this, the two eldest brothers came, and accused the youngest of having intended to poison him, and said that they had brought him the true water of life, and handed it to him. He had scarcely tasted it, when he felt his illness leaving him, and became strong and healthy as in the days of his youth. After that they both went to the youngest, mocked him, and said, “You certainly found the water of life, but you have had the pain, and we the gain; you should have been sharper, and should have kept your eyes open. We took it from you whilst you were asleep at sea, and when a year is over, one of us will go and fetch the beautiful princess. But don’t you dare tell our father about this; indeed he does not trust you, and if you say a single word, you’ll lose your life as well, but if you keep silent, we will let you keep your life.” ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/75228de4-d350-4da5-8106-9400ee830af5) The old King was angry with his youngest son, and thought he had plotted against his life. So he summoned the court together and had his son condemned to be shot in secret. One day, the prince rode out hunting, suspecting nothing, and the King’s huntsman had to go with him. When they were alone in the forest, the huntsman looked so sad that the prince asked him, “Dear huntsman, what is troubling you?” The huntsman said, “I cannot tell you, and yet I ought.” Then the prince said, “Say openly what it is, I will pardon you.” “Alas!” said the huntsman, “I am to shoot you dead, the King has ordered me to do it.” Then the prince was shocked, and said, “Dear huntsman, let me live; there, I give you my royal clothes; give me your ordinary ones instead.” The huntsman said, “I will willingly do that, indeed I should not have been able to shoot you.” Then they exchanged clothes, and the huntsman returned home; the prince, however, went further into the forest. Some time later, three wagons of gold and precious stones arrived for the King’s youngest son. They were gifts from the three kings who had killed their enemies with his sword and fed their people with his bread. They wanted to thank him. The old King then thought, “Can my son have been innocent?” and said to his people, “If only he were still alive! How it grieves me that I have allowed him to be killed!” “He still lives,” said the huntsman, “I could not find it in my heart to carry out your command,” and told the King how it had happened. Then a weight lifted from the King’s heart, and he had it proclaimed in every country that his son might return and be welcomed again. Meanwhile, the princess had a bright golden road built up to her palace. She told her servants to welcome the man who rode straight along its middle: he would be the one she was waiting for. Anyone who rode along either side was the wrong man and must be turned away. As the end of the year approached, the eldest thought he would hasten to go to the King’s daughter, and pretend to be her rescuer, and thus marry her and gain the kingdom as well. Therefore he rode out, and when he arrived in front of the palace, and saw the splendid golden road, he thought, it would be terribly wrong if he were to ride over that, and turned aside, and rode on the right side of it. But when he came to the door, the servants told him that he was not the right man, and was to go away again. Soon after this the second prince set out, and when he came to the golden road, and his horse had put one foot on it, he thought, it would be terribly wrong to damage any of it, and he turned aside and rode on the left side of it, and when he reached the door, the attendants told him he was not the right one, and he was to go away again. When at last the year was over, the youngest son also wanted to ride out of the forest to the woman he loved, and with her forget his sorrows. So he set out and thought of her so constantly, and wished to be with her so much, that he never noticed the golden road at all. So his horse rode onwards up the middle of it, and when he came to the door, it was opened and the princess received him with joy, and said he was her rescuer, and lord of the kingdom, and their wedding was celebrated with great rejoicing. When it was over she told him that his father invited him to come to him, and had forgiven him. So he rode there, and told him everything; how his brothers had betrayed him, and how he had nevertheless kept silence. The old King wished to punish them, but they had sailed away, and never came back as long as they lived. ## Modernization notes - fell to with such violence → slammed shut so violently: The injury and the dangerous closing door remain; the loss of a piece of his heel is not described. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Grimm’s Household Tales, volume II, 1884, George Bell and Sons, London - author: Jacob Grimm - author: Wilhelm Grimm - translator: Margaret Hunt ## Illustration [Arthur Rackham](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/75228de4-d350-4da5-8106-9400ee830af5) — The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, 1909, Constable & Co., London ## Reading music The Hebrides, Op. 26 Felix Mendelssohn Hochschulsymphonieorchester München (orchestra) Marcus Bosch (conductor) [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ## Quiz ### Where is groundwater often found? - Only in huge underground lakes - Only in underground blocks of ice - In tiny spaces in soil and rock (Correct answer) Wells reach groundwater. This water often fills tiny spaces in soil and rock rather than forming a large underground lake. [US Geological Survey — Groundwater: What is Groundwater?](https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/science/groundwater-what-groundwater) ### Which gas produced by yeast makes bread dough rise? - Carbon dioxide (Correct answer) - Helium - Oxygen Yeast feeds on sugars in the dough and produces carbon dioxide. The gas forms bubbles trapped in the dough, making it rise. [Exploratorium — The science of bread](https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/bread_science.html) ### Which chemical symbol stands for iron? - Ag - He - Fe (Correct answer) The element iron has the symbol Fe. [Royal Society of Chemistry — Iron](https://periodic-table.rsc.org/element/26/iron) ### Which metal mixed with tin makes bronze? - Gold - Copper (Correct answer) - Iron Tin helped give the Bronze Age its name. Mixed with copper, it forms bronze, used for tools and weapons thousands of years ago. [Royal Society of Chemistry — Tin](https://periodic-table.rsc.org/element/50/tin) ### How much water must a floating ship displace? - Water weighing half as much - Water weighing as much as the ship's total weight (Correct answer) - Water weighing exactly ten times as much A ship floats by displacing water. To stay afloat, it must push aside water whose weight equals its own total weight. [oceanservice.noaa.gov — dyw boat building](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/dyw-boat-building.html) ## Other languages - [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/the-water-of-life?format=markdown) - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-water-of-life?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)