Youth without Age and Life without Death

Once upon a time there was a great Emperor and an Empress; both were young and beautiful, and as they longed to have a childwould fain have been blessed with offspring they went to all the wise men and all the wise women and asked them tobade them read the stars to see if they would have children or not; but all in vain. At last the Emperor heard that in a certain village nearby livedvillage, hard by, dwelt a wiser old man than all the rest; so he sent and commanded him to appear at court. But the wise old man sent the messengers back with the answer that those who needed him must come to him. So the Emperor and the Empress set out, with their lords and their ladies, and their servants and their soldiers, and came to the house of the wise old man. And when the old man saw them coming from afar he went out to meet them.

“Welcome,” cried he; “but I tell you,thee, oh Emperor! that your heart’s wish will only bring you grief.”the wish of thy heart will only work thee woe.”

“I did not come here to ask your advice,”came not hither to take counsel of thee,” replied the Emperor; “but to know if you have herbs that we can eat to havethou hast herbs by eating whereof we may get us children.”

“I have such herbs,”“Such herbs have I,” replied the old man; “but you will have only one child, and youye will have but one child, and him ye will not be able to keep him, however lovely and charming he may be.”keep, though he be never so nice and charming.”

So when the Emperor and the Empress had gotten the wondrous herbs, they returned joyfully back to their palace, and a few days afterwards the Empress realised that she was expecting a baby.felt that she was a mother. But beforeere the hour of her child’s birth came the child began to scream so loudly that all the enchantments of the magicians could not make him silent. Then the Emperor began to promise him everything in the wide world, but even this would not quiet him.

“Be silent, my heart’s darling,” said he, “and I will give youthee all the kingdoms east of the sun and west of the moon! Be silent, my son, and I will give you a bridethee a consort more lovely than the Fairy Queen herself.” Then at last, when he perceived that the child still kept on screaming, he said: “Silence, my son, and I will give youthee Youth without Age, and Life without Death.”

Then the child ceased to cry and came into the world, and all the courtiers beat the drums and blew the trumpets, and there was great joy in the whole realm for many days.

The older the child grew the more pensive and melancholy he became. He went to school and to the wise men, and there was no learning and wisdom that he did not make his own, so that the Emperor, his father, died and came to life again for sheer joy. And the whole realm was proud that it was going to have so wise and goodly an Emperor, and everyoneall men looked up to him as to a second Solomon, the wise king of the Bible.as to a second Solomon. But one day, when the child had turned fifteen,already completed his fifteenth year, and the Emperor and all his lords and great men were enjoying themselves at the table,were at table diverting themselves, the fair young prince arose and said: “Father, the time has now come when youthou must give me what you promisedthou didst promise me at my birth!”

At these words the Emperor was sorely troubled. “Nay but, my son,” said he, “how can I give youthee a thing which the world has never heard of? If I did promise it to you,thee, it was but to make youthee quiet.”

“Then, oh my father, if you cannotthou canst not give it me, I must go outmust needs go forth into the world, and seek until I find that fair thing for which I was born.”

Then the Emperor and his nobles all fell down on their knees, and beggedbesought him not to leave the empire. “For,” said the nobles, “your“thy father is now growing old, and we would place youthee on the throne, and give youthee to wife the most beautiful Empress under the sun as your wife.”sun.” But they were unable to turn him from his purpose, for he was as steadfast as a rock. Sorock, so at last his father gave him leave to go outforth into the wide world to find what he sought.

Then Boy Beautiful went into his father’s stables, which heldwhere were the most beautiful chargers in the whole empire, so that he couldempire, that he might choose one from among them; but no sooner had he laid his hand on one of them than it fell to the ground trembling, and so it was with all the other stately chargers. At last, just as he was about to leave the stable in despair, he cast his eye over it once more, and there in one corner he saw a worn-out horse, weak, lame,beheld a poor knacker, all weak, spavined, and covered with boils and sores. He went up to it,Up to it he went, and laid his hand upon its tail, and then the horse turned its head and said to him: “What are yourthy commands, my master? Praise God, who has had mercy onGod be praised who hath had mercy upon me and sent a warrior to lay his hand over me!”

Then the horse shook itself and became straight in the legs again, and Boy Beautiful asked him what he should do next.

“To fulfil your“In order that thou mayest attain thy heart’s desire,” said the horse, “ask yourthy father for the sword and lance, the bow, quiver, and armour which he himself wore when he was a youth; but you must comb and groom me yourself forthou must comb and curry me with thine own hand six weeks, and give me barley to eat cooked in milk.”

So the Emperor called the steward of his household, and ordered him to open all the coffers and wardrobes so that his son could choose whatever he wanted,wardrobes that his son might choose what he would, and Boy Beautiful, after searching for three days and three nights, found at last at the bottom of an old armoury, the arms and armour which his father had worn as a youth, but these ancient weapons were very rusty.but very rusty were these ancient weapons. But he set to work with his own hands to polish them up and rub off the rust, and at the end of six weeks they shone like mirrors. He also cared forcherished the steed as he had been told. The work was hard,Grievous was the labour, but it came to an end at last.

When the good steed heard that Boy Beautiful had cleansed and polished his armour, he shook himself once more, and all his boils and sores fellfell from off him. There he now stood, a sturdy, strong horsestood a stout horse, and strong, and with four large wings growing out of his body. Then Boy Beautiful said: “We leaveThen said Boy Beautiful: “We go hence in three days!”—“Long life to you,thee, my master!” replied the steed; “I will go wherever youthou dost command.”

When the third day came the Emperor and all his court were full of grief. Boy Beautiful, dressed as a hero should be,attired as became a hero, with his sword in his hand, bounded on to his horse, took leave of the Emperor and the Empress, of all the great nobles and all the little nobles, of all the warriors and all the courtiers. With tears in their eyes they beggedbesought him not to depart on this quest; but he, giving spurs to his horse, departed like a whirlwind, and after him went packhorsessumpter horses with money and provisions, and some hundreds of chosen warriors whom the Emperor had ordered to accompany him on his journey.

But when he had searched a wilderness on the edgeconfines of his father’s realm, Boy Beautiful took leave of the warriors, and sent them back to his father, taking only as many provisionsof the provisions only so much as his good steed could carry. Then he pursued his way towards sunrise, and went on and on for three days and three nights till he came to an immense plain covered with the bones of many dead men. Here they stopped to rest, and the horse said to him: “Know, my master, that we are now in the domains of the witch Gheonoea, who is so evil a being that no one can set foot innone can set a foot on her domains and live. Once she was a woman like other women, but the curse of her parents, whom she would never obey, fell like a withering blast upon her, and she became what she now is. At this moment she is with her children in the forest, but she will soon come to find and destroy you. She is great and terrible, yet do not be afraid, but make ready your bow and arrows, your sword and lance, so that you can usewill come speedily to seek and destroy thee. Great and terrible is she, yet fear not, but make ready thy bow and arrows, thy sword and lance, that thou mayest make use of them when the time comes.”—Then they rested, and while one slept the other watched.

When the day dawned they prepared to traverse the forest; Boy Beautiful bridled and saddled his horse, drew the reins tighter than at other times, and set out. At that moment they heard a terrible racket. Then the horse said: “Beware, my master, Gheonoea is approaching.” The trees of the forest fell to this side and to that as the witch drew nearnigh like the tempest, but Boy Beautiful struck off one of her feet with an arrow from his bow, and he was about to shoot a second time when she cried: “Hold your fire,“Stay thy hand, Boy Beautiful, for I’ll do youthee no harm!” And seeing he did not believe her, she gave him a promise written in her blood.

“Look well to yourthy horse, Boy Beautiful,” said she, “for he is a greater magician than I. But for him I should have roasted you, but now youthee, but now thou must dine at my table. Know too that no mortal hashath yet succeeded in reaching this spot, though some have got asso far as the plain where you sawthou didst see all the bones.”

Then Gheonoea hospitably entertained Boy Beautiful as men entertain travellers, but now and then, as they conversed together, Gheonoea groaned with pain, but as soon as Boy Beautiful threw her her foot which he had shot off, she put it in its place and it immediately joinedand immediately it grew fast on to her leg again. Then, in her joy, Gheonoea feasted him for three days and begged him to marrytake for his consort one of her three daughters, who were divinely beautiful, but he would not. Then he asked her concerning his quest. “With such valour and such a good steed as yours,” she answered, “you are sure tothine,” she answered, “thou must needs succeed.”

So after the three days were over they went on their way again. Boy Beautiful went on and on, and the way was very long, but when they had passed the boundaries of Gheonoea they came to a beautiful meadowland,beauteous meadow-land, but on one side the grass was fresh and bright and full of flowers, and on the other side it was burnt to cinders. Then Boy Beautiful asked the horse the meaning of the singed grass, and this is what the horse replied: “We are now in the territories of Scorpia, the sister of Gheonoea. Yet so evil-minded are these two sisters that they cannot live together in one place. The curse of their parents has blasted them, and they have become witches as you canthou dost see; their hatred of each other is great, and each of them is ever striving to wrest a bit of land from the dominions of the other. And when Scorpia is angry she vomits forth fire and flame, and so when she comes to her sister’s boundaries the grass of the border withers up before her. She is even more dreadful than her sister, and has, besides, three heads; but be of good cheer, my master, and tomorrowto-morrow morning be ready to meet her.”

At dawn, next day, they were preparing to depart when they heard a roaring and a crashing noise, the like of which man has never heard since the world began.

“Be ready, my master, for now Scorpia is approaching,” cried the faithful steed.

And indeed, Scorpia it was. With jaws reaching from earth to heaven, and spitting forth fire as she approached, Scorpia drew near, and the noise of her coming was like the roar of a whirlwind. But the good steed rose into the air like a dart, and Boy Beautiful shot an arrow which struck off one of the witch’s three heads. He was about to lay another arrow on his bow, when Scorpia begged him to forgive her and she would do him no harm, and by way of assurance she gave him a promise written in her blood.

Then she feasted him as her sister had done before, and he gave her back her severed head, which she stuck in its place again, and then, after three days, Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed took to the road again.

When they had crossed Scorpia’s borders they went on and on without stopping till they came to a vast meadow covered with nothing but flowers, where Spring reigned eternally. Every flower was wondrously beautiful and full of a fragrance that comforted the soul, and a light breeze ran continually over the flowery billowsa light zephyr ran continually over the flowery billows. Here then they sat down to restHere then they sat them down to rest, and the good steed said:

“Until now, oh my master,“Hitherto, oh my master! we have prospered, but now a great danger awaits us, which, if we overcome it withwhich if by the help of the Lord God, will make usGod we overcome, then shall we be heroes indeed. Not far from here stands the palace of Youth without Age, and Life without Death, but it is surrounded by a high and deep forest, and in this forest are all the savage monsters of the wide world. Day and night they guard it, and if a man can count the grains of sand on the sea-shore, then also can he count the number of these monsters. We cannot fight them, they would tear us to pieces before we were half-way through the forest, so we must seetry if we can leap rightclean over it without touching it.”

So they rested forthem two days to gather strength, and then the steed drew a long breath and said to Boy Beautiful: “Tighten the straps holding my saddle as much as you can, and when you haveDraw my saddle-girths as tightly as thou art able, and when thou hast mounted me, hold on fast with all yourthy might to my mane, and press yourthy feet on my neck instead of on my flanks, so that you doflanks, that thou mayest not hinder me.”

Boy Beautiful arose and did as his steed told him, and the next moment they were close up to the forest.

“Now is the time, my master,” cried the good steed. “The wild monsters are now being fed, and are gathered together in one place. Now let us spring over!”

“I am with you,thee, and the Lord have mercy upon us both,” replied Boy Beautiful.

Then up in the air they flew, and before them lay the palace, and so gloriously bright was it that it would be easier to look ata man could sooner look into the face of the midday sun than atupon the glory of the Palace of Youth without Age, and Life without Death. Right over the forest they flew, and just as they were about to descend at the foot of the palace-staircase, the steed with the tip of his hind leg touched lightly, oh, ever so lightly! a twig on the topmost summit of the tallest tree of the forest. Instantly the whole forest was alive and alert, and the monsters began to howl so awfully that, brave as he was, the hair of Boy Beautiful stood up on his head. Hastily they descended, but had not the mistress of the palace been outside there in order to feed her kittens (for so she called the monsters), Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed would have been torn to pieces. But the mistress of the monsters, for pure joy at the sight of a human being, held the monsters back and sent them back to their places. Fair, tall, and of goodly stature was the Fairy of the Palace, and Boy Beautiful felt his heart stand still as he sawdie away within him as he beheld her. But she was full of compassion at the sight of him, and said: “Welcome, Boy Beautiful! What do youdost thou seek?”

“We seek Youth without Age, and Life without Death,” he replied.

Then he dismounted from his steed and entered the palace, and there he met two other fair ladiesdames of equal beauty; these were the elder sisters of the Fairy of the Palace. They regaled Boy Beautiful with a banquet served on gold plate, and the good steed was allowed to graze wherever he wanted,had leave to graze where he would, and the Fairy made him known to all her monsters, so that he couldmonsters, that so he might wander through the woods in peace. Then the fair ladiesdames begged Boy Beautiful to stayabide with them always, and Boy Beautiful did not wait to be asked twice, for to stay with the Fairy of the Palace was his darling desire.

Then he told them his story, and of all the dangers he had passed through to get there, and so the Fairy of the Palace became his bride, and she gave him leave to roam wherever he wishedat will throughout her domains. “Nevertheless,” said she, “there is one valley youthou must not enter or it will bring you grief,work thee woe, and the name of that valley is the Vale of Complaint.”

There Boy Beautiful stayed,There then Boy Beautiful abode, and he took no count of time, for though many days passed away, he was yet as young and strong as when he first came there. He went mile after mile through thewent through leagues of forest without once feeling weary. He rejoiced in the golden palace, and lived in peace and tranquillity with his bride and her sisters. Often he went hunting too.Oftentimes too he went a-hunting.

One day he was pursuing a hare, and shot an arrow after it and then another, but neither of them hit the hare. Never before had Boy Beautiful missed his prey, and his heart was troubled.vexed within him. He pursued the hare still more eagerly,hotly, and sent another arrow after her. This time he broughtdid bring her down, but in his haste the unhappy man had not perceived that in following the hare he had passed through the Vale of Complaint!

He took up the hare and returned homewards, but while he was still on the way a strange yearning after his father and his mother came over him. He dareddurst not tell his bride aboutof it, but she and her sisters immediately guessed the cause of his sadness.heaviness.

“Wretched man!” they cried, “you have“thou hast passed through the Vale of Complaint!”

“I have done so, darling, without meaning it,” he replied; “but now I am perishing with longing for my father and mother. But does that mean I must leave you?Yet need I desert thee for that? I have now been many days with you,thee, and am as hale and well as ever. Let meSuffer me then to go and see my parents just once, and then I will return to you, never to part again.”but once, and then will I return to thee to part no more.”

“Do not leave us,“Forsake us not, oh beloved!” cried his bride and her sisters. “Hundreds of years have passed away since yourthy parents were alive; and you also, if you do leave us, will never return again. Stay with us! An evil omen tells us that you will perish if you leave!”thou also, if thou dost leave us, wilt never return more. Abide with us, or, an evil omen tells us, thou wilt perish!”

But the pleassupplications of the three ladies and his faithful steed could not overcomesteed likewise could not prevail against the gnawing longing to see his parents which consumed him.

At last the horse said to him: “If you willthou wilt not listen to me, my master, then it’s your’tis thine own fault alone if harm comes to you.evil befall thee. Yet I will promise to bring youthee back on one condition.”

“I agree,consent whatever it may be,” said Boy Beautiful; “speak, and I will listen gratefully.”

“I will bring you back to yourthee back to thy father’s palace, but if you dismount eventhou dismount but for a moment, I shall return without you.”thee.”

“Be it so,” replied Boy Beautiful.

So they made themselvesthem ready for their journey, and Boy Beautiful embraced his bride and departed, but the ladies stood there looking after him, and their eyes were filled with tears.

And now Boy Beautiful and his faithful steed came to the place where the domains of Scorpia had been, but the forests had become fields of corn, and cities stood thickly on what had once been desolate places. Boy Beautiful asked all whom he met concerning Scorpia and her habitations, but they only answered that these were but idle fables which their grandfathers had heard from their great-grandfathers.

“But how is that possible?” replied Boy Beautiful; “It was only“’twas but the other day that I passed by——” and he told them all he knew. Then they laughed at him as at one who raves or talks in his sleep; but he rode away angrilywrathfully without noticing that his beard and the hair of his head had grown white.

When he came to the domain of Gheonoea he put the same questions and received the same answers. He could not understand how the whole region could have utterly changed in a few days, and again he rode away, full of anger, with a white beard that now reached down to his beltgirdle and with legs that began to tremble beneath him.

At length he came to the empire of his father. Here there were new peoplemen and new dwellings, and the old ones had so altered that he could hardly recognisescarce knew them.

So he came to the palace where he had first seen the light of day. As he dismounted the horse kissed his hand and said: “Farewell,“Fare thee well, my master! I am returning to where I came from.return from whence I came. But if you would like to return too,thou also wouldst return, mount again and we’ll be off instantly.”

“Nay,” he replied, “farewell, I too“fare thee well, I also will return soon.”

Then the horse flew away like a dart.

But when Boy Beautiful sawbeheld the palace all in ruins and overgrown with evil weeds, he sighed deeply, and with tears in his eyes he sought to recall the glories of that fallen palace. Round about the place he went, not once nor twice: he searched in every room, in every corner for some vestige of the past; he searched the stable in which he had found his steed, and then he went down into the cellar, the entrance to which was choked up by fallen rubbish.

Here and there and everywhere he searched about, and now his long white beard reached below his knee, and his eyelids were so heavy that he had to raise them on high with his hands, and he found he could barelyscarce totter along. All he found there was a huge old coffer which he opened, but inside it there was nothing. Yet he lifted up the cover, and then a voice spoke to him out of the depths of the coffer and said: “Welcome, for if you hadhadst thou kept me waiting much longer, I tooalso would have perished.”

Then his Death, who was already shrivelled up like a withered leaf at the bottom of the coffer, rose up and laid his hand upon him, and Boy Beautiful instantly fell dead to the ground and crumbled into dust. But if he had stayed away just a littleBut had he remained away but a little time longer his Death would have died, and he himself would still be alivehave been living now. And so I mount my nag and utter an “Our Father” beforeere I go.