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 would fain have been blessed with

offspring they went to all the wise men and all the wise women and bade

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, 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 thee, oh Emperor! that the wish of thy

heart will only work thee woe.”

“I came not hither to take counsel of thee,” replied the Emperor; “but

to know if thou hast herbs by eating whereof we may get us children.”

“Such herbs have I,” replied the old man; “but ye will have but one

child, and him ye will not be able to 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 felt that she was a mother. But ere 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 thee all the

kingdoms east of the sun and west of the moon! Be silent, my son, and I

will give thee 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 thee 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 all men looked up

to him as to a second Solomon. But one day, when the child had already

completed his fifteenth year, and the Emperor and all his lords and

great men were at table diverting themselves, the fair young prince

arose and said: “Father, the time has now come when thou must give me

what thou didst promise me at my birth!”

At these words the Emperor was sorely troubled. “Nay but, my son,” said

he, “how can I give thee a thing which the world has never heard of? If

I did promise it to thee, it was but to make thee quiet.”

“Then, oh my father, if thou canst not give it me, I must 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

besought him not to leave the empire. “For,” said the nobles, “thy

father is now growing old, and we would place thee on the throne, and

give thee to wife the most beautiful Empress under the sun.” But they

were unable to turn him from his purpose, for he was as steadfast as a

rock, so at last his father gave him leave to go forth into the wide

world to find what he sought.

Then Boy Beautiful went into his father’s stables, where were the most

beautiful chargers in the whole empire, 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 beheld a

poor knacker, all weak, spavined, and covered with boils and sores. 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 thy commands, my master? God

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.

“In order that thou mayest attain thy heart’s desire,” said the horse,

“ask thy father for the sword and lance, the bow, quiver, and armour

which he himself wore when he was a youth; but thou 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 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 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 cherished the steed as he had been told. 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 fell

from off him. There he now stood a stout horse, and strong, and with

four large wings growing out of his body. Then said Boy Beautiful: “We

go hence in three days!”--“Long life to thee, my master!” replied the

steed; “I will go wherever thou dost command.”

When the third day came the Emperor and all his court were full of

grief. Boy Beautiful, 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 besought

him not to depart on this quest; but he, giving spurs to his horse,

departed like a whirlwind, and after him went sumpter 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 confines of his father’s

realm, Boy Beautiful took leave of the warriors, and sent them back to

his father, taking of 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 none 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 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 nigh 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:

“Stay thy hand, Boy Beautiful, for I’ll do thee no harm!” And seeing he

did not believe her, she gave him a promise written in her blood.

“Look well to thy horse, Boy Beautiful,” said she, “for he is a greater

magician than I. But for him I should have roasted thee, but now thou

must dine at my table. Know too that no mortal hath yet succeeded in

reaching this spot, though some have got so far as the plain where thou

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 immediately it grew fast on

to her leg again. Then, in her joy, Gheonoea feasted him for three days

and begged him to take 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 thine,” 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 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 thou 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 to-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

zephyr ran continually over the flowery billows. Here then they sat

them down to rest, and the good steed said:

“Hitherto, oh my master! we have prospered, but now a great danger

awaits us, which if by the help of the Lord God 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 try if we can leap clean

over it without touching it.”

So they rested them two days to gather strength, and then the steed drew

a long breath and said to Boy Beautiful: “Draw my saddle-girths as

tightly as thou art able, and when thou hast mounted me, hold on fast

with all thy might to my mane, and press thy feet on my neck instead of

on my flanks, 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 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 a man could sooner look into the face of

the midday sun than upon 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 die away within him as he

beheld her. But she was full of compassion at the sight of him, and

said: “Welcome, Boy Beautiful! What dost 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 dames 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 had leave to graze where he

would, and the Fairy made him known to all her monsters, that so he

might wander through the woods in peace. Then the fair dames begged Boy

Beautiful to abide 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 at will throughout her domains.

“Nevertheless,” said she, “there is one valley thou must not enter or it

will work thee woe, and the name of that valley is the Vale of

Complaint.”

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 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. 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 vexed within him. He

pursued the hare still more hotly, and sent another arrow after her.

This time he did 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 durst not tell his bride of it, but she and her sisters

immediately guessed the cause of his heaviness.

“Wretched man!” they cried, “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. Yet need I desert thee

for that? I have now been many days with thee, and am as hale and well

as ever. Suffer me then to go and see my parents but once, and then will

I return to thee to part no more.”

“Forsake us not, oh beloved!” cried his bride and her sisters. “Hundreds

of years have passed away since thy parents were alive; and 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 supplications of the three ladies and his faithful steed

likewise could not prevail against the gnawing longing to see his

parents which consumed him.

At last the horse said to him: “If thou wilt not listen to me, my

master, then ’tis thine own fault alone if evil befall thee. Yet I will

promise to bring thee back on one condition.”

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

listen gratefully.”

“I will bring thee back to thy father’s palace, but if thou dismount but

for a moment, I shall return without thee.”

“Be it so,” replied Boy Beautiful.

So they made them 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; “‘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 wrathfully 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 girdle and

with legs that began to tremble beneath him.

At length he came to the empire of his father. Here there were new men

and new dwellings, and the old ones had so altered that he scarce 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: “Fare thee well, my

master! I return from whence I came. But if thou also wouldst return,

mount again and we’ll be off instantly.”

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

Then the horse flew away like a dart.

But when Boy Beautiful beheld 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 scarce

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 hadst thou kept me waiting much longer, I also 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

had he remained away but a little time longer his Death would have died,

and he himself would have been living now. And so I mount my nag and

utter an “Our Father” ere I go.