I remember having heard my grandmother tell a story of a King who had
lost his eyesight. I will repeat it to you. All of the doctors and
all of the magicians of the realm held a consultation, but could not
do him any good. At last the King, hearing that there was in India a
doctor three hundred years old, wrote a letter to the King of that
country requesting him to send the aged doctor in order that the
latter might devise some remedy to restore his eyesight. The doctor
came, and after an examination of the King's eyes, said:
"There is only one remedy, and that is a tincture made from the blood
of the Golden-Headed Fish. Send men to the open sea to catch one. I
will wait one hundred days. If they cannot take one during that time
I will depart."
The King's only son, taking with him one hundred men and as many
nets, sailed to the open sea to catch the desired fish. They worked
hard and caught many kinds of fish, but none of them had a golden
head. Ninety-nine days passed by and only one day remained before
the expiration of the term. They had given up hope and decided to
sail back, when the Prince said to his men:
"Cast this one last net for my luck."
They did so, and lo! the Golden-Headed Fish was caught. They were
glad, and put the precious fish in a jug of water in order to keep
it alive. The jug was put in the Prince's cabin and they set sail
homeward. When the Prince was alone he looked at the fish, and lo! it
began to talk to him.
"Prince," said the Golden-Headed Fish, "I am a prince myself; spare
my life and cast me back into the sea. Some day you will receive
your remuneration."
The Prince took pity upon the poor fish, and cast him back into the
sea, saying:
"Go, live; if you, a fish, do not appreciate this mercy, the Creator
from above will appreciate it."
The party returned and told what the Prince had done. This enraged
the King to the very verge of madness.
"Alas!" exclaimed he, "my son desires my speedy death, that he may
himself be King. Executioners, take this unnatural son and immediately
cut off his head."
But as the Prince was the only son of the King, by the intervention
of his mother they put his clothes on a criminal and hanged him, and
banished the Prince to a distant island, where he lived a miserable
life, as nobody knew who he was. He was considered by the people as a
vile criminal and was despised by all, and, forsaken and abandoned, he
remained in this wretched condition without friends, without means of
livelihood. He felt himself so wretched that he fell into a condition
of despair, and resolved to put an end to so unbearable a life. With
this intention, he went to a high precipice on the sea-shore and
precipitated himself into the foaming deep. But as soon as he reached
the sea, lo! he found himself in the arms of a strange-looking negro,
who after setting him on the beach, fell down and saluted him, saying:
"Mighty Prince, vouchsafe to me that I may put myself at your
service. You may depend upon it that I shall please you and serve
you with all my might."
The humane and brave conduct of the stranger, and his kind and
courteous words made such an impression upon the lad that his despair
was at once banished, and he repented of his attempt to commit
suicide. He accepted the service of the negro, and they went together
to the lad's house, where a rich dinner was awaiting them. Thereafter
the Prince found everything necessary abundantly prepared, and master
and man lived together for a time. During those days the people of the
island suffered greatly from the frequent attacks of a large dragon
which devoured all the men it met. The people were in such terror that
no one ventured to go out of his house. The Prince of the island sent
his army to kill the dragon, but it could not be done. Then he sent
out heralds, proclaiming that he would give great wealth to the man
who killed the dragon. Thereupon the negro, the attendant of the lad,
went to the Prince of the island, saying:
"My master will kill the dragon, and desires to know what you intend
to give him."
"The hero who kills the dragon," said the Prince, "shall become my
son-in-law by marrying my daughter, and I will also bestow upon him
whatever presents he may desire."
"Agreed," said the negro. "Give to my master your daughter in marriage
and half of your wealth."
Then he went and, killing the dragon himself, brought its ears to
the lad, who took them to the Prince. He became the son-in-law of
the Prince by marrying his daughter, and lived in a splendid palace,
which the Prince gave him with half of his wealth. As the Prince had
no son, the lad succeeded him after his death and reigned over the
island. A son was born to him. One day the negro said to the youth:
"Abdicate your throne in favor of your son, appoint your wife as
regent, and let us go to the city of the King of the West."
The young man consented, and they started, taking with them much
riches. As soon as they reached the city of the King of the West the
negro said to the lad:
"Go ask for yourself the daughter of the King in marriage."
The lad went to the King, who was pleased with him, and said:
"Prince, I see you are a worthy man. Now let me tell you frankly
that I have given my daughter to ninety-nine Princes in marriage,
and every one died on the nuptial night. I have pity on your youth."
The lad, hearing this, was afraid, but the negro insisted, saying:
"Nay, get her in marriage. Do not be frightened."
And the youth took the maiden in marriage. As soon as the wedding
ceremony was performed, the King's servants began to prepare this
bridegroom's coffin and his grave also. During the nuptial night,
however, the negro hid himself in the wardrobe of the bedchamber. As
soon as the bride and the bridegroom were asleep he came out and
stood at the head of the bed, holding a dagger and tongs. At midnight
there came from the bride's mouth a viper to bite the bridegroom. The
negro at once took hold of the serpent with the tongs, and cutting
it in pieces with the dagger, hid it in the wardrobe. In the morning
the King's men came to bury the bridegroom, and lo! he was alive,
and they ran back to carry the good tidings to the King, and to
felicitate him on the happy event. On the following night there came
from the bride's mouth another viper, which the negro killed, and
after that they lived in peace. Now the King of the West also had
no son and after his death the lad succeeded him on the throne. One
day a messenger came to him from the city of the King of the East,
the youth's fatherland, sent from his mother, saying: "Your father
has died; come and reign in his stead."
The youth, putting a regent in his place, took his second wife,
accompanied by the negro, and started for his fatherland. He set sail
and on the way stopped at the Island, where he took also his first wife
on board. Thence they proceeded and came to the Kingdom of the East,
the lad's fatherland, where he was crowned King. Thus the Kingdoms
of the East and the West with the Island between them were united
under one crown, and were thereafter governed by the same sovereign.
Soon after the coronation of the King, the Negro asked his master to
give him leave to go to his own country.
"My friend and benefactor," said the King to the negro, "I owe you
not only everything I have, but my very life and existence. Come,
take whatever you please, and then go your way."
"Whatever we earned we earned together," replied the negro; "so I
have a right to the half of what belongs to you. However, I will take
nothing from your wealth and property, but let us divide your wives
between us."
"Well said!" answered the King, "take whomsoever you like the best."
"Not so," said the negro, "lest you should think I had the beautiful
one, and I should think that you had her. But we shall divide both
ladies into equal parts, half to you and half to me."
The King at first thought to offer opposition; but remembering the
many favors he had received from the negro, he thought it would be
ingratitude on his part not to comply with this one strange demand
of his colored friend.
"Well, I agree to that," he said at last. And they took both women
under the large sycamore tree on the seashore, where the negro hung
the daughter of the King of the West, head down, and lifted his big
sword as if to cut her in two by a single stroke. The woman shrieked
at the sight of the lifted sword.
"Oh!" exclaimed she with all her might. And lo! a serpent's nest, with
a great number of young vipers, fell from her stomach. The negro killed
the vipers, and releasing the woman gave her to her husband, saying:
"Now, go enjoy your wives and rule over your empire in peace; there
is no more evil left to trouble you. In doing all these things, I
have done my duty, because you saved my life. I am the Golden-Headed
Fish. Farewell!" This he said, and dived into the sea, where he
still lives.