There was once in a great kingdom a good King, brave in battle, wise
in council, happy in all his undertakings. But a day came when, seeing
his locks turn white and feeling himself weakened by age, he thought
he had not much longer to live on earth; he held to life, however, and
demanded of the savants of his kingdom whether there was not any way
of escaping death. These men deliberated over this great question, and
were unable to solve it.
One day there came to the palace an old sorceress who had travelled far
over land and sea, and who was renowned for her knowledge. The King
asked her what news she brought.
"I have heard," she said, "that you are greatly in fear of death, since
you have become old, and I have come to show you a way to recover both
strength and health."
"Speak, speak!" cried the King, delightedly.
"A long way--a very long way--from here, there is a country called
Ungdomland, where there are magnificent apples and marvellous water.
Whoever eats of those apples and drinks of that water immediately
recovers his youthfulness. But it is not easy to get possession of the
two: they are so far away, and the road leading to them is so perilous."
So said the sorceress. The King rewarded her magnificently, and
resolved to send one of his sons in search of the apples and water of
youthfulness.
He prepared for him a brilliant equipage, gave him money, and the
Prince departed on his quest. But he did not go far. He stopped at a
city which pleased him, and lived there gaily, without thinking of the
errand on which his father had sent him, nor of his father.
The old man, after long waiting for his return, and neither seeing
him come back nor hearing of him, sent towards that Land of Youth his
second son, who, on arriving at the city where his brother was living,
found there the same seductions, and, in his turn, gave himself up to a
life of gaiety, and completely forgot his mission and his father.
The King aged and saddened more and more. His young son, named Carl,
expressed a wish to go in search of the Land of Youth. The King, having
only this son left to him, did not like to part with him; but Carl was
so determined that he finally overcame all resistance. He departed,
like his brothers, with a brilliant equipage; and the old man was left
alone and deeply distressed at the desertion of his sons.
Carl passed by the city where his brothers were stopping, and they
tried to detain him with them. But he wished to redeem the promise he
had made to his father, and travelled through vast regions. Everywhere
he inquired the way to the Land of Youth, but nobody could direct him.
[Illustration: "CARL'S BROTHERS TRIED TO DETAIN HIM."]
One evening, in the heart of a dense forest, he saw a tiny light
shining a long way off, and making towards it, in the hope of finding a
resting-place, reached a cottage, the dwelling-place of an old woman,
who kindly consented to give him lodgment, and asked him who he was and
whither he was going.
"I am the son of a King," answered Carl, "and I am in search of the
Land of Youth."
"Ah!" replied the good old woman, "I have lived three hundred winters
and have never heard of that country. But I am the Queen of the
Quadrupeds; to-morrow morning I will question them, and perhaps one of
them may be able to give you some useful information."
The Prince cordially thanked her for her civility, and slept soundly.
At sunrise the next morning the old woman blew her horn; a great noise
was instantly heard in the forest. All the four-footed animals, large
and small, assembled about the cottage. Their Queen asked them whether
they knew where the Land of Youth was, and all replied that they had
not the least idea where it was to be found.