"Listen to the advice I am going to give you--do not forget it, and
follow it punctually. At midnight everything sleeps in the enchanted
castle before you; you may, therefore, enter it at midnight, but do not
pluck more than one apple, nor take more than one phial-full of the
magic water; do not linger, but return in all haste, otherwise you will
expose yourself and me to a mortal danger."
"Thanks," replied Carl; "I will remember your instructions."
At midnight he entered the enchanted castle. All within it was plunged
in sleep, as the whale had said would be the case. In front of the door
there were a number of frightful beasts, bears, wolves, and dragons,
lying beside each other, their eyes closed.
He passed through many superb rooms and saw with admiration the riches
they contained. At length he came to one larger than the rest, the
walls of which were covered with plates of gold and silver. In the
middle of this room was the tree on which shone the magic apples, and
near it, rippling over precious stones, with a marvellous sound, ran
a clear and luminous stream of water--the water of which the bold
traveller had come so far in search.
He filled a phial with the water of youthfulness, but, after doing
that, forgot the whale's advice, and plucked as many golden apples as
he could get into his wallet. Having got all he wanted, he wished to
quit the enchanted castle, but he could not find the way by which he
had entered. He wandered from room to room, searching in vain for the
outer door.
At length he entered a room yet more splendid than any he had before
seen. It contained a bed of blue silk, on which was reposing a young
girl of incomparable beauty. Carl stood before her motionless and
speechless in an ecstasy of delight. At the same time the young girl
saw, in a dream, the image of this charming Prince so distinctly that,
thenceforth, she could not forget him, and in her ear a mysterious
voice murmured: "This is he whom you must marry."
Carl at length tore himself from the contemplation of the beautiful
sleeper, wrote his name, and the name of his country, on the wall near
her, and went out.
Hardly had he crossed the threshold of the door ere everything in the
castle awoke and all there became movement. He sprang upon the back of
the whale, which was impatiently awaiting him.
[Illustration: "THIS IS HE WHOM YOU MUST MARRY."]
On reaching the middle of the sea, the gigantic animal suddenly plunged
into the depths of the waters, then, remounting, said to the Prince:--
"Did that plunge frighten you?"
"Yes; I confess it greatly frightened me."
"Well, I was quite as much alarmed when you filled your wallet with
apples."
When he had gone a little further, the whale again plunged, only deeper
than the first time, and then said to the Prince:--
"Were you afraid?"
"More than ever I have been before."
"Well, I was quite as much frightened when you stopped to look at the
Princess."
A little further on, the whale once more plunged and remained longer
under the water, saying to the Prince on rising again to the surface:--
"Were you afraid?"
"Yes, terribly."
"Well, I was quite as much terrified when you wrote your name on the
wall."
In the evening Carl arrived at the cottage of the Queen of the Fishes.
As a return for the service she had rendered him, he gave her a golden
apple and some drops from the marvellous spring.
As soon as the nine-hundred-years-old woman had drunk the water and
eaten the apple, the wrinkles disappeared from her face; between her
lips shone two rows of white teeth; her form became upright; and, in
short, in place of a decrepit old woman, appeared a young girl with
golden tresses, sparkling eyes, and rosy cheeks. She warmly thanked
Carl for his generosity, and said to him, as he was departing:--
"I also have a present for you. Take this bridle and shake it--and you
will see what it will give you."
The Prince obeyed, and at the same moment saw before him a superb
horse, which quietly allowed itself to be mounted and, with the
rapidity of the wind, bore him to the Queen of the Birds.
To her also he gave some water of youthfulness and an apple, which
rejuvenated her in an instant. And as he was departing, she said,
thanking him for his generosity:--
"I also have a present for you. Take this tablecloth, and, as soon as
you spread it, it will furnish you a royal repast."
Carl remounted his good horse, rode to the Queen of the Quadrupeds, and
renewed her youthfulness, as he had done to her two sisters. She also
thanked him cordially and said, as he was departing:--
"I wish to give you a proof of my gratitude; take this sword, at sight
of which no adversary can offer resistance, not even the most savage
animal."
With this powerful sword, the precious tablecloth, and the enchanted
bridle, the Prince continued his journey, and reached the city where
his two brothers still remained, and after joyfully embracing them,
related to them all his adventures.
On hearing that he had been so successful in his enterprise, the two
brothers, feeling at once ashamed of their want of energy and furious
at his success, resolved to strip him of what he had so bravely won. To
celebrate his return, they said, they prepared a grand banquet, and,
deceiving him by these pretended evidences of affection, during the
night, and without his having the least suspicion of their villainy,
changed the treasure he had brought from Ungdomland for other water and
other apples.
Carl continued on his way homeward, eager to see his father again, and
filled with happiness at the idea of being able to give him back his
lost youthfulness. As soon as he had embraced him, he gave him, with
joyful confidence, his phial of water and apples.
But neither the water nor the apples produced any effect, and the old
man was deeply pained and irritated by what he imagined to be the
deception practised by his son. Innocent Carl saw that he had been
robbed.
Some time afterwards, his two wicked brothers arrived. They told
to their father a prodigious story of vast regions they had passed
through, and perils they had dared, to reach the enchanted land. Then
they gave him the true water and the true apples which they had stolen
from Carl.
Instantly the white locks of the old King regained their primitive hue,
his wrinkles vanished, his limbs got back their youthful strength and
elasticity.
Transported with joy, he pressed his two sons to his bosom, calling
them his heroes, his benefactors. He lavished tenderness and
distinction on them; and then, suddenly remembering the youngest, who
had tried to deceive him, he became furious against him, and ordered
him to be cast into the lions' den and left there without assistance.
Nobody dare oppose this terrible sentence, and Carl was given over to
the wild beasts, that ought instantly to have devoured him. But he had
preserved the presents of two of the old women. At the sight of his
sword the lions drew back humbly. When he was hungry he spread his
tablecloth, which was instantly laden with the choicest food.
Meanwhile the young Princess of Ungdomland thought of him constantly,
and, believing he would return, waited for him, day after day. One
night she saw him again in a dream, no longer with a smile on his
lips and light in his eyes, as she had seen him when he was near her,
but downcast, anxious, captive. At the same time a mysterious voice
murmured in her ear: "This is he whom you must marry."
She listened, she looked: this dream was for her a reality, and her
mind was quickly made up--he could not come to her, therefore she must
go to him; he was sad, she must console him; he was captive, she must
deliver him.
On the wall he had written his name and the name of his country;
to that country she set off with a large number of ships, a mass of
precious things, and a legion of soldiers.
At sight of this foreign fleet all the inhabitants of the rejuvenated
King's capital were greatly alarmed--it had come with hostile
intentions, perhaps, and it certainly appeared formidable.
But the young Princess only asked to see the young man who had been in
Ungdomland. Her wish was one that could easily be satisfied. The King
hastened to send his eldest son to her; but she had no sooner set eyes
on him than she cried:--
"This is not he of whom I am in search!"
The King sent his second son.
She awaited him on board her magnificent ship, surrounded by her
officers, and no sooner saw him than she exclaimed:--
"This is not he of whom I am in search!" adding: "It is of no use
trying to deceive me. I must see the young Prince who came to
Ungdomland; otherwise, I vow that of this royal capital I will not
leave one stone standing upon another."
At those words the two impostors were dumfounded, and the King, pale
and trembling, remembered the dreadful sentence he had pronounced.
What was to be done? Doubtless, the young Prince had long before been
devoured by the wild beasts. They went, however, to the edge of the pit
into which he had been cast, and found him seated calmly in the midst
of the lions.
A cry of joy announced this miracle, and was repeated on all sides.
The King flew to his son, threw himself on his knees before him, and
begged pardon for his iniquity. Carl tenderly raised him, held him to
his heart, and returned with him to the city, where he had been so much
beloved and regretted. The crowd pressed upon his steps, and filled the
air with enthusiastic shouts.
[Illustration: "THAT IS HE!"]
On reaching the palace, he arrayed himself in his festival clothes,
shook the magic bridle, and, mounted on a superb horse, advanced
towards the foreign flotilla.