'Oh!' replied the man, 'I am condemned to do this, for neither I nor any of my family can die till I have dug away the whole of this mountain and made it level with the plain.But, come, it is almost dark, and I shall work no longer.' And he plucked a leaf from a tree close by, and from a rough digger he was changed into a stately bald-headed king.'Come home with me,' he added; 'you must be tired and hungry, and my daughter will have supper ready for us.'
The prince accepted gladly, and they went back to the palace, where the bald-headed king's daughter, who was still more beautiful than the other princess, welcomed them at the door and led the way into a large hall and to a table covered with silver dishes.While they were eating, the bald-headed king asked the prince how he had happened to wander so far, and the young man told him all about it, and how he was seeking the Land of Immortality.'You have found it already,' answered the king, 'for, as I said, neither I nor my family can die till I have levelled this great mountain; and that will take full eight hundred years longer.Stay here with us and marry my daughter.Eight hundred years is surely long enough to live.'
'Oh, certainly,' answered the prince; 'but, all the same, I would rather go and seek the land where there is no death at all.'
So next morning he bade them farewell, though the princess begged him to stay with all her might; and when she found that she could not persuade him she gave him as a remembrance a gold ring.This ring was still more useful than the box, because when one wished oneself at any place one was there directly, without even the trouble of flying to it through the air.The prince put it on his finger, and thanking her heartily, went his way.
He walked on for some distance, and then he recollected the ring and thought he would try if the princess had spoken truly as to its powers.'I wish I was at the end of the world,' he said, shutting his eyes, and when he opened them he was standing in a street full of marble palaces.The men who passed him were tall and strong, and their clothes were magnificent.He stopped some of them and asked in all the twenty-seven languages he knew what was the name of the city, but no one answered him.Then his heart sank within him; what should he do in this strange place if nobody could understand anything? he said.Suddenly his eyes fell upon a man dressed after the fashion of his native country, and he ran up to him and spoke to him in his own tongue.'What city is this, my friend?'
he inquired.
'It is the capital city of the Blue Kingdom,' replied the man, 'but the king himself is dead, and his daughter is now the ruler.'
With this news the prince was satisfied, and begged his countryman to show him the way to the young queen's palace.The man led him through several streets into a large square, one side of which was occupied by a splendid building that seemed borne up on slender pillars of soft green marble.In front was a flight of steps, and on these the queen was sitting wrapped in a veil of shining silver mist, listening to the complaints of her people and dealing out justice.
When the prince came up she saw directly that he was no ordinary man, and telling her chamberlain to dismiss the rest of her petitioners for that day, she signed to the prince to follow her into the palace.Luckily she had been taught his language as a child, so they had no difficulty in talking together.
The prince told all his story and how he was journeying in search of the Land of Immortality.When he had finished, the princess, who had listened attentively, rose, and taking his arm, led him to the door of another room, the floor of which was made entirely of needles, stuck so close together that there was not room for a single needle more.
'Prince,' she said, turning to him, 'you see these needles? Well, know that neither I nor any of my family can die till I have worn out these needles in sewing.It will take at least a thousand years for that.Stay here, and share my throne; a thousand years is long enough to live!'
'Certainly,' answered he; 'still, at the end of the thousand years Ishould have to die! No, I must find the land where there is no death.'
The queen did all she could to persuade him to stay, but as her words proved useless, at length she gave it up.Then she said to him: 'As you will not stay, take this little golden rod as a remembrance of me.It has the power to become anything you wish it to be, when you are in need.'
So the prince thanked her, and putting the rod in his pocket, went his way.
Scarcely had he left the town behind him when he came to a broad river which no man might pass, for he was standing at the end of the world, and this was the river which flowed round it.Not knowing what to do next, he walked a little distance up the bank, and there, over his head, a beautiful city was floating in the air.He longed to get to it, but how? neither road nor bridge was anywhere to be seen, yet the city drew him upwards, and he felt that here at last was the country which he sought.Suddenly he remembered the golden rod which the mist-veiled queen had given him.With a beating heart he flung it to the ground, wishing with all his might that it should turn into a bridge, and fearing that, after all, this might prove beyond its power.But no, instead of the rod, there stood a golden ladder, leading straight up to the city of the air.He was about to enter the golden gates, when there sprang at him a wondrous beast, whose like he had never seen.'Out sword from the sheath,' cried the prince, springing back with a cry.And the sword leapt from the scabbard and cut off some of the monster's heads, but others grew again directly, so that the prince, pale with terror, stood where he was, calling for help, and put his sword back in the sheath again.
The queen of the city heard the noise and looked from her window to see what was happening.Summoning one of her servants, she bade him go and rescue the stranger, and bring him to her.The prince thankfully obeyed her orders, and entered her presence.
