John The True [Europa's Fairy Book]
There was once a king who had long been
unmarried. Now one day, going through his palace, he came to a room that he had
never opened before. So he sent for the key and entered it, and opposite the
door was the picture of a most beautiful princess with skin white as snow and
cheeks red as blood and hair black as ebony. No sooner had he seen this picture
than he fell in love with it and asked who she was.
His chamberlain said, "That is the
Princess of the Golden Horde, with which your Majesty's kingdom has been at war
these last twenty years. Only three years ago, when your
Majesty's father was alive, there was some talk of peace and of betrothing you
to her, and that was when her portrait was sent here. But now the two kingdoms
are at war and it does not seem that peace will ever come."
But though there was no hope of marrying
her the King could not help but think of the Princess of the Golden Horde, and
thought and thought till he became quite pale and sick with love for her. Now
he had a faithful servant, the son of his own nurse, and thus his
foster-brother, and he was so devoted to the King that everybody called him
John the True.
When John the True saw his foster-brother
pining away he went to him and said:
"What ails thee, Oh sire?" for
he alone had the right of calling the King "thou."
Then said the King to John the True:
"Come and I will show thee,
John." And he took him to the closed chamber and showed him the portrait
and told him how he felt towards the Princess of the Golden Horde.
"Be of good cheer," said John
the True; "I will go and fetch her for thee."
"How can that be?" said the
King; "we are at war with the Golden Horde, and they would never give her
to be my bride."
"Leave that to me," said John
the True; "give me only a ship full of merchandise and put in it a complete set of furniture made all of gold, and see if I
do not bring the Princess back to thee."
So the King did all that John the True
demanded. And he sailed away with the ship and its merchandise to the country
of the Golden Horde. And when he came there to the chief port he did not
declare from what country he was but sent up, as tribute to the King of the
Golden Horde, a beautiful chair all made of gold.
Now when the King saw this he became
curious about this merchant and his wares, and came down with his Queen and the
Princess to view the rarities. And when he saw the set of furniture all made of
gold he asked John the True what its price was.
But John said it was not for sale, but
that he kept it to make gifts of tribute to the kings whose realm he was
visiting.
But the Princess had set her heart upon
one dressing-table all of gold, with crystal mirrors and lovely fittings, and
asked John if he could not sell it to her.
But John said, "No, that is kept for
a special purpose, which I am not allowed to tell."
This aroused the curiosity of the
Princess, and later on towards the evening she came down with only one maid to
see if she could not persuade John to let her have the dressing-table.
When she came on board John went to the captain
and told him to set sail as soon as the Princess went down into the cabin. And
when she came there he began telling her a long story,
how that his master the King had sent him to visit all the kingdoms of the
earth, and that this dressing-table was intended for the most beautiful
princess whom he should come across in his travels.
And then the Princess wanted to know
whether he would have to finish his travels before giving the table, and what
the King expected from the Princess.
John told her that everything was left to
him and that, when he found a princess with skin as white as snow, and cheeks
as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, he was to present the table to
her.
Then the Princess looked in the mirror
and said:
"Have I not skin as white as snow,
and cheeks as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony? Then give me the
table."
But just then she began to feel the
motion of the ship and knew that it was sailing away, and commenced to shriek
and cry. But John told her all that had happened, and how that he had come only
for her, and that his foster-brother the King was dying for love of her, and
could not come himself because the two countries were at war. So at last the
Princess became content, and they sailed on and on towards the country of John
the True.
As they were nearing land John was
sitting in the prow, and the Princess was reclining on a couch on deck, and
three black ravens were flying about the mast of the vessel. Now John, being
the son of a huntsman, knew the language of birds; and
he listened to what they said, and this was it:
"Caw, caw!" said the first
raven. "There sits the Princess of the Golden Horde, thinking that she
will marry John's master the King. But I know something which will prevent
that."
"What is that?" asked the second
raven.
"Why," said the first,
"when the Princess lands and the King meets her they will bring out to him
a bay horse richly caparisoned, with a pillion for the Princess. And if the
King takes her with him on the horse he will run away with them and dash them
both to pieces. Caw, caw!"
"But is there no remedy for
that?" said the third raven.
"Only if some one cuts off the head
of the horse, or tells the King; but woe unto him if he does that, for as soon
as he has told he will become marble up to his knees. Caw, caw!"
"Even if he escapes that," said
the second raven, "the King would never marry the Princess, for at the
wedding feast wine will be presented to him, in a glass goblet, and at the
first drop of it he drinks he will fall down dead. Caw, caw!"
"But is there nothing to remedy
that?" asked the first raven.
"Only if some one dashes the glass
from his hand, or tells of the danger; but if he tells he will become marble up
to his waist. Caw, caw!"
"Caw, caw!" said the third
raven. "There is still another danger. On the
wedding night a dreadful dragon will creep into the bridal chamber and kill
both King and Princess. And there is no remedy against that unless some one
drives off the dragon or tells of the danger. But if he tells he will become
marble from head to foot. Caw, caw!"
When John the True heard all this he made
up his mind he would save his brother the King without telling him of the
dangers that threatened him. And when they neared the shore he caused a trumpet
to be sounded three times, which was the signal agreed upon between himself and
the King, that he had succeeded in bringing back the Princess of the Golden
Horde.
So the King came quickly down to the ship
in all his glory and received with joy the Princess, and thanked John the True
for his faithful service.
When it came time for the King to lead
the Princess to his palace, some one brought forth a noble bay horse richly
caparisoned and with a pillion at the back of the saddle for the Princess to
ride on. And just as the King gave her his hand and was about to mount the
horse, John the True drew his sword and cut off the head of the bay horse.
"Treason, treason!" cried the
courtiers. "John the True has drawn his sword in the King's
presence."
But the King said, "What John the
True does is done for me. Let a coach be brought and we will return to the
palace."
So the King and the Princess and John the
True went to the palace, and preparations were made for a grand wedding. And on
the day of the wedding there was a great banquet held, and at the beginning a
glass of wine was brought forth and presented to the King, and just as he was
lifting it to his lips John the True, who stood behind the King's throne,
rushed forward and dashed the goblet to the ground.
"Treason, treason!" cried the
courtiers. "John the True is mad."
"Nay, nay," said the King;
"what John the True does is for our good. Wherefore did'st thou do that,
John?"
"That I must not say," said
John the True.
"Well, well," said the King;
"doubtless thou hadst thy reasons; let the banquet proceed."
On the night of the wedding John the True
took his place with drawn sword before the bridal chamber, and watched and
watched and watched. Towards midnight he heard a rustling in the bridal chamber
and, rushing in, saw a winged dragon coming through the window towards the King
and Princess. He dashed towards it and wounded it with his sword, so that it
flew out of the window, dropping blood on the way.
But the noise that John the True had made
awakened the King and Queen, and they saw him before them with sword dripping
with blood. And not recognizing him at first, the King called out for his guard, who came in quickly and seized John the True.
When the King saw who it was he asked
John if he had any explanation of his conduct, and John said:
"That I may not say."
"This is more than I can bear,"
said the King. "Perhaps love has turned thy brain."
And turning to the captain of his guard,
the King said, "Let him be executed in the morning in our presence."
When the morning came everything was ready
for John's execution, when he stood forth and said to the King:
"If your Majesty wills, I will
explain my conduct."
"So be it," said the King;
"I trust thou wilt prove that thou art indeed John the True."
And John the True told the King and the
Queen and the courtiers all that had occurred and what he had heard from the
ravens, and how he had saved the life of the King and the Queen by wounding the
dragon on the preceding night. But as he told why he killed the horse his legs
became marble up to the knees. And when he explained why he had dashed the
poisoned wine-cup from the King's hand, the marble came up to his waist. And
when he explained how he had turned the dragon from the bridal chamber, his
whole body became marble from head to foot.
Then the King knew what a faithful
servant he had in John the True; and he bade his men to place the marble body
on a golden stand on which was written, "This is John the True who gave
his life for his King." And whenever the soldiers and the courtiers passed
it they gave it a salute.
Now after a time there came to the Queen
two little twin boys, whom she loved better than all the world. And they grew
and they grew, till they learned to speak. And every time they passed the
statue of John the True they would raise their little hands and give it a
salute, for the Queen, their mother, had told them what John the True had done
for their father and her.
But one night the Queen dreamed that a
voice from Heaven said to her, "John the True can live again if the two
Princes be slain for his sake and his body smeared with their blood."
The Queen told this dream to the King,
and they were terrified at it, but thought it only a dream. But twice again the
same dream came to the Queen on the following two nights; and then she said to
her husband the King,
"John the True gave his life for us;
I feel we ought to give our children for him."
The King at last agreed to the terrible
sacrifice, and the heads of the two Princes were cut off, and the statue of
John smeared with their blood, when it came to life and John the True lived
again.
But when he learned how he had been
brought to life again, he asked to have the bodies of
the Princes brought to his chamber, and, going to the bridal chamber, scraped
from the floor some of the dragon's blood that had fallen there, and went back
into his chamber and closed the door.
Shortly after, the King and the Queen
heard the voices of their sons calling out for them; and when the door was
opened there they were alive again.
So the King and the Queen and the Princes
lived together in all joy, with their faithful servant John the True.
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