by Mike Ashley
The Queen was just as annoyed, though on different grounds. She felt it hard enough to be the one mother in the realm who could not get the Queen’s bounty, without having to suffer the King’s reproaches. Her heart was broken, and she died soon after of laryngitis.
To distinguish the triplets (when it was too late) they were always dressed one in green, one in blue, and one in black, the colours of the national standard, and naturally got to be popularly known by the sobriquets of the Green Prince, the Blue Prince, and the Black Prince. Every year they got older and older till at last they became young men. And every year the King got older and older till at last he became an old man, and the fear crept into his heart that he might be restored to his wife and leave the kingdom embroiled in civil feud unless he settled straightway who should be the heir. But, being human, notwithstanding his court laureates, he put off the disagreeable duty from day to day, and might have died without an heir, if the envoys from Paphlagonia had not aroused him to the necessity of a decision. For they announced that the Princess of Paphlagonia, being suddenly orphaned, would be sent to him in the twelfth moon that she might marry his eldest son as covenanted by ancient treaty. This was the last straw. “But I don’t know who is my eldest son!” yelled the King, who had a vast respect for covenants and the Constitution.
In great perturbation he repaired to a famous Oracle, at that time worked by a priestess with her hair let down her back. The King asked her a plain question: “Which is my eldest son?”
After foaming at the mouth like an open champagne bottle, she replied:
“The eldest is he that the Princess shall wed.”
The King said he knew that already, and was curtly told that if the replies did not give satisfaction he could go elsewhere. So he went to the wise men and the magicians, and held a levée of them, and they gave him such goodly counsel that the Chief Magician was henceforth honoured with the privilege of holding the Green, Black, and Blue Tricolour over the King’s head at mealtimes. Soon after, it being the twelfth moon, the King set forward with a little retinue to meet the Princess of Paphlagonia, whose coming had got abroad; but returned two days later with the news that the Princess was confined to her room, and would not arrive in the city till next year.
On the last day of the year the King summoned the three Princes to the Presence Chamber. And they came, the Green Prince, and the Blue Prince, and the Black Prince, and made obeisance to the Monarch, who sat in moiré antique robes, on the old gold throne, with his courtiers all around him.
“My sons,” he said, “ye are aware that, according to the immemorial laws of the realm, one of you is to be my heir, only I know not which of you he is; the difficulty is complicated by the fact that I have covenanted to espouse him to the Princess of Paphlagonia, of whose imminent arrival ye have heard. In this dilemma there are those who would set the sovereignty of the State upon the hazard of a die. But not by such undignified methods do I deem it prudent to extort the designs of the gods. There are ways alike more honourable to you and to me of ascertaining the intentions of the fates. And first, the wise men and the magicians recommend that ye be all three sent forth upon an arduous emprise. As all men know, somewhere in the great seas that engirdle our dominion, somewhere beyond the Ultimate Thule, there rangeth a vast monster, intolerable, not to be borne. Every ninth moon this creature approacheth our coasts, deluging the land with an inky vomit. This plaguy Serpent cannot be slain, for the soothsayers aver it beareth a charmed life, but it were a mighty achievement, if for only one year, the realm could be relieved of its oppression. Are ye willing to set forth separately upon this knightly quest?”
Then the three Princes made enthusiastic answer, entreating to be sped on the journey forthwith, and a great gladness ran through the Presence Chamber, for all had suffered much from the annual incursions of the monster. And the King’s heart was fain of the gallant spirit of the Princes.
“ ’Tis well,” said he. “To-morrow, at the first dawn of the new year, shall ye fare forth together; when ye reach the river ye shall part, and for eight moons shall ye wander whither ye will; only, when the ninth moon rises, shall ye return and tell me how ye have fared. Hasten now, therefore, and equip yourselves as ye desire, and if there be aught that will help you in the task, ye have but to ask for it.”
Then, answering quickly before his brothers could speak, the Black Prince cried: “Sire, I would crave the magic boat which saileth under the sea and destroyeth mighty armaments.”
“It is thine,” replied the King.
Then the Green Prince said: “Sire, grant me the magic car which saileth through the air over the great seas.”
The Black Prince started and frowned, but the King answered, “It is granted.” Then, turning to the Blue Prince, who seemed lost in meditation, the King said: “Why art thou silent, my son? Is there nothing I can give thee?”
“Thanks, I will take a little pigeon,” answered the Blue Prince abstractedly.
The courtiers stared and giggled, and the Black Prince chuckled, but the Blue Prince was seemingly too proud to back out of his request.
So at sunrise on the morrow the three Princes set forth, journeying together till they came to the river where they had agreed to part company. Here the magic boat was floating at anchor, while the magic car was tied to the trunk of a planetree upon the bank, and the little pigeon, fastened by a thread, was fluttering among the branches.
Now, when the Green Prince saw the puny pigeon, he was like to die of laughing.
“Dost thou think to feed the Serpent with thy pigeon?” he sneered. “I fear me thou wilt not choke him off thus.”
“And what hast thou to laugh at?” retorted the Black Prince, interposing. “Dost thou think to find the Serpent of the Sea in the air?”
“He is always in the air,” murmured the Blue Prince, inaudibly.
“Nay,” said the Green Prince, scratching his head dubiously. “But thou didst so hastily annex the magic boat, I had to take the next best thing.”
“Dost thou accuse me of unfairness?” cried the Black Prince in a pained voice. “Sooner than thou shouldst say that, I would change with thee.”
“Wouldst thou, indeed?” enquired the Green Prince eagerly.
“Ay, that would I,” said the Black Prince indignantly. “Take the magic boat, and may the gods speed thee.” So saying he jumped briskly into the magic car, cut the rope, and sailed aloft. Then, looking down contemptuously upon the Blue Prince, he shouted: “Come, mount thy pigeon, and be off in search of the monster.”
But the Blue Prince replied, “I will await you here.”
Then the Green Prince pushed off his boat, chuckling louder than ever. “Dost thou expect to keep the creature off our coasts by guarding the head of the river?” he scoffed.
But the Blue Prince replied, “I will await you both here till the ninth moon.”
No sooner were his brothers gone than the Blue Prince set about building a hut. Here he lived happily, fishing his meals out of the river or snaring them out of the sky. The pigeon was never for a moment in danger of being eaten. It was employed more agreeably to itself and its master in operations which will appear anon. Most of the time the Blue Prince lay on his back among the wild flowers, watching the river rippling to the sea or counting the passing of the eight moons, that alternately swelled and dwindled, now showing like the orb of the Black Prince’s car, now like the Green Prince’s boat. Sometimes he read scraps of papyrus, and his face shone.
One lovely starry night, as the Blue Prince was watching the heavens, it seemed to him as if the eighth moon in dying had dropped out of the firmament and was falling upon him. But it was only the Black Prince come back. His garments were powdered with snow, his brows were knitted gloomily, he had a dejected, despondent aspect.
“Thou here!” he snapped.
“Of course,” said the Blue Prince cheerfully, though he seemed a little embarrassed all the same. “Haven’t I been here all the time? But go into my hut,
I’ve kept supper hot for thee.”
“Has the Green Prince had his?”
“No, I haven’t seen anything of him. Hast thou scotched the Serpent?”
“No, I haven’t seen anything of him,” growled the Black Prince. “I’ve passed backwards and forwards over the entire face of the ocean, but nowhere have I caught the slightest glimpse of him. What a fool I was to give up the magic boat! He never seems to come to the surface.”
All this while the Blue Prince was dragging his brother with suspicious solicitude towards the hut, where he sat him down to his own supper of ortolans and oysters. But the host had no sooner run outside again, on the pretext of seeing if the Green Prince was coming, than there was a disturbance and eddying in the stream as of a rally of water-rats, and the magic boat shot up like a catapult, and the Green Prince stepped on deck all dry and dusty, and with the air of a draggled dragon-fly.
“Good evening, hast thou er – scotched the Serpent?” stammered the Blue Prince, taken aback.
“No, I haven’t even seen anything of him,” growled the Green Prince. “I have skimmed along the entire surface of the ocean, and sailed every inch beneath it, but nowhere have I caught the slightest glimpse of him. What a fool I was to give up the magic car! From a height I could have commanded an ampler area of ocean. Perhaps he was up the river.”
“No, I haven’t seen anything of him,” replied the Blue Prince hastily. “But go into my hut, thy supper must be getting quite cold.” He hurried his verdant brother into the hut, and gave him some chestnuts out of the oven (it was the best he could do for him), and then rushed outside again, on the plea of seeing if the Serpent was coming. But he seemed to expect him to come from the sky, for, leaning against the trunk of the plane-tree by the river, he resumed his anxious scrutiny of the constellations. Presently there was a gentle whirring in the air, and a white bird became visible, flying rapidly downwards in his direction. Almost at the same instant he felt himself pinioned by a rope to the tree-trunk, and saw the legs of the alighting pigeon neatly prisoned in the Black Prince’s fist.
“Aha!” croaked the Black Prince triumphantly. “Now we shall see through thy little schemes.”
He detached the slip of papyrus which dangled from the pigeon’s neck.
“How darest thou read my letters?” gasped the Blue Prince.
“If I dare to rob the mail, I shall certainly not hesitate to read the letters,” answered the Black Prince coolly, and went on to enunciate slowly (for the light was bad) the following lines:
“Heart-sick I watch the old moon’s ling’ring death,
And long upon my face to feel thy breath;
I burn to see its final flicker die,
And greet our moon of honey in the sky.”
“What is all this moonshine?” he concluded in bewilderment.
Now the Blue Prince was the soul of candour, and seeing that nothing could now be lost by telling the truth, he answered:
“This is a letter from a damsel who resideth in the Tower of Telifonia, on the outskirts of the capital; we are engaged. No doubt the language seemeth to thee a little overdone, but wait till thy turn cometh.”
“And so thou hast employed this pigeon as a carrier between thee and this suburban young person?” cried the Black Prince, feeling vaguely boiling over with rage.
“Even so,” answered his brother, “but guard thy tongue. The lady of whom thou speakest so disrespectfully is none other than the Princess of Paphlagonia.”
“Eh? What?” gasped the Black Prince.
“She hath resided there since the twelfth moon of last year. The King received her the first time he set out to meet her.”
“Dost thou dare say the King hath spoken untruth?”
“Nay, nay. The King is a wise man. Wise men never mean what they say. The King said she was confined to her room. It is true, for he had confined her in the Tower with her maidens for fear she should fall in love with the wrong Prince, or the reverse, before the rightful heir was discovered. The King said she would not arrive in the city till next year. This also is true. As thou didst rightly observe, the Tower of Telifonia is situated in the suburbs. The King did not bargain for my discovering that a beautiful woman lived in its topmost turret.”
“Nay, how couldst thou discover that? The King did not lend thee the magic car, and thou certainly couldst not see her at that height without the magic glass!”
“I have not seen her. But through the embrasure I often saw the sunlight flashing and leaping like a thing of life, and I knew it was what the children call a ‘Johnny Noddy.’ Now a ‘Johnny Noddy’ argueth a mirror, and a mirror argueth a woman, and frequent use thereof argueth a beautiful woman. So, when in the Presence Chamber the King told us of his dilemma as to the hand of the Princess of Paphlagonia, it instantly dawned upon me who the beautiful woman was, and why the King was keeping her hidden away, and why he had hidden away his meaning also. Wherefore straightway I asked for a pigeon, knowing that the pigeons of the town roost on the Tower of Telifonia, so that I had but to fly my bird at the end of a long string like a kite to establish communication between me and the fair captive. In time my little messenger grew so used to the journey to and fro that I could dispense with the string. Our courtship has been most satisfactory. We love each other ardently, and—”
“But you have never seen each other!” interrupted the Black Prince.
“Thou forgettest we are both royal personages,” said the Blue Prince in astonished reproof.
“But this is gross treachery – what right hadst thou to make these underhand advances in our absence?”
“Thou forgettest I had to scotch the Serpent,” said the Blue Prince in astonished reproof. “Thou forgettest also that she can only marry the heir to the throne.”
“Ah, true!” said the Black Prince, considerably relieved. “And as thou hast chosen to fritter away the time in making love to her, thou hast taken the best way to lose her.”
“Thou forgettest I shall have to marry her,” said the Blue Prince in astonished reproof. “Not only because I have given my word to a lady, but because I have promised the King to do my best to scotch the Serpent of the Sea. Really thou seemest terribly dull to-day. Let me put the matter in a nutshell. If he who scotches the Sea Serpent is to marry the Princess, then would I scotch the Sea Serpent by marrying the Princess, and marry the Princess to scotch the Sea Serpent. Thou hast searched the face of the sea, and our brother has dragged its depths, and nowhere have ye seen the Sea Serpent. Yet in the ninth moon he will surely come, and the land will be covered with an inky vomit as in former years. But if I marry the Princess of Paphlagonia in the ninth moon, the Royal Wedding will ward off the Sea Serpent, and not a scribe will shed ink to tell of his advent. Therefore, instead of ranging through the earth, I stayed at home and paid my addresses to the—”
“Yes, yes, what a fool I was!” interrupted the Black Prince, smiting his brow with his palm, so that the pigeon escaped from between his fingers, and winged its way back to the Tower of Telifonia as if to carry his words to the Princess.
“Thou forgettest thou art a fool still,” said the Blue Prince in astonished reproof. “Prithee, unbind me forthwith.”
“Nay, I am a fool no longer, for it is I that shall wed the Princess of Paphlagonia and scotch the Sea Serpent, it is I that have sent the pigeon to and fro, and unless thou makest me thine oath to be silent on the matter I will slay thee and cast thy body into the river.”
“Thou forgettest our brother, the Green Prince,” said the Blue Prince in astonished reproof.
“Bah! he hath eyes for naught but the odd ortolans and oysters I sacrificed that he might gorge himself withal, while I spied out thy secret. He shall be told that I returned to exchange my car for thy pigeon even as I exchanged my boat for his car. Come, thine oath or thou diest.” And a jewelled scimitar shimmered in the starlight.
The Blue Prince reflected that though life without love was hardly worth living, death was quite us
eless. So he swore and went in to supper. When he found that the Green Prince had not spared even a baked chestnut before he fell asleep, he swore again. And on the morrow when the Princes approached the Tower of Telifonia, with its flashing “Johnny Noddy,” they met a courier from the King, who, having informed himself of the Black Prince’s success, ran ahead with the rumour thereof. And Lo! when the Princes passed through the city gate they found the whole population abroad clad in all their bravery, and flags flying and bells ringing and roses showering from the balconies, and merry music swelling in all the streets for joy of the prospect of the Sea Serpent’s absence. And when the new moon rose, the three Princes, escorted by flute-players, hied them to the Presence Chamber, and the King embraced his sons, and the Black Prince stood forward and explained that if a Prince were married in the ninth moon it would prevent the monster’s annual visit. Then the King fell upon the Black Prince’s neck and wept and said, “My son! my son! my pet! my baby! my tootsicums! my popsy-wopsy!”
And then, recovering himself, and addressing the courtiers, he said: “The gods have enabled me to discover my youngest son. If they will only now continue as propitious, so that I may discover the elder of the other two, I shall die not all unhappy.”
But the Black Prince could repress his astonishment no longer. “Am I dreaming, sire?” he cried. “Surely I have proved myself the eldest, not the youngest!”
“Thou forgettest that thou hast come off successful,” replied the King in astonished reproof. “Or art thou so ignorant of history or of the sacred narratives handed down to us by our ancestors that thou art unaware that when three brothers set out on the same quest, it is always the youngest brother that emerges triumphant? Such is the will of the gods. Cease, therefore, thy blasphemous talk, lest they overhear thee and be put out.”