The Emerald Phoenix

Once upon a time, when the sieve was in the straw, in the garden of a sultan's palace there stood an apple tree. Once a year this tree blossomed, and once a year it bore three apples. But every year, on the night the apples ripened, someone came and carried them off. The sultan had three sons. He called them and said: "Whoever guards the apples this year and finds the thief shall have my throne."

The eldest prince kept watch on the first night and fell asleep at midnight. In the morning one apple was gone. The middle prince kept watch on the second night, and he too fell asleep; another apple was gone. On the third night the youngest prince kept watch. So that he would not fall asleep, he cut his finger and sprinkled salt on it. At midnight a sound came from the sky, and a huge giant's hand reached down towards the tree. The youngest prince drew his sword and struck the hand. The giant howled, pulled back his hand and fled, dripping blood. The last apple stayed on the tree.

In the morning the three brothers followed the trail of blood. It led them to a deep well among the mountains. "I'll go down," said the eldest. They tied a rope round his waist, but halfway down he shouted, "I'm burning, pull me up!" The middle brother went down, and halfway he too cried, "I'm freezing, pull me up!" The youngest prince said, "However much I shout, don't pull me up. Lower me all the way to the bottom." And he went down to the bottom of the well.

At the bottom of the well there was a completely different world. The prince walked and walked until he came to a mansion. In the mansion were three girls as lovely as the moon; they were sultans' daughters held captive by giants. The youngest was the most beautiful. The girls told him, "The giants are asleep now. If their eyes are open, they're asleep; if they're closed, they're awake." The prince went into the giants' room. The seven-headed giant's eyes were open, so he was asleep. The prince drew his sword and fought the giant. The giant woke and attacked him, but the prince defeated him with a single blow. "Strike me again," said the giant; but the girls had warned the prince beforehand: "Strike once, never twice, or the giant will come back to life." "I strike only once," said the prince, and the giant never rose again. He defeated the other giants the same way.

The prince brought the three girls to the bottom of the well and sent them up one by one, tied to the rope. The youngest girl gave him the ring from her own finger: "My prince, if your brothers betray you, this ring will bring you back to me." And indeed, when he tied himself to the rope last of all, his brothers cut it out of jealousy. The prince fell back to the bottom of the well and was left alone in the underworld.

As the prince wandered through the underworld, he came to a country. The people of this country were very sad, because a dragon was holding back the country's only water. Every week the dragon would not let the water flow unless it was given a young girl. That week it was the turn of the sultan's daughter. The prince went to the dragon, fought it and defeated it. The water began to flow again. The sultan wept for joy: "Ask me for whatever you wish!" "Your Majesty, take me up to the world above," said the prince. "Only the Emerald Phoenix can do that," said the sultan.

The prince set out to look for the nest of the Emerald Phoenix. At last he came to the foot of a huge plane tree. At the top of the tree was the Emerald Phoenix's nest, and in the nest the chicks were squawking. A huge snake was climbing up the trunk towards the nest. When the prince saw the snake, he cut it to pieces with his sword and gave the pieces to the chicks to eat. Then he lay down at the foot of the tree and fell asleep.

Soon the Emerald Phoenix came back to its nest. Every year that snake had eaten its chicks. When it saw the prince lying at the foot of the tree, it thought he had eaten its chicks and wanted to tear him to pieces. But the chicks squawked: "Mother, don't touch him! He saved us from the snake!" The Emerald Phoenix spread its wings to shade the prince from the sun. When the prince woke, the Emerald Phoenix said to him: "Ask me for whatever you wish." "Take me up to the world above," said the prince.

"I'll take you," said the Emerald Phoenix, "but I need forty measures of meat and forty skins of water. Whenever I say 'gak', give me meat, and whenever I say 'guk', give me water." The prince went to the sultan and had the meat and water brought. He climbed onto the Emerald Phoenix's back, and the bird took off. Whenever the bird said "gak", the prince gave it meat, and whenever it said "guk", he gave it water. When they were very close to the world above, the meat ran out. When the Emerald Phoenix said "gak", the prince did not hesitate for a moment; he cut a piece from his own thigh and gave it to the bird. The bird realised it was human flesh and hid it under its tongue.

When they reached the world above, the prince limped as he climbed down. "Why are you limping?" asked the Emerald Phoenix. The prince showed it his thigh. The bird took out the hidden piece, put it back in its place and stroked it with its wing, and at once the wound healed. Then it gave the prince three of its feathers: "When you're in trouble, burn one, and I'll come to you at once."

The prince disguised himself, went to his city and became an apprentice to a jeweller. Meanwhile his brothers wanted to marry the girls. But the youngest girl set a condition: "I won't marry until a golden tray is made, with a golden hen and chicks on it." No one could make it. The prince burned one of the feathers, and the Emerald Phoenix came and brought him the golden tray. The jeweller took the tray to the palace. When the youngest girl saw the tray, she knew the prince had returned. Then the girl said, "And I want a golden palace that walks." The prince burned the second feather, and the palace came too.

"I want to see the one who made this tray and this palace," said the girl. When the prince came before her, she recognised him and showed him the ring on her hand. The prince told the sultan everything that had happened to him. The sultan punished his two elder sons and set his youngest son on the throne. The wedding lasted forty days and forty nights. The prince married the youngest girl, and her two sisters married two of the prince's close friends.

As for the last feather, the prince never burned it. He kept it in the highest tower of the palace. They say that feather is still there and lights up the palace at night. Three apples fell from the sky: one for the one who told this tale, one for the one who listened, and one for the prince who was ready to give even a piece of himself.