The False Prince and the True

The king had just woken from his afternoon nap, because it was summer and everyone got up early and rested from twelve to three, as they do in hot countries. He had dressed in cool white clothes and was walking through the hall on his way to the council room when a group of young nobles suddenly appeared before him. One of them stepped forward and spoke.

'Sire, this morning we were all playing tennis in the courtyard, the prince and this gentleman with the rest, when a quarrel broke out about the game. The prince lost his temper and said many insulting things to the other player, until at last the gentleman you see there hit him hard in the face, so that blood poured from his mouth and nose.

We were all so horrified that we would most likely have killed the man right there for daring to lay a hand on the prince, but his grandfather the duke stepped in and ordered us to bring the matter before you.'

The king had listened carefully to the story, and when it ended he said: 'I suppose the prince had no weapon with him, or else he would have used it?'

'Yes, sire, he had a weapon; he always carries a dagger in his belt. But when he saw the blood streaming from his face, he went to a corner of the courtyard and began to cry, which was the strangest thing of all.'

Hearing this, the king walked to the window and stood for a few minutes with his back to the room, where the young men kept silent. Then he turned back, his face white and stern.

'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather you had told me the prince was dead, even though he is my only son, than to know that he would suffer such an injury without trying to avenge it. As for the gentleman who struck him, he will be brought before my judges and will plead his case, but I hardly think he can escape death after assaulting the heir to the throne.'

The young man lifted his head as if to answer, but the king would not listen. He ordered his guards to put him under arrest, adding that if the prisoner wished to visit any part of the city, he was free to do so with a guard, and in fifteen days he would be put on trial before the highest judges in the land.

The young man left the king's presence surrounded by soldiers and accompanied by many of his friends, for he was very popular. On their advice, he spent the fourteen days that remained visiting wise men of all sorts, to ask how he might escape death. But no one could help him, because no one could find any excuse for the blow he had given the prince.

The fourteenth night came, and in despair the prisoner went out for his last walk through the city. He wandered on, hardly knowing where he went, his face so white and desperate that none of his companions dared speak to him. The sad little procession had walked for some hours when, near the gate of a monastery, an old woman appeared around a corner and suddenly stood before the young man. She was bent almost double, and was so thin and wrinkled that she looked at least ninety. Only her eyes were bright and quick like a girl's.

'Sir,' she said, 'I know all that has happened to you, and how you are looking for a way to save your life. But there is no one who can answer that question except me, if you promise to do everything I ask.'

At her words, the prisoner felt as if a heavy load had been lifted from him. 'Oh, save me, and I will do anything!' he cried. 'It is so hard to leave the world and go into the darkness.'

'You will not have to do that,' answered the old woman. 'You only have to marry me, and soon you will be free.'

'Marry you?' he exclaimed. 'But—but—I am not yet twenty, and you—why, you must be a hundred at least! Oh, no, it is impossible.'

He spoke without thinking, but the flash of anger in her eyes made him feel uneasy. However, all she said was: 'As you like. Since you refuse, let the crows have you.' And she hurried away down the street.

Left alone, the young man felt the full horror of his coming death. He understood that he had thrown away his only chance of life. Well, if he must, he must, he said to himself, and began to run as fast as he could after the old crone, who by now could barely be seen, even in the moonlight.

Who would have believed a woman past ninety could walk so fast? It seemed more like flying! But at last, breathless and exhausted, he reached her side and gasped: 'Madam, forgive me for my hasty words just now. I was wrong, and I will gladly accept your offer.'

'Ah, I thought you would come to your senses,' she answered in a strange voice. 'We have no time to lose. Follow me at once.' They went on silently and swiftly until they stopped at the door of a small house where the priest lived.

Before the priest, the old woman made the prisoner swear that she would be his wife, and he did so in front of witnesses. Then, asking the priest and the guards to leave them alone for a moment, she told the young man what he must do when he was brought before the king and the judges the next morning.

The hall was packed when the prisoner entered, and everyone marveled at how bright his face was. The king asked if he had any excuse to plead for the high treason of striking the heir to the throne, and if so, to state it quickly. With a low bow, the young man answered in a clear voice:

'O my lord and gracious king, and you, nobles and wise men of the land, I place my cause without fear in your hands, knowing that you will listen and judge rightly, and that you will let me speak to the end before you give judgment.

'For four years you, O king, had been married to the queen and yet had no children, which grieved you greatly. The queen saw this and saw that your love was fading, and she thought night and day of a plan to end that sorrow.

At last, when you were away fighting in distant lands, she decided what to do. She secretly adopted the baby of a poor quarryman and sent a messenger to tell you that you had a son.

No one suspected the truth except a priest to whom the queen confessed, and a few weeks later she fell ill and died, leaving the baby to be raised as a prince. And now, if your highness will allow me, I will speak of myself.'

'What you have already told me,' answered the king, 'is so strange that I cannot imagine what more there is to tell. But go on with your story.'

'One day, shortly after the queen's death,' continued the young man, 'your highness was hunting and outran all your attendants while chasing a deer. You were in a part of the country you did not know, so when you saw an orchard all pink and white with apple blossoms, and a girl tossing a ball in one corner, you went up to her to ask the way.

But when she turned to answer you, you were so struck by her beauty that everything else fled from your mind. Again and again you rode back to see her, and at last you persuaded her to marry you.

She thought you were only a poor knight, and agreed that, as you wished it, the marriage should be kept secret.

'After the ceremony you gave her three rings and a charm with a cross on it, and then you put her in a cottage in the forest, thinking to hide the matter safely.

'For several months you visited the cottage every week. But a rebellion broke out in a distant part of the kingdom, and you had to go away. When you next rode up to the cottage, it was empty, and no one could tell you where your bride had gone.

That, sire, I can now tell you,' and the young man paused and looked at the king, who flushed deeply. 'She went back to her father, the old duke, who had once been your chamberlain, and the cross on her chest showed him who you were.

He was furious when he heard his daughter's story, and he swore to hide her from you until the day you would claim her publicly as your queen.

'By and by I was born, and I was raised by my grandfather in one of his great houses. Here are the rings you gave my mother, and here is the cross. These will prove whether I am your son or not.'

As he spoke, the young man laid the jewels at the king's feet. The nobles and judges crowded around to examine them. The king alone did not move from his seat, for he had forgotten the hall of justice and everything around him, and saw only the apple orchard as it was twenty years ago, and the beautiful girl playing ball. A sudden silence made him look up, and he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.

'It is true,' he said with an effort. 'He is my son, not the other. Let every man here swear to acknowledge him as king after my death.'

So one by one they all knelt before him and took the oath. A message was sent to the false prince forbidding him ever to appear at court again, though a generous pension was given to him.

At last the ceremony was over, and the king, motioning to his newly found son to follow him, rose and went into another room. 'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing himself into a carved chair filled with crimson cushions.

And the prince told him about meeting the old woman who had brought him the jewels from his mother, and how he had sworn before a priest to marry her, though he did not want to because of the difference in their ages, and because he would rather receive a bride chosen by the king himself.

But the king frowned and answered sharply: 'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and whatever happens, you must keep your promise.' Then, striking a silver shield that hung nearby, he said to the equerry who appeared immediately: 'Go find the priest who lives near the prison door, and ask him where you can find the old woman who visited him last night.

When you have found her, bring her to the palace.'

It took some time to discover where the old woman was, but at last it was done. When she arrived at the palace with the equerry, she was received with royal honors, as she was now the prince's bride.

The guards looked at each other in astonishment as the wizened creature, bent with age, passed between their lines. But they were even more amazed at how light her step was as she skipped up the steps to the great door, where the king stood with the prince at his side.

If they both felt a shock at the old lady's appearance, they did not show it. The king, with a grave bow, took her hand and led her to the chapel, where a bishop was waiting to perform the marriage ceremony.

For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince, who spent all his days hunting and trying to forget his old wife at home. As for the princess, no one worried about her. She passed the days alone in her rooms, for she had refused the ladies-in-waiting whom the king had appointed.

One night the prince returned from a longer hunt than usual. He was so tired that he went straight to bed. Suddenly he was woken by a strange noise in the room. Thinking a robber might have sneaked in, he jumped out of bed and seized the sword that lay ready at hand.

Then he realized that the noise came from the next room, which belonged to the princess. It was lit by a burning torch. Creeping softly to the door, he peeped through and saw her lying quietly, with a crown of gold and pearls on her head.

Her wrinkles were all gone, and her face, whiter than snow, was as fresh as a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife—that beautiful, beautiful creature?

The prince was still staring in surprise when the lady opened her eyes and smiled at him.

'Yes, I am truly your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his thoughts, 'and the enchantment is over. Now I must tell you who I am and what made me take the form of an old woman.

'The king of Granada is my father. I was born in the palace overlooking the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who had a grudge against my parents, cast a spell on me. She bent my back and wrinkled my skin until I looked a hundred years old. I became so disgusting to everyone that at last the king ordered my nurse to take me away from the palace. She was the only person who cared for me, and we lived together in this city on a small pension the king allowed me.

'When I was about three, an old man came to our house and begged my nurse to let him rest, because he could walk no further. She saw he was very ill, so she put him to bed and took care of him until he was strong again.

To thank her for her kindness, he told her he was a wizard and could give her anything she asked for, except life or death. She answered that what she wanted most in the world was for my wrinkled skin to disappear and for me to regain the beauty I was born with.

He replied that since my misfortune was caused by a spell, it was rather difficult, but he would do his best. He could promise that before my fifteenth birthday I would be freed from the enchantment if I could find a man who would swear to marry me as I was.

'As you can imagine, that was not easy, because I was so ugly that no one would look at me a second time. My nurse and I were almost in despair, as my fifteenth birthday was drawing near and I had never even spoken to a man. At last the wizard visited us and told us what had happened at court, and your story. He told me to come to you when you had lost all hope, and offer to save you if you would agree to marry me.

'That is my story. Now you must ask the king to send messengers at once to Granada to tell my father about our marriage,' and she added with a smile, 'I think he will not refuse us his blessing.'

Adapted from the Portuguese.