The Crystal Ball
Once upon a time, there was a witch who had three sons. These brothers were deeply devoted to one another, but the witch didn’t trust them, constantly fearing they would seize her power. So, she turned the eldest son into an eagle, forcing him to live atop a cliff. People often saw him circling and soaring high in the sky. She turned the second son into a whale, and he lived deep in the ocean, where people would sometimes see him spout enormous water columns. Each brother could only return to human form for two hours a day. The youngest son, fearing the witch would transform him into a fierce beast, a bear, or a wolf, secretly fled.
He had heard that a king’s daughter had been cursed and was locked away in the Palace of the Golden Sun, awaiting someone to rescue her. Twenty-three young men had already attempted the rescue, but all had met tragic ends. Now, only one more person could try to save her, and after that, no one else could. This young man was bold by nature and determined to find the Palace of the Golden Sun. He traveled day and night, but he couldn’t even find a trace of the palace. Eventually, he entered a dense forest where he suddenly saw two giants beckoning him. He approached them, and the giants said, “We are quarreling over a hat because we are equally strong, and neither of us can defeat the other. We don’t know who this hat should belong to. Little man, you are clever, so tell us who should keep the hat.”
“You two are quarreling over a hat?” the young man said. “You have no idea how valuable this hat is! It’s a magic hat; whoever wears it can go anywhere they wish instantly.”
“Hand me the hat,” the young man said. “I’ll walk a short distance, then call you. You can race to me, and whoever gets there first will get the hat.” After saying this, he put on the hat and ran, but his thoughts were occupied with the princess, and he forgot all about the two giants. He kept walking and eventually sighed deeply, saying, “Oh, how wonderful it would be to be in the Palace of the Golden Sun!” No sooner had he spoken these words than he found himself standing on the high mountain in front of the palace gate.
The young man entered the palace and walked through every room until, in the last one, he found the princess. But when he saw her, he was shocked. Her ashen face was wrinkled, her eyes were dull, and her hair had turned red. “Are you really the princess everyone praises as the most beautiful in the world?” the young man exclaimed.
“This is not my true appearance. The human eye can only see me in this ugly form. If you wish to see my real face, look into this mirror; it will reveal my true appearance to you.” She handed the mirror to the young man, and in it, he saw the image of the most beautiful maiden in the world, with tears streaming down her sorrowful face. He then said to the princess, “How can I save you? I fear nothing.”
The princess replied, “Whoever obtains the crystal ball and brings it before the wizard can break his spell, and I will return to my true form. But so many have died trying, and you are so young. If something were to happen to you, how could I bear it?”
“No one can stop me,” he said. “Tell me what I need to do.”
The princess said, “You should know that the palace is located on a mountain. From here, descend to a spring where a bull will be waiting for you. You must fight it. If you’re lucky enough to kill it, a fiery bird will fly out of its body. Inside the bird’s stomach is an egg, glowing red-hot. The crystal ball is hidden inside the egg yolk. But the bird will not drop the egg unless absolutely necessary. If the egg falls to the ground, it will immediately ignite a fierce fire, burning everything around it to ashes, including the crystal ball. If that happens, all will be lost.”
The young man descended the mountain and arrived at the spring, where the bull was snorting angrily at him. After a long struggle, the young man drove his sword into the bull’s belly. The bull collapsed, and in an instant, a fiery bird flew out of its body. Just as the bird was about to fly away, the young man’s eldest brother swooped down from the clouds and drove it toward the sea, where he pecked at it until the bird, in desperation, dropped the egg. However, the egg didn’t fall into the sea but onto the roof of a fisherman’s hut on the beach. The hut immediately caught fire and was about to collapse when the sea surged up and covered the roof, extinguishing the flames. It turned out to be the young man’s second brother, the whale, who had created the waves. The fire was put out, and the young man was lucky enough to find the egg before it melted. The shell had cracked from the cold water, and he carefully extracted the crystal ball, which was undamaged.
The young man took the crystal ball to the wizard, who said, “My spell has been broken. From now on, you will be the king of the Palace of the Golden Sun. With this crystal ball, your brothers can also return to their true forms.” The young man hurried back to find the princess. When he stepped through the door, he found her standing there, radiant and beautiful beyond words. They happily exchanged rings.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
