There was once upon a time a king who had three sons. One day he receives a letter from his brother, the Green Emperor, who was led a kingdom much bigger and richer than his own. The letter says he worries that his end is close, and that he wants the most worthwhile of his nephews to take his place since he only has three daughters and no son. So, he calls his three sons, and asks which one is ready to be emperor over such a large and rich country. The oldest answers that it would be his honor to be emperor and his birthright. He prepares everything he needs for the journey and leaves.
To test him, the father goes out through a short-cut dressed in a bearskin, and hides under the first bridge. He scares both his son and the horse badly. They quickly return home explaining that he does not want to be eaten by wild beasts and that the far-away kingdom is not worth such a perilous journey since he does not expect to inherit the Earth. The same happens with the second son. The father is upset that his sons failed the test. He says they need to be defended from chicken "apara-ma de gaini ca de caini nu ma tem" when they pretend not to be afraid of dogs, and that he did not believe his children would waste his food and overshadow the Earth for nothing.
The third son goes out crying. He is ashamed for his brothers and sorry that his father is so disappointed in his sons. In the garden he meets an old woman asking for alms. He is sulky at first and asks to be left alone. Yet the beggar insists. She then tells the young prince that she sees the mistakes of leaders around the Earth and laughs at their many weaknesses, and that if he had her power, it would be too much for him to handle and he would destroy the Earth. Then she apologizes for speaking nonsense and asks for alms again. Eventually, he gives her a coin telling her to receive a little from him and more from God. As repayment, she tells him what's written in the stars about his fate: he will become an emperor more powerful than there had been on the face of the Earth before; he will also be just, respected and loved by all. She advises that his success relies on asking his father for the clothes and weapons from when he married, and for his horse on which he wondered the Earth. He will know the horse because he will be the only one to eat red-hot embers from a tray. She is then surrounded by a white veil and departs by slowly lifting herself to the skies. This miracle gives the youngest son the confidence he needs to ask for his father's permission.
After insistence, the king agrees to let the youngest prince undertake the quest his brothers have failed at with the condition that he does not return home if he too fails. He ridicules the idea of using his old clothes and horse suggesting he'll only find the bones. The prince insists the finding of the horse is his business, and that he only needs his father's permission. Once that's obtained, he goes straight to the attic. He finds the clothes and weapons and cleans them carefully. Then he goes to the stables with a tray of embers. An ugly, old horse who appears to be more dead than alive comes to eat them. The others run away. He hits the skinny horse with the halter in the head as hard as he can, and tries without success to tempt the other horses. This happens three times -- until all the embers are gone.
The ugly horse whose bones are showing is the only one who eats the embers. So, the prince sits there wondering if he should bother taking the horse or go by foot instead. The horse then shakes the old skin and ends up looking stronger and handsomer than all the other horses in the stables combined. He tells the prince to saddle and flies very fast: first to the Moon, then towards the Sun and towards the stars. He then asks the prince how it felt. The reply is "dizzy and close to death. I did not know where I was any more and I almost did not make it". The horse explains that this was how he felt when he was hit in the head. The maneuver is repeated three times -- one scare for each hit with the halter.
The horse promises takes him to his father, and they leave. He promises to travel at the speed of the wind and not at the speed of thought, which the prince says would kill him. They soon leave and meet the king dressed as a bear under the bridge, but the horse jumps at him and the prince lifts his sword to cut his head off. The father admits it's him and asks them to stop. He then hugs and kisses both his son and the horse and tells the son he's made a wonderful choice in his companion. Before they leave, he advises the prince to avoid the bald man and the red man and to listen to the horse. The horse turns into the skinny, old version of himself to not attract trouble and they move on.
After traveling for some time they reach a forest and get lost in it. A bald man offers to help three times -- each time he is dressed in different clothes and pretends to be a new person. The prince finally agrees to hire him as a servant against his father's wishes. The bald one spills all his water and takes him to a well with a ladder in it and no bucket or string. He then tricks the prince to go inside by telling him it's cool. So, the prince ends up locked in the well and can only escape if he agrees to change places and become the servant of the bald man. He is asked to swear that he will obey and not break his word on his sword. He does so and is renamed "Harap Alb". The name is a bit of a contradiction. Alb means white and Harap is typically a dark slave. So, it would be "white dark slave" or perhaps "white slave".
Once they reach the green kingdom, there is a big feast in their honor. The bald man slaps Harap Alb once and sends him to the stables to take care of his horse like he cares for his own eyes. At the table some outstanding salad is served. We find out it is stolen from the garden of the bear, which is a very dangerous place and only a certain forest keeper in the kingdom can get a bit of salad from there from time to time without losing his life. The bald man brags that Harap Alb will bring many salads and orders him to do so. The horse takes Harap Alb to the home of the beggar woman, who is actually Saint Sunday (Sfanta Duminica) and lives in a little mossy house on an island full of flowers. They ask her for help. She sends Harap Alb to sleep while she mixes some plants that make the bear sleep and puts it in his water together with honey and milk. She then advises Harap Alb to dress in the bear skin from his father picks as he picks a sack full of salad. When he leaves the bear wakes up, but Harap Alb throws him the bear skin while he runs away with the salad. They take leave from Saint Sunday and return to the green kingdom with the salads.
Next, the bald man is shown some very beautiful precious stones. We find out they come from a deer whose skin is covered in such stones. The deer is magical and can kill with one look. The emperor explains how much he pays for the stone, which are unique to his kingdown. The bald man sends Harap Alb to kill the deer and bring all the stones without touching on. He asks the horse for help. The horse takes him to Sfanta Duminica, again. She goes with him, and tell him to dig a hole, and behead the deer once he falls asleep. Then he jumps in a hole and does not show his face until sunrise when the deer is dead -- even though the head of the deer begs to see him. He then takes the head and the skin of the deer to the bald man.
At the next party a bird comes over, and tells them they have not thought of the daughter of the red man. The bald man orders Harap Alb to bring her to the Green Kingdom to be his wife. Harap Alb leaves with the horse in full blast no longer hiding his power. On the way, he swims through water to avoid killing a colony of ants who cross a bridge and make a new home for some roaming bees. The queen of the ants and the queen of the bees each give him a wing and promise to come to help when he burns the wing. Further along the way he makes an array of friends with different abilities: Gerila, who is always cold and can freeze a room by blowing on it, Flamanzila, who could eat any amout an still be hungry, Setila, who can drink whole rivers and still be thirsty, Ochila, who sees everything everywhere, and Pasar-lati-lungila, who can extend himself to catch birds. He befriends all of them and takes them along when they suggest he will fail in his quest without them as companions. Once he gets to the red emperor he puts them to sleep in a metal room with fire underneath to burn them to ashes. Gerila freezes the room, and when the servants of the red emperor come, Harap Alb and his friends complain that no fire had been lit. Then they are given tons of food and wine and told they will be killed if they don't eat it. Flamanzila and Setila eat is all and say it's not enough for them. They have next to pick poppy seeds from sand, which is done by the ants when the wing is burned. Then they have to guard the daughter of the emperor, who turns into a bird and flies away. She is caught by the Ochila-Pasar-lati-lungila team. Lastly, Harap Alb has to know which girl is the daughter of the emperor. The queen bee solves this problem by buzzing on the right woman and making her defend herself.
The red emperor acknowledges he is beaten and hands his daughter over to Harap Alb with the condition that she agrees to go. The princess has one more quest: her magical morning dove and his horse have to compete in getting three slices of sweet apple, live water and dead water from where the mountain hit each other. The dove gets there first, but Harap Alb's horse compliments her, tells her that if he wins life will be good for all of them and quickly takes the sweet apple and water from her. The horse returns first and so the daughter of the Red emperor agrees to go with Harap Alb.
On the way back his friends leave him, and he remains with the princess and their horses. She also has a magical horse. When they reach the green kingdom, the bald man tries to take the princess in his arms. She pushes him away, and tells everyone he is the imposter and Harap Alb is the true nephew of the Green Emperor. The bald man immediately beheads Harap Alb because he thinks he betrayed him. The horse revenges his master. He picks up the bald man by the head and drops him to the ground until he is smashed in tiny pieces.
The story ends with the princess reviving Harap Alb with the dead water, the sweet apple slices and the sprinkles of live water. They marry and the emperor hands them his crown, and they invite everyone who helped them at their wedding -- including the story teller. I am unsure how they had any food or wine left with Setila and Flamanzila there or whether they froze to death because of Gerila, but the point of the story is to be kind and grateful.
I note that a summary of this story and of a few others was assigned as homework for the summer vacation. This is my mom's favorite story. Her grandmother used to tell it every night. I see in it more equality than in the other stories. When the prince hits the horse, the horse shows him exactly how dizzy and unpleasant it felt. The princess has a choice and makes her own quest. Harap Alb is not magical. He simply has a lot of friends with very different talents who help him in each of his quests, and whom he values.
After traveling for some time they reach a forest and get lost in it. A bald man offers to help three times -- each time he is dressed in different clothes and pretends to be a new person. The prince finally agrees to hire him as a servant against his father's wishes. The bald one spills all his water and takes him to a well with a ladder in it and no bucket or string. He then tricks the prince to go inside by telling him it's cool. So, the prince ends up locked in the well and can only escape if he agrees to change places and become the servant of the bald man. He is asked to swear that he will obey and not break his word on his sword. He does so and is renamed "Harap Alb". The name is a bit of a contradiction. Alb means white and Harap is typically a dark slave. So, it would be "white dark slave" or perhaps "white slave".
Once they reach the green kingdom, there is a big feast in their honor. The bald man slaps Harap Alb once and sends him to the stables to take care of his horse like he cares for his own eyes. At the table some outstanding salad is served. We find out it is stolen from the garden of the bear, which is a very dangerous place and only a certain forest keeper in the kingdom can get a bit of salad from there from time to time without losing his life. The bald man brags that Harap Alb will bring many salads and orders him to do so. The horse takes Harap Alb to the home of the beggar woman, who is actually Saint Sunday (Sfanta Duminica) and lives in a little mossy house on an island full of flowers. They ask her for help. She sends Harap Alb to sleep while she mixes some plants that make the bear sleep and puts it in his water together with honey and milk. She then advises Harap Alb to dress in the bear skin from his father picks as he picks a sack full of salad. When he leaves the bear wakes up, but Harap Alb throws him the bear skin while he runs away with the salad. They take leave from Saint Sunday and return to the green kingdom with the salads.
Next, the bald man is shown some very beautiful precious stones. We find out they come from a deer whose skin is covered in such stones. The deer is magical and can kill with one look. The emperor explains how much he pays for the stone, which are unique to his kingdown. The bald man sends Harap Alb to kill the deer and bring all the stones without touching on. He asks the horse for help. The horse takes him to Sfanta Duminica, again. She goes with him, and tell him to dig a hole, and behead the deer once he falls asleep. Then he jumps in a hole and does not show his face until sunrise when the deer is dead -- even though the head of the deer begs to see him. He then takes the head and the skin of the deer to the bald man.
At the next party a bird comes over, and tells them they have not thought of the daughter of the red man. The bald man orders Harap Alb to bring her to the Green Kingdom to be his wife. Harap Alb leaves with the horse in full blast no longer hiding his power. On the way, he swims through water to avoid killing a colony of ants who cross a bridge and make a new home for some roaming bees. The queen of the ants and the queen of the bees each give him a wing and promise to come to help when he burns the wing. Further along the way he makes an array of friends with different abilities: Gerila, who is always cold and can freeze a room by blowing on it, Flamanzila, who could eat any amout an still be hungry, Setila, who can drink whole rivers and still be thirsty, Ochila, who sees everything everywhere, and Pasar-lati-lungila, who can extend himself to catch birds. He befriends all of them and takes them along when they suggest he will fail in his quest without them as companions. Once he gets to the red emperor he puts them to sleep in a metal room with fire underneath to burn them to ashes. Gerila freezes the room, and when the servants of the red emperor come, Harap Alb and his friends complain that no fire had been lit. Then they are given tons of food and wine and told they will be killed if they don't eat it. Flamanzila and Setila eat is all and say it's not enough for them. They have next to pick poppy seeds from sand, which is done by the ants when the wing is burned. Then they have to guard the daughter of the emperor, who turns into a bird and flies away. She is caught by the Ochila-Pasar-lati-lungila team. Lastly, Harap Alb has to know which girl is the daughter of the emperor. The queen bee solves this problem by buzzing on the right woman and making her defend herself.
The red emperor acknowledges he is beaten and hands his daughter over to Harap Alb with the condition that she agrees to go. The princess has one more quest: her magical morning dove and his horse have to compete in getting three slices of sweet apple, live water and dead water from where the mountain hit each other. The dove gets there first, but Harap Alb's horse compliments her, tells her that if he wins life will be good for all of them and quickly takes the sweet apple and water from her. The horse returns first and so the daughter of the Red emperor agrees to go with Harap Alb.
On the way back his friends leave him, and he remains with the princess and their horses. She also has a magical horse. When they reach the green kingdom, the bald man tries to take the princess in his arms. She pushes him away, and tells everyone he is the imposter and Harap Alb is the true nephew of the Green Emperor. The bald man immediately beheads Harap Alb because he thinks he betrayed him. The horse revenges his master. He picks up the bald man by the head and drops him to the ground until he is smashed in tiny pieces.
The story ends with the princess reviving Harap Alb with the dead water, the sweet apple slices and the sprinkles of live water. They marry and the emperor hands them his crown, and they invite everyone who helped them at their wedding -- including the story teller. I am unsure how they had any food or wine left with Setila and Flamanzila there or whether they froze to death because of Gerila, but the point of the story is to be kind and grateful.
I note that a summary of this story and of a few others was assigned as homework for the summer vacation. This is my mom's favorite story. Her grandmother used to tell it every night. I see in it more equality than in the other stories. When the prince hits the horse, the horse shows him exactly how dizzy and unpleasant it felt. The princess has a choice and makes her own quest. Harap Alb is not magical. He simply has a lot of friends with very different talents who help him in each of his quests, and whom he values.
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