The Three Snake-Leaves

Once upon a time, there was a poor man who could no longer afford to feed his only son. The son said to him, “Dear father, things are so difficult for you. I am a burden to you. I would rather go away and try to earn my own bread.”

The father gave him his blessing, and with great sorrow, bade him farewell. At that time, a powerful king was waging war against his enemies. The young man joined the king’s army and went to battle. When he stood before the enemy, there was a great danger, and it rained bullets so thickly that his comrades fell on all sides. And when their leader fell, the others were about to flee, but the young man stepped forward, spoke bravely to them, and said, “We will not let our fatherland perish!”

The others followed him, and he pressed forward and conquered the enemy. When the king heard that he owed the victory to this young man, he raised him above all the others, gave him great treasures, and made him the first in his kingdom.

The king had a daughter who was very beautiful, but she was also very strange. She had made a vow to marry no one who would not promise that if she died first, he would allow himself to be buried alive with her.

“If he truly loves me,” she said, “what use would life be to him after my death?”

In return, she would do the same for him and, if he died first, would go down to the grave with him. This strange vow had so far frightened away all suitors, but the young man was so captivated by her beauty that he paid no attention to anything else and asked for her hand in marriage.

“Do you know what you must promise?” asked the king.

“I must go into the grave with her if she dies first,” he replied. “But my love is so great that I do not fear the danger.”

Then the king consented, and the wedding was celebrated with great splendor.

For a time, they lived happily and contentedly with each other. Then it happened that the young queen fell seriously ill, and no physician could save her. As she lay dead, the young king remembered what he had promised. The thought of being buried alive filled him with horror, but there was no escape. The king had placed guards at all the gates, and it was not possible to avoid his fate.

When the day came for the funeral, the queen’s body was carried down into the royal vault, and he was taken there too, and then the door was locked and bolted.

Near the coffin stood a table on which were placed four candles, four loaves of bread, and four bottles of wine. When these provisions came to an end, he would have to die of hunger. So he sat there full of grief and misery, eating each day only a tiny bit of bread, drinking only a sip of wine, and watching death creep nearer and nearer.

One day as he was staring mournfully before him, he saw a snake creeping out of a corner of the vault and approaching the body of his wife. Thinking it was coming to feed on the dead body, he drew his sword and said, “As long as I live, you shall not touch her,” and he cut the snake into three pieces.

After a while, a second snake crept out of the corner, but when it saw the first one lying dead and cut in pieces, it went back and returned soon after with three green leaves in its mouth. Then it took the three pieces of the dead snake, laid them together as they ought to go, and placed one of the leaves on each wound. Immediately, the severed parts joined together, the snake moved and became alive again, and both of them hurried away together.

The leaves remained lying on the ground, and suddenly a thought came into the mind of the unhappy man who had been watching all that occurred. “Perhaps,” he said to himself, “the wonderful power of these leaves, which restored the snake to life, might save a human being.”

So he picked up the leaves and laid one of them on the mouth of his dead wife, and the other two on her eyes. Scarcely had he done this when the blood stirred in her veins, rose into her pale face, and colored it again. Then she drew breath, opened her eyes, and said, “Ah, where am I?”

“You are with me, dear wife,” he answered, and told her how everything had happened, and how he had brought her back to life.

Then he gave her some wine and bread, and when she had regained her strength, he raised her up, and they went to the door and knocked and called so loudly that the guards heard them and told the king. The king came down himself and opened the door, and there he found both strong and well, and rejoiced with them that their trouble was now over.

The young king, however, took the three snake-leaves with him, gave them to a servant, and said, “Keep them carefully for me, and carry them with you at all times. Who knows what use we may yet have for them?”

A change had, however, taken place in his wife. After she had been restored to life, it seemed as if all love for her husband had faded from her heart. After some time, when he wanted to make a voyage over the sea to visit his old father, and they had gone on board a ship, she forgot the great love and devotion he had shown her and began to feel a wicked inclination for the ship’s captain.

One day, when the young king lay asleep, she called the captain to her and seized the sleeper by the head. The captain took him by the feet, and thus they threw him down into the sea. After the evil deed was done, she said to the captain, “Now let us return home and say that he died on the journey. I will praise and commend you so much to my father that he will marry me to you and make you the heir to his crown.”

But the faithful servant who had witnessed everything and had seen his master thrown into the sea, quietly unfastened a little boat from the ship, got into it, and sailed after his master, letting the traitors go on their way. He fished up the dead body, and by the help of the three snake-leaves which he carried with him, and laid on the eyes and mouth, he fortunately revived the young king once more.

They both rowed with all their strength day and night, and their little boat flew so swiftly that they reached the old king before the others. He was astonished to see them return alone and asked what had happened. When he heard of the wickedness of his daughter, he said, “I cannot believe that she has behaved so ill, but the truth will soon come to light.”

Then he told them both to go into a secret chamber and keep themselves hidden from everyone. Soon afterward, the great ship came sailing in, and the godless woman appeared before her father with a troubled countenance.

“Why have you come back alone?” asked he. “Where is your husband?”

“Alas, dear father,” she answered, “I come home in great grief. During the voyage, my husband suddenly fell ill and died, and if the good captain had not given me his help, it would have gone ill with me. He was present at my husband’s death and can tell you all about it.”

The king said, “I will bring the dead to life again,” and opened the chamber where his son and the servant were hidden.

When the daughter saw her husband, she was thunderstruck, fell on her knees, and begged for mercy. But the king said, “There is no mercy. He was ready to die with you and restored you to life again, but you killed him while he slept, and you shall receive the reward you deserve.”

So she and her accomplice were placed in a ship that had been pierced with holes and sent out to sea, where they soon sank beneath the waves.

As for the young king, he returned to his father’s kingdom with his faithful servant. His adventure with the snake-leaves had taught him the value of loyalty and the power of healing, and he ruled wisely and well for many years. He kept the three snake-leaves with him always, as a reminder of the gift of life and the darkness that can hide within even the most beautiful things.

And he lived happily ever after.