# Wonder Tales from Tibet/The Prince with the Golden Mouth

TALE FIVE
THE PRINCE WITH THE GOLDEN MOUTH
Many, many years ago, there dwelt in a far country a Khan who was great and good and dearly loved by his people. Yet no one in all his kingdom loved or admired him so much as did his faithful wife and young son. Truly there never was a happier, more affectionate family. The three shared their joys and sorrows, their cares, their pleasures and their secrets, and indeed one was scarcely ever seen without the other two. Now the Khan and his family and the whole kingdom had in common one great sorrow; the country was watered by a clear, broad stream, and unless this flowed, full and strong, all the year, the land dried up, there was a great famine, and the people died of hunger and ​thirst. At the source of this river lived two serpent-gods, hideous monsters, and as evil as they were ugly, and every year these frightful creatures demanded a young man or maiden whom they might devour. Unless this desire was speedily fulfilled, they stopped the water at the head of the stream, it dried up and the people began to suffer and then die.
Many and many a time had the Khan and his counselors talked of the matter the whole night through, scheming, planning, wondering how they might save the young people of the land from this dreadful fate, but all to no avail. If the serpents did not get their yearly gift of precious human blood, the death of hundreds of men, women and children was the result. And so it seemed better for one young man or maid to die each year than that so many should perish.
The time had now come for this terrible sacrifice, and throughout the length and ​breadth of the land there was sorrow and anxiety. Fathers and mothers could scarce sleep for thinking that it might be the turn of their son or daughter to go to the head of the river and be cast into the cave of the monster serpents. Nowhere was there more unhappiness than in the family of the Khan, for he grieved for each lad or lass as if each were his own child. Seeing the care and sorrow in his father's face, the Khan's son, whose name, by the way, was Schalu, thought long and earnestly.
"Surely," he kept repeating to himself, "there must be some way in which I can help my father and free my country from this great curse!" But no matter how hard he thought, no way presented itself to his mind. The fateful time drew ever nearer, and finally the very next day was the dreaded one on which the serpent-gods would send a messenger, demanding by name some girl or boy in the kingdom.
That night Schalu could not sleep for ​thinking of the tragedy of the morrow. "Suppose I were the one," he thought. "Of course they would not really dare to ask for the Khan's son—but just suppose—" and then he pictured to himself the sorrow of his father and mother and his own horror at such a death. "And we are no different, really, from the others," he said to himself. "The fathers and mothers among our subjects must suffer as keenly as their king and queen would, and as for the boys and girls—they are really just like me." All at once Schalu sat up in bed and stared into the darkness; a great idea had entered his mind.
"I will go to these terrible serpent monsters myself!" he breathed excitedly. "I will offer myself to them—I, a Khan's son—if they will give up their frightful practice hereafter!" There was little sleep for Schalu after he had made up his mind to this deed; all night long he lay wide awake, planning how he would plead and argue with the serpents for the lives of his ​people, and getting up his courage to meet his fate and die bravely, as befitted a prince.
Very early in the morning, before the sun was up, he arose, dressed himself and slipped quietly from the palace. He had not gone far before he was startled by hearing a step behind him, and turning around he saw Saran, a faithful friend, following him. Now Saran was a boy of his own age who had been brought up at the palace with him, as his servant and companion, and he and the Prince loved each other as brothers.
"O my master and friend!" said Saran, running up to Schalu. "Forgive me for having followed you! I have seen your trouble and anxiety these many days, and when you started forth alone this morning, my heart misgave me that some ill might befall you."
At first the Prince was much annoyed that he should have been discovered, but as he looked at Saran, he suddenly felt ​relieved to have a friend near, and he opened his heart and told all his plan of self-sacrifice. He feared Saran would entreat him to give it up and go home, but his friend listened in silence to the end and then said:
"Schalu, your heart is noble, as a prince's should be! I cannot urge you to give up a deed so truly glorious. Only I beg you—and I will not be denied—let me go with you and sacrifice myself also, for life without you would be worse than death, and mayhap if two of us give our lives, the serpents will be the more willing to leave our people in peace hereafter."
The Prince tried to dissuade his friend but, seeing it was of no use, he soon stopped, and the two lads continued on their way together toward the head of the stream.
As they approached the cave where the serpents dwelt, they went slowly and softly, for they were minded, if possible, to get a good look at the monsters before they allowed themselves to be seen. ​Creeping up among the bushes by the side of the river they soon came to an opening through which they could peer, and there, seated on the bank, they saw the two horrible creatures. One was a long, thick, dragon-like being covered with scales of tarnished gold; the other was smaller and apparently younger, and the scales on its back were as green as emeralds. They had neither seen nor heard the two lads, and in a moment the golden one began to speak.
"It is strange, Brother," said he, "that these people are so ignorant and so faithful."
"They cannot very well help themselves, can they?" said the smaller, green one. "They know that if they fail in this sacrifice, we will dry up their stream, and then they will all perish."
"True," replied the other, "but after all, it would be so easy to kill us, you know, if they only knew how."
"But have they not sent armed soldiers ​against us in times past?" said the green serpent, drawing himself up proudly; "and have we not routed them all and slain them?"
"Of course swords could not hurt us," said the golden one contemptuously, "but if they only knew enough to come out against us with thick, oak staves! One well-aimed blow on the head from such a weapon would finish us. But, luckily, they don't know that!"
"And are far too stupid ever to guess it, so we are perfectly safe," added the green one.
"And then," chuckled the big golden monster, writhing the folds of his long body comfortably about him. "To think what a man would gain by killing us! My head, cooked and eaten, would not only make a delicious meal, but it would give the eater power to pour forth gold from his mouth whenever he wanted to!"
"And if any one ate my head," said the green one, also chuckling, "emeralds ​would come from his mouth whenever he so desired. Lucky the stupid mortals will never know!"
Schalu and his friend had heard enough. Trembling with excitement, they crept away from their hiding place, out of sound and sight of the serpents, and then fell to hugging each other for very joy of their discovery. They lost no time in making for themselves huge oak staves, and armed with these, they walked back to where the serpents still sat lazily talking together on the bank of the stream. With a shout, they leaped from the bushes upon the unsuspecting monsters and attacked them. The fight was short and sharp. The great creatures turned upon the two boys viciously and lunged at them with their hard, metallic heads, but the lads dodged skilfully and brought down blow after blow upon their enemies until at last they lay motionless and quite dead.
"Now," said Prince Schalu, leaning on his staff and breathing hard, "we must ​build a fire and cook ourselves a meal, and if the serpent-gods spoke the truth, we shall then be rich for the rest of our lives."
With their knives they cut off the heads of their dreaded enemies and, having built a fire of twigs, they cooked them well and then ate them. Schalu ate the golden head and declared it delicious, while Saran said that he had never tasted anything quite so good as the emerald-green head.
"Let us see," said the Prince, when they had finished, "how well the charm works. I wish that my mouth would pour forth gold!" Scarcely had he finished speaking before a rain of bright gold coins fell from his lips, and the boys gathered them up in big handfuls and stowed them away in their pockets.
"Now let me try!" said Saran. "I wish that my mouth would pour forth emeralds!" Immediately emeralds pattered to the ground in great profusion.
"What fun!" said Saran, gathering them up. "Now let us hasten back to the ​palace and show your royal father all that we have accomplished!"
"No, don't let us go home yet," said the Prince. "One adventure is but a stepping-stone to another, and I am minded to travel a bit and see what fortune we may meet by the way. With this marvellous gift of gold and emeralds, we should surely come by some strange and interesting experiences."
To this plan Saran readily agreed; the two set forth with merry hearts and, finding an unfamiliar road, followed it, they knew not whither. All day long they traveled, meeting many wayfarers, but finding nothing in the shape of an adventure. In the late afternoon they reached a palm grove whence came shouts and cries and signs of great commotion. Hurrying toward the scene of disturbance, they beheld half a dozen lusty boys fighting most brutally.
"Here, young fellows!" cried the Prince, "stop that at once and tell us what ​you are fighting about!" But the boys paid no heed to him at all.
"Stop!" cried Schalu again, shouting to make himself heard above the din. "Stop, and I will show you a marvel the like of which you have never seen!"
Hearing this, the boys ceased fighting on the instant, and all turned and stared at Schalu and Saran.
"Marvel, did you say?" exclaimed the leader scornfully. "You can't show us a marvel greater than the one we have got right here!"
"Have you something wonderful, too?" asked the Prince. "Well, then, let us make a bargain; if my marvel is greater than yours, you shall give me yours, and if yours is greater than mine, I will give you each as much gold as two hands can carry."
"Hurrah!" cried the boys, delighted. "Let us do it!" They all gathered around in a circle, while their leader picked up from the ground a torn and ​battered cap. "This," said he, "is what we were fighting about, for each of us wants it for himself. This is a magic cap, and whoever puts it on remains invisible until he takes it off again. Show us a marvel equal to that, if you can!"
Softly uttering a wish for gold, the Prince opened his mouth and immediately a great rain of coins tumbled to the ground. The boys fell upon them greedily, shouting, snatching and fighting.
"Come," said Schalu to his friend, "these boys are not worthy of owning such a treasure as the cap, and besides, my marvel is greater than theirs, so I am entitled to it."
He caught up the ragged cap, put it on his head and grasped Saran's hand. Straightway they both became invisible, and so passed through the midst of the fighting boys unnoticed and continued on their way.
"This is a prize well worth having!" said the Prince, after they had walked ​awhile and, taking the cap off, he hid it carefully in his bosom. "Now I wonder what our next adventure will be."
They had not gone far before they came to a cross-roads where there was a great cloud of dust and, hearing shouts and angry words, they hastened to see what it all meant. In the midst of the dust were half a dozen ugly dwarfs, fighting furiously, screaming and cursing each other.
"You try your hand at this!" said Schalu to his friend. "This shall be your adventure." So Saran stamped upon the ground and called out "Stop!" in a loud voice, but the dwarfs paid no attention to him at all. "Stop, I say!" he repeated louder than before. "I have a great marvel to show you!" At the word "marvel" the fighters ceased at once and stood staring at the two friends.
"Marvel, did you say?" exclaimed the leader. "Pooh! I don't care how wonderful it is, it can't be as great as ours!"
"What is yours?" said Saran. "If it ​is as interesting as mine, you shall each have as many emeralds as your two hands can carry." At that all the dwarfs began to laugh scornfully.
"Show him! Show him!" they cried to their leader, "and then we will rob him of all his emeralds if, in truth, he has any."
The leader turned and picked up a pair of old, shabby-looking boots. "These," he said, "are magic, and if anybody puts even one of them on and makes a wish to be in any place under the sun, he will find himself there in the twinkling of an eye."
"That is indeed wonderful!" said Saran, "and here is your pay, but, in sooth, you deserve neither boots nor emeralds!" Then, to the great astonishment of the little men, Saran, uttering a wish for emeralds, opened his mouth and poured them forth, a great stream of glorious green gems. With a shout the dwarfs snatched them up, pushing and tearing them from each other.
"Quick!" said Saran to the Prince. ​"Put on your cap and take my hand, so that they will not see us! We can make better use of the magic boots than these wicked dwarfs can." So they each hastily slipped on a boot and, being invisible because of the magic cap, passed out from among the dwarfs before they had stopped fighting over the jewels.
"And now," said Saran, "while we have on the boots, let us test their power by wishing to be somewhere."
"Very well," said Schalu, "I wish that we may be taken at once to a country that needs a king!"
Immediately the two friends felt themselves picked up and whizzed through the air with such speed that they could see nothing and feel nothing but the wind rushing by their ears. Then they were put down gently upon the ground and found themselves in a strange country.
The two friends felt themselves picked up and
whizzed through the air. Frontispiece. See page 127.
​Soon they saw a great procession of men, women and children advancing toward them, and at their head walked an ​old man with snowy beard and hair and clad in long white garments. The people came straight up to the Prince and Saran, and there halted, while the old man addressed them in eager, trembling tones.
"You are strangers," said he, "and we are seeking strangers; I pray you, can you show us some magic sign whereby we may know that you are not as other mortals are?"
"Indeed," said Prince Schalu, "we are no different from other men, but by great good fortune we have this day become possessed of several wonders."
"Show us! Show us!" cried the crowd in great excitement.
"This," continued Schalu, drawing the battered magic cap from his pocket, "has the power of making its wearer invisible." He put it on, and the people cried out in wonder and anxiety, "Where are they? Where are they? They are gone! Find them! They are truly the ones!"
"No, we are still here," said the Prince, ​removing the cap. "But why does it matter so much to you? And why are you so anxious,to see our marvels?"
"Show us more! Show us more!" the crowd shouted, and the old man in white tried vainly to quiet them, for he was as much excited as they.
"These boots," Schalu went on, pointing to the magic ones, "are also very wonderful, for they will bear us wheresoever we wish to be in the twinkling of an eye. It was by their means that we came here."
"Don't try them! We'll believe you!" cried somebody, as if fearful of losing them, and the crowd surged eagerly forward again.
"And finally," said Schalu, smiling at them and thoroughly enjoying their wonder, "my friend and I have a little trick which may interest you." Opening their mouths, the two began to pour forth gold and emeralds and toss them in great handfuls among the crowd.
If they were excited before, the people ​now went mad with surprise and joy, and while they were grasping at the precious things, the old, white-haired man approached Schalu and said:
"O marvellous stranger, know that I am a magician, and by my art I learned that this land which has been without a king for many a long day would find a just, wise and righteous ruler in a wonder-working stranger whom we should meet traveling along this road to-day. Accept, then, our kingdom; come and rule over our people, and we will honor you as our Khan and your companion as Grand Vizier to the end of our days!"
The crowd had by this time grown silent, listening, and at the end of the speech they set up a shout that echoed to the very clouds. Seizing Schalu and Saran in their arms, they bore them with laughter and singing to the palace, where Schalu was crowned with all pomp and ceremony, and Saran was made his chief adviser.
​And so the two friends lived worthily and happily till the end of their days.
The tale being finished, the Siddhi-kur was silent.
"But what of the poor father and mother?" exclaimed the Prince impatiently. "Surely Schalu was a faithless son if he left his parents to die of grief for him!"
"Dear me, no! He didn't do that!" said the Siddhi-kur, smiling. "He was no sooner made king than he journeyed back to visit his royal father and mother, and I leave you to imagine their joy and the happiness of the whole land when it became known that the prince and his faithful friend had not only returned in safety, but had delivered them from the curse of the serpent-gods and had won, besides, such glory and riches.
"But I fear me!" continued the Siddhi-kur, playfully poking the Khan's son in the ribs, "that you will never attain glory ​and riches, unless you remember the words of Nagarguna and keep silent on your homeward way! Farewell—I am off to my mango tree, and it is good indeed to be free again!"
The Prince could scarcely keep back his tears of anger and vexation as he watched the Siddhi-kur skipping gayly off to the north.
"I will fetch you yet!" he cried, but the magic creature only turned and smiled at him indulgently.
"I would give it up, if I were you," said he; "but if you really are determined to get me again, I've a nice story to tell you on the way back,—'The Strange Adventure of Schalu's Wife.'" With that he ran on and disappeared in the distance.