They had taken everything from him. He had been sleeping between the mighty roots of an old tree, when they had come on silent feet and taken everything that was not truly his own. The little money he possessed, counted up five coins, four pearls and three gemstones, his hat, shoes and clothes, the silver pistol and even his eyes.
He stood up, naked and bewildered, for he had thought that at least his eyes had truly been his own.
Hugging his shaking body he began to wander, stumbling and blind, thinking only of the purpose why he had set out on the journey: to reach the horizon. For there dwelt his very and only and true love. Where the rainbows were born and the border between reality and illusion was not so strong.
On and on he went, guided by his heart and the gentle whispers of the trees which had taken pity for him. And the wind went into his empty eye-sockets, feeding him and giving him strength to carry on, for he dared not go left or right into the wood to search for food and water.
Sometimes tears would flood his empty eyes and then the wind would softly caress him and dry his face. “Why doest thou weep?”, he would ask. “Is not my love enough for thee?” He could only then speak to him and only ask him this.
Refusing to answer and to give the wind his love, he would stumble further, caged in his inner darkness, the picture of his only, his true, his very love painfully inside him.
For four moons he might have wandered the woods or for forty, he could not tell. And when at last he reached the border he noticed it by a soft breeze touching him, that was not the wind of the woods.
Winter had left the lands but the cold and darkness inside him remained. Also his body was dark, his hair and beard grown so long and grey and shabby that they covered his nakedness like fur.
His feet felt silky grass when he took the first steps into the land and the fresh green on which he trod washed away the memories of the forest and the wind caught in it. And he would not hear his howling nor feel his longing for the human of flesh and bone he had lost and never had.
But when he reached a village the people fled from him because they feared his ghastly appearance. And he knew that he had left behind part of his life, somewhere in a dark, rustling, endless place, where something vague and yet caring had whispered to him about love.
And suddenly he remembered once more the purpose of his journey and he fell down bitterly and started to weep from deep down his heart.
His life was saved by a girl who had come across his way and watched the miserable figure. She knelt before him as gently as a falling flower and watched him weep, knowing that he would not notice her. She took the flowers she had been carrying and began making a chain. Calmly and unnoticed she sat with him.
And his heart hurt so severely that he thought he must die. He would never ever find his own love, his true love, his very love, and be happy. Blindly he felt for a sharp log laying nearby to thrust it into the pulsing, loving, bleeding pain in his chest.
But at that moment the girl, as she saw that he was about to give up his life, threw her butterfly yellow dress against him.
The sweet and wild scent of the maiden's dress came upon him so suddenly, that he stopped dead in his intention. Ashamed for what he had done and of having been caught by the girl he covered his face in the yellow dress and ran away, leaving now the girl naked and with thoughts behind.
Two times his life had been saved by now and two times he had fled from it. He let fall the butterfly yellow dress and went on, his mind aimlessly following the feet that led straight ahead. No matter whether he would have gone east or west, either way he would not have missed the Prince. Blind as he was he yet perfectly saw the carriage coming noiselessly down the hills. It was a bright night, the full moon painting a white and shadeless country.
“Alas! that thou must walk the night alone. And sad.” The carriage stopped before him.
“I must find my own and very and true love. And since I have nothing but the ground under my feet, I walk.”
“Would thou mind if I took thee to whichever places thou wantest to reach? Thou must only pay a price.”
“I have nothing to give and whatever I had I would give to my love.”
“I would ask thee to be my companion for a while. I know about what was and what will be and thou should live in what be now.” The Prince's voice was velvety and blue.
“So be it. I have lost my past, I do not know about my present and I see no future. May you find them. It would not be a loss to me if you kept them.”
The Prince held out a hand. He took the pale and cool fingers in his own, and without effort was pulled into the carriage. And as soon as his feet lost touch to the ground, the carriage sped forward, fast as a lightning and silent as the moon.
He heard the wind rushing by, curling around them gaily, but soon he got exhausted and fell back. He heard time running ahead of them, running beside them, following them. But soon even he got exhausted and they left time behind to reach nothingness.
The Prince was clad in rich robes, shining blue as his eyes, velvet blue as his lips and deep blue as his heart he kept in secret.
“How shall I know it is your true shape that I see? I am blinded and I see nothing but darkness.”
“Illusion be truth if one believeth so.”
He was washed and his hair cut and combed. His skin was oiled and he got dressed, as velvety and blue as the Prince.
Dark and high was the Prince's castle. He was always alone. Nothing, nothing dwelt in the castle. Except an old star that kept appearing dimly here and there, at the high ceilings or wearily in a corner of the endless halls. Never-ending corridors and eternal halls where mortal bodies were lost lingering too long and mortal minds were lost dwelling in the infinite spaces. The ceilings were high and higher and the windows large. At times, when the night was clear and the moon bright, the Prince let fly apart the heavy curtains. Then moonlight flooded the ebony floors, made them glare white, dazzling like the nearest star. But most of the time there was darkness, a cool and velvet darkness. Dusty as the old time that had once come into the castle, long ago when the world was young.
“Why, I am blind but the darkness makes me shiver. Is it always night where you are?”, he wondered.
The Prince caressed his hair. “Dark be not the night but thy closed eyes.”
They went up the highest tower to look upon the stars. They knew everything and talked to the Prince and his companion.
“Will you guide me to my very, my own, my true love?”, he would ask.
“I shall”, the Prince would answer.
“My heart is longing for my love and bursting of it”, he cried.
“Thy heart be nothing without thy mind.”
As the nights went by, filled with silence and wonders too much for his mind, he began to learn of stranger things. When the Prince saw in his face the soft shine of thought, he would kiss him and take him on a ride in the carriage over the hills.
“Thou will ever ask what would have been if thou hadst chosen another way. But it be not for thee to look back and frown but to be aware and look ahead.”
The nights and years went on. Had he once been restlessly wandering the hallways and stairs in eternal darkness, searching for answers and reasons, he slowly found calm and peace near the Prince and his strange words. They touched him, though he could not tell where and why. But he thought that they might be answers to find his love. At times he felt as if he had ever been the Prince's companion, ever walked beside him on silver meadows by night, ever talked to the stars when the sky kept back the clouds, ever sat at the Prince's feet while he painted tales into the dark air with his words. He never asked what used to happen at daytime and when the night began to fall upon the land, he forgot.
“Now, if it be thy will to leave and find what thou were searching, thou mayest go”, the Prince said one day. “One thing I will do for thee. The way is long, eleven days and four lifetimes it taketh to reach Rainbow's cradol. I shall take thee on a quicker road. On stardust roads we shall move smooth and fast.”
The Prince flung off his coat. It sprang into millions of glistening fragments that formed a road in the night air, leading to the horizon.
When they sat in the carriage, he asked: “Did you find my past and my future and my present?”
But the Prince did not answer.
“When I was young I used to dream about what my life would be, about how I would be and I longed for everything, to know the way for a perfect life. Late I kept looking back and searching for those dreams but I fear I lost them.”
“What doest thou care about what was and what will be if thou hast what is?”
It took them a breath to reach the horizon. His heart began to beat hard, now, finally, he would close his arms around his true, his own, his very love.
But time passed and he stood there while nothing changed. He saw rainbows be born and disappear, he heard gentle laughter on the other side of the border between reality and illusion, he felt summer's warm air on his face, but his love did not come.
“Where is my love?”
“Thou must pass the border. Dreams be dreams as long as thou keepest them in thy head.”
But he did not pass the border. He turned to look up at the Prince, and for the first he saw behind and saw himself.
And slowly he became aware that he had been searching in vain. He had been led through life by what his eyes saw and searched for the impossible, aimlessly and never pleased.
As he looked at the Prince he felt he did not want to leave him, he did love him in a wonderous way. He felt his heart laugh. And he remembered those who had cared for him, given him love and saved him from death. He had not understood why they had given him love, when he did not feel love for himself.
“What sayest thou?”
“I will step back into the world to see the people and their wonders. I do not fear now what will be, for my only aim shall be to give my love. A higher and more kingly aim there is not.”
The Prince kept his vain eyes but gave him another pair, made of starlight.
And he went back to the village and looked out for the girl in the butterfly yellow dress. There she sat, in the sunlight she loved, eating grapes and watching him as he came near. He sat beside her and asked her kindly, would she mind letting him fall in love with her.
And she answered, he should do what he really wanted and try the best he could.
He stood up, naked and bewildered, for he had thought that at least his eyes had truly been his own.
Hugging his shaking body he began to wander, stumbling and blind, thinking only of the purpose why he had set out on the journey: to reach the horizon. For there dwelt his very and only and true love. Where the rainbows were born and the border between reality and illusion was not so strong.
On and on he went, guided by his heart and the gentle whispers of the trees which had taken pity for him. And the wind went into his empty eye-sockets, feeding him and giving him strength to carry on, for he dared not go left or right into the wood to search for food and water.
Sometimes tears would flood his empty eyes and then the wind would softly caress him and dry his face. “Why doest thou weep?”, he would ask. “Is not my love enough for thee?” He could only then speak to him and only ask him this.
Refusing to answer and to give the wind his love, he would stumble further, caged in his inner darkness, the picture of his only, his true, his very love painfully inside him.
For four moons he might have wandered the woods or for forty, he could not tell. And when at last he reached the border he noticed it by a soft breeze touching him, that was not the wind of the woods.
Winter had left the lands but the cold and darkness inside him remained. Also his body was dark, his hair and beard grown so long and grey and shabby that they covered his nakedness like fur.
His feet felt silky grass when he took the first steps into the land and the fresh green on which he trod washed away the memories of the forest and the wind caught in it. And he would not hear his howling nor feel his longing for the human of flesh and bone he had lost and never had.
But when he reached a village the people fled from him because they feared his ghastly appearance. And he knew that he had left behind part of his life, somewhere in a dark, rustling, endless place, where something vague and yet caring had whispered to him about love.
And suddenly he remembered once more the purpose of his journey and he fell down bitterly and started to weep from deep down his heart.
His life was saved by a girl who had come across his way and watched the miserable figure. She knelt before him as gently as a falling flower and watched him weep, knowing that he would not notice her. She took the flowers she had been carrying and began making a chain. Calmly and unnoticed she sat with him.
And his heart hurt so severely that he thought he must die. He would never ever find his own love, his true love, his very love, and be happy. Blindly he felt for a sharp log laying nearby to thrust it into the pulsing, loving, bleeding pain in his chest.
But at that moment the girl, as she saw that he was about to give up his life, threw her butterfly yellow dress against him.
The sweet and wild scent of the maiden's dress came upon him so suddenly, that he stopped dead in his intention. Ashamed for what he had done and of having been caught by the girl he covered his face in the yellow dress and ran away, leaving now the girl naked and with thoughts behind.
Two times his life had been saved by now and two times he had fled from it. He let fall the butterfly yellow dress and went on, his mind aimlessly following the feet that led straight ahead. No matter whether he would have gone east or west, either way he would not have missed the Prince. Blind as he was he yet perfectly saw the carriage coming noiselessly down the hills. It was a bright night, the full moon painting a white and shadeless country.
“Alas! that thou must walk the night alone. And sad.” The carriage stopped before him.
“I must find my own and very and true love. And since I have nothing but the ground under my feet, I walk.”
“Would thou mind if I took thee to whichever places thou wantest to reach? Thou must only pay a price.”
“I have nothing to give and whatever I had I would give to my love.”
“I would ask thee to be my companion for a while. I know about what was and what will be and thou should live in what be now.” The Prince's voice was velvety and blue.
“So be it. I have lost my past, I do not know about my present and I see no future. May you find them. It would not be a loss to me if you kept them.”
The Prince held out a hand. He took the pale and cool fingers in his own, and without effort was pulled into the carriage. And as soon as his feet lost touch to the ground, the carriage sped forward, fast as a lightning and silent as the moon.
He heard the wind rushing by, curling around them gaily, but soon he got exhausted and fell back. He heard time running ahead of them, running beside them, following them. But soon even he got exhausted and they left time behind to reach nothingness.
The Prince was clad in rich robes, shining blue as his eyes, velvet blue as his lips and deep blue as his heart he kept in secret.
“How shall I know it is your true shape that I see? I am blinded and I see nothing but darkness.”
“Illusion be truth if one believeth so.”
He was washed and his hair cut and combed. His skin was oiled and he got dressed, as velvety and blue as the Prince.
Dark and high was the Prince's castle. He was always alone. Nothing, nothing dwelt in the castle. Except an old star that kept appearing dimly here and there, at the high ceilings or wearily in a corner of the endless halls. Never-ending corridors and eternal halls where mortal bodies were lost lingering too long and mortal minds were lost dwelling in the infinite spaces. The ceilings were high and higher and the windows large. At times, when the night was clear and the moon bright, the Prince let fly apart the heavy curtains. Then moonlight flooded the ebony floors, made them glare white, dazzling like the nearest star. But most of the time there was darkness, a cool and velvet darkness. Dusty as the old time that had once come into the castle, long ago when the world was young.
“Why, I am blind but the darkness makes me shiver. Is it always night where you are?”, he wondered.
The Prince caressed his hair. “Dark be not the night but thy closed eyes.”
They went up the highest tower to look upon the stars. They knew everything and talked to the Prince and his companion.
“Will you guide me to my very, my own, my true love?”, he would ask.
“I shall”, the Prince would answer.
“My heart is longing for my love and bursting of it”, he cried.
“Thy heart be nothing without thy mind.”
As the nights went by, filled with silence and wonders too much for his mind, he began to learn of stranger things. When the Prince saw in his face the soft shine of thought, he would kiss him and take him on a ride in the carriage over the hills.
“Thou will ever ask what would have been if thou hadst chosen another way. But it be not for thee to look back and frown but to be aware and look ahead.”
The nights and years went on. Had he once been restlessly wandering the hallways and stairs in eternal darkness, searching for answers and reasons, he slowly found calm and peace near the Prince and his strange words. They touched him, though he could not tell where and why. But he thought that they might be answers to find his love. At times he felt as if he had ever been the Prince's companion, ever walked beside him on silver meadows by night, ever talked to the stars when the sky kept back the clouds, ever sat at the Prince's feet while he painted tales into the dark air with his words. He never asked what used to happen at daytime and when the night began to fall upon the land, he forgot.
“Now, if it be thy will to leave and find what thou were searching, thou mayest go”, the Prince said one day. “One thing I will do for thee. The way is long, eleven days and four lifetimes it taketh to reach Rainbow's cradol. I shall take thee on a quicker road. On stardust roads we shall move smooth and fast.”
The Prince flung off his coat. It sprang into millions of glistening fragments that formed a road in the night air, leading to the horizon.
When they sat in the carriage, he asked: “Did you find my past and my future and my present?”
But the Prince did not answer.
“When I was young I used to dream about what my life would be, about how I would be and I longed for everything, to know the way for a perfect life. Late I kept looking back and searching for those dreams but I fear I lost them.”
“What doest thou care about what was and what will be if thou hast what is?”
It took them a breath to reach the horizon. His heart began to beat hard, now, finally, he would close his arms around his true, his own, his very love.
But time passed and he stood there while nothing changed. He saw rainbows be born and disappear, he heard gentle laughter on the other side of the border between reality and illusion, he felt summer's warm air on his face, but his love did not come.
“Where is my love?”
“Thou must pass the border. Dreams be dreams as long as thou keepest them in thy head.”
But he did not pass the border. He turned to look up at the Prince, and for the first he saw behind and saw himself.
And slowly he became aware that he had been searching in vain. He had been led through life by what his eyes saw and searched for the impossible, aimlessly and never pleased.
As he looked at the Prince he felt he did not want to leave him, he did love him in a wonderous way. He felt his heart laugh. And he remembered those who had cared for him, given him love and saved him from death. He had not understood why they had given him love, when he did not feel love for himself.
“What sayest thou?”
“I will step back into the world to see the people and their wonders. I do not fear now what will be, for my only aim shall be to give my love. A higher and more kingly aim there is not.”
The Prince kept his vain eyes but gave him another pair, made of starlight.
And he went back to the village and looked out for the girl in the butterfly yellow dress. There she sat, in the sunlight she loved, eating grapes and watching him as he came near. He sat beside her and asked her kindly, would she mind letting him fall in love with her.
And she answered, he should do what he really wanted and try the best he could.