The Prince and the Horse - Part Two

One day the Prince forgot to keep the stove burning and let the fire burn low. 

Just as the flame was flickering the old man stormed into the castle. “What do you mean by letting the fire burn so low? I just arrived at the nick of time to stop you from committing this foolishness.” 

After that the Prince hastily threw a log on the stove and he blew on the ashes to kindle the glow. 

His master hit him on the ear and warned him that if he ever did this again it would be worse. 

The Prince was sitting at the stable when he was surprised. 

The black horse could speak. “Come to my stall,” the black horse told the prince. “Bring my bridle and saddle from the cupboard and put them on me. Take the bottle that is beside the bridle and the saddle. The bottle contains an ointment which would make your hair shine like gold. Then put all the wood that you can gather together on the stove. Pile the wood very high up.” 

Though the Prince did not understand the reason for the horse’s instructions he trusted the horse and did what he was told. 

He saddled and bridled the horse. He put the ointment on his hair and was stunned to see that his hair was now shining like pure gold. He built a big fire in the stove and the flames sprang forth and it started burning through the roof of the castle.

A few minutes later the entire palace was beginning to burn up like a bonfire. 

The Prince ran to the stables and the horse nodded. “There is one more thing that you must do. In the cupboard you will find a looking glass, a brush and a riding whip. Bring all these three items and then mount on my back and we will ride away from this place.”

No sooner had the Prince got on the saddle then the horse was off and the horse kept at a furious pace. 

In a short time the black horse and the prince were far away from the forest and the country belonging to the magician. 

Meanwhile the magician returned to his palace and found it in smoldering ruins. 

He looked around the castle and found that his servant and his black horse were both missing. 

He mounted another horse and set off to find the black horse and his servant.

As the Prince rode on, he heard a horse follow him. 

The horse nodded with the Prince. “Look behind you and see if the old man is following you.” 

The Prince nodded back. “But the magician is at a distance.”

They gathered some more speed and found that now the magician had reached very close.

“Throw the looking glass on the ground,” the horse instructed the Prince. 

When the Prince threw the looking glass on the ground, the magician and his horse came up and his horse stepped on the mirror and crashed. The foot of the horse went through the glass and the horse stumbled and fell. 

So there was nothing that the old man could do but go back slowly to the stables and put new shoes on for the horse.

However the magician then again set out in pursuit of the Prince and the black horse. This time when the magician came very close the Prince was able to see the flames of the magician.

The horse advised the Prince to throw the brush on the ground. 

When the prince threw the brush, the brush changed into a thick forest which even a bird could not get through. 

The magician and his horse went back to the castle to bring an axe. 

The magician came back to the thick forest and cut his way through the forest with the axe. 

By the time the musician was finished the Prince and the black horse were much further away. 

But the magician with his power was still able to catch up with the two of them. 

“Throw your whip down.” The horse urgently told the Prince. 

The Prince did as he was asked and he was shocked to see that the whip changed into a broad river. 

This time when the magician urged his own horse into the water the water mounted higher and higher and finally the magic flame which surrounded the magician and all his power was fizzled out in the fire. 

Soon the magician and his horse disappeared in the river.

Adapted from Greek fairy tales