EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON ADAPTED and ILLUSTRATED
BY NIKOO BAFTI
EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
AN ADAPTATION OF A NORSE FOLK TALE BY NIKOO BAFTI
© 2012
nce upon a time, in an old cottage in the heart of the woods, there O lived a poor peasant who had so many children that he did not have enough food or clothing to provide them. Pretty children they all were, but the prettiest was their only daughter, who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness.
One evening late in Autumn, there was a great storm - the family all huddled around the fire as the wind and rain beat down cruelly outside. As the windows rattled and the thin walls of the cottage shook, all at once, something gave three loud knocks on the door. Startled, the father went to see who could be visiting at such a late hour. Outside, what should he see but a great big white bear, whose thick coat of fur seemed to shimmer in the dark. “Good evening to you,” said the white bear. “The same to you,” said the man. “I have been watching over your house for some time. If you would let me have your have your lovely daughter to live with me in my castle I shall make you rich as you are poor and your family need never see hardship again.The man would not be at all sorry to be so rich, but the thought of losing his beloved daughter brought his heart sadness. He told the bear that he should return in three days so he could let the girl decide and only then could he recieve an answer. The bear agreed and quietly disappeared into the dark night.
The father told his family of the great bear’s request and turned to his daughter. She was not happy to leave her mother and father, but after thinking of how happy they and her brothers would be, with a heavy heart she agreed to go with the bear when he returned. She washed and mended her rags and made herself as smart as she could. Soon she was ready for the trip, for she didn’t have much to take along. As the third evening arrived, the bear returned to the house. The girl got up on his back with her small bundle of belongings and off they went. As they travelled far across the forest, the white bear asked the girl if she was afraid. She shook her head and whispered, “No”. “Just hold tight to my shaggy coat, and there’s nothing to be afraid of,” said the bear.
They went a long way, until they came to the face of a steep white cliff. The bear knocked on it’s surface and suddenly there appeared a door which opened and revealed the inside of a castle. As they entered all the rooms lit up, gleaming with silver and gold. The bear handed the girl a shiny silver bell that she were to use if ever she needed anything at all. After finishing the finest meal she had ever had, she felt tired and sleepy from her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed, so she rang the bell. She had barely rung it before she found herself in a room, where there was a big bed made as fair and white as anyone would wish to sleep in, with pillows and curtains of pure silk. After she had gone to bed and put out the light, a man came and laid himself alongside her. It was the white bear, who would transform into a man every night, but she never saw his face, for he always came after she had put out the light. Before the day dawned he was up and off again. She lived happily in the castle but at last she became quiet and sad. She was alone all day long, and she became very homesick and wished to see he family again. Upon telling this to the bear he said “I can take you to see your family, but you must promise not to talk alone with your mother. She will want to lead you into a room to talk alone with her, but you must not do that, or else you’ll bring bad luck on both of us.”
So off they went far and long, she sitting on his back. At last they came to a grand house where she saw her brothers running and playing in a big garden outside. This sight instantly brought her joy as she had never seen them so happy. “This is where your father and mother live now,” said the white bear, “but don’t forget the promise you made me.” She nodded and said she’d not forget. And with that, he turned around and left her. She went into the house to see her father and mother, and there was no end to their joy. They could not thank her enough for all she had done for them. They wanted to know how she was. She told them it was very good to live where she did, she had all she wished for too, but she did not tell them about the mysterious man the bear would become at night. That afternoon, after they had dinner, everything happened as the white bear said it would. Her mother wanted to talk with the girl alone; but she remembered what the bear had said, and wouldn’t go with her. Soon her mother got to her at last, and she had to tell her the whole story of her life at the castle. She told her how every night, after she had gone to bed, a man came and lay down beside her as soon as she had put out the light, and how she never saw him because he was always up and away before the morning dawned. She told her of how she was terribly sad, for she wanted so much to see him, how she was lonesome by herself all day long. “Oh dear!” said her mother; “it may well be a troll you are sleeping next to! But now I’ll give you some good advice as to how to see him. I’ll give you a candle which you can take back with you; just light it while he is asleep, but be careful not to drop any wax on him.” The girl took the candle, hid it in her clothes, and that evening the white bear came to take her back. When they had gone a long way, the white bear asked if all had happened as he had said. She couldn’t deny that it had. “Take care,” he said, “if you have listened to your mother’s advice, you will bring terrible bad luck on us both.”
So when she reached home and had gone to bed, it was the same as before. A man came and gently lay down beside her, but in the middle of the night, when she was sure he was fast asleep, she got up and lit the candle. She let the light shine on him and saw that he was the most handsome prince one had ever set eyes upon. She fell so deeply in love with him, that she thought she couldn’t live if she didn’t give him a kiss at one. And so she did, but as she kissed him she let three drops of hot wax drip onto his shirt, and he woke up startled. “What have you done?” he cried: “now you have made us both unlucky, for had you held out only this one year, I would have been free! I have a stepmother who has bewitched me, so that I am a white bear by day, and a man by night. But now all ties are broken between us. By the break of dawn you will be taken away to a castle said to be east of the sun and west of the moon, and there you will have to be married to her wicked and ugly son, my step-brother.” The girl cried and cried, but there was no help for it; she had to go. She asked with her eyes full of tears if he could go with her, but he could not. But with all the sadness in the world in his voice, he promise he would come and find her, even though there was no leading to the place, this castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon.
The next morning, the prince found himself lying on a little green patch, in the midst of the thick, dark forest. The girl and his castle were gone. He set out on his way with the heaviest of hearts and walked many days until he came to an old house at the edge of the forest. There he found a wise old lady sat outside and he asked her if she knew a way to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon. “I can see that you are the white bear prince,” said the old woman. “I do not know the way to the castle, and believe that you’ll get there too late or never, but I can see you are kind of heart so I shall let you borrow my horse, who will lead you to the home of the East Wind so that you may ask him to blow you there. When you get to him, just give the horse a soft pinch under the left ear, and he’ll trot home by himself.” The wise woman reached into a pouch around her neck and revealed a magnificent golden dagger. “You may also take this with you, young prince,” she said as she placed it in his hands.
He thanked her for the kindness she had shown him and set off across the fields. The prince rode through the cold, starry night and a whole day more until he reached the mountains home to the East Wind. He set the horse on her way back home and started to climb up the rocky mountainside, as a strong wind blew and swirled dust all around him. The prince reached the huge house built into the top of the mountain and knocked on the towering iron door. After a moment, it slowly creaked open and there, tall stood the East Wind. Politely, the prince asked the East Wind if she could tell him the way to the castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon, for his love was to be married to his wicked step-brother. Indeed, the East Wind had often heard word of the castle, but she did not know the way there, for she had never blown so far.”But if you want,” said the East Wind, “I will take you to my brother, the West Wind. Maybe he knows, as he is much stronger. If you will just climb on my back I shall carry you there.” So the prince got on her back, and off they went in a rush as the sound of wind whistled in their ears.
When at last they arrived at the West Wind’s house on a great cliff by the sea, the East Wind told her brother that this was the bear prince whose love has been taken to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon, and that they would be glad to know the way to there. “I’ve never blown so far” said the West Wind, “but if you want I shall go with you to our brother the North Wind, for he is the strongest of all the winds, and he has flown far and wide. If he doesn’t know where it is then you will never find anyone in the world who will. Get on my back and I will carry you there.” The prince climbed on to the West Wind’s back and they were off in a flash, going twice as fast as the East wind had flown. After gliding over oceans for hours through the night, they finally arrived at the house of the mighty North Wind. This wind was known for his icy temper, and upon seeing the prince and his brother he blew cold gusts at them before they’d reached his door. “What are you doing here?” he roared from afar so that it struck them with a shiver. “Well, there’s no need for that! It is me, your brother, and here is the prince who was once the great white bear of the forest, who wishes to go to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon. We wished to ask you if you knew where this place was.” “Yes, I know where it is,” said the North Wind, “a single time I blew a leaf there, but afterward I was so tired that I could not blow a puff for many days. But if you really wish to go there and aren’t afraid to come with me, I will see if I can take you there.” The prince wasn’t afraid, however wildly he would fly getting to the castle. “Very well then,” said the North Wind, “but you must sleep here tonight, for we must have the whole day before us if we want to get there at all.” Early the next morning the North Wind woke the prince, took him by the hand and puffed himself up. They leapt up into the air and flew high above the mountains and forests, leaves and sticks dancing around them in the wind. They rushed past the world below them, and all the while the prince could see that the North Wind got more and more tired and out of breath.
Flying through fluffy clouds, they weren’t far from the castle by now, and the North Wind had enough strength left that he managed to swoop down and throw the prince at the foot of the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon. The North Wind was so weak and worn out, that he had to stay there and rest many days before he could go home again. The next morning the prince sat down by the castle and gazed up at its tallest spire, where in it’s top window sat the girl, unaware of the prince’s arrival. Dusty and dirty from his long journey there and draped in some old rags that he had found nearby, the prince disguised himself as an old peasant. As he was sitting there later that day, who was to pass but his wicked step-brother. He was a big and brutish man, whose greed matched the ugliness of his face and heart. The step-brother stopped and looked down at the prince.
“How much for that golden dagger, peasant?” he said, too busy eyeing the dagger to recognise the prince. In a weak voice, the prince replied, “Money does not interest me sir, as I am a dying man and do not have left long to live. My only wish is to see the town and the beautiful forests from the tallest spire in the castle before I die.” His step-brother threw his head back and laughed at the peasant’s simple wish. “You can have your wish peasant!” he said mockingly as he snatched the golden dagger out of his hands. The prince was let into the castle grounds and he ran up the spiral stairs tirelessly until he reached the girl’s room at the top of the spire. There was much so much joy between them when they saw each other and quickly, before anyone came in, he explained to the girl what she was to do. Tomorrow, on the day of her wedding to the wicked stepbrother, she was to announce that she would only marry the man who could retrieve for her the golden pine cone from the magical tree in the forbidden forest by the castle grounds. Only once every year does one golden pine cone grow on this tree every year and they are said to bring good fortune. So the girl agreed and the prince hurried out of the castle. In the morning, the girl announced the challenge to the step-brother and the townsfolk from her window before the wedding was to begin. She would only marry the man who would get her the golden pine cone from deep in the forbidden forest. It is said that few men dare set foot into the forest, but blinded by his greed and anger at the girl’s challenge he set off immediately into the forest, tearing and slicing through it with his dagger. The excited townspeople watched the prince run off swiftly into the forest after him. Weaving carefully but quickly through the trees, the prince, whose bear instincts and respect of the forest was still in his heart, soon out-took his step brother. Upon seeing the prince, he threw his fists in the air in anger and thundered through the branches faster. He soon lost sight of the prince and finally came to the magic tree. He couldn’t see the prince anywhere, but then spotted the golden pine cone high up on one of the tree’s branches.
Using his dagger to dig deep into the tree’s trunk he started slowly scrambling his way up the tree, and being the heavy man he was, it was going to take him a long time to get to the top. After a long time, when he was half way up the tree, there was an icy breeze through the tree. The prince, who was watching from some bushes nearby, with his animal instincts, could feel the anger and pain of the magic tree as his step-brother dug into its trunk with the dagger as he climbed. Suddenly, when he raised his arm to push the dagger in again, the trunk covered in a layer of solid ice, and the man lost his balance and fell down to the ground unconscious. Not surprised at this, the prince went over to the tree and placed a hand gently on the tree. Before he even had time to start climbing he looked up and the golden pine cone fell off the tree and fell gracefully straight into the palm of his hand. Joyfully the prince made his way quickly back to the castle. The crowd outside the castle cheered upon his return, and the girl and the prince were married. As for the wicked step-brother, he was not heard of again; the prince and his princess set free all the poor folk he had locked up in his dungeons, took all his gold and silver and flew away as far as they could from the castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon.