A king and a queen had three daughters. The king wanted his daughters to many wealthy princes, and so it was in the case of his first daughter and his second, but the youngest princess fell in love with a poor man, and wanted to marry him. The king and queen opposed the marriage, but the princess went ahead and secretly married her beloved. And when this became known to the king, he was furious, and banished his daughter from the palace. Thereafter she lived happily but in poverty with her husband, whom she loved.
One day it happened that the king awoke and discovered that he had somehow become blind. He summoned doctors from all corners of the kingdom, but none of them could restore his sight. Then a doctor came from a distant city, who said he had heard that there was a special tree in the Land of No Return whose leaves could heal blindness. But, the doctor added, no one who had gone there to obtain those leaves had ever returned.
Even though the way to the tree of the healing leaves appeared to be fraught with danger, it was the king's last hope. So he called on the two princes who were married to his daughters, and asked them to set out on the journey, and promised that if they succeeded they would each receive one third of his kingdom on their return. But he warned them not to come back empty- handed, or it would cost them their lives. Of course, the princes could not refuse to undertake such a journey, so after they had equipped themselves with speedy horses and many provisions, they set out on the quest for the healing leaves.
Meanwhile, when the king's youngest daughter, who was married to the poor man, found out about her father's blindness and the quest for the healing leaves, she asked her mother, the queen, to permit her husband also to join the search, on the same conditions as those set for the two princes. The queen took pity on her, and gave the poor lad a lame horse and meager provisions, and two weeks after the two princes had already departed, he too set out on the quest.
Now after the two princes had ridden for seven days, they reached the province that bordered the Land of No Return. There the princes were told: Many are those who have tried to reach the area where the healing leaves can be found, but none of them has. ever returned, for it is said that the way to the tree on which the leaves grow is guarded by a dragon and a viper, who destroy all those who come within their reach. When the two princes heard this, they became frightened, and they did not want to continue the quest. But they knew they could not return empty-handed, or it would cost them their lives.
Therefore they decided to stay at the place they had reached, and together they opened an inn there.
Two weeks later the lad who was married to the youngest princess arrived at their inn. He recognized the princes at once, but since they did not recognize him, he did not reveal who he was. He stayed there that night, and in the morning he went about asking if anyone knew the way to the Land of No Return.
So it was that he spoke to the same people who had warned the two princes. But the young man was not afraid, nor would he abandon the quest. And when the people saw that he was determined to go there, they told him that the only one who knew how to reach the tree of the healing leaves was a giant who lived in the valley below. But that giant himself was very terrible, and ate all those who came within his reach.
Still the lad was not afraid, and he mounted his horse and traveled to the valley that very day, and rode until he reached a house that was as high as a mountain. Another man would have been overcome with terror to see how high was the door of that house, but not the husband of the youngest daughter of the king.
Without hesitation he approached the door and knocked on it.
Then the wife of the giant opened the door, and when she saw it was a man, she told him to leave at once, for his life was in danger. But the lad insisted that he must talk to the giant, in order to find out how to reach the Land of No Return. And when she saw that he was determined to stay, she allowed him to come in and fed him and then hid him under the bed.
Before long the giant returned home, and as soon as he entered he declared: Surely my nose does not deceive me—for I can smell the blood of a man even a mile away. The giant's wife tried to convince him that no man was foolish enough to come there, but the giant kept insisting it must be so, and at last she revealed that the lad was hidden under the bed. Then the lad came out, stood before the giant, and said: Sir giant, you are my host and I am in your power. You can do with me whatever you like. But first let me tell you my story. And the giant was amazed at his bravery and said: Go on and tell me the tale. Then the lad told the giant about the blindness of the king, and how he had come in search of the healing leaves. And when the giant saw that he was willing to go to the Land of No Return, even though no one had ever come back from there, he said to him: Since you do not tremble before me, and are not afraid to risk your life by entering the Land of No Return, I shall not kill you, for you are the first man I have met who is not a coward. Then the giant invited the lad to eat and sleep in his home, and so it was that the lad spent the night there as his guest.
In the morning the lad arose early, and the giant said to him:
When you leave here, you must ride on the road for seven days, until you come to a crossroads. On one of the roads it is written 'A happy journey,' and on the other, 'He who follows this path shall not return.' You must not ponder there, but take the road from which there is no return. Continue to follow this road until it comes to a dead end. This is the first danger. When you come there you must say: 'What a beautiful path! Had I all the horses of the king I would come and dance here!' Then the path will continue, so you can pass.
The next danger, continued the giant, is a valley filled with poisonous snakes, through which no man can pass. When you come to it you must say: 'What a beautiful valley filled with honey! If only someone brought some of this honey to the palace of the king, he would gladly eat it!' Then the snakes will disappear, and you will be able to pass.
The third danger is a valley filled with blood and all kinds of beasts, through which no man can pass. When you come to it you must say: 'What tasty butter! Had I the bread of the king, I would spread this tasty butter on it!' Then the valley will dry up, and you will be able to pass.
After this, the giant went on, you will come to a palace, guarded by a dragon and a viper. If their eyes are open, it means they are sleeping; if their eyes are closed, they are fully awake.
Wait until their eyes are open, and then you will be able to pass.
From there you must enter the palace, and walk down the corridor until you come to the queen's door, which is guarded by four lions. If their eyes are open it means they are sleeping; if their eyes are closed, they are awake. Now, the door to the queen's chamber, which they guard, is made entirely of bells, and when it is opened the sound of the bells wakes the lions. I will give you two packages of cotton with which to muffle the bells. When the eyes of the lions are open, muffle the bells and open the door. There you will find the queen sleeping, for when she sleeps all the beasts sleep with their eyes open, and beside her bed grows the tree with the healing leaves. Fill one bag with the leaves, and also fill your pockets, for they are very precious.
Then go to the queen and exchange rings with her. After that, when you return, you must do everything you did before, but in reverse order. The lad listened closely to what he had to do, and when the giant had finished telling him, he gratefully thanked him and set off down the road. He acted according to the giant's instructions, so he was able to continue on the path that ended, and to cross the valley filled with snakes and the one filled with blood and beasts. And when he reached the palace he waited until the eyes of the dragon and the viper were open, which meant that they were asleep, and he entered the palace. So too did he wait for the four lions to open their eyes, meaning that they too were asleep, and he entered the chamber of the queen, who was sleeping on her bed. And beside her bed he found the tree with the wonderful healing leaves, its branches reaching to the ceiling, its roots growing beneath the floor. Then the lad filled a big sack with those leaves and his pockets as well, and exchanged his ring with that of the queen. And on the way back he did everything he had done to get there, but in reverse. So it was that two weeks later he returned with the bag full of leaves and the queen's ring on his finger, and came to the inn run by the two princes.
Now when the princes saw the sack, they asked the lad what was inside it, and he told them the whole story, although he forgot to mention that he had exchanged rings with the queen.
Then the two princes pretended to be very friendly, and invited him to spend the night, and he agreed.
But while the lad slept, the two princes threw a drug into his eyes to blind him, and put him in a sack and left him in a closet in the inn. They themselves took the bag of the healing leaves and set out to return to the palace of the king. And when they arrived the king's blindness was cured by the healing leaves, and he appointed the two princes to be his ministers, and rewarded each of them with one third of his kingdom.
Meanwhile, when the lad awoke and found himself in a sack, he did not give up hope, but struggled until he had managed to free himself. But when he did, he discovered that he was blind, and he did not know what to do. Then he remembered the healing leaves he had kept in his pockets, and took some of them and rubbed them against his eyes, and his sight was restored.
After that he returned to his wife, the king's youngest daughter, and said to her: I have brought the healing leaves. But to his surprise she laughed at him and said: The two princes brought them back long before you, and the king has regained his sight. And the lad understood that his long quest had all been in vain.
Now it happened that when the queen of the Land of No Return awoke from her sleep, she saw that her ring had disappeared, replaced by another, and that many leaves were missing from the tree. She immediately unrolled her flying carpet, and searched high and low for whoever had taken her ring and the leaves. After searching in many places, she heard of the king who had been cured of his blindness, and when she arrived at the palace she threatened to send the dragon to destroy the city if she was not told how the cure had come to pass. Then the princes came forward and showed the leaves to her. She said:
Tell me where you got them from. And they replied: We found a forest and picked the leaves off a tree. They are lying! hissed the queen. Beat them! Just then the lad arrived at the palace and told the queen how he had obtained the leaves, and showed her the ones he still had left, which he had carried in his pockets. Then the lad showed the queen her ring, and she knew that he was telling the truth. But she wanted to know how the princes had returned with the leaves before him, and so the lad told her all that had happened, and all the trouble that they had caused him. After that the lad gave back the ring to the queen, and she got on her flying carpet and returned to her kingdom. And the king, who had heard all that the lad had said, now understood what had really taken place. He banished the two princes and invited his youngest daughter and her husband to live in the palace, where the young man soon became his trusted minister, and they all lived happily ever after.