ong ago there lived a king who had a son. He was so naughty and mischievous that he didn't know what to get up to next. One day he went to the gates of the palace and shot stones from his catapult. Just at that time an old woman was passing by with a pitcher of water. The boy shot a stone straight at the pitcher. The pitcher was smashed, the water poured out, and the old woman turned to the prince and said:

      "May you wander oll over the earth, and find no peace until you get to the immortal kingdom and even there may you know no peace, no rest".

      The boy returned to the palace, and three days later he was so lost in his thoughts that he became very sad, and wanted to go out into the wide world, to find the immortal kingdom. He pondered and brooded for some days, and one morning he asked the king to give him some money, a change of clothes, a sword and a staff, as he was going to leave the paternal palace. Nobody could stop him and the king's son set off.

      He walked along one road, then along another one, past one village here and another there, past one town here, and another town there, and at last he came to a hermit's cell. He knocked at the door, and the hermit came out and asked him:

      "What are you looking for, my lad?"

      "I'm looking for the immortal kingdom."

      The hermit was amazed.

      "I haven't seen, and I haven't heard of such kingdom."

      The boy looked grieved.

      "What am I to do now? I can't go back."

      Then the hermit advised him:

      "Go through this dense dark forest. There you'll meet many wild beasts, and as you pass them by, greet each one of them. At last you'll come to a palace, in front of which you will find a Dragon lying with his head on the threshold. Greet him too, and he'll be so glad that he'll move his head aside and let you pass in. There you'll be told where to go further."

      The King's son did as he had been told. While in the forest he greeted all the wild beasts, all the birds and all the insects he met. At last he came to the palace.

      A Dragon lay before the palace with his head on the threshold. The King's son bowed and said:

      "Good day. Dragon bold with your scales of go]d!"

      The Dragon was very glad, moved his head aside and said:

      "If you hadn't greeted me, I would have killed you on the spot."

      The prince stepped over the threshold and answered: "If you had attacked me I would have made you into mince meat."

      The King's son entered the palace and saw an old man, as old as the world.

      "What wind has brought you here, my brave lad?"

      "I am looking for the immortal kingdom."

      "It is very far away, my fine fellow, very far indeed. Nobody has ever been there and nobody knows the way. But since you have greeted all my creatures, I'll give you this ball of golden thread. That will show you the way. You just follow the ball wherever it rolls."

      The prince bade him farewell, threw the ball on the ground, and it began to roll along over hills, over valleys, over plains and over deserts.

      As the ball rolled, it left behind a thin gold thread like a spider's web. So the prince walked for a long time, and at last he came to an oak tree where he stopped to rest.

      The young lad sat on the ground in the shade of the tree, but it so happened that by chance he sat right on an acorn which had cracked and put out a sprout. The acorn, feeling such a weight, asked:

      "Who are you, my fine fellow and where are you going?"

      "I am a King's son, and I'm going to the immortal kingdom to live there for ever."

      "Well, don't sit on me, because I have just sprouted and I am feeble and weak. You can crush me. Let me grow, and if you like you can stay here with me until I grow up into a thick strong tree. I shall live till a ripe old age, and when I tumble down at last, and the swallows bathe in my dust, only then your end will come."

      The King's son rose, covered the acorn with soil to help it grow, bade it farewell, and went on further.

      He walked again for a long time, till he came to a vine overloaded with grapes. The young fellow stopped to have a rest, plucked a bunch of grapes, and began to eat them. After he had finished, the vine asked him:

      "Where are you going, my fine young fellow?"

      "I am going to the immortal kingdom, where I shall live for ever."

      Then the vine said:

      "Bury one of my grape-seeds in the ground, so that it will grow and bear grapes. If you like you may stay here, and you'll live until the vine grows so big that the roots will have no place under the earth and the leaves no place under the sun. As long as you are here you can drink wine and eat grapes."