The Children of King Ailp

Long ago, at the foot of icy hills, in the deep shadow of the trees, a battle took place between King Ailpa and the druids. And when the battle ended, King Ailpa and his warriors lay dead on the ground, while the druids roamed his palace, singing their wild victory songs. Suddenly, they noticed both of King Ailpa's children: a boy and a girl, crouched by a massive door. They were seized and dragged with triumphant cries to the leaders.

"The girl we shall take for ourselves," the druids decided. "And let all know that from now on, she belongs to us."

Then one of their women touched the captive. And behold, the girl's white skin turned green as grass.

But the druids had not yet decided what to do with King Ailpa's son. Suddenly, he broke free from their grasp and ran with the speed of a hunted deer. The boy ran until he reached the summit of Mount Bek-Gloin, which means "Glass Mountain." On its icy peak, he fell asleep that night. But as he slept, a druid found him and cast a spell—turning him into a greyhound—and led him back to the palace. However, he did not strip the prince of his ability to speak.

As the druids prepared to leave King Ailpa's palace, they left the princess behind to care for her brother. Moreover, she refused to obey their women, and they were glad to be rid of her.

"The green girl and the greyhound shall live together in their father's house," declared the leader of the druids. "We have enchanted them, and our mighty spells will not fade until two events occur. If any woman willingly agrees to stay here for life and never leave the greyhound, the prince will regain his true form. And if the princess is kissed by a prince, her skin will turn white again, as it once was."

The princess stood at the entrance to the palace, her green arm wrapped around the greyhound's neck, while the druid leader gestured broadly at the courtyard strewn with the bones of those who had fallen in the great battle. Before leaving forever, he uttered one more prophecy:

"The bones of your father and his warriors shall remain here, dried by the sun and washed white by the rain, lying unburied until the children of your children lay them to rest."

For many years, the brother and sister lived alone in their father's house. As the ferns grew thicker and thicker outside the gates, the royal children passed their youthful years. The green-skinned princess, tall and slender, wandered through the empty chambers, her green hair cascading over her shoulders. Behind her trailed the lean greyhound with human eyes. He possessed the gift of speech, and in his heart, he harbored the dreams of youth.

And so, when the brother and sister had grown into adulthood, their late father's neighbor, King Erbi, set out on a distant campaign with three hundred warriors. But before they could venture deep into the mountains, a thick white fog descended from the sky, and the king lost his way. Bewildered, he groped forward, vainly trying to find the path and keep his companions in sight.

"Stay close to me!" he shouted.

Only a hundred men answered from the impenetrable darkness.

The king trudged on and soon discerned a faint glimmer of a quiet mountain lake to his right. He shouted again:

"Stay close to me!"

This time, only twenty warriors responded.

He drew his sword, as if to cut through the fog, and pressed on. When he glimpsed the faint outline of a mighty fir tree to his left, he called out a third time:

"Stay close to me!"

But now, only three warriors answered.

Finally, he waded knee-deep into a thicket of ferns and called out to his warriors one last time. But no one answered, and he realized he was alone.

With his sword in hand, he stood motionless until the fog lifted from the mountains and drifted in tattered wisps across the blue sky. Then the traveler saw before him the palace of King Ailpa. Wild ferns grew in the cracks of its crumbling walls, hastening their decay.

King Erbi cautiously approached the unguarded gates and entered the deserted courtyard. It was still strewn with the bones of those who had fallen in battle many years ago. The bones had dried in the sun, and the rains had washed them white. "A terrible battle must have raged here long ago!" thought King Erbi, and he made his way to the palace entrance. But as he walked, he accidentally kicked a skull. It was the skull of King Ailpa himself, and it rolled across the courtyard from end to end.

Suddenly, a fierce greyhound burst out of the massive door. It lunged at King Erbi in a fury, knocking him to the ground—its sharp teeth ready to sink into his throat. The unexpected attack horrified the king, but he was even more astonished when a human voice emerged from the dog's snarling jaws.

"You have desecrated my father's bones!" the dog growled. "You trampled on those destined to lie unburied until the children of our children lay them to rest!"

"Spare me!" King Erbi pleaded in terror. "Whoever you are, oh dog with a human voice, spare me!"

Then a clear, girlish voice rang out from the palace:

"Spare this stranger, brother! Who knows, perhaps he will break our curse?"

The greyhound leaped aside, and the king, staggering, rose to his feet. Then he saw a slender girl with bright green hair and skin walking toward him across the courtyard.

"Where am I?" the king asked fearfully. "And who are you, strange creatures?"

"This is the palace of King Ailpa. He was killed in battle by our enemies, the druids," the princess replied. "And we are the unfortunate children of King Ailpa."

Then the greyhound spoke.

"What is your name, stranger?" he asked.
- "I am King Erbi," he replied. "I too have a son and a daughter, and they will mourn me for the rest of their lives if I do not return to them."

At that moment, a cunning plan came to the prince's mind. He called his sister aside and said to her:

- "We must lure the daughter of this king here. I will try to persuade her to stay with me for life, and then I will become human again. And who knows—perhaps her brother will break the spell on you? After all, he is a prince, and his kiss might dispel the druids' enchantment."

- "A clever plan!" said his sister. "But how can we do it? The woman must stay with you without knowing that you are a prince. And the prince must kiss me without knowing that I have been enchanted by the druids. And we must not reveal our secret to King Erbi."

- "You are right, sister," said the prince. "So let us tell the king that we will kill him only after a year. Let him return to his kingdom for now and prepare his son to succeed him during that time. You will go with the king and bring his daughter to us. She will serve as a pledge that her father will return to us in a year. This way, we will lure the princess to us, and the rest will depend on ourselves. If we fail, we will have to live in sorrowful solitude for the rest of our days."

And so they told King Erbi that they would release him for a year, but on the condition that his daughter would live with them for that year. The king had no choice but to agree. Then he, along with the daughter of King Ailp, set off through the untrodden ferns, and the travelers did not rest day or night until they reached the royal palace.

Soon, the dog waiting for his sister at the gates saw her descending from the hill, accompanied by a young princess—walking timidly but proudly concealing her fear. This was Oigrig, the daughter of King Erbi. And the son of King Ailp, as soon as he laid eyes on her, thought there was no more beautiful girl in the world.

The brother and sister welcomed Oigrig as an honored guest, and soon her hatred and distrust of her strange hosts turned to wonder. She could not understand how this gentle-eyed greyhound and this green maiden, who was so kind to her, could threaten her father's life. She begged them to spare King Erbi, but they paid no heed to her pleas.

- "You are hiding some secret from me," Oigrig finally said. "I know you are not cruel."

And then spring came, and the bluebells bloomed; summer arrived, and the lapwings soared across the sky; autumn followed, and clusters of red berries blazed on the rowan branches. The time was nearing for King Erbi to return to the children of King Ailp.

- "How lovely it is here in the mountains!" Oigrig exclaimed one autumn day.

The prince's heart leapt with joy. But the girl did not utter the words he longed to hear. When the first snow fell, the prince said to her:

- "You will soon leave us, Oigrig! Tomorrow your father will come here, and you will return to your family."

- "I will return, but alone!" Oigrig cried sorrowfully. "Oh, do not send me back alone! I beg you, spare my father!" She paused, then added softly, "And if you do not wish to let us both go, then let my father go and keep me here forever—or kill me in his place."

The children of King Ailp looked at her with joy and disbelief.

- "Do you truly agree to stay here for life?" they asked.

- "Yes," Oigrig replied. "To save my father's life."

And as soon as she spoke these words, the druids' enchantment was lifted. The son of King Ailp shed his dog form and returned to his former self. Before Oigrig stood a young prince.

- "Do not fear for your father," he said with a smile. "I never intended to kill him."

Then he told the princess how he had been enchanted, and his sister embraced them both with her green arms and wept for joy.

At that moment, King Erbi entered the courtyard and, seeing them, was astonished. They revealed the secret to him, and he returned to his homeland to bring his son to the wedding feast—for Oigrig and the son of King Ailp were soon to be married.

At noon the next day, King Erbi and his son appeared on horseback on the mountain slope. They were greeted with joy. Only the daughter of King Ailp was sad, for she had fallen in love with the young prince at first sight. But he recoiled from her—her long green hair and green skin displeased him.

- "No, I will not receive a kiss from him—I will remain enchanted," she said to her brother, and tears streamed down her green cheeks.

- "Do not despair!" he said. "Bring a cup of yellow mead brewed from wild honey. In ancient times, it was said to be a magical drink. Who knows—perhaps it will soften the prince's heart toward you."

His sister heeded his advice and brought the son of King Erbi a cup of golden mead.

- "Try it! It smells of heather," said the maiden. "It will remind you of blessed summer warmth."

The prince took the cup from her hands and raised it to his lips. And as soon as he tasted the honeyed drink, his eyes, as if by magic, saw the princess in her former beautiful form, and it seemed to him that no other maiden could compare to her. He set the cup on the table, embraced the princess, and kissed her. And in that instant, the evil druids' spell was broken, and the daughter of King Ailp became a beauty once more.

That day, two wedding feasts were held instead of one. Oigrig and the son of King Ailp remained in the palace and lived happily there all their days. And the daughter of King Ailp departed with King Erbi and his son to their kingdom. They, too, found happiness for the rest of their lives.

And in time, the third prophecy of the druids was fulfilled: the children of King Ailp's children gathered the bones of warriors who had fallen long ago in battle and finally laid them to rest.

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The Children of King Ailp

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