The Body Without a Soul
Once upon a time, there lived a widow with her son, whose name was Juanin. When he turned thirteen, he wanted to wander the world in search of fortune."You're too young to wander the world," his mother told him. "When you grow strong enough to knock down the pine tree behind our house with a single kick, then you may go."
From that day on, every morning, as soon as he got out of bed, Juanin would run to the tree and kick it with all his might. But the tree remained unmoved, and the boy would fly backward and land on his back. Juanin would get up, brush the dirt off his back, and go home. Finally, one fine morning, he gathered his strength, kicked the tree—it trembled, leaned, and fell to the ground, its roots torn from the earth.
Juanin called his mother. She looked at the fallen tree and said:
"Now, my son, you may go wherever you wish." Juanin bid his mother farewell and set off on his journey. He walked for a long time and finally reached a city. In this city, the king had a horse named Rondello. No one could tame it. Everyone who tried managed only a few steps before the horse threw them to the ground. Juanin noticed that the horse was frightened of its own shadow and offered to tame Rondello. Near the stable, he began to pet the horse, calling it by name affectionately, and suddenly, he jumped into the saddle and led Rondello outside, riding toward the sun so the horse couldn't see its shadow and remained calm. Juanin tightened the reins, spurred the horse, and galloped off. Within fifteen minutes, the horse was as gentle and obedient as a lamb, but it allowed no one to ride it except Juanin. That very day, the king hired Juanin and grew so fond of him that the other courtiers became envious and angry. They began plotting how to get rid of him.
Now, the king had a daughter who had been kidnapped years ago by a sorcerer named Body-Without-Soul. Since then, no one knew where she was or what had become of her.
The servants went to the king and claimed that Juanin had boasted he could rescue the princess. The king summoned Juanin. The poor boy was thunderstruck by this news—he had never heard of it before. But at the mere thought that someone might mock his misfortune, the king's eyes darkened with anger.
"Either you rescue her," he said, "or I will have your head cut off!"
Seeing that the king would not believe him anyway, Juanin ordered a rusty sword that hung on his wall to be brought to him, saddled Rondello, and set off. In the forest, he encountered a lion, who ordered him to stop. Juanin was frightened, but it would have been shameful to run. He dismounted and asked what the lion wanted.
"Juanin," said the lion, "there are four of us: me, a dog, an eagle, and an ant. We need to divide a dead donkey. You have a sword; cut the carcass into pieces and divide it among us."
Juanin cut off the donkey's head and gave it to the ant.
"Take it," said Juanin. "It will make a fine home for you, and inside, you'll find as much food as you could ever want."
Then he cut off the donkey's legs and gave them to the dog:
"Chew on these to your heart's content."
Next, he removed the entrails and gave them to the eagle:
"This is your feast. Carry it to the treetop."
The rest of the donkey's carcass he gave to the lion, who was the largest and had been waiting for his share. Then Juanin mounted his horse and was about to ride on when he heard the lion call him again. "Oh no," he thought, "I must have divided the donkey incorrectly." But the lion said:
"You judged the dispute well and served us kindly. We wish to reward you. Take this claw. Wear it on your finger, and you will become the fiercest lion on earth."
"Take this whisker," said the dog. "Insert it into your mustache, and you will become the fastest dog in the world."
"Take a feather from my wing," said the eagle. "With it, you will become the largest and strongest eagle that has ever flown beneath the clouds."
"And I will give you one of my legs," said the ant. "Attach it to your body, and you will become a tiny ant, invisible even under a magnifying glass."
Juanin thanked all four, took the gifts, and rode off. He didn't know whether to believe in their magical powers or not. After all, they might have been playing a trick on him. He rode a distance away and decided to test them. First, he turned into a lion, a dog, an eagle, and an ant, then into an ant, an eagle, a dog, and a lion, then into an eagle, an ant, a lion, and a dog, and finally back into a dog, an ant, a lion, and an eagle. In this way, he confirmed the magical power of the gifts and, very pleased, galloped onward.
As soon as the forest ended, he saw a lake with a castle in the middle. This was the castle of the sorcerer Body-Without-Soul. Juanin turned into an eagle and flew to the ledge outside a closed window. Then he transformed into an ant and crawled through a small crack into the palace. Inside, he found himself in a beautiful bedroom where the princess lay sleeping under a canopy. Juanin, still an ant, calmly walked across her cheek until she woke up. Then he removed the ant's leg from his body, and the king's daughter saw a handsome young man before her.
"Don't be afraid," whispered Juanin, signaling her to stay quiet. "I've come to rescue you! Find out from the sorcerer where his death lies."
When the sorcerer entered the bedroom, Juanin turned back into an ant. The princess greeted the sorcerer with kind words, sat him at her feet, and laid his head on her lap.
"My dear sorcerer, I know your body is without a soul, and you cannot die. But I fear that someone might discover where your soul is hidden and kill you. That is what troubles me."
"To you, I will tell where my soul lies," replied the sorcerer. "You are locked away with seven locks, and you will never reveal the secret to anyone."
"To kill me, one would need a lion to defeat the black lion in my forest. If the black lion is killed, a black dog will leap out, and only the fastest dog in the world could catch it. From the slain black dog, a black eagle will emerge. I don't know if there is an eagle in the world brave enough to fight it! Inside the black eagle is a black egg. Whoever breaks that egg on my forehead will release my soul, and I will die. Do you think that's easy to do? Will you still worry for my life now?"
Juanin, with his tiny ant ears, heard the entire conversation and crawled back through the crack onto the ledge. There, he turned back into an eagle and flew to the forest. In the forest, he transformed into a lion and began prowling through the thickets until he found the black lion. The black lion attacked Juanin's lion form. But Juanin was the strongest lion in the world and tore the black lion to pieces.
The sorcerer, who had been in the castle all this time, felt his head spin.
From the black lion leaped a black dog, which dashed away at full speed. But Juanin turned into the fastest dog in the world and caught up to the black dog. They locked jaws, tumbled across the ground, and the black dog breathed its last.
In the castle, the sorcerer collapsed into bed.
From the dog flew an eagle, but Juanin transformed into the strongest eagle in the world. They circled in the sky, striking each other with their beaks and tearing with their talons until the black eagle fell to the ground like a stone. The sorcerer in the castle was now shaking with fever, trembling under a pile of blankets. Juanin turned back into a man, gutted the eagle, and retrieved the black egg. Then he went to the castle and gave the egg to the king's daughter, much to her delight.
"How did you get it?" she exclaimed.
"It wasn't hard," said Juanin. "Now it's up to you."
The king's daughter entered the sorcerer's room.
"How are you feeling?"
"Ah," groaned the sorcerer. "Someone is trying to kill me. Woe is me!"
"I brought you a cup of broth. Drink it." The sorcerer sat up and leaned over the cup.
"Wait, I'll add an egg to the broth. It's very good for you." With these words, the princess cracked the black egg on his forehead. Immediately, the sorcerer Body-Without-Soul died.
Juanin brought the king's daughter back to her father. Everyone was overjoyed, and the king immediately gave her to Juanin as his wife.
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