The Prince with a Horse's Head

The Prince with a Horse's Head

Once, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a king and queen who had a grand palace, fertile lands, and many loyal friends. Yet the thing they wished for most of all was a child.

One evening, the queen was walking in the garden, watching the flowers close their petals in the dusk.

“If I had a son,” she whispered, “I would love him however he was born—even if he had a horse’s head.”

The next day, an ancient woman came to the garden. Leaning on a cane, she studied the queen closely.

“Your wish will come true,” she said. “You will have a son. But remember the words you spoke yesterday.”

Before long, a baby boy was indeed born to the royal family. He was healthy and strong, with arms and legs like any other child’s, but instead of a human head he had the head of a young horse.

At first, everyone in the palace was bewildered. But the queen lifted the baby into her arms and said, “He is our son. That is enough.”

The prince grew up kind-hearted and eager to learn. He learned to read quickly and rode beautifully, though the courtiers joked that horses listened to him especially carefully. He never passed by anyone who needed help.

As the years went by, the people at court grew so used to his unusual appearance that they scarcely noticed it at all.

But when the prince became a man, he began to think about the future.

“I would like to meet someone with whom I can speak honestly, laugh freely, and never pretend to be someone else,” he told his parents.

The king sent word throughout the neighboring lands. The prince received invitations to dances, portraits, and letters. But whenever people saw him, some were frightened, some laughed, and some would not even speak to him.

Each time he returned home, he was quieter than before.

“They see only my head,” he told his mother one day. “No one asks who I am.”

“Those who look only with their eyes see very little,” said the queen.

Not long afterward, the prince visited a small town and met a young woman who lived with her three older sisters. The family had little money, and the sisters were forever arguing about coins, clothes, and what might become of them.

The young woman met the prince beside the village well. An old man was struggling to lift a heavy bucket, and the prince helped him. Then he stayed to mend the broken handle.

“You are an unusual prince,” the girl said. “Most princes would have ordered someone else to do that.”

“Why wait for someone else when my hands are free?” he replied.

They both laughed, and soon they were talking as though they had known each other for years.

After that, the prince came back several times. They walked together, argued cheerfully about books, listened to music in the square, and slowly discovered how easy it was to be together.

“I do not ask you to answer at once,” the prince said one day. “But might you someday become my wife?”

The girl considered his question.

“I might,” she said. “Not because of a palace, and not because of a crown. I simply want to keep knowing you.”

The prince smiled.

“Then I must tell you a secret. A spell lies upon me. At certain times, when no one knows who I am, I can appear in my true human form. But until the day the enchantment ends, no one must be told.”

“I will keep your secret,” the girl promised.

Soon the day of a great festival arrived. A royal procession passed through the town streets: riders, musicians, bright carriages, and banners fluttering in the wind. At the very end rode an unfamiliar young knight on a white horse.

The girl’s sisters rushed to the window.

“Now that is a real prince!” cried one.

“Not like the one you chose,” said another.

“You only want to become a princess at any price,” said the third.

At first the girl said nothing. But her sisters would not leave her in peace. They teased her and jeered at her until she lost her temper.

“Enough!” she cried. “That rider you admire so much is my prince!”

The moment the words left her mouth, a great black raven flew through the open window.

It landed on the sill and spoke in the prince’s voice.

“You revealed the secret before its time. The spell has changed, and now I must fly to the Tower of Ravens.”

The girl turned pale.

“Forgive me,” she said. “I spoke in anger, and I regretted it at once.”

“I know,” said the raven. “But some words cannot be called back. If you wish to find me, the road will be long. You must wear out a pair of iron shoes and reach the Tower of Ravens. There, seek the largest raven. If you recognize me and hold fast to my wings, the spell will end.”

The raven beat his wings and disappeared over the rooftops.

For a long while, the girl sat beside the open window. She felt ashamed and heartsick, but she did not blame her sisters.

“I broke my promise,” she said. “I will be the one to mend what I have done.”

She asked a blacksmith to make her a sturdy pair of iron shoes. Then she took a cloak, bread, and water, and set out on the road.

On the first evening, she came to a small cottage among the hills. An elderly woman opened the door.

“Come in, child,” she said. “The night is cold. But know this: my son is the South Wind. He comes home noisily, and sometimes his voice is far too loud.”

Before long, the door trembled and the chimney roared: whooo, whooo!

A warm wind rushed into the cottage.

“Who has come to our house?” boomed the South Wind.

The girl told him about the prince and the Tower of Ravens.

The South Wind grew still.

“I do not know where that tower stands,” he said. “But the North Wind flies farther than I do. Go and seek him. And take this advice: iron shoes will not soon wear out on a dry road. From time to time, wet them with water. Rust will do what thousands of steps cannot.”

The girl thanked him and went on.

For several days she crossed fields and stony slopes until she came to another cottage. There lived the mother of the North Wind.

That night, from beyond the mountains came a long, cold sound: foooo, foooo! The shutters rattled, and the wind whistled under the door.

“Who is looking for me?” asked the North Wind.

When he had heard the girl’s story, he said, “I have heard of the Tower of Ravens, but I do not know the way. The Northeast Wind travels through those parts. Go to him.”

So the girl set out once more.

She never forgot to wet her iron shoes in streams. The metal darkened and reddened with rust, and the soles grew thinner.

When at last she reached a third cottage, she could barely stand on her feet.

The Northeast Wind returned before dawn. His voice rolled low and steady: hummm, hummm.

“I know the Tower of Ravens,” he said. “It is three days’ journey from here. When you arrive, do not hurry. Many ravens will circle the tower. The largest among them is the one you seek. Wait until all the birds have settled inside the courtyard. Then walk calmly to the largest and take hold of his wings. Do not be afraid if he tries to pull away.”

The girl thanked him.

For three days she walked with scarcely any rest. On the third evening, her iron shoes finally crumbled away with rust. Ahead of her, on a dark cliff, rose a tall tower.

Hundreds of ravens wheeled above it.

The girl hid behind a stone wall and waited.

One by one, the birds settled in the courtyard. Among them was a great raven with glossy black feathers. He sat a little apart from the others and softly hummed a tune that the prince had once played at the festival.

The girl knew him at once.

She moved closer.

One step.

Then another.

The raven saw her and spread his wings.

But the girl reached him in time and held the wings firmly, though gently, in her hands.

“I have found you,” she said. “And this time I will not turn away.”

The raven struggled once, then twice. Then he became still.

A whirlwind of black feathers rose around them. When it fell away, the prince stood before her in his human form. The other ravens had become people too, people whom the spell had held beside the tower for many years. The dark tower itself had changed into a bright palace with open windows.

“You came,” the prince said softly.

“I promised myself I would put right what I had spoiled.”

“Then the enchantment has truly ended.”

Together they returned to the kingdom.

The girl’s sisters were invited to the palace as well. They expected a harsh punishment, but the youngest sister said, “I do not want our story to end with another hurt. You mocked me, I answered with careless words, and all of us paid for it with a long road. Let us learn to speak to one another differently.”

The sisters asked her forgiveness.

And before long, a wedding was held in the kingdom.

People were astonished when they heard the whole tale, but the prince only smiled.

“The most important part is not that I had a horse’s head, or that I was a knight, or a raven,” he would say. “The most important thing is who stayed beside me when my appearance changed.”

And the girl would add, “And that even after a mistake, one can walk a long road and set things right.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨