Week 10 Reading B: The Princes and The Water Sprite

The Princes and The Water Sprite

The Water-sprite and the Prince of the Stars
Source: The Baldwin Project

• Summary:
• Once there was a King who had three sons. The eldest was called the Prince of Stars, the middle child was called the Moon Prince and the youngest was called the Sun Prince. The king was so happy when the third son was born that he promised to give the queen any boon she wished. The queen saved the promise until the third son, the Sun Prince was grown. On the Sun Prince's 21st birthday she finally brought her request to the King. She wished that the kingdom would be given to Sun Prince. The king was shocked and he refused knowing that the kingdom was the right of the first born son. He then sent the queen away. Knowing that the elder sons would not be safe in the palace, he decided to send them into the forest until his death to keep them safe from the queen. With sadness, he sent them. On their way out, Sun Prince wanted to join, and so he did. Once they reached the forest, they sat in the shade to rest. First, they sent the Sun Prince to the pond to drink, bathe, and brink back water. This particular pond had a water sprite and in order to use the water, the person wanting it would have to answer one question, "What are good fairies like?"
• When Sun Prince went down and was asked this question, he responded by saying they are like the sun and the moon. This was the wrong answer and the water-sprite carried the prince down into his cave. After a while, the older brothers got worried so the eldest sent the middle brother, the Moon Prince to see what had happened. When he tried to go into the water he too was asked the question and he responded with the answer like the sky above us. This too was the wrong answer and he was also swept away to the cave. Now the older brother, the Prince of the Stars, went and looked for his younger brothers and new that their must be a water-sprite. When he was asked the question, he responded, the pure in heart who fear sin, the groom kindly in word and dead. this was the right answer and with that the water-sprite told him he could choose one of his brother's to come back.The Prince and the Stars chose the youngest brother as he was the reason that they were sent into the forest. The water-sprite was so touched by this he brought both of the brothers back. They lived in the forest until the King died and when they returned, the eldest son was appointed king and riles with the help of his brothers. He even made place in the palace for the water-sprite.
• My ideas:
• There are a lot of ways to change this story. One way would be to put it in first person. This would allow more detail to be added to the story. Another way would be to change the story completely. Maybe there was hurt in the eldest brothers heart and he would have chosen the middle brother. Then the water-sprite could also put him in the cave, and the princes could never be seen again. Maybe the only way to escape the cave is to work together and love each other purley and the brothers have to work out they anger and hurt in their heart. What is instead of sending the sons away, the King just had the queen killed. How would this affect the story? Would this drive a wedge between the brothers or would it unite them but force hate for their father in their heart?
• Bibliography: "The Princes and The Water-Sprite" from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbit