The Boy of Stars and the Four Soldiers

There was once upon a time a little boy whose father and mother were dead, and he was so poor that he no longer had even a room to live in, or bed to sleep in, and at last he had nothing but the clothes he was wearing and a little bit of bread which some blessed soul had given him. He was, however, good and pious. And as he was thus forsaken by all the world, he went forth into the open country, trusting in the good God.

He met a poor man, who said: “I am so hungry, give me something to eat!” So the boy gave him his whole piece of bread, and said: “May God bless it to thy use,” and traveled onwards.

Next, he met a child who moaned and said: “My head is cold, please give me something to cover it with.” So he took of his hood and gave it to him. He walked a little farther, and met another child who had no jacket and was frozen in the cold, so he gave it his own; and a little farther on he also gave away his shoes, his shirt, and all of his clothing.

And so he stood, nude, he had not one single thing left, when suddenly some stars from heaven fell down, and although he had just given his shirt away, he was wearing a new one which was of the very finest linen. And around him were hard smooth pieces of money that fell from the stars, which he gathered together and made good use of.

Now during this time there were four men whose powers in the country was giving them fame. One was a man who was a Jack-of-all-trades, who was good at business and had always been brave and bold, but he would do just about anything for money. “I shall make the king give me the treasures of his kingdom before I have no farthings.” He once said.

Then one day, he happened to meet a huntsman. To the huntsman he said, “Huntsman, what are you aiming at?” - “Two miles from here,” answered he, “There sits a fly on the bough of an oak-tree, I mean to put a bullet into its left eye.” - “Oh, come along with me,” said the leader,” let us stand against the world.”

The huntsman was quite willing to go with him, and so they went on till they came to seven windmills, whose sails were going round and round, yet there was no wind blowing. “Well,” said the leader, “I cannot think what ails the windmills, turning without wind,” there they came to a man sitting up in a tree, blowing wind out of his mouth. “Now then,” said the leader, “What are you doing up there?” - “Two miles from here,” answered he, “there are seven windmills; I am blowing the wind that makes them go round.” - “Oh, go with me,” cried the leader, “the three of us can stand against the world.”

So he went with them all together, and it was not long before they met a servant with a little hat on, and he wore it over to the side with the bill coving over one ear. “Manners! Manners!” Said the leader; “with your hat like that, you look like a jack-fool.” - “I dare not put it strait,” answered the servant; “If I did, there would be such a terrible frost that the very birds would be frozen and fall dead from the sky to the ground.” - “Oh, come with me,” said the leader; “we four together may well stand against the whole world.”

Now the four of them traveled on, and they agreed to live together until they reached the desert whereat they had an evil plan to irrigate the whole land. The wind-blower once said to the others, “How shall we manage it?” And another said,”Look at that great cornfield, no one could stop us.” And it was true that their power was so great that they could take what they wanted, and their leader often encouraged them to use their powers to seize others. And this continued until soon the whole country knew of these four and their powers.

But now as they approached the desert a fiery dragon came flying through the air, and the devil himself, came down to them, and asked why they had taken towards the desert, why they had band themselves, and why their powers were giving them so much fame. The leader replied to the Devil, “Only the soldiers are not aloud in the desert, and we were so hungry that we will all but die, if we do not eat. As for our fame, what is the use of having powers if we do not use them?” The Devil thought, and it was true, if they had been deserting troops their death would have been certain. So he said, “If you serve me for seven years”, “I will convey to the army that no one shall seize you, and you must only pose as soldiers for the hungry youth, and remain out of these lands.” - “We have no choice and are compelled to accept,” they replied. And now the devil pulled out a whip and said, “With a whip and a crack, gold will spring up round you, and you can live like great soldiers, and keep living as you are, but when seven years have come to an end, you are then my property.” And before them came a book which they were all four forced to sign.

And so they went on as soldiers and their fame reached such a point that even the king wished to meet them. So the King invited them to his palace, where he was hosting a competition wherein whosoever could outrun his daughter might become her husband, but whoever lost must lose his head in the bargain.

The four men traveled to the palace, and met the king, but the leader of the four was so bent on winning the competition that he hardly made a good impression with the King, whom had intended to buy the four soldiers’ freedom.

On the day of the competition the leader came forward and said to one of his men that he should run for him. He called to the servant, and said, “Look now,” “I will take care that we win.” Now the king’s daughter and the runners both started at the same time; but in one moment, when most runners had gone but a very little way, the King’s daughter and the servant were already out of sight, with the servant running as if the wind rushed him forward.

In a short time they reached the half way point, however, the servant was overcome with weariness, and set down to get some sleep. He took a horses’ skull and placed it under his head for a pillow. In the meantime the King’s daughter, who was really a good runner, good enough to beat any ordinary man, had reached the halfway point, and was hastening to go back to the starting point, and there she saw the servant lying asleep.” “The day is mine,” she said with much joy, as she hastened on.

And now it had all been lost but for the huntsman who was standing on the castle wall, with his keen eyes. “We must not be outdone,” said he, and he loaded his rifle and took aim so that he shot the horse’s skull from under the servant’s head without doing any harm. And the servant awoke and jumped up, and swiftly ran to the start, using the wind blown out of his accomplices’ mouth. The wind became so strong that he finished the race ten minutes before the king’s daughter.

The king was vexed, and his daughter yet more so, that the race should be won by a servant with a huntsman and wind-blower’s aid, and even moreso that it was won by a soldier. They took counsel together how they might rid themselves of the four soldiers. The King explained that he could buy the soldiers’ contract for one pound of gold, and then she could decide how she wanted to proceed after they agreed to serve the palace as rebels.

The four then met with the King, who presented one pound of shining gold, and explained that they would now be rebels of the palace. Now they happened to be in a feasting room, in which the king would bade his guests to feast and be merry and eat and drink; which has a door of iron and no windows at all. And when the king presented the gold, the leader of the four took the gold in his hands, and then he called to the wind-blower, and told him to blow wind into the room, and he told the servant to freeze the wind as it was unleashed, so that the whole room would be covered in ice as they made their escape. And they both did so, and as the room became very cold they took the gold and froze the door shut, with the king inside. The leader then suggested the evil plan that the king should suffocate inside the frozen room, to which the servant replied, “He will not suffocate, but the frost I bring shall make him feel ashamed to be a king, and we will escape.” And so they did, and after an hour or two the King managed to cause the door to be opened, with all the great dishes frozen and frost all around.

Full of wrath, the king scolded the cook, and decided to make the four soldiers known across the whole land for their terrible act.

And now some time had passed, and the King had succeeded in making the four soldiers more famous than ever, and the little boy who’s father and mother were dead was now living in the country with a married couple who had taken him in. For seven years he lived with his new masters, who taught him everything he needed to know to survive in the country; and he was now a young man.

He went out into the woods to collect wood putting one foot before the other as he always would, when he saw the four soldiers come along the road with a wheel-barrow, in which lay a young pig. “The Four Soldiers, what sort of trick is this?” Cried the pious young man. “Hark ye, young man,” said the leader, with a slightly mad tone. “Out of the love God has for ye I will spare ye.” - “Heaven repay you!” Said The young man to the four.

Then the young man weighed the situation at hand, and remembered that the King himself had let it be known that these powerful soldiers had stolen one pound of gold from the palace, and he felt a great fear. Then the young man saw the wind-blower lift himself up into the air with a gasp of his breath, hovering above the ground. The good young man was terrified, and he shouted out to the leader, “You theif!”

“Was it the pig?” Said the leader with a sly tone.

“That I got for shooting a cow.” Harked the huntsman.

“You took that!” Said the young man.

“For that lump of gold I might as well have taken the King’s head.” Said the leader.

And the servant froze the ground under the young man, and the young man slipped and fell to the ground, trembling with fear.

“You are enemies of the king!” Said the young man.

Then the wind-blower landed swiftly on the ground and between puffs said:

“Let it be known you can’t buy what you already have.”

And a gust blew the young man back, and he landed amongst stones. But with a brave and righteous heart, he went on, gathering stones in his hands to defend himself.

“You soldiers are nothing but king-slayers!” And he attempted to launch a stone at the flying wind-blower, but the huntsman shot the stone right out of the young man’s hand, and in a coordinated maneuver the young man was again blown back.

He crept then to his knees and felt the same helplessness he felt as a child. He removed all his clothes as he once did when he was so young and again when he removed his last covering the stars from heaven fell down, and he was wearing the very finest linen. And suddenly he felt that he could match the wind-blowers powers, and lifted himself off the ground, and blew a great gust that knocked the wind-blower back. And he listened for the good God, and thought again that the huntsman’s power’s would be so incredible that he would be shot from the sky. And more stars from heaven fell down, and the young man felt the incredible laser eyes of the huntsman, whom he quickly evaded and landed on the ground, and could now foresee the four’s movements with great focus.

Now he approached the servant, whose powers were great. But before the young man looked to the stars to gain new powers, the devil appeared smoking and crouched in front of the servant. He unfolded himself and said to the young man, “My dear young man, I know you have heard the King would pay a great deal for these four soldiers, but did you know he wants most a rebel? In fact, our king intended to pay these four soldiers one pound of gold, and in return call them Rebels of the King. As they are under contract, I will now take my soldiers away.” And then he disappeared with the four soldiers, leaving a solid gold block behind.

The young man picked up the heavy gold block, and set out to the King’s Palace. When he arrived, the King met with him and was surprised to see the gold that the devil had left. “What you have is a large amount of gold. Worth more than the contract of a soldier or even a rebel for that matter. What would you like in return for it, young man?” The young man thought that he would not like to work for the Devil, and explained to the King that he had lived in the country for a long time working with the couple who took him in as a child, but that he always wanted to live in the city. “Very well,” Said the King, and he arranged for the young man to live in a pious and good area of the city, and he later sent his daughter to work with him, and the two fell in love, and lived happily ever after.