The Storyteller's Daughter

"When the water bearer's daughter realized where they were, her mouth opened and closed like a fish on the shore, a thing that caused the fisherman to smile.

'"Don't worry about the "how" of this yet,' he said. For there will be time to explain all things after we have ransomed your father.'

'"There is no way I can ever thank you enough,' the water bearer's daughter said, finally finding her voice.

"The fisherman raised an eyebrow. 'Do you not think so? But that, too, can wait. Come, let us go to the palace.'

"Great was the amazement of the guards when they saw the water bearers daughter had returned. For after her departure, word of the deed she would attempt had spread until there was no one in the land who did not know of it. But even though all knew of her, none had expected her to return.

"She was shown to Prince Khasib's great audience chamber at once, the fisherman trailing along behind her. There the water bearers daughter was astonished to discover that while for her the time had flown while she accomplished her quest, in the palace of Prince Khasib, time had crawled, so that little more than a month had passed since she first set out.

"Though it took him a moment to recognize her, for her feet were bare and covered with sand, and her hair was white as bone, when the prince realized the water bearer's daughter had returned, great was his joy! His courtiers were struck dumb with wonder, then began to talk all at once. The beautiful court lady fainted dead away and had to be revived. In all the confusion, no one noticed the presence of the fisherman at all. He stood at the back of the audience chamber, watching as the water bearer's daughter moved down its great length alone.

"'Sire,' she said as she knelt before Prince Khasib when order had been restored. 'Behold! I have brought you the great treasure you asked for. I place it in your hand, as you bade me. Therefore, I beg you, free my father. Spare his life and mine.'

"'Gladly,' Prince Khasib said as he took the shell from her. He was so carried away by seeing the water bearer's daughter again, he hardly noticed what it was that she had brought him. With a wave of his arm, he sent the captain of his guard to free the water bearer. 'Not only that, I will make preparations for our wedding at once.'

"At these words the courtiers began to cheer so loudly, the court lady had to shriek like a banshee to be heard over them, and the water bearer's daughter's mouth fell open. For the truth was she had forgotten all about Prince Khasib's pledge to marry her if she was successful. She had thought only of saving her father.

But now that he mentioned it, she realized that she had no wish to marry the prince at all. In fact, if she had her choice . . .

"1 see no great treasure!' the court lady shouted, interrupting both the courtiers' cries and the water bearer's daughter's thoughts. ‘I see only a shell such as anyone might find. Spare her father if you will, but do not marry this common girl, my lord. For I fear she leads you on for some purpose of her own.'

"'Nonsense!' Prince Khasib shouted back. And at his words, a silence fell while all gazed at the shell the water bearer's daughter had brought. "Though, I must admit you do have a point. I see nothing special in this.'

"But how can that he? the water bearer's daughter thought. How could it be that a great prince saw only the surface of a thing, while she, a mere water bearer's daughter saw so much more?

"And then a strange thing happened. For as the water bearer's daughter looked upon Prince Khasib, she saw not only his outward form, she saw what was inside him also. She saw the thing that drove his heart.

And it was love, this much was true. But not love for her. It was love of power. Love for himself.

Together, these were so strong, they left no room for loving anything else.

"Turning her eyes upon the court lady, the water bearers daughter saw into her heart also. And in it there writhed two snakes twined so tightly together, they appeared as one. And they were desire for Prince Khasib, and a will to vanquish any and all who might try to turn this desire aside.

That explains the iron shoes, the water bearers daughter thought.

"And now the water bearer's daughter turned her back upon Prince Khasib and looked upon the fisherman, knowing that she saw him with the eyes of her heart for the very first time.

How could I have ever thought him ugly? she wondered. For now it seemed to her that he shone as bright and pure as the evening star. From the depths of his heart, her own face smiled back, and she knew in that moment that their hearts were one. Never again was the fisherman anything other than beautiful to her, for never again did she look at him through any other but the eyes of truest love.

"And in this way the water bearer's daughter came to understand that though she had set out to win a treasure for Prince Khasib, she had won a treasure even greater for herself.

"And so she turned to the prince and said, "The treasure I have brought does not reveal itself in outward form. To discover its worth, you must find the way into its heart. You must see what is inside.'

"But Prince Khasib did not understand her, and, at her words, he grew a

'"That is a riddle you must solve for yourself,' the water bearer's daughter said. 'You bade me find the treasure and place it in your hand. This I have done. I can do nothing more.'

'"Tell me, or I'll marry another,' the prince threatened, certain this would bring her around.

"But to the astonishment of all, the water bearer's daughter simply smiled. ‘I pray you, do, my lord.

And let it be the one who first put the idea of this great treasure into your mind. For is it not she who is most truly responsible for bringing it to you? Without her, I would never have set out.'

"And in this way did she repay the court lady for the kindness she had shown her.

"You are right!' Prince Khasib cried. 'I will marry that lady without delay. And as for you, collect your father and go far from my sight. For a more ungrateful young woman I never have beheld.'

'"It shall be as you say,' the water bearer's daughter promised. And she left the audience chamber, the fisherman at her side. Outside the palace they found the water bearer waiting for them. Great was the happiness of the father and daughter at being reunited! Then the water bearer said to his only child, 'My daughter, who is this who stands so quietly at your side?"

'"This is he who helped me secure your release,’ the water bearer's daughter answered. And more than that, he is the man I love.'

'"Then I shall love him also,’ the water bearer said.

"At these words, the fisherman knelt down before him. 'Once, I was just such a prince as this Khasib,’

he said. Concerned only with outward form and show. In my arrogance, I once did a powerful sorceress a great wrong. For this, I was condemned to a life of ugliness and loneliness until the day someone should come to love me not for the looks that had once made me so proud, but for the man I had become inside.

'"Though many have looked, your daughter is the only one who ever looked at me and saw me truly.

You have pledged your love for me on her word alone. Will you give me her hand in marriage?'

"Gladly, if this is what my daughter wishes,’ the water bearer said.

'"It is,’ she vowed.