The beast became quitetame, and she led it back tothe castle, followed by thecattle, which she found in theback of the cave.The king and queen wereso overjoyed that they gladlygave the princess in marriageto Birth when she asked.They lived together happilyand adopted many poorchildren from the surroundinglands. In time the king diedand Birth ruled the kingdomwisely, the princess sitting ather left hand and the goldenlizard at her right, advisingher well. The dragon wasused often in hunting andbecame a favourite pet of thecastle.Now, when Birth left hersisters’ house, her oldestsister hung a green leaf onthe wall. When the time ofBirth’s wedding came, theleaf turned brown and theoldest sister knew that it wastime for Life to set out on herjourney. The next day Life,with a sack containing acomb, some clothes, and alittle food and drink, set offinto the north. The oldestsister waved until she couldno longer see Life among thetrees.Life followed her noseuntil the sun was highoverhead, and then she satdown on a flat stone to eatsome bread. As she ate, achestnut brown falcon flewdown from the trees and tooksome of the bread. Life wasangry and shooed the falconaway, but when it stared ather with its deep amber eyesshe stopped and asked, “Areyou my guide?” The falconreplied that it was, and Lifeoffered it some food, thenshe set off down the pathagain, the falcon flying aboveher with slow beats of itssteady wings.After a time they cameto a city, with high walls andpointed roofs. On the falcon’sadvice, Life went into thecity. Inside, all was dusty anddry. Life walked through thestreets, following the shadowof the falcon, until she cameto the iron doors of the townhall. She knocked and was letinto the council chamber,where the mayor and all thecouncil sat with grave faces.Life asked what their troublewas, and, in a voice whichcame in croaks from hisparched throat, the mayorexplained that the wells ofthe city had run dry andthere had been no rain formany months, so that soonthey would all perish ofthirst, every man, womanand child.“But,” he said, “if youwill help us, I will marry youto my eldest son and youmay be my heir.”Life consulted with thefalcon, which said that itwould tell her what to do,and she agreed to themayor’s terms. Life went outinto the city to look at thewells, and soon saw thatsomething was drinking allthe water. The falcon told herthat a great sphinx in themountains had swallowed theclouds and was drinking thewater besides. It also told herwhere in the city to find amagic harp that would helpher to defeat it. So Life wentout into the mountains andcalled for the sphinx.It came out of its caveand roared at her from itshuman mouth, its lion bodyrippling with muscles, but shetook the harp and played sosweetly that the sphinxbecame quite sleepy. Ityawned hugely and as it didso, all the rain cloudsescaped from its stomach,came out of its mouth andflowed away down themountain. The sphinx was soentranced by the music thatit did not care, but fell asleepand did not wake up.Life went back to thecity, which was beset by amighty thunderstorm as theclouds released the rain thatthey had been hoarding forso long. All the peoplecowered in their houses withfright but were grateful also,and they showered Life withpraise and thanks. At lengththe rain stopped, althoughthe people knew it wouldreturn, and they went outinto the streets and saw thatthe wells were full. Theyrejoiced, and Life was soonmarried to the mayor’s son,who was a handsome boy,and kind. Life had three sonsand three daughters, andwhen the old mayor died shebecame mayor in her turnand ruled wisely, herhusband at her left hand andthe falcon at her right, toadvise her.On the day of Life’swedding, a second green leafon the wall of her sister’shome turned brown, and theoldest sister knew that hertime had come to go out intothe world. She set off into thewest with her sack, andwalked tall and proudalthough there was no one towatch her go. When the sunwas at its highest she satdown upon the ground to eather bread, and when a ravenblack wolf with a white stripealong its spine came to hershe smiled, buried her handsin its fur and said,"Greetings, my guide. Come,share my food and walk withIssue 1 www.newfairytales.co.uk 16
me. I will hear your advicewith a good will.” The wolflooked at her with tawnyeyes that dropped away toforever, and replied, “Mythanks to you. Let us followyour path together.”Together they ate the bread,and then the oldest sister setoff down the path, the wolfpadding at her side.After some time theforest ended, and the twowalked on through open land.After many days they cameto the top of a hill, and sawspread out below them aplain dotted with tinyvillages. There were manyhouses but the oldest sistersaw no people. She and thewolf went down into theplain, and in the first villagethey found that a plague wasrife among the people. Manylay dying in their homes, andthe healthy ran and hid infrom the oldest sister, fearingthat she brought with hermore disease. Speaking to noone, the oldest sister wentinto the houses and began,with her knowledge of herbsand mysteries, to work tohelp the people. Some shecured and helped to walk andspeak again, and some sheeased out of their pain,showing them the door torelief. All the while the ravenblack wolf leaned against herand gave her strength andwas her companion.At length the oldestsister had banished theplague from the village butthe people would not thankor praise her, for she had ledpeople into death and theywere afraid of her. The oldestsister did not condemn thepeople, but went forth fromthe village knowing she haddone a good thing, with thewolf by her side. So ithappened in the next village,and the next, until the plaguewas gone from the plains andshe still had no reward. Theoldest sister knew that shehad done her work, but herheart was heavy and she layfor a night on the barehillside, her head on thewarm flank of the wolf,watching the stars andwondering. In the morning itcame to her that she shouldreturn home to the forest.This she did, and the wolfwent with her as hercompanion.The oldest sister spent manyyears in the small house withthe wolf. She spun thread,wove garments and cut thecord while the wolf slept androamed the forests. Theyrarely spoke, but they werecontent, and the sound of thewolf’s howling in the nightcomforted the oldest sistermuch.In time the children ofboth Birth and Life grew talland strong like saplings whiletheir consorts aged andwithered like cut grass. Birthand Life, however, grew noolder and when at last theirconsorts died they knew thatit was time to pass theirauthority to their eldestchildren and return to theforest. This they did, withtheir guides, and together thesisters lived: Birth spun thethread, Life wove thegarments and the oldestsister cut the cord whilelizard, falcon and wolf huntedand wandered and basked inthe sun. There they lived,and, for all I know, therethey may live still.Circle bends, my story ends.Illustrations by Claire MasseyIssue 1 www.newfairytales.co.uk 17
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