![[Horse Cave Painting]](horse1.gif)
(This is a tale that is similar to the Reindeer Prince. Even though the shape shifter in this one is a horse and not a reindeer. There are other similarities, but there are other differences. This tale is also of unknown origin. Due to several details I have reason to believe it may have been Magyar at one time.)
This is a cave painting from France of a horse. It is a very old painting, from a time when there were no television sets and people did not read or write. The painting is much much older than the story.
In the time when the world was young, in the lands of Ivalo by the three borders, there lived a woman of striking beauty. So beautiful was she that the summer flowers would close in her presence, but so modest was she that none could find fault with her. Her father found pride in her wise and gentle ways, her mother in her piety and compassion.
In time there came to their mountain valley a handsome young man to court her. His voice was strong, his hands were soft but his arms and legs were those of one who has walked and labored many hours under the summer sun. So striking was he that the young woman fell deeply in love with him. Her mother was disturbed by one thing -- though he was a good guest at their fireside, every night he must leave to return to his own home. Every day they heard him arrive on horseback but no horse could be found. Every night they heard him leave on horseback.
When he asked the girl to wed him, she agreed. So she put on her long black black silk skirt stitched with the bright flowers of spring and summer, edged with white white lace and an apron of the finest white linen. After a sunset wedding, they headed off into the fall dusk to his home. When they got there, she was amazed to find it but a rough lean-to. He smiled and told her he would make a better home before the winter snow. True to his word, he arose every night in the middle of the night (folklore for after dark) and went outside to improve the shed into a home. The young woman thought his habits were odd, but having no experience with marriage she simply accepted it as his way. While he hammered and sawed, she spun and wove and sang.
One winter's night, shortly after the new home was completed, she came to understand that she was pregnant. She told her husband who was so overjoyed. It was then that he told her that he was a soldier and would soon have to return to the wars. He would stay with her until her children were born, but could stay no longer.
Sadly, she began to sew him the finest uniform that had ever been worn. Each thread was spun from the hair on her head, woven on her fine wide loom, each stitch moistened with a tear, and each button set with a kiss. One day he looked at her and said that he could wait no longer than the day she delivered his sons. He told her that his mother would take her home to her parents when she could travel again, and that he loved her more than life itself. It would pain him that they part, but part they must for a while.
One early summer day, she went into labor and delivered two sons. Her husband proudly gave her a kiss on her forehead, on each of her eyes and on the palms of her hands. With that he dressed in his uniform woven from the hair on her head by her own hands, stitched with tears and kisses and asked for her blessing. She gave it but was sad that he had to leave her, fearing also that her sons would never see their father again. He promised that one day, he would return to her side so they could grow old together in the home he had built for them and he would never leave again.
The next day his mother arrived at dawn to help her pack accompanied by the sound of a horse, but there was no horse in the yard. The mother of her husband too was strong and handsome, with long hair of grey and eyes filled with sadness. She spoke no words, but still the young mother felt that she was in good hands with this woman. Her husband's mother fed her breakfast, while she packed up all the fine linens she had spun and wove while her husband had worked to make the shed a fine home. She gathered up the bright threads dyed from the meadow herbs and the remaining food and the soft large feather beds. The young mother dressed her in her fine summer clothes, wrapped her sons in the richly embroidered quilts made to welcome them into the world and placed them all into a cart. With her own shoulders, the husband's mother pulled the cart to the home of the young mother's parents. She smiled and was heard to ride off on a horse that no one ever saw.
All as well until the young girl unwrapped her sons to show to her own parents. So proudly did she unwrap those quilts made from love, but nearly fainted when she unwrapped the youngest twin. Although he looked at her with eyes of her son, she grew faint with fear when she saw the ears and muzzle of a fine white colt. Astonished, she cried out, but her own mother simply sighed and patted her hand. She arose and blessed the children with salt, water and bread, asking the Holy Mother for her care and protection of these two young folk. Together, they sat and thought about what to do, and at last the grandmother spoke out. "Your husband my daughter was a shape shifter under a spell. It must be. It is his son that wears the form of a horse. Never did we see him ride a horse, but he always arrived on horseback and always he left on horseback." She advised her daughter to feed both of them with her own milk. She advised her not to be afraid of the horse body of the youngest son. 'Was he not your son before? Is he not your son now? Do you love him any less? ` Mutely the young mother nodded her head to agree with her own mother although she found the idea of a son in the shape of a colt to be very strange indeed.
She also decided that they would never be able to attend the school, or meet with those living on the farms nearby lest they be the cause of great fear from those who did not understand. As the boys grew, she raised the twin brothers as if it was the most normal thing to have one son in a horse's body and the other a small boy. Some days, when he wished to, the boy in the body of a colt would become a normal boy, with hair as white as the newest snow, and eyes so soft and grey. The older brother envied his younger brother, and wished with all his heart that he too could become a horse colt, but no matter how hard he wished it, he was always just a boy. Their mother loved them no matter what shapes they wore and never failed to wish that their father could come home and see how wonderful they had become.
The colt grew slowly and the boy grew quickly so that when they were 14 summers together they were both full grown. Their young mother had not sent them for schooling, she had not taken them to the town because she was afraid of what people would think of her for having a horse for a son. They had never seen anyone who was not their mother, her own parents or their sad silent grandmother with the grey hair. This quiet woman came to visit once a month bringing the finest gifts from the farthest places, things of beauty and wonder. Every once in a while, the silent grandmother would deliver a letter to their Beautiful Mother from their strange father, always filled with the sounds of battle and tales of glory.
One afternoon, they ran away in the spring sunlight, leaving their chores to the wind and birds. They galloped and ran through the birch woods to the nearest stream from the sheer joy of being alive on such a fine day. There they found a young woman washing the blankets of her house. They were struck with awe. They could not speak or come nearer, but could only watch her working in the sunlight. They had never seen anyone like her. Her hair was bright as the water on the waves, her arms were strong as she washed and pounded and shaped and dried the warm blankets in the sun. Her back was straight, her legs were long, her body moved like the leaves of the trees as she pounded and folded and shaped and washed. As she worked, she sang with a voice that was sweeter than the summer sunset, with a song that was brighter than the winter lights and truer than the moonlight.
The two brothers could say nothing, but silently watched her all afternoon as if they had fallen under a spell. At last, she packed the dried blankets away in her baskets and lightly as the wind on the meadow grasses, she walked away to her home along the streamside.
The brothers awoke as if from a dream and realized that it was very very late, so late they would have to hurry to be home in time for dinner. They had done little work that day in the meadow, but were more excited than they had ever been. On the way home the older brother, the one who wore the body of a boy, for no reason that he could understand began to strike his younger brother with a stick. The younger brother, the one who wore the body of a horse begged him to stop and asked him why he was beaten. The older brother could only shrug his shoulders and continue. When they came into the view of their house he carefully put the stick down, and warned his younger brother that if he said a word about this, he would be beaten even more. The younger brother did not understand.
Soon they were in the habit of leaving work every day for a time to watch the girl by the streamside. Although they never stayed so long as the first day, every day on the way back the older bother struck his horse brother. One morning, while they were working, the older brother snuck up on his brother and tried to slip a saddle on him. When his brother bolted in fear, he slashed him with a bramble and cursed him for a stubborn fool. From that time on the older brother was always trying to slip a bridle or a rope or a hobble or a saddle on his younger brother, who could only try to run as fast as he could away. Whenever he would ask his older brother why he was being tormented, the older one just shrugged his shoulders and turned away. His mother and grandparents noticed that he would steal food from his brother's plate. They noticed the younger son was bearing a lot of cuts and bruises, but when they asked the younger what was wrong, he sadly shook his head and said nothing. How could he explain to them what he himself could not understand?
His mother and grandparents were not so blind or foolish as he thought and they understood that something was very very wrong between the brothers. They decided that one morning their grandfather would sneak out to the field where they were working and spy what was going on. Whatever it was that had the brother in the body of the boy tormenting the brother in the body of the horse needed to be stopped. Soon there would be no love left between the twin brothers and that could not be allowed. So their wise and loving grandfather crept out to he field to watch the boys working. He saw the older brother slapping at the younger and trying to force the saddle on his back, although the younger brother pleaded him to stop. He watched the two brothers sneak away to watch the neighboring girl and he heard the older brother curse the younger for not aiding him in his quest for the girl's love.
The brother in the shape of a boy thought that if he rode out of the birch woods on the back of a fine white steed that the young woman would fall fast in love with him and never notice his brother in the horse body. It was the duty of the younger brother to help him win the love of the strange girl and he must let the older brother break him to the saddle. The younger brother loved the strange girl too and would not consent, so the older brother beat him with sticks and brambles, cursing his very name for being a stubborn fool. Their loving grandfather closed his mouth very tightly and headed home. He explained to his daughter and wife what he had seen, and why the younger brother was always bruised and slashed.
Stunned the poor young mother wept. Even though it had been years since she had seen her strange husband, she still loved him deeply and was in hopes that he would one day return from the wars to rejoin her. She could not show him his sons proudly if the one was trying to force the other to be his mount. She was ashamed that she had not taught them better. Her own mother reminded her "He has not always been like this. You have no reason to feel ashamed." Again the grandmother spoke, and this time she spoke out hard. "Daughter, I think that the Evil Thing that lives underground by the lakeside has cast a spell on your son while he was watching the girl and her washing. I do not know how it was done, but he is not to blame. You must free him if you love him still. Though you will die, you must go underground and fight the Evil Thing to free your son. Otherwise these two will never be at peace and they will never find love in this world if they cannot love each other."
So the mother bathed herself in the coldest water from the spring on the hillside. She dressed herself in her long skirt of black black silk stitched with the bright flowers of spring and summer, edged with white white lace. She put on her finest leather shoes and her finest white apron. She plaited her hair into the tightest braids, bound with birch strings, and put on her necklace of new birch buds, fragrant and blessed.
She walked to the edge of the lake with her parents and gave them a final kiss. They gave her their blessing and hoped that she would succeed. They left her alone on the edge of the lake and returned to their home. They cried salt tears because they knew they would never see their daughter alive again.
As the sun set, their daughter rose, and in her strongest voice, she called "Evil Thing, Evil Thing I must fight you, for you have the soul of one of mine." The words fell silent on the lake waves. After the last ray of the sunset had passed from the sky, she called again "Evil Thing, Evil Thing, I must fight you, for you have the soul of one of mine." Again the words fell softly on the lake waves and beach. Finally, and the moon rose in the cold cold sky behind her, she called again "Evil Thing, Evil Thing, I must fight you, for you have the soul of one of mine."
This time she was answered with the sneering reply of "Come in. How can I refuse a mother?"
She rose and followed the voice, into the darkest shadow, into the deeper earth, no light but the moon from over her shoulder. When they had traveled so far under the dark that even the faint moonlight failed to reach, the Evil Thing lit a lamp and looked at her. He was hideous. He was covered with patches of fur from sixteen rotting animal skins. He was unwashed and had hair that had never been brushed. He had fishbones for buttons and toadstools for shoes and he smelled of damp earth and rotting leaves. They walked from that narrow tunnel into a single large room. There set a table filled with a rich bowl of hot broth, a plate of fresh baked bread and a bowl of fine sea salt. They sat at the table and ate, although the pious young woman asked the Holy Mother for her protection and aid for what was to come before ever she took a bite. When they had done, the Evil Thing looked at her and asked "Why did you come beautiful mother?"
"I fear that you have placed one of my sons under a spell and I must free him from it." The Evil Thing grinned at this and said "Which son do you think is under the spell, Pretty One?" "Why the older one, the one who wears the body of a man, but has the heart of an Evil Thing. He has tried to force his younger brother to wear the saddle. That he could not do while there was still love for his brother in his heart." The Evil Thing frowned. She had chosen the right brother. Most would have chosen the brother who wore the shape of a horse as the one under the spell.
"What will you give me for his soul to be free?" asked the Evil Thing. "I can give you my necklace of birch buds, fragrant and blessed" she replied. "What would I want with that?" he asked in contempt. "I could give you my skirt of black black silk, the one with the bright spring and summer flowers and white white lace" she replied. "What would I do with such a foolish thing as that? Would you give me your other son, the one who wears the shape of a horse?" "I WOULD NOT" she replied indignantly. "Would you give me your own soul?" the Evil Thing asked. "I would not." she replied firmly. "Would you give me your life? "he asked her one final time. "I would not unless you took it from me." At this the Evil Thing looked down at the bowl of broth on the table. "I may not let you return alive again to the lakeside, you know." The mother sat very still and then said "I would wrestle you for the soul of my son. If I win, he is free and I will die." "And if you lose?" asked the Evil Thing. "I will not lose" she replied.
So they cleared the table of the dishes, they folded the table away and began to wrestle for the soul of the older son. It was a very uneven match, the mother was strong from living on the farm but she was not a cunning Evil Thing and so she fought fairly and kept losing. One time when she fell, she looked into his red eyes and said "It must be terrible knowing that no one loves you." The next time when she fell, she again looked at him and said "It must be dreadful to never see the sun." The last time she fell, she reached out and patted the Evil Thing kindly on the shoulder, saying "I kiss you with the sun and with a Mother's love."
The Evil Thing jumped up as if it had been struck and began howling. Great shrieks roared forth while tears streamed from his eyes. He hopped about the room and spoke in a language never heard under stars or sun. Finally. the Evil Thing stopped and said to her "Pretty Mother, I cannot kill you now. But I cannot let you live. Whatever shall I do now?"
"Is my son free of the curse you placed on him?" "Oh yes, he was free when you first set foot within this tunnel." "Then, let me go above ground to kiss them good-bye and give them my blessing and I will die at peace."
So the Evil Thing let her return to the surface of the tunnel, and watched her as she walked to the place in the birches where they watched the young woman. When she got there, she told them of her adventure, she kissed them both good-bye, and gave them her blessing. Then she sat down in the shaded sunlight with her arms around her two fine sons, one in the body of a horse and one in the body of a man. There she fell into a soft quiet death as she had promised the Evil Thing underground. They covered her with their fine felt coats and rose to their feet with tears streaming from their eyes.
The older brother whose soul was now free from the Evil Thing's curse grew ashamed of all that he had done. He asked his brotherthe horse for forgiveness, asked humbly for his horse brother to court the strange girl without him. He swore he would do whatever his brother asked. His brother the horse rose up on all his feet and looked down on his loving and shame-faced brother. "Come with me below ground and we two together will destroy the Evil Thing so that it will never again be able to place anyone under a spell that turns love into hate."
They went to the mouth of the tunnel by the edge of the lakeside and they called out "Evil Thing, Evil Thing, we have come to fight you." Three times they called, and three times only the silence echoed back to them. At last the younger brother, the one who wore the shape of a horse stamped in frustration. He called out "Evil Thing, Evil Thing, you who turned my brother's love against me, we have come to destroy you." At this the answer called from the shadow of the darkest midnight cave "I am ready."
The two brothers went under the ground following the long narrow tunnel, the one so dark that even the moonlight could not reach the end. Because he wished it for this fight, the brother who wore the shape of a horse was in the shape of a man. Together the brothers laid hands on the Evil Thing and broke him twice in two. Into a bundle of furs and twigs and mud he fell, never to be seen again. They stomped the twigs into dust. They scattered the fur into the dirt. They told those foul remains how evil it was to come between brothers so close in love it was as if they were one soul. When at last they were no longer angry and had grown tired from all this, they rose and went to the surface. There the last rays of the setting sun glowed over them. The younger brother again took on the shape of a horse.
The older brother knew who was the wiser now, and asked his younger brother humbly "What shall we do now?" The younger brother stood silently for a time and then replied "Come with me. First we will tell our grandmother and grandfather what has happened to our mother who loved us more than life itself. Then you and I together will seek our father in the wars to let him know what has become of her. You shall be my rider and protect me, and I shall be your mount and protect you. Together we will win glory and fame, we will find our father and we will honor our mother's name every evening when the sun sets in the west." The older brother stood quietly thinking until the stars had come out in the sky and he agreed that his younger brother had chosen wisely.
So they returned to their grandparents home to let them know that they were going to seek their father where he fought the Turks. They also explained that their mother now lay dead under their fine felt coats under the birches by the river for loving them more than life itself. That they would remember her all of their lives in honor of that love she bore them. The grandparents sadly kissed them, packing their clothes, enough food and money to get them to the wars and gave them their blessing. Mournfully they watched the two brothers who were so close in each other's hearts that it was as if they were two bodies with one soul ride away to find their father. Softly the grandmother said to the grandfather "We will see them again, they will return with their strange father and we will be a family again, I know it." While they waited for the return of their daughter'shusband and the two Horse Brothers, every night at sunset they would return to their daughter's grave. There in the birches no matter what the weather, they would ask the Holy Mother to protect their grandsons, their strange son-in-law and their daughter wherever they were.
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