The Runaway Prince

Once upon a time, there lived a king who had two sons. The sons were identical twins called Adam and Josu. They grew up together, seldom venturing outside the palace walls, and were very fond of each other.

On their tenth birthday, their father called them both and gave them each a signet ring with the royal insignia on it. The rings were as identical as the twin princes.

“These rings will show everyone who sees them that you are my royal sons and that you will be kings.” The old man looked very serious. “When I die, I want you both to become kings and rule together.”

Adam was angry about that. He rather fancied the idea of being kind and making important decisions without his brother's help. That night, Adam wandered out into the palace gardens by himself. He sat on his swing in the orchard and began to swing higher and higher. Whenever the swing reached the highest point, Adam could see over the palace walls and down to where the lights twinkled in the town. Beyond that there were hills, and beyond those there were mountains, and all this, Adam knew, was the kingdom that he would one day have to share with Josu. “And how can I share it,” he asked himself, “when I have never seen what is in it?”

So Adam came up with a plan. He decided to go out into the kingdom and work out where the best parts were. Then, he thought, when the time came, he could divide up the kingdom with Josu and choose the better half for himself.

Adam put his plan into action at once. Slipping down from the swing, he took off his richly embroidered cloak, which he knew would instantly give him away. He also took off his velvet hat with the feather and his purple padded jacket. Last of all, he took off his birthday gift, the royal signet ring, and this he hid for safekeeping in a hole in the stone wall surrounding the orchard. Having done this, he set off, shivering a little without his cloak, and climbed a tall pear tree which grew up the side of the furthest palace wall. From the tree, he scrambled to the top of the wall and crawled along until he saw a patch of long grass on the other side. This he used to break his fall, though he still landed awkwardly. Picking himself up, he found he had twisted his ankle; nevertheless he limped on in the direction of the town.

At first, the king thought that Adam had been kidnapped; but when he found the pile of clothes neatly left under the swing, he knew the truth, and was devastated. He did not, of course, find the ring with the clothes; and not realising that Adam had hidden it, he sent out instructions to every town and village in his kingdom: “If you see the ring, know that the boy wearing it is my son, the prince, your future king. Not a hair of his head is to be harmed. Send him back to me.” Then, in his grief, he shut himself up in his rooms; and, not wishing to be disturbed except by good news, he set an enchantment on the palace gates so that they could not be opened to anyone who was not bearing the ring.

But Adam did not have the ring. He hobbled on through wind and rain in his simple clothes, which had been torn when he climbed the tree and stained when he landed in the grass; and when he reached the town; no-one knew who he was. Thinking he was an ordinary pauper, they turned him away from their houses and would not give him anything to eat. “But I am the prince!” he eventually cried, and the townspeople laughed at him.

“Show us your ring, then” they sneered.

So Adam tried going back to the palace; but the walls were too high and there was no tree on the outside to climb. The gatekeeper asked whether he had the ring, without which he was unable to open the gate. Adam did not have the ring. “Go away, little boy” the gatekeeper said.

Adam limped back to the town. He had to work as a roadsweeper or beg for pennies. His hair grew and his clothes became tattered and filthy. His limp, which never healed, made his back twisted and bent. You would have had to look very closely to see that he looked like Josh now.

Years passed. The old king became very ill and never left his rooms. He called Josu to his bedside and smiled when his handsome, grown-up son came in.

“Josu, I can't race around doing a king's job any more' he said gently. “You were going to share the kingdom with Adam – share it with me instead. Start ruling now, while I am still here to help and advise you.”

Josu gladly accepted this role, and began to appear in public instead of his father, always asking the old man about any decisions. The people loved him, although there would always be some who missed the old king.

Meanwhile, Adam had tried to scrape a living begging. The ankle that had never healed stopped him from doing hard work, so he never kept a job for very long. On the day that Josh was presented and crowned, he did not join the crowds going to the ceremony. He was too ashamed. He could hardly bear to think that he, too, could have been king now. Instead, he walked away from the town to the hills, intending to gaze on his old home from a distance.

On his way, he crossed paths with a traveller and they walked a little way together. Adam noticed that the man was carrying a large, heavy bag, and offered to help, but the traveller replied, “I can't trust anyone else with this! It's full of gold and precious stones for the new king's crown and armour. I have to deliver it myself.”

“What a risk you are taking, then, travelling alone!” exclaimed Adam.

“I have the king's protection,” was the stranger's obscure reply.

As the sun was going down, the two men agreed to light a fire and stay near it for a night before going their separate ways. The traveller soon dozed off, his head on his precious bag. Adam lay awake and gazed longingly at the bag. “The things in there are mine by right,” he argued with himself. “Would it be wrong to take some back?” Eventually he could stand it no longer, and he crawled towards the bag and undid a strap. Putting his hand in and touching cold metal, he began to tug gently on it.

With an angry yell, the traveller leapt up at once. “Thief! Thief!”

Surprised and bewildered, Adam scarcely knew what he was doing. Still grasping the object from the bag, he struck out at the angry man and watched in horror as the sharp spear he had pulled from the sack sank in to the man's chest.

The traveller had not been boasting vainly about having the king's protection. Almost at once, soldiers leapt out from their hiding places in the trees. With shouts of “Thief!” “Murderer!” and “Caught red-handed!” they bound Adam and dragged him to the town prison.

Now, it was the custom for the new king to visit the town and become acquainted with all that was happening there. King Josu was shown the town hall and market place, the parliament and courtroom, and finally the prison. When he walked down the row of prisoners condemned to death, he peered into Adam's cell. “Who is this man?” he asked. “What has he done?”

“We don't know who he is,” replied the guards, “because he says he is a prince, which is absurd. Maybe he is mad. He has killed a man, for which the punishment is death.”

Josu looked more closely at the prisoner's face. He imagined it clean and without a beard, and in his mind's eye, he saw his own face.

“Clean him and shave his face,” he instructed the guards. They did as they were told, and marvelled at the likeness. “This is my brother Adam,” exclaimed Josu. “Let him go.” But the prison chief replied, “Sire, this man has no royal sign, not even the ring we were told to look for. He is hunchbacked and crippled, and your Majesty walks tall. Even if he were your brother, we could not let him go. Not even a king's pardon can release a murderer.”

Josu went home and ran straight to his father's room. “I have found Adam” he began, and related the whole story. The old man turned pale and tears rolled slowly down his wrinkled, papery cheeks. When Josu finished speaking, he murmured, “My son.” Then he beckoned Josu close and whispered, “Here is what you must do.”

On the execution day, Adam was placed in the stocks in the town square at dawn, so that all the townspeople could see what happened to a murderer. As the sun was beginning to rise, there was a jangle of keys and a man appeared beside him. Adam felt the stocks loosening and struggled free, the watched in amazement as his rescuer placed his own head and hands into the stocks. Josu pressed something into Adam's hand. “Go!” he hissed. “Run! Go to the palace and wait there.”

Adam opened his hand to see a ring like the one he had hidden so long ago. He didn't need telling twice. He ran.

The day dawned, and the townspeople came out to see the murderer. They brought rotten fruit with them and threw it at Josu, and some kicked and punched him too. At midday, the executioners arrived to lead him to the gallows. Josu bent his back and limped like Adam. Nobody guessed that this was not their prisoner.

The rope was placed around Josu's neck, and the executioner asked whether he had any last words.

“Yes,” replied Josh. “When I am dead, return my body to my father.”

“Who is your father?” asked the executioner.

“I am,” said a voice, and the old man pushed through the crowd. Everyone was amazed to see the old king. He climbed up to the gallows, and slipped Josu's ring back on to his finger. Josu stood up tall, and at once the people recognised their prince. Then the old king stood back again.

The executioner was amazed that the murderer was the missing prince Adam (or so he assumed) but there was nothing he could do. A murderer must die by law. He pulled away the platform, and as he did so, the old king could not bear to watch; he turned his head away from Josu's frightened gaze. The noose tightened. Then the executioner kept his word, cutting down the body at once and sending it to the palace.

The old king called Adam to come to the chamber where Josu's body lay. “My son,” he said gravely, “where is the ring I gave you? Where did you put it, that without it, you were never able to return to the palace again until your brother lent you his own?” Adam sorrowfully told his father where he had hidden the ring all those years ago.“Go quickly and fetch it” commanded the king.

Adam ran to the orchard wall and pulled out the loose stone that hid the ring. He brought it back to the chamber.

“These rings were cut from a single, magical stone,” explained the king. “Separately they are a sign of who you are, but together they have real power. They were made to be together.” Saying this, he touched the stone of Adam's ring to the stone of Josu's ring. Where the stones touched, a warm light appeared. The king directed the beam of light over Adam's ankle and his hunched shoulder, which straightened so that Adam stood tall again. Then the king placed both rings on Josu's chest and stood back. Adam watched as the rings began to rise and fall in the rhythm of his brother's breaths. Josu stirred and sat up, and the rings fell into his lap. The king picked them up and handed one to Josu, one to Adam. He smiled at his sons.

“Now I can die in peace, knowing that these rings will not be parted again” he said. “My kingdom belongs to both of you.”

And so it was for the rest of their lives.