Once upon a time, in one of the southern kingdoms, there lived a beautiful queen who had everything people of that era could dream of. Her wealth was not limited to gold and jewels – her gardens, which emanated a heavenly fragrance all year round, and the lilting songs of birds nesting in her bushes, were just as treasured. The people admired her not only for her beauty but also for her heart, for she cherished the fine arts and cared lovingly for her subjects. Yet, there was one thing she lacked: the love of a man…
Many desired to have this stunning queen by their side: wealthy merchants, nobles, adventurers, princes, and even other kings. Some sought to forcefully claim her as their wife, but they failed against the walls of her city and met a tragic end in the desolate, dusty wastelands surrounding it. To those who approached her honestly, she presented trials they had to pass.
In principle, it seemed simple: the one who managed to touch her in her throne hall would be granted her hand in marriage. However, her throne was seated on an elevated platform and surrounded by pits filled with molten gold, venomous snakes, and a moat where crocodiles swam. Thus, many courageous individuals lost their lives in their quest for her hand, and yet new suitors kept arriving, drawn to her beauty and endless riches.
Over time, the queen became despondent in her solitude and opened the gates to anyone daring enough to face her trials. However, the brave ones eventually grew fewer as word of the dreadful fates of their predecessors spread. They said to themselves: „No matter her beauty, no matter her wealth, what good is it if the path to her is governed by death itself?“
After a while, a young beggar also ventured into the palace. The courtiers and guards sneered at him as he walked through the halls in his rags and declared that he wished to marry the queen. No one believed that this ragged figure could even overcome the first pit. Every onlooker was certain: this pauper? Never! No one thought he stood a chance of even earning her glance. This pitiable figure? What could he possibly offer a queen of such stature?
The guards refused to let him pass. They said his appearance was a disgrace to the nobility, and his smell an affront to the sanctity of the palace. But the beggar knew of the queen’s decree: every man had the right to court her. So, he sat outside the palace and waited.
He did not beg but merely sat quietly, eyes closed, leaving everyone to wonder where his thoughts lay or what he dreamed of. After a few days, one of the queen’s servants noticed him and, moved by pity for the beggar who had been sitting there for days, brought him something to eat.
The servant listened to the beggar’s explanation and then went to the queen to inform her of the situation. The queen raised her eyebrows in surprise but demanded that the young beggar be brought to her, for her law stated that every man, without exception, had the right to try to win her hand. Her laws were founded on equality for all.
As the beggar made his way to the throne hall, mocking glances followed him. He heard the whispers behind concealed lips, noticed the disdainful stares of some courtiers, and even the occasional pitying look. A young herald stopped him briefly and asked if he truly wished to take the risk. After all, there had been experienced adventurers who had explored every corner of the world, wealthy princes and merchants, scholars of great renown, and formidable warriors who had overcome every obstacle – except the queen’s trial. And the reward had always been the same: death.
Yet the young beggar merely smiled, placed a grateful hand on the herald’s shoulder, and said that he had nothing left to lose and thus no fear. Perhaps he would die, but at least he would first have had the chance to behold the most beautiful woman in the world and hear the sound of her voice. If that wasn’t worth risking everything, in a life filled with poverty, sorrow, and suffering, what else could be?
And so, the beggar entered the throne hall.
The sight alone nearly overwhelmed him. The walls of marble, inlaid with gold and silver, the small fountains at the sides flowing with clear, cool water. And in the center? The throne, guarded by two massive warriors and surrounded by three pits. In the first, snakes hissed in anticipation of new prey into which they could sink their venomous fangs. In the second, eyes peered from the water, waiting to drag the careless into the depths and consume them. But the most impressive was the third pit. It was filled with molten gold – hot and steaming. Beautiful in its brilliance yet promising a painful death.
But the most striking sight of all was the queen herself. She sat there with her bronzed skin, clothed in silken garments that accentuated and highlighted the shape of her body rather than concealing it. Her hair shone like the finest silk, shimmering in the light of countless flames in a breathtaking blue hue. Her lips seemed shaped into a perpetual smile, and in her almond-shaped eyes, he saw something he knew all too well: pain. The echo of loneliness – the most loyal and tragic companion a human soul can endure.
Overwhelmed by her beauty and the grandeur surrounding him, he felt the need to sit. He walked to the first pit and took a seat, his gaze fixed on the queen. She looked back at him, calm and curious. When, after some time, the beggar still hadn’t moved to begin the trials, she asked him why he waited.
Her voice was like the melody of a harp, reminiscent of an angel’s whispered kiss. Embarrassed, he lowered his gaze and told her that he would soon face his inevitable death. But he would do so with joy in his heart, for he had now glimpsed paradise. Never had he imagined beholding such beauty or hearing such a wondrous voice.
He told her what it felt like to be in those halls, even in the face of impending death, and why he felt no fear. He was just a beggar, after all. A nobody passed by on the streets, rarely receiving a meal. A worthless person without a place in society, sleeping on stones instead of straw. Someone chased away when he was in the way – a mere existence that many found bothersome.
So, the young beggar shared his story: the dreams his parents had before his father fell on a battlefield and his mother was forced to sell him to a merchant, from whom he eventually fled before being turned into a eunuch. He shared his childhood dreams, his parents‘ hopes, and his longing to someday sleep in a real bed again, to not worry about his next meal, or find a place to rest without being driven off or falling prey to wild beasts.
And the queen listened. Her perpetual smile gave way to a look of compassion that no one had ever seen on her beautiful face. Over time, tears of sorrow for the young man’s fate and the courage with which he faced life began to roll down her cheeks. One by one, they fell until the most beautiful woman in the world sat crying on her throne. When the beggar finally stood, ready to embrace his fate, he was stopped by the queen’s loud cry: „Stop!“.
Astonished, the beggar halted, thinking he was being forbidden to proceed. The queen rose, commanded the guards to seal the deadly pits, and then, with pride but also with a beautiful smile on her face, approached the young beggar.
She took his hand and asked him to stand. Holding his hand, she stepped into the antechamber of the throne hall and proclaimed loudly that she had found her husband.
The courtiers who had been mocking him moments before dared not lift their eyes. A profound silence enveloped the hall, where one could hear a pin drop, and everyone wondered how this poor, thin figure had managed to overcome the three deadly pits and touch the queen—despite her guardians—but it must have been so…
The two lived very long and happily together, gifting the world with three wonderful children, each of whom would later establish their own prosperous kingdoms. They ruled justly and wisely and ensured that poverty was banned from their realm. It was decreed that everyone should care for each other in times of need. Houses were built for those who had no one so that they would be cared for.
Many, many years later, the king finally summoned the courage to ask the question he had long feared, lest he shatter the dream: “Tell me, my dearest, why did you not allow me to enter the first pit back then?” The queen, still filled with the same love as at the beginning, replied: “I devised these trials to find someone willing to do anything to touch me. There were men who tried to buy me, threaten me, who wished to own me or merely desired my wealth. They sought power, influence… everything except me. But then you came and touched something no one had before: my heart! That is why I chose you as my husband.”
And so, a simple man who had nothing left in life, who merely wished to behold something beautiful one last time, became a powerful and fair king alongside an equally noble queen. The song of their happiness was told for many generations. And sometimes, when one wanders through the sands of a certain desert today, one can hear the wind at night, occasionally resembling the bell-clear laughter of a loving couple…