Текст адаптировала Лариса Курова

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have it not.' So the Magician fell upon him, and beat him, and loaded him with chains, and cast 
him again into the dungeon.
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And on the morrow the Magician came to him, and said, 'If to-day thou bringest me the 
piece of red gold I will set thee free, but if thou bringest it not I will surely slay thee.'
111
So the Star-Child went to the wood, and all day long he searched for the piece of red 
gold, but nowhere could he find it. And at evening he sat him down and wept, and as he was 
weeping there came to him the little Hare.
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And the Hare said to him, 'The piece of red gold that thou seekest is in the cavern that 
is behind thee. Therefore weep no more but be glad.'
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'How shall I reward thee?' cried the Star-Child, 'for lo! this is the third time thou hast 
succoured me.'
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'Nay, but thou hadst pity on me first,' said the Hare, and it ran away swiftly.
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And the Star-Child entered the cavern, and in its farthest corner he found the pi ece of 
red gold. So he put it in his wallet, and hurried to the city. And the leper seeing him coming, stood 
in the centre of the road, and cried out, and said to him, 'Give me the piece of red money, or I 
must die,' and the Star-Child had pity on him again, and gave him the piece of red gold, saying, 
'Thy need is greater than mine.' Yet was his heart heavy, for he knew what evil fate awaited him.
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But lo! as he passed through the gate of the city, the guards bowed down and made 
obeisance to him, sayi ng, 'How beautiful is our lord!' and a crowd of citizens followed him, and 
cried out, 'Surely there is none so beautiful in the whole world!' so that the Star-Child wept, and 
said to himself, 'They are mocking me, and making light of my misery.' And so large was the 
concourse of the people, that he lost the threads of his way, and found himself at last in a great 
square, in which there was a palace of a King.
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And the gate of the palace opened, and the priests and the high officers of the city ran 
forth to meet him, and they abased themselves before him, and said, 'Thou art our lord for whom 
we have been waiting, and the son of our King.'
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And the Star-Child answered them and said, 'I am no king's son, but the child of a poor 
beggar-woman. And how say ye that I am beautiful, for I know that I am evil to look at?'
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Then he, whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers, and on whose helmet crouched a 
lion that had wings, held up a shield, and cried, 'How saith my lord that he is not beautiful?'
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And the Star-Child looked, and lo! his face was even as it had been, and his 
comeliness had come back to him, and he saw that in his eyes which he had not seen there 
before.
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And the priests and the high officers knelt down and said to him, 'It was prophesied of 
old that on this day should come he who was to rule over us. Therefore, let our lord take this 
crown and this sceptre, and be in his justice and mercy our King over us.'

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But he said to them, 'I am not worthy, for I have denied the mother who bare me, nor 
may I rest till I have found her, and known her forgiveness. Therefore, let me go, for I must 
wander again over the world, and may not tarry here, though ye bring me the crown and the 
sceptre.' And as he spake he turned his face from them towards the street that led to the gate of 
the city, and lo! amongst the crowd that pressed round the soldiers, he saw the beggar-woman 
who was his mother, and at her side stood the leper, who had sat by the road.
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And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and he ran over, and kneeling down he kissed the 
wounds on his mother's feet, and wet them with his tears. He bowed his head in the dust, and 
sobbing, as one whose heart might break, he said to her: 'Mother, I denied thee in the hour of my 
pride. Accept me in the hour of my humility. Mother, I gave thee hatred. Do thou give me love. 
Mother, I rejected thee. Receive thy child now.' But the beggar-woman answered him not a word.
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And he reached out his hands, and clasped the white feet of the leper, and said to him: 
'Thrice did I give thee of my mercy. Bid my mother speak to me once.' But the leper answered 
him not a word.
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And he sobbed again and said: 'Mother, my suffering is greater than I can bear. Give 
me thy forgiveness, and let me go back to the forest.' And the beggar-woman put her hand on his 
head, and said to him, 'Rise,' and the leper put his hand on his head, and said to him, 'Rise,' also.
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And he rose up from his feet, and looked at them, and lo! they were a King and a 
Queen.
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And the Queen said to him, 'This is thy father whom thou hast succoured.'
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And the King said, 'This is thy mother whose feet thou hast washed with thy tears.' And 
they fell on his neck and kissed him, and brought him into the palace and clothed him in fair 
raiment, and set the crown upon his head, and the sceptre in his hand, and over the city that 
stood by the river he ruled, and was its lord. Much justice and mercy did he show to all, and the 
evil Magician he banished, and to the Woodcutter and his wife he sent many rich gifts, and to 
their children he gave high honour. Nor would he suffer any to be cruel to bird or beast, but taught 
love and loving-kindness and charity, and to the poor he gave bread, and to the naked he gave 
raiment, and there was peace and plenty in the land.
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Yet ruled he not long, so great had been his suffering, and so bitter the fire of his 
testing, for after the space of three years he died. And he who came after him ruled evilly.