The Water of Life (Spanish fairy tale) facts for kids

The Water of Life (also known as L'aygua de vida) is a cool Catalan fairy tale. It was first written down by Francisco Maspons y Labrós in his book Cuentos Populars Catalans in 1885. Later, a famous writer named Andrew Lang put it in his book, The Pink Fairy Book, in 1897. This story is all about a special quest for magical items!

The Story of the Water of Life

Once upon a time, there were three brothers and their sister. They worked super hard and became very rich! They used their money to build an amazing palace. Everyone who saw it loved it.

The Palace and the Church

One day, an old woman visited them. She told them their beautiful palace needed something extra: a church! So, the brothers and sister built a church right next to their palace. People admired it even more than the palace.

The Quest Begins

Then, an old man came by. He told them that to make their home truly perfect, they needed three special things:

• A pitcher of the water of life
• A branch from a tree where the flowers smelled so good they gave eternal beauty
• A talking bird

The oldest brother decided he would go find these magical items. His family was worried about him. They asked the old man how they would know if he was safe. The old man gave them a special knife. He said, "As long as this knife is shiny, your brother is fine. But if it turns bloody, something bad has happened to him."

The Brothers' Fate

The oldest brother set off on his journey. He met a huge giant who gave him a warning. The giant told him he would walk past stones that would make fun of him. If he ignored them and didn't turn around, he would find what he was looking for. But if he turned, he would turn into stone himself!

The brother went to the mountain, but the stones started yelling and mocking him very loudly. He got so annoyed that he turned around to throw a rock at them. Just as the giant warned, he instantly turned to stone!

Back home, the knife turned bloody. The second brother knew something was wrong. He went to find his older brother but faced the same challenge with the mocking stones. He also turned to stone. The same thing happened to the third brother.

The Sister's Success

The knife turned bloody again, and the sister knew her brothers were in trouble. She decided to go after them. She was brave and didn't turn around when the stones mocked her. She kept going until she reached the top of the mountain.

There, she found a sparkling pool of water. A beautiful bird was sitting on a branch of a tree nearby. She carefully took the water, a branch from the tree, and the talking bird.

She was very tired on her way back. A few drops of the water of life spilled from the pitcher. When the drops touched the ground, they brought people who had turned to stone back to life! The sister then sprinkled the water on all the stones she saw, and everyone, including her three brothers, came back to life.

Happily Ever After

When they returned home, the sister planted the special tree and watered it. It grew big and strong, and the talking bird made its home in the branches.

News of these wonders spread far and wide. A handsome prince came to see the magical tree and the talking bird. He was so impressed by the sister's bravery and kindness that he fell in love with her. They got married in the church the family had built.

Similar Stories

This fairy tale is like many others where heroes search for a special branch, magical water, and a talking bird. You can find similar quests in stories like The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird and Princess Belle-Etoile. Sometimes, the story only focuses on finding the talking bird, like in The Three Little Birds and The Bird of Truth.

What makes "The Water of Life" a bit different is that the children aren't sent on the quest by someone jealous trying to hide who they really are. This tale is part of a group of stories known as Aarne-Thompson-Uther type ATU 707.