The King of the Golden River
The
King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers: A Legend of Stiria by John
Ruskin was originally written in 1841 for
the twelve-year-old Effie (Euphemia) Gray, whom Ruskin later married.[1] It was published in book form in 1851, and became an early Victorian classic which sold out three editions. In the
"Advertisement to the First Edition", which prefaces it, it is called
a fairy
tale, one, it might be added, that
illustrates the triumph of love, kindness, and goodness over evil; however, it
could also be characterised as a fable, a fabricated origin
myth and a parable. It was illustrated with 22 illustrations by Richard Doyle (1824–83).[2] It was then illustrated by Arthur
Rackham in 1932.
Plot summary
The
richness of the Treasure Valley, high in the mountains of Stiria or Styria, southeastern Austria, is lost through the evil of the owners, the two elder,
"Black Brothers", Hans and Schwartz, who in their foolishness
mistreat Southwest Wind, Esquire, who in turn floods their valley, washing away
their assets, and turning their valley into a dead valley of red sand.
This
personified wind has the power to keep things this way through his influence
with other winds that had caused the valley's unique fertility. Forced into a
trade other than farming Hans and Schwartz become goldsmiths. They cruelly melt
their younger brother Gluck's prize heirloom, a golden mug, which consists of
the head of a golden-bearded man. This action releases the King of the Golden
River for Gluck to pour out of the crucible as a finely dressed little golden
dwarf. The Golden River is one of the high mountain cataracts that surround the
Treasure Valley. Gluck fancies that it would be good if that high majestic
river would actually be what it appears in the setting sun, a river of gold.
The dwarfish king disagrees with Gluck, but offers a proposition: if someone
were to climb up to the source of the river and throw into it at least three
drops of holy water,
it would become for that person only a river of gold. That person must do it on
his first and only attempt or be overwhelmed by the river to become a black
stone.
Hans
and Schwartz desire to take the challenge, duel each other with the result that
Schwartz is thrown into jail for disturbing the peace. Hans, who had the good
sense to hide from the constable, steals holy water from the church and climbs
up the mountains to the Golden River. He has a hard time of it on a glacier and
gets away without his provisions and only his flask of holy water. Overcome
with thirst Hans is forced to drink from this flask, knowing that only three
drops are all that's needed. Along the path, Hans comes across three prostrate
individuals dying of thirst, a puppy, a fair child, and an old man. Hans
satisfies his own thirst while denying the three needy individuals.
The
surroundings on his journey turn bleak and inauspicious, climaxing in Hans
being transformed into a black stone once he has hurled the holy water flask
into the Golden River. Gluck secures the release of his brother Schwartz, who,
buying his holy water from a "bad priest", eventually fares likewise,
spurning in his turn the fair child, the old man, and his brother Hans lying
prostrate in his path. The Golden River then acquires another black stone
around which to rush and wail.
Gluck
takes a turn at climbing the mountain. He encounters first an old man walking
down the mountain trail who begs water from the flask. Gluck allows him to
drink, leaving only a third of the holy water. He then encounters a fair child,
lying by the road, whom he allows to drink all but a few drops. Following these
unselfish acts, Gluck's path is made bright and pleasant making him feel better
than he had in his whole life—no doubt, due to his kindness. He then comes
across the prostrate puppy, whom he gives the final drops of the holy water.
The puppy turns into the King of the Golden River, who tells Gluck the reason
for the deadly fate of his two brothers: the water they had thrown into the
river was made unholy by their denying it to those dying of thirst on the way.
Thereupon, he shakes three drops of dew from a lily into Gluck's flask to throw
into the river and then vanishes by evaporation. Gluck throws the dew drops into
the Golden River, and it forms a whirlpool where it goes underground and then
emerges in the Treasure Valley. The Treasure Valley becomes lush and fertile
once again. Gluck the new owner is a wealthy man, who never turns away the
needy from his door. Ever afterwards, though, the people show and tell
travellers the tale of the two black stones in the Golden River, known as The
Black Brothers.
Characters
- Schwartz – (his name means "black" in German),[3] one of the two "Black Brothers". He and his brother Hans are described as very ugly men with overhanging eybrows and small, "dull" eyes, which they kept half closed.
- Hans – (his name is the common "John" in German), the other of the two "Black Brothers". Both are cruel to both animals and people, and they enjoy nothing better than drinking out their last penny at the neighbouring alehouse.
- Gluck – (should be Glück; his name means "luck" or "happiness" in German; the name is a wish of "good luck": "G' Luck!"),[4] the twelve-year-old kid brother of the "Black Brothers". In striking contrast to his elder brothers, he is blond-haired and blue-eyed and kindly disposed to all living things.
- Southwest Wind, Esquire – a personified wind, who visits the three brothers in the Treasure Valley. He stands about four feet, six inches, has a brass coloured nose and red cheeks that look like he had been blowing a refractory fire for 48 hours, silky eyelashes, and a moustache that curls twice around on each side of his face. He wears a conical hat that is almost as tall as he is, and a cloak that stretches about four times his height when blown by the wind. After his ill treatment by Hans & Schwartz, he—and the other winds—avoid Treasure Valley and cause it to become barren.
- The King of the Golden River – a golden dwarf entrapped by "a stronger king" as a golden heirloom mug in Gluck's possession, freed through the melting of the mug, king of the river that cascades from the cataracts surrounding the Treasure Valley.
Structure and forces
This
fairy
tale also has the character of an aetiological
myth—a story devised to explain why
things are as they are in the world. It is structured like an epic saga with
each of the chapters closing on one solitary curiosity: Chapter One, the card
identifying Southwest Wind, Esquire; Chapter Two, the mug becoming a released
King of the Golden River; Chapter Three, Hans becoming a black stone; Chapter
Four, Schwartz becoming a companion black stone; and Chapter Five, the black
stones being known as the "Black Brothers".
Water
is the force that makes and unmakes things. The Treasure Valley never fails to
have the proper watering to be perpetually lush. It is then destroyed by the
water of a torrential flood. It is restored through the water of the Golden
River becoming for the kindhearted Gluck a river of gold. Water's power appears
in the treacherous glacier, which frightens those who traverse it with its
sounds of rushing water and cracking ice. Water as "holy water"
causes the miraculous transformation of the Golden River into a "river of
gold" at the behest of the king. The King of the Golden River himself
disappeared through the process of evaporation, a "water" phenomenon.
In
this fairy tale the environment responds positively or negatively to human good
or evil. There is the interplay of personified forces of nature like winds and
rivers.
Lodge
also enlightens us as to the lesson learned by the Black Brothers becoming
goldsmiths and Gluck's wish that the Golden River become a literal river of
gold: "And the restoration of wealth to Treasure Valley, by restoring the
fertility of its soil instead of by metalliferous undertakings, is entirely in
harmony with the author's consistent teaching that all true material increase
must come from the soil".[6] Note that the King of the Golden River was imprisoned
through "metalliferous undertakings".[7]
Major themes
As
stated above, this story could also be classed as a fable by which John Ruskin
can impart to his readers that love, kindness, and philanthropy could transform
the world as it did the Treasure Valley. No doubt, he speaks through the King
of the Golden River when he tells Gluck: "the water which has been refused
to the cry of the weary and dying is unholy, though it had been blessed by
every saint in heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of mercy is
holy, though it had been defiled with corpses".[8]
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