A long time ago, in a kingdom, lived a powerful king. He was a very strict and severe leader. For even the slightest wrong, he might order a beheading.

The King had a son – his name was Pampero. Fearing punishment, the court nannies smothered the little prince with excessive attention and care. They didn’t allow him to dress on his own, brush his teeth on his own, and as he grew up – did his homework for him. It was no surprise that Pampero became spoiled, capricious and incapable of accomplishing anything. He didn’t even know his alphabet. And most of all, didn’t wish to learn anything.

The worried King invited the best teachers from the world over. However, none of them were able to teach the heir basic wisdom.

‘What will become of the Kingdom once my son accedes to the throne? After all, Pampero can neither read nor write…’, sighed the King. ‘My father was named Fair by his subjects. For my strength, the people named me Ironfist. How shall Pampero be named? Fool, no doubt?’

Such thoughts often tormented the King, but he was at a loss as to what to do.

One day, Master Aeros arrived in the Kingdom. He taught young men from noble families. He was searching for a new student, but unfavourable rumours circulated about the Master – some of his students had vanished without a trace.

Even knowing this, King Ironfist had the Master summoned to his palace:

“Master Aeros, my son is the future King. But unfortunately, he is uneducated. I promise you a great reward if you can at least teach the Prince literacy.”

“I shall take care of the Prince’s education”, replied the Master. “But under one condition – I shall teach him at the Royal Library, and no living soul must enter during lessons.”

“Begin at once!”, ordered the King.

Aeros closed the Library’s massive oak doors and began his first lesson.

“Pampero, do you know what this is?” The Master held a book in his hands.

“It’s just an ordinary book. The shelves here are full of dusty ones”, replied the Prince, giggling foolishly.

“Yes, you are correct, this is a book”, said the Master, adjusting his glasses on his nose. “However, there is no such thing as an ordinary book. Each has its own hidden power. This power is called knowledge. Read all these books and you shall gain incredible power.”

“Have you lost your mind, old man? It will take my whole life!” The Prince had no desire to study. “You made all this up. You just want me to stay locked up here. What powers could books have? But if I could travel, I’d see the world, and I’d learn a lot. Maybe I’d even become wise”, babbled the Prince, trying to appear intelligent.

“So be it”, said the Master, casting a spell.

At that very moment, a storm began in the Library. Books fell off their shelves, lightning struck everywhere and thunder rumbled.

“You are now the Wind. You may blow wherever you wish!”, Pampero heard the Master’s voice say through the storm. “When you return, I shall transform you back into a prince!”

Slamming shutters as a farewell, Pampero noisily flew out of the palace…

Enjoying his newfound freedom, the Prince flew over the sea. He caused enormous waves. Below, aboard large ships and small boats, courageous sailors battled the gale. Pampero easily snapped the masts of their ships and tore their sails. The vessels sank with their cargo.

This amused the Prince a great deal:

“See, Master, how strong I am! And I don’t need knowledge for this!”

Howling as a storm, he continued his flight, terrifying fishermen and merchants.

Soon, the sea gave way to land. A beautiful city stood on the shore. Pampero overflew it as a cold harsh wind, bringing salty spray and sea froth to the shore. He felled trees and blew away roofs…

Suddenly, through a window, the Prince saw a pretty girl. She was reading a book and ignored the howling wind outside.

Pampero doubled down and blew with all his might. He lifted columns of dust and fallen leaves, flinging them against the window, trying to attract the girl’s attention. However, she continued reading and only wrapped herself more snuggly into a warm blanket.

Finally tiring, Pampero abandoned and abated. After admiring the stranger’s beauty, the Prince set off towards home…

“Ah well, what have you seen today? What have you learned?”, inquired the Master, when Pampero returned to the Library.

The Prince didn’t answer the teacher.

He was unable to fall asleep that night, thinking about the stranger. As soon as morning came, he flew towards her. After stirring up a storm on the sea and sinking a few ships, the Prince soon reached the shore. But to his great surprise, a completely different city lay below. The saddened Prince knew not where to look now for this beautiful girl which pleased him so much.

Every day, Pampero flew off in search of the city where he met his love. The Prince overflew many countries, visiting various places, but failed to find the right city.

Pampero flew further and further away from his local area. There were no more cities below – only an endless desert stretched out ahead.

Suddenly, he heard a voice near him:

“Who are you?”

It was another wind, searing hot and very strong.

“I’m Pampero, student of Master Aeros”, said the Prince, hesitantly.

“My name is Hamsin. I was also his student. The old fool thought I would return to him!”, the hot wind laughed out loud. “Travel with me, Pampero. We’ll lift the desert sand and sprinkle cities with it. We’ll have fun!”, Hamsin exhaled. After which he picked up tons of sand and flew off towards the nearest city.

‘Why is that fun?’ Pampero realized for the first time that people could suffer. He failed to follow Hamsin. After all, somewhere in an unknown city lived a beautiful girl. The Prince didn’t want anything to happen to her. Anxiously, he hurried back to the Royal Library.

Pampero told Master Aeros about his encounter with Hamsin, and about his love. He also mentioned that he failed to find the city where she lives.

The Master smiled. He pulled out a large thick book. The Prince had never seen such an enormous book before.

“This is an atlas of the world”, said Aeros. “A book within which may be found maps of every country and city. If you consult it, I am certain you shall find what you search for.”

“Ridiculous! How can I find a city in a book? Even one so big.” The Prince didn’t believe him.

But once night fell, he opened the atlas anyway and poured over it until dawn, examining page after page. Pampero recognized the cities and countries he had visited on the maps, as well as the seas he overflew. Finally, he found the city where the girl lived. As soon as morning came, he rushed to her.

Flying over sea after sea, the Prince no longer drowned ships. The brave navigators now had his respect because, even lacking his strength, they easily found their way to the cities they sought. The Prince was ashamed of his past actions towards them. Filling their sails with a friendly wind, he continued on his journey.

The map readily helped to find the city, and even the house where the girl lived. Peeking through her window, he saw her reading once again. Pampero’s cold breath covered the window with frost.

All day, the Prince bent trees growing beneath the window, tapping their branches on the glass. He droned through the chimney, whistling an amusing tune. But the girl, glancing outside, saw only gusts of wind. Pampero had no means to communicate with her and tell her of his feelings.

That evening, back at the Palace, the Prince asked the Master to teach him to write.

“I promise to be a hard-working student”, said he.

The old Master smiled again, this time pulling out a tiny book filled with large letters – an alphabet manual. The Prince put in much effort, as promised. He quickly mastered the alphabet, reading, then writing.

Transforming into wind, Pampero once more flew off towards the beautiful stranger. On the fresh snow near her house, he blew the words:

“What is your name?”

The girl was amazed by this feat. She went outside and wrote in reply:

“Olivia.”

The Prince much liked her name.

Since then, Pampero flew to her every day and they spoke. He wrote love letters to her on the window using frosty designs. She answered him on the other side with her warm hand.

“Which book are you reading?”, Pampero once asked Olivia.

“Fairy tales. I enjoy them very much”, she confided to him. “And what do you like to read?”

Pampero knew not what to reply and flew off.

Back at the Library, the Prince found a fairy tale book. He began to read it. He became so enamoured that he failed to see morning arrive. Having finished that book, he moved on to another…

Time passed thus. During the day, the Prince flew to Olivia. At night, he read books.

King Ironfist, who had not seen his son in a long time, decided to find out what the Prince had learned since then. He entered the Royal Library during a lesson. But Master Aeros was alone.

“Where is the Prince? Where is my son?”, yelled the angry King. “It seems people state the truth about you. You are a sorcerer and your students perish. Guards! Seize and burn him at once!”, ordered the King.

The Master wanted to say that Pampero was safe and sound, but nobody listened. In the wink of an eye, he found himself tied to a post on the public square. A fire was lit under the unfortunate teacher. Flames quickly consumed the dry wood – the Master’s cape caught fire. Aeros panted and coughed from the acrid fumes…

Suddenly, a strong gust put out the fire. Once the smoke had cleared, Master Aeros was free, Prince Pampero near him. He held a girl in his arms – his beloved Olivia. As light as a feather, Pampero had transported her to the Palace to introduce her to the King.

“Father, is this how good work is rewarded?”, the Prince asked the King. “The Master not only taught me to read and write. Thanks to him, I also learned of the enormous power of knowledge. Aeros deserves the promised reward.”

The King, seeing his son safe and sound, was happy. Having learned that the Prince had found a future bride, he was even more delighted. He apologized to the teacher and ordered that he be rewarded generously.

Pampero and Olivia married. After the wedding, the Master bid them farewell. He left in search of new students. Nobody remained to transform the Prince into wind.

Many years later, Pampero became King. His subjects considered him the Wisest sovereign in all the Kingdom’s history. Pampero never saw Master Aeros again. But the love of flight remained in his soul forever. Due to knowledge gained, he managed to build a device which allowed him to fly… even faster than the wind.

© A_Guves, 2013

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