Karl was very happy. Today he gets married to Varina. There was no other fellow in the village that didn't court her. But she preferred him, Karl, instead of all others.

He labored hard to get her attention and then her love. In mornings, in his father's field so as to earn money for the new house. And nights he spent with Varina. And this went for five long years until he obtained enough money. And today he gets
married. From tomorrow for a week they will rest from all the work, will take walks in the green fields and not only in the evenings, will go to the near town and stay there for a full day. And what not.
They deserve to be happy.
.

The wedding was very beautiful. Everybody was happy and danced and ate and kissed the bride.
And now the dance line exited from the house, people passed in the streets by jumps and turns.
In the village square, someone lit a bonfire and all of them crowded around, singing and dancing.
Karl ran home to bring another barrel of beer.
.
"When he returned to the square, he saw many soldiers and heard Varina cry. When she saw him, she began to cry even more and ran to him, hugged and kissed. "Oh Karl ! Oh Karl !" and she continued to cry.

Little by little he started to understand that king recruits new soldiers from his village and that he is one of the mobilized. Nothing helped.

The wedding night Karl passed in the camp that was raised specially for the new recruits. Karl didn't succeed to tell goodbye to his family or Varina. And now he will not see her ever. After all, they exit from the king's army only when dead.
.
48 years Karl fought all over the world. Twice he was in the crusade, fought against Turks and Persian.
At the end he reached India. The battle was very hard. Indians surrounded a little unit of king's soldiers and threatened to liquidate all of them.

Karl, together with others, moved backwards and backwards.

Suddenly he felt that heavens disappeared from his eyes. He fell into a pit. After he touched himself and saw that he is unscathed, Karl started to climb outside. Several times he slid back inside, but occasionally succeeded to take his head out from the pit. Indians slaughtered the soldiers and there remained just maybe one hundred man.

One of them dressed elegantly, saw Karl's head and ran towards him. When he jumped inside, he gave a jerk to Karl's head and he skid inside. For how long he was unconscious, Karl new not, but when revived, he understood that something strange happened. There was no noise, no shouts, no groaning. Near him stood the figure of a man.

"Ah, you've awaken at last! Help me to get out of this silly pit!" And Karl automatically put himself under the legs of the man.
After him, Karl too crawled out of the pit.

"Surely you know who I am. I'm a prince Friderich. If we reach our soldiers at peace, I will set you free and you will be permitted to go home."

And thus it was. At the age of 60, there he was - free as the stranded wind. Karl was already not a king's soldier.
He just hat to arrive back to his village..

It's two days that he goes home. Karl hardly succeeded to eat anything. Today too he went through mango plantation and looked for any fruit that had left untouched. Suddenly he saw it. Reddish, starting to blacken on one side, but still possible to eat, the mango fruit was hanging from the high branch. He could not reach it but he felt the smell.
Karl jumped, but to no prevail. He took the first stone he found on the earth and started to throw it on mango. The stone had stricken everything, but the fruit. The last time it landed on Karl's shoulder.

Karl decided to climb the tree. But even thus he couldn't reach the fruit. Suddenly the branch has broken and Karl found himself on the ground, covered by the branch. He rose rapidly, but mango disappeared. Karl searched everywhere but in vain.

Suddenly he heard a sound of licking. He started to look for the source of the sound and saw : an old Indian sits under the tree and devours his mango. He already ate more than half. Karl roared, but the old man said : "Let me finish the fruit and I will reciprocate you" and he took the last bite.

Because there was nothing that Karl could do, he waited for the old man to finish and then said :

-"Well!"

-"I see that you are less old than me, therefore you will be able to obtain a drug of immortality.  
Go for three days in this direction and reach a little village. There turn right and go for two more days till you reach a high mountain. On the other side of it there is a river. You should move bushes aside to find it, but you'll see.
If You'll drink a gulp of the water from this river, you'll become young once more and will never die. And now thank you for the mango and be well."

The old man slowly stood up and began to go in the direction opposite to that he
showed to Karl. Our man was so stunned that he didn't move till the old man disappeared, and then, as been drugged, went to look for the immortality river.

He did not remember how he found the river and drank a sip from it's waters, but suddenly he felt strong and all the
fatigue disappeared. He stooped over the water and saw his face young, really like that on the day of the wedding.
Joy filled his heart. Now he will be able to return to his wife and to live with her in the happiness. He removed a little bottle he had in his pocket, and filled it with the water. And then went home.
.
After a year and half, Karl arrived to his village. There, behind this hill is situated his village and his beloved Varina is waiting. He only hoped that she is still alive, otherwise all he did was in vain.

Suddenly behind the hill appeared soldiers and galloped to him. Their commander stopped alongside Karl and shouted to his soldiers: "Here is one more of those evasive peasants that don't want you be a brave soldier for the baron. Catch him quickly and knot him up".

The same evening Karl was sitting in the tent in the camp that soldiers erected in particular for new recruits. He put his head into the hands and thought: "I took a drug of immortality in order to live free with my wife forever. And here I am, a baron's soldier until the death, and nothing can help me".

He rose, spread his new garments, tore them to strips, prepared from them the rope, and exited the tent...