The King of the Golden River

By John Ruskin

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was an aesthetician, art historian, reformer and economist, who is perhaps best known for his works on social reform. One of his earliest, and most surprising, is a fairy tale called "The King of the Golden River. Ruskin wrote the story in 1841 (it was not published until 1851) for nineteen-year-old Euphenia Chalmers Gray, whom he married in 1848. The story is set in the ancient country of Stiria, in a beautiful and fertile valley called Treasure Valley, owned by brothers Schwartz, Hans and Gluck. When the cruel Hans and Schwartz turn an important stranger away from their home, the valley turns to desert, leaving them penniless and desolate. It is only through Gluck's honesty and generous spirit that the valley can be revitalized. This early Victorian classic will delight both children and adults as a charming tale of goodness and love triumphing over evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781596258730

John Ruskin

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most influential art critic of the nineteenth century. A watercolorist, a botanist, a moralist, a sensualist, a socialist, an economist, a Romantic, a prophet, a priest, and a poet, his writings integrate the aesthetic experience with moral purpose and ecology. He established his reputation with The Stones of Venice and his masterwork, Modern Painters, then held the Slade Professorship of Art at Oxford University from 1870 to 1878. One of his students, Oscar Wilde, said of him, “To you the gods gave eloquence such as they have given no other, so that your message might come to us from the fire of passion and the marvel of music, making the deaf to hear and the blind to see”-Print ed.

Book preview

THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER

OR THE BLACK BROTHERS

A LEGEND OF STIRIA.

BY JOHN RUSKIN, M.A.

ILLUSTRATED BY RICHARD DOYLE.

A Digireads.com Book

Digireads.com Publishing

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4238-5

Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-59625-873-0

This edition copyright © 2011

Please visit www.digireads.com

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NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The Publishers think it due to the Author of this Fairy Tale, to state the circumstances under which it appears.

The King of the Golden River was written in 1841, at the request of a very young lady, and solely for her amusement, without any idea of publication. It has since remained in the possession of a friend, to whose suggestion, and the passive assent of the Author, the Publishers are indebted for the opportunity of printing it.

The Illustrations, by Mr. Richard Doyle, will, it is hoped, be found to embody the Author's ideas with characteristic spirit.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. HOW THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM OF THE BLACK BROTHERS WAS INTERFERED WITH BY SOUTH-WEST WIND, ESQUIRE.

CHAPTER II. OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE THREE BROTHERS AFTER THE VISIT OF SOUTH-WEST WIND, ESQUIRE; AND HOW LITTLE GLUCK HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER.

CHAPTER III. HOW MR. HANS SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN.

CHAPTER IV. HOW MR. SCHWARTZ SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN.

CHAPTER V. HOW LITTLE GLUCK SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN; WITH OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST.

THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER;

OR

THE BLACK BROTHERS.

CHAPTER I. HOW THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM OF THE BLACK BROTHERS WAS INTERFERED WITH BY SOUTH-WEST WIND, ESQUIRE.

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In a secluded and mountainous part of Stiria there was, in old time, a valley of the most surprising and luxuriant fertility. It was surrounded, on all sides, by steep and rocky mountains, rising into peaks, which were always covered with snow, and from which a number of torrents descended in constant cataracts. One of these fell westward, over the face of a crag so high, that, when the sun had set to everything else, and all below was darkness, his beams still shone full upon this waterfall, so that it looked like a shower of gold. It was, therefore, called by the people of the neighbourhood, the Golden River. It was strange that none of these streams fell into the valley itself. They all descended on the other side of the mountains, and wound away through broad plains and by populous cities. But the clouds were drawn so constantly to the snowy hills, and rested so softly in the circular hollow, that in time of drought and heat, when all

Reviews for The King of the Golden River

[junipersun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad moral tale, but the words were too uncommon for easy understanding by younger children.
Gluck meekly obeys his brothers commands, is beaten by them when he doesn't, but still has a good heart. His brothers are turned to stone when they try to take shortcuts to gold and ignore pleas for help.

[raizel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While written pretty much in the style of a fairy tale---with lots more descriptions of scenery---it feels more like a lesson on the value of kindness (and physical appearance) than a fairy tale. In other words, a story meant to instruct rather than one told for the fun of it. I was disappointed. There are three brothers; the first two are mean and ugly and dark and the third is young and kind and blond and handsome.

SPOILER: The brothers live in an idyllic valley, where Hans and Schwartz become filthy rich by treating their employees badly and charging excessive amounts for their crops when people are desperate and starving. Gluck's kindness is to wind and river spirits is rewarded, Hans and Schwartz turn into black stones because they fail in their quests by letting others die of thirst. We learn that holy water can become unholy if it is not used mercifully. It seems the brothers are Catholic(?) because there are holy water and good and bad priests and going to mass. The introduction, however, states that Ruskin was raised to become a minister by his Scottish parents.

The introduction gives a brief biography of Ruskin. An interesting comment is made about thirty million British books destroyed in the blitz in 1941: Ruskin's other book for children was one of the first to appear in color for sixpence.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First written in 1842, and published in 1851, this original fairytale by the nineteenth-century art critic John Ruskin takes as its inspiration the classic folkloric trope of three brothers who all embark upon the same quest. Not surprisingly, the three meet very different fates when they attempt to take advantage of a proposition made by the magical King of the Golden River.

Although similar in structure to many traditional folktales I have read, Ruskin's tale has the unmistakable flavor of the nineteenth-century morality tale, perhaps explaining why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would... My edition of this classic original fairy tale is illustrated with color plates by Arthur Rackham, and was published in 1932.

[aulsmith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I often don't like the early Victorian fairy tales as they are often long-winded versions of things that are best told in a fairly compressed form. I was about to give up on this one when the descriptions of the scenery got longish, but then I saw how he was using his artistic and Romantic sensibilities, and I actually found the rest of the tale quite interesting. I would have expected children to be asleep somewhere after page 2, but another review posted here says not.

[momma2_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The title of the first chapter is "How the Agricultural System of the Black Brothers was Interfered with by the Southwest Wind, Esquire" and so I wasn't sure how well this title would be received by Ashlyn. She loved it! She couldn't put it down and kept wanting to read more and more. I truly expected groaning or complaining and instead she said it was and awesome book. I am going to have to read it now just so I can understand why she enjoyed it so much.

[andyray_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A most excellent children's story, brainashing the little ones most delightfully with the idea that meanness and selfishness brings hell, and kindness brigns its own rewards. There is just NOTHING about this work not to like, but that's not surprising when you remember that RFuskin was Aereric's firt naturalist novelist