The Doomed Prince Ending
We asked you to send us the ending to the Egyptian Fairytale, The Doomed Prince. The Prince was fated by the god Hathor to meet his end by a dog, a snake or a crocodile. He escaped the dog and the snake, but the crocodile dragged him off to his island in a lake where his enemy was an evil spirit. The original papyrus is torn off here. So how did the story end? Our listeners from all over the world came up with some amazing answers.
The ending of the Doomed Prince
Hello this is Jana
And this is Bertie
And we are here with your endings to the story of the Doomed Prince.
You may recall that the Doomed Prince is a fairy tale from ancient Egypt. In several respects, it’s like the famous fairy tales we know and love. But there is one thing that is particularly unusual. The ending was torn off the papyrus paper on which it was written, so we don’t know what happened. At the start of the story, the prince was fated to be killed by a dog, a snake or a crocodile. He has a greyhound dog, whom he loves and he marries a princess, whom he also loves.
Just as the story trails off, he has been taken prisoner by a crocodile, who tells him that his arch enemy is an evil spirit of the lake. We asked you to tell us what happened next. And of course there is no one correct answer, as you can make up almost any ending you like!
We’ve had soooo many replies and we'd like to give everyone a mention, as your ideas are all so brilliant. However, it does mean that we have to shorten most of your endings. Here goes.
Mila, who is 9 years old and lives in Boston, tells us that the evil spirit was a snake, and she says:
The prince asked the spirit why it was so unhappy and angry. The evil spirit told the prince that he would feel better if he knew that the crocodile would never eat his family. The crocodile agreed to never harm any of the snakes living in the lake. The spirit was happy and the evil disappeared.
Fantastic Mila, you’ve got lots of empathy for the characters!
Olin, aged 9, from Montana, says
The spirit agreed to help the prince if he defeated the crocodile. The prince killed the sleeping croc, and the spirit helped the prince ashore in the moonlight, where they made a cage for the greyhound.
Well done Olin. That’s unusual. Not too many people thought of making the spirit of the lake into the good guy.
Mohammed Saifullah, aged 16, from India, has a very different answer that we are going to summarise.
The prince announces that if one person allows himself to be sacrificed, he will take care of his family. A brave boy comes forward. The evil spirit enters the boy. The prince easily kills the spirit now it is inside a human body.
Thank you, Mohammed, I would never have thought of that answer!
Next up we have an answer from Hyder Raza, age 7, from Seattle:
A guard at the palace recognized him as the son of the King of Egypt. The guard knelt down, and said he would do whatever he could to help the prince. So together, the prince, the guard, and all the other soldiers marched to fight the evil spirit in the lake.
And Myriam, aged 10, from India has a similar ending, only the Prince goes to the Duke, reveals that he is a prince of Egypt, and the Duke gives him an army to fight the crocodile.
Well done Hyder and Myriam for enlisting help against the evil spirit!
Rishitha from India describes the battle between the prince and the spirit - it turns out that light can destroy the evil spirit.
The prince focused his sword in a way that the sun’s light reflected on the spirit. The spirit screamed and started running but the prince followed it and eventually burnt it into ashes. When the prince turned around, he saw a beautiful woman in the place of the crocodile. The woman said, “I am Lalata, a demi god. My family was cursed to turn into crocodiles.”
Lalata cannot save the prince from his fate, but she can grant him a wish. He wishes that the dog fated to kill him be born of an egg - which of course no dog is - so he is able to reunite with both his princess and his dog and live happily ever after.
Hey, Rishitha, that’s really well written. Thank you!
Maria, Lucia and Diego are having English classes together and use Storynory for practising. They describe the fight between the prince and the crocodile and add:
The crocodile gave an amulet to the prince as a reward. "This will protect you from all your fates. Be careful. Don't ever lose it. And come and visit me anytime you want.” The prince went back home safe and sound and lived with his beautiful wife forever. And the dog? Well.... it was actually female and she gave birth to beautiful puppies.
Lovely! Thank you, Maria, Lucia and Diego!
Maren, Liberty, and Avery live in Saudi Arabia and are originally from the USA.
Maren writes about the Doomed Prince:
I think everyone can change their future. If someone says they think you'll do something, you can choose to do something else if you want.
Well said, Maren. Take control of your destiny!
Liberty says: “he yanked his leg out of the crocodile's mouth and got away.” Great action - thank you Liberty.
And Avery tells us that the Prince realized that the evil spirit was in his dog, and that's why it had attacked him.
That’s a clever twist, Avery, thank you.
Amelia, aged 8, writes, I think he will kill the evil spirit (who's like a bad Tiddy Mun) and then live happily ever after. Well done Amelia - you’ve been listening very carefully to our stories!
I enjoyed Tiddy Mun too.
Hephzibah is 13 years old and suggests that the prince prays to the god Hathor.
“Have mercy, great Hathor," he cried. As soon as he had spoken, the seven cows of Hathor came down. They healed him and said, "Because you have shown such bravery and courage, we will change your fate. Go home to your wife, and live the rest of your days in peace."
Well done - Hephzibah - that’s a clever way to change fate.
Daisy is 8 and lives in a small town in northern California. She writes:
The prince called his dog, and after some convincing, the dog helped defeat the spirit. The crocodile let them go, but the princess was really worried, so she killed the dog with poison! But the prince scolded the princess and she got him a new dog called Jack.”
Thank you Daisy. I hope that Jack was a really nice dog!
Noor, who is 9 years old, and from India says that the spirit drinks deeply from the lake.
The evil spirit was squishy and thin-skinned like a filled water balloon. Its tummy was getting fatter and fatter.
Then she says the princess gave a pin to the prince. The prince burst the snake - and -
He crushed up the evil spirit and threw it with all his might as far as he could. The Greyhound thought it was a ball and he chased it to a faraway land. He was never seen again.
Well done Noor, that’s really creative.
And Eshaan also writes that the prince will kill the evil spirit with help from his wife. Thank you Eshaan.
Cleo from Auckland, New Zealand - tells us that her favourite stories are the SCARY ones! And I can second that because I love scary stories too.
Cleo also tells us that the prince killed both the evil spirit and the crocodile! And then the dog said: "I will be your friend again, but only if you promise that you'll never get me wet"!
Thank you, Cleo.
Darrell writes that the crocodile is angry because a cruel servant of the Egyptian Pharaoh has turned his father into a tree. The prince returns to Egypt and challenges the servant, who is a secret wizard. The servant flies up into the air and is zapped by his own lightning. A cow of Hathor pointed her hoof at the servant, and ZAP! He was zapped another time.
Fantastic Darrell, thank you for sending us some great mythological action.
Clara, aged 5, says: "the crocodile tried to eat the prince. But the prince climbed out of the crocodile's mouth. When the prince came home, the princess had children. They were called: Lily, Poppy, Amethyst, Freddie, George and Fred and Ruby and Love-heart, Twinkledust, Stardust and Rose. They Lived Happily Ever After. The End."
Thank you Clara - sounds like a very happy family!
Aviana writes that the Prince and Princess swim into a cave guarded by sharks and together defeat the evil spirit. Finally, they meet up with the dog and the prince asks what he must do to escape his fate?
"Ok," the greyhound said, " then I wish for you to slay your bride."
The couple gasped. “I would never do such a thing," the prince said.
"Then you shall die," the greyhound said lunging for the prince.
The prince took out his dagger and killed his childhood friend.
Just before the greyhound died he said, "I would never let you kill your wife, I just wanted to test you," then he died.
The prince understood that all his life he had been self-absorbed, but now, he had a wife and had to show loyalty to her. He had done that and learned how to make a sacrifice.
Thank you Aviana for that moral!
Stephanie tells us that the crocodile ate the prince, but then a big storm came, and he spat him out. But unfortunately, the snake bit him and he died.
Oh, Stephanie, that’s brutal but realistic. Not all stories have happy endings, so thank you.
Anika is 9 years old and lives in Dubai. She tells us that the prince had to escape his dog.
The prince knew dogs couldn't climb trees so he hoisted himself up and onto a tree while the dog barked in rage. Then the prince saw more vine ropes ahead and started swinging, from one tree to another. The dog chased after him. The prince had to make just one big jump to get into the palace. He took a deep breath and jumped.
THUMP!
He landed in the castle. He was safe!
Brilliant - a little like Tarzan. Thank you, Anika.
James, aged 6, says he often listens to Storynory and tells us that the spirit’s name is Demogorgon the Boa Constrictor and he lives in a cave on the south side of the lake. He is over 20 feet long, has spiked armour, and his head is twice as wide as it is long. And his teeth are extremely sharp, and he loves to suck the juices from you as he squeezes.
Hey James, that's a fantastic monster.Thank you.
And 5-year old Rohat sent us his ending in a picture which we shall post on the website page. He shows us that the prince had a bow and arrow. Thank you Rohat for your drawing!
Jimmy, also aged 5, tells us: The next time the prince goes hunting, the greyhound comes back to kill him. Since the prince helped the crocodile to get rid of the evil spirit, the crocodile decides to help the prince one more time and eats the greyhound up.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Saad tells us The princess and the dog will save the prince from the crocodile and maybe the dog will die after killing the crocodile.
Good thinking Saad, thank you!
Now we also asked people if they could spot any famous fairy tales in the plot.
Sparkle Wolf writes:
I found the famous tale of Cinderella in the plot. (Right where it says "I am the son of a chariot driver in the Egyptian army. When my mother died, my father took a new wife. When her kids were born, they treated me very cruelly).
That’s spot on. Thank you, Sparkle Wolf.
Elorah, aged 6, says the Spirit did not mean to annoy the crocodile, he was just looking for a friend to play with. So the prince told him he could have his dog. This means the dog is away, the crocodile is happy and the prince is safe.
Elorah also thinks the story is like sleeping beauty as he was sent away as a baby to live in safety & Rapunzel because the princess was kept high up and the prince came to her window.
We agree. Thank you Elorah.
Sofia B tells us that the spirit had the power to freeze any creature by shooting ice balls. The prince defeated the spirit by keeping his pocket mirror in front of him which returned the energy ball to the spirit and froze him instead.
Thank you Sofia, that’s a great idea.
Kaiden tells us:
I think his wife, the princess, is the evil spirit and the prince has to choose between his wife and his fate.
A moral dilemma indeed. Thank you, Kaiden.
And Roslyn aged 9, writes:
The prince agrees.
“Yes, I will go to defeat the evil spirit.” And he did! And then he went back to the princess and they lived happily ever after.
Thank you Roslyn.
And Shrey says:
I think he kills the spirit and is spared.
Thank you Shrey. You could well be correct.
Janavi says, I think the crocodile gave the prince one of his teeth which is magical, and the prince uses it to destroy the spirit who is actually the hound, the snake, and another crocodile.
Great plot device. Thank you Janavi!
Amaya, is 10 years old. She does a little detective work for us and writes.
I think the fact that it is called the doomed prince means that the prince doesn't survive. The dog is one of the fates given to the prince, so I think the greyhound was under a spell cast by the sacred cows. I think when the crocodile took the prince to the island, the spell was broken, and so the dog tried to swim and save the prince. However, as it says in the text, the dog didn't like water, so it had probably never been swimming before, as a result, the dog drowned.
Hey Amaya, that’s some great deduction from the text!
And last but not least, Harikumar writes that the princess said:
“I know a plant which evil spirits avoid.” The princess woke up at 3 in the morning. After three hours of searching in the forest she found the plant under an ancient statue. Before she could pick the plant, she had to answer a riddle. The Statue said: “The more you take, the more you leave behind, what are they? Fortunately, the princess had a sharp wit and answered the riddle. She took the plant home and gave it to the prince, who rubbed the magical leaves onto his sword and so escaped his fate.
Great, thank you, Harikumar - and thank you too for the intriguing riddle -- which leaves us something to think about.
And that wraps up your answers to the story of the Doomed Prince.
Thank you SO MUCH everyone for listening to the story so closely, and for your imaginative ideas. We are really proud of our wonderful listeners from all over the world! You are Amazing!
From me, Jana, and me, Bertie @ Storynory.com, bye!