In a Kingdom Faraway to the East lived a king who had a garden that rivaled the magnificence of Eden. Within the center of the Garden sat a great tree which bore golden fruit. Every night the tree bore fruit, yet the morning after the king would come out to find the fruit had disappeared. The king then sent his three sons to find the cause. The first and eldest son stood watch but soon fell asleep and so did the second and middle son. The third and youngest son when tasked stayed up the night spotting nine beautiful Firebirds. Each firebird consumed one piece of fruit after eating the fruit the firebirds left. When the Prince had told his father that it was nine firebirds that where eating his golden fruits the king commanded sons to capture the firebirds promising his kingdom to the one that would catch the firebirds.
The next night the eldest son stayed up to catch the bird but was unable to even snatch as much as a feather, the middle son suffered the same as the eldest. The next night the young prince set a single golden fruit aside to capture the bird. When the nine firebirds arrived the prince hid in the bushes awaiting to spring the trap, the ninth and smallest firebird flew saw the golden fruit and flew to where the prince hid and transformed into a beautiful woman with red hair that sparkled in the moonlight. The other firebirds with her assumed the forms of beautiful women. The eldest of the bird sisters spoke to the young prince saying that their sisters had seen him and his brothers and that the youngest of the sister birds had become enamored with the young prince. The eight elder sisters urged the prince to court their youngest sister, the prince who was smitten by youngest sister wholeheartedly agreed. The two stayed up the entire night talking. When the morning came the bird sisters left, the youngest sister bid him farewell and promised to return the next night. Before she left the young prince asked her to leave the golden fruit to which she left it and cut a piece of her hair which then became a magnificent red feather which shined with a golden light. The young prince brought the golden fruit and the red feather before his father the king. The king ordered his youngest son to continue to try and capture the firebirds.
Each night for three nights the eight elder firebirds came, and the youngest firebird meet the prince. Each morning the firebird bid him farewell till the next night and he begged that she leave a golden fruit and she left it and a red feather. After the third night the king, growing impatient with the youngest son, sent his two elder sons to help the youngest son. The two elder brothers sat and hid watching the events of the nine firebirds and their youngest brother unfold. Envious the two brothers called forth the court magician to capture the youngest firebird.
The next night as the young prince and the firebird talked the court magician jumped out and cast a spell, trapping the firebirds. Angered, the young prince stuck the magician and broke his spell. As the spell broke the nine firebirds took off into the night sky. As the firebirds took to the sky the young prince called out to the maiden firebird, but his voice would not reach her.
The next morning the young prince presented himself to his father, the king. The king expressed his disappointment in his son. The young prince grieving for his lost love pleaded to his father to allow him to travel to find the maiden firebird and that he would marry her. The king would not allow him to leave, but that would not stop the young prince. That very night he left his home on his horse to search for his beloved.
On the path the young prince finds a stone with two paths. Along the road a traveling merchant came, he told the young prince that both paths were perilous and that he should turn back. With the hope of finding his beloved he asked the merchant which way to go. The merchant says that to those who take the left path they will lose their life, but their horse will live, but not before they suffered for three days and three nights; to those who take the right path they will survive but their horse will die but they will suffer cold, thirst and hunger for three days and three nights.
The prince thanking the merchant takes the right path. Along the path a wolf attacks him and eats his horse. The young prince continued till he collapsed from exhaustion. Along the path the wolf appeared. The young prince prepared to defend himself from his dying breath, then to his surprised the wolf asked him why he would purposely take such a dangerous path. The prince explained that he would travel to the ends of the world for the love of the maiden firebird. Taking pity on the young prince, the wolf carried the prince on his back. The wolf tells the prince he can help him find his lost love.
The wolf tells the prince of a magical flower that grows in the garden of the Empress of the west lands, with a scent so sweet to draw the firebird. The wolf takes him see the Empress. Presenting himself before the empress, the young prince tells his story of trying to find the firebird and asks for the flower of sweet scents. The Empress, having a kind hearts grants him to take the flower, but tells him that the flower will only bloom at the midnight hour and at that hour he should take the flower to be of any use to him. The Empress then warns him that to gather the flower he must not touch another plant, or it will wilt and that he must gather the flower in three days' time, or it will not bloom for another ten years.
Thanking the Empress the young prince goes out into the garden. The daughter of the empress the princess of the land became enamored with the young man she designs to have him stay. As the moon rises high into the night sky, the flower blooms a bright color bright like the stars above. The princess then plays an enchanted flute that puts him to sleep. The next night he tried once more, only fall asleep under the spell of her flute. On the third night as the moon rises the prince pierces his body with his sword keeping himself awake. The young prince attempts to take the flower but in his excitement his hand brushed against a red spider lily, the magical flower then closed its petals and wilted. The young prince returned to the Empress and confessed that he had failed. The Empress then told the young prince of an enchanted well that can restore anything to life. The Empress said that a fierce man-eating ogre guards the well. The young prince thanked the Empress and set out to find the well.
As the wolf as his guide he arrives he sees the well and the ogre sleeping nearby. The wolf then warns the prince to not touch the water pale as it will wake the ogre. The prince approaches the well. Tying string to his water skin he lowers it into the well to retrieve the water. As he fills the water skin, he begins to pull up the skin only touch the water pale. The sound then immediately awakened the ogre. Capturing the young prince the ogre demanded the prince tell the ogre why he was attempting to steal water from the well or suffer death. The young prince then tells the ogre his story. The ogre then tell the prince he could have the water if he brings back the moonlight stone from the sunless forest. The prince then agrees that he will bring the stone back and departs. Returning to the wolf the prince tell the wolf of his failure and that he must retrieve the moonlight stone.
Taking the prince to the sunless forest the wolf told the prince of the crow that guards the stone. To get the stone the prince must answer a riddle correctly, if he cannot then he will die on the spot. The young prince thanks the wolf and heads into the forest. Deep within the forest a voice from up high calls to him, looking up he sees the crow. The crow asks the prince why he has come to the forest, to which the prince responds that he has come for the moonlight stone. The crow then tells the prince he must answer a riddle, to which the young prince agrees.
The crow asked the prince, I'm teary-eyed but never cry. Silver-tongued, but never lie. Double-winged, but never fly. Air-cooled, but never dry. What am I?
The young prince thinks for a moment then answered, Mercury. The crow then bows before the prince and presents him with the moonlight stone. Returning to the wolf, the two travel to the ogre and presents the moonlight to the ogre. In exchange for the stone the ogre offers the water of life. The young prince and wolf returned to the Empress and go to the garden pouring the water over the wilted flower it instantly revives. Taking the flower in hand the flower in hand the young prince returns to the empress. The empress then tells the prince to take the flower to a tower to the far south, stand at the very top and raise the flower high in the sky. The young prince then thanks the empress and departs with the wolf.
Finding the tower in the south the young prince climbs to the very top, raising the flower high in the sky the prince hopes to see his beloved. For one hour the young prince sees nothing, for another hour still nothing happens. On the third hour just when he had just given up hope, he sees the nine firebirds. In that moment, the ninth firebird approached the young prince and transforms into a beautiful young woman and embraced him. The prince then promises to wed the firebird girl to which she agrees.
Having fulfilled his goal the wolf then leaves the two bidding the young prince farewell, the prince laments their parting. The young prince, the firebird girl and her sisters' travel back to his father's kingdom in which they meet his two brothers. The young prince's brothers then kill him and take the firebird girl and her sisters and present them to the king.
On the road the wolf comes across the body of the young prince. Traveling back to the well of the ogre the wolf asks for water from the well once more to which the ogre agrees. Taking the water to the body of the young prince the wolf poured the water in the prince's mouth and he was immediately restored to life. Traveling back to his kingdom the young prince presents himself before the king his father and tells him the story of how he found the firebird girl and how his brothers killed him. The King then sentences the young prince's brothers to death. The Young prince and the firebird wed, and the young prince ascends the throne as king.
Epilogue
The King and the Firebird Queen grew old together and the king passed before his wife. Their children and children's children ascending the throne. Watching over the kingdom she was satisfied with life and in that moment a mysterious stranger appeared before the ageing Queen. This stranger offered the queen the chance to shed the mantle of mortality and take upon the cloak of immortality. The firebird Queen, having grown satisfied with life, accepted the request, and ascended into the clouds.