   
                           The Story of
                        The Black Cauldron
                                 
                                 
                            * * * * *
   
        
        The Walt  Disney  Productions movie,  based upon novelist
     Llyod  Alexander's  Newberry  Award-winning  "Chronicles  of
     Prydain" is now a 3-D animated adventure game ...
        
                                The   
                               Black   
                              Cauldron   
                                   
                                     
        
     Dallben And The Book Of Three:
     ------------------------------
        When  he  was  just  a  baby,  Dallben,  greatest  of all
     enchanters in all Prydain,  was abandoned in a wicker basket
     at the edge of the Marshes of  Morva.  There he was found by
     three  witches:  Orddu,  Orwen and Orgoch,  and was taken to
     live with them in their home in the centre of the marsh.
        As he grew,  Dallben watched the witches in all they did,
     and learned their powers of enchantment.  On the day he left
     them to make a life for himself,  they made him a present of
     an ancient volume entitled The Book Of Three.  "It holds all
     the knowledge that  was ever  known,  is known,  and will be
     known," said Orrdu.
        Dallben wandered for many years.  From his studies of the
     The Book of  Three,  he learned of death,  and of birth; and
     how the earth turns in its own time and in its own way gives
     back what  is  given to  it;  how  things lost may  be found
     again;  and how one  days  ends  for  another  to  begin. He
     learned  that  the lives of  men are short  and  filled with
     pain, yet each life is a priceless treasure, whether that of
     a prince or a pig-keeper.  And, at last, the book taught him
     that while nothing was certain, all was possible.
        
     The Young Hero:
     ---------------
        When Dallben acquired The Book of Three,  he learned from
     its  pages that  the hero  who would free  Prydain  from the
     powers of darkness  would come  from no station in  life. He
     pondered these  words  for  many  years,  but  their meaning
     remained  clouded.  Finally,  he set out to seek  his future
     hero and to hasten his coming.  For many years  he searched,
     yet all whom he questioned knew well  their station, whether
     shepherd or war leader, lord or farmer.
        The seasons turned,  and a grievous war was  on his land.
     Dallben  despaired of  his quest and turned  his  steps back
     toward  Caer  Dallben.   One  day,  he  chanced  to  pass  a
     battlefield.  Many lay dead, noble as well humble folk; even
     the women and children had not been spared.
        From the nearby forest  Dallben heard a piercing  cry. An
     infant had been hidden among the trees.  From his wrappings,
     Dallben  could judge  nothing  of  his  parentage,  and only
     sensed  with  certainty that  both mother and father  lay on
     that bloody battlefield.
        "Here,  surely is one of  no station in life,  an unknown
     babe of unknown kin,"  Dallben thought. He carried the child
     back with to Caer Dallben. He called him Taran.
        The  years passed,  and Taran  grew to be  a fine, strong
     boy.  He was a great help  with  the household  chores; most
     important of all his tasks was  the care and  feeding of the
     pig Hen Wen.
        "I think there is a destiny laid on me  that I  am not to
     know  anything  interesting,  go anywhere interesting, or do
     anything interesting.  I'm certainly  not  to  be anything,"
     complained Taran.
        "If that  is  all that  troubles  you,"  said Dallben, "I
     shall make you an assistant pig-keeper.  You shall help take
     care of  Hen Wen:  see that  her trough  is  full, carry her
     water, and give her a nice bath every other day."
        "That's what I do now," Taran said bitterly.
        And he went on dreaming  of the  day he would  be a great
     warrior.
        
     The Black Cauldron:
     -------------------
        One day, after many weeks of intensive study of The Books
     of Three, Dallben emerged from seclusion and called Taran to
     him.  The enchanter sat in a comfortable chair  by the fire,
     with the boy at his feet, and begin his narrative.
        "Legend has it that in  the mystic land of  Prydain there
     was once a King so cruel and evil that even the  gods feared
     him.  Since  no prison could hold  him,  he was thrown alive
     into a crucible of molten iron. There his demonic spirit was
     captured in the form of a cauldron.
        "As his essence dissolved  in the red-hot  iron, the evil
     king cursed,  'My  power will  not die;  whosoever  uses the
     black cauldron for evil will  be all-powerful,  for my blood
     will flow  with  his,  and together we will  either rule the
     world or destroy it.'
        "For  uncounted centuries  the  Black  Cauldron  has laid
     hidden,  awaiting the coming  of one evil enough  to unleash
     its power. And now, that which the world has feared has come
     to pass. For the Horned King is just such a one."
        Dallben beckoned toward Hen Wen, sitting in the corner of
     the room. She rose and trotted toward him.
        With his stick,  the old man began to stir the water in a
     tub  at  his feet.  The  pig moved  closer  to  the whirling
     waters, and her eyelids drooped. Dallben murmured softly:
        
             "Hen Wen, from you I do beseech
             Knowledge that lies beyond my reach,
             Troubled thoughts weigh on your heart
             I pray you now those thought impart."
             
        The water began to glow, and a vision appeared. Far away,
     a  robed and hooded  figure  stood at  a  castle  window. He
     watched silently  as  a  flock  of  gwythaints,  huge winged
     creatures,   took   flight.   They  circled  overhead,  then
     separated to  fly  toward  the  four  winds.  Below, several
     troops of  warriors  crossed the drawbridge  and disappeared
     into the forest.
        The water clouded, and cleared again. The sinister figure
     paced  a room.  For  moment  his face was  visible. Red eyes
     burned in a skeletal mask. Above the mask rose two antlers.
        One  the  floor  around  him  lay  sprawled  many huddled
     figures -- skeletons clothed in full battle gear. The Horned
     King spoke.  "Oh  yes,  yes,  my  soldiers.  Soon  the Black
     Cauldron will be mine."
        His shadow reared up,  larger than life on the stone wall
     behind  him.  "Its evil power will course through  my veins,
     and I shall make you Cauldron born!"
        He  raised his  arms.  "Those who do not bend to  my rule
     shall be destroyed. I shall be a god among men!"
        The vision faded,  and the water cleared.  Hen Wen raised
     her head, and blinked sleepily.
        "The Horned  King  is searching for  the Black Cauldron,"
     said Dallben.  He must not use Hen Wen's powers  to find the
     Cauldron,  for  if he does,  the mightiest  warriors will be
     unable to  withstand him,  and the free  world  will crumble
     under his cruel yoke.
        "All of us,  even pig-keepers, must do all we can to foil
     the Horned King's ambition. The Black Cauldron must be found
     and  destroyed if  the world is  to  be  saved  from certain
     doom."
        
        And now, can you as Taran, assistant pig-keeper, find the
     secret  whereabouts of  the Black Cauldron  and  destroy the
     evil forces of the Horned King?
        
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