yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 4 The Dragon of the North (1)

The old people told me that long, long ago, there was a very ferocious beast in the north, which ravaged the country into a mess. Anyone who appeared in front of it would have no hope of surviving.The beast has a body like a cow and legs like a frog - two short front legs and two long rear legs.The tail was like a snake, and it was a good sixty feet long.When it walks, it hops like a frog, and with a single hop it travels a mile.Fortunately, it is used to lying in place and remains motionless for several years until the surrounding humans and animals are eaten up.It cannot be harmed, for it is protected by scales, which are harder than stone or metal.Its pair of giant eyes are shining, not only at night, but also like two headlights during the day.Anyone who is in bad luck and dares to look at these eyes will be immediately overwhelmed by magic, and will walk into its big mouth involuntarily and be swallowed by it.In this way the dragon can devour man or beast without difficulty.The kings all around offered great rewards for brave men, whether by strength or magic, to destroy the beast. Many enlisted to try their luck, but they all failed miserably.Once, the forest where the beast lived caught fire, and the forest was reduced to ashes, but the beast remained unharmed.However, there was a rumor among wise men that if anyone could get hold of King Solomon's signet ring, and read the inscription carved on it, he would know how to kill the beast.Only no one knew where the ring was hidden, nor could there be any sorcerer or sage who could read the inscription.

Finally, a wise and brave young man appeared, determined to find King Solomon's ring.He walked in the direction of the rising sun, because he knew that all the ancient wisdom came from the east.After several years of hard work, he met a famous oriental magician and asked him for advice.The magician replied:
"Mortals have limited intelligence and cannot help you. Only the birds in the sky can guide you, if you can master the language of birds. If you can stay with me for a few days, I can teach you this language."

The young man was very grateful for the magician's kindness and said, "I can't repay you at the moment, but when I complete my mission, I will definitely repay you heavily."

So the magician collected nine kinds of medicinal herbs by himself under the moonlight and refined them into a powerful potion. He fed the young man nine spoonfuls of potion every day for a total of three days, so that the young man understood the language of birds.

At the time of parting, the magician said to the young man: "Once you find King Solomon's ring, come back to me, and I can explain to you the inscription on the ring, which no one else in the world can read."

From then on, the young man never felt lonely along the way. He had a partner, because he could understand the language of birds, and gained a lot of knowledge that humans could not teach him.However, he never heard the bird talk about the ring.Until one night, when he was hot and tired from walking, he sat under a tree to have dinner, and saw two strange little birds flapping their wings happily, sitting on a branch and talking about him.the first bird said:
"I know that fool under the tree wandering around. He searched for a long time and couldn't find it. He came to find King Solomon's ring."

Another bird said, "He needs the help of the Witch, who can show him the right way. Even if the Witch doesn't get the ring herself, she knows exactly where to find it."

"But where is he going to find the witch?" said the first bird. "She has no fixed abode. She is here today and there tomorrow. He'd better keep up with the wind."

The other bird replied, "Of course I don't know where she is now, but for the next three nights she will come to the spring to wash her face, which she always does when the moon is full, so that she may be young forever." stay, never grow old."

"By the way," said the first bird, "the spring is not far from here. Let's go and see how she does it."

"If you want to go, I will go too," said another bird.

The young man immediately decided to follow the bird to the spring.Only two things troubled him.First, he couldn't fall asleep when the bird flew away; second, he had no wings, so he couldn't fly, and maybe he couldn't catch up with the bird.He was too tired to stay up all night, but longing kept him from falling asleep.He was delighted to see his two feathered friends sleeping soundly with their heads under their wings when the first light of dawn reached the tops of the trees.The young man finished his breakfast and waited for the birds to depart, but they did not move all day.They hop from tree to tree in search of food until they return to their dens at night to sleep.Same thing the next day.On the third morning, the first bird said to the other bird: "Today we must go to the spring to see the witch wash her face." At noon, they began to fly south.The young man's heart beat faster with joy, but fearing that he might lose track of his guide, he followed as closely as he could until the bird landed on a tree.The young man was out of breath trying to keep up with them. After three short stays, he finally came to a small clearing in the forest. The little bird stopped on the top of a big tree at the edge of the clearing.The young man rushed here and found a water spring in the middle of the open space.He sat down at the foot of the big tree where the birds had landed, and listened attentively to the conversation among the birds.

"The sun hasn't set yet," said the first bird, "and we must wait for the moon to rise before the witch comes. Do you think she will see the young man sitting under the tree?"

"Nothing escapes her eyes, and neither does the young man," said another bird. "But will the young man realize that he must hide from her?"

"We'll see," said the first bird, "and see how they meet."

The sunset glow had disappeared, and a full moon had covered the forest with light, and the young man heard a rustling sound.Not long after, a young girl came out from the forest and slid gently over the grass, as if her feet didn't touch the ground.She stopped by the fountain.The young man stared at her intently. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life.She didn't seem to notice anything unusual, walked to the water spring, looked up at the bright moon, then knelt down and scooped up the spring water to wash her face nine times, then raised her head to look at the bright moon, and walked nine times around the water spring, singing while walking:
The moonlight of the full moon is never blocked,

Let my beauty never fade,

Make my cheeks never look old!
When the full moon is waning,
But my face is more beautiful,

My youth will never wither!

Then she wiped her face dry with her long hair, and just as she was about to leave, she caught sight of the young man under the tree and walked towards him.The young man stood up immediately.The girl said: "You must be punished severely, because you peeked at my secret under the moonlight. But this time I can forgive you, because you don't know. But you must tell me the truth, who you are, Why come here, no mortal has ever been able to come here."

The young man replied tremblingly, "Forgive me, fair lady, I did not mean to offend you. I came here by chance after a long walk and wanted to sleep under a tree. Here you are, I I don't know what to do. I stayed still, thinking that the silence would not disturb you."

The girl said kindly, "Come and spend the night with us. You'd better sleep on a mat than on moss."

The young man hesitated for a moment, and happily heard the bird on the treetop say: "Do as she says, but be careful not to bleed, or you will sell your soul." So the young man followed the girl away .Soon they came to a beautiful garden.In the garden stood a splendid house, which shone in the moonlight as if it were made of gold and silver.The young man entered the house and found that there were many beautiful little rooms, each of which was more beautiful than the other.Hundreds of small candles were lit in gold candlesticks, lighting up the room like daylight.At last they entered a room where a table was already covered with the most expensive dishes.Beside the table were two chairs, one of gold and the other of silver.The girl sat on the golden chair, and the young man sat on the silver chair. Some maids in white came to wait on them, walking silently.No one said a word at the dinner table.After the meal, the witch and the young man chatted happily until a maid in red came in to remind them that it was time to go to bed.The young man was led into a bedroom where there was a soft bed with a mattress.He happily fell asleep, and a voice rang in his ear, saying repeatedly: "Remember not to bleed."

The next day, the girl asked him if he would like to live with her in this beautiful place for a long time.He didn't answer right away.The girl went on to say: "You see, I have always been so young and beautiful. No one is in charge of me. I can do whatever I want, so I have never considered getting married. But, from the first time I saw you, I moved Heart, as long as you agree, we will get married. I am very rich, and we can live like princes."

The young man pondered the words, but remembered that the bird had called the woman a witch and had warned him again and again.So he answered carefully: "Dear lady, please don't be angry, I can't answer this important matter at once. Please give me a few days to think about it, so that we can reach a consensus."

"All right," said the girl, "I'll give you a few weeks to think about it." In order to make the time pass more pleasantly, she led the young man through all the rooms, and let him admire her countless treasures.Of course, all these treasures are made by magic.The ring of King Solomon, a girl who can conjure anything she wants.It's just that all these things are erratic, drifting by like the wind, leaving no trace.But the young people didn't know this and thought it was all true.

(End of this chapter)