yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 6 Golden Crab

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who had a wife and three children.He went fishing early every morning, and sold all the fish he caught to the king.One day, among the fish he caught was a golden crab.When he came home he put all the fish in one big plate.The golden crab was so lovely that it shone brightly, so the fisherman kept it on the top shelf of the cupboard.When the old man's wife rolled up her skirt and was picking fish, she suddenly heard someone say:

"Put your petticoats down, down, and keep your legs out of sight."

She looked around in surprise and saw the little animal - the golden crab.

"What! Can you speak human language? You ridiculous little crab," she said.She found the crab's words unpleasant, so she picked it up and put it on a plate.

When her husband came home, the couple sat down to dinner, and heard the crab whisper again, "Give me some, too." They were greatly astonished, and gave him a little food.When the old man moved away the plate that gave the crab food, he found that the plate was full of gold.The same thing happens every day, hence the old fisherman's 10 minutes of crab love.

One day the crab said to the fisherman's wife, "Go and tell the king that I want to marry his youngest daughter."

The old fisherman went to the king and proposed the marriage according to her words.The King laughed when he heard that the Crab had come to propose, but did not immediately refuse the marriage, for he was a prudent King, and suspected that the Crab might be a Prince in disguise.So he said to the old fisherman: "Old woman, go and tell the crab that as long as he can build a big wall in front of my old castle by tomorrow morning, it will be taller than the tower. beautiful flowers, I will marry my daughter to him."

The old fisherman came home to deliver the message.

The crab gave the old fisherman a golden staff and said, "Go to the old castle and tap the ground three times with this staff, and the great wall will be built tomorrow morning."

The old fisherman did as she was told.

The next morning, when the king awoke, he saw a huge wall standing in front of him as he had said!
The old fisherman came to the king again and said, "Your Majesty's order has been fulfilled."

"That is very well," said the King, "but I cannot give him my daughter as yet, unless he builds three fountains in my garden, one with gold, one with diamonds, and one with light."

The old fisherman tapped the ground three times with her golden staff, and the next morning the garden appeared.Now, the king had no choice but to agree, and decided to hold the wedding the next day.

The crab said to the old fisherman: "Now, take this golden rod and tap on a mountain somewhere, and a black man will appear and ask you what you want. You answer him like this: 'Your master, the king, Sent me to tell you that you must give him your golden garment that shines like the sun.' Also, let him give you a queen's robe of gold and precious stones, and take these two robes with you. Come to me. And bring a golden cushion, too."

The old fisherman did as he was told.He brought back two expensive robes, and the crab put a golden robe on his body, and squatted down on the golden cushion.So the old fisherman carried him to the palace, and the crab presented another robe to the bride.The wedding ceremony begins.When the couple were alone together, the crab revealed his true identity to the bride.It turned out that he was the son of one of the greatest kings in the world, who was enchanted and turned into a crab by day and a man by night.Sometimes, if he wanted to, he could also turn into an eagle.As soon as he finished speaking, he shook his body and immediately turned into a very handsome young man.The next morning he had to withdraw into his crab shell again.Every day.The princess was so loving to the crab and took good care of him that the royal family was puzzled.They suspected that there must be a mystery in it, but they couldn't find the result after repeated investigations.In this way, a year passed, and the princess gave birth to a son, whom she named Benjamin.The princess's mother still felt that the matter was strange, and said to the king whether it was time to ask the princess if she wanted to find another husband.When asked about the princess, the princess replied:

"I'm married to Crab, he's my only love."

The king said: "I want to hold a party for you. I want to invite princes from all over the world. If you like one of them, you can marry him."

At night the princess told this to her husband, and he said to her, "Take this golden staff, go to the garden gate, and knock at the garden gate. A Negro will come out and ask you, 'Why did you call me? What do I want?' You answer him: 'Your master, the king, has sent me here to bring you his golden shield, his steed, and his silver apples.' You bring these things to me."

The princess did so, and brought everything.

The next evening the prince dressed for the feast.Before he set off, he said to his wife, "When you see me, don't tell me that I'm a crab. If you say that, bad things will happen. You sit by the window with your sisters. I will come from the side Pass by, and throw you this silver apple. You hold the apple, and if someone asks you who I am, you just say you don’t know.” He kissed her, repeated the above warning, and left.

The princess and her sisters were at the window, watching the evening.It so happened that her husband came up and threw her a silver apple.She took the apple with her hand and went back to the bedroom.Soon, her husband also came back.The king was surprised that his daughter could not take a fancy to a prince, so he decided to hold another party.

Crab asked his wife again, but the difference was that the silver apples sent by the black man were changed to golden apples.Before going to the banquet, the crab said to his wife: "I know, you are going to betray me tonight."

The princess swore to him that she would never betray her.The crab repeated the warning and left.

At the party, the princess was still sitting by the window with her sisters, when suddenly the prince passed by on his horse and threw the golden apples to her.

At this time, the princess' mother was very impulsive, slapped the princess and said loudly: "Don't you still look down on this prince? You fool!"

The princess was in a hurry, so she shouted: "This is the crab himself!"

The queen was still furious, angry that her daughter hadn't told her sooner.She ran into her daughter's bedroom, picked up the crab's shell and threw it into the stove.The poor princess wept terribly, but to no avail, for her husband never came back.

Now, let's put aside the matter of the princess for a while, and tell the stories of other people.

One day, an old man came to the stream and was about to eat a piece of bread.Suddenly a dog jumped out of the stream, snatched the bread from the old man, and ran away.The old man chased the dog, and the dog ran to the door of a door, broke open the door and went in, and the old man followed.The old man missed the dog, but found himself on a flight of stairs.He went down the stairs and saw a large room like a palace.He went in and found that there was a large dining table in the room, enough for twelve people to sit around.He hid behind a large painting and could quietly see the scene in the hall.At noon, he heard a loud noise and trembled with fright.He peeped secretly from behind the big painting, only to see twelve eagles flying in, and couldn't help being even more frightened.The eagle first went to bathe in the pool of a fountain in the hall, and when it came out of the pool, it turned into twelve handsome young men.They sat down at the table, and one of the young people raised his glass full of wine and said, "Cheers to father's health!" Another young man raised his glass and said, "Cheers to mother's health!" over again.At this time, one of the youths said:

"To the health of my beloved wife!

I wish her a long and safe life!

Curse that cruel mother,
She burned my shell! "

After he finished speaking, he burst into tears.Then, the young people left their seats, returned to the fountain, turned into eagles again, and flew out.

Witnessing this scene, the old man also left the hall, walked out the gate, and returned home.Soon, he heard that the princess was ill, and it was said that only telling stories could cure her.So the old man went to the palace, got permission to see the princess, and told her the strange thing.Before he finished speaking, the princess hurriedly asked him if he still remembered the road.

"Yes," he replied, "of course I do."

She asked him to take her there at once, and the old man agreed.When they reached the palace, the old man hid the princess behind the big painting, and advised her to keep quiet, while he hid himself there too.After a while, twelve eagles flew in and turned into handsome young men. The princess immediately recognized her husband among them, and wanted to go out to meet her husband, but was pulled back by the old man.After the young man sat down, the prince raised his glass and said:
"To the health of my beloved wife,

I wish her a long and safe life!

Curse that cruel mother,
She burnt my shell. "

At this moment, the princess could not restrain herself any longer, and ran out, and embraced her husband with both arms.Her husband recognized her at once, and said:

"Do you remember? I told you that one day you would betray me. Now you know I'm telling the truth. Fortunately, the bad days are over. Now listen: I'll stay for three more Only the moon can get rid of the magic, can you wait here?"

Of course the princess wanted to stay. She said to the old man, "Go back to the palace and tell my parents that I want to stay here."

After hearing what the old man said, the king and queen were very troubled.Three months later, the magic was lifted, and both the prince and princess returned to the palace, and lived a happy and happy life ever since.Those of us who listen to the stories will of course be delighted for them too.

(End of this chapter)