yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 7 The Big Iron Furnace

Once upon a time there was a prince who was bound by magic and had to sit in a great iron furnace in the woods.He stayed in the furnace for many years, and no one could rescue him.Eventually, a king's daughter went into the forest and got lost, unable to return to the palace.She made nine circles in the wood, and at last came to the iron stove.A word came from the furnace and asked her, "Where did you come from? Where are you going?" The princess replied, "I'm lost and I can't go back to my father's palace, and I can never go home again." The people in the village said: "As long as you promise to do things for me, I will help you find a home without any trouble. I am a prince and you are a princess, and we can get married." The princess was a little scared and thought: "What can a little lover in an iron furnace do?" Still, she longed so much to return to her father that she promised to do his work.

He said, "Next time you come, you must bring a knife and dig a hole in the stove."

He found a man as a guide, and the guide led her away for two hours in silence without saying a word, before returning to the palace.When the princess came back, the palace was full of joy, and the old king put his arms around his daughter's neck and kissed her.But the princess looked sad and said, "Dear father, do you know what has happened to me? If I hadn't met the big iron furnace, I would never have come home. But I promised to do his business and marry him." ’” The king was so surprised that he almost fainted.This is his only daughter.The father and daughter discussed that the miller's daughter was so beautiful that she could pretend to be a princess.They sent her to the hearth, gave her a knife, and told her to dig a hole.The girl dug for 24 hours and couldn't even dig a small hole.When day came, a voice came from the furnace: "I see it is daytime now." The girl replied, "I know it is daytime, because I heard the groaning of father's mill."

"Then you are the Miller's Daughter! Go away and send the King's Daughter here."

The girl went back and told the king that the people in the furnace didn't want her but the princess.The king was afraid, and the princess cried too.There was a swineherd's daughter who was prettier than the miller's daughter.The king sent the girl to pretend to be a princess with a piece of gold.The girl went and tried 24 hours to no avail.It was daylight, and the man in the furnace said, "It seems to be daylight outside." The girl answered, "It is daylight, and I heard my father blowing the trumpet." "Then you are the swineherd's daughter! Go away at once, and let the king Come here with the daughter of my daughter. Tell her that what I said before will not count, and if she does not come, everything in the kingdom will be in ruins, not even a stone or a tree will be left." The princess burst into tears when she heard this. , but crying is useless, she should keep her promise.

She bid farewell to her father with a knife stuck in her belt.When she came to the big iron stove in the forest and began to scrape the stove, the stove gave way and dug a small hole in less than two hours.She looked in through the small hole, saw a beautiful young man covered in gold and jewels, and immediately fell in love with him.She dug harder, and the hole got bigger and bigger enough for the young man to crawl out.He said: "You are mine, I am yours; you are my bride, you set me free!" He wanted to take her back to his kingdom, but she wanted to go back to her father first, so the prince Let her go, but tell her not to speak more than three words to her father, and to come back immediately.The princess came home, but, oops!She said more than three words, and the big iron furnace disappeared immediately, and moved behind a mountain full of glass and sword blades.The prince is no longer locked in it, he is free.

The princess bid farewell to her father, took a little money, and went into the forest, but could not find the iron stove.She searched for nine days and nights, feeling very hungry, and thought that her life was in danger.As the sun went down, she climbed a tree, hoping that night would not come, for she was afraid of encountering wild animals.When it was midnight, she saw a small light, and she thought, "Oh, if only I could go there!" She got down from the tree and walked towards the light.She came to an old and small house, surrounded by weeds, and there was a pile of firewood in front of the door.She thought, "Ah! what am I doing here?" She peeped in through the window and saw toads big and small in the house, and there was a table full of delicious roast meat and wine, and all the plates and cups were silver. .She mustered up the courage to knock on the door.A fat toad cried out:
The green toad's legs are bent,

Open the door and look out,
Who shook the latch.

A little toad went to the door and let her in.As soon as the princess entered, all the toads, big and small, greeted her and asked her to sit down.They asked how she got here, what did she need?She told everything, how the furnace disappeared because she had spoken more than she had allowed, how she had searched for the prince for so long, and had to go over mountains and mountains until he was found.

A toad sang:

The green toad's legs are bent,
You know that corner,

The box was big and old.

The little toad went out and brought back a big box.Then they fed and drank the princess, and led her to sleep on a bed of silk and brocade, where she soon fell into a deep sleep.At dawn, after she got up, the elder Toad took three things out of the big box for her to take with her.For she will need them to climb over a mountain of glass, three sharp swords and a great lake.As long as she goes through these few levels, she will be able to find her lover.These things are: three big needles, a plow, and three nuts.She carefully took these things and set off.When I came to the Glass Mountain, the mountain was steep and slippery.She inserted three large needles into the glass, and climbed over the glass mountain with alternate support.

When she reached the place where the three sharp swords were, she slid over on the sledge.Finally came the Great Lakes.Cross the lake and come to a beautiful old castle.She entered the old castle, claiming to be a maid, willing to hire.She knew that the prince she had rescued from the iron furnace of the forest lived in this old castle.She was hired as a cook for pitifully small wages.The prince was preparing to marry another princess, who he thought was dead long ago.

In the evening, when the kitchen was done, the cook reached into her pocket and found three nuts that the toad had given her.She smashed one of them to eat the nut meat, ah!There is actually a very beautiful royal dress in the hard shell!When the princess, who was preparing to be a bride, heard of this, she ran to ask for the dress, saying that a cook was not fit to wear such a dress.The cook said she would not sell the dress unless she was allowed to sleep up to the door of the prince's bedroom.The bride really liked the dress, so she agreed to the cook's request.When night came, the bride said to the groom, "That foolish cook has asked to sleep outside your door."

"As long as you agree, I agree." said the groom.The bride gave the groom a glass of wine, in which she put sleeping pills.They went into the bedroom, and the groom was in such a deep sleep that no one could wake him.The cook cried all night outside the door, and said, "I rescued you from the iron furnace, and I climbed the glass mountain, slipped three swords, and crossed the great lake to find you, can't you hear me? The attendant heard her cry and reported it to the master the next morning.

The next day, after the cook had finished her washing, she bit open a second nut, and in the shell was a more beautiful dress than the first one.After the bride saw it, she wanted to buy it again.The cook said she wanted no money but to sleep outside the groom's door again.The bride made the groom drink the sleeping potion again, so that the groom fell into a deep sleep, and he couldn't hear any sound.The cook cried all night, and she cried, "I rescued you from the iron furnace. To find you, I crossed the glass mountain, the three swords, and the great lake, but now you won't even talk to me." !” The servant heard her cry all night, and reported to the prince again.

On the night of the third day, the cook bit open the third nut, and inside the shell was a more beautiful dress made of pure gold.When the bride saw it, she wanted to buy it again, but the cook still put forward the previous conditions, otherwise she would not sell it.This time the prince did not drink the sleeping potion.The cook began to cry again: "Dearest love, I rescued you from the wild forest and from the iron furnace..." The prince jumped up from the bed at once when he heard this, and said, "You are right! Yes, you belong to me, and I belong to you." Even though it was night, they got into a carriage and took the bride's clothes away so that she could not catch up.When they came to the Great Lake, they rowed across the lake; when they came to the Three Swords, they took a sledge; when they came to the Glass Mountain, they crossed it with a big needle.At last they reached the hut.But when they first stepped into the hut, the hut immediately turned into a huge palace.All the toads were rescued, and it turned out that they were all the children of the handsome king.They danced, laughed, and were very happy.The prince and princess were married and lived in the palace, which was bigger than the princess's father's palace.The old king did not want to live alone, so they took him over, and the two kingdoms became one, and their wealth increased greatly.

(End of this chapter)