Andrew Lan's Twelve-Color Fairy Tale Series: Pink Fairy Tale Books

Chapter 28 Catherine and Her Fate
Once upon a time, there was a very rich merchant who had more wealth than any king in the world, and he had three precious chairs, a silver chair, a gold chair, and a diamond chair.But his dearest was his only daughter, whose name was Catherine.

One day, as Catherine was sitting in her room, the door opened suddenly, and in came a tall, very beautiful woman with a small spinning wheel in her hand.

"Catherine," she said, coming up to the girl, "which would you rather be, a happy youth or a happy old age?"

Catherine was very surprised and didn't know how to answer. The pretty woman asked again, "Which would you choose, a happy youth or a happy old age?"

Catherine thought to herself: "If I choose a happy young age, I will live a miserable life in the future. No, I would rather endure hardship now, so that I can have hope and hope that the future will be better!" So she raised her head and answered Say: "Give me a happy old age!"

"Okay then." said the beautiful woman, turning the little wheel in her hand.Then she disappeared suddenly and silently, as quietly as she had come.

This beautiful woman is Catherine's goddess of fate!
A few days later, the merchant heard that all his luxurious freighters were sunk in a storm, loaded with the most expensive goods, and the merchant was suddenly reduced to a beggar.Such a big blow made him sick, and soon died in despair.

So poor Catherine was left alone, alone, without money or anyone to help her.But she was a girl full of courage, and she soon decided that her best choice was to go to the nearest town and become a maid.She made preparations quickly, and soon came to the small town.As she was passing through one of the streets, a noble lady saw her from the window and asked her, seeing her sorrow, "Where are you going all by yourself, my dear child?"

"Oh, my lord, I am very poor, and must support myself as a maid."

"I can employ you," she said, and Catherine became a servant there.She took good care of her mistress.

One day, the hostess said to her: "I have to go out for a while, you must lock the door to prevent thieves from entering."

After the mistress had gone, Catherine sat down at the window after her work.Suddenly the door opened and her goddess of fate appeared before her.

"Oh, here you are, Catherine! Do you think I won't bother you any more?" Saying this, she went to the mahogany wardrobe in the room, where Catherine's mistress had put all her best sheets and clothes. inside.She tore all the sheets and clothes into pieces and threw them on the ground.Poor Catherine wrung her hands in agony, and wept bitterly, thinking to herself, "The master will think it my fault when he comes back and sees all this." So she got up, and ran out of the door.The goddess of fate restored all the fragments on the ground, put them back in the wardrobe as they were, and left everything neatly.

When the hostess came back, she called Catherine's name, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Will she steal my things and run away?" thought the hostess.She quickly checked the room, but nothing was lost.She didn't understand why Catherine had just disappeared without a word, but now she had to do the housework herself.

After Catherine ran out, she kept walking and walking, not knowing where she was going.Finally, she came to another city.By chance, another lady saw her passing by the window, and she called to Catherine and asked, "Where are you going all by yourself, my dear child?"

Catherine replied, "Oh, my lord, I am very poor, and must support myself as a maid."

"I can employ you," said the lady.So Catherine worked there again as a maid.She works as hard as she can and hopes everything is going well.But, just like last time, one day when Catherine was alone at home, her goddess of fate came again.She said sternly, "Okay! You're here again?" Then she angrily tore up everything there.Poor Catherine was terrified, and at last ran for the door once more.This situation continued for seven years, and every time Catherine found a new place, the goddess of fate would make trouble and force her to leave.

But seven years later, the goddess of fate seemed to be tired of tormenting her, and Catherine finally got a period of peace.Catherine has found a new employer after the last time she was chased away by Fate's nasty pranks.The new hostess gave Catherine a task. Every day, she had to climb to the top of the big mountain near the city, put the freshly baked bread on the ground, and then shouted: "O goddess of fate, my master!" Shout three times.Then the Mistress of Fortune will appear to take the bread. "Okay, I'm sure I'll do a great job!" Catherine said.

In this way, Catherine stayed there for several years, and every day she took a basket of bread and climbed to the top of the mountain.She is happier now, but when no one is around, she will cry secretly because she thinks of her happy life.How different is life now from life then!One day, the hostess asked her after seeing her: "Catherine, what's the matter with you, why are you crying?" So Catherine told her her experience.

"I have an idea," cried the hostess, "to-morrow when you go up to the top of the mountain with your bread, you will beg my fortune to make love to your fortune, and beg her to do you a favor. That may all It will be fine!"

Hearing this, Catherine wiped away her tears.The next day, she climbed to the top of the mountain, told what had happened to her, and cried out, "O Fate, my master, I beg you, please speak to my Fate, Please give me a moment of peace!"

Fate replied, "Oh, poor girl, don't you know that your Fate is covered with seven quilts, and she can't hear anything! But if you come tomorrow, I will bring her."

After Catherine was gone, her master's goddess of fate found her sister and said to her, "Dear sister, hasn't Catherine suffered enough? Now is the time for her to start living a better life!"

Her sister replied, "Bring her to me tomorrow, and I'll give her something useful that will help her."

The next morning, Catherine reached the summit earlier than usual.Her master's Fate took her by the hand and led her to her sister, who was covered with seven quilts.The goddess handed Catherine a silk ball and said to her: "Keep it, it may be useful one day!" After speaking, she put the quilt on her head again.

Catherine was very sad. After going down the mountain, she went directly to the hostess and showed her the silk ball. It was such a small ball that she was waiting for with great hope!
"What would I do with a ball like that?" she asked. "It's not worth sixpence, and it's of no use to me!"

"Keep it well," said the hostess, "it may be useful, who knows?"

It was not long before the king's wedding was about to take place, and all the tailors were busy making fine dresses.The bride's wedding dress is beautiful, no one has ever seen a more beautiful wedding dress!But when the wedding dress was about to be completed, the tailor found that there was not enough silk, and the required silk was of a very special color, and there was no match for it.Thereupon the king declared that if anyone happened to have such silk, he should immediately bring it to the palace, and he would give him a great reward.

"Catherine!" exclaimed the mistress excitedly, who had just been to the tailor and saw the wedding dress, "your ball of silk just happens to be this color, send it to the king quickly, so that you can ask for anything you want The king spoke."

So Catherine put on her best clothes and came to the palace, and she looked beautiful, more beautiful than any woman in the palace.

"Your Majesty the King," she said, "I have brought a ball of silk, just the color you need, and no one else will have it."

"Your Majesty," one of the ministers asked, "should I give this girl the same weight of gold as the ball of silk?"

The king agreed, and the minister brought a balance scale, with gold in one pan and silk balls in the other.But, alas, no matter how much gold the king puts in the scales, the ball of silk always weighs more.The king changed the scales several times, each time getting bigger and bigger. He put all the treasures in one weighing pan, but the side where the silk was placed was still heavier.In the end, there was only one thing left, and that was the king's golden crown!The king took off the crown and put it on the top of the weighing pan that held the treasure, and the balance scale was finally balanced.

"Where did you get this silk?" asked the king.

"It was given to me by my mistress, Your Majesty!" replied Catherine.

"That's impossible!" said the king, "if you don't tell me the truth, I'll cut off your head right now!"

Catherine had no choice but to tell the king about her experience, and told him that she was once as rich as him.

There was a wise woman in the palace who said to Catherine, "You have suffered so much, poor child, but now your fate will change! A crown is what keeps the scales in balance, and I know that , you will become a queen!"

"Yes," the king announced aloud, and he heard the words of the wise woman, "she will be my queen at once, for she is more beautiful than any woman in the palace, and I want her, and I will marry no other girl! "

As a result, the king sent the bride he was going to marry back to her country, and Catherine became the bride of the wedding and the king's queen. She and the king lived a happy life until they were old.

(End of this chapter)