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

Chapter 31 Two Brothers (1)
Long, long ago, there were two brothers, both very handsome, but very poor.They had nothing to eat but some fish.One day, as soon as the sun came out, they set off in the boat without a bite to eat.

It was late, when they were thinking about pulling up the fishing line and going home to have a rest, they suddenly felt something pulled, and they saw that there was a small fish hanging from the hook.

"What a poor little thing!" said my brother; "but it's better than nothing. I'll bake it with a slice of bread for my supper."

"Oh, don't kill me!" begged the fish, "I'll bring you luck—really!"

"You fool!" said the young man, "I have caught you and I will eat you."

But his younger brother felt sorry for the fish and begged for mercy on his behalf. "Let the poor little thing go. It's not enough to put it between the teeth, and besides, what if it really brings us luck? Let's put it back in the sea. It's better that way."

"If you don't kill me," said the fish, "tomorrow morning, you will see two saddled horses on the beach, and you can ride them through the world like explorer knights."

"Oh, nonsense!" said my brother, "and besides, what evidence is there that what you say is true?"

But the younger brother interposed again, "Well, let him go! You know, if he tricks us, we'll catch him anyway. It's worth trying."

The elder brother finally gave in and threw the fish back into the sea.And so the two brothers went to bed without supper, wondering what luck they would have next day.The next day, when the first rays of morning light appeared, they both got up, and after a while, they ran to the beach.As the fish said, there were two saddled horses standing on the beach, with two suits of armor and shirts, two swords, and two purses full of gold coins on their backs.

"Look!" said my brother, "now you will be glad you didn't eat that fish? It has brought us good luck. I don't know what wonderful people we can become! Now, we will go to our own adventures Yes. If you go this way, I'll go that way."

"Great," said my brother, "but how do we let the other party know that we're alive?"

"See this fig tree?" said my brother. "Whenever we want to know about each other, we come here and make a gash in the tree with our sword. If the sap comes out, It means that we are all alive and well, but if blood flows out instead of sap, it means that we are either dead or in a very dangerous situation."

So, the two brothers put on their armor, put on their swords, and put on their wallets. After bidding farewell, they got on their horses and walked along different paths.The elder brother rode straight on, and at last he came to the border of a strange country.He crossed the border, and soon found himself on the bank of a river. In front of him, a beautiful girl was tied to a rock in the middle of the river, crying sadly.In this river lived a seven-headed serpent, who threatened to blow fire from his nostrils and destroy the whole kingdom unless the king sent a man to cook his breakfast every morning.After a long time, all the men died, and now the king had to send his own daughter.The poor girl was waiting for the monster to get hungry and eat her.When the young man saw the girl crying, he said to her, "What is the matter, poor girl?"

"Ah!" she said, "I am bound here to be eaten by a seven-headed serpent. Oh, sir, don't hang around here, or he will eat you too."

"I will stay here," said the young man, "because I will save you."

"Impossible. You don't know what a terrible monster this snake demon is. You can't deal with him."

"Whether I can handle it or not is my business, beauty," he replied. "Just tell me, where did the basilisk come from?"

"Well, if you are determined to save me, listen to me. You stand aside, and when the basilisk comes out of the water, I will say to him: 'Hey, basilisk, you can eat two people today. But you'd better Eat that young man first, because I'm locked up here and I can't escape.' He'll probably attack you when he hears me say that."

So the young man stood cautiously aside. After a while, he heard a huge sound of waves in the water, and then a hideous monster emerged from the water and looked towards the rock over there. The king's daughter Just chained to that rock.It was getting late and he was already hungry.But the princess shouted loudly: "Hey, snake demon, you can eat two people today. You'd better eat the young man first. I'm locked here, and I can't escape."

So, the snake demon rushed to the young man and opened his bloody mouth to swallow him, but the young man jumped aside, drew his sword, and fought with the snake demon. Heads were chopped off.The gigantic creature fell dead at his feet.He untied the princess, and the princess threw herself into his arms and said, "You rescued me from the mouth of the snake demon, and now you will be my husband, because my father said, who can kill Anyone who is a snake demon can marry his daughter."

But he replied: "I can't be your husband now, because I have to go to a far away place. But you wait for me for seven years and seven months. At that time, if I don't come back, who do you want to marry?" Marry anyone. If you forget me, I will take these seven tongues with me, and when I show them to you, you will remember that I killed this snake demon."

So saying, he cut off seven tongues, and the princess gave him a thick cloth to wrap them up, and then he rode away on his horse.No sooner had he gone than a servant came to the river, whom the king sent to inquire about his precious daughter.When the servant saw the princess standing in front of him safe and sound, with the body of the snake monster lying at his feet, an evil thought suddenly appeared in his mind, so he said: "Unless you tell your father and king that I killed the snake monster , or I'll kill you and bury you here, and no one will know."

What can the poor girl do?This time, no knight came to her rescue.So, she had to agree to do what the servant said.So the servant picked up the seven heads and took the princess to her father.How ecstatic the king was when he saw his daughter again!The whole town was as happy as he was.

The king asked the servant to tell how he killed the monster.After the servant had finished speaking, the king announced that he could marry the princess.

But the princess knelt down at her father's feet and begged him to postpone the wedding. "You have passed down the decree, which cannot be taken back, but please give me seven years and seven months, and marry me after that. After seven years and seven months, I will marry that servant." The king Grace agreed, so, during these seven years and seven months, she was looking forward to her groom and shed tears all day long.

In the mean time the young man was riding through the world, and seven years and seven months passed, and he returned to the city where the princess lived--only a few days before the princess's wedding.He came to the king and said to the king: "Give me your daughter in marriage, Your Majesty, I killed the hydra. To prove that what I said is true, please look at these seven tongues, which are I cut it off from the seven heads of the snake demon, and look at this embroidered cloth, it was given to me by your daughter."

At this moment, the princess said loudly: "Yes, dear father, what he said is true, it is he, he is my real bridegroom. But forgive the servant, he just cannot stand the temptation. "

But the king replied, "This act of infidelity is unforgivable. Come, take him out, and cut off his head!"

So the unfaithful servant was put to death.The wedding ceremony took place as scheduled, and everyone rejoiced when the real groom finally arrived at the last moment.

The couple lived happily and contentedly for a long time.One night the young man looked out of the window and saw a bright light on a hill outside the city.

"What's that?" he asked his wife.

(End of this chapter)