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

Chapter 36
Once upon a time there was a king who had two sons.They are two daredevils who always do stupid things.One day, the two brothers went out to sea alone in a small boat.It was still sunny and sunny when they set off, but when they were a little farther from the shore, a gust of wind suddenly blew up.Their oars fell into the water in a flash, and the boat tossed and tossed in the rough sea like a little husk.The two princes had to sit firmly in their seats so as not to be thrown overboard.

Just in the midst of the storm, they came across a boat, which made them very happy. It was actually a big noodle bowl with an old woman sitting in it.She called to them aloud, and said they would go ashore safely if they would promise to give her the son who was soon to be born to their mother, the queen.

"We cannot do this," cried the princes, "he is not ours, so we cannot give him to you."

"Well, then, you two will be buried at the bottom of the sea," said the old woman, "perhaps your mother would rather give up the unborn child to save you."

So saying, she rowed away, and the storm was more violent than before, and the waves beat their boat so violently that it was about to sink.At this moment, the princes thought that there was some truth in what the old woman said, and of course they were anxious to live, so they called out to her, and said that if she would save them from danger, they would give her their brother.No sooner had they finished speaking than the storm ceased, and the waves fell.The boat returned safely to the shore and stopped at the foot of the palace.The king and queen were very anxious for them, and welcomed them warmly when they came back.

They didn't tell anyone about their promise to the old woman, neither when they came back, nor when the queen gave birth to their third son.The third son was very lovely, and the queen loved him more than anything in the world.He lived in the palace, studied and studied until he grew up.Neither did his brothers see or hear of the witch again, though they had promised to give him to the witch before he was born.

One evening, a violent storm hit, and the surrounding area was foggy and dark.A storm swept through the entire palace. In the storm, there was a heavy knock on the door of the little prince's house. He opened the door and saw an old woman standing at the door with a bowl on her back.The old woman told him that he must go with her at once, and that his brother had promised her that he would be given to her if she would save them.

"Well," he said, "since you saved my brother's life and they promised to send me to you, I'll go with you."

So they went out of the palace, and went to the beach, and he and the witch got into the bowl boat, and the witch rowed out to sea, and went to her house.

Now the Prince was under the Witch's control and at her disposal.The first thing the witch told the prince to do was to pick up the feathers. "Look, here's a pile of feathers," she said, "and you'll have to finish the job when I get back before dark, or you'll have to work harder." He started picking feathers, picking them , Pick it up, and finally there is only one feather left, but at this moment, a whirlwind suddenly blows up, all the feathers are blown around, and fall to the floor, piled up into a mountain, in a mess, as if they were touched by feet. Stepped on the same.Now he had to start all over again, but it would be dark in an hour, and the witch would be back.He knew that by then he would not be able to finish the job.

Suddenly, he heard someone beating the windowpane, and a thin voice said, "Let me in, and I will help you." It turned out to be a white pigeon, which was sitting outside the window, pecking at the windowpane with its beak.He opened the window, and the pigeon flew in, and immediately got to work, picking its feathers in its beak.It's almost time, and those feathers have been neatly arranged.The dove flew out of the window, and at that moment the witch came into the house.

"Oh, oh," she said, "it's much better than I expected, and you've got all the feathers in order. But maybe a prince like that should have dexterous hands."

The next day the witch said to the prince, "Today you have some light work to do. I put some firewood outside the door, and you must chop the wood into little pieces so that I can light the fire. This The job will be done quickly, but you must finish it before I go home."

Immediately the prince took a small ax and began to chop wood.He chopped and chopped, thinking he had done fast enough, but after noon he still had a lot of firewood left, and he was still far from finishing chopping.And, what was even more strange, the remaining firewood seemed to be getting more instead of less, so he stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling very sad, because he knew that if the work could not be done before the witch returned When it's done, he's going to be in trouble.

Just then, the white dove flew over and landed on the pile of firewood, cooing and saying, "Can I help you?"

"Okay," said the prince, "thank you very much for your help yesterday, and thank you for helping me today." So the little pigeon picked up sticks of firewood and split them with its beak.The pigeon chopped the wood so fast that the prince had no time to take the wood away.After a while, all the firewood was chopped into small firewood.

The dove flew up and sat on his shoulder, and the Prince thanked it, stroked its white feathers, and kissed its little red beak.In an instant, the dove disappeared and turned into a beautiful maiden, standing beside the prince.She told the prince that she was a princess who was stolen here by a witch and turned her into a dove, but when he kissed her, she changed back to human form, and if he would be faithful to her and marry her, she could Let them escape from the clutches of the witch.

The prince was so moved by the beauty of the princess that he would do anything to get her.

So she said to him: "When the witch comes back, you must ask her to grant you a wish, because you have done so well what she asked you to do. After she agrees, you must directly ask the witch to grant you a wish." She became a princess with a white dove. But now, you must tie a red thread on my little finger, so that you will know me no matter what she has made of me."

The prince quickly tied a red silk thread on her little finger, and then the princess turned into a dove and flew away.No sooner had the princess flown away than the old witch came home with her bowl on her back.

"Hey," she said, "don't tell me, you've done a good job, which is not what princes and nobles are used to doing."

"Since you are so pleased with my work," said the Prince, "you will certainly like to make me happy, and give me something I like."

"Well, of course," said the old witch, "what do you want?"

"I want the princess who turns into a dove," said the prince.

"Nonsense!" said the witch. "Why do you think there is a princess who turns into a white dove here? But since you want a princess, you can choose one." The donkey came up to him and said, "Do you want it? There are no other princesses here!"

The prince looked carefully and saw the red thread wrapped around one of the donkey's hooves, and said, "Okay, I will take it."

"What do you want it for?" asked the witch.

"I can use it for riding," said the prince.But hearing this, the witch led the donkey away again, and then brought back an old, ugly, wrinkled, toothless old woman, whose hands were trembling because of her age.The witch said, "There is no other princess, do you want her?"

"Yes, I will," said the prince, for he saw the red thread wrapped around the old woman's fingers.

When the witch heard this, she was so angry that she smashed whatever she got, and smashed it to pieces.A house full of debris flew around the ears of the prince and princess.The princess stood there, and now she had recovered her beautiful figure.

Then, the prince and princess were going to have their wedding, because the witch had to keep her promise, and anyway, the prince was going to marry the princess.

At this time, the princess said to the prince: "At the wedding, you can eat whatever you want, but don't drink anything. If you drink, you will forget me."

However, on the wedding day, the prince forgot the princess's advice, and he reached out to get a glass of wine, but the princess kept watching him carefully, and she pushed him with her elbow, and the wine spilled on the tablecloth.

Then the Witch stood up again, and flew into a rage, just as she had been fooled the last time, smashing plates and saucers to pieces, and splashing all over the room around them.

Next, the prince and princess were led into their new house, and the door was closed.The princess said: "Now, the witch must keep her promise, but she will not keep it for long, so we must fly away at once. I will put two logs on the bed, and these logs will help us when the witch talks to us." Promise her. You take the flower pot on the window sill and the glass of water, we must sneak away and escape from here."

While speaking, they were ready.They both fled in haste in the dark, and the princess took the lead, flying ahead, because she knew the way, and she had scouted out the way when she flew as a dove.

In the middle of the night, the witch came to the door of the new house to call them, and the two pieces of wood promised her for them.So the witch thought they were still in the room.Before dawn, the witch went to the door to call them again, and the two logs helped them agree to her again.She thought they were still in her hands.When the wedding night is over and the sun rises the next day, her promise will be fulfilled, and then she will vent her anger and take revenge on them.Early in the morning, when the first rays of sunlight fell, the witch broke into the house, only to find that the prince and princess had disappeared—there was nothing on the bed but two logs.She stared at the two logs, unable to speak a word.She threw the log to the ground, smashed it to pieces, and hurried off after the fleeing prince and princess.

When the first rays of sunlight fell in the sky, the princess said to the prince, "Look around to see if there is anything following us."

"Yes, I saw a dark cloud far away," he said.

"Throw the pot behind your back," she said.As soon as the flowerpot was thrown out, a large black forest appeared behind them.

The witch rushed to the forest and couldn't get through, so she had to go home and get an ax to cut a road.

After a while, the princess said to the prince again, "Look around to see if there is anything following us."

"Yes," said the Prince, "that cloud has come again."

"Pour this glass of water over your back," she said.

As soon as he poured out the cup of water, a huge lake appeared behind them, and the witch couldn't get through it, so she had to run home again to get her flour bowl.

At this time, the prince and princess had arrived at the foot of the palace, which was the prince's home.They climbed over the garden wall, across the garden, and up an open window.At this moment, the witch followed closely, but the princess stood at the window and whistled towards the witch, and saw hundreds of white doves flying around, flapping their wings, and finally the witch was very angry. And it becomes a flint and steel.She became a giant flint and stood outside the window, where she still is.

The prince and his bride came back, and there was great joy in the palace.The prince's brothers also came, and knelt at his feet, and confessed what they had done, and said that he alone should inherit the whole kingdom, and they would be faithful to him forever.

(End of this chapter)