Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 1 Lovely Elonka
Once upon a time there was a prince who told his father that he wanted to get married.

"No, no!" said the king, "you can't be in such a hurry to marry until you have achieved something. Your grandfather waited for me to get the golden sword, which you saw me always wearing, before he let me marry. of."

The prince was very disappointed, but it never occurred to him to disobey his father's orders, so he racked his brains to do something great.

It was no use staying at home, so he set out to roam the world, trying his luck to find the fabled three rushes.One day, while walking along the road, he came to a small shed and saw an old woman curled up and warming herself by the fire.

"Good evening, old woman. You look very old. Do you know the three rushes?"

"Yes, yes, I am not young and have experienced many things, but I have never seen or heard what you just asked. Of course, if you are willing to wait until tomorrow, I may tell you something .”

He had to wait until the next morning.The old woman came out early in the morning. She took out a small tube and blew air into it.In a short while, all the crows in the world were flying around her, not one less.She asked the crows if they knew about the three rushes, but none of the crows did.

So the prince continued on his way.Not far away, he found another small hut in which an old man lived.

He asked the old man the same question, and the old man said he knew nothing.But the old man begged the prince to stay for the night.The next morning the old man called all the ravens and asked the same question, but they didn't know either.

The prince said goodbye to the old man and set off again.He had traveled far, through the seven kingdoms, until one evening he came to a cottage in which also lived an old woman.

"Good evening, old woman," he said politely.

"Good evening, dear child," replied the old woman, "you are a lucky man to be able to talk to me, or you would have died a miserable death. May I ask you, where is this going?"

"I am looking for three rushes, do you know them?"

"I don't know it myself, but I'll probably tell you tomorrow." The next morning, she blew on the pipe, hi, lo and behold!Every magpie in the world flew here.In other words, all the magpies came except for one magpie whose legs and wings were broken.The old woman immediately caught the injured magpie.When she asked the magpies, only the lame magpie knew where the three rushes grew.

So the prince set off with the lame magpie.They walked, and walked, until they came to a great stone wall.The stone walls are many feet high.

"Well, Prince," said the Magpie, "there are three rushes growing just behind the stone wall."

Without saying a word, the prince tied the horse under the big wall and jumped over it.He found the three rushes, pulled them up, and turned away.On the way, a rush suddenly bumped into something and tore it apart.Unexpectedly, a cute girl popped out of it.She said, "My dear baby, you are mine and I am yours. Give me a glass of water."

The prince has no water in his hand, how can he give her water to drink?So the lovely girl flew away.He tore a second rush to test it, and the same thing happened.So he treated the third rush with extra care, and when he came to a well, he tore it open, and out of it jumped out a girl, seven times cuter than the first two.The girl also said: "My dear, I am yours, and you are mine, give me a glass of water to drink!"

This time the water was ready and the girl did not fly away.She and the prince promised each other that they would love each other forever, and they set off home.

Soon they reached the prince's country.The prince, wishing to bring his bride-to-be home in a splendid carriage, went into town in search of one.The king's swineherd and cowherd were driving a herd of cattle to drink at a well in the field, and the prince entrusted Ilonka (the girl's name) to their care.

Unfortunately, the leading swineherd had a daughter who was ugly and old.As soon as the prince was gone, he dressed his daughter in beautiful clothes, and threw Ironka into the well.

Not long after the prince came back, he took his father, mother and a large group of courtiers to welcome Ilonka home.But what a surprise they were when they saw the swineherd's hideous daughter!However, there was no other way but to take her home.Two days later the prince married the ugly girl, and his father gave him the throne.

But he has no more peace!Although he couldn't figure out what was going on, he knew he had been cheated.Once, he wanted to drink from the well that Ilonka had fallen into, and the driver went to do it.When the water came up, he was stunned to see a cute little duck swimming in the bucket.Suddenly the duckling disappeared, and he found a dirty girl standing in front of him.The girl went back with the king, and managed to get a job as a maid in the palace.

Of course she was very busy all day long, but whenever she had free time she sat down and spun.As soon as the spindle was pulled, the spindle spun the thread, and the flax was stripped of itself; however much flax she used, there was still plenty left.The Queen, or the Swineherd's Daughter, heard of it, and wished very much for the spinning rod.The girl flatly refused to give her the spinning rod.At last the girl said that if she would sleep one night in the king's bedroom, she would give the queen the spinning rod.The queen was very angry, and scolded her severely.But the queen, eager to get the spinning rod, agreed to the request.At supper she gave the king sleeping pills.

When the girl entered the king's bedroom, she looked seven times more beautiful than ever.She went up to the sleeping King and bent down, saying, "My dear, I am yours and you are mine. Speak to me, I am your Elonka." But the King was asleep and did not listen. and did not speak; Ilonka left the room, very sad, thinking that the King was ashamed to have her.

The queen soon sent again to say that she would buy the spindle, and the girl promised her again on the same terms as before.But this time the queen also cautiously administered sleeping pills to the king.Ironka went into the king's bedroom again and spoke to him.She said something as sweet as she could, but it still went unanswered.

Some of the king's attendants noticed this, and warned their master not to eat or drink what the queen had given him, because she had given him sleeping pills for two nights in succession.The Queen, not knowing that her deeds had been discovered, asked for some flax again a few days later, and promised the same.She wasn't scared at all.

When it was time for supper, the queen sent the king a lot of good food and drink, but the king said he was not hungry at all, and went to bed early.

The queen regretted her promise to the girl very much, but it was too late to take it back, and Ilonka went into the king's bedroom.The king lay anxiously in the house and waited, not knowing what was going to happen.Suddenly, he saw a lovely girl bending over and saying to him, "My dear, I am yours and you are mine. Talk to me, for I am your Elonka."

Hearing these words, the king's heart was pounding, and he rolled over, hugged Ilonka and kissed her vigorously.Ironka told all that had happened to her since the King had left her.After hearing what happened to Ironka, the king understood how he had been cheated.Vowing revenge, he ordered the swineherd to be hanged, along with his wife and daughter.

The next day, the king happily married the fairy Ilonka.

(End of this chapter)