Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 25 Terre Deir Terre Deir and the Birds
Once upon a time there was a princess who was both beautiful and kind, and everyone loved her.Her father could not lose sight of her for a moment.One day, the princess disappeared suddenly. The king was almost distraught, and ordered people to search the whole country, but there was still no trace of the princess.In desperation, the king issued a proclamation: Whoever can bring the princess back to the palace can marry the princess.This announcement made all the young people start a new round of search, but they also failed, and returned disappointed one by one.

But he said that not far from the palace lived an old man with three sons.The parents obeyed the eldest son and the second son, and they could do whatever they wanted, but they always made the younger son obey the two elder brothers.After the two elder brothers grew up, the eldest told his father that he was tired of living an ordinary life and wanted to go out to see the world.

The old men, of course, grieved at the thought of saying goodbye to their eldest son, but without a second thought they began packing his travel essentials, and thoughtfully gave him an extra pair of new boots.Everything was ready, the eldest son said goodbye to everyone, and embarked on the journey happily.

The eldest son walked through a long forest path and came to a bare hillside, sat down to rest, and unpacked his bag to eat.

He hadn't eaten a few bites when he saw an old man in ragged clothes coming over, looking at his food, and asking if he could share some for himself.

"I won't give it to you!" said the eldest son, "I don't have enough to eat myself.

If you want to eat, earn it yourself. "The old man left.

After eating, the eldest son got up and walked for a few hours until he came to another mountain.He lay down on the grass and took some bread and milk from his bag.While he was eating and drinking, another old man, dressed more shabby than the previous one, came up and begged the eldest son for something to eat.As a result, not only did he not get food, but he was scolded by the eldest son, so he had to limped and left sadly.

In the evening, the eldest son came to an open place in the woods, thinking it was time for him to have some supper.A group of birds saw the food and hovered over his head, hoping to share some crumbs. The eldest son picked up a stone and threw it at them, and the birds flew away in fright.At this time, the eldest son began to think about where to spend the night. This piece of bare open land must not work, it is too cold.Exhausted from his day's travel, he staggered onward in search of a place to sleep.

At last he found a deep cave under a large rock, which seemed to be empty, so he went in, and lay down in a corner.In the middle of the night, he was awakened by a noise, looked out, and saw a terrible ogre come in.The eldest son begged the ogre not to hurt him, and let him spend the night here. The ogre agreed to his request, but she made a condition: the eldest son would do what she ordered the next day. Anything you want him to do.The eldest son agreed to the condition willingly, then turned around and fell asleep again.The next morning the ogre ordered the elder son to sweep out the soil and clean the cave before she came back, or he would be miserable.After speaking, the ogre banshee walked out of the cave.

The eldest son picked up the shovel and began to sweep the floor of the cave.But no matter how hard he tried, the dirt was still firmly stuck there and could not be removed.Soon the older son gave up and sat down in a corner in a huff, wondering how the ogre was going to punish him, why had she made himself do such an impossible task?

He didn't have to wait long before the ogre came back, and he knew what kind of punishment he would receive!The ogre took only one look at the cave floor, and then struck the eldest son on the head so hard that his skull cracked open and he died.

Later, the second son also got tired of the life at home, and made the parents restless all day long. In the end, they had to let him bring some food, a few new pairs of boots, and go to see the world.On the way, he also met the two old men, who also begged him for some bread and milk, but the second son had never learned how to help others, and he was used to taking everything for himself.So, he ignored their begging at all, and just ate his own.

Gradually, he also came to the cave, and was also ordered by the ogre to clean the cave. He failed like his brother, and finally encountered the same bad luck.

Everyone would think that the old couple had only one son, and even if they didn't like him, they should at least treat him better.But, though the boy was more filial to his parents than his elder brothers, they could not bear him.So, when he asked his parents to allow him to go out into the world, they immediately agreed, as if they had long been expecting him to go.They thought it generous to give him a new pair of boots and some bread and milk.

In addition to wanting to see the world, the young man also wanted to find out about the situation of his two older brothers. He decided to follow the path of his older brothers as much as possible.He came out of his father's hut, walked along the road to the hill, sat down to rest, and said to himself, "I think my brothers must have rested here too, and I want to be like them."

He was hungry and tired, so he took out the food his parents had prepared for him.He was just about to start eating when an old man appeared and asked if he could give himself some food.The young man immediately broke some bread, asked the old man to sit beside him, and fed him as if he were an old friend.At last the stranger stood up and said to the young man, "If you are in any trouble, call me, and I will help you. My name is Teretil." Then the old man said Disappeared, and the young man didn't know where he went.

The young man felt that he had rested enough and it was time to hurry.When he reached the second mountain, he met the second old man, who also gave the old man food and drink.After the old man finished eating, he said to the young man just like the first person: "If you need help, even if it is a small matter, just call me. My name is Lei Dier."

The young man continued on his way, and when he came to an open place in the forest, he stopped to eat.For a moment, it seemed as if all the birds of the world were hovering above his head, and he crumbled up some crumbs and threw them at them, watching them swoop down to eat them.Wait until they have eaten all the crumbs.The biggest bird in the flock, with the most beautiful feathers, said to the young man, "If you need help in trouble, just say, 'Come and help me, my bird!' and we will come Yes." After saying that, the birds flew away.

In the evening the young man came to the cave where his brothers had died, thinking, like the two brothers, that it would be a good place to sleep.As he looked around, he found some fragments of clothes and bones of dead people.He shuddered at the sight, but he didn't run away. He knew that the ogre would definitely come back, so he decided to wait for her.

Before long, the ogre stalked in.The young man asked her very politely if he could let him stay overnight.The ogre, as before, granted his request, on condition that the young man would do as she bid the next day, and do what she bid him.After agreeing to this condition, the young man curled up in a corner and fell asleep.

The dirt in the cave was thicker than before. The young man took a shovel to shovel it, but he couldn't move it no matter what, just like his two elder brothers. In the end, even the shovel got stuck in the dirt and couldn't be pulled out.The young man looked at all this in despair. At this moment, the words of the old man flashed in his mind, and he shouted loudly: "Treidil, Trideil, come and help me!"

Teretil immediately appeared beside him and asked him what he wanted.The young man told him exactly what had happened, and when he had finished Teretil said: "Shovel, shovel, do the work quickly." Immediately the shovel and shovel danced in the cave, till not a speck of dust lay on the ground. Stop when there is no more.As soon as the cave was cleaned, Teretil left.

The young man waited happily for the return of the ogre.When the ogre came in, she looked round carefully, and said to the young man, "You certainly did not do this alone. But since the ground is clear, I will keep your head."

Next morning the ogre ordered the young man to pluck all the feathers from her pillows, and spread them out in the sun to dry.But if she came back at night and found that one feather was missing, the young man's head would be gone.

The young man followed the instructions and moved the pillows out of the cave one by one, shaking out the feathers inside, wow!There are so many feathers in the pillow!While shaking his feathers carefully, he thought, how lucky the sun is so bright and there is not even a breath of wind in the sky.Who knows that he just thought of this, suddenly, a breeze blew, and the feathers immediately flew in the air.At first, the young man wanted to try his best to catch the feathers back, but soon he found that it was useless to catch them like this, and the feathers were still flying all over the sky.He yelled in despair: "Treidel, Ridir, my birds, come and help me!"

Before the words fell, they all came.The bird took all the feathers back, and Teretil, Lytil, and the young man repacked the feathers in the pillow, as the ogre had commanded.They left a feather on purpose, and said to the young man: "If the ogre is looking for this feather, you can poke her nose with the feather." just disappeared.

As soon as the ogre returned to the cave, she fell on the bed, and the whole cave shook.The ogre was surprised to see that the pillow was not only empty, but also fluffy and soft and full, but she was still not satisfied.She sat up, took out the pillows one by one, shook out the feathers inside, and counted them. "If you lose a feather, your head is gone," cried the young man, taking the feather from his pocket and poking the ogre's nose.
"If you want your feather, here it is!"

"You definitely didn't arrange the feathers alone," the ogre said calmly, "However, this time, you have passed the test."

That night, the young man slept soundly in a corner, and when he awoke in the morning, the ogre told him that his job that day was to slaughter a big cow, and before she went home, he would cook with the heart and make a drinking cup with its horn. "I have fifty cows, and you must guess which one I want to kill. If you guess correctly, you will not only be free tomorrow, but also have the right to choose three things as rewards for your labor these days. But , if you kill the wrong cow, your head will be gone."

The ogre was gone, the young man stood there thinking for a while, and then shouted: "Trediel, Leidier, come and help me!"

After a while, he saw them coming from a distance leading a cow. The young man had never seen such a big cow.When they approached, Teretil killed the cow, and Teretil took out the heart of the cow and asked the young man to cook. The two of them began to make the horns into wine glasses.Everything was going well, and they chatted happily as they worked.The young man told his friends about the ogre's promise.The old people told him that he must choose the box at the foot of the ogre's bed, the thing on the top of the bed, and the thing under the rock wall.Young people are grateful for their reminders.After finishing their work, the old people left.

No sooner had they left than the ogre returned, and seeing that everything had been prepared according to her orders, she said to the young man, "Surely you are not alone in this work, young man." Do it. But I'll keep my word, and you'll be on your way tomorrow." So they fell asleep and slept till dawn.

When the sun rose, the ogre woke the young man and told him to choose three things in the room.

"I'll take the box at the foot of your bed, the thing on top of your bed, and the thing under the rock wall," said the young man.

"Surely you did not choose these things yourself, young man," said the ogre, "but I will keep my word."

So the ogre gave three things to the young man.

The "thing on top of the bed" turned out to be the missing princess, the "chest at the foot of the bed" turned out to be full of gold and precious stones, and the "thing under the rock wall" turned out to be a large ship with amphibious boats Oars and sails.

"You are the luckiest person in the world," said the ogre, and walked out of the cave as usual.

It was with great difficulty that the young man carried the great chest into the boat, and walked aboard side by side with the princess.He himself took the helm and sailed the ship back to the princess' father's kingdom.When the king saw his long-lost daughter, he was overjoyed and almost fainted. After calming down, he asked the young man to tell the whole story.After listening to the story, the king said: "Since you have found her, you should marry her."

So the young man and the princess tied the knot.The story should end here.

(End of this chapter)