Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 36 The story of the ambitious tailor and fake prince (2)
The king is about to explain to the queen when the door is knocked open and Prince Oma rushes in, followed by guards who try to take him away.He rushed to the throne, and gasped, "Let me die here! Cruel father, kill me now, for I cannot bear this disgrace any longer."

Everyone held the man down, and the guards were just about to take him away, but the queen stood up from her throne in surprise.

"Wait!" she cried, "he is the real prince, and no one else. He is the prince I have never seen, but I know in my heart."

The guards drew back, but the king ordered them in an angry voice to take the madman away.

"This matter must be decided by me," said the king in a commanding tone, "not by a woman's dream, but by unmistakable evidence. This (he points to Rabakan) is my son, because it was he who brought Ai Phoebe's mark—that dagger was given to me."

"That's what he stole from me," Omar screamed. "He betrayed my unsuspecting trust in him."

However, the king didn't want to listen to his son's explanation. He was used to relying on his own judgment to make conclusions.He ordered the grieving Omar to be dragged out of the hall while he and Rabakan returned to their rooms.He was very angry with the queen for this, though the king and queen had always been on good terms.

The queen, too, was in grief, convinced that the impostor had won her husband's heart, and had taken the place of her own son.

After being sad, she began to think about how to make the king realize her mistake.This was of course a problem, because the man who called himself Omar not only had a dagger as a sign, but he could also tell a lot about his childhood.

The queen called the oldest and wisest ladies around her, and asked them what they could do.However, none of them could come up with a good idea.Finally, a very wise old woman said: "Didn't the man with the dagger call your dream son Rabakan and say he is a crazy tailor?"

"Yes," replied the Queen, "what can it be?"

"Could it be," said the old woman, "that impostor is calling your son by his own name?

If so, I have a way to find out the truth. "

She whispered her idea in the queen's ear, and the queen seemed very satisfied, and immediately went out to see the king.

The queen was a very wise woman, and she pretended that she might be wrong, but asked the king to allow her to test herself and see who the real prince was.

The king was also regretting that he should not have lost his temper with the queen. Hearing this, he immediately agreed to his wife's request.The queen said: "There is no doubt that someone will make them ride horses or shoot arrows, and everyone knows that.

I'm going to give them a task that will test their wits as well as their craft.I'm going to have them make a long sleeve top and pants. "

The king smiled and said, "No, it won't do. You want my son to try out his clothes with that crazy tailor? Oh, my dear, it won't work."

But the queen wanted him to keep his word, and the king was a man of his word, so he had no choice but to agree to the queen.However, he himself hurried to his son and begged his son to make a long-sleeved blouse for his mother.

Rabakan secretly rejoiced. "If that's what she wants," he thought, "she'll admit mine soon enough."

So, the servants prepared two rooms, put fabrics, scissors, and needles and threads in them, and the two young men were locked into a room respectively.

The king was very curious about what kind of clothes his son would make, and the queen was also eager to know the results of her test.

On the third day, they sent someone to bring over the two young men and their works.Rabakan came in first, and he showed the long-sleeved tunic in front of the king. "You see, my lord," he said, "you see, my lord mother, it is a masterpiece. I bet there is no tailor at court better than I am."

The queen smiled, turned to Omar and asked, "What did you do, son?"

Omar impatiently threw the fabric and scissors on the ground. "I have learned to ride a horse, I have learned to fencing, I have learned to throw a spear sixty paces, but I have never learned to sew. This kind of thing is not worth mentioning in the eyes of Effie Bey, a senior official in Cairo."

"Oh, you are the true son of your father the King," cried the Queen, "I should like to hug you and call you son!
Forgive me and my husband. ’ She turned to the king: ‘Forgive us for using this method to discern authenticity from falsehood.Your Majesty, do you now understand who is the prince and who is the tailor?This long-sleeved top is certainly exquisite in craftsmanship, but I would like to ask which master taught this young man to make clothes? "

The king fell into deep thought, looking at his wife for a while, and Rabakan for a while.Rabakan fought back his regret over his foolishness.Finally, the king said: "Even this test does not satisfy me, but fortunately I know that there is a way to test whether I have been deceived."

He ordered his fastest horse to be prepared, and rode alone to a nearby forest.Here lived a kind fairy, Aduside, who often advised the king's ancestors, and the king came to ask her.

In the middle of the forest there was a clearing, surrounded by tall cedars, which was the fairy's favorite place.

Here the king dismounted from his horse and tied it to a tree. He stood in the middle of the clearing and shouted: "If you really helped my ancestors when they were in need, don't despise their descendants, please give I suggest, let me identify the authenticity." Just as he finished speaking, a cedar tree opened, and a veiled man in white came out.

"I know the purpose of your visit, King Sassid," she said, "and I will help you. Take these two lockets and let those two who say they are your sons choose one. I know, really Your prince cannot be wrongly chosen."

When she had finished speaking, she handed to the King two ivory boxes inlaid with gold and pearls.On the lid of each box (the king tried to open the lid, but he couldn't) there were words engraved with diamonds.One was inscribed with "Charity and Honor" and the other "Wealth and Happiness."

"This is a difficult choice," thought the king as he rode back.

When he returned to the palace, he immediately ordered the queen and all the courtiers to be summoned.When everyone was here, he gestured and Rabakan was ushered in.He walked haughtily to the throne, knelt down and said:

"My dear father, what are your orders?"

The king replied: "My son, your identity is questioned. In one of these two boxes is a proof of your identity. Make your choice. You will undoubtedly choose the right one."

The king pointed to two ivory boxes that stood beside the throne.

Rabakan stood up and looked at the box.He thought for a while, and said: "My respected father, being your son is more happiness than anything else, and your love is more precious than anything else. I choose 'wealth and happiness'."

"We'll know right away if you've chosen the right one. You sit down next to the Pasha in Medina," said the king.

Then Omar was brought in, and he knelt before the throne with a dejected face, asking what the king's orders were.The king showed him two boxes, and he got up and approached them.He carefully looked at the words on the box, and said: "I have seen how uncertain happiness is these days, and wealth is so easily dispersed. Even if I lose the crown, I will choose 'personality and honor'."

As he spoke he put his hand on the box, but the king motioned him to wait a moment, and he ordered Rabakan to go to the other box and put his hand on the box he had chosen as well.

The king stood up from his throne, and all the people in the court stood up silently, and the king said, "Open the box and let Allah tell us the truth."

The box is opened.Omar's box contained a small gold crown and a regalia on a velvet cushion.Inside Rabakan's box is a large needle and some thread.

The king ordered the two young men to bring up their respective boxes.They complied.The king picked up the crown with his hands, and the crown grew bigger and bigger until it became as big as the real crown.He put the crown on the head of his son Omar, kissed his forehead, and made him stand by his right hand.Then, turning to Rabakan again, he said: "There is a saying, 'A shoemaker must spike his shoe until he dies.' It seems you will continue to use your needle. You don't deserve my forgiveness, but I don't want to be too harsh today. I I can spare your life, but I warn you, get out of my kingdom, the sooner the better!"

The unlucky tailor was too ashamed to answer.He fell headlong at Omar's feet and asked with tears in his eyes, "Can you forgive me, Prince?"

①Senior official titles in Turkey and other countries.

"Go quietly." Omar said to help him up.

"O my true son!" cried the king, taking the prince by the arm, and all the officials of the court also cried:

"Long live Prince Omar!"

Amidst the cheers, Rabakan slipped out holding his own small box.He went into the stable, took out his old Mamova, and walked out of the city gate towards the city of Alexandria.Only the ivory box and the diamond motto on it could prove to him that the past few weeks had not been a dream.

When he arrived in Alexandria, he went straight to the door of his old master's shop.As soon as he entered the shop, the master ran out and asked him what he needed, but when the master saw that it was Rabakan, he called out all the workers, and the angry workers scolded and beat Rabakan until he finally passed out. Die on a pile of ragged clothes.

Then, the master loudly reprimanded him for stealing the official robe, Rabakan said in vain that he had come back to pay for it, and expressed his willingness to pay three times the price.After hearing this, the workers beat and kicked him again, and finally, they dragged the half-dead Rabakan out of the house.

He had no choice but to ride to an inn.He found a quiet room here to heal and reflect on his misfortune.He is determined to give up the idea of ​​being a big man and become a craftsman down-to-earth.

The next morning, he began to implement his plan.First, he sold his locket to a jeweler for a high price, then he bought a house with the money, opened a shop, and hung a sign on the door of the shop: "Rabakan Tailor Shop ".When all this was done, he sat down to mend his torn garments with the needles in the ivory box.

After a while, someone told him to go out, and when he came back, he found that a miracle had happened!The needle was actually sewing the clothes by itself, and the small stitches were so beautiful that no matter how hard Rabakan tried, he couldn't compare.

Of course, even the smallest gift from a good fairy is priceless.This needle also has a unique skill, no matter how many things you sew, it never runs out of thread.

Rabakan quickly won many customers.He cut the clothes first, then sewed a stitch with the magic needle, and let the magic needle dry the rest.It didn't take long for people in the town to come to him to sew clothes when they saw that his work was good and cheap.

The only thing they didn't understand was how he could do so much work all by himself, and why was the door always closed when he was doing it?
In this way, the "wealth and happiness" on the ivory box really came to him.Whenever he heard the heroic deeds of Prince Omar, whom the people were proud of and whose enemies were terrified, the "former prince" would say to himself, "After all, I'd rather be a tailor because defending' Personality and honor' are always very dangerous."

(End of this chapter)