Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 7 The Child Who Keeps a Secret (1)
Once upon a time there was a poor widow who had a little son.At first glance, you won't think he is any different from other little boys, but if you look closely, you will find a sword sheath hanging beside him.As the child grew, so did the scabbard.The sword in its scabbard protruded from the garden floor and was discovered by the little boy.Every day he drew the sword to see if it fit into the scabbard.Although the sword has become longer and longer, after a long time, the sword and the scabbard still do not match.

But finally one day, the sword was easily inserted into the sheath.The little boy was so delighted that he could not believe his eyes, so he tried seven times, and each time the sword went into the scabbard more easily than the last.The little boy was very happy and had a beautiful dream but he decided not to tell anyone about it, especially his mother, who never kept a secret from her neighbors.

Despite his determination, some things are hard to hide.When he went to breakfast, his mother asked him why he was so happy.

"Oh, mother, I had a wonderful dream last night," he said, "but I can't tell anyone about it."

"You can tell me," she answered, "that it must have been a sweet dream, or you wouldn't be so happy."

"No, mother, I can't tell anyone," replied the child, "only when dreams come true."

"I want to know what the dream was, I want to know," she cried, "if you don't tell me, I'll beat you."

Everything is useless, no matter beating or scolding, you can't get the secret from the child.Her hands were tired and she had to let go of the child.The child ached all over, and ran into the garden, knelt beside the little sword, and wept.The sword kept spinning by itself in the hole, and anyone but the boy who tried to grab it would be cut badly.Then he reached out, and the sword stopped, and slipped silently into its scabbard.The child sat on the ground and cried for a long time, and the crying alarmed the king who was passing by in his car. "Go and see who is crying," he said to a servant.The servant went away for a few minutes and came back saying:

"Your Majesty, there was a little boy on his knees crying, and his mother beat him."

"Bring him to me at once," ordered the king, "and tell him that the king wants to see him. The king has never cried in his life, and cannot bear others to cry." After hearing this, the child wiped away his tears and followed the servants to the royal chariot. forward. "Would you like to be my son?" asked the king.

"Yes, if my mother agrees," replied the child.The king bade his servants go to his mother, and told her that if she would give him the child, it would live in the palace, and when it was a man, it would marry his beautiful daughter.

The widow turned from anger to joy, ran to the magnificent carriage, and kissed the king's hand. "I want you to obey the king more than I do," she said to her son.The child backed away half-shocked and half-frightened.He went to the garden and drew out the little sword, and put it in the scabbard.

After they had walked some distance, the king said, "Why were you crying so bitterly in the garden just now?"

"Because my mother hit me." The child replied.

"Why did she beat you?" asked the king again.

"I didn't tell her the dream I had."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because I will tell others only when the dream becomes real," the child replied.

"Won't you tell me too?" asked the king in amazement.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I won't even tell you," he replied.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll tell me when you get home," said the king, laughing.

He talked to the boy about other things, and they went to the palace.

"I have brought you a lovely present," he said to his daughters.The boy was very handsome, and they welcomed him with great joy, and gave him their best toys.

"Don't spoil him," said the King one day, when he saw them playing, "he has a secret that he doesn't tell anyone."

"He will tell me," said the elder princess, but the boy just shook his head.

"He will tell me," said the second daughter.

"I won't tell," the boy replied.

"He will tell me," said the youngest and prettiest daughter.

"I won't tell anyone until the dream comes true," the child said as before. "I'll beat anyone who asks me."

The king was very sorry to hear this, because he loved the child very much.But he sees no need to keep around anyone who doesn't obey his orders.So he ordered his servants to take the child away and not let him enter the palace until he recovered.

The sword clattered loudly as the child was led away.The kid was upset that he was treated so badly because he had done nothing wrong, but he still didn't say anything.The servants were very kind to him, and their children brought him fruit and many good things, and he soon became happy again, and lived with them for many years, until his seventeenth birthday.

At this time, the two elder princesses had grown up and married the kings of two great countries overseas.The youngest princess has also reached the age of marriage, but she is very picky and looks down on the princes who propose to her.

One day she was sitting in the palace feeling very lonely and bored, and suddenly she wanted to see what the servants were doing and whether they were telling jokes in their quarters.The king was in a council, and the queen was sick in bed, so no one could stop the princess, so she ran quickly across the garden to the servants' quarters.Outside the house she saw a young man, more handsome than any prince she had ever seen.She knew right away that he was the little boy she had played with.

"Tell me your secret and I will marry you," she told him.But the kid hit her as he said before.The princess was not only injured, but also very angry. She ran home to complain to her father.

"If he had a thousand souls, I would destroy them all," the king swore.

On this day, a gallows was built outside the city, and all the people flocked to see the young man who dared to beat the king's daughter and how he was hanged.The prisoner's hands were tied behind his back, and the executioner led him out.In deathly silence the judge read his sentence.At this time, the sword suddenly clanged beside him.Immediately a loud noise was heard, and a golden carriage rumbled across the stone road, with a white flag waving from the window.The carriage stopped just under the gallows, and out of it came the King of Hungary, who came to ask that the boy's life be spared.

"Sir, he hit my daughter, and she only wanted him to tell her his secret. I cannot forgive it," replied the princess' father.

"Give him to me, and I'm sure he will tell me the secret. If not, I have a daughter like the morning star, and he will tell her the secret."

The sword sounded again, and the king said angrily, "Well, if you want him so badly, you can take him, but don't let me see him again." He motioned to the executioner.The blindfolds from the young man's eyes were removed, the cords from his wrists were undone, and he got into the golden carriage and sat beside the King of Hungary.The coachman whipped the horses, and they set off for Beyoda.

They walked some miles, and the King talked very pleasantly, when he felt that his new companion knew him very well, and asked him what secret had brought him so much trouble. "I won't tell you," replied the young man, "until the dream comes true."

"You will tell my daughter," said the king with a smile.

"I will tell no one," answered the young man, the sword clanging loudly as he spoke.

The king said nothing more, but believed that his daughter's beauty would make him tell the secret.

It was a long drive to Beyoda, and it took them a few days to get there.The beautiful princess was picking roses in the garden when the king's carriage arrived.

"Oh, handsome young man! Did you bring him from Fairyland?" she cried, as they stood on the marble steps before the castle.

"I brought him from the gallows," answered the king.He was annoyed by his daughter's words. She had never wanted to talk to any man before.

"I don't care where you brought him from," said the spoiled daughter, "I'm not going to marry anyone but him, and we're going to live together until we grow old."

"After you have asked him the secret he would not tell anyone," said the king, "you will not think so, and he is only a servant after all."

"That doesn't matter to me," said the princess, "for I love him. He will tell me the secret, and I will love him very much."

The king shook his head, and ordered the young man to be put up in the gazebo.

One day after a week, the princess put on her best clothes and went to visit him.The princess looked so beautiful that when he saw her the book fell from his hands, and he rose in silence. "Tell me," she coaxed him, "what's your wonderful secret? Whisper it in my ear and I'll give you a kiss."

"My angel," he answered, "if you wish to return safely to your father's palace, please be wise and ask no questions. I have kept this secret for many years, and I am not going to speak of it now." come out."

However, the girl didn't listen to him, and continued to ask him to speak, until finally, he slapped her so hard that her nose bleeds.Pained and angry, she ran back to the palace screaming.Father was waiting there to hear if she had succeeded. "I'm going to starve you, son of the devil!" he yelled when he saw blood on his daughter's clothes.He ordered all the masons and brickworkers in the town to be called.

"Build me a tower as soon as possible," he said, "leave only a room where you can put a stool and a small table, and leave no other place." The craftsmen started to work, and the tower was repaired in two hours. They went to the palace to ask The king reported that the task was completed.When they saw the princess on the way, she stopped a mason, and when the others were far away and could not hear their conversation, she asked the mason if she could make a hole in the tower that no one else could see, a hole the size of a wine bottle. , as long as the food can be sent in.

"Of course," said the mason, and turned back, and soon the hole was drilled.

(End of this chapter)