blue fairy tale book

Chapter 22 White Cat (2)
"This time," she added, "I will send you a suitable retinue." The prince looked into the courtyard and saw a luxurious golden carriage parked outside, painted with fiery red glaze. A thousand different patterns.It was drawn by twelve snow-white horses in a row of four, and the horse ornaments were all made of fiery red velvet and studded with diamonds.Another 12 carriages followed, each drawn by eight horses, and many officers in splendid uniforms sat on them, and 100 guards guarded the procession. "Go!" said the white cat, "when you appear before the king with such grandeur, he will certainly not deny you the throne that you deserve. Take this walnut and don't open it until you see your father. It contains you The cloth you asked for."

"Dear white cat," said the prince, "how can I thank you for being so kind to me? Just tell me you wish me to give up the throne, and I will stay here with you all my life."

"Prince," she answered, "you show kindness by showing such affection for a little white cat who is good at nothing but catching mice, but you needn't stay."

So the Prince kissed her little paw and set off.I tell you, they reached the king's palace in half the time it took them to ride back on the wooden horse, and you can imagine how fast they traveled.This time the little prince started too late, so he did not go to the castle to meet his brothers, and they thought he would not come, and were very happy.They proudly showed their muslin to the king, sure that they would succeed this time.It is true that their cloth was quite fine, and would pass through the eye of a large needle, but the King, being fond of fault, sent for a special needle, which was kept with the Royal Treasure, and whose eye was too small. Now, everyone saw at a glance that their cloth would not go through at all.The two princes were very angry, and began to complain that it was a trick, when suddenly a trumpet sounded and the little prince entered.Seeing the majestic motorcade of the little prince, the king and the two eldest princes were stunned.The little prince greeted the king and his brother, then took the walnut out of his pocket, and opened it, expecting to see the muslin at a glance, but there was only a hazelnut in it.He cracked open the hazelnut, and inside was a cherry stone.Everyone was watching, and the King was amused to think that the little prince was going to find a piece of muslin among the nuts.

However, the prince broke open the cherry stone and saw that there was only one nut in it, and everyone laughed.He opened the nut and found a grain of wheat in it, and a millet in the kernel.He was starting to be surprised himself, and muttered softly, "White cat, white cat, are you kidding me?"

Before he finished speaking, he felt a cat's paw scratching the back of his hand hard, hoping it would encourage him, so he opened the chestnut, and sure enough, he took out a bolt of muslin four hundred ells long. Made of the most beautiful colors and most fantastic patterns.The needle was retrieved, and the fabric went through the eye of the needle six times with ease!The king's face turned pale, and the two great princes stood there in mournful silence, for no one could deny that it was the most wonderful piece of muslin in all the world.

After a while, the king sighed deeply, turned to his sons and said, "I am old, and nothing comforts me more than to see you so willing to fulfill my wishes. You go out again, as long as you can bring back the last one at the end of the year." Beautiful princess, anyone can marry her, and get the throne immediately, because only married people can inherit the throne." The little prince thought that he had won the kingdom justly twice, but he was very educated. Instead of arguing, he just turned around and returned to the gorgeous carriage. Surrounded by his entourage, he returned to the white cat faster than when he came back.

This time she was waiting for his return, and the road was strewn with flowers, and a thousand charcoal pots were burning with fragrant wood, filling the air with fragrance.The white cat sat waiting for him in one of the highest balconies, so that he could see him coming. "Oh, Prince," she said, "you have come here again without a crown." "Madame," said the Prince, "thank you for your generosity in helping me to win the crown twice, but in fact my father Very reluctant to hand over the throne, so I don't want to force it."

"Never mind," she replied, "may as well make one more effort to get it. Since I must take a beautiful princess home this time, I will find one for you. In the meantime, let us have a good time." Well, to-night I have arranged for my cat to have a fight with the Rats for your amusement." So they had an even happier year than the previous two.Sometimes the prince couldn't help asking why the white cat could talk.

"Perhaps you are a fairy," he said, "or some wizard turned you into a cat?"

But she never tells the truth.Time always flies by when one is happy, and of course the Prince never thought it was time to go home.When they were sitting together one evening, the white cat said that if he wanted to take the beautiful princess home with him the next day, he must be ready to do as she commanded.

"Take this sword," she said, "and chop off my head!"

"I!" cried the Prince, "let me chop off your head! How could I do that, dear White Cat?"

"I beg you to do as I say, Prince," she answered.

Tears filled the prince's eyes, and he begged the white cat not to let him chop off her head, but he would do nothing else, he did not want to suffer the pain of killing his beloved cat.But no matter what he said, he couldn't change the white cat's decision. In the end, he had to draw out his sword, and with trembling hands, he chopped off the white cat's little head in disappointment.Suddenly, a beautiful princess stood in front of him, one can imagine how surprised and delighted he was.While he was still speechless with astonishment, the door opened, and in came a host of lords and ladies, each holding a cat's skin!Joyfully they ran to the princess, kissed her hand, and congratulated her on being restored to her former self.She accepted their congratulations graciously, but after a few minutes she begged to be left alone with the prince, and said to him:
"You see, Prince, you guessed I was not an ordinary cat, and you guessed it. My father ruled six kingdoms. He loved my mother, the queen. The queen loved travel and adventure, and when I was only a few weeks old she With the permission of her father, she went to visit a great mountain. She had heard many magical legends about that mountain. She set off with many entourages, and she had to pass a castle of goblins on the way. No one has ever entered the castle, but it is said that there are Full of the most wonderful things, my mother remembered that she had heard that in the garden of the goblins there were some fruits that she could not see or taste anywhere else. She wished to taste it herself, so she went to the garden. When she came to the jeweled door in the garden, she ordered her servants to knock loudly, but it was in vain, for it seemed that all the inhabitants of the castle were asleep or dead. But the harder it was to get the fruit, the more determined was the Queen to get it So she ordered the servants to find some ladders, and prepared to climb over the wall and enter the garden. Although the garden wall did not look high, they connected the ladders together to make a long ladder, and it was difficult to climb to the top of the wall. Totally impossible.

"The queen was disappointed. As it was getting dark, she ordered her servants to camp and went to bed herself, very unhappy--she was very disappointed. She was awakened suddenly in the middle of the night, and she was surprised to see an ugly little old woman Sitting on the edge of the bed, the old woman said to her:

"'I must say that we find it a little troublesome that Your Majesty wants to taste our fruit. But in order to satisfy your wish, my sisters and I agree to let you take as much as you can, on one condition, that you will Give us your little girl to raise her as our own." "'Oh!My dear lady,' cried the Queen, 'is there nothing else for your fruit?I can voluntarily give you all my kingdom. '" 'No,' answered the old goblin, 'we want nothing but your little daughter. She will be happy forever, and we will let her have everything Fairyland deserves, but you shall not see her again until she is married '"'Though your terms are harsh,' said the Queen, 'I agree, because I shall never live without tasting the fruit, so I will leave my daughter whichever way I go. ' "So the old goblin led her into the castle, and though it was midnight, the queen could clearly see that the castle was far more beautiful than she had heard. You can easily believe that, Prince," said the white cat. "Because I tell you, we are in that castle now. 'Queen, will you pick the fruit yourself?' asked the old goblin, 'or shall I make the fruit come to you by itself?'"'I beg See how they are called,' cried the Queen, 'that will be a very new thing. ’ the old goblin whistled twice, and cried:

"'Apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums, pears, melons, grapes, apples, oranges, lemons, currants, strawberries, raspberries, come here!" came over, but none of them were soiled or broken, and the Queen found them to be as good as she had imagined.Because they come out of fairy trees.

"The old goblin gave her many golden baskets of fruit, so much fruit that it took 400 mules to carry them away. At this time, the old goblin reminded the queen of what she had promised, and took her back to the camp. The next morning, the queen returned to her but he did not go far before he began to regret his agreement. When the king came out to meet her, seeing her very sad, he thought something must be wrong, and asked her what was the matter. At first the queen was afraid to tell him the truth. , but when they had just entered the palace, the goblins sent five scary little dwarfs to fetch me, and the queen had to confess her promise to the king. The king was very angry and locked the queen and me in a In the giant tower, under strict protection, the little dwarves were driven out of the kingdom. But the goblins sent a dragon, which ate everyone it met, and its breath scorched as it passed through the kingdom. Everything. In the end, the king couldn't drive the monster away. In order to protect his subjects, he had to agree to hand me over to the goblin. This time, they came to pick me up in a pearl carriage pulled by a sea horse. Me, followed by the dragon on a diamond chain. My cradle was placed between two old goblins who caressed me. Then we spun through the sky and came to a castle built for me. the tower.

I grew up there, surrounded by beautiful and rare things, and learned everything a princess should know.It's just that I don't have any friends except a parrot and a puppy, both of whom can talk.Every day, an old goblin rides a dragon to visit me.But one day, as I was sitting at the window, I saw a handsome little prince who was standing looking up at me, as if he had been hunting in the forest surrounding my prison.He greeted me with great respect when he saw I noticed him.You must imagine that I was delighted to be talking to a new acquaintance, so that despite my high window our conversation lasted until dark, when the Prince reluctantly took his leave.He came many times after that and finally I agreed to marry him, but the problem is how can I escape from the tower.The old goblins have been supplying me with flax to weave, and with great pains I wove a long rope, enough to be used as a ladder to reach the foot of the tower.But alas!Just as the prince was helping me down, an extremely angry and ugly old goblin flew in.My unfortunate lover was swallowed by the dragon before he could resist.As for me, the goblins planned to marry me to the dwarf king, but I flatly refused, their plan was thwarted, and in their rage they turned me into a white cat.When they brought me here, I found that all the nobles and noblemen of my father's court were under the same enchantment, waiting for me here, and those of the lower ranks had all but their hands. gone.

"The old goblins told me all about me when they cast their spells on me, because until then I believed I was their daughter. They told me that my only chance to be restored was to win a Prince's love, this prince will be exactly like my unfortunate lover."

"You have received such love, sweet princess," put in the Prince.

"You really resemble him very well," continued the princess, "--sound, face, and everything else. If you really loved me, then all my troubles would melt away."

"If you will marry me," cried the Prince, falling at her feet, "all my troubles will be over."

"You are already the person I love the most in the world," she said, "but now you should go back to your father, and we want to hear what he has to say this time."

So the prince stretched out his hand and led her out of the house, and together they got into the carriage, which was more magnificent this time with the whole retinue.Even the horseshoes are made of ruby ​​and diamond studs, which I think is the first time I have seen such a thing.

The princess was not only beautiful but also kind and intelligent, and everything she told so fascinated the prince, so you can imagine how pleasant the trip was to the prince.

When they came near the castle where the prince and his two brothers had agreed to meet, the princess sat in a palanquin, carried by four guards, hewn from a wonderful crystal, and hung with silk curtains.The princess drew the curtain so that no one could see herself.

The little prince saw the two brothers, each carrying a lovely princess, up the terrace of the castle, and they all came to meet him, and asked him if he had found his wife too.The little prince said he had found something more precious - a white cat!
They couldn't help laughing when they heard this, and asked the little prince if he was afraid of being eaten by the mice in the palace.Then they went back to the city together.Each pair of princes and princesses rode in a magnificent carriage, and the horses were feathered and glittered with gold.The little prince followed, and at the end of the procession was the crystal sedan chair. Everyone looked at the sedan chair with both admiration and curiosity.When the courtiers saw them coming, they hurried to report to the king.

"Are the princesses beautiful?" he asked eagerly.

When the courtiers replied that no one had ever seen such a lovely princess, the king looked very troubled.

He received them graciously, however, but he found it impossible to decide which of the two was the prettier.

Then he turned to the youngest son and asked:

"You finally came back alone?"

"Your Majesty," the little prince replied, "you will see a little white cat in that crystal palanquin. It has soft paws and a lovely cry. I'm sure you will be fascinated by it."

The king smiled, and when he was about to pull back the curtain of the sedan chair, the princess tapped lightly, and the crystal broke into pieces immediately, and the beautiful and extraordinary princess stood there.She wore a garland of flowers on her head, her golden hair fell on her shoulders, and her long white dress fell softly.She greeted the king gracefully, only to hear the sound of praise coming from all around.

"Your Majesty," she said, "I have not come to dispossess you. You are a wise monarch. I have six kingdoms, and I will give you and your sons one each. .I only ask for your friendship to allow me to marry your little prince, so that we still have three kingdoms to ourselves."

The king and his courtiers couldn't hide their surprise, so the three princes got married immediately.The wedding celebrations lasted for several months, and then each king and queen returned to their respective kingdoms and lived happily ever after.

(End of this chapter)