blue fairy tale book

Chapter 26 The Magical Sheep (1)
Once upon a time, in the age of fairies, there lived a king who had three daughters, who were young, wise, and beautiful.The youngest of the three was named Miranda, and she was the prettiest and cutest.

The royal father gave her more clothes and gems in a month than the two sisters in a year, but she was very generous and shared everything with her sisters. The three sisters were very happy and loved each other very much.

See, the king has some quarrelsome neighbors, who, weary of their peace, begin to attack him so violently that he fears that if he does not try to defend himself, he will be utterly broken.So he raised a great army and set out to meet, leaving the princess and her governess in a castle, where news of the battle was brought daily--now the king captured a town, now he won a In the end, he completely defeated the enemy, drove them out of the kingdom, and was rushing back to the castle as quickly as possible to visit his beloved little Meranda.

The three princesses donned the satin dresses they had made especially for the momentous occasion, one in green, one in blue and the third in white.The eldest sister wears emeralds, the second sister wears turquoise, and the younger sister wears diamonds. After they were dressed like this, they sang the song of triumph for the king and went to see their father.

He saw them all so beautiful and so happy, and he hugged them lovingly, but he kissed Miranda more than any of the sisters.

Soon there was a great feast, and the king and his daughters sat down to eat, and as he always thought that everything had some special meaning, he said to the eldest daughter:

"Tell me why you chose to wear green."

"Your Majesty," she replied, "after hearing the news of your victory, I think the color green expresses my joy and my expectation of your speedy return."

"A very good answer," said the King. "And you, my daughter," he went on, "why do you wear blue?"

"Sire," said the princess, "I wear blue to show that we always wish you success, and to show that I am as glad to see you as the most beautiful stars in the sky."

"Ah," said the King, "I am astonished at your clever answer. And you, Miranda, what makes you wear all white?"

"Because, my lord," she answered, "white suits me better than other colours."

"What!" said the king angrily. "Is that all you think of, silly boy?"

"I think you will like me like that," said the little princess, "that's all."

The King, who loved her very much, was satisfied now, and even though she did not give all the reasons at first, he pretended to be pleased.

"Look," said he, "that's a good supper. It's not time to go to bed, so tell me what you dreamed about last night."

The eldest princess said that she dreamed that her father brought her a dress, and the gems and gold embroidery on it were more dazzling than the sun.

The second princess dreamed that the king brought her a spinning wheel and a reeling pole so that she could weave him some shirts.

But the little princess said: "I dreamed that my second sister was getting married. On the day of her wedding, father, you took a golden pitcher and said: 'Come on, Miranda, I am carrying this pot of water, and you can soak it in it. Dip your hands.'"

The king was really very angry when he heard the dream, and frowned terribly.Indeed, his face was ugly, and everyone knew how angry he was.He stood up, hurriedly left and went to bed, but he couldn't forget his daughter's dream.

"That proud daughter wants me to be her slave?" he said to himself. "I'm not surprised she doesn't think of me at all and chooses to wear white satin. She doesn't think I deserve her respect at all." I want her to lose her conceit immediately!"

He got up in a rage, and though it was still dark he sent for the captain of the guard, and said to him:
"Have you heard of Princess Miranda's dream? I thought it was a strange thing against me, so I order you to take her to the forest and kill her, and you must bring back her heart and tongue Show me, so I can be sure she was killed. If you try to deceive me, you will be killed!"

The captain of the guard was greatly astonished when he heard this cruel order, but he dared not disobey the king, fearing to make the king more angry, or make the king send someone else to do the matter, so he replied that he would find the princess and follow the king's orders. order to do it.When he came to her room they would not let him in, it was still so early.But he said the king had sent him for Miranda, and she got up and came out right away.A little black girl named Betty Bett held up the dress for her so it wouldn't drag on the floor.Her pet monkey and puppy followed.The monkey is called Glebkin, and the puppy is Tintin.

The captain of the guard begged Mehland to go into the garden, where the king could breathe fresh air.When they came there he pretended to look for the king, but when he could not find him, he said:

"No doubt His Majesty has gone for a walk into the woods." So he opened the little door into the forest and led her out.

Then dawn came, and the princess looked at her guide, and found that there were tears in his eyes, and he seemed too sad to speak.

"What's the matter?" she asked very kindly. "You seem very sad."

"Alas, princess," he answered, "who can not be saddened to be ordered to do such a dreadful thing as I am? The king ordered me to kill you here, and give him your heart and your tongue. Take it back, if I disobey the order, I will die."

The poor princess was very frightened, and turned pale, and wept softly.

She looked at the captain of the guard with her beautiful eyes, and said softly:

"Do you really mean to kill me? I have never hurt you, and have always spoken well of you before the king. If I had made my father angry and deserved to be punished, I would have no complaint. But , geez! I've always loved and respected him so much and he resented me, it's so unfair."

"Don't be afraid, princess," said the captain of the guard. "I would rather die than harm you. But even if I were killed, you would not be safe, and we must try to convince the King that you were dead."

"What shall we do?" asked Miranda. "Unless you bring back my heart and my tongue, he will never believe you."

The princess and the captain of the guards were talking very seriously, and they didn't notice Betty, but she overheard all of their conversation, so she went over and knelt at Miranda's feet .

"Princess," she said, "I give my life to you; kill me, and I will die for such a gracious mistress as you are."

"Ah, Betty Bet," cried the princess, kissing her, "we shall never do that. Your life is as precious to me as mine, especially as you have just proved your affection for me." deep."

"Princess," said Glebkin, coming forward, "you are right to love such a loyal servant as Betty Bett. She is more useful to you than I am, and I offer you my tongue and Heart."

"No, no, my little Glebkin," answered Miranda, "I dare not even think of taking your life."

"A fine puppy like me," cried Tintin, "wouldn't want either of you to die for Mistress. If anyone had to die for her, it would be me."

And so began a furious argument between Betty Bet, Glebkin, and Tintin, and the voices grew heated, until at last Glebkin was quicker than the other two, and ran to climb the nearest tree the top of the tree, fell head-down to the ground, and there it lay—dead!
The princess was very sorry, but since Glebkin was indeed dead, she had to have the captain of the guard cut off its tongue.But alas!The tongue was so small that it was no bigger than the princess's thumb--they were very sad, and concluded that it was of no use at all, and the King would never believe it!

"Ah! my little monkey," cried the Princess, "I have lost you, but it is just as bad."

"It's an honor that I gave my life to save your life," Betty Bate interjected, and before they could stop her, she picked up a knife and decapitated herself in a split second.

But when the captain of the guard was about to cut off her tongue, he found it was dark black, so that could not fool the king either.

"Isn't I very unlucky?" cried the poor princess, "I have lost everything I loved, and it hasn't made it any better."

"If you let me die for you," Tintin said, "you will feel sorry for me, and I will have all your gratitude."

Miranda kissed her puppy and wept bitterly, and finally she couldn't stand it anymore, and turned and walked into the forest.When she looked back, the captain of the guards had disappeared, leaving only Betty Bet, Glebkin and Tintin lying on the ground.She buried them in a little mossy grave at the foot of a tree, writing their names and how they all died to save her life on the bark of the tree before she left the place.At this time she began to think where she would be safe-because this forest was so close to her father's castle that anyone who passed by would be seen and recognized, and there were lions and wolves everywhere. As quickly as a lost chicken, the princess was taken away.So she went on as fast as she could, but the forest was so great and the sun so hot that she almost died of heat and fear and exhaustion.As soon as she looked towards the road she was going to go, there seemed to be no end in sight.She was so frightened that every minute she could vaguely hear the king chasing her from behind to kill her.You can imagine how wretched she was, how she walked and cried, not knowing which way to go, the thorn bushes stabbing her horribly, and tearing her beautiful dress to pieces.

At last she heard the cry of a sheep, and she said to herself:
"There are shepherds and flocks, no doubt, and they'll show me the way to some village where I can pretend to be a farmer's daughter. Alas! Kings and princesses aren't always the happiest people in the world. Who believes that I shall be compelled to flee and hide because the king wants to kill me for no reason?"

So saying, she went to the place where the sheep were bleating, and she was very surprised to find a huge sheep in a lovely little glade surrounded by woods.The wool was white as snow, and its horns shone like gold, and around its neck was a wreath and a diamond collar, and on its legs were huge strings of pearls.It lay upon a heap of orange-blossoms, and over it hung a canopy of cloth of gold to shield it from the sun.Nearly 100 more sheep are scattered around, and instead of grazing, some are drinking coffee, lemonade or sherbet, others are eating frozen treats, strawberries, cream or candy, and the rest are playing game.Many of them wear gold necklaces with gemstones, flowers and ribbons.

Seeing this unexpected sight, Miranda stopped suddenly in amazement, and looked around for the shepherd, whose flock was astonishing.Then the beautiful sheep came hopping towards her.

"Come here, sweet princess," he cried, "you have nothing to fear from us kind and docile animals."

"What a strange thing!" cried the princess, stepping back a few steps. "The sheep can talk."

"Your monkey and dog can talk too, Princess," said he. "Have we surprised you more?"

"A fairy gave them the ability to talk," replied Miranda, "and I got used to them."

"Perhaps the same thing happened to us," he said, smiling shyly. "But, princess, why have you come here?"

"Because of a thousand misfortunes, Mr. Sheep," she answered, "I am the unhappiest princess in the world, and I am looking for a place to hide because my father is angry with me."

"Come with me, Princess," said the Sheep, "and I will offer you a hiding place, which will be known only to you, and where you will be the mistress of all that lies before you."

"I really can't follow you," Miranda said, "I'm too tired to walk."

The sheep with the golden horns ordered its cart to come, and in a moment six goats appeared, pulling a pumpkin, which was very large enough for two persons to sit comfortably in it, and was covered with velvet and soft fur. into the mat.The princess got into the car, and she felt very happy sitting in such a new-style car, and the sheep king sat beside her, and then the goats pulled them and ran quickly, until they came to a cave, and the mouth of the cave was very happy. blocked by a big rock.The Sheep King touched the stone lightly with his foot, and the stone fell immediately, and he asked the princess to go in, and told her not to be afraid.See, nothing could tempt her into that dreadful cave if she had not been horrified by what had happened, but she was so afraid of what was to come after her that she would have jumped even a well at this moment.

So she followed the sheep without hesitation, and walked, and walked, until she thought they must be on the other side of the world—really, she wondered if he was leading himself into fairyland.At last a huge plain appeared before her eyes, full of flowers of all kinds, and the fragrance of flowers seemed more wonderful than anything she had smelled before.A broad orange-blossom river runs round the plain, and wine springs of all kinds flow in every direction, forming the most beautiful cascades and streams.The strangest trees grow on the plain, and whole avenues are hung with roasted partridges from their branches.Or, if pheasant, quail, turkey or rabbit are more your thing, just turn right or left and you're sure to see them.In several places the sky was either darkened with lobster pies, white puddings, sausages, tarts, and sweets of all kinds, or with lumps of gold and silver, diamonds, and pearls.This unusual rain and this whole delightful place would no doubt have attracted many if the Sheep King had been kinder, but apparently he was as serious as a judge.

Since Miranda came to this lovely land at the most beautiful time of year, she saw the unique palace, which was composed of a long row of orange trees, jasmine, honeysuckle and musk roses. The intertwining branches formed the most beautiful rooms, hung with gold and silver tulle, with huge mirrors and candlesticks, and posted with the most beautiful pictures.The magical sheep begged the princess to consider himself a queen, to rule Isshiki in front of him, and convinced her that although he had been sad and in great trouble for many years, she had the power to make him forget all his pain .

"You are so kind and generous, dear sheep," said the princess, "that I cannot express my gratitude. But I must confess that what I see here seems so extraordinary that I do not know what to make of it."

As she spoke, a group of lovely fairies came to offer her baskets of fruit in amber baskets, but they slipped away when she reached out to take them, and she tried to touch them without feeling anything.

"Oh!" she cried, "what could they be? Who am I with?" She began to cry.

At this moment, the Sheep King came back to her and was very disturbed when he found that she was crying, wishing to tear off the wool on his body.

"What's the matter, sweet princess?" he cried. "Has anyone disrespected you?"

(End of this chapter)