blue fairy tale book

Chapter 41 Baby Prince (2)
They reported to the prince that Suylman—that was the name of the governess—had boasted of having helped Celia escape.They also bribed three people to say that Suyerman had told him about it himself.The prince was very angry, and sent his adopted brother with a large army of soldiers to bring his governess in chains like a criminal and bring him to him.Having given this order, he went to his room, but no sooner had he entered than there was a thunderclap that shook the earth, and then the Fairy Truth suddenly appeared before him.

"I promised your father," she said sternly, "to give you advice, and to punish you if you disobeyed the advice.

You have disregarded my counsel, and followed a wicked path of your own choosing, until you appeared to be a human being, but were in fact only a devil—a terror to everyone who knew you.Now is the time to fulfill my promise and punish you.I will transform you into those animals whose habits you have imitated.You allow yourself to be angry like a lion, greedy like a wolf, ungrateful like a snake to attack a man like your foster father, and your violent temper makes you look like a bull.Therefore, you have to re-become all these kinds of animals. "

No sooner had the fairy spoken, than the "Baby Prince" found with horror that her words had come true.He grew the head of a lion, the horns of a bull, the feet of a wolf and the body of a snake.At the same moment he found himself in a great forest by the edge of a clear lake, from which he saw clearly that he had transformed into a terrible monster.A voice said to him: "Look carefully at what your wickedness has done to you. Believe me, your soul is a thousand times uglier than your body."

The Baby Prince, recognizing the voice of Fairy Truth, was furious, and would have caught her and eaten her if he could.But he saw no one, and the voice continued: "I laugh at your incompetence and anger, and I intend to have you in the hands of my own subjects, as a reward for your arrogance." punish."

The prince thought that he had better stay away from the lake as much as possible, so that at least he would not be reminded of his terribly ugly appearance.So he ran into the woods, but fell into a deep bear trap before he had gone a few yards.The hunters, who were hiding in a tree, jumped down, bound him securely with chains, and led him to the capital of their kingdom.

Along the way, instead of realizing that it was his own fault that caused him to be punished like this, he blamed the fairies for causing him all these misfortunes, biting and tearing furiously at the chains that bound him.

When they came to the city, they saw a great festival going on there.The hunters asked what happened, and learned that the prince who only took pleasure in torturing the people was struck to death in his room by lightning (people thought he would have such an end).The four courtiers who had encouraged him to do bad things tried to seize and divide the kingdom, but people knew that their bad idea had brought the prince to this state, so they cut off their heads and dedicated the crown to the prince who was imprisoned. Scheuermann.The noble nobleman had just been crowned and the kingdom was liberated, so there was great rejoicing throughout the country. "Because," said the people, "he was a merciful and just man, and we have peace and prosperity again."

Hearing these words, the "Baby Prince" roared angrily.But when he came to the square in front of his own palace, the situation was even worse.He saw Suelman seated on a splendid throne, and all crowded around him, wishing him long life, so that all harm from his predecessor would be removed.

Soon, Suyerman raised his hand to signal the people to be quiet, and he said: "I accept the crown you offer me, but I can only keep it for the 'baby prince', he is not dead as you think The fairies have promised me that one day you will have the hope of seeing him again--as gracious and noble as he was when he first came to the throne. Alas!" he went on, "the flatterers have led him astray. I know his heart, and I am sure he would have been a good king and father to his people were it not for the ill influence of those around him. We may hate his faults, but let us sympathize with him , and hope he reforms himself.

As for me, I would be glad to die if our prince could be restored to be a just and wise king. "

These words reached the heart of the "Baby Prince". He realized the love and loyalty of the old tutor to him, and for the first time he blamed himself for all his sinful actions.At that very moment, he felt all his anger evaporate, and quickly reflected on himself, admitting that he deserved the punishment he was receiving now.He no longer gnawed at the bars of his cell, and became tame as a lamb.

The hunters who caught him took him to a great menagerie, and put him in chains among all the other wild animals.He decided to show his remorse for his past misdeeds by being gentle and submissive to the man who had to take care of him.Unfortunately, the man was very rude and cruel, and although the poor monster was very quiet, he would often hit him when he was in a bad mood for no reason.One day, while the caretaker was dozing off, a tiger broke its chain and jumped on him to eat him. "Baby Prince" saw what happened. At first he was very happy to think that he would finally be free from his persecution, but soon he changed his mind and wished he hadn't been chained.

"I should repay evil with kindness," he thought, "to save the life of this unfortunate man." As soon as he thought this, the iron prison was suddenly opened, and he hurried to the guard, who had woken up and was talking with him. Tigers fight hard.When the watchman saw the monster also running out, he thought it was over for him, but soon his fear was turned to joy, because the benevolent monster attacked the tiger and killed it at once, and then came and crouched under the tiger. At the feet of the man he rescued.

The caretaker was very grateful and bent down to caress the monster that had helped him so much, but a voice suddenly said in his ear: "An act of kindness will always be rewarded." Immediately the monster disappeared, and he saw only a beautiful little The dog stood at his feet!
The change delighted the Baby Prince, who danced around the caretaker, expressing his joy as best he could.The caretaker took him in his arms, took him to the king, and told him the whole story.

The Queen said she wanted the wonderful puppy, and that the Prince would be very happy in his new home if he forgot that he was a man and had been a King.The queen loved him and took care of him, but she was worried that he was getting too fat, so she went to consult the court physician.The doctor said that he could only feed him bread, and not too much.So poor "Baby Prince" is hungry all day, but he never gets angry about it.

One day, when people gave him a small bread for breakfast, he wanted to eat it in the garden, so he ran to a familiar stream far away from the palace with the bread in his mouth.But he was surprised to find that the stream was gone, and in that place stood a huge house that seemed to be built of gold and precious stones.Many richly dressed people were entering the house, and from the windows could be heard the sound of music, dancing, and feasting.

But it seemed strange that those who came out of the house were all pale, emaciated, and ragged.Some fell dead on the ground as soon as they came out, before they could move away.Others crawled a little farther with difficulty, and still others lay on the ground, fainted from hunger, and begged for a little piece of bread from those who were entering the house, but the poor fellows paid no attention to them .

"Baby Prince" walked up to a young girl who was so hungry that she was about to eat a little blade of grass.He deeply sympathized and thought:
"Hungry as I am, I won't die of starvation till lunchtime. If I give breakfast to the poor creature, I may save her life."

So he put his piece of bread in the girl's hand, and watched her eat it eagerly.

Presently she seemed to recover her spirits, and the prince, glad to be able to help her, was preparing to return to the palace when he heard a voice shouting.He turned and saw Celia being forcibly brought into the big house.

For the first time the prince regretted that he was no longer a monster, otherwise he would have rescued Celia, and now he could only helplessly bark at and be kicked and kicked by those who had taken her.

He decides not to leave without finding out what happened to Celia, and blames himself for what happened to her.

"Alas!" thought he, "I am full of anger at those who have taken Celia, but was I not that way before? Would I not have been more cruel to her if I had not been checked?"

Then he was interrupted by a voice overhead—someone was opening a window.He was pleased to see that it was Celia, who went to the window, threw out a plate of food that looked good, and the window was closed again. Baby Prince, who hadn't eaten all day, thought he might as well have something to eat now.He ran to start eating, but the girl who had got his bread cried out in terror, took him in her arms, and said, "Don't touch it, my poor puppy—that house is a palace of pleasure, and from inside Everything that comes out is poisonous!"

At this moment, a voice said: "You see, good deeds are always rewarded." The prince found himself transformed into a beautiful white dove.He remembered that white was Fairy Truth's favorite color, and he began to hope that he could win her favor at last.But at present his first concern was Celia, and he took to the air, and flew round and round the house, till he saw an open window, and he flew in.It was useless for him to search every room, and he could not even find a trace of Celia. The prince was very disappointed and determined to search the whole world until he found her.He flew, flew, flew for several days, and finally flew to a large desert and saw a large cave.To his delight, there sat Celia, sharing a modest breakfast with an old hermit.

The "Baby Prince" found her, full of joy, perched on her shoulder, stroking her, trying to express how happy he was to see her again.Celia was amazed and delighted at the docileness of the pretty white dove, and she caressed it gently, and talked to it, though she never expected it to understand: "You give yourself to I, I accept, I will always love you."

"Watch what you say, Celia," said the old hermit. "Will you keep this promise?"

"Indeed, I hope so, my lovely shepherdess," cried the prince, and at that moment he recovered, "you promise to love me always, tell me you will keep your word, or I will have to Ask the fairy to turn me back into the dove you love so much."

"You needn't worry that she'll change her mind," said the Fairy, throwing off the robes she wore as a hermit and appearing before them. "Celia has loved you from the first moment she saw you, but you are too stubborn, It's so unruly that she doesn't want to tell you. Now you regret it and are determined to be a good person, so you deserve happiness and she will love you with all her heart."

Celia and the "Baby Prince" fell at the feet of the Fairy, and the Prince took pains to thank her for her kindness.Celia was delighted to hear him say how much he regretted his past follies and mistakes, and she promised to love him all her life.

"Rise up, my children," said the Fairy, "and I will send you back to the palace. The 'Baby Prince' will regain the crown which he lost because of his wicked conduct."

While she was saying this, they found themselves in Suyerman's hall.Suyerman was very happy to see his dear master again. He happily returned the throne to the prince, and regarded himself as the most loyal subject from the beginning to the end.

Celia and the "Baby Prince" ruled the country for many years, and he resolved to govern wisely and dutifully, so that the ring he put on again never once pierced him too hard.

(End of this chapter)