Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 2 The True and False Prince
It's the height of summer, everyone wakes up early, like in a tropical country, and takes a break between 12 noon and [-] pm.On this day, the king had just woken up from his afternoon nap, put on cool white clothes, and was walking through the hall to the meeting room. At that moment, many young nobles suddenly appeared in front of him, and one of them came up to follow He speaks.

"Your Majesty, we were all playing tennis in the courtyard this morning, with the prince, this gentleman, and a few others, and then there was some quarrel over the game. The prince lost his temper and said a lot of rude things to his opponent, and finally, You see, that gentleman over there hit the prince so hard in the face that he broke his mouth and nose. We were all astonished to see him attack the prince, but his duke-grandfather hadn't stopped him. Had we left this matter to you, we would have killed him on the spot."

The king listened intently to what he had to say, and when he had finished he said, "I suppose the prince has no weapon, or he would have used it."

"No, Your Majesty, he does. He wears a dagger in his belt all the time. When he saw the blood on his face, he went to a corner of the courtyard and began to cry. It's strange."

Hearing this, the king went to the window, with his back to the group of young men who stood silently.After a while he came back, pale and stern.

"I tell you," said he, "I would rather hear you tell me that the prince is dead than learn that he has been so badly wounded that I do not wish to avenge him. As for the gentleman who struck him, he will be handed over to you." I rule that he can defend himself, but I think he escaped death after attacking the heir to the throne."

The young man looked up, as if ready to answer, but the king would not listen, and ordered the guards to arrest him, but said that if the criminal wished to visit the capital, he was free to do so, provided he was kept under close watch. Where, after 15 days, hand him over to the Supreme Judge for trial.

The young man, a very agreeable man, left the king, surrounded by soldiers, and in the company of many friends.According to the suggestions of his friends, he spent the remaining 15 days looking for all kinds of sages, wondering how to avoid death, but no one could help him, because no one could find the right way for him to beat the prince. reason.

The night of the fourteenth day came, and the convict walked through the city for the last time in desperation.He lingered, not knowing where he should go, his face was very pale and full of despair, and none of his companions dared to speak to him.The little group of sad souls spent hours in this way.Suddenly, near the gate of a monastery, an old woman appeared at a corner and stopped before the young man.She was hunched over, haggard, and wrinkled. She looked at least ninety years old, but her eyes were as bright and keen as those of a little girl.

"Sir," she said, "I know what happened to you, and I know that you are looking for ways to save your life. But no one can tell you the answer but me, and you must do as I tell you."

After hearing her words, the criminal felt suddenly relieved.

"Oh, help me, let me do anything!" he cried, "how cruel it is to leave this world and fall into darkness."

"You don't need that," replied the old woman, "you just have to marry me, and you will be free soon."

"Marry you?" he cried. "But—but—I'm not yet twenty, and you—oh, you must be a hundred! Oh, no, absolutely impossible."

He said it without thinking, but the anger in her eyes disturbed him.Nevertheless, she simply said, "As you please, since you have rejected me, let the crows eat you," and hurried away down the street.

Now the young man is left alone, with the terror of dying, knowing that he has given up his only chance of survival.Ah, if he has to do that, then he has to, he said to himself.So he ran as fast as he could, chasing after the withered and ugly old woman.At this time, despite the moonlight, she was no longer visible.Who would have believed that an old woman in her 90s could walk so fast?It was clearly flying!At last the breathless and exhausted young man caught up with her and said out of breath, "Madame, forgive me for the hasty words I just said. I was wrong. I am grateful and willing to accept your proposal." .”

"Oh, I knew you would come to your senses," she replied, in a rather queer voice, "we have no time to waste, follow me at once." They walked quickly on in silence, and at last came to a small house , where a priest lives.The old woman bade the criminal swear in the presence of the priest that he would marry her.He swore in front of witnesses.Then she asked the priest and the guards to leave them alone for a while, and told the young man what to do next morning before the king and the judge.

When the criminal entered the trial hall, which was already packed, everyone was amazed by the look on his face.The king asks him for any reason to commit treason by beating the heir to the throne, and if so, bring it up as soon as possible.The young man bowed deeply and replied in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, all the princes and ministers here, I am not afraid to tell you my reasons. I know you will listen to my statement. And pass a just judgment, and you will allow me to finish my sentence before passing it.

"Your Majesty, you have been married to the queen for four years and have no children, which makes you very sad. The queen is aware of this, and also aware that your love is leaving her, so she is thinking day and night how to end it. This sin. At last, when you were on an expedition, she decided to take action and secretly adopted a poor stonemason's baby, and sent someone to tell you that you had a son. The queen told a priest about it , so no one knows the truth except him. A few weeks later, the queen died of illness, and the baby was raised as a prince. Now, Your Majesty, if you allow me, I will also tell about my own life experience."

"It is so incredible what you have told me," replied the King, "that I dare not imagine that you have anything more to tell, but go on with your story."

"One day not long after the Queen's death," continued the young man, "his Majesty, while hunting deer, left all his attendants and came to a strange place, and saw an orchard full of pink and white apple blossoms, You see a girl throwing a ball in a corner of the orchard, so you go up to ask for directions. When she turns around and answers you, you are so captivated by her beauty that you drop everything. Back of your head. You rode back to see her again and again, and finally persuaded her to marry you. She thought you were just a poor knight, and promised to marry in secret, just as you wished."

"After the wedding, you gave her three rings and an amulet with a cross on it, and you installed her in a farmhouse in that forest, intending to keep it a secret.

"For several months, you visited that farmhouse every week, but a rebellion broke out in a remote part of the kingdom, and you needed to go to quell it. When you came to the farmhouse again on horseback By that time, the building was already empty, and no one can tell you where the bride has gone. Regarding this, Your Majesty, I can tell you right now." The young man paused and looked at the king.The king's face became red. "She returned to her father, the old prince who had been your chamberlain, and the cross on her breast immediately revealed who you were. Hearing her daughter's story, the old prince was very angry and swore to hide her carefully. Lets you find her until you openly admit that she is queen.

"Soon, I was born, and my grandfather raised me in his big house. This is the ring you gave to my mother, and this is the cross. These things will prove whether I am your son or not."

As he said this, the young man put those very valuable things at the king's feet, and the nobles and judges huddled together to watch these things carefully.Only the king sat still in his seat, because he had forgotten everything about the courtroom and himself, just like 20 years ago, all he saw was the apple orchard and the man who was playing. girl with ball.The sudden silence around him made him look up, and he saw all the people in the meeting watching him.

"That's true, my son is he and no one else," he said with difficulty. "Everyone here, please swear: After I die, please make him king."

So one after the other they knelt down before the young man and swore.A word of mouth was passed to the false prince: the king would give him a handsome pension, but from now on he was forbidden to appear at the court again.

At last the trial was over, and the king motioned his new-found son to his feet, and followed him into another room.

"Tell me how you know all that," said the King, as he sat down in a carved chair upholstered in crimson.The prince then told the king how he had met the old woman who had brought him his mother's valuables, and how he had sworn before the priest that he would marry her, saying that he did not want to do it, because the difference in age was too great. It was too big, and he would have preferred a bride chosen for him by the king himself.The king frowned and reprimanded: "You swore that if she saved your life, you would marry her, so no matter what happens, you must keep your promise." Knocking on a silver shield hanging nearby, he said to the military officer:

"Go and fetch the clergyman who lives by the prison gate, and ask him where he can find the old woman who visited him the night before, and when he finds her, bring her to the palace."

It took some time to find out the whereabouts of the old woman, but at last she was found.When she arrived at the palace with the aide-de-camp, she was treated with royal courtesy as the prince's future bride.The guards looked at each other in amazement as the haggard, hunchbacked figure passed between the ranks, but they were even more amazed at how lightly she walked, bouncing up the steps to the gate.The king was standing before the gate, and the prince was standing beside him.Although the presence of the old woman startled them both, neither of them showed it.The king bowed solemnly, took her by the hand, and led her into the chapel, where a bishop was waiting to preside over the wedding.

The prince was rarely seen for the next few weeks, and he spent all his time hunting and trying to forget about the old wife at home.As for the princess, no one wanted to provoke her. She declined the maids arranged by the king and lived alone in the apartment.

One day the Prince, coming home at night after a longer than usual hunt, was so tired that he fell asleep.Suddenly, he was awakened by a strange noise in the room. Guessing that a thief must have sneaked in, he jumped out of bed and grabbed the sword that was at hand beforehand.He later discovered that the noises were coming from the next room where the princess lived, brightly lit by a burning torch.He tiptoed to the door and peeped into the room through the crack of the door.He saw the princess lying there quietly, with a golden crown inlaid with pearls on her head, and the wrinkles on her body disappeared without a trace.Her face is whiter than snow, as fresh as that of a 14-year-old girl.Was that beautiful creature really his wife?
When the woman opened her eyes and smiled at the prince, he was still staring at her dumbfounded.

"Yes, I am really your wife," she said, as if reading his mind, "the magic is gone. Now I must tell you who I am, and what made me look like an old woman.

"The King of Granada was my father, and I was born in that palace overlooking the plains of Wigg. When I was only a few months old, a wicked goblin who was hostile to my parents was put under a spell I, made my back hunched, made my skin wrinkle, and finally, made me look as old as a hundred years. I became an object of disgust, and finally, the king commanded me My nanny got me out of the palace. She was the only one who cared about me, and we lived together in the city on a small dole the king gave me.

"When I was three years old, an old man came to our door and asked the nurse to let him in and rest because he could not walk anymore. The nurse saw that he was very sick, and helped him to the bed very carefully. so that he was soon restored to health and as strong as ever. In gratitude for her kindness to him, he told her that he was a wizard and could give her anything she wanted except life and death. And she Answering that what she desires most in this world is for my wrinkled skin to disappear so that I can regain the beauty I was born with, to which he replied that since my misfortune came from a spell, so It is quite difficult, but he will do his best, he can at least promise: If I can find someone who will swear to marry me, old and ugly, then I can be married on my 15th birthday Before, free from magic.

"As you can imagine, it wasn't easy because I was so ugly no one wanted to give me a second look. My nanny and I were almost desperate because my 15th birthday was getting closer and I But he didn't even speak to the man. Finally, the wizard came to visit us and told us everything that happened in the court and your experience, and told me to appear before you when you were desperate, and offered to ask if Save your life if you promise to marry me.

"That is what happened to me. Now you must ask the King to send a messenger to Granada at once to tell my father the news of our marriage, and I think," she added with a smile, "that he will bless us."

(End of this chapter)