Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 46

Prince Malawidan's elder brother was killed and the throne was taken away, so he was forced into exile with his friend Predry.Malawidan was very sad, but Pradry was strong and cheered up the prince, because he knew there was a way to get him out of trouble.

"What is that?" Malawidan asked.

"That is, you married my widowed mother Leanon, and I will give her some land as a dowry, and make you the master of the land. No woman has a brain like her, and she was cuter than anyone when she was young, and now also very beautiful."

"You are the best friend," said Malawidan, "now let us go to Lianon, and the land where she lives."

So they set off.News of their arrival came even faster, and Leanon and Pradry's wife Keeva rushed to prepare a banquet for them.Malawidan found that Predelli was not lying at all, so he asked Leanon if he would like to make him a husband.Leanon was pleased, and the two married right away and went hunting together.Leanon and Malawidan, Kiva and Predry, love each other, never parting from each other day or night.

One day, returning from hunting, they were sitting out on the green when suddenly a thunderstorm rang in their ears, and a wall of fog separated them so that they could not see each other.Trembling all over, they sat where they were, until the darkness fled and the sun shone on them again.However, the original cattle, sheep and houses are all gone, not only the houses and livestock, but also the human habitation can not be seen.There was no one on the grass except the four of them.

"Where are they? And the master?" Malawidan called.They searched in the hall, but there was no one, and they searched in the castle, and there was no one, no one but the beast.For a whole year, the four of them ate the game that Malawidan and Predry went out to hunt and the honey that the bees gathered from the rhododendrons.For a while, they felt like there was nothing else to do, but when the second year started, they started to get tired of it.

"We can't live like this," said Malawidan at last, "let's go to England and learn a trade for a living." So they left Wales and went to Hereford, where they made saddles, and Malawidan also used Blue enamel to decorate the saddle.The townspeople liked the saddles so much that the whole of Hereford stopped buying other saddles, and the saddlemakers banded together to get rid of Malawidan and his companions.

When Predley heard the news, he was very angry and wanted to stay and do his best.Malawidan dissuaded them, so they fled overnight to another city.

"What business are we going to do next?" Pradry asked.

"We make shields," Malawidan replied.

"Are we going to do it?" Pradry asked.

"Let's try it out," Malawidan replied.So they started making shields, making them in the shape of shields they had seen before, and also adorning them with enamel.Their business was so prosperous that no one bought anything but the shields they made, and at last the shield-makers were as determined to get rid of them as the saddle-makers.They are warned.Flee overnight to another city.

"Let's make shoes," Malawidan said. "There are not many shoemakers who dare to fight us."

"I don't know how to make shoes at all," Pradry replied.In fact, he looked down on such a mediocre business.

"I know," said Malawidan, "I will teach you how to sew. We buy tanned hides and make shoes out of them."

Then he immediately searched the whole city to buy the best leather, and then found a goldsmith to make a buckle, while he himself watched and learned.Soon, he became a famous gold shoemaker, and his business was so prosperous that people in the city would not buy shoes from other shoemakers as long as they could buy shoes from him.The shoemakers were furious and united to kill them.

"Predry," said Malawidan, when he heard the news, "we can't stay in England any longer. We're going to Dayford."

So they set off, and returned to their land in Napos.They led the hounds and hunted for another year as before.

After that, a strange thing happened.One morning Pradry and Malawidan got up to go hunting.They let go of the hounds and let them run ahead until they came to a small bush.The hound recoiled, as if frightened by the bushes, and ran back to his master, the hair on its back standing on end.

"We've got to see what's in the bushes," Pradry said.It turned out to be a porcupine with skin as white as snow on a mountain.The porcupine ran out of the bushes, and seeing the hound, urged on by its master, sprang at it and stood up.It stood there for a long time, and finally ran away, and fled into a newly built castle, where there were no buildings.It ran into the castle, and the hounds chased after it.The two masters watched and listened for a long time, but neither the hound nor the porcupine could see or hear them.

"I'll go to the castle and see what's happened to the Hound," said Pradry at last.

"It is very unwise of you to do this, really," said Malawidan. "He who enchanted this land is also the one who built this castle."

"I cannot give up my hound," replied Pradry, and entered the castle.

There was neither man nor beast in the castle, neither porcupine nor hound, but only a spring, surrounded by marble, and beside it stood a magnificent golden bowl, which made Pradry ecstatic.He forgot about the Hound in a moment, went to the golden bowl, and picked it up.His hands were glued to the golden bowl, his feet were glued to the marble slab, and his whole body was filled with despair.

Malawidan waited until evening, when the sun was setting, before turning back home, thinking he might have lost his way.

"Where's your friend and the hound?" Leanon asked.The prince told her what had happened to Pradry.

"You've lost a good friend," Leanon replied.She came to the castle, passed through the gate, saw Predry standing there in the center of the castle, and hurried over.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, putting her hand on the golden bowl, so that her hand was stuck too, and she could not speak a word.Then only a thunderstorm was heard, and the darkness shrouded them, and then they disappeared with the fort.

Pradry's wife Keeva found that neither her husband nor Lianon had returned, and she was so sad that she looked for death.Malawidan was also very sad, and said to her, "We can't stay here any longer. He has lost his hounds, so we can't hunt. Let's go to England—life is easier there." So They set off.

"What business do we do?" Keeva asked as they walked.

"Just like the old days, I make shoes," he replied.He bought all the best leathers in the city, and made gold buckles for the shoes, so the people in the city flocked to him, and the shoemakers, who had nothing to do, were very angry and plotted to kill him.Fortunately, Malawidan got the news. He and Kiva left the city overnight and returned to Napos with a bundle of wheat.He planted wheat in three fields.During the growing period of wheat, he hunted and fished, not only enough for himself, but also a surplus.In this way several months passed until harvest time.One evening, Malawidan went to look at the farthest wheat field and found that the wheat was ripe.

"Tomorrow I will harvest the wheat," he said.The next day, when he came to harvest the wheat, he found that there were only bare straw left.

He was taken aback, and hurried to the second wheat field, and found that the wheat was ripe and golden.

"Tomorrow I will reap the field," he said.The next day, when he came to harvest the wheat, he found that there were only bare straws left.

"Hey, fortunately there is still a field." He said.When he saw the third field, he found that the wheat grew better than the first two fields. "I'll come and see tonight," he thought, "whoever reaped the other wheat will surely reap this one in the same way, and then I'll know who did it." So he hid ,waiting.

Hour by hour slipped by, and the silence around him made Malawidan almost fall asleep.In the middle of the night, he heard a loud noise, and peeping out, he saw a large swarm of rats beyond count.Each mouse climbed up a stalk of wheat, bent it down, and then bit off the ear of the wheat and dragged it away.There is a mouse on every stalk of wheat.

Malawidan was furious and rushed towards the rats.But as helpless as he is to insects or birds that fly in the sky, he can't catch any other mice except one lagging behind.He bent down, grabbed the mouse by the tail, put it into the glove, and tied the glove tightly with a tape, so that the mouse could not escape.He returned to the hall where Keeva was waiting, lit the fire, and hung the gloves from the hooks.

"What did you catch?" she asked.

"A thief," he answered, "I caught me stealing."

"What kind of thief? You can put him in a glove?" Keeva asked.

"I'll tell you," he answered, and told her how the wheat field was ruined and how he looked at it.

"A most clumsy thief, in my glove now. To-morrow I shall hang it. I hope to catch 'em all."

"It's curious," she said, "but it seems inappropriate for a noble man like you to hang such a poor little reptile. Don't think about it, and let him go."

"If I can catch 'em," he answered, gnashing his teeth, "I'll be damned if I don't hang them all. I'll hang the one I got."

"Really," she said, "I want to save the little reptile for no other reason than to disgrace you."

"If I had a reason to let him go, I would listen to you," Malawidan replied, "but I have no reason, so I made up my mind to hang him."

"Then hang on," Keeva said.

So he climbed up a mountain and erected two branches on the top of the mountain.At this moment, he saw a ragged scholar approaching.For seven years, he had never seen anyone or beast in this place, so what he saw surprised him.

"Hello, sir," said the scholar.

"Hello, scholar. Where are you from?"

"England, I sang there. Why do you ask?"

"Because no one has been here in seven years."

"I'm wandering around," replied the scholar, "what are you doing?"

"I have caught a thief and am about to hang him!"

"What kind of thief?" asked the scholar, "I saw something in your hand, which looks like a mouse. It's not suitable for a person like you to touch such a small reptile. Let it go."

"I won't let it go," cried Malawidan. "I'll catch him and he'll be a thief."

"Sir!" said the scholar, "I'd rather give you the pound I begged to let you go than see you do it."

"I won't let it go, and I won't sell it."

"As you please, sir," said the scholar, and continued on his way.

Malawidan was setting a bar over two branches to hang the rats when a priest rode by.

"Hello, sir. What are you doing?"

"I have caught a thief and am about to hang him!"

"What kind of thief?"

"A thing that looks like a mouse. It stole my things, and if it becomes a thief, you have to admit its life as a thief."

"Sir," said the preacher, "I'd rather buy its freedom than you to touch the little reptile."

"I'm neither selling it nor letting it go."

"It is true that a mouse is not worth much, but I would rather give you three pounds than I would have you spoil yourself with such a little reptile."

"I won't sell it for any price. I'll hang it because it deserves it."

"If it pleases you, sir, so do as you please." The chaplain continued on his way.

Just when Malawidan put the rope around the mouse's neck and was about to tighten it, a bishop came forward with a large group of people and horses, dragging a large package.

"What are you doing?" asked the bishop, reining in the reins.

"Hang a thief I catch."

"Isn't that what I see in your hand a mouse?" asked the Bishop.

"Yes, it is a thief." Malawidan replied.

"Well, since I saw the reptile before it died, I'd rather pay seven quid for it than see a man of your stature touch it. Let go of the rope, and let him go."

"I won't let go."

"You let it go, and I'll give you twenty-four pounds," said the Bishop.

"I won't let go of this money."

"If you won't put it for the money, I'll give you the horses and the seven parcels you saw."

"I won't let it go."

"Then please tell me what price you would like to let it go. I will give it to you."

"The magic on Lianon and Pradry must be lifted," Malawidan said.

"I will."

"Still I will not let the rat go. The spell must be lifted on all my lands."

"I will."

"Until I know who it is, I still won't release the rat."

"It is my wife," replied the bishop.

"Why did it come to trouble me?" Malawidan asked.

"To destroy you," replied the Bishop, "I have cast a spell on your land to avenge my friend Claude's son Goyle. Revenge, because Gower was wronged in the game of 'Badger'. When it was known that you were coming to settle this land, not only I was angry, but my parishioners were also angry, so they came to ask me to turn them into mice , eat your wheat. On the first and second nights, my own family destroyed two fields. On the third night, my wife and friends came to me and asked me to turn them into mice too, So that they too could avenge Goyle together. So I turned them into mice. If she hadn't been sick and crippled, you couldn't outrun her. Now that she's caught, I'll put Pry Restore Derry and Leanon, and unenchant your land. I have told you who she is, now let her go."

"Before I release her," said Malawidan, "you must swear that you will never take revenge on Pradry, Leanon, or me on Gore's behalf."

"I will. You're smart enough to think of that. Well, you won't be in any more trouble. Now please let my wife go."

"I had to see Pradry and Leanon before I released her."

"Look, here they come," said the bishop.

Malawidan extended his hands to welcome Pradry and Leanon, and they happily sat down on the grass together.

"Well, sir, have you got everything you asked for?" asked the Bishop. "Now please release my wife."

"I would love to," Malawidan replied, untying the noose around her neck.Afterwards the Bishop touched her with his staff, and she became a young woman, the most beautiful being ever seen.

"Look at your land," said the bishop, "and you will find it cultivated just as it was before." Malawidan looked around and saw wheat growing in the fields, cattle and sheep grazing on the hillside, and Premises for human habitation.He was very satisfied, but asked another question.

"What spell did you cast on Pradry and Leanon?"

"Around Predry's neck is the knocker of my palace gate, and Leanon has the collar of my donkey," said the Bishop.

(End of this chapter)