yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 10: Leopard or Tiger (2)
Emir Ali sat down to collect himself, and found an anklet beside him.Apparently it fell from the old hag's feet.By this time the storm was over, and he put the anklet in his pocket, and returned to the palace, and reported to the king what had happened, and took the anklet from his pocket, and gave it to the king.The king and all present were amazed at the magnificent gemstones on the anklets.Emir Ali himself was taken aback, for he had put the anklet in his pocket in the dark and never looked at it afterwards.The king liked this beautiful anklet very much, he praised and rewarded Emir Ali, and then gave this anklet to his daughter, a spoiled and proud princess.

There are two cages hanging in the place where the women live in the palace. A parrot lives in one cage, and a starling lives in the other cage. Both birds can talk and talk like people.They are the princess' pets, and the princess often feeds them herself.The next day, when she was walking back and forth triumphantly with that anklet on, she heard the starling say to the parrot, "Oh, Totti (that's the parrot's name), the princess has a new anklet." ,what do you think?"

"How?" said the parrot, who was furious because no one had bathed him this morning.It said angrily: "I think she looks like a washerwoman's daughter, with a shoe on one foot and a bare foot on the other. Why doesn't she wear anklets on both feet, but one foot is beautifully decorated?" Beautiful and bright, but the other foot is empty and nothing is on?"

Hearing these words, the princess burst into tears, and she sent for her father, and told him to get another anklet just like it, so that she could put it on the other foot, or she would be ashamed dead.So the king immediately called for Emir Ali, and ordered him to find an anklet exactly like this one within a month, otherwise he would hang him, because if he couldn't find another one that was exactly the same Anklets, the princess will die of disappointment.

The king's order troubled poor Emir Ali very much, but thinking that he still had a month to complete his task, he left the palace at once to inquire about where the best jewels could be obtained.Though he searched everywhere day and night, he could never find a jewel comparable to that worn on the anklet.At last there was only a week left, and at this moment of helplessness he thought of the Forest Fairy, and resolved to go to her at once.After a day's journey he came to the hut in the forest, and standing where the old woman had stood when she called him, he began to cry, "Wood Fairy! Woody Fairy! Help me! Help me!"

As soon as the words fell, a beautiful girl appeared at the door, the girl he had been thinking about since the last time he met here.

"What's the matter?" she asked, her voice so sweet that he froze for a moment.She had to repeat it once before Emil came back to his senses and told her exactly what had happened.The girl went into the house, took out two sticks and brought out a pot of boiling water.She planted two sticks in the ground about six feet apart, and turning to him, said:

"I lay between these two sticks, and you cut off my foot with your sword. Immediately after you cut it off, take the broken foot over the cauldron, and the drops of blood that fall into the water will become Jewels one by one, and then you change the position of the two sticks, the one that was inserted in my head is replaced by the foot, the one that was inserted in the foot is replaced by the head, and then put the broken foot that was cut off back to the original In its place, it will grow by itself, and I will be the same as before."

At first Emir Ali would not say anything, and said he would rather be hanged twenty times than treat her so cruelly; but she finally persuaded him to do what she said.He made up his mind to cut off her foot, and when he saw her lying there as if dead, he was so frightened that he almost fainted.Then he took the amputated foot to the top of the pot, and when he saw that every drop of blood immediately turned into crystal jewels in the water, he suddenly had confidence and courage.Soon, there were many precious stones in the pot, and he quickly reversed the positions of the two sticks, and connected the amputated foot to the wound, and the foot immediately returned to its original shape.The girl opened her eyes and stood up, put on her veil and ran into the house.She never came out again, nor did she speak another word to him.He waited for a long time, but she still didn't show up.So he had to collect these precious jewels and go back to the palace.Soon he found someone to process these jewels, and these jewels could be made into not only one, but even three precious and beautiful anklets.On the last day of the one-month period stipulated by the king, he dedicated these anklets to the king as scheduled.

The king embraced him warmly and rewarded him with many things.On the second day, the vain princess put two anklets on each foot, and walked up and down in front of a row of mirrors in her room, admiring herself.

"Hey, Totti," asked the starling, "what do you think of our princess wearing so many beautiful jeweled anklets?"

The parrot let out a "pooh" angrily. It was always in a bad temper every morning, and it would not get better until after lunch. "She's got all the pretty stuff on her feet, and she might look better if she had some pretty cheap stuff around her neck and wrists. It seems to me that she looks like A washerwoman's daughter who dresses herself up."

Poor princess!She cried and fussed until she finally made herself look like she was seriously ill.She told her father that unless she had bracelets and necklaces to match her anklets, she was going to die.

The king again called for Emir Ali and ordered him to find a necklace and bracelet that matched the anklet within a month, or he would be tortured to death.

The prince again spent almost a month looking for the jewel, but found nothing.At last, he had to go once more to the hut in the forest, and stand there crying, "Wood Fairy! Forest Fairy! Help me! Help me!"

Hearing his call, the beautiful girl reappeared and asked him what he wanted.After he finished speaking, she said that this time she had to do the same thing as last time, except that this time he had to cut off her hands and head.Emir Ali turned pale with fright at her words, but said she would be as invulnerable as last time.In the end he agreed to do as she asked.The severed hands and heads were placed on top of the cauldron, and the blood flowed down into beautiful bracelets and strings of rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls far better than men had ever seen before.

Then the head and hands were reattached without any scars.Emir Ali was grateful and wanted to speak to her, but she ran into the house and never came out again.He had to leave with the jewels.

On the appointed day, Emir Ali brought out a necklace and several bracelets, each of which was extremely beautiful and precious, and the king was overwhelmed with surprise, while the princess was almost mad with joy.The next day she put on all her jewellery, thinking that the pesky parrot would find no fault with my attire this time, and in her eager anticipation she heard the starling say:
"Hey, Totti, what do you think our princess looks like now?"

"Very pretty, that's all," murmured the parrot, "but what's the use of being so pretty all alone? She ought to have a husband—why doesn't she marry the man who got all this splendor for her?" Where's the man with the accessories?"

So the princess sent for her father and told him that she wanted to marry Emir Ali.

"My dear baby," said her father, "you are really hard to satisfy, and you want something new every day. Of course, it is time for you to marry, if you fancy this man, Then of course he should marry you."

So the king sent for Emir Ali, and told him that within a month he would have the honor of marrying the princess, and would be heir to the throne.

After listening to the king's words, Emir Ali bowed deeply and replied that, apart from this matter, he was willing to do his best for the king no matter in the past or in the future.The king always believed that it was an honor for any man to be able to marry the king's daughter, but the emir refused, and he was furious, and the princess was even more furious.Therefore, Emir Ali was immediately locked in the darkest prison, and when the king was free, he would consider how to execute him.

Meanwhile, the king decided that the princess should be married at once anyway.So he sent envoys to all the neighboring countries, announcing that any man fit to be the bridegroom and inherit the throne could one day come to the palace and stand for election.

On the appointed day, all the suitors came.There are so many people, old and young, just men who think they have a chance of getting a princess and a throne gather here.As soon as the king sat down, he ordered the herald to call up the first suitor.Just then a farmer standing in the front shouted that he had a request.

"Well, tell me!" said the king. "My time is precious."

"Your Majesty the King," said the farmer, "you have lived and administered justice in this city-state for a long time. As you know, the tiger is the king of beasts and only hunts in the forest, while the jackal is nowhere to be found. Run wherever you eat."

"What do you mean? What do you mean?" asked the king. "The man must be mad!"

"No, Your Majesty the King," replied the old farmer, "I just want to remind you that there are many jackals here today, they are all sent by the cities to take your daughter and your kingdom; they are all hungry. Lulu is eyeing the tiger; but, king, don't make a mistake, let alone make a mistake, and don't mistake the howl of the jackal for the sound of a tiger."

The king blushed first, then paled again.

The farmer went on: "In the forest there is a tiger of royal blood, and he is the first and only one worthy of the throne."

"Where? What do you mean?" the king stammered, his face becoming paler the more he heard it.

"In prison," replied the farmer, "if you, Your Majesty, drive away all these jackals at court, I will report everything to you in detail."

"Drive these people out!" the king commanded.Those who came to propose had to leave the palace reluctantly.

"Now you can tell me the answer to the riddle!" said the king.

So the farmer told the king and his ministers how he rescued the queen and brought up the prince Emil Ali.Then he brought in the queen who was waiting outside.Seeing the queen, the king felt doubly guilty and remorseful, and wished he could live again, so that he would not marry the mother of the proud princess who kept making trouble until she died.

"My time is past," said the king, and he handed over the throne to his son Emir Ali, who went back to the forest again to find the fairy of the forest, hoping that the fairy of the forest would provide him with a queen to rule the country with him.

"I just want to marry you," he said.This time the girl did not run away, but agreed to be his wife.So they were soon married, and they lived happily ever after, living together for many years, happily running the country together.

As for the old woman whose jar was broken by Emir Ali, she was godmother to the nymph, and when the nymph needed her care no more, she returned joyfully to Faerie.

Later, I never heard of the old king and his wife quarreling. Every time he expressed a different opinion, she would smile and say to him:
"Is it a tiger or a jackal?" He had nothing more to say.

(End of this chapter)