yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 21 The Green Knight (1)
Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had an only daughter who was very charming.In the eyes of the king and queen, there is nothing more precious than her in this world.When the princess was 12 years old, the queen fell ill, and nothing could cure her.In spite of the best efforts of all the doctors in the palace, her health continued to deteriorate day by day.When she thought she was going to die, she sent for the king, and said to him:

"Promise me, no matter what our daughter asks, you have to agree, whether you want it or not."

The king hesitated at first, but the queen went on to say:

"Unless you promise me, I will die without peace." The king finally agreed to her request.The queen closed her eyes with great satisfaction.

Near the king's palace lived a noble lady, who also had a daughter about the same age as the princess.The two children are often together.After the queen died, the princess asked her father to let this lady also come to live in the palace and live with her.The king was not happy with such an arrangement, he did not trust the lady.But the princess' request was so urgent that he couldn't bear to refuse.

"I'm lonely, Daddy," she said. "You've given me so many beautiful presents that I can't make up for the loss of Mama. If this lady came to live here, it would feel as if Mama came back to me."

So a luxurious room was prepared in the palace for the new lady to live in.The Princess' joy at the thought of her friend being so near to her was almost irrepressible.The lady and her daughter came, and for a while, all was well.They were so kind to the bereaved princess that she almost forgot the loneliness she had felt before they came.One day, however, when the two little girls were playing together in the garden of the palace, the lady came to them dressed as if she had traveled abroad, kissed the princess tenderly, and said:

"Goodbye, my child! My daughter and I are leaving you and going far away."

The poor princess burst into tears. "Ah! You can't leave me!" she whimpered. "What shall I do when you go away? Oh, please stay!"

The lady shook her head.

"My dear child, it would break my heart to leave you! But, I must go."

"Is there no way to keep you?" asked the princess.

"There's only one way," she answered, "but that can't be done, so I won't mention it."

"There is nothing impossible," insisted the princess, "tell me, and it will be done."

And so at last the friend of the princess spoke.

"If the king, your father, can make me queen, I will stay," she said, "but he won't."

"Ah! It's not easy!" cried the princess, thinking happily that they would then not have to go.

She ran to her father and begged him to marry the noble lady immediately.The King had always been obedient to her requests, and she was sure he would.

"What is the matter with you, my daughter?" asked the king, seeing her, "you have wept, and have you any trouble?"

"Father!" she said, "I beg you to marry the Countess—that is the real title of this noble lady—and if you don't agree, she will leave us and I will be as lonely as ever. You used to I have never refused my request, and please don't refuse now."

The king turned pale when he heard this.He didn't like the Countess, and he certainly didn't want to marry her; besides, he still loved his dead wife.

"No! I cannot marry her! My child," he said at last.

After hearing his words, the princess began to cry again.The tears ran down her face, and she wept so bitterly that the King was very sorry.He remembered that he had promised the deceased queen that no matter what the princess asked, he would agree.Finally, he gave in and agreed to marry the countess.The princess smiled at once, and ran to tell them the good news.

Soon they had a grand wedding, and the countess became queen.Although the palace was full of happiness everywhere, the king's face looked so pale and sad.He knew that this marriage was bound to bring disaster.As expected, not long after the marriage, the queen's attitude towards the princess began to change.She was full of jealousy towards the princess, because the heir to the royal family was the princess, not her daughter.Soon, her thoughts were fully exposed.When she spoke to the princess, she was no longer as pleasant as before, but became rough and cruel, and once or twice she even slapped the princess on the ear.

The King was not pleased to see his beloved daughter so insulted.In the end, the princess became so pitiful that he couldn't take it anymore.One day he called the princess and said to her:

"My daughter, you are not as cheerful as you used to be, and I feel it is your stepmother's fault. It would be better for you not to live with her. Therefore, I have A palace was built for you on the island, and that will be your future home. There, you can do whatever you like, and your stepmother will never go there."

The princess was very happy when she heard this, and she was even more happy when she saw the castle.It is full of beautiful things, and there are many windows that look out on the beautiful blue lake.There is a boat in the lake, and she can row it by herself.There was also a garden where she could go for a walk whenever she wanted without fear of running into a mean queen.

The king also promised to see her every day.

For quite some time, she lived a quiet life and became more and more beautiful every day.Everyone who met her said: "The princess is the loveliest girl in the world." This word reached the ears of the queen, and she hated the princess left by her ex-wife even more, because her own daughter was ugly and stupid. .

One day, a kingdom two days away from their country announced that there would be a grand gathering of knights and nobles to celebrate the coming of age of their country's prince.Various festivities will be held at the rally, as well as various competitions and banquets.

The princess' father was also invited.Before leaving, he came to say goodbye to his daughter.Although she had such a beautiful house and was no longer scolded by the queen, the poor princess felt very lonely.She told her father that she might as well be dead.He comforted her as best he could, promised her that he would be back soon, and asked her if there was anything she wanted him to do.

"Yes," she said, "you can say hello to the Green Knight for me."

The king was a little taken aback by her words, for he had never heard of the Green Knight.However, due to time constraints, he agreed without asking any further questions and hurried on the road.When he came to the palace where the celebration was about to take place, the first thing he did was to ask:
"Can anyone tell me where I can find the Green Knight?"

cannot!It was a pity that no one had ever heard of the man—apparently he could not be found here.Thus the king became troubled, and even the feasts and games did not cheer him up.

He asked everyone he met, "Do you know the Green Knight?" The answers he got were all:
"No, Sire. We have never heard of this man."

At last he began to believe that the princess must have been mistaken, and that there was no such person.He started home, feeling very sad all the way, for it was the first time in months that the princess had asked him to do something, and he could not do it.All the way, he was so absorbed in thinking about this matter that he didn't pay attention to which direction the horse was going.Later, he found himself walking into a dense forest that he had never been before.He kept walking, trying to find a way, and as the sun was about to set, he realized he was lost.Fortunately, not long after, he saw someone driving a herd of pigs over, and he happily rode over to ask:

"I'm lost, can you tell me where this is?"

"You are in the forest of the Green Knight," replied the man, "and these pigs belong to him."

Hearing this, the king was very happy. "Where does the Green Knight live?" he asked.

"It's a long way from here," said the swineherd, "but I'll show you the way." He led the king a little way on, then told him to take the right road, and said good-bye to him. .

Then the King went into another forest and saw another swineherd driving a herd of pigs.

"My man, whose pigs are these?" asked the king.

"They all belong to the Green Knight," replied the man.

"Where does he live?"

"Ah, not far from here."

The king rode on, and about noon he saw a beautiful castle in the middle of a most lovely garden.You can't imagine how beautiful this garden is.Fountains frolicked in marble pools, and peacocks roamed the flat grass.Beside the marble pool sat a handsome young man, dressed from head to toe in a suit of green armor, feeding goldfish swimming in the clear water.

"This must be the Green Knight!" The king thought to himself, and walked up to the young man, and said to him kindly:
"My lord, I have come to say hello to you for my daughter. But I have gone too far and lost my way in your forest."

The knight looked at him for a moment, feeling a little puzzled.

"I have never seen you, nor your daughter," he said at last, "but, nevertheless, you are very welcome." He waved his hand to the castle.The king did not notice, but said to him:

"My daughter asked me to take a message to the Green Knight. Since you are the only Green Knight in this country, this message must be for you."

"You must stay and spend the night with me," said the knight.By this time the sun had set, and the king gratefully accepted the invitation.Together they sat down to a great dinner in the great hall of the castle.Though the king has been to many countries, and visited many kings and palaces, he has never had a better meal than this one.The master was clever and knew how to entertain guests, and the king was very happy, thinking to himself: "What an ideal son-in-law this knight will be!"

Next morning, when the King was about to get up and go home, the Green Knight put a jewel box in his hand and said to him:

"Your Majesty, can you condescend to bring this gift to your daughter, the princess? There is my portrait inside.

That way when I go to see her, she will recognize me.I felt that she was the lady I saw every day in my dreams, and I had to marry her. "

The king blessed the knight, promised his daughter a gift, and set off.It didn't take long to return to his country.

(End of this chapter)