yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 32

Long, long ago, there was a king who had only one daughter.This girl has been spoiled by everyone since she was born.She's smart, pretty, but headstrong.When the princess was old enough to marry, she rejected every prince the king liked, declaring that she would choose her own husband.According to the experience of living together for many years, the king clearly knew the temper of the princess, and once she made a decision, it was impossible to change it.So the king had no choice but to agree to the princess, and asked her gently what he could do for her.

"From this day, one month from now, call before me all the young men of the kingdom,"

The princess said, "Whoever I give the golden apple to is my husband."

"But, dear..." said the king despondently.

"To whomever I give the golden apple will be my husband." Before the king could finish speaking, the princess repeated it even more loudly.Knowing his daughter's temper, the king had no choice but to accept it.

On that day, all the young men in the kingdom gathered in the palace, tall or short, black or white, poor or rich, handsome or ugly.They lined up in the square in front of the palace.The princess was wearing a long green dress, with a golden ribbon fluttering behind her, and walked in front of them with a golden apple in her hand.A few times she stopped, hesitated for a moment, but finally she walked over.Later, she stopped in front of a young man in the last row.All the spectators thought that this young man had nothing special about him, and he had nothing to attract the attention of girls. There were many handsome young men than him, and all of them were dressed more beautifully and gorgeously than him. The princess should not like him.But the young man looked at the princess sincerely with a smile on her face, and the princess smiled also, and took out the golden apple and gave it to the young man.

"It must be a mistake!" exclaimed the king, who stood by and watched nervously the princess's every move.He hoped that all the young men could not please the princess. "She won't want to marry the son of a penniless widow! Tell her I'll pretend I haven't seen anything, and she'll have to choose someone else." So the princess started all over again, the second, third Again, several re-elections, but each time she gave the golden apple to the widow's son.

"Okay! Marry him if you want," cried the king angrily, "but you must leave the palace!" The princess said nothing, threw her head up, and left the palace holding the widow's son's hand.

They were married that night.After the wedding, they returned to the bridegroom's mother's house together.In the eyes of the princess, the hut was not much bigger than a chicken coop.

The widow was not at all happy when she saw her son leading the bride in.

"As if we weren't poor enough before!" murmured the widow, "I dare say this spoiled princess can't do anything but support herself!" The princess stroked the widow's hand gently, Said gently: "Dear mother, don't worry, I am a famous spinner, I can work at the spinning wheel all day without breaking a thread."

The princess does what she says.However, although the three of them worked hard, they became poorer and poorer.After six months, they discussed that the husband should find a job in a neighboring town.There the young man met a merchant who was about to set out on a journey with a caravan of camels laden with various goods.The merchant was about to hire a servant to help him, so the young man asked the merchant to hire him as his servant.The merchant agreed, and paid the young man in advance for a year.The young man returned home with the news and said goodbye to his family the next day.They are all sad.

"I'm not with you, don't forget me." The princess hugged her husband and said, "When you pass the well by the city gate, remember to stop and greet the old man sitting by the well. Kiss the old man hand, and ask him what advice he has for your itinerary."

The young man set off reluctantly.When he got to the well, he greeted the old man as the princess had told him, and asked him for advice.

"My child, thank you for visiting me. In return, please remember these three words: 'What you love the most is always the most beautiful.' 'Patience is the first step on the road to happiness.' There will be hope.'”

After thanking the old man, the young man continued on his way.Early the next morning he set off with the merchant.They arrived at the first resting place before sunset.There are several dry springs here, and the merchants who came earlier have already settled around.It has not rained for a long time in this rocky country, and people and animals are suffering from thirst.Although there is a well that often has water half a kilometer away, the water can only be obtained when you go to the bottom of the well, and everyone knows that no one who went down before has ever come up again.

However, unless the caravan's sheepskin bags are full of water, they dare to continue deep into the desert.On the evening when the widow's son and his master arrived, the merchants had decided to pay a large sum of money to anyone who would venture to draw some water from the magic well.

So, when the sun rose the next day, the young man was awakened from his sleep.People shouted around the camp, declaring that if anyone would risk his life to get water for everyone and camels, every merchant would give him a thousand piastres (unit of currency) in silver.

The young man hesitated for a while when he heard the news.The legend about this well has been spread far and wide, and he had heard it a long time ago.He knew in his heart that this was very dangerous, but he thought, if he could come back alive, he would have [-] piastres of silver!He came out and said to the shouter passing by the tent:

"I would like to go!"

"You are mad!" cried his master, who happened to be standing beside him, "you are too young to take your life like this! Run and tell the man who called, that you have changed your mind." But the young When the man shook his head, the businessman knew that it was useless to persuade him.

"Well, that's your own business!" said the merchant at last. "If you must go, go! But if you go and come back, I'll send you another camel's cargo, And the best mule." With that, the merchant patted his turban again as farewell, and went into the tent.

As soon as the merchants entered, a large crowd rushed out of their tents.

"How can we thank you!" they cried, pressing close around the young man. "We, and our camels, are dying of thirst! Look! We have brought the rope to let you down."

"Let's go, then!" replied the young man.They set off together.

When they got to the well, everyone tied the rope firmly to the young man's body, then gave him a big sheepskin bag, and slowly lowered him to the bottom of the well.Here, a clear spring is gushing up from among the rocks.Just as he bent down to take a sip of water, a tall Arab appeared in front of him and said to him loudly:

"follow me!"

The young man straightened up, knowing in his heart that the last moment of his life had come.But he had no choice but to follow the Arab to a brightly lit hall on the other side of the dark river.The Arab leading the way sat down, drew the two boys to him, and said to the young man:
"I have a question for you. If you answer it right, I will spare your life. If you answer it wrong, your head will be gone, just like many people before. Tell me, my two children, I Which one do you think looks better?"

This problem does not seem to be difficult.One boy was very beautiful and the other was very ugly.However, just as the young man was about to speak, the old man's advice flashed through his mind, and he quickly replied: "The one you love the most is always the most beautiful!"

"You saved me!" cried the Arab, who immediately rose from his seat and embraced the young man tightly in his arms. "Ah! It seems that you are the only one who really knows what my pain is! How stupid those people are when they answer my questions! I am so fed up! I am punished by a demon to stay here until someone gets it right This is the question to be free. But why are you here? How can I repay you for what you have done for me?"

"Then you will bring me enough water to drink for eighty merchants and their camels, who are dying of thirst," replied the young man.

"It is very simple," said the Arab. "Take these three apples. When you fill your skins and go away, leave one apple at the bottom of the well; and when you are halfway up the side of the well, throw away the second apple; When you get to the mouth of the well, throw away the third one. As long as you do what I say, there will be no accidents. Also, if you take the three green, red and white pomegranates with you, one day you will They'll come in handy!"

The young man did as he said, climbed out of the well with a skin full of water, and rushed back to the camp in the Gobi desert.Merchants are anxiously waiting!Oh, they don't know what it's like to be thirsty!Strangely, even after the camels had had their fill, the skins were still full of water.

Full of gratitude after being rescued, the merchants put money into the young man's hands one by one.His master told him to choose the goods he liked, and gave him a mule to carry them.So the widow's son finally became rich.After the merchant sold all his goods, he returned to his hometown.The young man also hired a man to take the money and the mule back to his wife.

"I'm going to send those three pomegranates back too," he thought to himself, "if I keep them in my kerchief, I'll throw them away one day." So he wanted to take the pomegranates out of the turban .But the pomegranate was gone, only three green, white and red gems.

For a long time, the young man remained with the businessman.Gradually, the businessman entrusted him with all his business and distributed a lot of the money he earned.After the merchant died, the young man wanted to go back to his home, but the mistress begged him to stay and help her.Until one night, he suddenly woke up and remembered that he had been away from home for 20 years.

"I'm going home to see my wife,"

The next morning he said to his mistress, "If ever you need me to do something, send me a letter. Also, I've already told Hassan what to do." Riding a camel set off.

As for the princess, she gave birth to a little boy for him not long after her husband left with the merchant.In order to feed and clothe the children, the princess and the widow worked hard from dawn to dusk.After receiving the money and pomegranates from the young people, they no longer need to work.Moreover, the princess saw at a glance that the three pomegranates were not fruits, but priceless gems.The old woman was not so used to diamond jewels as her daughter-in-law, who thought they were ordinary fruits!I just want to give it to my grandson.At that moment the princess snatched them up and hid them in her gown, and the old woman was very angry about it.The princess came to the market, bought three of the best pomegranates, and asked the old woman to feed her grandson, and the matter was settled.

The princess bought beautiful new clothes for all three of them, and they were all very well dressed.Then she put a jewel which her husband had given her into a little silver box, and wrapped the box with a handkerchief embroidered with gold thread.Then she filled the old woman's pockets with gold and silver coins.

"Go to the palace! Mother dear," she said, "go and give this jewel to the king. If he asks you what you want in return, ask for a letter with the king's seal that says whoever You can't interfere with what you want to do. Before you leave the palace, you distribute the money to the servants."

The old woman took the box and set off into the palace.No one has ever seen such a beautiful ruby.The most famous jeweler in town was called in to give it an estimate, but all he could say was:

"If a boy throws a stone into the sky with all his strength, and you pile up gold as high as the stone was thrown, even then the gold will not be enough to buy the gem."

Hearing this, the king's face suddenly became very depressed.From the first sight of this ruby, the king was very eager to own it.Yet all the money in the treasury was not enough to buy it.He was silent for a while, trying to figure out how to make an offer to the old woman, and finally he said:
"If I can't come up with so much money, are there other terms of exchange?"

"Give me a letter with your own signature on it, and your seal on it, saying that no matter what I do, I will not be hindered." She replied immediately.The king was very happy to get what he wanted at such a small price.Without saying a word, he gave her such a handbook.The old woman took the paper and went home immediately.

Immediately the fame of this beautiful ruby ​​spread throughout the world.Many messengers came to the little house to ask if there were more gems for sale.Every king was eager to own such a treasure, and they ordered their envoys to buy the gems, so the bids of these envoys were higher and higher.The princess also sold the other two gemstones at a very high price. If she spread the gold she got, she could go from the door of the house to the moon.The first thing she did was to build a palace beside the little house, the pillars of which were cast in gold, and were studded with great diamonds, which shone brightly day and night.Of course the king, the princess' father, was the first thing he heard of the new palace when he returned from battle.So he hurried to see it.There was a 20-year-old young man standing at the gate of the palace. He was the king's grandson. Of course, neither of them knew the truth.The king liked his appearance very much, so he took him back to the palace and asked him to be the commander-in-chief of the army.

Not long after this, the widow's son returned to his hometown.That's right, in front is the hut where he lived with his mother, but he doesn't know anything about the gorgeous building next to the hut.

How is his wife and mother doing now?Who could live in such a beautiful house?This was the first question that popped into his mind.However, he didn't want to expose himself by asking strangers passing by, so he climbed to a big tree opposite the palace to observe the situation inside.

Soon a woman came out and picked some roses and jasmines that grew in the porch.He knew this was his wife, and twenty years had passed since the last parting, and she looked almost as young and as pretty as ever.He was about to jump down from the tree and run to her when a young man came out and hugged his wife affectionately.Seeing this, the husband was very angry. He drew out the arrow and was about to shoot it.At this time, he once again remembered the advice of the wise old man:

"Patience is the first step to happiness." So he put down the bow and arrow in his hand.

At this time, the princess turned around, took the head of the man beside her, and kissed him on both cheeks.The nameless fire ignited again in the heart of the observer on the tree, and he took the bow hanging from the branch again.But what the wise old man said to him a long time ago seemed to ring in his ears again:

"There is hope in waiting patiently." So he put the bow in his hand aside again.Then, the young man's voice came from the quiet night sky: "Mother, why didn't you tell me anything about father? Is he still alive? Doesn't he want to come back to us?"

"Ah! my child! what shall I answer you?" said the princess, "it has been twenty years since he left us to seek his fortune. During all this time nothing has been heard of him. But why do you think of him now?" gone?"

"Because I dreamed that he came back last night," said the young man, "and then I remembered something I had forgotten a long time ago. I have a father, although he is very strange to me. Now, please tell me what you have said Know everything about him."

So the son stood under the jasmine and listened to his mother tell the story of his father.The man hiding in the tree was also listening.

"Oh," the young man cried out, wringing his hands in pain, "I am the commander-in-chief of the army, and you are the king's daughter. We have the most magnificent palace in the world, but we don't know my father." Where I am, and may be as poor and miserable as we imagine. To-morrow, I will ask the king to give me some soldiers, and I will go to the ends of the earth to find him."

Hearing this, the father came down from the tree and took his wife and son in his arms.That night, they talked all night long, and they didn't finish talking until the sun rose the next morning.However, after daybreak, he went to the palace, paid homage to the king, and told the king what had happened and who the three of them really were.The king was ecstatic when he heard this, he never thought that the daughter whom he had forgiven and thought about day and night lived so close to him, and was actually the mother of the young man whom he valued. "All this has long been decided," said the king, "you are destined to be my son-in-law from birth, and you will inherit my throne in the future!"

He bowed deeply.

By waiting patiently, he finally earned his hope!
(End of this chapter)