yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 35 The Prince and Princess in the Forest (2)
"Oh, I'm much better now," said the queen. "You see, the food has been warmed up for you. Hurry up and eat while it's hot, and we'll set off after eating."

While the prince was eating, the queen said to him: "After you left, I had a terrible dream. I dreamed that you were in the forest, and there were wild beasts everywhere. They came around you howling fiercely. You How did you get rid of them?"

"Oh, it's just a dream!" laughed the prince.

"But my dreams often come true," said the Queen. "Tell me how it is."

The prince hesitated for a while, not knowing whether to tell her, but at last he decided to let the queen know the secret.

"You shouldn't hide anything from your mother," he thought, and told her the truth.

"Look, mother! This is a magic sword and a chain suit, which I found in the first house after I entered the forest. As long as I carry them, nothing can hurt me. It is they that make I am safe from the beast."

"Thank goodness!" cried the Queen.As soon as the prince turned and left, the queen couldn't wait to run and tell the robber.

When the robber heard this, he immediately procured a drink containing some hypnotics, and told the queen to give it to the prince before he went to bed tonight.

As the robber had said, the queen brought the prince a drink infused with sleeping pills, just as the prince was going to bed.

"Drink it quickly, and make mother happy," said the Queen, "you will feel better and sleep better after drinking it.

You've been busy all day. "

"This drink tastes strange!" the Prince muttered as he drank it.

The prince had just finished his drink and fell asleep.The robber came in and took away the prince's sword and chain clothes.

"These things belong to my brother," said the robber, waking the Prince when he had got them.

"Now they are all mine," said the robber, "and now I give you two choices: either you will die now, or your eyes will be cut out, and you will be thrown back into the forest."

When the prince heard these words, his blood ran cold.Then he suddenly thought of something.He turned to face his mother, "Did you do this?" he asked sternly.The queen burst into tears and denied it, but the prince knew she was not telling the truth.

"Well," said the prince, "'As long as there is life there is hope,' I choose to go back to the forest."

Then the robbers tore out the prince's eyes, gave him a stick, and something to eat and drink, and drove him into the forest, hoping that he would be eaten by wild beasts.Because he no longer has the protection of the Excalibur and Iron Chain Clothes.

"Now," said the Robber to the Queen, "we are going back to your country."

The next day, they set off.Once back at the palace, they were married, and the robber became king.

At this time, the poor prince was still wandering about in the forest, hoping to find someone who would help him and would take him in, because he was now penniless and homeless.Fortunately a man had had a great hunt in the woods not long ago, and the wild animals had fled and hid, so that nothing could harm him.At last all the food was gone, and the prince thought he would die of hunger.He came to the port where the ship sailed for Arabia.At this time, a ship was about to set sail, and the captain was just about to board the ship when he saw the prince.

"Alas, here is a poor blind man!" said he, "it must be the work of those robbers; let us take him to Arabia!" He asked the prince, "My friend, will you go to Arabia with us? "

How happy the prince was to hear someone speak so kindly to him again!The prince said he would.The sailors helped him into the boat.After arriving in Arabia, the captain took the prince to a public bath and asked a slave to bathe him.While taking a bath, the princess' ring slipped from the prince's finger, and was later picked up by the slave who cleaned the bath.The slave showed the ring to a friend who lived near the palace.

"Ah, here is the princess' ring!" said he. "Where did you get it?"

"It fell from the finger of a blind man," answered the slave. "He must have stolen it, but I am sure you will be able to return it to the Princess."

That night, the man entered the palace with the ring and gave it to his daughter.His daughter was the princess' favorite slave, and she in turn gave the ring to her master.The princess cried out with joy when she saw the ring.

"This is the ring I gave to my fiancé!" she said eagerly, "take me to see him immediately."

The person in charge of the bathhouse was puzzled that the princess was engaged to a blind man, but he still followed her instructions and took her to meet her fiancé.When the princess saw the prince, she cried out:
"You are still here! A year has passed, and I thought you were dead. Now we will get married immediately." The princess returned to the palace and told the king, asking him to send a group of guards to bring her fiancé into the palace immediately.The sudden arrival of the prince naturally surprised the king.But when the king heard that he was blind, he was very angry.

"I will never let a blind man inherit my throne," he said, "it is absurd!"

But the princess was always very assertive, and in the end the king gave in as usual.The prince was ceremoniously received into the palace.Although the king was dissatisfied, there was nothing he could do.Although the princess looked as young as ever, it was time for her to get married.Hundreds of knights and princes had proposed to the princess, but she was not attracted to any one.Now she actually decides to marry a blind man, and she will not marry unless he is the only one.

One fine evening, the prince and princess went into the garden and sat down under a tree.

Two crows perched on a nearby bush.The prince could understand the language of birds, and he heard one of them say, "Did you know that tonight is Midsummer's Eve?"

"I know," said another crow.

"And did you know that there is a place in this garden called the 'Queen's Bed'?"

"know."

"Oh, but you may not know that if anyone has bad eyes, or is completely blind, he should wash his eye sockets with the dew that fell there tonight, and he will see again. But only at midnight It only works between twelve o'clock and one o'clock."

This is good news for the prince and princess!So the prince asked the princess to take him to the "Queen's Bed".It was a small patch of grass where the Queen used to lie and take her afternoon naps.From twelve o'clock to one o'clock at midnight the prince washed his eyes with the dew that fell there, and he found that he could see again as before.

"I see you!" he said to the princess, looking at her as if he were seeing the world for the first time.

"I don't believe it," said the princess.

"Really! You hang your handkerchief from a bush, and if I can find it at once, you will believe me," said the Prince.

So the princess hung the handkerchief on a bush, and the prince went straight to the handkerchief.

"Really, you can really see!" cried the princess. "It seems that my mother's bed has really made you see again." The princess went to the river and sat down.It was getting hotter and hotter, and the princess fell asleep.The prince watched her sleeping, and suddenly found something gleaming around her neck.It turned out to be a small golden lamp, shining brightly.The golden lamp was fastened on a golden chain, and the prince wished to have a closer look at it.So he took off the necklace, and at that moment the golden lamp fell to the ground.Before he could pick it up, an eagle flew over and picked up the little golden lantern and flew away.The prince got up and gave chase, but he ran and ran, but could not catch up, and at last he lost his way.In order to find the golden lamp, the prince searched around, and at last he came to the forest where he had found the princess.

The princess woke up and found that the prince was missing, so she went to find him.At last she also lost her way, and just as she was walking up and down in the forest, not knowing what to do, the gang of robbers caught her again and brought her back to the cave where the prince had saved her.In this way, although they have gone through untold hardships, they are not much better than before.

The prince walked aimlessly, trying to find his way back to Arabia, until one day he met twelve young men.They sang and laughed, and walked over happily. "Where are you going?" asked the prince.They told the prince they were going to find something to do.

"I would like to go with you if I may," said the prince.They replied: "The more people there are, the happier we are."

So the prince set off with them.Then they met an old dwarf.

"Where are you going, gentlemen?" asked the old dwarf.

"Looking for work!" they replied.

"Then come and work with me," said the old dwarf, "and you'll have plenty to eat and drink, and you won't have much work to do. In a year's time, if you can answer my three questions , I’ll give each of you a bag of gold, and if you can’t answer, I’ll turn you into beasts.”

After hearing this, the young men thought it was not difficult, so they followed the old dwarf back to his castle.

"Here you can have all you want," said the old dwarf, "and all you have to do is look after my house while I'm away. I'm going away soon, and I won't be back for a year."

After the old dwarf left, the young men stayed behind.They were very happy, did nothing, just drank and sang to live a happy life every day.They found that there was good food and drink on the table every day, and that invisible hands cleaned the dishes when they were satisfied.There was only the prince, who was very sad at the loss of the princess, who ate and drank little, but worked hard to keep the house in order.

One day, as the Prince was sitting in his own room, he heard under the window the voice of the old dwarf talking to another dwarf.

"Tomorrow," said the old dwarf, "the time of the year will come."

"So what's your question?" asked another dwarf.

"First I'll ask them how long they've been here?—surely they don't know, young fools! Then I'll ask them what's shining on top of the castle?"

"what is it then?"

"I stole the golden lamp while the princess was sleeping in the garden."

"What about the third question?"

"I want to ask them where they get what they eat and drink every day. I stole it from the king's table, but they don't know."

The next day the old dwarf came back.

"Now I'm going to ask you questions," he said, "first, how long have you been here?"

Those young people have been busy eating, drinking and having fun, and have long forgotten the agreement between them, so they can't answer.

Finally, someone said, "A week."

"Two months." Guessed another.The prince replied, "One year."

"That's right," replied the old dwarf.But the second problem is more difficult.

"What's that glowing thing on the roof?"

"It's the sun!"—"It's the moon!"... The young people guessed and guessed, but no one really knew what it was.

"May I answer?" asked the prince.

"Oh, of course." replied the old dwarf.Then the prince said:
"It was a golden lamp that you stole while the princess was sleeping in the garden." The old dwarf nodded again.

The third question is more difficult than the first two.

"Where do you get the meat you eat and the wine you drink?"

Young people no one can guess.

"Can I tell?" the prince asked again.

"Of course, if you know," said the old dwarf.

"From the king's table," said the prince.

All three questions were answered correctly.Now, each of them can walk away with a bag of gold.The young men hurried off, leaving the prince alone.Soon, they met an old man asking them for money.

"No, we have no money," they replied.

So they hurried on again.After a while, the prince came.

"Your Excellency, can you give me a little money for the poor man?" asked the old man.

"Certainly," said the prince, and gave him the whole bag of gold coins.

"I don't really want money," said the old man.In fact, he was the old dwarf pretending to be just now. "Since you are so generous, I will give you the princess' golden lamp. The princess is now in the cave where you found her before, but now you don't have the Excalibur. I don't know how to rescue her again. "

Hearing these words, the prince finally knew the whereabouts of the princess, and knew how to rescue her.So the prince disguised himself as a peddler, and went on his way to his own country, where his mother and the bandit leader lived.He went to a goldsmith's shop and ordered many kitchen utensils made of pure gold.It's not every day that a goldsmith does work like this, but at last pots, pots, and grills of pure gold are being made.The prince put them into a basket, went to the palace, and asked to see the queen.

As soon as the queen heard of the fine golden pots and cauldrons, she came out at once.She was full of praise when she opened the basket, completely attracted by those things.The prince took the opportunity to sneak into the bedroom, took the Excalibur and chain clothes hanging there, and then walked out.And none of this was noticed by his mother.

"These are all very pretty things!" she said. "How much do you want to sell them for?"

"Your Majesty, tell me a price," replied the prince.

"I really don't know how to say the price," the queen said, "wait until my husband comes back, men are more proficient in these things. Besides, it's your first time here, and he will chat with you." The prince bowed , just waiting quietly in the corner.

Soon, the robber came back.

"Come and see these lovely golden saucepans!" cried the Queen.

But no sooner had the robber entered the door than the prince touched him with the Excalibur, and he fell to the ground.

"You should know who I am now, Queen Mother," said the Prince, throwing off his disguise, "you had better repent of what you have done to me, or you will not live long."

"Oh, forgive me!" she cried. "I couldn't help it. I was so frightened."

The prince is very kind.He ordered the evil king to be stripped of his fine clothes and driven into the forest.The beasts there quickly tore him to pieces.He sent the queen back to her own country.Then he set off again to the cave where the princess was kept, who was still chained as before.Relying on the magic sword, the prince rescued the princess again effortlessly.They soon reached the pier, sailed for Arabia, and were married there.From then on they ruled happily over their two countries until their death a long, long time later.

(End of this chapter)