yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 41 The Silent Princess (2)
"'I think the princess should be mine!' said the oldest one with a smile, 'because not everyone can walk a year's distance in one hour like me!'"' That's really nice. ’ replied the second, ‘Perhaps it would be more useful to govern a country if one could see what is happening at a distance.That's how I learned it. '"'No, no, my dear companions!' said the third, 'you are very good, but if the Sultan knew that I could raise the dead, he would know who should be his son-in-law! But now There are only a few hours left before the appointed six months, and we must hurry back to the palace!'" 'Wait a moment,' said the second, 'and it would be best for me to see what is going on in the palace. ’ He plucked some small leaves from a nearby tree, muttered something, moved a few times, and put the leaves over his eyes.Soon, he turned pale and cried out.

"'What is the matter? What is the matter?' cried the other two. The second said in a trembling voice, 'the princess lies in her bed, and has few minutes to live! Oh, is there no one to save her? '"'I can! ’ The third man took out a small box from his turban and said, ‘The ointment in it can cure all diseases, but how can it be delivered to the princess in time? '"'Give it to me!' said the first man. Having got the box, he prayed that he was now at the princess's bedside. The princess was lying on the bed with the sultan and the weeping courtiers. Apparently 1 minute There was no longer any delay, the princess had lost consciousness and her face was already cold. The first person dipped some ointment with his finger, rubbed it on the princess' eyes, mouth and ears, and waited nervously for the result.

"Things progressed faster than he imagined. Under their gaze, the princess's face slowly turned red, and then she opened her eyes and smiled at her father. Sultan was too happy to speak, he was gentle Hugging her daughter tightly, he turned to the young man who saved his daughter, "Are you one of the three young men whom I sent to learn a craft six months ago?" The young man replied, yes, there are two more. One is on his way to the palace, and the Sultan now has a choice."

Having said this, Nightingale stopped and asked the young man, who among these three should get the princess?
"The man who learned how to make ointment," answered the young man.

"However, if the second person is not able to know what happened in the distance, they will never know that the princess is sick." Nightingale said, "The princess should belong to him." So the two argued fiercely, and neither of them knew. Can't convince anyone.Suddenly, the princess who had been listening to them sat up straight on her cushion and said:

"You two foolish fellows! Don't you understand that the ointment would be of no use if the man hadn't been able to get to the palace in time? She's dead long ago! The princess should belong to him!"

As soon as the princess uttered the first word, a servant standing at the door flew to report to the sultan, and a miracle happened!The elated sultan rushed over immediately.At this time, the princess realized that she had been tricked and fell into a trap specially set for her, and she was unwilling to say another word.She gestured to her father that anyone who wanted to be her husband would have to ask her to speak three times before she would really agree.She smiled secretly behind the seven veils, because she thought it was impossible.

The sultan told the young man that although he had succeeded once, he had to succeed twice before it would be effective.The young man's face darkened.It was very unfair to him, but he dared not object, so he bowed and went to the place where Nightingale was hiding.While it was dark, he hid the small birdcage that no one saw in his cloak, and left the palace.

"Why are you so gloomy?" Nightingale asked when they reached a safe place. "Everything went well! Of course, the princess was very angry that she had spoken by herself. Do you see that the veil over her face began to crack as she spoke her first words. See you tomorrow night." Take me there and put me on the posts by the trellis. Fear nothing, just trust me!"

Next evening, at sunset, the young man, leaving the cage outside, and hiding the nightingale in his coat, went to the palace, and went directly to the princess' chambers.The servant at the gate saw him and let him in at once.He walked carefully by the window, so that the Nightingale had a chance to hop over the post without being seen.He turned, bowed to the princess, and asked her some questions.However, just like last time, the princess did not respond, nor did she make any indication whether she heard it or not.A few minutes later the young man bowed again, and going to the window, he said:

"Oh, Pillar! It's no use talking to the princess, she can't utter a word. But I must find someone to talk to! I want to talk to you. Tell me how your life has been going all this time .”

"Thank you," said a voice from the pillar, "I am very well. It is a lucky thing for me that the princess does not speak, otherwise you would never have thought of speaking to me. In order to repay you, I will tell you An interesting story I heard recently, and I would like to hear your opinion on this story!"

"That must be a very interesting story," replied the young man, "please tell it at once!"

"Long ago," said the Nightingale, "there was a lady who was so beautiful that men fell in love with her. But she was very demanding, and it was difficult for them to please her. She refused to have sex with them. Any one of them married, but still trying to maintain friendship with them. Years passed like this, she was the same, no one in her eyes. Those young people are getting tired of waiting , married one after another, the girls were not as beautiful as she was, but they were not as proud as she was. In the end, there were only three unmarried people who proposed to her in the first place. - Baldsky , Jagdsky, and Fredsky. However, she still ignored them, thinking that she was more beautiful and lovely than other women. But one night, she finally had to face reality. She was sitting in front of the mirror , Combing her curly hair, in a strand of black hair, she found a long white hair!
"Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of this terrible reality, and she sat there in silence. 'I'm getting old,' she said to herself, 'and if I don't hurry up and find another, I'll never marry again. I Knowing that any one of those people would be happy to marry me tomorrow, but I have no way of deciding among them. I have to figure out who is the best of them all, and I can't waste any more time.'” So, she suffered from insomnia that night, thinking of various solutions all night.After dawn, she got up and dressed herself up.

"'That's the way to go,' she murmured, pulling out the white hair that had caused her so much trouble. 'It's not very good, but I can't think of anything better. It's the best way--well, none of the three of them are smart people, and I dare say they will fall for it at once." She called the servant and told her to tell Jagdsky that she would be in an hour. See him. Then she went into the garden and dug a grave under a tree, and put a white shroud over it.

"Jagdeski was very happy when he heard the good news. He put on his new coat and hurried to the house of his sweetheart. But the scene before him surprised him. He saw her leaning on the sofa and crying. .

"'What is the matter, my dear girl?' he asked, standing beside her, with his head bowed.

"'A terrible thing happened,' she said, sobbing. 'My father died two days ago, and I buried him in the garden of our house. But now I find out that he was a wizard, and he wasn't really dead. , his tomb is empty, and he must have gone somewhere to play by now.'"'This is bad news! ' said Jagdsky, 'what can I do for you to comfort you? '"'There is one thing you can do for me,' she answered, 'and that is that you wrap yourself up in a shroud and lie in your grave. If after three hours he does not come back, his magic I can't control me anymore, so he has to leave here and wander elsewhere.'" Jagdsky felt proud that he had gained the trust of his sweetheart, and he wrapped himself in a shroud , lying straight in the grave.A moment later, when it was Baldersky's turn, he found the lady sighing sadly.She told him that her father was a wizard who would most likely rise from the grave to cast bad luck on her.She told Baldsky to take a stone and wait by the grave, and if the wizard tried to move, to smash his head with the stone.

"Baldsky was ecstatic to be able to play for the woman he liked. He picked up a big stone and sat down by the grave where Jagdsky lay.

"After a while, Fredsky also saw the woman come at the time arranged by the woman, and when he greeted her as usual, like the other two, he also found that the lady was immersed in the infinite In mourning. She told him that there was a wizard who had been her father's enemy, and now he had thrown her father's body from the grave and replaced it himself.' But,' she added, 'if you could put Bring the wizard before me, and his magic will be lost, or I'm doomed!'"'Ah, lady, I would do anything for you! ’ cried Fredsky, and running to the grave, he seized Jagdsky by the waist, lifted the astonished Jagdsky on his shoulders, and carried him as fast as he could to the lady’s room. .At first, Baldsky was very surprised by this sudden turn of events, because the lady had not warned him of this situation in advance, and he sat there dumbfounded, at a loss.But after a while, he jumped up and threw the stone in his hand towards the backs of the two leaving quickly, trying to kill them.Fortunately, it didn't hit.After a while, all three of them came to the lady.At this moment, thinking that he himself had rescued the lady from the sorcerer's spell, Jagdsky slipped off Fredsky's back and tore off the shroud from himself. "

"Tell me, my lord," said Nightingale after telling the story, "who among these three should marry this woman? If it were me, I would choose Fredsky."

"No! No!" The young man replied, of course he understood the nightingale's intentions, "Baldsky suffered the most, of course he should get that woman!"

But Nightingale disagreed, they quarreled, and suddenly a third voice intervened:

"You talk too far!" cried the Princess—the tearing of the veil could be heard as she spoke. "Why didn't you think of Jagdsky? He lay three hours in the grave, There is also a man who is holding a stone and is about to smash his head! Of course that woman will choose him as her husband!"

In a few minutes the news reached the Sultan's ears, but he could not consent to marry his daughter to the young man until the princess spoke for the third time.Hearing this news, the young man and Nightingale discussed how to achieve their goal.The Nightingale told him that the Princess was so angry at having once again fallen into the trap set for her, that she ordered the pillars to be broken into pieces, and that this time he must hide in the folds of the curtain.

On the third night, the young man came to the palace again, and he went bravely into the princess' room.As soon as he arrived, the nightingale flew out from under his arm and perched on the door, where he was able to hide himself entirely in the folds of the curtain.

The young man spoke to the princess as usual, but could not get a word in answer.At last he left her to lie still under the shining veil, which had been torn in several places.The young man makes his way to the door, where a voice will gladly answer his questions.

They talked for a while, and then the nightingale asked the young man if he liked stories. He had heard an interesting story recently, but it puzzled him.The young man said he would be glad to hear it, and begged him to tell at once, so the Nightingale immediately began to tell the story:

"A long time ago, a carpenter, a tailor, and a student set out together to travel the world. After walking for a few months, they began to tire of the trip and decided to stop and rest in a small town that they liked very much. So they rented a small house, looked for work everywhere, and when they came back in the evening, they smoked and talked about the events of the day.

"It was the midsummer season, and one night was hotter than usual, and the carpenter couldn't sleep. Rather than lying in bed tossing and falling asleep, it would be better to get up to drink coffee and smoke a cigarette. The carpenter thought of this wisely. Suddenly, his eyes fell On a few unused pieces of wood in a corner. He is an ingenious carpenter, and he quickly made a statue of a beautiful girl about 14 out of these woods. After this job, he felt relieved and felt Feeling drowsy, he went back to bed and fell asleep quickly.

"But the carpenter wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night. There was thunder in the sky, and the tailor couldn't sleep either. He planned to go downstairs and soak his feet in the little fountain outside the garden gate to cool off. He was going out. It was necessary to pass by the room where the carpenter had just been sitting, resting and smoking, and he saw a beautiful girl standing against the wall. He stood there for a while without saying a word, and then he ventured to touch her hand and let him To his surprise, he found that the girl was made of wood.

"'Oh, I can make you more beautiful!' said he, taking from a shelf a bolt of yellow silk which he had bought that day from a merchant. He cut and cut, At last the needle flew and sewed, and at last he had a beautiful gown for the girl to wear, and when this was done he felt no restless mind, and went back to bed to sleep.

"When the dawn was approaching, the student got up and was going to the mosque to receive the first rays of sunlight. But when he saw a young girl standing there, he fell on his knees and raised his arms with joy Come.

"'Ah, you are more beautiful than the night, brighter than a thousand stars!' he murmured. 'Of course such a wonderful body should not be a soulless being.' He Immediately stepped forward to pray for her devoutly, to let this wooden girl have life.

"His prayer came true! The beautiful statue became a living girl, and all three fell in love with her, and each wanted to marry her."

"Now," said Nightingale, "who should this girl marry? I think the carpenter has the best right to her."

"Oh, but if the tailor hadn't made her a beautiful dress, which made her look so charming and attracted the attention of the students, the students wouldn't pray for her soul." The young man replied, of course he knew he should How to say.They quarreled violently again.The princess was indignant at the fact that neither of them mentioned the role of the student, and forgetting her oath of silence, she suddenly opened her mouth and cried out:
"You two are so stupid! Besides the student, who else could she belong to? If it weren't for him, everyone else's work would be in vain! Of course he should marry this girl!" When she spoke, All seven layers of veil fell off, she stood up, she was indeed the most beautiful princess in the world.

"You win," she said with a smile, holding out her hand to the young man.

So they got married.After the wedding they sent for the old woman whose pitcher had been broken by the young man many years ago.From then on, she lived in the palace and became their child's nanny, and lived happily until old age.

(End of this chapter)