yellow-green fairy tale book

Chapter 9: Leopard or Tiger (1)
In India, on a hot night, the king and queen lie in the royal palace in the center of the city.Now and then there was a breeze blowing through the panes, and the King and Queen wished they could go to sleep, but they couldn't.

At this time, the sound of howling wild animals came from outside the palace, and they couldn't sleep even more.

"Listen, tiger's voice!" said the king.

"Tiger?" asked the queen. "How can there be a tiger in the city? It's just a jackal."

"I tell you it's a tiger," said the king.

"I tell you that if you think it's not a jackal but some other animal, then you must be dreaming," replied the Queen.

"I say it's a tiger," cried the king, "don't talk back to me."

"Nonsense!" snapped the Queen. "That's a jackal." They quarreled violently.At last the king said, "Okay, let's call the guard over and ask, if it's a jackal, then I'll give you the kingdom and I'll go away; if it's a tiger, go away and I'll go away." marry a queen."

"As you please," replied the queen, "it's a jackal."

So the king called the two soldiers who were standing guard outside, and asked them questions.However, during the quarrel just now, the king and queen were very excited and their voices were so loud that the two soldiers almost heard what the king and queen said.One of the soldiers said to the other:

"We have to say that the king is right, and although it was the jackal's cry, if we tell the truth, the king may not keep his word and go away. Then we would be in trouble, so we had better On the side of the king."

The other soldier agreed, so when the king asked what animal they were seeing, both soldiers were sure to tell the king it was a tiger, and of course the king was right, it always has been.The king didn't say a word, but just asked someone to bring a sedan chair, ordered someone to help the queen in, and asked four bearers to carry the queen to a forest far away.Although the queen burst into tears, she had to obey.After walking for three days and three nights, the bearer came to a dense forest, left the sedan chair and the queen there, and went home.

The queen thought to herself that the king would not really send her away, but would call her back as soon as his anger subsided.So for a long time, she just stayed in the sedan chair very calmly, listening with her ears up to see if there were footsteps coming, but she didn't hear anything.After a while, alone, she began to tense up.She stuck her head out of the sedan chair and looked around.The day was just breaking, and the birds and worms began to move, and the leaves rustled in the warm wind; and though the Queen's eyes looked about, she could see no one, and she wept bitterly.

By chance, just near the place where the queen's palanquin was parked, there lived a farmer who had a small field deep in the forest, where he and his wife lived alone, with no neighbors around.The farmer was sleeping on the roof of his house because of the hot weather, but was woken up by crying.He jumped up quickly, ran down the stairs quickly, rushed into the forest following the cry, and found the sedan chair.

"Oh, poor weeping man, who are you?" cried the farmer, standing some distance off.Hearing a strange voice greet her, the queen stopped crying, not knowing what to do.

"Oh, that crying man," said the farmer, "you needn't be afraid to talk to me, you are my daughter to me. Tell me, who are you?"

His voice was so kind, that the Queen mustered up courage to speak.When she told the farmer what had happened, the farmer called his wife, took the queen to his own house, fed her, and made a bed for her to sleep in.A few days later, the queen gave birth to a little prince named Emir Ali.

Many years have passed, and there is no news from the king. Maybe he thought his wife had died long ago.

But in fact the queen is still alive, and she lives in the farmer's house.At this time, the little prince has grown into a healthy, strong and handsome young man.They lived in the forest, isolated from the world, and almost no one came to them.

The prince kept begging his mother and the farmer to allow him to go to the outside world to make a living, but the queen and the wise farmer always advised him to wait until the prince came, and they stopped obstructing him.So one morning the prince set out with a sword, a large copper pot for water, some silver coins, and in his hand a Calais (a double-stringed bow, It can shoot projectiles made of clay, with considerable power and high accuracy), and can shoot birds on the way.

He walked day after day, and he felt very tedious along the way.Finally, one morning, he saw in front of him a forest that was very similar to the one in which he had been born.He went in with great joy, as if he were visiting an old friend.While walking through the jungle, he saw a pigeon and thought it would be a good lunch.So he took the Calais, shot a pellet, and missed, and the dove fluttered away in panic.Just then, he heard someone shouting outside the dense forest.He walked over and saw that it was a very ugly old woman.Drenched and crying, she lowered a clay pot that was held above her head. There was a hole in the top of the pot, and water was running out of it.When she saw the prince with the Galenb in his hand, she cried:

"Oh, you bastard! Why do you play tricks on an old woman like me? Your stupid prank broke this jug of mine, where can I get a new one? And it's such a long way to get water , I'm almost exhausted, how can I go again?"

"Old mother," replied the prince, "I didn't play tricks on you. I just wanted to shoot a pigeon for lunch, but I missed it. I must have hit your clay pot. Well, you take my copper pot." Take it, this jar is not so easy to break, and as for the water, just tell me where to get it. You dry your clothes in the sun, and I will fetch it for you, and I will send the water to where you want me to go where."

Hearing what he said, a smile appeared on the old woman's face, and she pointed him where to get water.

A few minutes later, he returned with a full can of water.Without saying a word, she just led the way, and he followed.After a while they came to a hut in the forest, and as they were approaching the hut, Emir Ali saw a very lovely girl at the door, such a beautiful girl as he had never seen before.Seeing the stranger approaching, the girl lowered her veil and went into the house.How Emile longed to see her again!But he could not think of any excuse, so he made a sullen salute and took leave of the old woman.He hadn't gone far when the old woman stopped him:
"If you come across any difficulties and dangers, come to where you are standing now, and cry: 'Widden Fairy, Forest Fairy, help me!' and I will hear you."

After thanking her, the prince continued on his way, not thinking of what the old woman had said to him, but of the lovely girl.Soon, he came to a city, and at this time his money was almost spent.So he went directly to the king's palace, hoping that the king would give him a job.The king said that he already had many servants and there was no need to hire any more.But the young man kept begging, and at last the king relented, and he agreed to let him stay as a bodyguard, but on one condition, he must undertake the most difficult and dangerous tasks.And this happened to be what Emir Ali expected, so he agreed to the king and was willing to do everything the king asked him to do.

Not long afterward, on a stormy night, the river outside the palace walls roared, and the sound of the rain was mingled with the cry of a woman.The king ordered one of the servants to go and see what was the matter, but the servant was so frightened that his knees gave way, and he begged the king not to send him on this errand.Especially on such a stormy night, there must be evil ghosts and witches out there.The King was kind, and when he saw him so frightened, he sent another man to go, but the other man was also terribly frightened.At this time, Prince Emir Ali stood up:
"Your Majesty the King, this is my duty, let me go!"

The king nodded, and the emir set off.At night, it was pitch black, the wind roared, and the torrential rain hit him head-on. Amir rushed towards the river outside the palace wall, stepped into the rapids, and moved to the opposite bank step by step with difficulty.

For a while, I was almost swept away by the sudden vortex, and for a while, I was almost knocked down by the trees falling with the rapids.

Finally, he stepped onto the opposite bank, dripping wet, out of breath.A gallows was erected on the bank, and a criminal's body was still hanging on the gallows. Under the body, someone was crying, and it was from here that the king heard the crying.

Emir Ali sympathized with the weeping man very much. He didn't care about the storm in the dark night or the roaring river. As for the devil and the witch, he had never been entangled by them, so he boldly Go to the woman curled up under the gallows.

"Why are you so sad?" asked the Prince.

This woman is actually not a real woman, but a witch living in the witch country, and the things in the mortal world have nothing to do with her.However, if someone accidentally got lost and ran into the witch country, these ogres in the witch country would eat him.In fact, the witch wanted to catch someone for her dinner, so she came here and pretended to cry, hoping that a kind person would come here out of sympathy so that she could catch him and eat him.

So when Emil asked her, she replied: "Ah, good sir, it is my poor son who hanged on this gallows. If you help me to put him down, I will forever be for you Praying."

Emile felt that her voice was full of desire rather than sadness, so he suspected that she was not telling the truth, so he reminded himself to be very careful.

"It's hard work," he said, "that gallows is so high, and we don't have a ladder."

"Oh, but you can squat down and let me climb on your shoulders," replied the old witch, "I think I can reach him then." At this time her voice was very cruel, so Emil Ali was sure she must be up to something bad.But he just said:
"Good idea, let's try," he said, drawing his sword, pretending to need it for support, and then bending down so the old woman could climb onto his back.

The witch climbed up very nimbly, when suddenly he felt a noose slipped around his neck, and the old witch jumped from his shoulders onto the gallows, crying: " Haha, you idiot, I caught you, and I'm going to kill you for dinner!"

But at this time, Emil Ali swung the sharp sword upwards and slashed at the noose tied around his neck by the witch. The foot was also cut off, and the old witch was in pain and anger, and disappeared into the darkness with a loud cry.

(End of this chapter)