red fairy book

Chapter 14 The Thief King (1)
Long, long ago, there was a farmer who had three sons.He had no property for them and had to leave them to find their own way of life.He said, let the sons do what they like, go where they like.He's giving them a ride.He sent his sons to a fork in the road, they each chose a road to go, the father said goodbye to them, and went back to his home.

I don't know what happened to the two older sons, but the younger one went far, far away.One night, while he was walking in the woods, a storm suddenly blew up.The storm was so big that I couldn't even keep my eyes open.He lost his way and could not find a path.He went on, and at last he saw lights in the distance.There he walked, and walked for a long time, until at last he came to a big house, with a bright fire in it, and no one in the bed, and when he went in, he saw an old woman working.

"Good evening, mother," said the young man.

"Good evening," said the old woman.

"Aha! The weather is terrible," said the young man again.

"Yes," replied the old woman.

"Can I sleep here all night?" said the young man.

"It won't do you any good. The master will kill us all when he comes back and sees you," said the old woman.

"Who lives here?" said the young man.

"Oh, robbers and rascals," said the old woman, "they stole me from me when I was a child, and I've been doing their housework for them."

"No matter what, I still fell asleep." The young man said, "I don't go out in this kind of weather."

"Damn it!" said the old woman.

The young man lay down on a nearby bed, but he dared not fall asleep.Fortunately, I didn't fall asleep, and after a while, the robbers entered the door.The old woman said that a strange young man had come, and she could not drive him away.

"Has he brought any money?" asked the robbers.

"He's not like a rich man. He's walking, with a few clothes on his back."

The robbers started muttering to each other, discussing what to do, kill him, or what?The young man got up and started talking to them, asking if they wanted a valet, and he was glad he could do something for them.

"Okay," they said, "we'll give you a place to live if you join us."

"I can do whatever I want," said the young man. "When I left home, my father said, I can do whatever I like."

"Then do you like to steal?" the robber asked.

"Okay." He said he thought it was pretty good, and it didn't take too long to learn it.

Not far from here, there lived a man who had three cows, and he planned to take one of them to the town to sell.When the robbers heard of it, they told the young man that if he could steal the cow on the road without hurting anyone, he would be kept.

The young man set off, taking a pair of shoes with silver rings from the house.He left a shoe by the side of the road, and hid himself in a bush.As the man passed by, he saw the shoe.

"Nice shoes," he said, "if no one sees, I'll take them home, and the old woman will be different in no time." .

But at once it occurred to him that it was useless to take one shoe back, and he was on his way again.The young man picked up the shoes and ran quickly through the woods, ahead of the man, and put the shoes in his path again.

When the man came with the cow and saw the shoes, he was so annoyed that he regretted not picking up the shoes in front of him.

"I'll go back and get it now," he said to himself, "and bring back a pair of shoes, and the old woman may say something kind."

He went back and searched for a long time, but couldn't find the shoe, and finally had to go back with the shoe.

At this time, the young man had already led the cow away.When the man returned to his original place, he found that the cow was gone, and began to cry. He was afraid that his wife would kill him if she found out.

He suddenly remembered that he should go home and take the other cow to the town to sell, just don't let his wife know.He did so, without his wife seeing him bring the cows out.

The robbers knew magic, and when they saw that he was coming again, they told the young man to bring the cow back again, so that no one could be hurt.If he can do that, he'll be on an equal footing with them.

"This is not too difficult." The young man thought.

This time he went out with a rope, and tied himself to a tree, just above the road.The man came with the ox, and was surprised to see someone hanging from a tree.

"What did you do? How did you hang on the tree?" He asked, "Oh, you probably hung here for me. I wouldn't trade my life for you."

He continued walking with his cattle.The young man jumped down from the tree, took the path, and got ahead of him again, and hung himself from the tree.

"I really want to know if there is something wrong with your brain, hanging yourself here. Or, are you a monster?"

The man said, "Aha, you may be hanging here because of me, I don't care if you are a monster or not." After finishing speaking, he walked away with the cow again.

The young man jumped down from the tree again, took the path to the front, and hoisted himself up in the middle of the path.

The man said to himself again: "What the hell is this! Why is everyone so interested in hanging themselves up? It must be magic! No, I need to know what's going on. If those two people are still hanging, That's what's real; otherwise, it's magic."

He tied up the ox and went back to see the two men.As soon as he was gone, the young man jumped down and took his ox.Next, everyone can guess how sad he was when he came back and saw that the cow was gone.He cried and got angry, but after a while he comforted himself that it was better to go home and lead the first cow out, without letting his wife know, he could sell well and get a lot of money, so he went home and led the third cow Cattle.

The robbers knew it again, and told the young man to steal, and if he succeeded, he would be their leader.So the young man set off, and when he was in the woods, when the man led the ox, he began to growl, as if a big bull had been hidden in the woods.Hearing this, the man was very happy, thinking that he could get the two cows back.He tied up the third cow and went to the woods to find them.

Now, the young man took the third cow away.When the man came back, he found that the third cow was also missing, and his nerves were deranged.He wept and lamented, and did not dare to go home for many days, fearing that his wife would peel his skin.

The robbers were not too happy, for the young man had become their leader.One day, determined to do something that he could not do, they met on the road and left him alone at home.

The first thing he did when they went out was to get the cattle out on the road, and they all went home, and the farmer was, of course, very happy to see his cattle again.

Then he drew out the robbers' horses again, loaded them with all valuables, gold and silver, or other things, and asked the old woman to greet the robbers for him, saying that he was going away, and they would never find him again. up.

He rode his horse and ran out of the country, and after a long search he found the way he had come.When he saw his father's house, he dug out a uniform, put it on, and walked into the courtyard like a general.Then he asked if he could stay overnight.

"Oh, no!" said his father. "How can I let a noble general like you live here? I'll find myself some clothes to wear and a bed to sleep in. It's very dirty here."

"You are so hard-hearted," said the young man, "that you have the heart to deny your son entry."

"Are you my son?" the old man asked.

"You don't know me anymore?" said the young man.

The old man recognized it and asked, "What have you done? You have become such a noble person in such a short period of time."

"Oh, I tell you, because you told me I could do anything I liked, I was apprenticed to thieves and robbers. Now, my apprenticeship is over, and I'm the king of thieves."

The magistrate lives next to his house.His house is big and rich, so much money that he doesn't even know how much he has. He also has a daughter who is very beautiful, kind and intelligent.

The king of thieves wanted to marry her, so he asked his father to propose. If the magistrate asked him what he did, he replied that he was the king of thieves.

"You're crazy," said my father. "You're thinking of stupid things."

"You must propose, that's all," said the young man.

"I dare not go, he is so rich." His father said.

"You have to go, whether you like it or not. If I say good things and you don't listen, then I will say bad things." The thief king said.

But his father was still unwilling. The thief king threatened him with a tree branch, and he went away crying.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the magistrate.

So he told him that he had three sons who had left home and he let them go wherever they wanted and do what they wanted.

"Now," he said, "the youngest son has come home and threatened me to come to your house and propose marriage to your daughter. He told me to tell you that he is the king of thieves." Then the old man cried sadly .

"Don't cry," said the magistrate. "Tell him I want evidence. If he can steal my pot joint from the kitchen on Sunday, he can marry my daughter. Can you tell him?"

His father told him, and the young man thought it was too easy.He caught three wild rabbits, put them in his bag, and put on his old rags, looking pitiful.Dressed up like this, he sneaked into the aisle on Sunday afternoon, like an ordinary beggar.

The magistrate and his men were all on guard in the kitchen, watching the joint.The young man let out a hare, and the hare ran away in the yard.

"Look at that hare." The people in the kitchen said, and they wanted to run out to catch the hare.

The local governor also saw it, and he said to those who wanted to go out: "Let it run away, a running rabbit, you can't catch it."

After a while, the young man released another hare. The people in the kitchen saw it again.

After a while, the young man released the third hare, and the rabbit ran in the yard again. The kitchen staff saw it and wanted to go out to catch it again.

"This hare is really nice! Let's go and see if we can catch it!" The magistrate said, and went out, and the others followed him out, earnestly catching the hare.

This time, the thief king took the connector and ran away.I don't know if Mr. Magistrate had any roast meat that day, but he certainly didn't eat roast rabbit meat, even though he was hot and tired after chasing him.

At noon, the pastor came.The magistrate told him about the thief king's tricks, and the priest laughed at him endlessly.

"If I were, I wouldn't be played like this by such a fool," he said.

"Okay, then you have to be careful, he might play tricks on you one day." The magistrate said.

But the pastor still said that, mocking the magistrate and being tricked by the thief king.

Later in the afternoon, the thief king came again and proposed to the magistrate's daughter.

(End of this chapter)