red fairy book

Chapter 2 Brothers
A long time ago, there was a king and a queen who lived happily together.They had twelve children, all boys.One day, the king said to the queen: "If our No. 13 child is a girl, the twelve brothers will have to die, so that she will be rich and the whole country will be hers alone."

Then, he ordered twelve coffins, filled with wood shavings, and put a small pillow in each.He put all the coffins in one room, gave his wife the key, and told her not to tell anyone.

The queen was devastated by the fate of her sons, the youngest of whom was called Benjamin, who was always with the queen.One day he asked, "Dear mother, why are you so sad?"

"My child," she replied, "I cannot tell you."

But he kept asking, and at last she went and opened the door of that room, and showed him the twelve coffins filled with wood shavings and with pillows on them.

Then she said: "My dearest Benjamin, your father made these coffins for you and your brothers. For if I had had a daughter he would kill you and put you in them."

She talked and cried.Her son comforted her and said, "Don't cry, dear mother, we will find a way to escape."

"Yes, you must! Go into the woods with your brothers, and climb to the tallest tree, and look at the castle. If I bear a son, I will fly the white flag, and you will come back; if I bear a daughter, I will hang the red flag, and you run away as soon as possible. God will help you, I will pray for you every night, and bless you with warm fires in winter, and the heat in summer will not make you haggard."

Then she blessed her sons, and they set off into the woods.There they found a tall oak tree, and they sat in it by turns looking at the tower of the castle.

No. On the 12th day, it was Benjamin's turn to climb up and watch.He saw a flag.But, by God, the blood-red flag!They are going to die.

When the brothers heard about this, they were very angry and said: "We will be killed because of a dirty little girl? Let's swear revenge! We swear that whenever and wherever we meet a woman, we will kill you." Let her die at our hands."

Afterwards, they walked further into the forest. The middle of the forest was dense and gloomy. They came to an empty cabin.

"Here," said they, "this is our lodging. You, Benjamin, the youngest and weakest, you stay at home and look after the house. We'll go out and get food."

So the brothers went into the woods again, and shot hares and deer, and birds and wood pigeons, and whatever else they came across.They took the booty home to Benjamin, who soon learned how to cook.They lived in the woods for ten years, and the time passed happily.

Meanwhile, their little sister grew up rapidly at home.

She has a kind heart and a pretty face with a little gold star on her forehead.One day when the palace was being cleaned, the little princess saw twelve men's shirts hanging there from the window, and asked her mother, "Whose shirts belong to them? Daddy's clothes are too small!"

The queen replied sadly, "My dear boy, they belong to your twelve brothers."

"Where are my twelve brothers?" asked the princess, "I have never heard of them."

"Only God knows where they wandered," replied the mother.

Then she took the little girl into the locked room, and showed her the twelve coffins filled with wood shavings and with pillows on them.

"These coffins were for your brothers. But they ran away before you were born."

Then she told her daughter what had happened, and when she had finished, the princess said, "Mother, don't cry, I will go to them."

The princess took twelve shirts and went straight to the depths of the forest.She walked all day and arrived at the hut at night.She went in and saw a young man.

The young man was amazed to see her royal robes and the gold star on her forehead, and asked her where she came from and where she was going.

"I am a princess," she answered, "and I have come to find my twelve brothers. I will go wherever God will, until I find my brothers."

Then she showed him the twelve shirts.Benjamin knew she was his sister, and said, "I'm Benjamin, your little brother."

They cried with joy, embraced and kissed each other.Then Benjamin said: "My dear sister, we swore to kill any girl we saw. For if it had not been for the girl we would not have been forced to leave the palace."

The princess replied, "I would rather die if I could bring my brothers back to their old ways."

"No," he replied, "it's not necessary at all, hide under the tub! I'll explain it to them when they come back."

She did as he said.After a while, everyone else came back and sat down to eat.

"What's new, Benjamin?" they asked.

He replied, "Yes, yes. But don't you have anything to tell me?"

"No," they said.

So he said, "Well. You spent a day in the woods, and I stayed a day at home. As always, I always know more than you."

"Then tell us," they said.

He replied, "Unless you agree, we won't kill the first girl we see."

"We all share her, well, let's talk," they said.

"Here is our sister!" He turned the tub, and the princess came out.Seeing her royal robes, the gold star on her forehead, and her sweet appearance, they all fell in love with her immediately.

They told her to stay home with Benjamin and help him with the housework.The other brothers went hunting in the woods.

Benjamin and his sister are cooking at home.She picked a lot of wild vegetables to make vegetables, and she also collected wood, watching the pot on the fire, and as soon as her eleven brothers came home, she put the food on the table.

In addition to these tasks, she also has to clean the room.She is so capable, the brothers are very happy, and they live happily together.

One day, they prepared a good meal for everyone to sit together, eat, drink and have fun.

They had a little garden with twelve tall lilies growing there.The girl, wanting to please her brothers, picked twelve flowers, and intended to give them each one at supper.

But no sooner had she plucked twelve flowers than her brothers turned into crows, and they flew round the wood, squawking, and at once the house and garden disappeared.

The poor princess found herself left alone in the woods.She looked up and saw an old woman standing not far away. The old woman said to her: "My child, what have you done? Why did you touch these flowers? These flowers are your brothers. Now, they will never die." Turned into a crow."

The princess whimpered and asked, "Is there any way to save them?"

"No more." said the old woman, "there is a way, but it is too difficult, you can't do it. Even if you are dumb for seven years, you can't laugh. If you say a word, within an hour, you All the silence is in vain, that one sentence will kill your brothers."

The princess said to herself, "If this is the case, I will surely bring my brothers back." So she found a tall tree, climbed up, and spun yarn there all day without laughing or talking. one word.

One day, a king happened to be hunting in the woods, and a big gray dog ​​sniffed desperately under the tree, circled the tree, and barked fiercely.The king was drawn over and saw a beautiful princess sitting on a tree with a golden star on her forehead.Fascinated by her beauty, he proposed to her on the spot.She didn't speak, just nodded lightly, and he climbed up the tree, carried her down, put her on his horseback, and returned to the palace.

The wedding was spectacular, but the bride didn't talk or smile.

They lived happily together for several years.

The king's mother was a wicked woman, and began to speak ill of the young queen, saying to the king, "She is but a lowborn beggar. Who knows whom she will harm? If she is deaf and dumb, she must at least know how to laugh. Those who don't Those who laugh have no conscience at all."

At first the king paid no heed to her words, but the old woman chattered on, and said so much ill of the queen, that at last he was persuaded, and sentenced his wife to death.

A fire was lit in the courtyard of the palace.There, she was to be burned.The king watched from the upstairs window and wept for a while, for he still loved his wife dearly.

She was tied to the stump, and the flames licked her clothes ferociously, when the seven-year time limit expired.

Suddenly there was the sound of torrents in the sky, and twelve crows circled overhead.They slammed down, and as soon as they hit the ground, there were twelve people.She knew her brothers were saved.

They put out the flames, untied the sister, kissed and hugged her over and over again.

Now she could speak, and she told the King why she could not speak, nor could she laugh.The king was very happy to know that she was innocent.

Since then, they lived happily together.

(End of this chapter)