red fairy book

Chapter 21 The Kind Little Mouse (1)
Long, long ago, there was a king and a queen who loved each other very much.They will not be happy without being together.During the day, they go hunting and fishing together; at night, they go to a ball or watch an opera together.They sang, danced, ate candied fruit and lived the happiest life.So are their subjects.Therefore, this country is called "Happy Country".

In neighboring countries, the situation is different.The king was sullen and savage, never enjoying life, ugly and fierce, and feared by his subjects.He hated to see happy faces, so whenever he saw people laughing, he would cut off their heads immediately.The name of his kingdom is also very appropriate, called "The Kingdom of Tears".

When the evil king heard of the joys of the Pleasure Land, he went on his way to fight for him.News of his impending arrival reached the palace, and the queen heard it, and wept sadly: "Your Majesty, let us pack up our things and run away to the other side of the world."

The King replied, "Pooh, madam! I am a brave man, and I would rather die than be a coward."

Gathering all his armed forces, he bade the queen a tender farewell, mounted his steed, and departed.The queen watched him disappear, wringing her hands and weeping.

"Well, what will happen to me and my little girl if the King dies?" She was so sad that she could neither sleep nor eat.

The king wrote to her every day.One morning, she opened the window to find the messenger rushing over.

"What is it? Messenger. What is it?" cried the Queen.

The messenger replied: "Defeated, the king is dead, and the enemy will soon arrive."

The poor queen fainted.Her maids carried her to bed and stood beside her weeping.

Then, amidst a great chaotic sound, the enemy arrived.

Soon the king came to the queen himself.The maids let the queen hold her little daughter, covered her from head to toe with a sheet, and fled for their lives.

The queen lay there trembling, hoping not to be found.

But soon, the king burst into the room.He called the queen, and the queen kept silent, which annoyed him very much.He tore her sheets, twisted her hat, and her hair fell to her shoulders.He hit her on the shoulder three times and carried her out like flour.

The poor queen screamed with her little daughter in her arms, but the evil king taunted her and told her to keep screaming, which pleased him.Then he got on the black horse and went back to his country.

He returned to the palace and announced that he would hang the queen and the little princess on the nearest tree.But his courtiers said it was a pity, because the little princess could marry the king's only son when she grew up.

The king liked the idea and locked the queen in the tower.The tower is very small, just a table and a hard bed.

The king sent someone to find a fairy who lived nearby.After seeing the fairy, he showed unprecedented courtesy, held a grand banquet to entertain the fairy, and took the fairy to meet the queen.

Seeing the queen, the fairy sympathized with her, kissed her hand, and whispered, "Courage, I will try to save you."

These words gave the Queen a little comfort.She begged the fairy to take care of the poor little princess.But now the King saw them whispering together, and became angry, and cried out rudely, "It is time to finish, ladies.

I brought you here to let you see if this little girl is beautiful when she grows up, and if she is blessed. "

The fairy replied that the little princess would be very clever and beautiful.The king snarled at the queen that if so she would be lucky, or else hang her.Then he took the Fairy away, leaving the Queen there alone to wipe her tears.

"If she grows up to marry the king's son, the ugly dwarf, why should I want her to be beautiful? But if she isn't, we shall die. I must hide her somewhere."

The days passed.The queen and the little princess grew thinner and thinner, because the cruel prison guard gave them only one bite of black bread and three peas every day, so they were always hungry.

One day the queen sat at her spinning wheel because the king thought she should work day and night.Just then she saw a pretty little mouse crawling out of its hole, and she said to it, "Oh, poor little thing, what are you looking for here? I only have three peas a day, and you'd better go elsewhere." go."

But the mouse sniffed here, ran there, jumped around, and was very happy.At last the queen gave it the last pea, which she had kept for supper.She said, "Come and eat, little one. I have nothing to give you. But you bring me joy, and I will give you back with that."

She could hardly speak when she saw a quail perfectly roasted on the table and two plates of candied fruit. "Is this true? Good intentions are rewarded."

She and her daughter were satisfied with the meal, and the queen gave the little mouse what was left, and the little mouse danced more merrily than before.

The next morning the guard brought in a large tray with three peas in it.As soon as he put it down, the little mouse came out and ate all the peas, and when the queen saw that there was nothing left, she was very angry, and said, "What a wicked thing the mouse is! If it continues, I shall die of hunger."

However, she saw a lot of delicious food on the table at a glance, and the queen ate it happily.But as soon as she sat in front of the spinning wheel, she thought that if the little princess was not beautiful enough, she said to herself, "I have to find a way to escape."

While she was talking, she saw a little mouse playing with straw in the corner of the room.She picked up the straw, wove it, and said: "If there is enough straw, you can weave a basket. Put the baby in it, and kind people passing by will take care of her."

The mouse brought more and more straw, enough for the queen to weave baskets, and she worked day and night.At meal time, there should be three peas and a bite of black bread, but she always finds something delicious on the table.She didn't know where all these good things came from.

Finally, the basket is finished.The Queen put her head out of the window to see how much rope she had to weave to get the basket down.She saw a little woman leaning on a cane looking up at her and saying, "I know your suffering, ma'am. I will help you."

"Oh, my dear friend," said the Queen, "if you really want to, we've agreed on a time, and you'll come again, and I'll bring the baby down in a basket. Will you adopt her? Bring her up ? If I have money, I must repay you well."

"I don't care what the reward is," said the old woman, "but there is one thing I do. I'm picky about what I eat. I want fat, tender little mice most of all right now, and if you have them, Throw it out to me, and I will adopt your little daughter."

The queen wept after hearing what she said, but said nothing.

The old woman waited for a while and asked her what was the matter.

"Oh," said the Queen, "there's a little mouse in the building, a pretty little thing. I don't want it to be killed."

"What!" the old woman was angry. "You care more about the rats than your own children? Good-bye, ma'am! Enjoy the company of the rats, and don't trouble you, I can have plenty of rats too."

She grunted and staggered away.The queen was very disappointed, and though the food was better than ever on the table, and the little mouse was dancing merrily, she could not help crying.

That night, when the child was fast asleep, she put the child in the basket and wrote a note: "This unfortunate child is named Teresa." She tattooed the child's name on the clothes and covered the basket sadly.Just then the little mouse jumped out and sat on the child's pillow.

"Oh, little thing," said the Queen, "it's costly to save your life! Now, how do I know if there is anyone who will take care of Theresa? If anyone else, let this greedy old lady eat you up, but , I can't stand it."

The mouse replied, "Trust me, ma'am. You won't regret it."

The mouse spoke, and the queen was startled.But, in the next moment, she saw that the mouse's pointed nose changed into a beautiful face, and then it suddenly grew taller, and the queen recognized the fairy who had come to her that day.

The Fairy smiled, looked at her and said, "I want to see if you are honest, and if you can feel my kindness towards you.

You know, fairies have everything but friends.Friends are hard to find. "

"How can you be short of friends? You are so charming," said the Queen, kissing the Fairy.

"It is true," said the Fairy. "Most people are friendly only for their own benefit, and that doesn't count. But you can pity a little mouse, though you know it can't give you anything. In order to try again you One moment, and I'm that old woman talking to you. Now, I believe you really love me."

After finishing speaking, she kissed the little princess three times and said: "Dear little thing, I promise: you will be richer than your father, you can live to a hundred years old, beautiful and happy forever, never afraid of aging and wrinkle."

The queen was overjoyed, thanked the fairy, and begged her to take care of little Theresa as if she were her own daughter.The fairy agreed.They lowered the basket, and the Fairy became a mouse again, which took her a few seconds, and then she slid nimbly down the rope.But when she went down, the child was gone.

She was terrified, and ran up to the queen, and said, "It's over. My enemy Kakaline has stolen the princess. Do you know that? She's a cruel creature, and hates me. I'm younger than she is, and she's stronger than me." , I can't deal with her. I can't save Theresa."

(End of this chapter)