red fairy book

Chapter 26 Gretha and Passit (1)
Long, long ago, there was a king and queen, and they had a charming daughter.She's beautiful, elegant, and smart, and her name is Gracea.The queen loved her too much to think of anything but her.

Every day the queen gave the princess a lovely gold brocade blouse, or something of satin or velvet.When she was hungry, give her a bowl full of candied plums, and twenty jars of jam.Everyone said she was the happiest princess in the world.

There is also a rich duchess in the palace, her name is Gribra.She was horrible beyond description, her hair was red, like fire, she was a one-eyed dragon, and this eye was not so beautiful!Her face was as big as a full moon, and her mouth made one suspect she could eat people, but she had no teeth.

She is not only ugly, but also fierce.She didn't want to hear anyone say that Gretha was pretty, so she left the palace and went to live in her own castle, which was not far away anyway.But if people went to see her and accidentally mentioned the princess, she got angry: "She is not cute at all, my little finger is cuter than her whole body."

Soon after, the queen fell ill and died.The princess was very sad, and so was the king.He shut himself up for a whole year, and finally his doctor, fearing that he too was sick, ordered him out.

So, the palace arranged a hunt.But the weather was hot, and the king got tired after a while, and said that when he passed a castle, he wanted to take a rest.

It happened to be Glebra's castle.When she heard that the king was coming, she went out to meet him, and told him that the basement was the coolest place.So they went to the basement together.The king saw more than 200 wooden barrels lined up side by side, and asked her if she drank so much wine alone? "Yes, Your Majesty," she replied, "I am alone. But I am glad to let you taste it. What would you like? Wine, cider, champagne, or something else?"

"Well, since you are so hospitable, let me have some champagne," said the king.

Glebra took out a small hammer and tapped the barrel, at least a thousand crowns fell out.

"What does that mean?" She laughed.

She tapped another bucket, and what came out were gold coins.

"I don't understand what's going on," Gribra said, laughing even harder.

She went on to knock on the third bucket, and what came out was full of diamonds and pearls, covering the ground.

"Aha!" she cried, "I don't understand, Sire, that someone has stolen my wine and put this rubbish in it."

"You call this rubbish, Lady Gribra," said the king. "Rubbish! This rubbish could buy the whole kingdom!"

"Well," she said, "these buckets are full of gold and silver, you know. If you will marry me, it's all yours."

At this moment, the king loves money like his life, and he exclaimed happily: "Marry? Of course I want to! If you want, you can get married tomorrow!"

"I have one condition," Gribra said. "Whatever I tell your daughter to do, she must do."

"Oh, of course. You have your own way. Let's agree, let's shake hands," said the king.

So, they shook hands and left the basement.The Duchess locked the door and gave the key to the King.

When the king returned to the palace, Gracia ran out to meet him and asked how he was doing, and he said, "I caught a pigeon."

"Oh, give it to me," she said, "I'll take care of it."

"Oh, I can't give it," said the king. "Frankly, I met Duke Gribra, and I promised to marry her."

"You call her the Dove?" asked the princess, "I call her the Owl."

"Take care of your tongue," said the king roughly. "Please be polite to her. Now go and dress yourself, and I will show you to see her."

The princess went back to her room sadly.Her nurse saw her crying and asked what was the matter.

"Alas! who is not sorry?" she replied. "The king has married again, and his bride is my enemy, the dreadful Duchess Gribra."

"Oh, dear!" replied the nurse, "you must remember that you are a princess, and you must behave like one in everything. You promise me, don't let the Duchess see that you hate her so much. .”

At first the princess refused to agree.But the nurse talked for a long time and gave many reasons, and finally she agreed to be kinder to her stepmother.

The nurse dressed her in a light green gown with gold embroidery, combed her hair so that it hung over her shoulders like a golden mantle, and placed a crown of roses and jasmine on her head.

She was dressed, and no one could have been more beautiful, but she still looked sad.

At this time, Duchess Glebra was also dressing herself.She had heels an inch higher than the others so she wouldn't limp so badly, got a false eye, dyed her red hair black, powdered it, and put on a gorgeous lavender lace dress satin gown, yellow petticoat trimmed with violet ribbons.Because she heard that the queen likes to ride horses, she bought a horse.

Gracia waited for the king to set off through the garden and ran into a wood.Sitting on the mossy bank, she began to think, and the more she thought, the sadder she began to cry.

She cried and cried, forgetting to go back to the palace, until she looked up and saw a handsome herald standing in front of her.He was dressed in green and held a hat with white feathers.Greta watched him kneel down and said, "Princess, the king is waiting for you."

The princess was surprised.Seriously, this herald was so beautiful that she had never seen it before.She thought he was the Duchess's herald, and asked: "How long have you been the King's herald?"

"I am not the king's servant, but yours," he replied.

"Mine?" The princess was even more surprised, "Why haven't I seen you?"

"Oh, princess," he said, "I have never dared to appear before you before. But now that the king's marriage has brought you danger, I must tell you how much I love you. I believe I will earned your respect.

I am Prince Passit, you may have heard of my fortune and Asgard.If you allow me to accompany you in disguise, I hope that all this can be of use to you when you are in trouble. "

"Pasit! Is it really you? I hear your name often, and I always hope to see you. If you were really my friend, I wouldn't be afraid of that evil old duke."

They returned to the palace together.Passit prepared a horse for Gretha, and he was very heroic when he rode it.

Now, he could see the princess often, and he didn't miss the opportunity.You know, the princess is so beautiful, it will be very happy to see her.

When Gribra's horse appeared next to Greta, the horse looked no better than the old horse pulling the broken cart.The horse ornaments are also incomparable. The princess's bridle and saddle are all made of large diamonds.

The king had too many things on his mind to pay any attention to it.But all his courtiers looked enviously at the princess and the herald by her side, who was so handsome and noble that no one else in the court could compare.

Gribra was sitting in the carriage when they saw her, trying in vain to appear dignified.The king and the princess saluted her, and brought her horse to bid her mount, but when she saw Gretha's horse, she said angrily: "If the boy's horses are better than mine, I will go back to the castle at once. If Being so underestimated, what do you do as a queen?"

The king dismounts Gracia and asks Gribra to mount her horse.Without looking at the princess, without saying thank you, Gribra climbed onto the horse and sat there like a bundle of clothes.Eight officials had to support her for fear that she would fall.

In this way, she was still dissatisfied, and she was still grumbling and complaining, so everyone asked her what else was wrong.

"I want this green herald to come and lead the horse, just like he took Gretha's horse," she squealed.

The king ordered the herald to go and lead the horses.Passit and the princess glanced at each other without saying a word, then he went over to lead the horse, and the magnificent procession began to move forward.Glebra was triumphant.But at this moment, no one expected that this beautiful horse started kicking and jumping, and finally slipped away, and there was no way to stop it.

At first, Gribra lay prone on the saddle, but was thrown out by the horse after a while, and fell into the stones and thorn bushes.

When they found her, she was smashed to pieces like jelly, and everyone was picking things up.

Her hat is here, her shoes are there, her face is scratched, and her clothes are muddy.No one has ever seen such a bride.They took her back to the palace and put her in bed, and as soon as she woke up and could talk, she started to lose her temper and curse, saying it was Gracia's fault, that she was trying to kill her on purpose, if the king didn't punish Gracia , she went back to her own home and enjoyed her wealth alone.

The king was terrified, he did not want to lose the gold and silver jewels.He ran to comfort Glebra, telling her that he could punish Gretha as he wanted.

So she sent for Greta.Gracia came pale and trembling with fear, knowing that it would be no good to call her.She looked for Passit everywhere, but couldn't find it, so she had no choice but to go to Glebra's room.As soon as she entered the door, she was caught by four maids. These four women were tall and big, and looked ruthless. Princess Grace shivered under their gaze.

To make matters worse, these women were all holding sticks in their hands, and Gribra lay on the bed and said, beat them hard, don't show mercy.

The poor princess thought desolately, if Pasit knew about this, he would come and save her.But they started beating her.Fortunately, the wooden stick had turned into peacock feathers at this time, and the maids were so tired that they couldn't even lift their hands, so she wasn't injured yet.However, Glebra thought she was already black and blue.

When Gretha was let go, she pretended to be terribly hurt, and ran back to her room to tell the nurse about it.The nurse walked away, the princess turned her head and saw Passit standing there, she thanked him for helping her in such a clever way, they laughed together, because this way fooled the maids and Gribra.

Passit suggested that the princess rest for a few more days and pretend to be seriously injured.He assured her that he would be there whenever she needed him; then, he was gone, as suddenly as he had come.

Gribra was very happy when she heard that Teresa was ill, and now she recovered much faster.

The grand wedding was held, and the king knew that the queen liked to hear that she was beautiful, so he ordered the portrait artist to paint her portrait; a contest was held, and all the warriors in the palace swore to defend the truth that Gribra was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Many warriors came from far away to challenge, and the ugly queen sat on the balcony to watch the game, and Gracia stood behind her.She was so beautiful that the warriors couldn't help but look at her.The queen was very happy and felt that these people were watching her, especially the king's warriors were brave and won every battle.

All the challengers lost, and at this moment, an unknown jazz appeared.He brought a diamond-rimmed portrait and claimed he challenged anyone who disagreed that the queen was the ugliest guy in the world.The portrait of the queen he brought is the most beautiful in the world.

All the warriors came out to fight him in turn, and one by one he defeated them all, and then he opened the box and said that, to comfort them, he would show them the picture of his queen.After the painting was opened, everyone recognized that it was Greza.The unknown lord saluted her gracefully and left without saying his name.

Gretha knew him as Passit.

The queen was too angry to speak a word, but soon, the voice returned to her body, scolding Gretha like a storm: "What! You dare to argue with me, and you want me to bear with me! The humiliation of your warriors? I will not bear it, proud princess, and I will repay you."

"I swear to you, my lord," said the princess, "that I have nothing to do with it, and I am glad that you will be a beautiful queen."

"Ha! You're still laughing at me? You vase!" said the Queen. "Just wait and see."

Someone hastened to tell the king how the angry queen threatened the poor princess, but the king said: "The queen can do what she likes, Gracia is hers!"

The wicked queen waited impatiently for dark, and then ordered a carriage to be prepared for her.Gracia was forced into the carriage.The carriage left and did not stop until it reached the big forest.

The forest is very dark, full of lions, tigers, bears, and wolves, and no one dares to go there even in the daytime.There they left the princess, and she cried and pleaded in vain.

The princess was at a loss and stood where she was, but when the sound of the carriage going away disappeared, she started running around.She bumped her head against a tree for a while, and tripped over a stone for a while. She was always worried that she would be eaten by a lion.

She was too tired to take a step, and lay on the ground crying: "Oh, Passit, where are you? Have you forgotten me?"

The forest suddenly lit up, brightly lit, and she froze, speechless.Every tree gave off a soft light, clearer than moonlight, softer than sunlight.

There was a long avenue before her, and a crystal palace shone like the sun.At this time, there was a sudden noise behind her, which startled her.She saw Passit.

"Have I frightened you, my princess?" he said. "In the name of my mother the Queen, I invite you to our Asgard, and she wishes she could love you as I love you."

The princess happily got on a sleigh with him, and the stag nimbly pulled them to the mysterious palace.

There she was received with great enthusiasm by the queen, and a banquet was immediately held.

(End of this chapter)