red fairy book

Chapter 35 The Golden Branch (1)
Long, long ago, there was a king who was so eccentric that all his subjects were afraid of him.Because even if he was offended by a small matter, he would cut off his head.This king's name is Ge Wei, and he lives up to his name.He has a son who is very different from him.No prince was kinder or wiser than he.But unfortunately, he was really ugly, with bow legs, squinting eyes, crooked mouth, and hunchback.A beautiful mind in such a horrible body, but for all that everyone loved him.His mother, the queen, called him Crick, and she liked it.

The eccentric character is more concerned with his own majesty than with his son's happiness.He wanted his son to marry a princess from a neighboring country, and if the power of the two countries were united, he would have greater power.What's more, the princesses of the neighboring countries are also ugly, so it's okay for Pequerik.As we all know, she is not only terrible, but also crippled and needs a cane to walk. Everyone calls her Princess Caibangzi.

The king asked for the portrait of the princess, put it under the canopy of the auditorium, and then sent someone to call the prince, and told him that this was his future wife, and hoped that the prince would like her.

The prince glanced at it, and walked away arrogantly, which offended his father.

"Can you tell me why you're upset?" he snapped.

"Your Majesty," said the Prince, "what should I be happy about with a lame and ugly bride?"

"Of course you have the right to object," Greg said eccentrically, "you're terribly ugly yourself."

"That's why," said the Prince, "so I want to marry someone who is not so ugly, and I am tired of looking at myself."

"I'm telling you, you must marry her!" said Greg angrily.

Seeing that it was useless to say it, the prince bowed and withdrew.

He was especially irritated with the prince, since no one dared to go against the king.He ordered the prince to be locked up on the top floor, where rebel princes were kept, but no one has been locked up for 200 years.

All the rooms looked old, and their furniture was ancient, and there the prince was pleased to find a library, where he was soon permitted to look at any book he liked.But he didn't know until he got the books that these books were written in a language that had long since disappeared, and he couldn't understand a single word.

The eccentric king thought that the prince would soon get tired of prison life, and agreed to marry Princess Caibangzi, so he sent someone to propose marriage, saying that if she would marry the prince, he would be very happy.

Of course the king was very happy to see such a good marriage for his unfortunate daughter.Though he himself could not see anything admirable in the Prince's portrait, he hung it up prominently, and sent for the Princess.The princess looked at it and wept.The king was very annoyed, so he took a mirror, held it up to the princess, and said, "Of course you don't think the prince is handsome. Look at yourself, and do you think you have a right to complain about that?"

"Your Majesty," she replied, "I don't want to complain, I just want to ask you to allow me not to get married. I would rather be an unhappy Princess Caibangzi all my life than see my ugliness appear on other people's faces."

But the king ignored her request and sent messengers to escort her away.

At this time the Prince was locked up in the garret, and was terribly bored, and the cranky king would not allow anyone to speak to him, and gave him only a little food.But the guards liked him very much, and they did their best to make the prince happy nonetheless.

One day, the prince was walking up and down the corridor, thinking about all the disadvantages of being ugly, and marrying a princess who was as ugly as him.He raised his head, and suddenly found that the painted windows were very bright and beautiful. He didn't want to think about these sad things anymore, so he looked at these windows carefully one by one.

He found that these paintings seemed to tell the story of a person's life.Every painting has this person.The prince felt that this person was a bit like himself, so he became very interested.

For the first window, he was in a small tower, looking for something in a crack in the wall.In the second painting, he opens a cabinet with a golden key.In this way, he watched countless scenes, and he found that there was another person who occupied an important position in these scenes, a tall and handsome young man.

Poor Prince Crick loved to see the man, he was strong and tall.At this time, it was getting dark, so the prince had no choice but to go back to his room and take out an old book to look at the pictures.He was surprised to find that the picture in the ancient book was the same as the one on the window, and what was even more surprising was that these characters seemed to be alive.Looking at the musicians, he saw their hands dancing and heard beautiful music; there was also a painting of dancing, and the prince saw little people walking back and forth.

He turned a page, smelled the food, and a man at the table looked at him, and said, "We drink to your health, Prince Crick! Give us the queen, and you will be rewarded; Otherwise, it will do you no good."

Hearing these words, the prince became more surprised and even a little frightened. The book fell to the ground with a "slap", and the person disappeared.The voice drew the guard over and asked him what was the matter.He said he was getting dizzy from hunger, so he was starting to hallucinate.

The guards, in defiance of the king's orders, brought the prince good food.After he finished eating, he opened the book again and found that there was no picture, so he was convinced that he was dreaming just now.

The next day, the prince went to the corridor to look at the drawing again.He found that the people inside were all alive, and walked back and forth. He saw that the person in the picture who looked like himself found the key in the crack of the wall and opened an ancient door, so he decided to go back to his room to look for it. See if there is any mystery in it.

He went back to the top floor, searched in the cracks in the wall, and almost immediately found a place where the sound was hollow.He took an ax and split a stone and found a golden key.

Next, is to find that cabinet.The prince quickly found the cupboard in a dark corner. It was very old and tattered, and he never noticed it.At first he couldn't find the keyhole, but after searching carefully, he found that the keyhole was hidden in the carving, and the golden key fit just right. With a hard turn, the door opened.

The outside of the cabinet is ugly and old, but the inside is incomparably gorgeous.Each drawer is made of precious stones such as crystal and amber, and is filled with all kinds of jewelry.Prince Creek was very happy. He opened the drawers one by one. In the last drawer, there was only an emerald key.

"It must be the key to the golden door in the middle," said the prince to himself.After trying it, the small door swung.A soft crimson glow flooded the cabinet.

The light came from a huge ruby ​​box, which was right in front of him.He couldn't wait to open it, and was shocked: there was a hand in the box!There is still a painting in his hand.He wanted to drop the box and run out of the room, but a voice in his ear told him: "The owner of this hand is waiting for your help, you can bring him back to life. Look at this beautiful portrait, this is the cause of my misfortune , if you are willing to help me, immediately go to the corridor and see where the sun shines the brightest, and if you find this place, you will find my treasure."

The sound disappeared.The prince asked several questions in bewilderment, but no one answered.He put the box back, locked the cabinet, slipped the key into the crack in the wall, and went out into the corridor.

In the corridor, it was strange that the windows were rattling and shaking, but the prince didn't pay attention. He carefully looked where the sun was brightest, which seemed to be the portrait of the handsome young man.

He climbed up and found a panel of ebony and gold, as had been found in other paintings.

He was confused and didn't know what to do.Suddenly, he remembered, and to see if the pictures could help him, he looked into the nearest window and saw a picture of himself lifting off the wall.

The prince understood, moved the painting aside, and immediately found himself in a marble auditorium full of statues.

He walked through countless gorgeous rooms, and finally came to a room covered with blue gauze.

The walls of the room were paved with emeralds, and on a couch lay a beautiful girl.She seemed to be asleep, her hair, black as ebony, scattered on the pillow.Her face was as white as ivory.The prince found that she was very disturbed, and he took a step forward gently, so as not to wake her up.He heard her sigh, then talk to herself.

"Ah! How did you think you could win my love by separating me from dear Fromund? Cut off his hand in my presence. You ought to pay his respects to his hand. "

Then, as tears rolled slowly down the girl's cheeks, the prince understood that she was cursed with a curse, and that the hand he saw belonged to her lover.

At this moment an eagle flew into the room, clutching a golden branch, on which grew clusters of fruit like cherries, but each fruit was a ruby.

The eagle gave the branch to the prince, hoping that he could undo Sleeping Beauty's spell.The prince took the branch, touched her lightly, and said, "Beautiful girl, I don't know what spell you are under. But in the name of your beloved Fromund, I beg you to wake up and come back to the You still haven't forgotten the reality to come."

Immediately, the girl opened her watery eyes and saw the eagle hovering around her.

"Oh! stay, my love, stay!" she cried.But the eagle uttered a mournful cry, spread its wings and flew away.The girl looked at Prince Klick and said, "It was you who rescued me from the spell of 200 years of lethargy. If there is anything I can do for you in return, please tell me, and I will use all my magic powers to get Your happiness."

"Girl," said the Prince, "I wish to restore your beloved Frommond, for whom I have seen your tears."

"It is very kind of you, dear Prince!" answered the Fairy, "but that is left to others. I cannot explain it now, but have you no wish of your own?"

"Girl," cried the Prince, kneeling at her feet, "look at my ugliness. My name is Crick, and I am but a butt to be made fun of. I beg you to make me less ridiculous. "

"Stand up, Prince," said the Fairy, and touched him with the golden bough. "You may now be called the Invincible Prince, and that name suits you. You are very handsome!"

The Prince was too happy to speak, and he kissed the Fairy's hand in gratitude.When he stood up and saw himself in the mirror, he knew that ugly self was gone forever.

"I wish I could tell you what riches are in store for you, and what pitfalls lie in your way, but I cannot. Fly from the tower, and remember, Fairy Detherine is your friend forever."

When she had finished speaking, the prince was surprised to find that he was no longer in the tower, but in a wood beyond a hundred counties.We'll just leave him here for a while and see what happens elsewhere.

The guards found that the prince did not call for dinner as usual. They went to his room to check, but found no one. They were startled, and found the cellar from the top floor, but they couldn't find it.They knew that the king would cut off their heads, so they made an appointment that the prince was sick, and they found a little guard to lie on his bed, and informed the king.

Ge Wei was very happy to hear that his son was ill, thinking that he would give in soon.So he asked the guard to take the word, and he had to treat the prince as harshly as before. The guard was also very happy when he heard this.

Princess Caibangzi has arrived in the palace.

The eccentric king went out to meet her, and when he saw her, he got goose bumps all over his body.He frowned and kissed her on both cheeks, and couldn't help but say, "I think Creek is ugly, but I think you should marry him without hesitation."

"Your Majesty," she replied, "I know my appearance very well, so your words can't hurt me. However, I would rather be called Princess Caibangzi than Crick's Queen."

This remark angered the cranky king: "Your father sent you here to marry you to my son.

You can trust that I won't change his schedule to provoke him. "So, the princess was sent to the room in desperation, and the maids who took care of her were disciplined, and the king asked them to pay attention to the princess's sanity.

At this critical moment, the guards were terrified to death that their secret would be discovered, so they sent news that the prince was dead.Now he was so angry that he immediately thought it was the fault of the princess, and ordered the princess to be sent to the cell where Prince Crick had been.

The princess was shocked by this injustice, and wrote countless letters to the king to protest, but his temper was so bad that no one dared to send letters, either to him or to the princess' father.

However, the princess did not know all this.She thought she would go back to her country soon, and kept herself in a good mood.But time passed slowly, and she walked up and down the corridor every day.Later, her attention was drawn to the changing pictures in the windows, and she felt that one of them was herself.

"Is it because I'm here that they are so happy to draw me?" she said to herself, "People must think that I and my crutches are here to show humbleness, compared with the shepherdess in the next painting Much prettier. If only I were as beautiful as her!" She quickly glanced at herself in the glasses, and immediately turned away with tears in her eyes.At this moment she suddenly realized that she was not alone. Behind her stood a little old lady in a hat, who was as ugly as herself and also crippled.

"Princess," she said, "you are so sad, and I have come to help you: choose between goodness and beauty! If you want to be beautiful, you will be frivolous, capricious, and empty; otherwise, you will be wise." , kind, humble."

"Oh, madam!" cried the Princess, "can't you be smart and pretty?"

"No, child," said the old woman, "it's your life! You only have one. Look, I've got gloves. The yellow side makes you as pretty as a shepherdess, and you'll win the handsome shepherd The love of others, just now I saw you looking at his portrait for a long time. On the white side, your appearance will not change, but you will become happier every day. You choose."

"Oh. Well," said the princess, "everything is wrong, and it's better to be good than pretty."

She thanked the old fairy, and the fairy disappeared immediately.As soon as she left, Princess Caibangzi suddenly felt very lonely, and began to wonder if her father had sent troops to rescue her.

"I'll go up to the top floor and see if anyone is coming," she thought.But it seemed impossible to climb it.

(End of this chapter)