red fairy book

Chapter 8 Surly Marie Castle (1)
Long, long ago, there was a couple whose son was named Haver.When Havel was a child, he would not do any work, and sat in front of the stove every day to sift the ashes.His parents sent him to learn his skills, but he couldn't stay anywhere, and always hurried home in two or three days, sitting in the corner of the chimney digging ashes.

One day, a captain came and asked Haver if he would be interested in going abroad with him.This was Havel's dream, so he set off without hesitation.

How long they sailed I do not know, but after a long time there was a terrible storm at sea.When the sea calmed down again.They no longer knew where they were, and their ship was blown to a strange shore, and no one knew where it was.

The sea was calm and they were anchored there.Havel begged the captain to let him go ashore, for he did not want to lie in bed and sleep.

"Do you think it is right for you to go ashore and let everyone see you?" asked the captain. "You have no clothes, and you are walking around in rags!"

Havel still wanted to disembark.Finally, the captain finally agreed, but told him that if the wind blows, he must come back immediately.

Havel went ashore.It was a fine place, for wherever one went there was a vast plain, full of fields and meadows, and not a soul to be seen.

When the wind was blowing, Haver felt that he had not seen enough. He wanted to go a little further to see if he could meet someone.After a while, he walked onto a road, which was so smooth that even if the eggs were rolled on it, they would not break.

Havel walked along the road.When night fell, he saw a castle in the distance with lights shining from it.By this time he had been walking for a whole day, had nothing to eat, and was starving.As he got closer and closer to the castle, he became more and more afraid.

A fire was lit in the castle, and Havel went into the kitchen.The kitchen was more ornate than any he had ever seen, with all kinds of gold and silver, but no one.Haver stood for a while, but no one came out. He went in, opened a door, and saw a princess sitting at a spinning wheel.

"Oh, no!" she cried, "Christians dare to come here? You'd better go away at once, or the giant will eat you alive! Here lives a three-headed creature." giant."

"If only he had four heads, I'm glad to see him," said the young man. "I'm not going, and I've done nothing wrong. Give me something to eat, I'm getting hungry died."

When Haver had had his fill, the princess told him to try if he could use the sword on the wall.But the sword was so heavy that he couldn't even lift it.

"There is a bottle next to the sword, and you drink from it. Every time the giant goes out with the sword, he will drink it," said the princess.

Haver took a sip, and now he could swing the sword with ease.He had just thought that it was time for the giant to come back when the giant came in panting.

Havel hid behind the door.

"Haha!" the giant poked his head through the door, "I smell Christian's blood."

"That's right, you should know I'm here." Haver said, and chopped off his head with a knife.

Now the princess was free, and she sang and danced for joy.But after a while she thought of her sisters and said, "If only my sisters were free too."

"Where are they?" Harvel asked.

She told him that one of them was in the giant's castle, which was six miles away, and the other was in another castle, which was nine miles away.

"However, you have to help me dispose of the corpse first," said the princess.

At this moment, Haver was so powerful that he cleaned it up in one go.Then they ate and drank, and were very happy.

Early the next morning, just after dawn, Haver set out.He didn't rest, he ran and walked all day.When he saw the castle, he was a little scared.

This castle was more luxurious than yesterday's castle, and there was no one in sight. Havel walked directly into the kitchen.

"Oh no! How dare a Christian come here?" cried the second princess. "I don't know how long I've been here, but I haven't seen a single Christian since I've been here. You'd better go away, Here is a giant with six heads."

"I'm not going," Haver said, "not if he grows six more heads."

"He will eat you alive," said the Princess.

Her words are useless.Havel didn't intend to leave, he wasn't afraid of this giant.He wanted to eat meat and drink, and he was already hungry all the way.She gave him food and told him to leave quickly.

Haver replied, "No, I'm not going. I've done nothing wrong, so why should I be afraid?"

"The Giant doesn't care," said the Princess, "and he will catch you without hesitation. But since you won't go, let's see if you can use the Giant's sword?"

He can't use it.The princess made him drink water from a thin bottle that hung at one side, so that he could use it when he had drunk it.

After a while, the giant came.This guy is so fat that he can only enter the door sideways.He put his first head in, and cried, "Ha! I smell Christian blood."

Haver beheaded his first head, and then the others.Now, the princess is very happy.But she thought of her sisters, and hoped they too would be free.Havel wanted to set off immediately, but he had to help the princess clean up the giant's body first, so he left the next morning.

The road was long, and he walked and ran until he got there late at night.This castle is the most ornate of the three.This time, he was not afraid at all, and went straight into the castle, and then into the kitchen.

In the kitchen sat a princess who was so beautiful that she was like no other in the world.And she said what the two princesses had said, and bade him go, or the giant would eat him.A giant has nine heads, she said.

"Even if he grows nine more heads, or twice as many, I will not leave." Haver said, standing by the stove.

The princess begged him not to stay here and wait for the giant to eat him, but he insisted, "Come if he wants."

So the princess gave him the Giant's sword, and gave him water to drink, so that he could use it.

Just then, the giant came, breathing heavily.This guy was much fatter and bigger than the previous two giants, and he also entered the door sideways.

"Ha! I smell Christian's blood," he said.

Haver chopped off his heads one by one, the last head being the hardest.Havel had never cut off such a hard head, but he knew he could.

Now, all the princesses have come to this castle.They were happy together, and Havel was also happy with them.He chose a little princess he liked the most, and she loved him the most.

Haver walked up and down, very sad.The princesses asked him what he wanted and if he didn't like them.He said he liked them very much, and that they had enough to live on, and lived comfortably.But still, he wanted to go home, his parents were alive and he wanted to see them.

The princesses thought it was easy to handle. "Go and follow our advice, and you will come back safely," said the princesses.

He replied that he would never do anything they didn't like.

They made him look like a prince, and put rings on him, which would send him home, and back again, if he made a wish.They told him not to throw away the ring, or his splendor and wealth would disappear, and he would never see them again.

"I wish I had made it home!" Haver said.As soon as he made a wish, everything came true.Before he had time to think about it, he was already standing at the door of his parents' house.As night fell, his parents, startled at the entry of such a richly dressed stranger, bowed and curtseyed.

Haver asked if he could stay here for the night.

"No, of course not," they said, "we can't entertain you. We don't have anything for entertaining your lord. Go to the farm, and you'll see the chimneys not far away, and there's everything there."

Haver won't listen, he will stay here.But the old couple insisted on telling him to go to the farm, saying that there would be meat to eat and wine to drink, and there was not even a chair here.

(End of this chapter)