orange fairy book

Chapter 11 The Soldier's Son Ian (1)

In the west, a knight rules the kingdom of Greenock.He had three daughters who were unrivaled in beauty and goodness in all the land, and loved by all.One day, the three sisters were sitting on the rocks by the sea and playing in the water. Suddenly, a huge monster emerged from the bottom of the waves, and the three of them were swept into the bottom of the sea together.People wept bitterly for this, and no one knew whether they were dead or how to find them.

In a town a few miles from the sea there lived a soldier who had three young and strong sons who were the best hockey players in the country of Greenock.At their family dinner that Christmas, Ian, the youngest of the three brothers, said:

"Let's play a hockey game on Jazz's lawn, because his lawn is bigger than ours, and the grass grows flatter than ours."

But his two brothers said:
"No, he's sad, and it reminds him of the old days—the last time we played there, all three of his daughters were watching."

Ian insisted: "Whether he is happy or not, let's go to his lawn to play today anyway."

So they went, and Ian won three games against his brother.However, the Sir was very angry when he saw all this outside the window, so he sent his men to bring the three young men to him.He stood in the hall and looked at them with a soft heart, but he still asked angrily:

"Why do you want to play hockey in front of my castle? You know it will remind me of my daughter and make me sad. You caused me so much pain, and I want you to taste the pain."

The younger brother Ian replied: "Since we are sorry for you, then give us a chance to make up for our mistakes and let us go back to your daughter. Please build us a boat, whether it is sailing with the wind or against the wind Whether we go to the ends of the earth or the capes, we will find them within a year and a day, and bring them back to Greenock."

After seven days, the ship was built, and a lot of food and wine were prepared on board.The three brothers pulled the boat out to sea and set sail.After seven days at sea the boat reached a white sandy beach, and they went ashore.The three of them had never been here before. They looked around and saw a big rock not far away. Many people were working on it, and there was an overseer.

The eldest brother asked, "What is this place?"

The overseer answered, "Here live the three daughters of Lord Greenock, who will marry three giants to-morrow."

The eldest brother asked again: "How can we find them?"

The overseer replied: "If you want to find them, you must go into this basket and have someone pull it up to the rock with a rope."

"Oh, that's easy." The eldest brother jumped into the basket as he said, and the basket was immediately pulled up little by little.But when he was halfway through, a big crow suddenly came and pecked at him, almost blinding his eyes, forcing him to fall back to the original place.

Then, the second brother entered the basket, but was also attacked by a big crow, so he had to fall back to the same place as the eldest brother.

Then, Ian said, "It's my turn." But he was also attacked by a big crow.

"Quick! Quick!" Ian yelled to the man pulling the rope, "Quick! Quick! Or I'll be pecked blind!" So the man pulling the rope pulled the basket up with all his might, and a moment later Ian was to the top of the rock.

At this time, the big crow was very calm, and he asked, "How about some tobacco?"

Ian replied: "You bastard! Just now you tried to peck my eyes out, and now I want to give you tobacco?"

The big crow answered, "That is my duty, and I am compelled to do so. But if you will give me some tobacco, I will help you." So Ian gave him some tobacco.The big crow hid the tobacco under his wings, and said, "Now I will take you to the castle of the giant giant, where the eldest daughter of the knight sews, and she sews and tears, and the thimble It's dripping wet." After the big crow finished speaking, he led Ian to a castle.The door was open, and they went in and went through hall after hall, until at last they found the eldest daughter of the knight, and the situation was exactly as the crow had said before.

"How did you come here?" she asked Ian.

Ian said, "You can come, why can't I?"

"I was brought here by a giant," she answered.

Ian said, "I know that. Tell me where the giant is. I want to find him."

She replied: "He is on the hunting hill, and the only way to get him back is to break the chain hanging outside the gate. However, in this world, whether you sail with the wind or against the wind, or go to the In the ends of the earth, there is no one who can defeat him, except the soldier's son Ian, but Ian is only 16 years old now, how can he defeat that giant?"

Ian replied: "In my hometown, many people have Ian's strength." After he finished speaking, he went out to pull the iron chain, but he couldn't pull it. Instead, he fell to his knees on the ground, but he stood up immediately, And tried his best to pull again, this time he finally broke the chain.The giant heard the noise on Hunting Hill, and he looked up, thinking—

"It sounds like Ian, the soldier's son, and he's only sixteen. Anyway, I'd better go back and see." So the giant went home.

As soon as he stepped into the castle he asked, "Are you Ian, the soldier's son?"

"No, of course not." Ian replied, because he didn't want the giant to know who he was.

"Then who are you, come with the wind or against the wind, or come from the ends of the earth, how can you break my chain?"

"You'll understand when you wrestle with me. I used to wrestle with my mother. The first time my mother beat me, but the last two times I beat her."

So they began to wrestle, and the two wrestled together, and the giant threw Ian to his knees in a few strokes.

Ian said, "You have more strength than I do."

The giant replied, "Never mind!" and they wrestled again until Ian threw the giant to the ground.At this time, how much he wanted the big crow to help him, just as he was thinking, the big crow really came.

The big crow said, "Put your hand under my right wing, and there is a knife there, so sharp that you can cut off his head." The knife was really sharp, and Ian cut off the giant's head with one blow.

"Go and tell Sir Greenock's eldest daughter, but she will try to keep you, you must not promise her to stay, you have to continue to look for Sir's second daughter, after you find her, you have to give I got some tobacco in return."

Ian agreed, and the big crow said:

"Remember, you have to bathe with clean water, and then take the balm from the jar on the door and apply it all over your body, so that tomorrow you will become a strong person, and I will take you to find the second daughter of the knight."

Ian did as the crow said, and, despite the pleas of his eldest daughter, he insisted on going to his second daughter.When Ian found her, she was sitting there sewing and crying, tears dripping from her thimble.

She asked Ian, "How did you get here?"

Ian replied, "You can come, why can't I? Why are you crying?"

"Because tomorrow I'm going to marry the giant on Hunting Hill."

Ian asked, "How can I get him back?"

"The only way for him to come back is to break the chain hanging outside the gate. However, in this world, whether sailing with the wind or against the wind, or going to the ends of the earth, there is no one who can defeat him." Everyone, except the soldier's son Ian, who is only 16 now."

Ian said: "In my hometown, many people have Ian's strength." After speaking, he went out to pull the chain, but just like last time, instead of pulling it, he fell to his knees .But he stood up immediately, and pulled again with all his strength, and this time he broke three links of the chain.The second giant heard the noise on Hunting Hill, looked up, and thought—

"It sounded like Ian, the soldier's son, and he's only 16. Anyway, I'd better go back and see." So he went home.

As soon as he stepped into the castle he asked, "Are you Ian, the soldier's son?"

Ian also didn't want the giant to know who he was, so he replied, "No, of course not, but I'm going to wrestle you, so just pretend I'm Ian."

So they grabbed each other's shoulders, and the giant threw Ian to his knees with one blow.Ian said: "You are stronger than me, but I haven't been defeated by you yet." After speaking, he stood up and hugged the giant.

They wrestled and wrestled, and sometimes the giant got the upper hand, and sometimes Ian got the upper hand.Finally, Ian tripped the giant to the ground with his legs, and then called out to the big crow, and the friend flew over, and the big crow said to Ian, "Put your hand under my right wing, there is a very sharp spear A knife that can cut off a giant's head." The knife was really sharp, and with just one blow from Ian, the giant's head rolled off.

"Now, bathe in lukewarm water and anoint your body with balm, and you will be strong tomorrow. But be careful what the second daughter of the Sir says to you, for she is scheming and wants to keep you with her .Goodbye, but give me some tobacco first."

"Okay, I'm very happy." Ian said and took a large piece of tobacco to the big crow.

That night, according to the instructions of the big crow, he applied the ointment after bathing.Next morning he went to see the Sir's second daughter, who was sitting in the room.

She said: "Stay and be my husband. There is a lot of gold and silver in this castle." But Ian was unmoved and continued to look for the youngest daughter of the knight.When Ian arrived at the castle where she lived, she was sitting in the hall sewing, tears dripping down her thimble.

"How did you come here?" she asked Ian.

Ian replied, "If you can come, why can't I?"

"I was brought here by a giant."

Ian said, "I know."

She asked again, "Are you Ian, the soldier's son?"

Ian replied: "Yes, I am Ian. Why are you crying? Can you tell me?"

She cried and said, "Tomorrow the Giant will come back from Hunting Hill, and then I must marry him." Then Ian asked, "How can I get him back?"

"Break the chain hanging outside the door."

So Ian went out and tugged on the iron chain, only to fall on his back.But he stood up immediately, and once again pulled on the chain with all his strength, and broke four links.At this time, the giant on the hunting mountain was packing the prey into bags when he heard the sound of Ian breaking the chain.

"In this world, whether sailing with the wind or against the wind, or going to the ends of the earth, there is no one who can defeat me, except Ian, the soldier's son. If he can come to my castle, he must Killed my two older brothers." He thought as he strode back to his castle, the ground trembling with his steps.

"Are you Ian?" he asked.

Ian replied, "No, of course not."

"Then who are you, come with the wind or against the wind, or from the ends of the earth, how can you break my chain? Only Ian can do it, but he is only 16 years old now."

Ian said, "Wrestle with me, and then you will know who I am." So they started hugging each other, and the giant knocked Ian to his knees, but Ian stood up immediately, He lifted his leg over the giant's shoulders and knocked the giant down hard.At this time, Ian shouted: "Big crow, come quickly!" The friend rushed to the giant and beat the giant's head with his wings, making it impossible for the giant to stand up again. Next took out the knife, and Ian cut off the giant's head with it.This knife is actually used by the big crow to cut berries. Because it is very sharp, with just one knife, the giant's head rolled to the ground.

(End of this chapter)