orange fairy book

Chapter 33 Princess Bellaflore (1)

Once upon a time there was a man who had two sons.After they grew up, the eldest son Joseph went to a far, far country to try his luck, while the younger son stayed at home with his father.But after Joseph left, there was no news for many years.Later, his father died and left a large fortune.The youngest son thought to himself that now he was the only one left and could occupy all his father's inheritance, so he squandered his father's property as he wished.

Unexpectedly, one day, when the youngest son went downstairs, he saw a stranger walking into the hall of his house, looking around, as if he was the owner of the house. The youngest son was very surprised.

Seeing the surprised expression on the youngest son's face, the stranger said, "Don't you remember me?"

"I've never met you, how can I remember you?" the younger son replied rudely.

"I'm your elder brother," the stranger replied, "I'm coming home! I didn't earn any money outside. On the way back, I heard people in the village say that my father was dead. I'm really unfilial. If I didn't see him for the last time, compared with the precious family relationship, it doesn't matter if I make money or not!"

"He died half a year ago," said the younger brother. "There is an old wooden box in the attic, which he left for you. Go find it yourself, I don't have time to greet you." He left after saying that.

So his brother went to the attic above the storage room and found the wooden box there.The case is really worn out and looks like it might fall apart at any moment.

"What use am I to such an old thing?" he thought. "Forget it, at least it's good enough for a fire to keep me warm, and life would probably be worse without it."

Joseph put the box on his back, went to the inn where he was staying, borrowed a hatchet, and tried to split the box open.Just as he was about to split, he suddenly found a very secret drawer inside the box, and there was a note in the drawer. He was very curious, so he opened the note to see what was written on it.The results surprised him.It was a bill, and it stated that a man named Bill owed his father a large sum of money.He was so happy, as if a pie had fallen from the sky, he quickly put the piece of paper into his pocket, and ran to ask the shopkeeper where he could find the Bill written on the paper, the shopkeeper told him, and he ran away immediately Go out and find that person.

Bill the debtor was a miser who lived at the other end of the village.For months after Joseph's father died, he kept praying that the IOU would be lost or destroyed, so that no one would know what he owed and would never have to pay it.However, Joseph found him with the bill.Bill was very depressed and would not pay the debt, but Joseph threatened him that if he did not pay, he would sue him to the king.The miser saw that there was nothing he could do, so he agreed to pay back the money, and counted it to Joseph one by one. Joseph took the coins and put them in his bag. When he returned to the inn, he felt that he was a rich man now.

A few weeks later, one day Joseph was passing a street in a neighboring town when he came across a poor woman who was crying bitterly. He stopped and asked her what had happened.Sobbing, she told Joseph that her husband was dying, and to make matters worse, her husband owed someone else a debt he couldn't pay, and that debt was going to send him to jail.

"Don't be sad," he said gently to the woman, "don't worry, I will help you pay off your husband's debt, he will not be sent to prison, and you don't have to sell your property. If he dies, I will Will pay to bury him for you. Now go home and take good care of him."

The woman thanked Joseph, and went home to take care of her husband.However, despite her best care, her husband died soon after.Joseph helped her bury her husband, but it cost more than he had expected, and when he had paid everything, he found that he had only three pieces of gold left.

"What shall I do now?" thought he, "I shall go to the palace and work for the king."

So he went to the palace and worked there.At first, he was only a servant, carrying water for the king's bath, but he did his job well, and the king soon noticed him, and it didn't take long for him to be promoted to the king's chamberlain.

Let's talk about his brother.While Joseph was working in the palace, his younger brother had spent all the money his father had left him, and didn't know how to earn it.At this time, he thought of his brother who had become the king's entourage, so he went to the palace, found the brother he had bullied, and begged his brother to take care of him and find him a place to live.Joseph was always kind and helpful, so he told the king about his younger brother, and the king arranged an errand for his younger brother in the palace.

You must know that this younger brother has a bad personality and is very jealous. He can't tolerate others having better luck than him. In the palace, he often eavesdrops on other people's conversations outside the door, or looks at the situation in other people's rooms through the keyhole.In the end, he used this disgraceful method to find out a piece of information: Although the king was old and ugly, he fell in love with a princess named Bellaflore, but the princess didn't want to talk to him. Hidden in a certain castle on the mountain, no one knows where that castle is.

"That's great," the evil brother thought, "I'm going to encourage the king to send my brother to find Princess Bellaflores. It shouldn't be difficult. If he fails to find the princess by then, then his Don’t even think about keeping your head. Even if he can keep his head, it won’t hinder my development.”

After making up his mind, he immediately went to the court minister and asked the king to receive him. He claimed to tell the king some very important news. The king immediately called him into the room and asked him to briefly explain his purpose.

"Your Majesty! Princess Bellaflore—" He spoke halfway, and then suddenly stopped talking in feigned fear.

"What happened to Princess Bellaflore?" the king asked anxiously.

"I heard, er, I heard people whispering in the hall, saying that Your Majesty, you want to know where she is hiding."

"I will give half the wealth of the kingdom to whoever brings her," cried the king eagerly. "Go on, have you overheard them telling the secret?"

"I don't know, but my brother knows," said the vengeful brother, "if His Majesty asks him—"

Before he finished speaking, the king was so impatient that he threw his staff against the wall and shouted to the servants, "Call Joseph to come here at once!"

How loud the king's cry is!Hearing the king's order, the servant immediately ran out to deliver the message.

Joseph didn't know what the king wanted from him, so he came to the hall immediately, only to see that the king was so angry that he couldn't speak.

"Go and bring Princess Bellaflore immediately," he said to Joseph, "if you can't bring her back, I'll have you drowned!" Then the king left the hall, leaving Joseph alone. There I was stunned, shocked and frightened.

"I've never seen Princess Bellaflores, where can I find her?" he thought, "but it's useless to stay here, I can only wait for death." So he decided to set off to find her.First, he had to go to the stables to choose a horse.

Row after row of stables are all good breed horses, and their respective names are written in gold letters on the fence.Joseph picked and picked, and couldn't make up his mind which horse to choose.At this time, an old white horse suddenly turned its head, nodded, and let Joseph pass.

"Choose me," Baima said softly, "everything will go well on the road."

Joseph was thinking about how to complete the task entrusted to him by the king. At this moment, he heard a horse speak, but he did not react or feel surprised. He mechanically picked up the rein and led it to the horse. The white horse came out of the stable.He was about to mount the horse when the horse spoke again: "There are three loaves of bread over there. Take them with you and put them in your pocket."

Joseph was in a hurry to leave, and without asking any further questions, he did what the horse said, and then he got on the horse and set off.

The horse ran for a long distance with Joseph on its back, and the journey was safe and sound. Finally, the horse stopped in front of a mountain of ants.

"Knead the bread into crumbs for the ants to eat," said the white horse.But Joseph hesitated.

"Why, we need these breads for ourselves!" said he.

"It doesn't matter, help people when you can!" After hearing what it said, Joseph crumpled the bread into crumbs and scattered them on the road, and then the white horse galloped forward with him.

(End of this chapter)