orange fairy book

Chapter 38 A white shoe (1)

Once upon a time there was a king who had a daughter who was very, very beautiful.Every mother in the world, as long as they see her, they have to admit that the princess is indeed much more beautiful and elegant than their precious daughter; and every father, as long as they see her, they will be attracted by her beauty Live, unable to speak for a whole day.Of course, the same is true of King Balencin, who has fallen in love with his daughter since his wife died and took his daughter from her arms, and regards her as the apple of his eye.Although Princess Diamantina is not yet 15 years old, people from various countries have proposed marriage, but no matter who proposes, the king refuses.

There is a large garden behind the palace, there are several small rivers in the garden, and there are hills behind the garden.Every evening, accompanied by the maid, the princess would come down to the garden to watch the sunset, and pick some flowers to decorate the room.She will also bring a pair of scissors and a basket, use the scissors to cut off the withered flowers in the garden, and then put them in the basket, so that she will not see dead branches and leaves in the garden during the day, and what she sees will always be a thriving scene .After finishing these tasks in the garden, the princess would go for a walk in the city, listen to the poor people talk about their troubles, and then go back and report to her father, and together they would discuss the best way to help them.

Seeing this, readers may ask, what does all this have to do with white shoes?

Don't worry, as long as you read patiently, you will understand.

Besides this daughter, King Balensing loved hunting the most.He had a habit of spending several mornings a week hunting pigs on a hill where wild boars frequented a few miles outside the city.One day, when the king was rushing down the mountain to hunt down a wild boar, he suddenly stepped on a hole with his foot and rolled into a stone cave full of thorns.The wounds on his face and hands were not very serious, except for some scratches, but the wounds on his feet were more serious, because in order to run fast, he wore only a pair of sandals instead of hunting boots.

After a few days, the scar on the king's face was almost healed, but his foot was still sore, where a thorny branch had penetrated deeply, and the wound was now festering.The king invited the best doctor in the kingdom. The doctor tried every means to treat his injury. He cleaned the wound, applied medicine, and bandaged it every day, but to no avail. The foot injury became more and more serious. The king felt that his foot It's getting swollen and painful every day.The king also had many other doctors to treat his feet.These doctors also came up with many unique treatments, but none of them cured the king's foot injury.Not long after, it was reported that in a distant place, there was a doctor with very good medical skills. He cured the strangest disease in the world, but this doctor never left the city where he lived. he.After the king heard the news, he spent a large sum of money and sent someone to persuade the doctor to come to the palace to treat the king.

When the doctor came to the palace, he was immediately brought before the king and treated him.

After carefully examining the king's foot injury, he said to the king, "My God, Your Majesty! No one in the world can heal your injury. Although I can't heal it, I can help you relieve the pain and make you walk less. pain."

"Well, since this is the case, there is no other way," said the king, "I will still thank you forever! How can I relieve the pain? You can tell me what you need, and I will listen to you."

"Well, Your Majesty, please instruct your royal shoemaker to make a leather shoe out of goat leather. It should be very loose and comfortable. I will paint it with a secret paint." After finishing speaking, the doctor bowed , went out.When the king saw that the doctor could relieve the pain, he was full of hope, and he hadn't been so happy for a long time.

The king is looking forward to the shoes all the time.Finally, on the morning of the eighth day, the doctor came with a box containing the finished shoes.On the goatskin he painted a white paint, whiter than snow, and the doctor took out the shoes, and put them on the king's feet.

"When you put on this shoe, you don't feel any pain at all," said the doctor. "I rubbed the ointment on the inside and outside of the shoe, and the ointment is very good for your feet."

The king was eager to put it on before the doctor had finished speaking, snatched the shoe from the box, and stuffed his foot into it.After putting it on, he found that his feet didn't hurt anymore, and he could walk around easily like a child. The king was so happy that he almost cried.

"How can I repay you?" he cried happily, embracing the amazing doctor, "You stay with me, and I will give you a lot of gold and silver treasures, much, much more than you want many."

But the doctor said that he only needed the remuneration negotiated in advance, and nothing else. He had to go back to his own country immediately, where there were still many sick people waiting for him.Seeing that he could not keep him, King Balensing had to confer some honorary titles on him and sent someone to escort him home.

For the next two years, everything in the palace was peaceful and happy.The king's birthday is in June and is coming up soon.The weather in June was particularly fine, and the king planned to let the princess celebrate in the way she liked.Princess Diamantina loves water sports, and this time, she will have a chance to have fun!She plans to hold an unprecedented celebration by the water, so that people from all over the city can participate. At that time, people can row boats and play in the water. At night, they can go on a boat to listen to music, dance, play games, and set off fireworks.When the festivities were over, every poor man was given a loaf of bread before going home, and every girl who was to be married this year was given a new dress.

The day has finally arrived!The king and princess went to the river together, where a luxurious yacht was waiting for them.They watched various swimming competitions and diving competitions held by people on the yacht. After the activities, all the people participated in the ball on the yacht.Finally, the princess awarded the prizes to the winners of the game, distributed bread and skirts to everyone, and then said goodbye to the guests and prepared to return to the palace.

Just then, something terrible happened!When the king stepped onto the deck and was about to go back to the palace by boat, he stepped on a nail stuck out on the deck and tripped. He turned around and shook his foot. The shoe fell into the river.

It all happened so quickly that no one noticed that the shoe was missing, not even the Princess, and when she heard the King's cry and was at his side it was too late.

"What's the matter, dear father?" asked the princess.

The king gasped, "My shoes! My shoes!"

Diamantina saw a white object undulating on the water surface, drifting farther and farther with the current.The king was so anxious that he left the ointment in his shoes, and his feet began to ache again, when suddenly he gave a cry, lost his footing, fell over the railing, and fell into the water.

The king is overboard!For a moment, the scene was very chaotic, and many people jumped into the water immediately, and everyone swam to the king with all their strength, trying to save him.The current was strong, and he was carried far away, until at last some one grabbed the king by the coat and dragged him to the bank.When they came ashore, the king was found to have fainted, and the princess had fainted with fright when she saw the king sinking into the water.So they put them both together in a carriage, and took them to the palace, and sent for the best doctor in the city.

After a few hours, the princess woke up.However, the king's illness is serious!Sore feet and falling into the water, these things happened so suddenly that the king was frightened and seriously affected his health. He lay in bed and had a high fever for three days.The princess was very sad, and ordered people to look for the white shoe everywhere, but they couldn't find it. Even the young man who was the best at diving in the city couldn't find a trace of the shoe at the bottom of the river.

It was obvious that the shoes must have been carried to the sea by the current.Diamantina had no choice but to think of another way. She sent to the doctor who made the white shoes, and begged him to make another shoe for the king as soon as possible.But, unfortunately, the doctor died a few weeks ago, and his secret recipe went with him, and has not been handed down.

The king also heard the news when he was ill. He was very desperate and refused to eat. No one could persuade him. Ask the doctor to make dozens of white shoes for him, so that in case of any accident, he can always have shoes to wear.After a while, the king saw that it was useless to regret, so he had to send more people to find his precious lost shoe.

What a spectacle the banks of the river had been in those days!Almost everyone from all over the country gathered by the river to search for the white shoe, but no one found it.

The king issued a proclamation that whoever could find the shoe would be the heir to his throne and could marry the princess.

Marriage was arranged hastily in such a way that any girl would not be happy if it happened.The same is true for Diamantina. When she heard the king's announcement, she immediately became very depressed.However, she loved her father so much, and to her, his health was more important than anything else in the world, so she didn't object.

As soon as the announcement was made, the crowd on the river bank became even more crowded, and many suitors traveled thousands of miles to come here, and everyone hoped that they would be lucky enough to find the shoes and marry the princess.Every day, many people dive into the bottom of the river to look for it, and some people even mistook a shiny stone at the bottom of the river for a shoe and fished it up.Among these people, there was a young man who always left later than the others every day, and he was still looking for it at night. Although his clothes were wet and his upper and lower teeth were chattering with the cold, he persisted.

(End of this chapter)