orange fairy book

Chapter 42 The Bride with the Tree on Her Head

Long, long ago, there was a widower whose ex-wife left him a son and a daughter.Both children are good children and love each other very much.After some time, the man remarried, and his new wife had an ugly and bad daughter, just like her mother.

From the first day this woman came in, the men's children were in trouble.There was no place for them to stay at home, so the boy wanted to go out into the world and support himself.

He wandered around for a while, and reached the palace, where he got a job as a coachman.He is smart and nimble, and he has bred the horse to be fat and strong, and his body is shiny.

His sister is still at home, and her life is getting worse every day.Her stepmother and sister were always picking on her. No matter where she went or what she did, they scolded and beat her. She didn't calm down for a minute.They made her do hard work, said harsh words, and gave her very little food.

One day they asked her to fetch water from a stream, and a hideously ugly head popped out of the water and said, "Wash my face, girl!"

"Okay, I'll be glad to help you wash it," said the girl, and began to scrub the ugly face.But she couldn't help thinking that this was really not a pleasant thing to do.

She was done washing, clean, and an even uglier face appeared in the water.

"Crush my hair, girl!" said the face.

"Okay. I'm glad I could help you," said the girl, and began to brush her tangled hair.As you can imagine, this is not a pleasant job.

When she was done, an even more terrifying head popped up.

"Kiss me. Girl," said the head.

"Okay. I kiss you." The girl did.She thought it was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life.

The three heads began to discuss how to repay this kind girl.

"She'll be the prettiest girl in the world, as bright as day," said the first head.

"Gold falls from her hair when she combs it," said the second head.

"Gold falls from her mouth when she talks," said a third.

When the girl came home, it was as bright as day, and the stepmother and her sister were angry.But to make matters worse, the gold coin fell out of her mouth as soon as she spoke.The stepmother became even more angry, and drove her to the pigsty, telling her to stay there with her gold, and not to set foot in the house.

Not long after, the stepmother asked her own daughter to fetch water from the stream.

The girl went with the bucket, and near the shore, the first head popped up and said, "Girl, wash my face!"

"Wash it yourself!" said the stepmother's daughter.

A second head popped up.

"Crush my hair, girl!" said the second head.

"Comb yourself!" said the stepmother's daughter.

The second head sank, and the third head rose.

"Kiss me, girl!" said the third head.

"How could I kiss your ugly mouth!" replied the girl.

The three heads got together to discuss how to deal with this girl, who was bad-tempered and self-righteous.In the end they decided that her nose would be four ells long, her chin three ells long, and a fir branch in her forehead that would drop ashes when she opened her mouth.

As soon as she came home with water, she called her mother: "Open the door!"

"Open the door yourself, dear child," said the mother.

"I can't get close because of my nose," the daughter said.

When mom came out to take a look, you can imagine how mom was feeling.She screams and cries, but her nose and chin are that long.

The elder brother who worked in the palace took the portrait of his younger sister with him when he left. Every morning and evening, he would kneel down and pray for his younger sister.He loves her so much.

The other boys working in the stables heard him pray, and peeped through the keyhole, and saw him kneeling before a picture, and they told all the people that young men bowed down to idols every morning and evening, At last they ran up to the king, and begged him to see for himself what he was doing.

At first the King did not believe it, but they spoke so earnestly that he crept up to the keyhole and peeped, and saw the young man kneeling, with his hands folded upon his breast, and a picture hanging on the wall.

"Open the door!" cried the king.But the young man didn't hear it.

The king called him again.The young man was so absorbed in his prayer that he did not hear it.

"I say, open the door!" cried the king again, "it is I, I want to come in!"

The young man jumped up and opened the door, forgetting to put the portrait away in his haste.

The king entered the door, saw the portrait, and stood there for a long time as if his feet were bound.He thought the painting was too beautiful.

"There is no such beautiful girl in the world!" said the king.

The young man said that this was his sister.He drew this portrait himself, and if she was not more beautiful than this portrait, she would not be uglier than this portrait.

"Well, if only she were so pretty. I'll make her my queen," said the King.

He ordered the young man to go home and fetch his sister, and to come back without delay.The young man promised to do it as soon as possible, and set off immediately.

The young man went home to fetch his sister, and his stepmother and her daughter were to follow, so they set off together.

His sister carried a jewelry box with her, in which she hid her gold and her puppy, whose name was Xiaoxue.Both the jewelry box and the puppy were left by her mother.

They walked for a while and had to cross the sea. The elder brother sat on the helm, and the stepmother and the sisters sat in the front. They sailed for a long time before they saw land.

"Look at that white coastline. That's where we land." My brother said, pointing to the sea.

"What did my brother say?" my sister asked.

"He told you to throw the jewelry box into the sea," said the stepmother.

"If brother says so, I'll throw it away." My sister said, throwing the jewelry box into the sea.

They sailed on, and the elder brother pointed to the shore again and said, "That palace is where we are going."

"What did my brother say?" my sister asked.

"He told you to throw the dog into the sea," replied the stepmother.

The younger sister cried, very sad, because Xiaoxue was her closest partner in the world, but in the end she threw it away. "Xiaoxue, my brother told me to throw it away. God knows how unwilling I am."

They sailed on for a long time.

"Look, the king will meet us there," said the elder brother, pointing to the shore.

"What did my brother say?" My sister asked again.

"He told you to jump into the sea quickly," said the stepmother.

She weeps sadly.But it was her brother who said it, and she felt like she had to, so she jumped.

When they came to the palace, the king saw an ugly bride, with a nose four ells long, a chin three ells long, and a bough growing from her forehead, and he was terrified.But the wedding banquet was ready, the food was baked, the wine was brewed, and the guests were waiting, so even if the bride was so ugly, the king had no choice but to admit it.

But he was very angry, and of course no one could blame him for his anger, and he ordered his brother to be thrown into the snake pit.

On the first Thursday afterward, a pretty girl went into the palace kitchen, and begged the cook to let her sleep there, and to lend her a comb.She was so poor that the cook gave it to her, and the gold fell when she combed her hair.

A puppy followed her.She said to the puppy: "Go out, Xiaoxue, and see if it's time."

She said it three times, and three times the dog went out.By this time it was nearly dawn, and she was leaving, saying, "Ugly bride with a tree on her head, sleep beside the king. I will put sand and stones on your bed. My brother sleeps with the cold snake , no mourning, no sympathy."

"I'll come back twice and then never again," she said.

In the morning the cook told the others about it.The king said he would go into the kitchen next Thursday and see for himself to see if it was true.

On Thursday, when it was dark, he came to the kitchen.He rubbed his eyes desperately, trying to keep himself awake, but fell asleep, and the bride with the tree on her head sang softly, and he fell asleep quickly.He was sound asleep and snoring when the pretty girl came.

This time it was the same, the girl borrowed the comb to comb her hair, and the gold fell from the hair.She called the dog out three times, and at dawn she left, saying, "I'll do it again. And then never again."

On the third Thursday night, the king came again.He brought two men, each holding his arm, and shaking him awake when he was about to fall asleep.He also sent two people to look at the bride with a tree growing on her head.

As night fell, the bride began to sing again, his eyes almost closed again, and his head sank.

At this time, a beautiful girl came and borrowed a comb to comb her hair, and the gold fell from her hair.Then she sent the puppy out again to see if it was getting light, and the third time, it was starting to get light.

Then she said, "Ugly bride with a tree on her head, sleep beside the king. I will put sand and stones in your bed. My brother sleeps with the cold snake, and no one mourns, no one pities."

"I'm never coming again," she said, and was about to leave.But the two men holding the king took the king's hand, and thrust in a knife, which cut the little finger of the girl, and a little blood came out.

The true bride is set free.The king woke up too.She told him everything, how her stepmother and sister had betrayed her.Immediately the king released his brother from the pit, and the snake did not bite him, and threw the mother and daughter into it.

The king was not to mention overjoyed to be rid of his dreadful bride.His bride is as bright and charming as the day.

Now, the real wedding took place.The wedding was so grand that people from seven countries near and far praised it.

The king and his bride took Xiaoxue to the church, and after receiving the blessing, they returned to the palace.After that, I don't know anymore.

(End of this chapter)