green fairy tale book

Chapter 15 Narcissus Prince and Rose Princess (2)
So the next day, when the princess went into her garden, she saw at some time there rising a holiday house built of real gold, adorned inside and out with her initials and that of the magician.A grand banquet was prepared in the house, and the dining table was decorated with gold cups and plates, gold jugs, gold cutlery, gold candlesticks and more than 100 other items, so that people could not keep their eyes open.The supper began, and Grumedan ate more than the six monsters, but the princess could not eat a bite.Suddenly Grumedan grinned and said:
"I didn't find any musicians or singers, but since you like music, I'll sing for you myself."

So he opened his voice and sang.His voice was piercing like the hooting of an owl.The magician sang his own opera, but this time he did not sing for five hours, nor did the frogs accompany him.

After this round of competition, Prince Narcissus once again turned to his bird friends for help.When all the birds of the country had assembled in the Princess' garden, Prince Narcissus tied a little brightly colored lantern around each bird's neck.When night fell, he directed the birds to perform more than 100 tricks in front of Princess Rose.These bright lights sometimes line up the name of Princess Rose under the shadow of the tree, and sometimes they turn into flowers of different colors, as vivid as real flowers.Princess Rose clapped her little hands happily, overjoyed.

Grumedan leaned on his big recliner, crossed his legs, and hummed disdainfully:
"Oh! If you like this game of fireworks, Princess," he said, "I can give you a grander show."

On the second night, the magician called all the will-o'-the-wisps in the country together and made them dance on the grass.Through the window, the princess could just see the will-o'-the-wisp's ball in the room.At first she liked the sight of the will-o'-the-wisps singing and dancing. Suddenly, a volcano rose in the middle of the meadow, spewing smoke and flames, which frightened the princess greatly.The magician was very happy, and his laughter was like the howling of a pack of wolves.More and more will-o'-the-wisps crowded into the princess's garden, and many tall yew trees danced around them.The princess was so dizzy from the noise that she couldn't stand it any longer.Though she hated the Wizard so much, she politely begged his forgiveness, saying that she now wanted to see nothing but the night.Although the tone of the princess was very tactful, the magician still couldn't bear the fact that his courtship failed.He strongly suspected that the princess was not in love with someone else--the one who, under the protection of the nymph Meritine, had planned many of her pursuits against him.After thinking about it, he came up with a clever plan.So he went at once to the princess, and told her that though he hated to leave her, the time had come to say good-bye, and that at once he would have to go.

When Princess Rose heard the news, she could hardly hide her excitement.As soon as the magician turned away, she could not help but begging the Prince Narcissus to appear before her.The poor prince was getting thinner and thinner due to anxiety and trouble these days. When he heard the princess's confiding, he was very happy, and immediately obeyed her request and appeared in front of the princess.They greeted each other cheerfully.They had just sat down, talking cheerfully about recent events and the failure of the magician, when the magician Grumedan rushed out from behind a bush in a rage, swung his club, and hit the Narcissus prince hard. hit the past.If this club had struck the prince, it would have killed him.Fortunately, the vigilant Fairy Meritine arrived in time, snatched Prince Narcissus before Grumedan's big stick fell, and then flew back to her castle like lightning.But the poor Princess Rosa didn't know that the prince was saved, because when the magician attacked her dear prince, she screamed and fainted on the ground.When she regained her senses, she thought sadly that the Prince must be dead, for the Fairy Meritine never approached her again, and no one remained to help her against the loathsome sorcerer.

To make matters worse, the magician is in a bad mood now, and takes all his anger on poor Rozenbril.

"I tell you, little girl," he said, "whether you love that self-righteous prince or not, you're going to marry me in the end, so you better die. I'm going to get ready for the wedding now. But, In order to prevent you from messing around while I'm away, I think I'd better let you sleep well first."

As he spoke, he waved his wand at her.Though the princess tried her best not to fall asleep, she could not restrain herself from falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The magician intends to enter the king's palace in a suitable way.So he came out of the princess's captivity, and boarded a huge and magnificent chariot.The wheels of this chariot are frighteningly large, and the axle is as thick as the trunk of an oak tree, but it is completely made of pure gold, and 48 bulls have to use their milking strength to pull it.Leaning comfortably on the seat of the chariot, the magician leaned on his big stick, stroking an African lion lying beside him, just like stroking a small pet dog.It was about seven o'clock in the morning when this distinctive chariot arrived at the gates of the palace, and the king had just risen and was about to leave the city to hunt.As for the queen, she had just fallen asleep after a whole night of partying, and if anyone dared to wake her up at this time, he must be impatient.

Hearing that there were visitors at this hour, the king was so annoyed that he could only pull off his hunting boots with a sad face.By this time the magician had staggered into the hall, and he cried out:

"Where is the king? Tell him I must see him, and his wife."

The king heard the magician's voice at the top of the stairs, and thought, This man is very impolite.However, he discussed it with his favorite hunter, and followed his advice, intending to go down and see what the visitor wanted to do.When he saw the magician's chariot, he was startled at once, and stared at it intently.The magician strode towards him and greeted loudly:

"Shake hands, brother Kraveliv! Don't you know me?"

"Excuse me, but I don't think I know you?" the king said shyly.

"How can you not know me? I am Grumedan, the famous magician!" said the magician, "I'm here to make you rich. Come on, let's go in and have a good chat."

So he ordered the bulls pulling the cart to do what they had to do, and the bulls jumped out like deer, and disappeared immediately.Then he struck the chariot with his club, turning the gigantic chariot into a hill of gold coins.

"These are for your servants," he said to the king. "It seems they will wish me good health and a long life."

This spectacle naturally caused quite a commotion, and the Queen was woken up by people's laughter and screams, so she sent her maids to see what was going on, and why everyone was so noisy. .After a while, the maids ran back one after another, saying that a stranger had come to see the queen, and then they reported the strange things they had seen, panting and chattering.The queen was still puzzled by Monk Zhang Er, and only heard the words "bull", "gold", "big stick", "giant" and "lion".She thought they were all crazy.

At the same time, the king was saying to the magician: "You are very kind. But what brought you here?" But the magician said that he would not answer this question until he saw the queen.So the king sent people to invite the queen again and again.Ferrivola couldn't help being furious. She hated people disturbing her sleep.So she told the messenger that her little finger hurt and refused to go down.

The messenger told the king and the magician what the queen had said.The magician still insisted that the queen must come.

"Take my stick to the queen," he said, "and tell her to smell the bottom of it, and she will feel refreshed and free from all ailments."

(End of this chapter)