green fairy tale book

Chapter 26 King Kojata (2)
"Listen," said Hyacinth, "you'll recognize me by a little fly on the left side of my face. But be sure to be small, because you may very well be mistaken."

The next day, the magician ordered someone to bring Prince Milan back.His daughters were all lined up in front of him.They were all dressed in the same clothes, and they all lowered their eyes to the ground.

"Come, little genius," said the magician, "you can only look at these pretty girls three times, and then tell me who is Princess Hyacinth."

Prince Milan walked slowly in front of them, looking carefully at their faces.But they looked exactly alike, as if one face was reflected in thirty different mirrors, and Prince Milan did not see the fly.The second time he walked past them, he still found nothing.But for the third time, he saw a small fly quietly land on the face of a young girl, causing her cheeks to blush.So the prince grabbed her hand and shouted, "This is Princess Hyacinth!"

"You guessed it," said the magician in amazement, "but I have one more task for you to complete. Before this candle—I will light it in due time—before it burns out, you must serve me Make a pair of boots that will come up to my knees. If you don't get it done by then, you'll lose your head."

The prince returned to the room disappointed.After a while, Hyacinth turned into a little bee again and came to him.She said to him, "Why are you so sad, Prince Milan?"

"How can I not be sad? Your father has given me an impossible task this time. He will light a candle, and before the candle burns out, I must make a pair of boots. How can a prince know how to What about making shoes? But if I can't make them, I'll lose my head."

"Then what are you going to do?" Hyacinth asked.

"Well, what can I do. If I can't or won't do what he wants, he'll kill me."

"No, my dear. I love you so much that I will marry you in this life. If I cannot save your life, I will die with you. We had better get away at once, there is nothing else to do." .”

As she spoke, she blew on the window, and that breath was immediately frozen on the window.Then she ran out of the house with the prince, shut the door, and threw the key far away.She and the prince ran hand in hand towards the entrance to the underworld, and finally returned to the lake where they had first met.Prince Milan's war horse was still grazing on the grass by the lake. It recognized its master and ran to the prince with a cheerful neighing.It stood as steady as a pine tree, but when Prince Milan and Hyacinth rode on its back, it ran as fast as an arrow from the string.

Meanwhile, the magician was waiting impatiently for the prince, who was finally irritated by the delay in his arrival.He sent his servants to bring him, for the appointed time had passed.

The servants came to the prince's room and found the door locked.They knocked at the door, and the breath frozen on the window answered in the voice of Prince Milan, "I will come right away." Having heard this answer, the servants returned to the magician.But the prince still did not appear.After a while, the magician ordered the servants to bring him a second time, but the frozen breath still said the same thing to them, and the prince, of course, did not appear.At last the magician lost all patience and ordered them to force the door open.But when they knocked the door open, they found the room was empty.The group of frozen breath laughed.The magician was so angry that he was going crazy, he immediately ordered his men to hunt down Prince Milan.

And so the manhunt began.

"I heard a horse's hooves behind me," said Hyacinth to the Prince.

Prince Milan got off his horse and put his ears to the ground for a while.

"Yes," he said, "they're chasing us, and they're pretty close."

"Then there is no time to waste," said Hyacinth, and at once she transformed herself into a river, Prince Milan into an iron bridge, and their horse into a thrush.The road behind the bridge is divided into three different directions.

The magician's servants chased the prince's horseshoe prints all the way, but when they came to the bridge, they stopped, not knowing what to do next.Because the horseshoe prints suddenly disappeared, there were still three roads for them to choose.So they went back to the magician in fear, and told him what had happened.The magician roared furiously: "Oh! You fools! The river and the bridge are theirs! Go back at once and bring them to me, or I will show you!"

So another round of hunting began.

"I heard hoofbeats behind me," Hyacinth sighed.

Prince Milan dismounted and put his ear to the ground.

"They were chasing us and they were getting very close."

Princess Hyacinth immediately transformed herself, Prince Milan, and their horses into a dense forest criss-crossed by more than 1000 roads.The magician's servants chased into the woods, looking for Prince Milan and his bride separately, but they always returned to the same place again and again in the end.They were so disappointed that they had to return to the magician's castle empty-handed again.

"You're all idiots! I'll go after these guys myself," he roared, "bring a horse over here right away, they won't escape my grasp!"

Once again, the beautiful Hyacinth said in a low voice, "I heard the hooves of the horses behind me, and they are very close." The Prince replied, "They are chasing very fast, and they are very close indeed."

"This time we were doomed, for it was my father himself who came after us. But once we reached the first church we passed, his powers expired and he could no longer pursue us. Give your cross to I."

Prince Milan unfastened from his neck the golden cross that his mother had given him, and Hyacinth took it in his hand and transformed himself into a church, Prince Milan into a monk, and his horse into a bell tower .No sooner had this been done than the magician and his servants rode up.He asked the monk:

"Did you see anyone riding by here, my lord?"

"Prince Milan and Princess Hyacinth have just left here. They stopped in the church for a few minutes to say their prayers, and then asked me to light this candle for you and to convey their love to you."

"I'd like to break their necks!" said the magician, and he led his men back dejectedly.Returning to his palace, he beat every servant half to death.

Prince Milan and his bride rode slowly, and they were no longer afraid of the magician's pursuit.The sun was just about to set, and its last rays were falling on a great city ahead of them.Prince Milan suddenly had a strong idea, and wanted to go to the city to see it.

"Oh, my dear," pleaded Hyacinth, "please don't go, I'm frightened, and I'm afraid something bad will happen."

"What are you afraid of?" asked the prince. "We'll just walk around the city for an hour or so, and then we'll go on to my father's country."

"I'm afraid it's easy to get into the city and hard to get out of the city," Hyacinth sighed, "It's just what you want. Go, I'll wait for you here. But first I'll turn myself into a white milestone. I hope you'll be careful ...the king and queen of this city will come out to meet you with a child. Whatever you do, remember, don't kiss that child, or you'll forget me and everything we've been through. I I will wait for you here for three days."

The prince hurried into the city.Hyacinth remained outside the city, transforming herself into a white milestone on the side of the road.

The first day passed, then the second day, and the third day...but Prince Milan never came back because he forgot Hyacinth's advice.Everything was as Hyacinth had said, and the King and Queen of the city came out to meet the Prince with a lovely little girl with fair hair and eyes that shone like bright stars.Her cute appearance immediately caught the prince's heart, and the prince couldn't help but feel pity, and bent down to kiss the little girl's face.In an instant, his memory became blank, and he also forgot about the beautiful hyacinth.

Since Prince Milan never came back, poor Hyacinth, weeping sadly, transformed herself from a milestone into a little blue wildflower.She said: "I just grew on the side of the road like this, until someone passing by stepped on me." Her tears slid down on the petals and turned into a crystal dewdrop.

Not long after, an old man passing by saw the little flower. He liked it so much that he carefully uprooted it and took it home.He planted the little flower in a pot, watered it, fertilized it, and tended it carefully.

From this day on, strange things kept happening in the old man's home, as if everything had changed.When the old man wakes up every morning, he always finds that the room has been cleaned and things are packed neatly, not even a speck of dust can be found in the room.When he came home at noon, the table was already covered with delicious food, and the only thing he needed to do was to sit down and eat to his heart's content.Although he was surprised at first, he didn't think much of it.Gradually he felt a little uncomfortable, so he went to an old witch and asked what was the matter.

The witch said: "Wake up before the rooster crows, and then carefully observe the situation in the house. If you find something moving, quickly put this cloth over it and see what happens."

The old man did not close his eyes all night.When the first rays of morning light entered the room, he noticed that the little blue flower was shaking.At last it crawled out of the jar, and flew about the room, putting everything in order, dusting off, and starting a fire.The old man jumped up quickly from the bed, and covered the little flowers with the cloth the old witch had given him.In the blink of an eye, the beautiful Princess Hyacinth stood in front of him.

"What have you done?" she cried. "Why did you bring me back to life? I don't want to live anymore since my bridegroom, the handsome Prince Milan, abandoned me."

"Prince Milan is going to get married soon," replied the old man. "The wedding banquet is ready, and all the invited guests are rushing to the palace from all directions."

After hearing what the old man said, the beautiful Hyacinth burst into tears.Then she wiped away her tears and resolved to go to the city to find her lover.Dressed up as a peasant woman, she went straight to the palace kitchen, where many cooks in white aprons were busy.Hyacinth walked up to the chef and said to him, "My dear chef, please listen to my request and let me make a wedding cake for Prince Milan!"

The chef was so busy that he planned to refuse her request and order her to leave the kitchen, but when he turned around and saw the beautiful hyacinth in front of him, he swallowed the words that had already reached his lips.He said politely: "You came at the right time, beautiful girl. Go ahead and make your cake, and I will put it in front of Prince Milan with my own hands."

The cake was ready in no time.At this time, the invited guests had already sat around the table.The chef carried the beautiful wedding cake into the hall on a silver platter, and placed it before the prince.The guests were all amazed because the cake was so beautiful it was like a work of art.To the surprise of Prince Milan, just as he started to cut the cake, two white pigeons jumped out of the cake, and one of them said to the other: "My dear companion, don't fly away, don't leave me!" , don’t forget his lover Hyacinth like Prince Milan.”

After hearing the little pigeon's words, Prince Milan sighed deeply, and instantly recalled all the hardships and dangers he had experienced with Hyacinth.Then he jumped up suddenly and rushed to the door, where the beautiful hyacinth was waiting for him.His loyal steed stood outside the door too, pawing and neighing joyfully.Prince Milan and Hyacinth flew on their horses and galloped to the country of King Kojata at the fastest speed.The king and queen of Kojata couldn't be more happy. They welcomed the prince and princess Hyacinth with joy and relief, and they lived happily ever after.

(End of this chapter)