green fairy tale book

Chapter 9 The Story of the Soldier (1)
1
Once upon a time there was a soldier who had just returned from the battlefield.He was a brave lad, and he was lucky not to lose an arm or a leg in battle.Since the war was over and his unit was disbanded, he had to return to the village where he was born.

Little Bing's real name is John, but for some reason his friends keep calling him "Little King".Why?Nobody knew, that's what they called him.

His parents were dead, and there was no one to welcome him at home, so he was in no hurry to travel.With his knapsack on his back and his sword slung, he walked slowly towards home.One night, Xiaobing suddenly wanted to smoke his cigarette.He fumbled for the matchbox in his backpack and was finally disappointed to find that he had lost the match.

After walking about a stone's throw away, he saw lights in the woods ahead.So he went straight to the direction of the light, and after a while he found an old castle standing there, and the gate of the castle was open.

The soldier went into the castle yard, and peeping in through the window, he saw a fire burning well at the end of the hall.He put his pipe in his pocket, knocked on the door, and said politely:

"Can I borrow a fire?"

But no one answered.

After waiting for a while, Xiaobing knocked on the door again, this time he knocked louder, but still no one answered.

He unlatched the door and went into the house. The hall was empty.

The soldier went straight to the fireplace, picked up the tongs, and bent down to look carefully at the fire, intending to pick out a red-hot coal ball to light his pipe.Suddenly, with a "hiss—" something popped out like a spring, and the soldier took a closer look. In the center of the flames, a big snake raised its upper body and approached his face.

What's even more creepy is that this big snake has a woman's head!
If it were someone else who saw this scene, they would be so frightened that they would turn around and run for their lives.But our little soldier is not an ordinary person. Although he is small, he has the heart of a real soldier.He just took a step back, and immediately grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Don't draw your sword!" said the snake, "I have been waiting for you, because only you can save me."

"who are you?"

"My name is Ludovina, and I am the daughter of the King of the Lowlands. If you save me, I will marry you and let you live happily ever after."

Maybe some people don't think it's a happy thing to be married to a snake with a woman's head, but our little soldiers are fearless.Ludovina's eyes fascinated him deeply.Those eyes looked at him like a snake looking at a bird.Her eyes were not round like a cat's, but thin and long, almond-shaped, with a strange gleam in their pupils, and their luster was enhanced by long golden hair that danced with the flames.Her face was as beautiful as an angel's - though she had the body of a snake.

"What should I do?" said the soldier.

"Open that door, and you'll see a long corridor with a room at the end, similar in layout to this one. After passing through that room, you'll see a closet, and you'll have to get me a coat in the closet. "

The soldier bravely did as Ludovina asked.He passed the corridor safely, but when he reached the room, in the half-darkness of the stars, he saw eight large hands waving at about the level of his head, threatening to attack him.Xiao Bing observed the route he was going to take, and he suddenly found that these big hands had no body.

He lowered his head and rushed forward, and the eight big hands attacked him fiercely, but he also fought back with his own fist.Finally he came to the closet, opened it quickly, took off his coat, and carried it back to the first room.

"Here you are." Xiaobing said out of breath.

With a "hiss—" the flames parted again.This time Ludovina also took the shape of a woman from the waist up.She took the blouse and put it on.

It was a beautiful rich orange velvet frock studded with many pearls.But none of these pearls could match Ludovina's white neck.

"That's not enough," she said, "go down to the gallery again, go up the stairs on the left, and in the second room on the second floor, you'll find a closet with my dress in it. Take it Come back to me!"

Xiaobing entered the room on the second floor according to Ludovina's words. What he saw this time was not just eight big hands, but eight huge arms, each holding a big stick.He immediately drew out his sword and cut a bloody path, relying on his physical strength and swordsmanship, he passed this level almost unscathed.Then he retrieved the dress from the closet.It was made of blue silk, as blue as the sky in Spain.

"Give you."

Ludovina appeared, this time also in the shape of a woman above her knees.

"Now I just want to get my shoes and socks back," she said. "Go find them in the closet on the third floor!"

So the soldier set off again.This time, eight evil spirits with hammers stood in front of them, and flames spewed from their eyes from time to time.Xiaobing stopped outside the threshold, thinking:

"My sword is useless this time. It's as easy as smashing a piece of glass for these guys to break it. If I don't think of other ways, I'm dead." At this moment, his eyes fell on the door Above, the door is made of oak, thick and heavy.So he pulled the nail from the door, and took it off to cover his head; then he rushed straight at the evil spirits, and slipped under them.After that, he took out the shoes and socks hidden in the closet and gave them to Ludovina.She put them on straight away, and this time, she was a real woman from head to toe.

When she had put on her white silk stockings and blue slippers studded with red crystals, she said to her benefactor: "Now you must go, and no matter what happens, don't come back here. There are two hundred coins in this purse." Gold coin, tonight, you will sleep in the inn next to the woods, and you must get up early tomorrow. I will pass by the inn at nine o'clock, and you will sit in my carriage and go with me."

"Why don't we go now?" asked the soldier.

"Because it's not time yet," said the princess, "but first drink this glass of wine and bless me!" As she spoke, she filled a crystal goblet with a liquid that resembled the melted gold.

The soldier drank it all in one gulp.He lit his pipe and walked out of the castle.

2
Xiaobing came to the inn next to the woods and ordered some dinner.But as soon as he sat down and picked up the knife and fork, he felt extremely sleepy, as if he could fall asleep at any time.

"It seems that I am more tired than I thought." He said to himself.He told the landlord to be sure to wake him at eight o'clock in the morning and go to bed.He slept through the night like a dead man, and at eight o'clock they came to wake him up, then 08:30, 45:[-]...but it didn't help at all, and finally they had to let him sleep Go to sleep quietly.

When the soldier got up, the clock just struck twelve.He jumped out of bed, dressed frantically, and asked anxiously if anyone had come for him.

"Here comes a lovely princess," said the landlady, "and she is sitting in a golden carriage. She has left you a bouquet of flowers, and a message that she will return at eight o'clock to-morrow morning." Pass here."

Xiaobing thought angrily, he really slept like a dead pig.Then he comforted himself by looking at the bouquet the princess had left for him.This is a bouquet of never-withered flowers.

"This is the flower of memory," he thought.But he forgot that never-withered flowers also symbolize death.

That night, Xiaobing didn't dare to sleep too soundly. He almost slept with one eye open and one eye closed, jumping up from the bed more than 20 times an hour on average.When the birds began to sing, he could not sleep any longer, so he opened the window and climbed up the tall lime tree outside the inn door.He sat on the branch, staring at the bunch of never-withered flowers in a trance, and gradually, he fell asleep again.

Once he fell asleep, nothing could wake him up, not the glare of the sun, the singing of birds, the sound of Princess Ludovina's golden carriage approaching slowly, and the voice of the landlady looking for him and calling him. Neither can shouting.

When the clock struck twelve, he finally woke up.His heart sank when he jumped from the tree to find people already clearing the table for lunch.

"Is the princess here?" he asked.

"Yes, indeed, she is here. She left a flowered scarf for you, and said that she will pass by here again at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, but that will be the last time."

"I must have been enchanted." Xiaobing thought angrily.Then he took the scarf and tied it around his left arm.A strange fragrance emanated from the scarf.Xiaobing thought about it for a long time, and finally decided that if he wanted to stay awake all the time, the best way was not to sleep at all.So he paid for the hotel and bought a horse with the rest of the money.He had been on his horse since evening, determined to wait at the door of the inn until dawn.

From time to time he lowered his head and smelled the fragrance emanating from the scarf on his left arm. He smelled more and more frequently. Gradually, his head fell drowsily on the horse's back, and finally he snored with his horse. .

When the princess's golden carriage came, the people shook him, slapped him, and called him loudly in his ear, but the soldier and his horse were still asleep in a drowsy sleep.He didn't wake up until the princess's carriage gradually disappeared into the distance.

The little soldier immediately rode his horse in pursuit, shouting with all his strength while chasing: "Stop! Stop!" But the golden carriage continued to move forward.The little soldier chased him all day and night, but the distance between him and the carriage did not close at all.

Along the way they left many villages and towns behind, and at last they came to the sea.Xiao Bing thought: The carriage must stop now.But alas!That was a miracle of miracles!The carriage didn't slow down at all, and drove straight to the sea, walking on the sparkling sea like a flat ground.Although Xiaobing's horse was a fine horse, it was finally exhausted and sank into the sea.Xiaobing stood on the shore sadly, watching the golden carriage gradually disappear on the sea level.

3
Nevertheless, the little soldier soon regained his spirits, and walked a long way along the coast, hoping to find a boat by which he might go to sea in search of the princess.But there is not a single boat in this area.Finally, tired and hungry, he sat down in front of a fisherman's cabin to rest.

(End of this chapter)