grey fairy tale book

Chapter 26 The God-given Prince

Chapter 26 The God-given Prince

A long time ago, there was a king and queen.As much as they wanted to have a son, they never had one.In order not to let the other party see that they are really unhappy, they pretend to be happy in hunting, falconry and various sports.Finally, the king could no longer hide, and announced that he was going to visit the most remote frontier of his kingdom.This trip will take him several months before he can return to the capital.

During the period after leaving, he hoped to have many things to think about, so as to forget the trouble of longing for a little prince.

The country ruled by the king was very large, full of mountains and rocks, and deserts, so it was very difficult to get from one place to another.

One day, the king was walking alone. He intended to go only a short distance, but everything looked the same, so that he could not tell which way he had come.He walked for hours without stopping, the sun was shining on his head, his legs were so weak that he would have died of thirst had he not suddenly encountered what looked like a newly dug well.A silver cup with a gold handle floats on the well.Every time the king reached out to grab it, the silver cup floated away.The king was so thirsty that he couldn't wait any longer, so he knelt down by the well and drank it all in one gulp.

Just as the king was about to stand up, for some reason, his beard seemed to be stuck to water, and he couldn't pull it out with all his strength.The king shook his head a few times, but it seemed to do nothing but hurt himself, and he cried out in despair, "Let go of me! Who's got hold of me?"

"It is I, King Costier," said the voice from the well.Looking up from the water was a dwarf with a big head and green eyes, "You have drank from my spring, and you will never go away unless you promise me to give me the most precious thing in your palace. This thing will come out when you come out." Not in the palace."

At this point, the only thing the king worries about is the queen.When he rode away, the queen was sitting in the hall, leaning against a pile of cushions, weeping bitterly, and knowing that Costier's words did not refer to the queen, she readily agreed to the request made by the ugly dwarf.In the blink of an eye, the dwarf, the well, and the silver cup were all gone, leaving the king alone on his knees in the sand, wondering if this was a dream.He did, however, feel stronger and more energetic now, and he was convinced that this must have happened.The king jumped on his horse, and went off in search of his attendants with a light heart.

A few weeks later, they were preparing to leave for the capital and finally arrived on a hot day.This back and forth took up to eight months.The king was loved by his subjects, and when his procession passed, people stood on both sides of the road, cheering and waving their hats to welcome the king back.The queen stood on the steps of the palace, holding a gorgeous golden cushion with both hands, on which sat an extremely beautiful little boy, whose body was wrapped in layers of silk and satin.

All of a sudden, Castier's words flooded into the king's mind, and the king wept sadly, which surprised everyone—the king should be happy to see his son.The king tried to forget his promise to Costier by working hard, but he couldn't do it.Whenever the baby was out of his sight, it felt like it was the last time he would see him.

Year after year passed, the son grew into a big boy, and in a blink of an eye he grew into a handsome boy.Costier showed no sign.The king also gradually missed him, and finally forgot him completely.

In the entire kingdom, there is no one that lives happier than the king's family of three.Until one day, the prince went hunting in a remote part of the forest, and met an ugly dwarf. "How are you doing? My prince from heaven," said the little man, "you have kept them waiting too long!"

"Who are you?" asked the prince.

"You'll know that soon. Go back and pay my respects to your father, and tell him I hope he'll settle the bill with me. He'll regret it if he doesn't."

After speaking, the old man disappeared.After returning to the palace, the prince told the king what had happened.

After hearing this, the king turned pale, and told his son about the terrible experience.

"Father, don't be sad," the prince comforted, "it's not terrible at all! I will find a way to force Costier to give up her desire to possess me. But if I don't come back within a year, then Don't expect to see me any more."

Subsequently, the prince began to prepare his itinerary.His father gave him a suit of steel armor, a sword, and a horse, and his mother gave him a gold cross necklace.His parents finally kissed him goodbye and sent him on their way with tears in their eyes.

For three days the prince rode on horseback, and on the fourth day at sunset he found himself on the beach.There are twelve white skirts on the beach, as dazzling as snow.However, when he looked around, he couldn't see the owners of these skirts.The prince was curious about what would happen next, so he took a skirt, let go of the horse's bridle, and let the horse wander in the nearby field, while he hid himself in the willow bushes and waited quietly.A few minutes later, a group of wild geese playing in the sea came to the shore, put on skirts, and slapped the sand with their webs. In the blink of an eye, they all turned into eleven young girls and flew away.The last and smallest goose stayed in the water, stretching out its long, white neck, and looking around anxiously.Suddenly she spotted the Prince hiding among the willow bushes, and she called out in a human voice, "Oh, Prince, if you give me back my skirt, I will be forever grateful to you."

The prince hastily put the skirt on the sand and walked away.The girl took off the goose skin, put on her skirt quickly, and walked towards the prince.The prince had never seen or heard of such a beautiful girl.The girl stretched out her hand with a blushing face, and said softly: "Dear prince, I am very grateful that you have agreed to my request. I am the youngest daughter of the god Kostier, who is the ruler of all the underground kingdoms. Twelve daughters. Father has been waiting for you for a long time, and now he is angry. But don't be nervous or afraid, just do as I tell you. When you see King Costier, immediately Get down on your knees, ignore his threats and shouts, and approach him boldly. As for what will happen later, you will know then. Now, let’s go.” After she finished speaking, she slapped the sand with her paddles, creating a chasm Appeared, they followed the chasm down to the center of the earth.After a while, they arrived at Costier's palace.The palace lights up all the subterranean kingdoms brighter than the sun.The prince boldly entered the palace according to the girl's instructions.

Costier sat in the center of the golden throne, wearing a shining crown on her head.His green eyes gleamed like glass, and his hands were like crab claws.At the sight of the prince, he let out a piercing scream, and the palace walls seemed to tremble.The prince ignored this, but continued to approach the throne on his knees.When he was about to reach the throne, Costier suddenly laughed and said, "You are lucky because you keep making me laugh. You can live with us in this underground empire, but you must first do three things .It's too late today, go to bed. I'll tell you tomorrow."

Early the next morning, the prince was notified that Costier would see him.The prince got up and dressed, and immediately went to the reception hall of Costier, where the little king was already sitting on the throne.As soon as the prince arrived, he walked up to Costier and bowed deeply.Costier said: "Your Majesty, what you have to do now is, before tonight, you must build me a marble palace with crystal windows and a golden roof. The palace must be located in a place with streams and lakes. In the middle of the Great Park. If you can do it, you're my friend, if you can't, you're dead."

The prince listened to this terrible speech in silence, and then retired to his room, thinking alone of his impending death.He was lost in thought, when suddenly, a bee flew to the window, tapped the glass, and said, "Let me in quickly." The prince got up and opened the window, and the little princess stood in front of him.

"What are you thinking about, Prince?"

"I was thinking of your father who wanted to kill me."

"Don't be afraid, just sleep, wake up tomorrow morning, and you will see that the palace has been repaired."

The little princess does what she says.The prince woke up the next day and saw a palace much more beautiful than he had imagined.Even Kostier couldn't believe her eyes, wondering how this was done.

"Well, you must win this time, but I won't let you go so easily. Tomorrow, my twelve daughters will stand in a row in front of you. If you can't point out which one is my youngest daughter , then your head will fall to the ground.”

"Ah, to recognize the youngest princess!" the prince said to himself, as he entered the room, "how is this possible!"

"Of course it's difficult. Without my help, it will be a problem you will never be able to solve," replied the bee as it buzzed around the ceiling. "We sisters look almost the same, even our father Kings are hard to tell."

"Then what should I do?"

"Well, there will be a little ladybug on the eyelid of the youngest princess. Be sure to watch carefully. Goodbye!"

The next morning King Costier sent for the prince again.The young princesses were already standing in a row, all dressed in the same outfit, with drooping eyes.When the prince saw them, he couldn't help being surprised by their similar appearance.The prince walked back and forth twice, but did not find the sign that had been negotiated before.When the Prince noticed for the third time a small spot on one of the Princess' eyelids, his heart was pounding. "This is the little princess," he said.

"How on earth did you guess?" Costier roared. "There must be a trick here! You can't escape my grasp so easily. You have to come here again in three hours and prove your cleverness to me." Wisdom. I'll light a handful of straw, and before it burns out, you'll have to turn it into a pair of boots. If you can't, you'll be dead."

The prince sadly went back to the room, but the bee was there before him.

"My handsome prince, why do you look so melancholy?"

"Your father ordered me to make him a pair of boots. How can I not be depressed? Does he think I'm a shoemaker?"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Anyway, I can't make boots! I'm not afraid of death. Everyone dies anyway."

"No, prince, you won't die. I will do my best to save you. We either flee together or die together." She spat on the ground, pulled the prince out of the room, closed the door, and threw away the key .

The two of them held hands tightly and walked towards the sun, only to find that they had returned to the seaside before, and the prince's horse was still grazing quietly on the grass next to it.Seeing its owner, the horse neighed and ran towards him.Immediately the prince jumped into the saddle, put the princess behind him, and galloped away like a shot arrow.

It was time for Kostier's last inspection, but the prince was nowhere to be seen, so he sent someone to the prince's room to ask him why he had delayed for so long.Seeing that his door was locked, the servant knocked hard, but there was no answer. "It will be ready soon." Saliva, imitating the prince's voice, replied.

The servants immediately brought the answer back to Costier.He waited and waited, but the prince still did not arrive.So he sent another servant to the prince's room. "Soon." The same voice replied.

"He's playing tricks on me!" Costier screamed angrily, "Break down the door and bring him to me!"

The servants rushed over as ordered.The door slammed open, but there was no one inside, only spit and laughter!

Costier was very angry, and ordered the guards to chase the two fugitives on horseback, and said that if they could not bring back the fugitives, they would go back to him with the head.

By this time the prince and princess had made a good start and were feeling very happy when suddenly they heard the gallop of a horse in the distance.The prince jumped off his horse and put his ear to the ground to listen carefully.

"They are coming after us," said the Prince.

"Then we must hurry up," replied the princess, and as she spoke, it turned into a river, the prince into a bridge, the horse into a crow, and the road beyond the bridge into three paths.

When the soldiers came to the bridge, they stopped hesitantly: how could they know which of the three roads the prince and princess took to escape?So he gave up chasing in frustration, and returned to Costier in fear.

"It's a bunch of idiots!" Kostier shouted loudly, "There is no doubt that the river and the bridge belong to them! Don't you think that? Go back and chase immediately!" The soldiers rode away like lightning.

But time is running out, because the prince and princess have gone far.

"I heard the hooves of the horses," cried the princess.

The prince jumped off his horse and put his ear to the ground to listen.

"Yes," replied the prince, "they are not far from us now."

After a while, the prince, princess and horse suddenly disappeared, and there appeared a dense forest with criss-cross paths.Kostier's soldiers had no choice but to go back and report the encounter to Kostier.

"A horse! A horse!" shouted Costier, "I'll go after him on horseback myself. I think they can escape this time!" After speaking, he rode away angrily.

"I think I heard people chasing us," said the princess.

"That's right. I heard that too."

"This time, Kostier went out in person, but with his magic power, he can only chase up to the first church at most. After that, he can't chase anymore. Give me your cross-gold necklace." The prince took down his mother. gift for him.Immediately the princess was transformed into a church, the prince into a priest, and the horse into a bell tower.

As soon as they finished changing, Costier arrived.

"Good day, Priest. Have you seen any tourists on horseback pass by?"

"Yes, the prince and Costier's daughter just passed by. They came into the church and said to me, if I meet you, I will say hello to you for them."

Costier knew now that she was utterly defeated, and the prince and princess continued on their way in safety.

(End of this chapter)

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