grey fairy tale book

Chapter 36 The eldest son Kuanzai and Liyan (1)
Once upon a time there was a king who loved his only son very much.One day, the king sent someone to call his son and said to him: "My dearest son, I am old, and I will not feel the warm sunshine soon, and I will not see trees, flowers and plants. Before I die, I hope to see you again." You have a virtuous wife. So, son, get married as soon as possible."

"Father," replied the prince, "now and forever I am at your command, but I cannot let you see my daughter-in-law."

Hearing this, the old king took out a golden key from his pocket, handed it to his son, and said, "Go up to the top of the tower. Look around carefully, and then come back and tell me what you like best. "

So the young man went up.He had never been in the tower before and had no idea what was hidden inside.

The stairs went round and round, round and round, and round and round, so that the Prince was almost dizzy.From time to time he saw large rooms opening on the sides.But the king told him he was going to climb to the top floor, so he went.Then he found himself in a hall with an iron gate on one side.He opened the door with a golden key, passed through the iron gate, and entered a large room with a blue roof full of shining gold stars and a green silk carpet as soft as a lawn.The sun shone in from twelve gilded windows, each painted with a portrait of a young girl, each prettier than the last.The prince stared in surprise, not knowing which one he liked best.That's when the girls started looking up and smiling at him.He waited, expecting them to speak, but no sound came out.

Suddenly, he noticed that one of the windows was covered with a white silk curtain.He opened the silk curtain, and saw the image of a young girl in a white robe, a silver belt, and a crown on her head. She looked very beautiful, but she was very sad.Like a stone statue, the prince stopped and stared.The girl's sadness seemed to pierce his heart, and the prince cried out, "This is my wife. That's her."

As soon as the words fell, the girl blushed and lowered her head, and the other portraits disappeared immediately.

The young prince hastened down to his father, and told him what he had seen, and the wife he had chosen.The old man listened to him with a sad face, and then he said: "Find that hidden portrait, you have done something wrong, and you are in great danger. This young woman has been besieged by an evil wizard, and she lives In an iron castle. Many boys tried to rescue her, but they never came back! Since you have chosen, so choose. You have promised, so you can't go back. Go, bet your luck, Return safely!"

So the prince embraced his father, mounted his horse, and went off to find his bride.He rode happily for hours, until he found himself in a forest he had never been before, and in a short while lost his way again in winding lanes and deep valleys.He tried to figure out where he was, but it was useless: the sun was blocked by dense trees, and he couldn't tell north, south, east, and west.He was in despair, and just as he was about to give up hope of getting rid of this terrible place, a voice called to him suddenly: "Hey! Hey! Wait a minute!"

The prince turned around, only to see a tall man galloping behind him.

"Wait for me," the man shouted out of breath, "please let me work for you, if you agree, you will definitely not regret it."

"Who are you?" asked the prince, "what do you know?"

"My name is the eldest son, and I can lengthen my body as I like. Have you seen the bird's nest on the top of the fir tree? As for me, I can get it for you without any effort." The eldest son kept lifting his body up The ground stretched, and soon it was as tall as a tree.He put the bird's nest into his pocket, and in the blink of an eye, he became smaller again and stood in front of the prince.

"Yes, you are very good at it," said the prince, "but the bird's nest is useless to me. I am too old to dig out the bird's nest. Now, if you can help me out of the forest, you will be of some use."

"Oh, what a problem," replied the eldest son, and he stretched upwards until he was twice as high as the tallest tree in the forest.Then, he looked around and said, "We have to walk in this direction to get out of the forest." Retracting behind, he took the reins of the prince's horse and led the way.In a short while they were quite out of the forest, and before them lay an open plain, ending in a heap of tall stones, scattered with trees, which looked like the fortress of a town.

When he came out of the forest, the eldest son turned to the prince and said, "My lord, one of my companions is coming. You should also make him serve you, and you will find him a good helper."

"Okay, then call him over, I want to see what he can do."

"He is some distance from us," replied the eldest, "and I can scarcely hear me. He has a load on his shoulders, and it will take some time to get here. I think I'd better go and bring him here." Once, he stretched his body so high that his head disappeared into the clouds.After two or three strides, a man was placed before the prince.The newcomer was a fat man with a waist as thick as a barrel.

"Who are you?" asked the prince, "what do you know?"

"Dear Your Excellency, my name is Kuan Zai, and I can make my body wider as I like."

"Then let me see how you widen."

"Run as fast as possible, my master, and hide in the woods," Kuan Zai shouted loudly, and began to swell after speaking.

The prince did not understand why he had gone into the wood, but when he saw the eldest son go straight for the wood, he thought it best to follow his example.He dodges just in time, because Kuang Zai swells so fast that he almost knocks the prince and the horse down.He covered the surrounding open space, making people feel like a mountain!
Finally, Kuan Zai stopped swelling, took a deep breath, made the whole forest shake, and then shrank back to his original figure.

"You scared me away," said the Prince. "You are rare. I will employ you."

So the three went forward together, and when they were about to reach the pile of stones, they ran into a man with gauze wrapped in his eyes.

"Your Excellency," said the eldest son, "this is our third companion, and it will be in your interest to have him in his service, and I assure you that he will be qualified."

"Who are you?" asked the prince, "and why are you blindfolded? You can't see the way!"

"On the contrary, my lord! My eyesight is so good that I have to be blindfolded. Even so, I see as well as any man without the gauze. If I take the gauze off, my eyes can see through everything. Everything I see catches fire immediately, and if it doesn't catch fire, it will be broken into countless small pieces. People call me 'Sharp Eye'."

As he spoke, he took off the gauze and turned to face the stone.He stared intently, and there was a sound of cracking in the stone. After a while, he saw that the stone had turned into a pile of sand, and something was shining inside it.Li Yan picked it up and brought it in front of the prince.It turned out to be a piece of pure gold!
"You are amazing!" the prince praised, "If I didn't hire you, I would be a fool! Since you have such good eyesight, tell me, am I still far away from the Iron Castle? what happen."

"If you go alone," replied Stern Eye, "you'll have to walk for at least a year. With us with you, you can get there tonight. They're preparing dinner right now!"

"There's a princess in the castle. Can you see her?"

"She was locked up in a tall tower by a wizard and put on metal chains."

"Oh, help me get her out!" cried the Prince.

Everyone agreed.

Then, relying on the gap opened by Lieyan, they moved forward together, passing through piles of gray stones, mountains, and dense forests.Whenever encountering any obstacles, the three helpers can always find a way to eliminate them one by one.When the sun was setting, the prince saw the towers of the Iron Castle, and before the sun set on the ground, he stepped on the iron bridge leading to the city gate.He arrived just in time, because the bridge will lift itself and the gates will close by themselves when the sun goes down.

Now there is no way out!
(End of this chapter)