Chapter 3 Our Lady's Child

There lived a woodcutter and his wife by the edge of a large forest.They have only one child, a three-year-old girl.But they are so poor that they don't even have the bread they need every day, and they don't know what to feed their children.One morning, the woodcutter went to the forest to cut wood with a sad face, when suddenly a tall and beautiful woman appeared in front of him, and she wore a crown full of twinkling stars on her head.She said to the woodcutter, "I am the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary. You are poor and need help. Give me your child. I will take her away and be her mother and take good care of her." The woodcutter obeyed her and brought the child to the Virgin Mary.The Virgin Mary takes the child to heaven.The child lives very comfortably in heaven, eating sugar cakes, drinking sweet milk, wearing golden clothes, and playing with little angels.When she was fourteen years old, the Virgin Mary called her to her and said to her, "Dear child, I am going on a journey. Here are the keys to the thirteen gates of the kingdom of heaven, and you will keep them." You can open twelve doors and see the beautiful scenery inside. This little key is for the thirteenth door, but you must not open that door, or you will meet with misfortune." The little girl Promise to listen to the words of the Virgin Mary.After the Virgin Mary left, she began to visit the house of heaven.She opens one door every day until all twelve doors are opened by her one by one.She saw a disciple of Jesus sitting in each door, surrounded by radiance.This glorious sight delighted her immensely, and delighted the little angels who accompanied her day and night.Now only the door that was forbidden to be opened remained.She wanted very much to know what was behind the door, so she said to the angels, "I will not open the door completely, nor will I go in. I only want to open a crack, so that we can all see what is inside." Oh, no," said the little angels, "it is a sin to do so. The Virgin Mary forbids you to open it, and if you do not obey, you may easily suffer misfortune." She was silent when she heard this, but she The desire in her heart didn't just disappear, but it kept torturing her, preventing her from getting a moment of peace.Once, when all the angels had gone out, she thought, "Now I'm the only one who can go in and have a look. I don't think anyone will know." She found the key, and as soon as she had it in her hand, she inserted it into the The keyhole, as soon as it is inserted into the keyhole, turn it, and the door opens at once.She saw the "Trinity" sitting inside among the fire and light (Christianity believes that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are originally one, so it is called the "Trinity"--Translator's Note).She stood there looking at it all in amazement, and then touched the firelight with her finger, and her finger turned gold at once.Suddenly she was terrified, closed the door suddenly, and fled.But no matter what she tried, she couldn't get rid of her fear.Her heart was always pounding and she couldn't calm down, and the gold on her fingers couldn't be removed no matter how she rubbed or washed it, the gold was still there.

The Virgin Mary returned from her trip shortly afterward.She called the little girl to her and asked her for the key to the kingdom of heaven.When she passed the key, the Virgin Mary looked her in the eyes and asked, "You didn't open the thirteenth door, did you?" "No," replied the little girl.The Virgin put her hand on the little girl's heart, felt her heart beating violently, and immediately understood that she had not obeyed, that she had opened the door.Then the Virgin asked again: "Have you really never opened that door?" "No." The little girl replied a second time.At this time, the Holy Mother saw the little girl's fingers that had turned into gold because of touching the sky fire, and knowing that she had committed a crime, she asked her for the third time: "You really haven't?" "No." The little girl said for the third time .The Virgin Mary said, "You didn't listen to me and you lied. You don't deserve to live in Paradise anymore."

The little girl fell into a drowsy sleep.When she woke up, she found herself lying in the wilderness of the world.She wanted to cry out, but she couldn't make any sound.She stood up and wanted to escape, but found that no matter which direction she went, there were always dense bushes blocking her way, and she couldn't get over it no matter what.In the wasteland that surrounded her stood an old hollow tree, which became her home.When night came, she climbed into the tree hole and slept in it.She hid inside when it was windy and rainy.This kind of life is very miserable.Whenever she thought of the happy life in heaven, and the scene of playing with the little angels, she would cry bitterly.Roots and wild fruits are her only food, and she has to work hard to find them.When autumn came, she picked up the walnuts and leaves that fell on the ground and carried them into the hole.These walnuts were her winter food, and on snowy and freezing days she had to crawl among the leaves like a poor little animal to keep from freezing to death.Before long, her clothes were torn and fell off in pieces.When the sun shone warmly on the earth again, she climbed out and sat in front of the tree.Her long hair was like a cloak, covering her body tightly.She just sat there year after year, feeling the misery and misfortune of the world.

As winter goes and spring comes, the trees turn green again.One day, the king was hunting in the forest and was chasing a roe deer, but the roe deer got into the bushes that surrounded the forest.The king dismounted, pushed aside the bushes, and cut a way for himself with his sword.When at last he came through the bushes, he saw a very beautiful girl sitting under a tree.I saw her sitting there, her long golden hair hanging down to her heels, completely covering her whole body.The King stood there dumbfounded, looking at her in astonishment, and then asked her, "Who are you? Why are you sitting in this wilderness?" But she could not speak, because she could not open her mouth.The king asked again, "Would you like to come back to the palace with me?" She just nodded slightly.The king picked her up, put her on his horse, and rode her back to the palace.When he arrived at the palace, he had her dressed in the most beautiful clothes and gave her various things.Although she could not speak, she was very beautiful and gentle, and the king fell in love with her with all his heart, and soon took her as his wife.

After about a year, the queen gave birth to a son.That night, when she was lying alone on the bed, the Virgin Mary appeared in front of her and said to her: "If you tell the truth and admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will open your mouth." , so that you can speak; but if you persist in denying your sins, I will take your newborn baby away." The Virgin allowed the Queen to speak at this time, but the Queen stubbornly said, "No, I didn't open it." The door that is forbidden to open." The Virgin Mary snatched the newborn baby from her arms and disappeared with him.The next morning, seeing that the child had disappeared, people murmured in private that the queen was a man-eating demon who had killed her own child.She heard all these words, but could not say anything.Fortunately, the king loved her very much, so he didn't believe what everyone said.

A year later, the queen gave birth to another son.At night, the Virgin Mary came to her again and said to her: "If you admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will give you back your child and let you speak; but if you continue to deny , I will take your newborn child away." The queen still replied: "No, I did not open that door." The Holy Mother had to snatch the child from her arms again, and took him back to heaven.The next morning, when the child was seen missing again, it was declared openly that the queen must have devoured the child.The king's ministers asked for her trial, but the king not only refused to believe other people's words because he loved the queen deeply, but also forbade the ministers to talk about this matter, and anyone who violated it would be executed.

Another year passed, and the queen gave birth to a very beautiful daughter.The Virgin Mary appeared to her for the third time at night and said to her: "Follow me." She took the queen by the hand, took her to heaven, and let her see her two sons.The brothers smiled at her and played with globes.This scene pleased the Queen, and the Virgin Mary said, "Has your heart not softened yet? If you admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will give you back your two sons." But the queen replied for the third time: "No, I didn't open that door." So the Virgin let her go back to the ground, and took her third child.

The next morning, when the news of the child's disappearance got out, everyone shouted, "The queen is a man-eating monster! We must judge her!" This time even the king could not stop the ministers any longer.Everyone put her on trial.Since she was unable to speak and defend herself, she was sentenced to be burned at the stake.The firewood was piled up, she was fastened to the stakes, and the fire began to burn all around her.At this time, the ice of pride began to melt, and her heart was filled with regret.She thought: "If only I could admit before I die that I opened that door!" Suddenly, her voice recovered, and she cried out: "Yes, Holy Mother, I opened that door!" As soon as the words fell, heavy rain fell from the sky, dousing the flames.A ray of light appeared above her head, and the Virgin Mary embraced the newly born little princess, and brought two princes beside her.She kindly said to the queen: "As long as a person admits his sins and repents for it, he will be forgiven." She gave the three children to the queen so that she could speak again and make her happy for life.