Chapter 60 59. Belinda and the Ugly Monster

Once upon a time there lived a merchant in Leghorn who had three daughters named Asuda, Karolina, and Belinda.The businessman is very rich, and his three daughters have been living a well-off life without worrying about food and clothing.The three daughters are all beautiful, but the youngest is the most beautiful, so everyone calls her Belinda[1].Belinda is not only beautiful, but also kind, humble, and understanding. On the contrary, the two sisters are arrogant, stubborn, and troublesome, especially because they are very jealous. When the three girls grew up, the richest merchants in the city came to propose marriage to them, but Azuda and Karolina always refused them with contempt, saying: "We will never marry a merchant."

And Belinda always answered them politely and tactfully: "I'm still a little girl and I haven't reached the age of marriage yet. Let's talk about this when I grow up." As the saying goes: As long as you have teeth in your mouth, you don't know what will touch you [2].Before long, one of their father's cargo ships went missing with all its cargo, and he soon went bankrupt.Of all the property he owns, there is only one hut in the country left. If he wants to maintain the life of the whole family, he can only move the family to the countryside and farm the land like a farmer.One can imagine the faces of the two eldest daughters when they heard the news. "No, papa," they said, "we're not going to work in the fields, we're staying here. Thank God there's plenty of gentlemen who want to marry us."

Yes, go to those gentlemen! When they heard that the family was destitute, they all disappeared without a trace.And they also left a message saying: "This is better, so that they can learn how to treat others as a person, and they will no longer be domineering!" However, when they gloated over what happened to Asuda and Carolina, they also expressed deep gratitude to Belinda. Sympathy, because she never puts on airs to people.On the contrary, several young men went to propose to her, even though she was penniless, but she was beautiful enough to attract people's attention.But she rejected their marriage proposal. What she thought was how to help her father tide over the difficulties, instead of leaving him at this time.When she arrived in the country, she got up early, did housework, and prepared meals for her father and two older sisters, while her two older sisters didn't get up until ten o'clock, didn't move a finger, and often got angry with her sister, saying that her sister A village girl, because she adapted right away to the harsh life in the country.

One day, my father received a letter saying that the cargo ship that people thought he had lost had returned to Leghorn, and part of the cargo on board was safe and sound.When the two older daughters heard the news, they were wild with joy at the thought that they would soon return to the city and end their poverty.The father said to his daughters, "I am leaving now for Leghorn to see what we have left. What do you want me to bring you?" "I want a sheer silk dress," Asouda said. "And I want a pink one," says Karolina. Belinda said nothing, asked for nothing.The father asked her again, and she said, "It's not time to buy expensive things. I'll be satisfied if you bring me a rose." The sisters laughed at her, but she didn't care at all.

The father came to Leghorn, but when he was about to take his goods, other merchants rushed out, saying that he was in debt to them, and therefore the goods were no longer his.After several negotiations, the poor old man came up with nothing and was very disappointed.But he didn't want to disappoint his daughters, so he used some money left in his pocket to buy the sheer dress that Asoda wanted and the pink dress that Karolina wanted.By this time, he had no money, and he thought that roses were a small thing to Belinda anyway, and it didn't matter if he bought them or not. So, he started on his way to his home in the countryside.Go, go, it was getting dark, he went into a wood and lost his way.It was snowing now, and the wind was blowing, and it was fatal.The businessman hid under a tree, listening to the howling of wild wolves, thinking that sooner or later he would be torn to pieces by wolves.Worried, he turned around and saw a light in the distance.He walked over and saw a brightly lit palace.The businessman walked in.There was no movement at all inside, it was lifeless.He looked around and saw no one.The fireplace in the living room was still burning, and he was dripping wet again, so he walked over and warmed himself by the fire, thinking: "Someone should come in now." But wait, wait, still no one appears.The businessman saw all kinds of delicacies on the table and started to eat them.Then he took a lamp, went into another room where the bed was made, undressed and went to sleep.

The next morning the businessman woke up startled to find a brand new suit on the chair by the bed.He put on this suit and went downstairs to the garden outside.In the garden there is a very beautiful rose bush.The businessman thought of his daughter Belinda's request, and thought that her wish could finally be fulfilled now.He chose what he thought was the most beautiful rose in the garden, and plucked it.Just then, there was a loud roar from behind the bushes, and an ugly monster appeared among the roses.This monster is so ugly, you just need to look at it and you will be paralyzed with fear.The ugly monster roared: "I give you good food, good housing, and good clothes. How dare you steal my roses? I want you to pay with your life."

The poor merchant knelt down and said to him that the flowers were picked for his daughter Belinda, who wanted no present but a rose.After hearing what the businessman had said about Belinda, the ugly monster calmed down a lot, and said to the businessman: "If you have such a good daughter, then bring her to me. I want to take care of her. She will be like you here." Like the queen. But if you don't send her, I will chase you wherever you and your family go." The poor businessman was so frightened that he couldn't even believe that he had promised to let him go.But the ugly monster invited him back to the palace again, and asked him to choose some jewels, goldware, and brocades he liked, and then filled a chest with them, and he would send them to the merchant's house.

When the merchant returned to his home in the country, the girls came to welcome him.The two eldest daughters coquettishly asked for gifts, while Belinda was full of joy and asked how she was.Father gave one dress to Asoda and the other to Karolina.Then, staring at Belinda, weeping, he handed her the rose, and told the full story of his misfortune. As soon as the two sisters heard this, they immediately said, "Look! We've talked about it a long time ago! Her idea is very strange. What kind of roses do you want? Roses! Now we will all have bad luck with her." But Belinda was not angry. She said to her father: "The monster said that if I went to his house, he would not hurt us? Well, I will go. It is better to sacrifice me than the whole family."

The father said he would not, and would never, give his daughter to that ugly monster, and the two sisters said she was absolutely crazy, and of course they were all hypocrisy.But Belinda couldn't listen to anything, insisted on her own opinion, and decided to leave. So the next morning, the father and daughter were on the road early in the morning.But before that, when my father got up, he found the box next to the bed containing the treasure he had picked out at the monster's house.He hid under the bed without revealing any news to his two eldest daughters. At night, they came to the monster's palace, which was brightly lit.The two walked up the steps.In the hall on the first floor. There are meals for two people. They are not very hungry, but they still sat down and tasted a few mouthfuls.After eating, I only heard a roar from outside, and the ugly monster appeared.Belinda was stunned: he was unimaginably ugly.But then, slowly, she regained her courage, and when the ugly monster asked her if she came here voluntarily, she answered him bluntly: yes.

The monster looked satisfied.He turned to the merchant, handed him a knapsack full of gold coins, and told him to leave the palace at once and not to come again, and he would take care of everything his daughter needed.The poor father kissed his daughter one last time, felt a thousand thorns pricking in his heart, and wept bitterly all the way home. After the father left, the monster said good night to Belinda and left immediately.Belinda was alone in the palace.She took off her coat and went to bed.She slept soundly that night, for she was glad that she had done a good deed to save Papa from an unexpected disaster.

In the morning, she got up calmly and confidently, and she wanted to see the palace.I saw written on the door of the room where she lived: Belinda's room.On the closet door it says: Belinda's Closet.Embroidered on every fine piece of clothing inside: Belinda's Dress.There are signs posted all over the court that read: "You are the queen here, You can have whatever you want. " In the evening, when Belinda was sitting at the table eating dinner, she heard the roar again, and the ugly monster appeared: "Excuse me," he said, "may I have dinner with you?" Belinda replied politely: "You are the master here." But the monster retorted: "No, you are the only owner here, and the entire palace and everything in it are yours." After speaking, he was silent for a while, as if thinking about something, and then asked: "I really Is it that ugly?" Belinda replied: "Ugly is ugly, but your kindness makes you not ugly." So the monster immediately asked: "Belinda, will you marry me?" She trembled all over, not knowing how to answer.She thought: If he refuses now, I don't know what will happen to him! Then, she bit the bullet and replied: "If I'm telling you the truth, I really haven't thought about marrying you." The ugly monster said good night to her without saying a word, and went out with a sigh. In this way, Belinda lived in the palace for three months.Every night the monster came to ask her the same question, whether she would marry him, and then left with a sigh.Belinda was so used to this sort of thing that she felt a little uncomfortable not seeing him one night. Belinda took a walk in the garden every day, and the monster told her about the magical properties of many plants.There is a tree of sorrow and joy with lush branches and leaves. "When its leaves are straight up," said the monster to her, "there is joy in your house; and when its leaves hang down, there is sorrow in your house." One day, Belinda saw that the leaves of the sad and happy tree were all straight up, so she asked the monster, "Why is it so straight?" The monster said: "Your sister Asuda is getting married." "Can't I go to the wedding?" Belinda asked. "Go," said the monster, "but you must come back within eight days, or I will become beautiful and die. Here is a ring I give you when the gems on it darken , it means that I am in trouble, and you have to come back immediately. Now you can go to the palace and choose some of your favorite things to give to your sister as a wedding gift. Tonight you put everything in a box and put At the foot of the bed." Belinda thanked her, then found a trunk, filled it with silk dresses, fine linen, jewels, and gold coins, put it at the foot of the bed, and went to bed.When she woke up the next morning, she was already at her father's house, with boxes and gifts. The whole family cheered happily, and the two sisters were also very happy, but when they learned how happy and rich she was, and how kind the monster was, they became jealous of her again.Although their lives are not short of anything because of the gifts from the monsters, they are not rich, and Asoda is only married to an ordinary carpenter.They were so disgusted that they tricked Belinda's ring over under the pretext of trying to wear it, and hid it again.Belinda got angry because she couldn't see the stones in the ring, and on the seventh day, crying and begging, her father ordered the two sisters to give her the ring back immediately.As soon as she got the ring, she found that the stone was not as clear as before, so she started back to the palace at once. When it was time for lunch, the monster did not appear, and Belinda looked around anxiously, calling out loudly.When it was time for dinner, the monster appeared, with a painful expression on his face, and said, "You know what? I'm sick. If you come back later, you won't see me. Don't you like me anymore?" "No, I like you." The girl replied. "Then will you marry me?" "Oh, that's not okay," Belinda replied loudly. After another two months, the tree of sorrow and joy straightened its leaves again, because another sister, Carolina, was getting married too.This time Belinda went again with the ring and a box of presents.The two older sisters greeted her with feigned delight, but Asuda became more vicious because her carpenter husband beat her every day.Belinda told her sister that she almost missed it last time because she was delayed for too long, and said that she couldn't stay too long this time.But the two sisters tricked the ring into their hands again, and when she came back, the stones on it were even more opaque.Belinda went back to the palace worryingly, but she didn't see the monster for breakfast, nor for dinner.He did not appear until the next morning, and said feebly, "I almost died. If you are late next time, it will be my end." Another few months passed.One day, the leaves of the tree of sorrow and joy drooped dryly. "What's going on in my house?" Belinda called. "Your father is dying," said the monster. "Huh? Let me go see him!" Belinda said. "I promise I'll be back on time this time." The poor old businessman was so happy to see his little daughter beside his pillow that his condition began to slowly improve.Belinda took care of her father day and night, but when she washed her hands once, she took off the ring and put it on the small table, and she couldn't find it again.She searched anxiously about, and begged her two sisters to give it back to her. When she found the ring, the stone was all black except for one corner. When I returned to the palace, I saw the darkness inside, as if it had been abandoned for hundreds of years.She cried out for the monster while crying, but there was no answer.She searched about, and returned to the garden almost in desperation, and found the monster lying dead under the rose bushes, and Belinda knelt beside him, and heard his heart still beating, only weakly.She threw herself on him sadly, kissed him, and cried, "Monster, monster, if you are dead, what is the point of my life! If you wake up, if you can still wake up, I will follow you right away." Get married and make you happy!" As soon as the words fell, the entire palace was brightly lit, and singing and music could be heard from every window.Belinda turned her head to look, stunned, and when she looked back at the rose bushes, the monster was gone, and a handsome knight stood up from among the roses, and he saluted her respectfully, saying: "Thank you, my Belinda, for saving me." Belinda was amazed. "I want a monster," she said. The knight knelt at her feet and said to her: "I am a monster. Because of the magic, I have to become an ugly monster. Only when I meet a beautiful girl who is willing to marry me when I am ugly, I can get back to normal." Belinda held out her hand to the young man, who turned out to be a king.They came to the palace hand in hand.Belinda's father and two sisters were at the gate of the palace.Dad hugged his daughter tightly.And the two sisters, because of their resentment, each stood on one side of the gate and turned into two stone statues. The young king married Belinda and made her queen.From then on, they lived a happy life and managed the country together. (Montale Pistoia area) -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ [1] Means "little beauty" [2] The meaning is close to what we often say "the sky is unpredictable, and people have misfortunes and blessings".