Chapter 80 79. Fiora Vander and the Fair Isolina

A king is getting old, and his son is grown up, but doesn't want to learn anything.The king was very worried, so he called him. "Fioravand," he said, "I have labored so much for you, and taught you how to conduct your business, but it is like pounding water in a mortar. How can I pass the throne to you? " "Dear father," said Fioravande, "I fell in love with a girl, and everything you taught me went in one ear and out the other." The girl was Sandrina, a poor weaver girl.The king was very upset because of this, "What will people say? A king's son fell in love with a poor weaver girl? Don't you know how to be decent?" So the king wanted to write to his brother who was king in Paris. Let Fioravande come and live with him for a while, and make him forget about the weavers.

Fioravand picked a fine horse and set off.Walking and walking, when he passed a dark and dense forest infested with wolves, the sky was suddenly covered with dark clouds, followed by lightning and thunder, and heavy rain fell from the sky.The wolves howled in the den.He dismounted, lay down under the horse's belly, lit his pipe, and waited for the weather to clear.When the rain stopped, he saw a light in the depths of the forest.I walked over and saw that it was a small house.He knocked on the door, and an old woman answered it. "My sir, you are here..." she said hoarsely, and behind her appeared a man with beard hanging down to his chest.

He is a murderer. "Who are you?" he asked the young man.Fioravande replied: "I am the son of the King of London, and I am going to study management with my uncle, the King of Paris." The murderer said: "If you want to live, you have to change all your clothes with me. I pretend to be you and you pretend to be my servant so that the king of Paris will think that I am his nephew. If you say it , I peeled your skin, do you understand?" "Uh, yes, I see..." They set off for Paris.The king greeted the murderer as his waiting nephew.Fioravand was sent to the stables to raise and feed the horses.

One day, the murderer said to the king, "All kings have some horses for their carriages, but you don't. Why?" The king replied: "The horses I use for my carriage are unmatched by any king in the world. But they are difficult to tame, so I have to raise them in groups on the grass. No one has ever been able to tame them." The murderer said, "My servant can tame all the horses you want, at least that's what he boasts about." "Then let him try, and if he fails, cut off his head," said the King. The murderer immediately ran to Fioravand and said to him, "Do you know that the king has ordered you to choose a pair of horses from the herd that he grazes in the meadow to match his carriage, and if you can't , will cut off your head."

Tired of being in the stables, Fioravand jumped on a horse and rode off to the pasture.On the way, he was passing a garden full of flowers and greenery of all kinds, and as he approached an oak tree, he heard a woman's voice calling, "Fioravande! Fioravande!" He was taken aback, as he had never been here before, and wondered how anyone could know his name. "Who is it?" he asked.Then a beautiful mare came out from behind the tree and said, "Don't be afraid, it's me! If you want to choose some good horses from the herd, get off your horse and ride on my back." "

Fioravande tied his horse to a tree, mounted the saddleless mare, and headed for the pasture.When we got to the horses, the rope was thrown, and the two horses were lassoed, and the bridle was put on them very simply. The king saw that the pair of horses were very beautiful, rare in the world, and said to the murderer, "Your servant is very capable. Now let's see if he can tame them." Fioravand followed the mare's advice and used a frame similar to a threshing frame to make the two horses more docile and obedient. "I will invite this servant of yours to dinner," said the king.

But the murderer said: "Your Majesty, it is better not to, because he is used to eating fodder with horses. If he changes his habit, who knows what extravagant ideas he will have." In this way, he persuaded the king Don't invite Fiora Vander to dinner.And, whenever possible, he said to the king: "Uncle Majesty, you are getting old, who will inherit your throne in the future? You have no son, I really don't want to see no one to inherit..." The king replied, "I have no son, but you know I had a daughter who was very beautiful, but unfortunately she died at the age of fourteen. I have never even visited her grave, for she was buried in In a monastery in Lower India[1]. I still grieve."

The false nephew said: "Your Majesty, don't be sad, my servant said he can bring your daughter back intact." The king said, "What kind of man is this servant? Can he bring the dead back to life?" "Oh, that's what he said," said the murderer. "Your servant is too bragging. You let him do what he said, and if he doesn't bring back my Isolina, I'll cut off his head." The mare of Fioravand said to him, "Don't lose heart. Ask your master for a pure crystal cup, a golden bird cage, golden poles, golden bars, and a golden drinking trough." , and a watertight boat.”

Fioravand went to the murderer and made these demands of him, and the king ordered that all be put into order. Fioravand sailed out to sea, and with his filly, sailed down to India.When the boat was in the middle of the sea, a fish jumped out of the sea. "Catch it!" said the filly.Fioravand caught the fish in the air. "Now, put it in the crystal cup," the filly told him. They reached Lower India and started walking towards the monastery.A bird flies low. "Catch it!" said the filly.Fiorawand made the birdie. "Now put the bird in the golden cage," said the filly.

Arriving at the monastery, Fioravand asked the abbot where Isolina, the daughter of the King of Paris, was buried.The abbot lit a candle, led him into the church, showed him Isolina's tomb, and left him there alone.Fioravand began to dig: he dug and dug, and out of the ground came the king's daughter, dressed in gold and silver, and looking very good, as if asleep.He wanted to hug her out, but he didn't, her body seemed to grow together with the stone.He asked the filly waiting outside the church. "You should know," said the filly, "that she has a golden braid missing from her head, without which she would not have left the grave. Ask the nuns to see where they put the braid. Somewhere. When the braids are found, she'll slip away like a rose petal."

Fioravand knocks on the dean's door and asks her about braids. "The braid was thrown at sea," said the abbot, "while her body was being taken to the abbey for burial." So the little mare said to him, "Do you know what you must do? Put the fish in the crystal cup back into the sea, and tell her that as a condition of being free again, she must find the braid." The braid was on the bottom of the sea, being fought over by two dolphins.After the fish was released, it quickly swam among them, snatched the braid, held it in its mouth, and swam away.The two dolphins swam away with their tails up. They didn't know where the braid went.In revenge, they eat small fish whenever they come across them.Meanwhile, the fish had given the braid to Fioravand who was waiting on the shore, and he thanked it and let it go. Fioravande twisted the braids around Isolina's head and lifted her, who was now as light as a feather.He carried her to the boat, but she was still dead, so, Fiorawand wondered, would her father be more distressed if he took her back like this?The little mare said to him: "Ask the abbot, where is Isolina's soul, and she can come back to life with a soul." The head of the monastery said: "Isolina's soul is in a far away place, and no one can reach it. You can imagine that it is on the top of a high mountain like a tower. If you want to get there, you need to go through the red sky, the green sky and Black sky, but also to deal with all kinds of beasts." "What to do?" Fioravand asked the filly. It said, "You set the little bird in the golden cage free." The bird jumped up into the sky, and when it flew over the red sky, it turned red; when it flew over the green sky, it turned green; when it flew over the black sky, it turned black.At last it passed through the black clouds and reached the top of the mountain.There is a small bottle on the top of the mountain, which contains Isolina's soul.The bird grabbed the bottle with its beak and flew down.It turned black, green and red again, back to the boat in Fioravande.Fioravande let the bird go, and poured the vial into the mouth of the beautiful Isolina.She took a deep breath, her complexion returned to ruddy, and she said, "Ah, how long have I been asleep!" The ship weighed anchor and headed back. The king is waiting for them in the port of Paris.When he saw Fioravand come back with his daughter alive, he was immediately overjoyed, and said to his false nephew, "Your servant is the most able man in the world." The king ordered a great banquet to celebrate.In addition to inviting kings and queens from other countries, the king also wanted to invite this servant.This time, the fake nephew could no longer prevaricate with the lie that "he only eats fodder", so he had to pass on the invitation.But he said to Fioravand, "Listen, Fiorawand, you're not allowed to say a word at dinner, you're so used to horses, you can only bark like horses. Do you hear me?" He gave Fiora Vander a look, as if to say that if Fiora Vander spoke, he would kill him. And the little mare had already given Fiorawand an idea, so Fiorawander said: "As you like, but you have to tell the king that I will go only if he also invites my little mare." feast." The king thought it was strange and wanted to refuse him, but this man brought his daughter back to life, so he didn't want to refuse him.All the kings and queens who came to dinner were at a loss what to do when they saw a horse and a servant eating with them.After drinking and eating, they began to chat with each other.Everyone tells their own story, except Fioravand who doesn't. "You have a lot of experience, why don't you tell me?" they asked him.And he just smiled, didn't even open his mouth. At this time, the little mare stood upright, put her front hooves on the table, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to speak for him." Everyone was terrified when they heard the filly speak.But the story of the filly soon shocked them again.It tells the story of Fiora Vander from beginning to end.The fake nephew tried to escape, but was caught by the guards. Said the King: "Fioravand, my good nephew, take this murderer to your disposal." Said the filly, "It will be enough for Fioravand to sit on my back, and tie the murderer to my tail. Let us run round the city, and if he lives, he will die." .” It ran, trailing the murderer behind it.People kicked him hard, splashed dirty water on him, and banged his head against rocks. When they returned, the murderer was motionless and dead. The king said, "Fioravand, you have brought my daughter back to life, and you should marry her." "If my father lets me marry my cousin, I will," Fiorawand said. The King of Paris wrote a letter to his brother in London.The King of London was also very happy, for his son had forgotten the poor weaver girl. After the wedding, Fiora Vander goes to see the filly. "Did you know?" he said to the filly, "I am married to the King's daughter." "I know," it said, "now I know it won't do me any good..." "Little mare, what are you talking about? I have always liked you, and I will never abandon you..." "No, you'll forget about me..." In the evening, before entering the bridal chamber with the bride, Fioravand wanted to say good night to the little mare as usual, but Isolina said to him: "It's already so late, you can go tomorrow." So, Fiora Vander agreed.The next morning, when he went into the stable, the filly said to him, "You see, you have forgotten me..." "But, the filly..." "Well, if you really love me, I'll give you one last chance: You take out your sword and cut off my head." "No, you can't." "That means you don't love me." With a heavy heart he raised his sword and slashed down.Click!He chopped off its head.what did he seeOut of the horse's neck came a beautiful maiden in a beautiful dress, with a face as white as an apple.She is none other than Sandrina, his old lover. "You see, Fioravand," she said to him, "to save your life, I had a magician enchant me and turn me into a horse. Now you have abandoned me..." "Ah! Sandrine! If I had known you were a filly, I would not have married Isolina! If only time could be turned back!" However, time will not go back. In order to compensate Sandrina, he gave her a large dowry, married her to a merchant in Fisole, and he inherited the throne of King of London and King of Paris. Isolina, with her golden braids, became his wife. (pizza) -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ [1] In some vernacular Italian dialects, "Lower India" refers to what is considered to be the furthest place. (original note)