Chapter 85 84. Head of the Sorceress

Once upon a time there was a king who never had children.He has been praying to God to give him a child, but to no avail.One day, as he sat praying as usual, he heard a voice: "Do you want a son who is born to die, or a daughter who will leave you?" He didn't know how to answer, so he kept silent.Back home, he summoned all the ministers to discuss and asked them how to answer.They said, "If a boy is destined to die, it's as good as nothing. You'd better have a daughter. Lock her up so she won't run away." When the king went back to pray, he heard the voice again: "Do you want a son who is born to die, or a daughter who will leave you?" The king replied, "I want a daughter who will leave you."

Then, after nine months, the queen gave birth to a beautiful girl.Far away from the city, the king had a large garden with a palace in it.There he took the child and shut her up there with the nurse.Her parents rarely came to see her, so that she would not yearn for the city so much and would not have the idea of ​​fleeing. When the girl was sixteen years old, Jona's prince passed by, saw her, and fell in love with her at first sight.He gave the nanny a lot of money, and she finally let him in.Two young people, lingering in love, got married without even telling their parents. Nine months later, the princess gave birth to a beautiful little boy.When the king came to see his daughter again, he met the nurse first, and the king asked her how she was doing."Very well, my lord, the princess has just given birth to a boy," said the nurse, and the king did not want to see his daughter any more.

The princess still lives there with her husband and children.The child was fifteen years old and hadn't met his grandfather yet. He said to his mother, "Mom, I want to meet my grandfather." His mother said, "Go." He got up early in the morning, got his horse ready, brought enough money, and set off. Grandpa didn't welcome him at all, neither looked at him nor spoke to him.After three or four months, the young man was very sad about his grandfather's attitude towards him, and said to him: "What do you think of me, grandfather, why don't you talk to me? I will kill that witch for you." head is fine."

So the grandfather replied, "That's exactly what I want you to do, to chop off the head of the witch." This sorceress is terrible, and anyone who looks at her will be turned into stone.The old king took it for granted that his grandson would end up in the same way.The young man took a lot of money and set off on a fine horse. On the way, he met a little old man.The old man asked him, "Where are you going, handsome boy?" "Go to the sorceress, and I will behead her," he answered. "Ah, my dear! You need a flying horse, because you are going to pass a high mountain full of lions and tigers, and these beasts will tear you and your horse to pieces."

"But where are you going to find a flying horse?" "Wait a minute, I'll find it for you," said the old man, and disappeared, and then came back with a beautiful flying horse. "Listen," said the old man, "you can't look at the witch's face, or you'll be turned into stone. You have to look at her in the mirror, and I'll tell you how to get the mirror right now. Along this road Walk a little, and you will find a marble palace, and a garden full of peach blossoms. There are two blind old women, and they both share one eye. You have the mirror you want. The witch is in a place full of flowers The scent of these flowers is enough to enchant you in the meadow, and you must be careful, you must always look at her in the mirror, or you will become a statue."

He rode a flying horse over a high mountain full of bears, tigers, and snakes. These beasts tried to jump up and catch him, but he flew high and escaped the attack of the beasts. After crossing the high mountain, he continued to walk, and saw a marble palace in the distance. He thought: This must be the palace of two blind old women.The two blind old women see with one eye, and the one sees for the other.Young people dare not knock on the door.Two blind old women were having lunch, so he went for a walk in the garden.When they had finished their meal, and came to walk in the garden, he climbed a tree, so they did not see him.Two old women were chatting, and one holding the eyes said, "Look, how beautiful the king's new palace is!" The other said, "Give me, and let me see too." The first handed over the eyes , but the young man reached down from the tree and snatched his eyes away.

"Aren't you going to give me your eyes?" said the blind old woman, "You want to see it all by yourself?" "Didn't I give it to you?" said another. "No, you didn't give me anything." "I'm in your hands." So the two of them quarreled, and at last they were convinced that neither had eyes.They said loudly, "Someone must have taken our eye in the garden. Please give it back to us, because we both use this one eye. We will give you whatever you want in exchange." ." The young man came down from the tree and said, "The eyes are with me. But you will give me your mirror, and I will use it to kill the witch."

"Well, very willingly," said the two of them, "but you have to give us back the eye, or we won't be able to find you a mirror." He gave them back the eye very politely.Two blind old women found mirrors for him.He thanked them and continued on his way. As he walked, he began to smell the fragrance of flowers in the air, and the further he walked, the stronger the fragrance.He came to a beautiful palace surrounded by meadows full of flowers.The witch is playing on the grass.The young man was riding backwards on his horse, with his back to the sorcerer, looking at her only in the mirror.As for the female magician, confident that she could turn people into stones, she neither ran away nor guarded.He held the sword in his hand, stared at his reflection in the mirror, and approached her with his back turned.He suddenly raised the knife and cut off the head of the female magician.He then put the head in a bag so that it would not be seen again.But there were two lines of blood running down her head, and as soon as they fell to the ground they turned into two poisonous snakes.Fortunately, his horse can fly, so he avoided it safely.

On his way home he took another road, and came to a city with a seaport.There was a small church by the sea, and the young man went into it, and there was a beautiful girl in mourning, crying.As soon as she saw the young man, she cried, "Go away! Go away! If the dragon comes, he will eat you too! I am here waiting for the dragon, because he wants to eat me today. Every day he eats a living creature." Man, it's my turn today." He replied, "No, no, beautiful girl, I will save you." "It is impossible to kill such a dragon!" she said. "Don't be afraid," said the young man, "jump on my horse." He helped her onto the horse.

At this moment, accompanied by the sound of waves, the dragon emerged from the sea.The young man made the girl close her eyes, and then took the witch's head out of the bag.Just as the dragon poked his head out of the waves, as soon as he saw the head of the sorcerer, he immediately became a statue and sank to the bottom of the water. The girl was the King's daughter, and the King gave her to him in marriage, and promised him the throne if he stayed in the city.But the young man declined, saying that he had his own country and he wanted to go back there.He took the princess to his grandfather first.Grandpa thought he was dead, and was very upset to see him come back alive.

"Grandfather," he said, "didn't you tell me to go and chop off the witch's head? I went, and I brought her head, don't you believe? Here it is." As he said that, he took it out of the bag, and grandpa suddenly turned into a statue.Then the young man went to his parents again, and together they returned to his grandfather's kingdom. They lived happily together there, But nothing was given to me. (Upper Arno region)