Chapter 88 87. Beautiful Green Bird

Once upon a time there was a king who loved to inquire about other people's affairs.At night, he would go out of the windows of the people of his own country and eavesdrop on what they were talking about at home.It was a troubled time, and the king always suspected that the people were plotting against him.One day, after dark, he quietly came to a simple hut in the countryside, and heard three sisters talking enthusiastically on the terrace. The eldest sister said: "If I can marry the king's baker, I will make enough bread in one day to feed the palace for a year. I like that young and handsome baker so much."

The second sister said: "I want to marry the king's brewer. You see, I will make everyone in the palace drunk with a glass of wine. I like the winemaker so much!" Then, they asked the little sister who had not spoken: "What about you? Who do you want to marry?" The little sister was the most beautiful of the three sisters, and she said: "I want to marry the King himself, and I will give him two rosy-skinned, fair-haired boys, and a similarly rosy-skinned, full-haired boy." A girl with blonde hair and a star on her forehead." The two sisters laughed at her behind her back: "Go, poor little guy, you will be disappointed."

The inquisitive king heard all this, and returned to the palace, and the next day he sent for all three sisters to be called to the palace.The three girls were very scared, because in that turbulent age, no one knew what would happen to them.When the three girls arrived at the palace in fear, the king said to them: "Don't be afraid, please repeat to me what you said on your balcony last night." They became more and more flustered and said, "Well... we... didn't say anything..." "Haven't you talked about wanting to marry?" said the King.At the king's insistence, the elder sister repeated her wish to marry the baker. "Well, I can give him to you," said the king.So the elder sister married the king's baker.

The second sister also admitted that she wanted the king's brewer as her husband. "You too may be satisfied," said the king, and gave her the brewer. "And you?" he asked the youngest girl.The little sister blushed with shame and repeated what she had said that night. "If you fulfill your wish to marry the king," asked the king, "will you keep your promise?" "I swear I'll do my best," said the little sister. "Well, since this is the case, you can fulfill your wish to marry me, let us see which of you three sisters can fulfill your promise better."

The two older sisters, the baker's and brewer's wives, felt uneasy, and were filled with unquenchable jealousy when they saw their little sister suddenly and fortunately become queen.When they learned that the queen was pregnant, they became even more jealous. At this moment, however, a war broke out between the king and one of his cousins, and the king had to lead an army into battle.He said to his wife, "Remember your promise to me," entrusted her to her two older sisters, and set off. While the king was at war, his wife gave birth to a little boy with rosy skin and fair hair.What do the two sisters think?They took the baby and replaced it with a monkey.They gave the child to an old woman to drown him.The old woman put the baby in a basket and walked to the river.She came to a bridge and threw the basket and the baby into the river.

The basket floated down the current, and a boatman saw it.He rowed across and scooped up the basket.He saw such a beautiful little boy inside, and he took it home, and let his wife nurse him. The queen's two sisters brought news to the king who was at war that the queen had given birth to a monkey instead of a boy with rosy skin and fair hair, and asked the king what they should do. "Whether it's a monkey or a boy," said the king, "take good care of her." When the war was over, the king returned home, but his feelings for his wife were not as good as before.Of course, he still loves his wife, but is disappointed that she didn't keep her promise.Just then, the queen became pregnant again, and the king hoped things would turn out better this time around.

Back to the first child.One day, the boatman looked at the child's hair and said to his wife, "Look, don't you think his hair looks like gold?" "Yes," said his wife, "gold!" They cut off a lock of the child's hair and sold it.The goldsmith weighed the hair on the scales and paid them the price of pure gold.From then on, the boatman and his wife cut off a lock of golden hair every day to sell, and they soon became rich. At this time, the king's cousin provoked the war again.Once again the king left his pregnant wife, "Remember to fulfill your promise for me."

It was the same this time. When the king was far away on the battlefield, the queen gave birth to a little boy with fair skin and rosy hair.The two sisters exchanged the boy this time for a dog and gave him to the old woman, who threw him in a basket into the river, just as she had thrown his brother. "What's going on here?" said the boatman as he saw another child floating down the river.Soon he realized that the boy's blond hair could double his money. The king who was still at the front line received a letter from the queen's two sisters, saying: "Your Majesty, your wife gave birth to a dog. Please write to tell us how to treat her." The king wrote in his reply He said: "It doesn't matter whether it's a male dog or a bitch, take good care of my wife." After the war, he returned to the country with a sad face.But he still loves his wife deeply and believes that things will be better the third time around.

The third time the situation was the same. When the queen was pregnant, the king's cousin started the war again.Look, what a trick of fate.The king still needed to lead the army, and he said to his wife, "Goodbye, remember your promise. You didn't give me two boys with fair hair, so wait until you give me a daughter with a star on the forehead." The queen gave birth to a girl with fair skin and fair hair, and a star on her forehead.The same old woman put the girl in a basket and threw it into the river again.The two sisters put a tiger cub on the queen's bed.They wrote to tell the king that this time the queen had given birth to a tiger cub, and asked what the king planned to do with his wife.The king wrote back and said: "You can do whatever you want, anyway, when I go back, I don't want to see her in the palace anymore."

The two sisters seized the queen, dragged her from the bed, and shut her into the cellar, where they bricked her up from the neck down, leaving only her head exposed.Every day they gave her some bread, a glass of water, and each slapped her face. This was her home-cooked meal.Her room was sealed and no trace of her was left.The king said nothing to the queen when he came back from the war, and no one spoke of her to him.It's just that the king is sullen all day long. The boatman found the basket with the girls again, and now he had three beautiful children, who grew up very fast, and he grew richer from their fair hair.One day, the boatman said, "Now it's time to think about them, poor children. They are about to grow up, and it is necessary to build them a palace." A larger palace was built, and the gardens of the palace contained all kinds of strange landscapes in the world.

At this time, the two boys had grown into young men, and the little girl had grown into a beautiful girl.The boatman and his wife were dead, and three young men of indescribable wealth lived together in that beautiful palace.They always wear hats, and no one knows their hair is gold. The baker's wife and the brewer's wife saw them from the windows of the palace, but never realized that she was their aunt.One morning, the two aunts saw the two brothers and the little sister on the balcony, neither of them wearing a hat, cutting each other's hair.It was a sunny morning, and her golden hair was shining brightly, blinding her eyes.The two aunts immediately suspected that they were the children of their sister who had been thrown into the river.They began to pay attention to the three young men: they had to cut off some of their blond hair every morning, and the next morning it grew back to the same length as before.From then on, the two aunts began to be afraid of their crimes. At the same time, the king noticed the garden of the opposite palace and the three young men who lived there through the fence.He thought: They are exactly the kind of children I want my wife to have for me, how like the children she promised to bear to me.But he never saw their golden hair, because they always wore hats. The king began to talk to them: "How beautiful your gardens are!" "Your Majesty," answered the girl, "this garden contains all the beauties in the world, and you may come and walk here if you will do yourself the favor." "Very willingly," so he went into the garden and befriended them. "Since we are neighbors, why don't you come to my house for lunch tomorrow?" "Ah, your Majesty," they answered, "this will cause trouble to the palace." "No," said the king, "it will be very pleasant to me to have you here." "In this case, we accept your kindness and will go to your place tomorrow." When the queen's sisters heard of the invitation, they hurried to the old woman to whom they had delivered the three babies to be killed. "Oh, Manga, what did you do with those kids?" The old woman said, "I threw them into the river with their baskets, but the baskets were too light and floated on the water. As for whether they sank later, I didn't see it." "Damn women!" cried the two aunts. "The children are still alive. The king has seen them. If he recognizes them, we will all die. Now they must be prevented from coming to the palace. They really die." "I'll do it," said the old woman. She disguised herself as a beggar woman and came to the garden fence.Just then the girl was looking about in the garden, and as usual she said, "What is lacking in this garden? Nothing is missing, all the good things in the world are here!" "Oh, you don't want anything?" said the old woman. "My child, I think there is one thing you want." "What else is there?" asked the girl. "Dancing water." "Where can I find...?" the girl began to ask, when the old woman disappeared.She began to cry: "I thought there was nothing missing in our garden, but, but there is no dancing water. How wonderful is dancing water!" And so she cried and cried. The two older brothers came back and saw the depressed younger sister, and asked, "What's going on? What's wrong with you?" "Oh, please leave me alone. I was in the garden saying that there are all the wonderful things in the world, but an old woman came up to the fence and said, 'You think you have everything, but there is no dancing water. .'" "Is it just because of this?" said the elder brother, "I'll get you this thing, so that you will be happy." He put one of his rings on his sister's finger: "If the ring's gem A change of color means I am dead." Then he mounted his horse and galloped away. After riding for a long distance, he met a hermit who asked him, "Young man, where are you going? Where are you going?" "I'm going to find dancing water." "Poor child!" said the hermit, "you are going to die! Don't you know how dangerous it is?" The young man replied: "No matter how dangerous it is, I will find it!" "Well, listen," said the hermit, "see that mountain? When you go to the top of the mountain, you will see a large open plain, and in the middle of it is a beautiful palace. At the gate of the palace there are four A giant with a sword in his hand. Be careful: you can't go in when the giants have their eyes closed, understand? You can only go in if they open their eyes. There's a door there: if you see the door open, don't go in, if you When you see the door is closed, you can push the door and go in. You will also meet four lions: if they close their eyes, don't go over, when you see them open their eyes, you can go through, and then you can find dancing water It's gone." After saying goodbye to the hermit, the young man mounted his horse and ran up the mountain. After going up the hill, he saw that the gate of the palace was open, and the eyes of the four giants were closed. "I'll have to wait..." he thought, and waited.As soon as the Giant opened his eyes and the gate was closed, he went in, and when the Lions opened their eyes, he walked right past them.He found dancing water.The young man took out the bottle he had with him, filled it up, and slipped out when the lion opened his eyes again. In the past few days when the elder brother left, the younger sister has been looking at the ring anxiously.Think how happy she was when she saw her brother come back with the dancing ring!They hugged and kissed, and then they took two golden pots and put them in the garden, and put dancing water in the pots, and the water jumped from one pot to the other, and the little sister stood there watching happily. So, she is now sure that there are all the rare things in the world in the garden. The king came, and he asked why they did not come to eat together, and he waited for them a long time.The little sister explained that since there was no dancing water in the garden, her older brother tried to find it and bring it back.The king admired their new sight, and once again invited the three young men to a feast the next day.The two aunts sent the old woman again.She was shocked to see the dancing water, so she said to the little girl, "Now you have dancing water, but you still lack a musical tree." Then she turned and left. When the two brothers came back, the younger sister said to them, "My dear brothers, if you love me, please bring me the tree that can play music." This time the second brother said, "Okay, my little sister, I'll go get it back for you." He took his ring and gave it to his sister, and mounted his horse and ran as far as the hermit who had helped his brother. "What!" said the hermit, "it's hard work to get a tree that makes music. Listen, here's what you should do: climb up the hill, do like your brother, watch out for giants, gates, and lions, and you'll find a tree A small door with a small pair of scissors hanging on it. If the scissors are closed, don't go through, if it is open, you can go through. Then you can find a towering tree with every leaf playing music. You climb up the tree Take the tallest branch off and plant it in your garden so it can take root." The young man went up the hill, passed everything smoothly and entered the palace.He climbed the tree among the music-playing leaves, broke off the highest branch, and returned home to the music. When they planted the branch, it immediately became the most beautiful tree in the garden, and the whole garden was filled with the wonderful music it played. The king was a little angry because the three brothers and sisters did not come to the appointment for the second time, but he was so happy when he saw the tree that played music, and invited the three brothers and sisters to dinner the next day for the third time. The two aunts immediately sent the old woman again. "Are you satisfied with the suggestions I gave you? Water that can dance, trees that can play music! Now as long as you have a beautiful green bird, you really have all the rare treasures in the world!" The two brothers are back. "My dear brother, who will catch that beautiful green bird for me?" "I'll go." The elder brother said and set off. "It is such a misfortune," said the hermit to his elder brother, "that many people have gone to the green bird, but no one has returned. As you know, go up the hill, into the palace, and find a place with many marble statues. The garden. Those stone statues are noble knights who want to find the beautiful green bird like you. There are nine hundred birds flying among the trees in the garden. The one who can talk is the beautiful green bird. It will talk to you, but remember Whatever it says to you, never answer it." The young man came to a garden full of statues and birds.The beautiful green bird landed on his shoulder and said to him, "You have come, my knight? Do you think you can catch me? You are wrong. Your two aunts sent you to die. They took you His mother is still alive in the cellar..." "Is my mother sealed up alive?" said the young man, who at once was turned into a marble statue because of his words. The little sister was watching the ring every minute.When she saw the gemstone on the ring turned blue, she shouted: "Hurry up, save people!" The second brother immediately got on his horse and set off. He also came to that garden, and the beautiful green bird said to him, "Your mother is locked up alive in the cellar!" "What? My mother was sealed up alive!" He shouted, turning into a marble statue. The younger sister saw that the jewel in the second brother's ring turned black, she did not despair, but dressed up as a knight, brought a small bottle of dancing water and a branch of a tree that could play music, and chose the best horse Let's go. The hermit said to her, "Beware, if the beautiful green bird speaks to you, and you answer it, you are finished. You shall pluck a feather from its wing, dip it in the dancing water, and put it on every statue. Go up the stone statue..." As soon as the green bird saw the girl dressed as a knight, it flew on her shoulder and said, "You are coming too? You are going to be like your brother now... Do you see? One, two, plus you Three...your father on the battlefield...your mother in prison...two of your aunts insulting her..." She let the green bird say anything.The green bird kept nagging into her ears, and finally her voice became a little hoarse.When it was about to fly away, the girl grabbed it, plucked a feather from its wing, dipped a little dancing water in the bottle, and touched the noses of her brothers who had turned into stone statues, and they came back to life, Hug with sister.Then they made other stone statues, knights, marquises, princes, princes, all resurrected.They made the Giant smell the feathers, and the Giant woke up, and likewise they brought the Lion back to life.The beautiful green bird landed on a musical branch, and people put it in a cage.All the people left the palace on the mountain in a mighty procession, and the palace disappeared miraculously. When the two aunts saw from the palace that there were dancing water, musical trees, and beautiful green birds in the garden, the three brothers and sisters and all the princes and nobles gathered together, they fainted for a while.And the king invites everyone to lunch. They are all here, and the beautiful green bird is still standing on the little sister's shoulder.When people were seated, the green bird shouted: "There is one less person!" All the people stopped. The king counted the people in the house to see who was absent, but the green bird kept calling, "One more person!" Everyone knew who else should be invited, and suddenly people thought: "Your Majesty, could it be the queen who was sealed up alive?" The king immediately ordered the queen to be released, the children embraced enthusiastically, and the girl with the star on her forehead let her go. After a bath in a basin of dancing water, her body was as healthy as ever. The queen put on her best attire and sat in the upper seat, and the guests took their seats again.The two jealous sisters turned yellow and almost went crazy. When people wanted to eat the first course, the green bird shouted: "You can only eat the vegetables I have pecked!" because the two aunts put poison in the food.The guests only ate the vegetables that the green bird had pecked, so they were all safe and sound. "Now let us hear what the green bird has to say to us," said the King. The green bird jumped on the table, stood before the king and said, "Your Majesty, they are your children." The three brothers and sisters took off their hats, and everyone could see their golden hair, and the little sister had a gold star on her forehead.The green bird went on to tell the whole story to the people. The king embraced his child and begged his wife to forgive him, then sent the two sisters and the old woman to come, and asked the green bird: "Bird, you awakened everyone, so please judge." The green bird said, "Tar the two sisters and set them on fire, and let the old woman jump out of the window." Everything is done.The king, queen and children lived happily together. (Florence area)