Chapter 94 93. The palace of the queen cast into hell

Once upon a time there was an old widowed woman who was a weaver. She had three daughters who were also weavers.The three sisters worked hard from morning to night weaving, but they never managed to save a penny, because their income was just enough to cover their expenses.At this moment, the old woman developed a high fever and was dying two or three days later.She called her three weeping daughters to her bedside and said to them, "Don't cry, I'm old and I can't take care of myself, and sooner or later you'll see me die. My only regret is to lose I beg you to live in poverty, but you have a trade, you can support yourself, and I will pray to God to help you. As a dowry, I can only leave you with three balls of twine, which are in the wardrobe." After speaking, she died.

After a few days, the sisters talked together: "Tomorrow is Easter," they said, "but we don't even have anything to cook a decent meal." "I'm going to sell my ball of thread and buy something for dinner," said the eldest Maria. On Easter she took the ball of thread to the market.It was a well spun ball of twine, so it fetched a good price.She bought bread, a quarter of a sheep, and wine.When she came home with all these things, a dog fell on her, snatched the mutton and the bread, and broke the wine-cask, and fled, leaving the girl there frightened to death.Maria went home and told all this to her sisters.On this day, they had to eat a little black bread to satisfy their hunger. "I'd like to try it tomorrow," said Rosa, the second, "and let's see if the dog is bothering me."

She went to the market, sold the balls of thread, bought some offal, bread, and wine, and came home by another way.The dog also jumped on her, snatched offal and bread, smashed the wine jar, and fled.Rosa was braver than Maria, and she followed the dog, but she could not catch up, so she went home out of breath, and told her sisters what had happened.On this day, they also had to eat black bread. "I'll go tomorrow," said the youngest, Nina, "and see if the dog does the same to me." On the third morning, Nina got up earlier than the last time her two sisters did. She took the balls of thread to the market to sell, and then made a lot of purchases.When she came home by another way, the dog also jumped on her, smashed the wine jar, and took the rest.Nina started to chase after her. She ran and ran, and saw the dog enter a palace.Nina thought to herself: If I meet someone inside, Jiu tells him that the dog robbed us of our lunch for three days in a row, and asks him to give me back the money.With that in mind, she walked in.

She went up the stairs and saw a beautiful kitchen with a fire burning, pots cooking, and the quarter lamb on a spit.Nina lifted the lid of one pot, and saw that the piece of meat she had just bought was stewing in it; offal was cooking in the other pot; and the three loaves of bread were placed in the bread cabinet.She went on walking around the palace, but saw no one; and in the small dining room, there was a table set with three dishes. "It seems like supper is prepared for us," thought Nina, "and with the things we bought! If the sisters are here, we can eat." At this time, she heard a car passing by on the road; she went to the window and looked out, and found that it was a coachman she knew.She asked the coachman to tell her sisters that she was waiting for them here, and that a good supper was ready.

When the sisters came, Nina told them what had happened, and then said, "Let's sit down. If the host comes, we say we're eating what we bought." The sisters were dubious, but they were hungry, so they sat down at the table.As the sky darkened, the three sisters suddenly found that the windows were closed and the lights were lit.They were still in shock, and the food was automatically placed on the table. "Whoever worked so hard for us," said Nina, "we thank him. Now, sisters, I wish you a good appetite." And she began to eat the mutton. The sisters were still frightened, chewing hard, and looking around, waiting for a monster to jump out at any moment, but Nina said: "If you don't want us to eat here, there is no need to prepare for us, and order Light up and serve the food."

After dinner, when they started to feel sleepy, Nina took the sisters around the house and finally found a room with three beautiful beds made up. "Now, let's go to sleep," she said. The sisters said, "We might as well go home, because here we are afraid." "Fool!" Nina said. "Happiness is what it is! I'm going to bed, whatever happens." She had hardly persuaded them to stay when she heard a voice from the bottom of the stairs say, "Light me the lamp, Nina." The sisters were surprised: "Jesus! Mary! Who could it be? Nina, we are not going!"

"I'll go and see," Nina said.She took the candle and went downstairs.Came to a room where a queen was chained up, with flames blowing from her mouth, ears, and nose. "Tell me, Nina, do you want to be lucky?" the queen asked, still breathing fire. "yes." "But your sisters must help you." "I'll tell them." "Be careful though, what you're about to do is horrible, and if you get scared, you'll die." "I'll convince them." "Well, you open these three great chests: they are full of the queen's clothes, all set with gold and precious stones. You know, I was the queen of Spain, and I fell in love with a young man in this city, because His fault, I was sent to hell. And after he killed me, now he wants to marry another girl. But I want him to come and suffer with me, so it's only fair. Tomorrow, you wear my clothes and dress up Be like me, and go out on the balcony with a book in your hand. At a certain time, you will see a young man passing by, and he will say to you: Madame, may I come and visit you? Promise him, buy him coffee, and serve him this poisoned cup of coffee. When he is dead, drag him down, open this chest, throw him in, and light four candles around him. I am very rich: this is the book of my estates, and with this you can recover from the hands of the stewards all that they embezzle."

Nina went back upstairs and told the story to her sisters. "You have to swear to help me, or you will be in trouble." The next morning, Nina put on the queen's clothes, and she was exactly like the dead queen; then she went to the balcony railing to read a book.At a certain time, she heard the sound of hooves: a handsome young man came up and stopped to look at her.Nina greeted him. "May I come and visit you, ma'am?" "Can……" The young man dismounted and came upstairs. "Let's have a cup of coffee." "Very willing." He drank the poisoned cup of coffee and fell dead.

Nina asked her sisters to help her drag the body down, but they refused, so she said, "If you don't come, I'll kill you too." She grabbed the dead man's head, and her sisters grabbed the legs, When I went downstairs, the big closed box was there, with four candles burning around it.The sisters trembled and wanted to leave the body and run away. "Try to run away," she said, "and see what I will do to you!" The two sisters had seen what she did, and knew she was not joking, so they obeyed her. Nina opened the big box, and inside was the queen sitting on the throne of flames.They put her lover beside her, and the queen took him by the hand and said, "Come with me to hell, you villain, and now you will never abandon me again."

At this moment, the big box closed and sank to the ground with a loud noise. Nina came to rescue her unconscious sister again, and she carried them upstairs.Subsequently, the three sisters took back all the property from the housekeepers and became the masters of it all.A few years later, when the older sisters reached the age of marriage, Nina gave them a generous dowry like a princess; later, she married herself and lived like a queen. (Siena area)