Chapter 143 153. The Stealing Pigeon

Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, and they had a daughter.The princess had such beautiful hair that she never let the barber touch it, but always combed it herself.One day, when she was combing her hair, she put the comb on the windowsill.A pigeon came and flew away with a comb in its mouth. "Oh, oh! The dove has taken my comb!" cried the princess, but the dove had already flown away. The next day, the princess combed her hair at the window again.At this time, the pigeon flew again, grabbed her hairpin and flew away.On the third day, the princess had just combed her hair, and before she could take off her shawl, the pigeon came again, grabbed the shawl, and flew away.This time, the princess lost her temper, and she ran down the smooth silky stairs to chase the pigeon.But this pigeon is different from other pigeons. It doesn't fly away immediately, but waits for her to catch it.Seeing that she was about to catch it, the pigeon flew forward for a while.The princess' anger grew.In this way, the pigeon stopped and flew, and finally flew into the forest.The princess followed it closely.There was a solitary hut in the forest. The dove flew into it. The door was just open, and the princess saw a handsome young man inside.She asked him, "Did you see a pigeon fly into the house with a piece of cloth?"

"See, I am that pigeon." "you?" "yes." "How is that possible?" "The fairies have cast a spell on me, and I cannot go out in human form, and to regain my human form, you shall sit at the window of this hut for a year and a month and a day, whether in the sun or in the light of the stars, you I just sat with my eyes open and stared at the mountain across the way. That's where I became a pigeon and flew." The princess didn't hesitate at all, and sat down by the window.The pigeon flew out and landed on the mountain.One day passed, another day passed, and a third day passed, and the princess sat motionless, her eyes fixed on the mountain.Week after week passed, whether it was in the sun, or in the light of the moon and the stars.The princess sat there motionless all the time, like a wooden figure.As time went by, her skin became darker and darker, until it was as black as pitch.In this way, the year, month and day came, and the pigeon turned into a human and walked down the mountain.When he saw the princess so dark, he exclaimed, "Pooh, you are so ugly! Aren't you ashamed to be so ugly for a man? Go away!" He spat at the princess.

The poor princess was so sad that she was about to die.She stumbled and walked, and when she passed a field, she met three fairies. "What's the matter with you?" the fairies asked her. She cried to them about what had happened to her. "Don't worry," they said, "you will be different in a short time." The eldest Fairy stroked the Princess' face, and she was beautiful again, and even more beautiful than ever, shining like the sun eye-catching.The second fairy gave her a cloak fit for a queen, and the youngest gave her a basket of jewels. "From now on," they said, "we will be your maids, and we will always be with you."

They came to a city, and it happened that the king of this city was the young man.In the blink of an eye, the three fairies magically conjured a palace opposite the palace, which was a hundred times more beautiful than the palace.The king looked out and was stunned by the miracle in front of him. He thought he was dreaming.In the opposite palace, leaning against the window, a beautiful girl looks like a queen, and the king is attracted by her. "If he courts you," said the fairies to the princess, "go on teasing him." On the first day, the king greeted her;The first two times, the princess refused; then she said: "Well, my lord, if you want to see me, you must build a passage between our two palaces, and spread it with rose petals two thick."

Before the princess could finish speaking, the king immediately sent someone to build a passage, and ordered hundreds of women to collect rose petals.They picked, picked, picked basket after basket, and no one had ever seen so many rose petals. A passage covered with rose petals was completed, and the fairies told the princess, "Dress yourself in rich clothes and dress up as a noble queen, and we will follow you in the disguise of your maids. Go into the middle of the passage and pretend to be the queen Let's take care of the other things." The princess walked towards the aisle covered with rose petals.She was wearing the pink blouse that the Queen wore.The king was waiting anxiously at the other end of the passage.The princess had sent word that the king might not come to the passage to meet her.When walking halfway, she suddenly cried out, "Oh, it hurts me to death! A flower thorn has pierced my flesh!" She pretended to faint, and the fairies hurriedly pulled her up and helped her back to herself. The king wanted to run to help the princess, but he stopped because the princess had ordered him not to come up the passage.

From his own palace the king could well see the doctors entering and leaving that of the princess, and he even saw a priest arrive with the last Eucharist.It was reported that the thorn caused the princess's feet to swell, and the condition was getting worse every day.Forty days later, the king heard that the princess's condition had improved, and the swelling in her leg disappeared.News of the princess' recovery came, and the king once again asked to see her.So the Fairy said to the Princess, "Tell him that you would like to visit him, but that he should spread jasmine petals three feet thick on the passage. Then, when you are halfway there, pretend to be stabbed by another thorn."

The king immediately sent someone to collect jasmine petals from all over the country, and spread a thick layer on the passage.When everything was ready, the princess came out dressed like a queen.The king stood on the other side, watching worriedly lest she should be stabbed again.Halfway there, she screamed, "Oh, it hurts so much! The thorn pierced my foot!" She pretended to faint.The fairies hurriedly helped her back to the palace.The king scratched his hair anxiously. The King sent his servants to see her, but could not see her; and he himself could not pass by the passage.The king was so desperate that he banged his head against the wall.In the end, he fell ill on the bed, but he kept sending people to visit the princess.He still asked to see her, because he wanted to marry the princess with all his heart.

"Tell him," answered the princess, "that he will never see me unless he is in the coffin." At this time, the king had lost his mind.Hearing this, he hurriedly asked the servant to prepare a coffin, lit candles around it, lay down in it and pretended to be a dead person, and was carried by the princess through the window. "Look, Your Highness," said the coffin-bearer, "this is our dead King." The princess went out onto the balcony and said, "Well, you are not ashamed to do such a thing for a woman!" and she spat on the king's "corpse."

On hearing this, the king recalled that he had said this to a good girl whose skin was as black as pitch, and he found that she was like the princess whom he had fallen in love with before.Suddenly he understood that the girl and the princess were the same person.You can imagine how much he regretted it. Three court ladies came and told him that the princess was expecting him.The king went into the palace and begged the princess to forgive him.People immediately opened the doors of the church, and the princess and the king were married.The king sincerely wanted to keep the three fairies, but they bid farewell to the newlyweds and disappeared without a trace as soon as they turned around.

——————— ① The Italian unit of length "palmo" refers to the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger of an open hand. (Finish)