Chapter 144 156. The Bride Who Lives by Drinking the Wind

Once upon a time in Messina, there lived a rich and miserly prince who ate only two meals a day, each meal consisting of a slice of bread, a slice of sausage as thin as paper, and a glass of water.He used only one servant, and gave his servant only two tares, an egg, and a piece of bread smaller than an egg every day.In this way, no servant can stay in his house for a week, but he always works for a few days and then resigns automatically.Once, by chance, he hired a servant who was a well-known scoundrel, and even though his master knew him well, he could do whatever he wanted under his master's nose.

This servant is called Master Giuseppe.When he saw clearly the prince's way of life, he went to a coal shop near the palace, looked for the proprietress, and said to the woman who was rich and had a beautiful daughter: "Old sister, do you want to marry your daughter?" ?” "By God, I want her to marry a clever young man, Maestro Giuseppe," answered the landlady. "What do you think of the Prince?" "Prince? Don't you know he's a miser? He'd rather have an eyeball taken out than spend a sourdo." "Old sister, if you do what I want, I can assure you that the marriage will be a success. All you have to say is that your daughter lives on the wind."

Master Giuseppe returned to the prince and said: "My lord, why don't you get married? You are so old, and time will never return..." "Hmph! You want my life!" said the Prince. "Don't you know that it takes money to feed a wife? Hats, silk dresses, eiderdowns, cloaks, carriage rides, theatres... …No, Giuseppe, I won't do it!" "But don't you know, Your Highness? The proprietress of the coal shop has a daughter. This beautiful girl lives only by drinking wind. She has no shortage of money. She has her own savings, and she doesn't like extravagance, entertainment, or theater. .”

"What? How can a person live by drinking the wind?" "She took a fan and fanned it three times a day to quench her appetite. People saw her round face and thought she was always eating steak." "Okay, call her and let me see." Master Giuseppe took care of everything, and eight days later the wedding took place, and the girl who sold the charcoal became the princess. Every day as soon as she sat at the dining table, she fanned her fan, and her husband looked at her with joy.Afterwards, her mother secretly sent roast chicken and steak, and the princess and her servants had another meal like a storm.A month later, the proprietress who sells charcoal began to be cautious, because she was always asked to hold her pocket, she complained to the servant: "I said, brother, how long will it take for me to pay for it myself? I should let your stingy Ghost Prince spend some money!"

Master Giuseppe said to the princess: "Do you know what you should do?" He called her "Princess" in front of others, always the princess was long and the princess was short, but in private he called her "you", "Go tell the prince You want to see his treasure, just to satisfy your curiosity. If he says you are afraid of a few gold coins sticking to the sole of your shoe, you say you are willing to go in barefoot." The princess started to mention this to the prince, but he kept silent and couldn't convince him.The princess insisted repeatedly and said she could go in barefoot, and finally got her consent.So Maestro Giuseppe said to her again: "Quickly, glue the edges of your petticoat!" and the princess did as he said.

The Prince pried up a plank from the ground, opened the trapdoor, and let her down.The young girl was dumbfounded. The gold coins there were piled up like mountains, and the wealth of the richest king in the world was less than half of that here.While admiring loudly, she swung her skirt nonchalantly, and the gold coins stuck to it one by one.When she returned to her room, she took out the gold coins, and made a large pile, which Maestro Giuseppe gave to her mother.In this way, they continued to eat and drink, and whenever the Prince saw her fanning, he was always happy that he had a wife who lived only by drinking the wind.

Once, the Prince and Princess were walking together and met a nephew whom he had never met. "Pippinu," he said to his nephew, "do you know this lady? She is the princess." "Well, Uncle, I didn't know you had a family yet!" "Don't you know? Now you do. In eight days we're inviting you to our house for dinner." After sending out this invitation, the prince thought about it and regretted it again. "God knows how much we're going to spend now! My idea is stupid!" But there was nothing to be done: a lunch had to be considered.

The prince came up with an idea: "Do you know what I'm planning, ma'am? Meat is so expensive that buying meat is equivalent to breaking the bank! We don't buy meat, but I can go hunting. I have to go out with a shotgun and turn five or six." God, I will bring you back a lot of wild game without spending any money." "Okay, okay, Your Royal Highness, I hope you can go and come back quickly." The princess said to the prince. As soon as the prince went out to hunt, the princess asked Giuseppe to find a blacksmith. "Master," she said to the blacksmith, "give me a key to this trap door at once. I have lost my key, and I cannot open it."

After a while, she got a key that could open the lock smoothly. She went into the basement and brought up several bags of gold coins.With this money she covered all the rooms with satin wallpaper, added furniture, chandeliers, replaced the doors, bought full-length mirrors, carpets, and everything needed for a palace, and finally hired a A guard in uniform with a golden-tipped stick. The prince came back: "What's going on? Isn't this my home?" He rubbed his eyes, looked around, and then backed away. "Where is my home?" He was still walking around the door. "Your Highness," the guard said to him, "what are you looking for? Why don't you come in?"

"Will this be my home?" "Is it not your house? Please come in, Your Highness." "Hey!" the prince yelled, patting his forehead, "God! These are all bought with my money, my wife..." He ran into the palace: saw the white marble staircase and the wallpapered walls: "Ah! All, all, my wife!" He saw the full-length mirror and its frame again, the sofa, the soft bed and the chaise longue. "Hey! It's all, my wife!" He ran into his room, threw himself on the bed, and didn't get up for a long time. "What's the matter, Your Highness?" his wife asked him.

"Hey..." he said weakly, "it's all, my wife..." His wife immediately sent for the notary and four witnesses.The notary came and asked, "Your Highness, what's the matter with you? Do you want to make a will? Please tell me..." "It's all...my wife..." "What? What did you say?" "It's all...my wife..." "You want to leave all your property to your wife? Well, I understand. Is that all right?" "It's all...my wife..." While the notary was writing the will, the Prince opened his mouth and grunted a few words before dying. The princess became the sole heir to the property, and after finishing her affairs, she married Master Giuseppe.In this way, the miser's money was embezzled by the scammer. (Finish)