Chapter 149 175. The Posing Princess

It is said that once upon a time there was a king who had a daughter who was old enough to marry and was extremely beautiful.One day, the king called her to his side and said to her, "My daughter, it's time for you to get married. I have notified all the king's friends that I will hold a party in a few days. They will all come. You can see if you like it." which one." When that day came, all the kings came, and brought their whole families with them.Among them, the princess fell in love with the son of the king of Granato.So she told her father.Casually among our good friends, you know what happened next: the son of the king of Granato was very happy when he heard the news.At noon the king prepared his lunch; and when they came to the table, there were fifty-seven dishes laid out.The fifty-seventh and last course was a plate of pomegranates: no one had seen pomegranates at that time, either in the palace of Granato or in other countries.The Prince began to eat it, but a pomegranate fell to the ground; and he thought the pomegranate so precious that he knelt down to pick it up.The princess had been watching the prince with her eyes, and when she saw all this, she got up from the table, and went back in a rage, and shut herself up in the room.Her father followed her to see what was going on.The father saw her crying: "Dad, I like this young man, but I think he is a cheapskate, so I don't want him anymore."

The king returned to the table, thanked all the kings for coming, and said goodbye to them.But for the son of the king of Granato, the affair was not over.Instead of leaving, he wandered around the palace pretending to be a farmer.The palace was looking for a gardener; as he knew a thing or two about it, he applied for it; the palace made a contract with him for a fee, and told him what to do, so that he became a royal gardener.There was a hut in the garden, and there he carried his great box full of dowry, pretending it was his clothing. At the window of this little room he hung a shawl embroidered with gold thread.The princess's window was facing the garden, and she put her head out, and saw the shawl shining brightly.She called the gardener and asked, "Tell me, whose shawl is it?"

"mine." "Can you sell it to me?" "no way." So, the princess mobilized the maids to use various methods to persuade him to sell the shawl.The maids offered all kinds of prices, and promised anything in exchange; but it was all in vain.Finally, the gardener said, "I won't give it to you until you let me sleep in the first room of her suite." The maids laughed and went to tell the princess.So they talked about it and said to her, "If he's crazy enough to sleep in the first room of your suite, why not let him do it? No one will ever know, we don't have to pay anything, There will be no trouble, and you will get the shawl." So the princess agreed.In the evening, when everyone had gone to bed, they called the gardener and made him sleep there.Early in the morning they woke him up again, and let him out; and so he handed over his shawl.

A week later, the gardener hung up another shawl, even more beautiful than the first.The princess sees it, but the gardener wants to sleep in her second room this time in exchange. "He slept in the first room, you can also let him sleep in the second room." So he got his wish again. A week later, the gardener hung up a dress embroidered with gold thread, pearls, and diamonds.The princess fell in love with the dress, but in order to get it she had no choice but to let him sleep in the third room, which was in the hall where the princess slept.But even so, there was nothing to fear, for the poor gardener must have been half mad.

The gardener lay on the ground as he had done the previous nights, pretending to be asleep; he waited until he thought everyone was asleep, and then, as if he had caught a cold, his teeth chattered and his whole body trembled.He leaned against the door leading to the princess' bedroom, which rang like a drum with his trembling.The princess woke up, and the sound made it difficult for her to fall asleep again; so she asked him to be quiet. "I'm cold," he moaned, shaking even more.The princess could not make him stop, and she was afraid that the palace would hear the voice and discover this ridiculous agreement between her and the gardener. Finally, she got out of bed and opened the door. "Anyway he's a fool," she thought, "and I won't be in trouble." Foolish or not, the fact is that after this night, the princess became pregnant.Out of anger and humiliation, she didn't know where to hide.She was afraid that everyone would find out, and in desperation she told the gardener about it. "There is no other way," said the gardener, "but to run away with me."

"With you? I'd rather die!" "Then you stay in the palace and wait for everyone to find out." In this way, she had no choice but to run away with him obediently.She brought a small bag of clothes and some money, and they escaped from the palace one night. Along the way, they met cattle herders and shepherds, and passed fields and fields.She asked, "Who do these animals belong to?" "Owned by the King of Granato." "Oh, poor me!" "What, what's the matter with you?" the gardener asked her. "Oh, poor me, I didn't want to choose him as my husband."

"It's your fault!" the gardener said to her. "Who do these fiefs belong to?" "Owned by the King of Granato." "Oh, poor me!" As God intended, they arrived wearily at the home of the young man, who had told her that he was the son of the physician of the king of Granatos.It was a smoky country farmhouse with a battered bed, a stove and a fireplace: there were cowsheds and chicken coops beside the farmhouse. "I am hungry," he said, "kill a chicken and cook it." The princess did so.They slept in the cottage, and next morning the young man went out, saying he would not return before evening.

The princess was alone in her dilapidated house when she heard a knock at the door.She opened the door and saw the son of the King of Granato, dressed like a king, and he asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" "I am the wife of your doctor's son." "Maybe: but I don't think you're a decent woman; maybe you're a thief? People often come to steal my chickens." So the prince started calling his chickens and counting them. "One is missing!" he said. "What's going on? The number was right at this time yesterday." He started looking around.In the stove he found the feathers of the chicken the princess had killed the night before. "Oh, here's the thief! It's you! I caught you red-handed! You should be glad I found you, I won't turn you over to a judge."

Hearing the prince cry out, his mother, who was the queen, came closer.Seeing the girl crying, she said to her, "Don't take it to heart, my son is a weirdo. Come and work for me. I have a little grandson who is about to be born, and I need to make clothes for him. You do it for me." Then, take her away and make baby swaddles, blouses, blouses, and other clothes with you.In the evening, when the gardener came back, the girl wept and told him everything, and said it was his fault, and asked him to take her away at once.But he comforted the princess and persuaded her to stay. "But what should we do?" she asked, "the baby is coming and we don't even have clothes for him."

"You," he said, "tomorrow when the queen makes your clothes, take a little shirt and hide it in your bosom." The next day, before leaving, the girl hid a small shirt in her bosom when the queen turned her head.After a while, the prince came into the palace and said to his mother, "Mother, who are you keeping with you? A thief? She can steal everything!" He reached out and pulled the little shirt from her bosom.The girl really wanted to get into the ground.This time, though, even the queen came to her defense. "These are women's things," she said to her son, "what have you got to do with you?" She went to comfort the crying girl, telling her that she would be waiting for her the next day so that she could sew some clothes on. pearl.

In the evening the girl returned to her humble hut and told her husband about her new misfortune. "Don't take it to heart," he said, "this king is a cheapskate. Remember to put a string of pearls in your pocket tomorrow." The next day, while the queen was out of sight, the princess packed a string of pearls.But when the prince came, he said, "You gave the thief the pearl? We bet she has a string in her pocket." He searched in her pocket, found the pearl, and the girl fainted.The queen revived her by giving her some fresh air, and then comforted her. The next day, while she was at work at the Queen's, she felt a pain and had to lie in bed.The queen put her on the prince's bed, and there she gave birth to a beautiful boy. The prince came and said, "Why, mother, did you let this thief lie on my bed?" "Son, the scene is well done," said the Queen. "My dear daughter, this is my son, your husband, whom you did not want for a pomegranate, and who disguised himself as a gardener in order to get you." That's how they say it all.The princess' parents and all the neighboring kings were invited, and the celebration lasted for three days. (Province of Trapani)