Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 19 The One-Armed Girl (2)
The poor girl loves her husband deeply, but at this moment, the little baby is better than everything in the world to her. As long as she can bring her son by her side, she doesn't care about anything.And so, with her son in her arms, and a small earthen pot for cooking hung round her neck, she left the house, the big peacock-feather fans, the slaves, and the ivory chairs, and threw herself into the arms of the forest. .

She walked forward, not knowing where to go for a while, and after a while, she got tired from walking, so she sat down under a tree to rest, and put the baby to sleep.Suddenly, she looked up and saw a snake swimming towards her from under the bushes.

"I'm going to die," she said to herself, and sat there quietly because she was too scared to move.Immediately afterwards, the snake crawled to her side.To her surprise, the snake actually spoke.

"Please uncover your earthen pot and let me crawl in. You protect me from the sun and I will protect you from the rain." She uncovered the pot, let the snake crawl in, and put the lid on stand up.Soon, she saw another snake crawling over after the previous one.When the snake came up to her, it stopped and said, "Did you see a little gray snake crawl past here just now?"

"Yes," she replied, "he crawls very fast."

"Oh, I must hurry and catch him," answered the second snake, and scrambled on.

When he crawled out of sight, a voice came from the pot: "Please take off the lid of the pot." She lifted the lid, and the little gray snake quickly crawled to the ground.

"I'm safe now," he said. "Please tell me, where are you going?"

"I can't tell you, because I don't know where I'm going myself," she replied, "I'm just wandering aimlessly in the forest."

"Come with me, and we will go home together," said the snake.So the girl followed the snake through the forest, and through the green paths, until at last they came to a great lake.There they stopped to rest.

"The sun is so hot," said the snake, "you have traveled so far. Take your little one in your arms and have a bath in the water under that big tree."

"Okay, I'll go," she replied, and walked into the lake.The little baby was splashing in the water, giggling, and then he jumped and fell straight into the water.He sank, sank, sank, my mother felt all over the reeds, but she couldn't touch him no matter what.

Returning to the shore in a panic, she cried out to the snake, "My child is gone! He's drowned, and I'll never see him again."

"Go into the water again and feel around," said the snake, "even between the big trees with their roots in the water. I'm afraid he's stuck there."

She went back to the water at once, and felt here and there with her good hand, even putting her fingers in the little crevices where even the crabs could barely hide.

"No, he's not here," she cried, "how can I live without him." The snake ignored it, but replied, "Put your other arm in there too."

"What's the use of that?" she asked, "and there's no hand on that arm." But she did as the snake commanded.In an instant, her injured arm touched something round and limp, lying between two stones in a clump of reeds.

"Oh, my darling, my darling!" she cried, picking him up.The little baby smiled happily, neither hurt nor frightened.

"Did you touch him this time?" asked the snake.

"Yes, oh yes!" she replied, "and, ah, ah, my hands are growing again!" She cried with joy.

The snake made her weep for a little while, and then she said, "Now we will continue on our way to my house. Our family will repay your kindness to me."

"You let me grow my hands back, and you have given me enough in return." The girl replied.The snake just smiled.

"Come on, the sun is going down," he replied, and began to crawl forward so fast that the girl could barely keep up with him.

Soon, they came to the snake's house.When the snake is not traveling with its parents, it lives in a tree house.The snake told his parents about his adventures and escaped from the enemy one by one, which made the snake father and mother very grateful to the girl.They let the guest lie in a hammock made of tough vines and hang between two large tree branches, so that she could have a good rest after wandering, and they helped her babysit and give the little one a drink of coconut. milk, and coconut milk they got by asking their monkey friends to break open coconuts.They even managed to wrap their tails around some small fruits and bring them back to the mothers of the babies.The mother of the child is now safe and at peace, but she has not forgotten her husband, thinks of it often, and longs for him to see her son.At night, she often lay in bed unable to sleep, wondering where he was.

In this way, several weeks passed.

What is the prince doing?

Ah, when he came to the farthest frontier of the kingdom, he fell seriously ill, and was attended to by some well-meaning strangers, so that the king and queen heard nothing of him.When he recovered from his illness, he returned home to his father's palace.There he saw a stranger standing behind a throne with a peacock feather fan.This man is the wife's brother.The king loved him very much, but the prince was completely kept in the dark.

The king and queen stared at their son for a while, as if they didn't know him.During his illness, the prince became thin and weak, bent like an old man.

"Have you forgotten me so quickly?" he asked.

Hearing his voice, they yelled, ran to him, and asked a lot of questions about what happened and why it happened that way.The prince did not answer a single question.

"What about my wife?" he said.A silence answered him.

Later, the Queen replied: "She is dead."

"Dead!" He took a step back slightly and repeated, "Where's the child?"

"Also dead."

The prince stood there silently.Then he said, "Show me their graves."

Hearing this, the king, who had always been uneasy, regained his spirits. Didn't he prepare two beautiful tombs for his son to see, so that he would never guess what they did to his wife?All these months the King and Queen had been telling each other how good and merciful they were to disobey her brother's advice and kill her.Now, somehow, that doesn't seem so certain.

The king led the crowd to the courtyard behind the palace.They went through the gate into a handsome garden, where two fine tombs stood in a meadow under the trees.The prince went up alone, leaned his head on the tombstone, and burst into tears.His father and mother stood behind silently, feeling an inexplicable pain in their hearts.Is it because they are ashamed?
Presently the prince turned and walked past them and returned to the palace.He asked the slaves to bring him mourning clothes.For seven days, no one could see him.After seven days, he went out to hunt and helped his father rule the people.It's just that no one dared to talk about his wife and son to him.

Finally, one day, the girl missed her husband and stayed up all night.In the morning she said to her snake friend, "You've all been very kind to me. I'm feeling better now and I want to go home and find out about my husband and see if he's still in mourning for me!" Listen The snake's heart was sad at her words, but he just said, "Yes, it should be. Go and say goodbye to my father and mother, and if they give you presents, all you want is my father's ring and my mother's Jewelry Box."

So she came to Father Snake and Mother Snake.They wept bitterly at the thought of losing her, and told her to take as much gold and gems as she could, as a souvenir.The girl shook her head, pushing the shiny pile away.

"I'll never forget you, ever," she broke down in tears. "I just want to keep that little ring and this old jewelry box as souvenirs."

The two snakes looked at each other, the ring and the jewelry box were the only things they didn't want to give her.So, after a short silence, they spoke.

"Why do you want this ring and this jewel case? Who told you?"

"Oh, no one, I just like it," she replied.The two old snakes shook their heads and replied: "No, our son must have told you. Since he has already said it, it has to be like this. If you need any food, clothes or houses, tell this one." Ring, it will find those things for you. If you are unhappy or in danger, tell this jewelry box and it will make things turn around." Then they all blessed her, and when it was over she picked up the baby and went road.

She walked for a long time, and finally came near the city where her husband and father-in-law lived.She stopped in a grove of small palms and told the ring that she wanted a house.

"The house is ready, mistress," whispered a strange thin voice, which startled her.Looking behind her, she saw a beautiful palace built of the best wood, and a line of slaves bowed at the door with huge fans.She went into the room cheerfully, for she was very tired.She saw a room with fruit and milk, and after a hearty meal she threw the little one beside her on a pile of cushions and fell asleep.

She lives here peacefully, and the little baby grows taller and stronger day by day, and soon he will be able to run around and even talk.Neighbors, of course, murmured about the house that had been erected so quickly—amazingly quickly—on the outskirts of town, and invented all kinds of stories about its owner.Soon, the king and his son returned from the battlefield, and some stories reached the king's ears.

"That house under the palm trees is unusual," he said to the Queen. "I must find out something from that strange lady. I don't think it's a lady at all, but a gang trying to take my throne." Conspirator. Tomorrow, I will take my son and the chief minister to find out."

The next day, shortly after sunrise, the Prince's wife was standing on the hill behind the house.Just then, she saw a cloud of smoke passing through the city.After a while she heard dimly the drums announcing the king's arrival, and saw a group of people coming towards the grove of palms.Her heart beat violently.Was it possible that her husband was among those?At any rate, they certainly did not find out that she lived here, so she just ordered the ring to prepare some food for them, and then ran into the house, and put a thin sheet of gold thread over her head and face. Veiled, then took the children by the hand, went to the door and waited for their arrival.

After a few minutes, the whole procession approached, and she stepped forward and asked them to come in and rest.

"Very gladly," replied the king, "you go ahead, and we will follow you."

They followed her into a long, dark room where there was a table covered with golden cups and baskets full of dates and coconuts and all kinds of overripe yellow fruits.Kings and princes sat on cushions, attended by slaves, while the courtiers stood behind them.Among those ministers, she recognized her brother.

"Ah, he is the cause of all my misfortunes," she said to herself, "he has hated me from the first." She did not show it, however, when the king asked her what news was going on in the city. She replied, "You must be hungry and thirsty after you have ridden so far. Eat something and drink some water, and then I will tell you the news."

"You are right," replied the king.So the room was quiet for a while.Then he said: "Madame, I have eaten and my strength has returned. Tell me, I beseech you, who are you and where do you come from? But sit down first."

She nodded, sat down on a big scarlet cushion, carried the little boy who was asleep in the corner, put her on her lap, and then told her life story.When her brother heard this, he wished to leave the house and hide in the woods, but it was his duty to shake the peacock-feather fan over the king's head to drive away the flies, knowing that if he tried to leave his post, he would die. Captured by royal guards.He had to stay where he was and resign himself to fate.Fortunately the king was too interested in the story to notice that the fan had stopped and the flies were flying about in his thick curly hair.

The story went on, and though the Prince never took his eyes off her for a moment, the storyteller never once looked at the Prince, or even glanced at him through the veil.When she gets to the part of the story where she sits on a tree and weeps, the king's son can no longer contain himself.

"You're my wife," he yelled, leaping towards her, who was holding the sleeping baby. "They lied to me, you didn't die, and neither did your son! What happened? Why did they lie to me? Lying? It's safe at home, why did you leave the house?" Then he turned and looked at his father furiously.

"Let me finish the story first, and then you will understand," she replied, lifting her veil.So she told how her brother came to the palace, accused her of being a witch, and tried to persuade the king to kill her, all in detail. "He didn't succeed," she went on softly, "and if I stay in the palace, I'll never meet the snake, never grow the hand again. So let's forget all that, Live happily again. You see, our son has grown into a big boy."

"And what to do with your brother?" asked the King, and he could not help feeling somewhat glad that there had been someone worse than himself in the affair.

"Kick him out of the city," she replied.

(End of this chapter)