Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 33 Birds of War (2)
It's no use standing there looking at the cedar trees anyway, at least he had to try, so he tried to climb until his hands and knees ached, because he'd slipped down after climbing a few feet .Once he climbed a little higher, with hope rising in his heart, but he slid down suddenly, and his hands and knees hurt more than ever before.

"This is not the time to stop," said the giant's daughter's voice as he leaned against the trunk to catch his breath.

"Oh, I just climbed up, and then I slid down," he replied.

"Try again," she said.She pointed a finger at the tree and told him to step on it.Then she put the other finger up a little higher, and it was like that until he was on top of the magpie's nest.

"Get out the nest," she cried, "my father's breath is baking my back." He scrambled down, but the girl's little finger was caught in a branch and held there.She was in too much of a hurry to take care of it, because the sun was already high on the hills.

"Listen," she said, "to-night my two older sisters will wear the same clothes as mine, and you will not know which is me. When the father orders: 'Go to your wife, prince.' You go to the one on the right hand without the little finger."

He went and gave the egg to the Giant, who nodded.

"Get ready for marriage," he cried, "the wedding will take place tonight, and I will call your bride to meet you." Then he sent for his three daughters.All three daughters were dressed in green silk dresses of the same style, with gold headbands on their heads.The prince sees the other from one, which one is the younger daughter?Suddenly, his eyes fell on the hand of the middle one, and he found that there was no little finger on it.

"You have found the right target this time," said the giant, seeing the prince put his hand on her shoulder, "but the mountain will not change, and we may meet again." Although he pretended to laugh, the bride saw him A cold light flashed in her eyes, warning her that the danger was not over yet.

There was a wedding that night, and the hall was full of Giants and Gentlemen, dancing together until the house shook from top to bottom.At last, when everyone was tired from dancing, the guests left, leaving only the prince and the bride.

"Papa will kill you if we stay here until dawn," she whispered. "You are my husband, and I will save you, just like I did before." So she cut an apple into nine pieces, and Put two petals at the head of the bed, two petals at the end of the bed, two petals by the kitchen door, two petals by the gate, and one petal outside the house.When it was over, she heard the giant grunting, and she and the prince crept out softly, slipped to the stable, brought out a gray-blue mare, jumped on the horse, and let the prince sit behind her.Soon the giant woke up.

"Are you asleep?" he asked.

"Not yet." The apple on the bedside replied.The giant turned over, and soon he was snoring loudly as before.After a while, the giant asked again.

"Are you asleep?"

"Not yet," answered the apple at the end of the bed, to the giant's satisfaction.After a while, he asked a third time: "Are you asleep?"

"Not yet," replied the apple in the kitchen.After a few more minutes, he asked the question for the fourth time, and heard the answer from the apple outside the door.He wondered what had happened, and ran to the room to see for himself.

The bed was cold and empty!
"My father's breath is baking my back," cried the girl, "put your hand in the horse's ear, and whatever you find, throw it behind you." There was a blackthorn branch in the horse's ear .No sooner had the prince thrown the branch behind him than there sprang up twenty miles of thick bramble forest, which not even a skunk could get through.The giant was striding forward, and got caught in the thorns, which were tearing at his hair.

"It's my daughter's trick," he said to himself, "if I bring my giant ax and machete, I'll be able to hack a way in a short time." Axes and hatchets.

It took him only a moment to hack a way through the blackthorn wood, and he put the ax and knife under a tree.

"I'll just leave them here, and I'll get them later," he whispered to himself.A hooded crow on a branch overhead heard him talking to himself.

"If you keep them," said the jay, "we'll steal them."

"You will," replied the Giant, "I must take them home." So he took his ax and knife home, and started on his way again.

"My father's breath is baking my back," cried the girl at noon, "put your hand in the horse's ear, and whatever you find throw it behind you." The Prince found a patch of gray stone .He had just thrown the stone behind him, and in the blink of an eye twenty miles of solid rock lay between them and the giant.

"My daughter's tricks are hardest for me," said the giant, "and if I bring crowbar and crowbar, I shall soon be able to hack a way." But if he wanted crowbar and crowbar, You have to go home and get it.Then it didn't take long for him to carve a path through the rock.

"I'll leave the tools," he said aloud to himself when he had finished driving.

"We'll steal them if you keep them," said a hooded jay perched on a rock.The giant replied, "Steal if you want. I have no time to go back."

"My father's breath is roasting my back," cried the girl. "Look in the horse's ears, Prince, or we are finished." and threw it behind him, and the bag became a big lake.The giant was running after him at full speed, but he couldn't stop, rushed into the lake, and was drowned.

The gray-blue horse galloped like the wind, and the next day the prince saw his father's house.

"Come down in," said the bride, "and tell them you have married me. Be careful that no man or animal kiss you, or you will forget me all."

"I will obey your orders," answered the prince, leaving the bride at the door.Everyone he met along the way welcomed him.He told his parents not to kiss him, but as he greeted them his former hound jumped up on his neck and kissed him.Then he forgot about the giant's daughter.

All day the girl sat and waited on a well near the gate.She waited and waited, but the prince never appeared.When night came, she climbed into the oak tree above the well, and slept the night, and waited and waited.

At noon the next day, the wife of a shoemaker who lived near the well came to fetch water for her husband. She saw the reflection of the girl in the tree and thought it was her own.

"I'm so pretty," she said, looking into the well.Just as she was trying to get a better look, the pitcher hit a rock and shattered.She had to go back to her husband empty-handed, which made him angry.

"You are mad," he said angrily, "go, my girl, and fetch me some water." The girl went, and what happened to the mother, happened to the daughter.

"Where's the water?" asked the shoemaker when she came back.Since the girl brought back only the handle of the pitcher, the shoemaker went to fetch water from the well himself.He also saw the reflection of the girl in the tree, looked up to see where the reflection came from, and saw the most beautiful girl in the world sitting on the tree.

"Come down," he said, "you can stay with me for a while." He was glad that the girl had come down the tree.

Now the prince is going to get married, and the young men from the palace flock to the shoe store to buy beautiful shoes for the wedding.

"You have a beautiful daughter," said they, when they saw the girl sitting at work.

"She is very pretty," replied the shoemaker, "but not my daughter."

"I'll give you a hundred pounds to marry her," said one of them.

"Me too." "Me too," shouted the others.

"It's none of my business," replied the shoemaker.The boys asked him to ask the girl if she would choose one of them as a husband, and said to hear back the next day.The shoemaker asked the girl, and the girl said she would marry the boy with the purse.So the shoemaker hurried to find the young man who was the first to ask.The boy came back and gave the shoemaker a hundred pounds, thanking him for the good news.He went to find the girl, who was waiting for him.

"Is that you?" asked the girl, "I am thirsty; fetch me some water from the well over there." He scooped up the water, but stayed where he was, and stayed there a long time time.

"Take that stupid boy away," the girl called at last to the shoemaker, "I'm tired of him." Then he was suddenly able to go, and went home without telling the others what had happened to him. what's up.

The next day, another lad came.In the evening, when they were alone after the shoemaker had left, the girl said to the boy, "Go and see if the door is fastened." He got stuck and had to stay there a long time until the shoemaker came back and the girl let him go.He went home dejected, but he didn't tell anyone what happened to him.

Then it was the third lad's turn and his feet were glued to the ground until he was released.He ran away without looking back.

"Take this gold," said the girl to the shoemaker, "I don't need it; it will make your life easier." The shoemaker took the gold and told the girl that he must take the shoes to the castle for the wedding.

"I want to see the prince before he gets married," she sighed.

"Then come with me," he replied, "the servants are my friends, and they will let you stand in the passage, where the Prince and his retinue will pass."

So they went to the castle, and when the boys saw the girl standing there, they led her into the banquet hall, and poured her some wine.Just as she was about to drink, a flame burst out of the wine, and out of the flame jumped out two doves, one gold and one silver.As the dove flew around the girl's head, three large grains of wheat fell to the ground, and the silver dove swooped down and swallowed them.

"If you remember how I cleaned the cowshed, you won't lose my share," said the golden dove cooing.While it was speaking, three more grains of wheat dropped, which were eaten by the silver dove as before.

"If you remember how I built the roof for the cowshed, you won't lose my share," said the Golden Pigeon, cooing.While it was speaking, three more grains of wheat fell, and for the third time they were eaten by the silver dove.

"If you remember how I got the magpie's nest, you won't lose my share," said the golden pigeon cooing.

At this time, the prince understood that the dove was coming to remind him of what he had forgotten, so he recovered his memory, recognized his wife, and kissed her.Now that everything was ready for the wedding, it seemed a pity to waste it, so they married again and sat down to the wedding feast.

(End of this chapter)