Andrew Lan's Twelve-Color Fairy Tale Series: Pink Fairy Tale Books

Chapter 32 Two Brothers (2)
"Alas! don't look," she answered, "that is the light from the chamber of a wicked witch, and no one can kill her." The princess should have said nothing, for her husband was irritated by these words, and he would have liked to talk to the The cunning witches compete with each other.That feeling grew stronger and stronger throughout the night.In the early morning of the next day, no matter how sad his wife was, he got on his horse and set off for the mountain.

This section of the road was farther than he had imagined, and it was getting dark before he reached the foot of the mountain.To be honest, if it weren't for the bright light, he really couldn't find his way. The light shone like moonlight on his way forward.At last he came to the gates of a splendid castle, in which light shone brightly from every window.He climbed some steps and entered a hall where an ugly old woman sat on a golden chair.

The old woman looked sullenly at the young man, and said, "I can turn you into stone with just one hair on my head."

"Ah, nonsense!" he cried, "don't make noise, old woman. What can a hair do?" But the witch pulled a hair out and put it on his shoulder, and immediately his limbs became cold and heavy, Can't move.

At this moment, his younger brother thought of him and wondered how he had been doing all these years after their separation. "I'm going to see that fig tree," he said to himself, "to see if he is alive or dead." So he rode through the forest and came to the fig tree, where he Cut a hole in the bark and wait.

After a while, he heard a slight gurgling sound, and saw blood gushing out of it quickly. "Oh, my God!" he cried sadly, "my brother is either dead or dying! I'll be there in time to save him!" So he jumped on his horse and cried, "Hey, my War horse, run like the wind!" He traveled all over the world on horseback, until one day he came to the city where his brother and his wife lived.The princess had sat here every day since that morning when her husband left, weeping with grief, and listening every minute to the sound of his coming footsteps.One day, when she saw his younger brother riding a horse passing under the balcony, she took him as her husband, because the two brothers looked so much alike that no one could tell who was the older brother and who was the younger brother.Her heart was beating wildly, she bent down and shouted to him: "You are finally back! You are finally back! I have been waiting for you for a long time!" Hearing these words, the younger brother thought, "This is where my brother lives. This beautiful woman is my sister-in-law." But he didn't say anything, letting her think that he was her husband.The princess brought him joyfully before the old king, who greeted him as if he were his own son, and ordered a banquet for him.The princess was ecstatic, but when she was about to open her arms to embrace him and kiss him, he raised his hand to stop her again, saying, "Don't touch me." This surprised the princess very much.

They went on like this for a few days.One evening, the young man leaned against the balcony and saw the bright lights on the mountain.

"What is that?" he asked the princess.

"Oh, come on," she cried, "hasn't that light done you enough? Do you want to try that old hag again?"

He took down her words and thought, she didn't know yet, it was from them that he knew where his brother was, and she didn't know what happened to him.So, before sunrise the next morning, he sneaked out, saddled his horse, and rode off toward the hill.But the journey was farther than he thought. On the way, he met a small old man who asked him where he was going.

So the young man told him what had happened, and said, "I will save my brother anyway, for he has been enchanted by that old witch."

"I'll tell you how to do it," said the old man, "that witch's magic power is in her hair, so when you see her, run up and grab her hair, and then she won't hurt you. Be very careful, hold her hair tightly and don't let go, tell her to take you to your brother, and ask her to save your brother. She has a kind of ointment that can cure all diseases, and can bring the dead back to life. When your brother is safe, you Cut off her head, for she is a wicked woman."

The young man thanked the old man and said he would follow his advice.Then he rode on, and soon came to the castle.He ventured up the steps and into the hall, and out came the ugly old hag.She laughed hideously at him, and cried, "One hair from my head and I can turn you to stone."

"Yes, really?" said the young man, grabbing her by the hair, "you old witch! Tell me what you did to my brother, or I'll cut off your head right now At this time, the old witch had no magic power, so she had to obey obediently.

"I'll take you to your brother," she continued, trying to outwit him, "but you have to let me go. You're holding me so tight I can't walk."

"Then you'll have to make do with it," he replied.He held her tighter again.She led him into a hall, which was full of stone statues. These stone statues were transformed by humans. She pointed to one of the stone statues and said, "This is your brother."

The young man looked at these stone statues, shook his head and said, "My brother is not here, take me to see him, or you will suffer." The witch tried to hide him with other stone statues, but it didn't work, and they came In the last hall, he saw his brother lying on the floor.

"That's my brother," he said, "give me the ointment and bring him back to life."

Reluctantly, the old witch opened a cupboard next to it, which was full of bottles and jars. She took down a bottle and handed it to the young man.However, he was wary of the witch's tricks, checked it very carefully, and found that the medicine could not cure the disease at all.This was repeated several times, and finally, the witch had no choice but to give him the medicine he wanted.After he was sure it was the medicine, he asked her to bend down and apply the ointment on his brother's face. At the same time, he held her hair carefully and did not let go. After the dead brother opened his eyes, the young man The man drew out his sword, and cut off the witch's head with one sword.At this time, the elder brother stood up, stretched himself, and said, "Oh, how long have I been asleep! Where am I?"

"The old hag cast a spell on you, but now she is dead and you are free. We will wake up the other enchanted knights, and then we will go."

They woke up others, and found gold, silver and jewels in the castle, and everyone divided the treasures and went their separate ways.The two brothers gathered together, the elder brother tightly clutching the ointment that brought him back to life.

They rode all the way, talking all the way, and at last the younger brother cried out: "Oh, silly brother, you left such a beautiful wife at home and ran out to compete with the witch! She took me for her husband, and I Didn't reject her either."

When the elder brother heard this, he was furious. Without saying a word, he drew his sword and killed the younger brother, and buried his body in the dust.Then the elder brother went on riding home, where his wife was sitting there weeping.Seeing him, she screamed, jumped up, and threw herself into his arms. "Oh, I've been waiting for you for so long! You never, never leave me again!"

When the old king heard the news, he greeted him as if he were his own son, and prepared a banquet, and all the people in the palace came to celebrate.In the evening, when the young man was alone with his wife, she said to him, "Why don't you let me touch you when you come back? I want to hug you and kiss you. Why do you always push me away?"

At this time, the young man understood how loyal his younger brother was to him.He sat down and wept bitterly because he himself had killed his brother so cruelly.Suddenly, he remembered the ointment hidden in his clothes, stood up suddenly, and rushed all the way to the place where his brother died.Kneeling beside his brother's body, he took out the ointment and applied it to his neck, where there was a long gash.At this time, the wound healed and the muscles became stronger. The dead brother sat up and looked around.The two brothers embraced each other, and the elder begged the younger to forgive him for his great mistake, and they returned to the palace together, and were never parted again.

(End of this chapter)