grey fairy tale book

Chapter 11 The Story of Dehimir and Dehimila (2)
"Say it's cooked, I'd better take it off the fire."

"Since it's cooked, bring it to me, I want to eat it."

So Dhemila gave the devil the human flesh, and she began to eat mutton herself, and managed to save some for her cousin.

The devil washed his hands after eating, and then he said to Dhimila, "I am tired, make my bed."

Dhemila made the bed, brought the devil a very soft pillow, and tucked the quilt up for him.

"Father!" Desmila suddenly called out.

"what's up?"

"Dear Papa, why do you keep your eyes open after you fall asleep?"

"Why are you asking that, Desmila? Are you trying to betray me?"

"Of course not, father, how dare I betray you. What's the use of that?"

"Then why do you want to know?"

"Because I woke up last night and saw a red light all over the room, which scared me."

"That's what happens when I fall asleep."

"Then what's the use of your pins being carefully placed here?"

"If I drop the pin on the ground, it becomes an iron mountain."

"What about the needle?"

"It will become a lake."

"Where is this ax?"

"It's going to be a thorn and no one can get through it. Why are you asking these questions? I'm sure you're up to something."

"I just want to know, how could anyone think I'm here?" Desmila cried.

"Don't cry, I was only joking," said the devil.

Soon the devil fell asleep again, and there was a yellow light shining in the castle.

"Hurry up, we must escape right away while the devil is asleep." Dehimir in the box urged.

"Not yet," Desmila replied. "It's yellow now. I don't think he's asleep yet."

So they waited for an hour, and Dhemir whispered again: "Hurry up! We're running out of time!"

"Let me see if he's asleep." She said, looking in through the crack of the door, and saw a red light shining.Then she tiptoed to her cousin: "Then how shall we get out?"

"Bring the rope and I'll put you down."

So Dhemila fetched the rope, the axe, the pin, and the needle, and gave them to her cousin, and said, "Put these in the pocket of your cloak, and be sure not to lose them."

Deshmir put those things carefully in his pocket, tied Deshmira with a rope, and let her down along the wall.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"It's all right."

"Then untie the rope so I can bring it up."

Dhemila did so, and a few minutes later, Dhemira was standing beside her.

All this time the devil had been in a deep sleep, so that he heard not a sound.But his dog ran to the bed and said to him, "Sleepy, are you still dreaming? Dhimila has deserted you, and everyone has run away!"

The devil got up from the bed, kicked the dog, and fell asleep until dawn.

It was broad daylight when the devil arose, and cried out, "Dishmila! Dishmila!" but he heard only his own echo, and hurriedly dressed, took his sword, and whistled. The dog called to him and chased him along the road that the fugitive must take.

Desmila glanced back, and suddenly shouted: "Cousin!"

"What's the matter?" he replied.

"The devil is coming. I see him."

"Where is he? Why can't I see it?"

"Right there, he looks like he's about the height of a needle."

So they both quickened their pace, and ran as fast as they could, but little by little the Devil and his dog were catching up.The instant the devil was within a few steps of grabbing them both, Dhimila threw the pin behind him, and the pin immediately turned into an iron mountain, separating them from the devil.

"Me and my dog, this will destroy the mountain." The devil roared angrily.The devil and his dog rammed the iron mountain hard until they broke a path, and then came up little by little.

"Cousin!" Desmila suddenly shouted.

"what happened?"

"The devil and his dogs have caught up again."

"Then you go ahead." Cousin said, he quickened his pace and ran desperately, but the devil was still getting closer.

"They've got us," Desmila cried, looking back. "You must throw the ax."

Then Dhemir took the ax out of his pocket and threw it back, and the ax immediately became a thicket of thorns, through which the devil and the dogs could not pass.

"If I make a hole in the ground, I can get through it," cried the devil.In a short while the Devil and his dogs appeared beyond the thornbush.

"Cousin!" Desmila shouted, "they're catching up again."

"Don't be afraid, just keep going," Dhemir replied.

After running for a while, she stopped and said to her cousin, "He's only a few yards away from us." Dhemir threw the needle on the ground, and it turned into a lake.

"Drink it dry, me and my dog!" cried the Devil.The dog drank so much that it swelled and died. However, the devil didn't stop. It didn't take long for the entire lake to be drunk by the devil.Then the devil cursed loudly: "Dehimila! Your head will become a donkey's head, and your hair will become a donkey's hair!"

When the curse came true, Dhemir looked at her in horror and said, "She's really a donkey, not a girl at all!" Then he left her and went home by himself.

For two days, poor Dehimila wandered about crying.Near the town, her cousin began to reflect on what he had done, and could not help feeling ashamed.He thought, "Maybe now that Dehimila has changed back to her original form, I'd better go back and see." So he hurried back, and when he finally got there, he saw Dehimila sitting on a rock. on, trying to drive off a pack of wolves who wanted to have her for dinner.

He drove the wolves away, and then said: "Get up, dear cousin, your life is hanging by a thread!"

Dehimila stood up and said, "Okay! My cousin, you first persuaded me to escape with you, and then you abandoned me and left me to fend for myself!"

"Shall I tell you the truth?" Deshmir replied.

"Then say it."

"I thought you were a witch. I was afraid of you."

"Didn't you see me before I changed? Didn't the devil curse me in your presence?"

"So what am I going to do?" he asked. "If I brought you back to town, everyone would laugh at me. They'd say, 'Is this your new toy? A hand, foot, body, but a woman. A toy with a donkey's head and hair?'"

"And what are you going to do with me?" said the girl. "You might as well take me back to my mother in the evening, and tell no one about it."

"Fine then," he replied.

They stayed there until it was almost dark, and then Dhemir sent his cousin home.

He knocked softly on the door, and Dehemila's mother asked from inside, "Is that Dehemir?"

"Yes"

"Have you found her yet?"

"I brought her back to you."

"Let me see, where is she?" Mother called.

"Here, behind me," Desmir replied.

The moment she saw Dehimila, the poor mother screamed: "Are you kidding me? When did I ever give birth to a donkey?"

"Hush! There's no need for the whole world to hear it. Take a good look and you'll see that she has two scars," Dhemir replied.

"Mom, do you really not even know your own daughter?" Dehimila asked.

"Of course I do."

"Then where are her two scars?"

"The scar on her leg is from a dog bite, and the scar on her chest is from burns after she pushed an oil lamp over when she was a child."

"Then take a good look at me to see if I am your daughter." Dehimila took off her clothes, revealing two scars.

Seeing the scar, the mother hugged Dehimila, tears streaming down her face. "Dear daughter," she cried, "what evil has you got?"

"The devil first abducted me, and then cast a spell on me," Desmila replied.

"What are you going to do?" asked the mother.

"Hide me, and don't tell anyone about me. As for you, dear cousin, tell your neighbors nothing. If they ask, say you haven't found me."

"Fine then," he replied.

So my cousin and mother took Dehimila upstairs and hid her in a closet, where she stayed for a whole month, only coming out after people had gone to sleep.

When Dehimir returned to his home, his parents, brothers and neighbors greeted him happily: "When did you come back? Did you find Dehimira?"

"No. I've searched everywhere, and I haven't heard anything about her."

"Have you parted from the man who showed you the way?"

"Yes. After three days' walk, he was too weak to go any further. He must have been home a month by now. I searched every castle, every house, every trace of her. I didn’t see it, so I gave up.”

They added: "We told you that it would be no use to look for her, for she must have been eaten by a devil or a witch, and how could you find it?"

"That's not because I love her too much to give up." He replied.

But his friends didn't understand, and soon mentioned the matter to him again: "We will help you find a wife, and there are many better girls than Deshmila."

"I don't think that's necessary."

"And what to do with all the upholstery and rugs and pretty trim you bought to furnish your new house?"

"Just let them press the cabinet."

"But they get moths! They're all right for a few weeks, but after a year or two they're all bitten to nothing."

"Even if they stay there for ten years, I will only want Dehimila to be my wife. I will rest quietly here for a month or two, and then I will go out to find her."

"You are crazy, there is no grass anywhere in the world, there are many girls who are better than Deshimila!"

"I haven't seen many or many. Why are you worrying so much? Only you know your own affairs best."

"Why? You are humiliating yourself."

Dhemir didn't want to quarrel, so he turned and went into the house.

Three months later, a Jew who had crossed the desert came to the castle and lay resting at the foot of the wall.

In the evening, the devil saw him lying there and asked, "Jew, what are you doing there? Do you have anything to sell?"

"I'm going now, my lord," replied the Jew, getting up.

"Don't be afraid," said the devil with a smile, "I won't eat you. In fact, I want to walk with you a little way."

"Go straight from here, and you will see a small town. There, go to a girl named Dhimila and a boy named Dhimir, and bring them this mirror and this comb. You Tell Dhimila: 'Your devil father asks you to look in the mirror and comb your hair so that you will return to your original self.' If you don't do what I say, next time I see you, I'll eat you."

"I will deliver them in full, my lord," replied the Jew.

After 30 days, the Jews finally entered the gate of the town.Tired and hungry and thirsty, he sat down under a tree he saw on the first street.

By chance, Dhemir happened to be passing there, and when he saw the Jew sitting in the hot sun, he stopped and said, "Get up, Jew, or you'll get sunstroke."

"Ah, good man, I have been walking for a month, and I am too tired to walk any more," replied the Jew.

"Where did you come from?" asked Deshmir.

"That way," replied the Jew, pointing back.

"You said you've been away for a month? Did you encounter anything unusual?"

"Yes, good man. I saw a castle and I lay down in the shade. A devil woke me up and told me to come here, to find a boy named Dhimir and a girl named Dhimira .”

"I am Dehimir, what does the devil want me for?"

"He asked me to bring some presents to Dehimila. How can I find her?"

"Come with me. Give it to her with your own hands."

So the two came to Uncle Dhimir's house together, and he took the Jew into Dhemila's mother's room.

"Aunt," cried Dhemir, "this Jew with me is from the devil, and he has brought a gift from the devil, a mirror and a comb."

"But this is probably just a trick set up by the devil." Dehimila's mother said.

"Oh, I don't think so," said the young man, "give her everything."

Then Dhemila was called from her hiding place, and she went to the Jew and asked, "Jew, where do you come from?"

"From your devil father."

"What did he ask you to do?"

"He told me that I must give you the mirror and the comb, and that I should tell you to look in the mirror and comb your hair, and everything will be back to normal."

Desmila looked in the mirror, combed her hair with a comb, her donkey's head was gone, and her pretty girlish face was back.

Seeing this incredible scene in front of them, both mother and cousin were extremely happy.News of Desmila's return spread quickly, and neighbors came to greet her.

"When did you come back?"

"My cousin brought me back."

"Then why did he say he couldn't find you?"

"I did it on purpose and I didn't want everyone to know," Dhemir replied.

Then he turned to his parents, brother and sister-in-law and said: "We have to do it right away, the wedding is today."

The beautiful sedan chair was ready to welcome the bride, but Dhimila flinched.She said, "I am afraid that the devil will snatch me away again."

"In front of so many of us, how could the devil snatch you away? There are more than 2000 of us, and all of us wear swords." The crowd comforted.

"He's got a lot," she said. "He's a pretty good monster."

"She's right," said an old man, "then remove the sedan chair. If she's afraid, let her go."

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed the others. "How did the devil get her?"

"I just won't go," she continued. "You don't understand that monster, but I do."

Just as they were arguing, the groom officer arrived.

"Let her decide. Let her live in her own house, and I can live here too. Besides, the wedding feast will begin soon." They were finally married, and they never had a quarrel until their deaths.

(End of this chapter)