grey fairy tale book

Chapter 13 The Sorcerer's Horse

A long time ago, there was a king who had three sons.One day, the three princes went hunting in a forest quite far from the palace.Unfortunately, the youngest prince got lost, and his two older brothers had to go back to the palace first.

For four whole days, the little prince walked up and down in the wood, eating grass roots or wild fruits when he was hungry, and sleeping at night on moss-covered stones.Then, on the morning of the fifth day, he came to an open place in the middle of the woods.There, stands a majestic royal palace, but there is no sign of people living inside or outside.The prince walked through the open door and looked at the deserted rooms without any anger.Finally, he came to a hall, and there was a table in the center of the hall, on which there were delicate plates and some saucers, as well as fine red wine.The prince sat down and had a good meal, when the table disappeared instantly, much to the prince's surprise.He searched carefully every room upstairs and downstairs, but there was no one at all.Later, as the sky gradually darkened, he heard footsteps in the distance, and an old man came up the stairs and came towards him.

"What are you doing walking up and down the castle?" the old man asked him.The prince replied, "I lost my way while hunting in the woods. If you would take me in, I would serve you willingly and faithfully!"

"Yes," said the old man, "you may stay. You must keep the stove burning, and gather wood from the woods for it. Also, take care of the black horses in the stable. You will be paid a dollar a day. That table will appear in the hall when you eat, and it will be filled with delicacies and nectar, and you can eat as much as you want."

The prince gladly complied with the old man's request, and promised to put more wood on the stove and keep it burning.The prince didn't know that the master he had just recognized was a magician, and the fire in the stove was also a magic fire. Once it went out, the magician's magic power would be greatly reduced.

One day, due to the prince's negligence, the fire almost went out.Just as the flames were flickering and extinguishing, the old man rushed in angrily. "The fire is about to go out, what are your intentions?!" He growled, "Fortunately, I came back in time." The prince hastily added more firewood to the stove, and the master gave him a slap in the face, And warned him that if such a thing happens again, he will never be spared lightly.

One day the prince was sitting in the stable sadly.To his surprise, the black horse actually spoke. "Come here, I have something to say to you. Go to the cupboard and get the saddle and the bridle, and put them on. There's a bottle next to them, and bring them too. It contains an ointment that will make your hair like gold. Sparkle. Then put all the firewood you can find on the stove until it's piled high."

So the prince did as the horse said: he harnessed and saddled the horse, and put ointment on his hair until it shone like gold.He lit the fire in the stove very vigorously, and the flames shot up to the roof, and in an instant, the whole palace was ablaze, like a huge bonfire.

He hurried back to the stable again, only to hear the horse say: "You have one more thing to do. In the cupboard there is a mirror, a brush and a whip. Take them with you, while the house is burning Come on, ride me as fast as you can." The prince followed the horse's advice again.No sooner had he mounted the horse than it galloped off at such an astonishing swiftness that soon the woods and the magician's place were far behind.

At this time, the magician returned to his palace, only to find that there was only a pile of ashes still warm.He called to his servants, but of course there was no answer.Finally, he went to the stable to look for it, but found that the black horse was gone too.He suspects at once that they must have run away together.So he mounted the pinto horse next to him and immediately started to chase it.

The prince was riding a horse, when the horse heard someone coming, and its ears were very good. "Look behind you," said the horse, "see if the old man is coming after you?" The prince turned his head and saw a cloud of dust flying in the distance. "We must run faster!" said the horse.

After running for some time, the horse said again, "Look again, is he still behind us?" "He is very close," answered the Prince.

"Throw the mirror on the ground quickly," said the horse.So the prince threw the mirror away.When the magician caught up with him, the pinto horse stepped on the mirror, and the glass plunged into its flesh, and the pinto horse fell down.Its foot was badly injured, and the magician had no choice but to lead it slowly back to the stable and put new shoes on it.Then they set off at once again in pursuit of the Prince, for the black horse was a treasure which must not be lost.

At the same time, the prince had already run a long way, but the black horse with keen ears heard the chasing sound from afar.The black horse said to the prince, "Come down, put your ears to the ground, and listen." So the prince got off the horse and listened carefully, "I seem to hear the ground trembling. I think he is not far away from us."

"Come on," replied the horse, "I'll try to run as fast as I can." He went so fast that the earth seemed to fly under his hooves.

After a while, the horse said again: "Look back again, can you see him?"

"I saw a cloud of smoke, and a flame," said the Prince, "but it was quite far from us."

"We must hurry!" said the dark horse.After a while, the horse said, "Look back again! He must not be far away."

The prince looked back on his horse and immediately exclaimed: "He is right behind! The flames from his horse are going to burn us!"

"Now throw that brush on the ground!" said the horse.

The Prince threw the brush on the ground as it said.Immediately, the brush became an impenetrable forest, through which even birds could not fly.When the old man caught up, the flower horse stopped suddenly, unable to cross the thick forest.The magician had no choice but to turn around and go back. He wanted to take an ax and cut a way.However, this cut took him a lot of time, and the prince took the opportunity to run away on the black horse.

However, they soon heard footsteps catching up again. "Look back!" said the black horse. "Has he come after you?"

"Yes," answered the Prince, "I can hear him coming after me very clearly this time!"

"Let's hurry!" said the horse.After a while, it said: "Turn around now, can you see him?"

"Yes!" the prince turned his head. "I see the flame! He's right behind us!"

"Then throw that whip on the ground," replied the horse.In the blink of an eye, the whip turned into a very wide river.The old man caught up and ordered the flowery horse to wade across the water.However, as the river rose higher and higher, the magician's flame became weaker and weaker, and his magic power became weaker and weaker, until at last there was a "chi" sound, and the flame went out.The old man and the pinto horse sank into the river and disappeared. When the prince looked back, they had disappeared.

"Well," said the black horse to the prince, "you may come down now. Don't be afraid now, for the magician is dead. By the side of the stream, there is a willow stick, and you pick it up and beat the ground hard. will split open, and a door will open under your feet."

No sooner had the Prince picked up the willow stick and lashed the ground than the door appeared, leading into a hall of great stone arches. "Take me in," said the horse, "I will stay in it, and you must go across the fields to a garden, and in the middle of the garden is a palace. After that you must ask for the service of the King. Good-bye! do not forget me!"

So, they broke up.But, before parting, the black horse made the prince swear that his golden hair would never be seen by anyone in the palace.The Prince tied a long turban, and set off, across the fields, to a beautiful garden.Deep in the garden he saw high walls and towers, and it was a magnificent palace indeed.At the garden gate, the prince met the garden keeper, who asked the prince what he did.

"I want to serve the king," replied the prince.

"Well, you can stay with me and work under me!" said the man, who had no idea that there was a prince in front of him, because the prince was dressed so much like a poor man. "I need people to help weed and clean up the dead leaves on the road. Your payment is one dollar a day, food, drink, and a horse, which can help you transport the leaves away."

The prince agreed, and immediately set to work.When it was time to eat, he ate only half of it, and took the rest to the black horse in the hall of stone arches by the brook.Days passed, and the prince did this all the time, and the dark horse was grateful for his loyalty to his friend.

One evening, when the Prince had finished his work in the garden, he stayed with the black horse again.The horse said to him: "Tomorrow, many princes and marquises will come to your palace. They come from all over the world to propose to the three princesses. They will stand in a row in the courtyard. When the three princesses come out, each of them There will be a diamond apple in their hand, and one by one they will throw the apples into the air. Whoever the apple falls at the feet of will be the bridegroom of that princess. You must be at the edge of the garden while you work The place near them. The youngest princess, she is the most beautiful of the three sisters, her apple will bypass others and roll in front of you, you must immediately pick up the apple and put it in your pocket."

The next day, everything was exactly as the black horse said.All the suitors gathered in the courtyard outside the palace, and the princesses threw apples into the air.The little princess' diamond apple rolled around the others and rolled into the garden, where it stopped in front of the young gardener.The prince was busy sweeping the fallen leaves. He bent down immediately, picked up the apple, and put it in his pocket.When he stooped a little lock of his hair peeped out of the turban, and the little princess saw it, and fell in love with him at once.

However, the king was very disappointed, you know, his youngest daughter is his favorite!But he can't help it.

The next day, the wedding of the three couples was held in the palace.Then the little princess and her husband went back to his lodging in the garden, which was a very small room.

After a while, the neighboring countries went to war against the king.The king took his eldest son-in-law and second son-in-law and set off on his handsome horse.And the little princess's husband, our prince, has nothing but a sick old horse that helps with the work.The king looked down on this son-in-law so much that he refused to give him a better horse.

However, the prince was not far behind. He went to the garden, rode on the unremarkable sick horse, and set off.However, before he could take a few steps, the horse staggered and fell down.So he had no choice but to get off the horse, walked to the edge of the stream, and came to the vaulted hall where the black horse stayed.The black horse said to him, "Give me the saddle and bridle, and then go to the next room, and you will find a suit of armor and a sword. Pack up, and we will go to the front together."

The Prince did so, and as soon as he mounted his horse, his armor gleamed dazzlingly in the sun.He looked so heroic and dashing that no one could tell that he was the leaf-sweeping gardener.The black horse carried the prince on its back, and quickly arrived at the front line.There they saw that the king was in retreat, and many of his warriors had died.But our prince appeared on the scene, this warrior on a black horse, wearing dazzling armor, holding a sword, slashing from left to right, and the enemies were frightened and fled in all directions.The king became the lord of the land again, and he and his two sons-in-law cheered loudly when they saw their savior, and the whole army also jumped for joy: "The gods have rescued us!" They wanted to surround the brave man, but the dark horse came He lifted himself up, carried him on his back, and disappeared like flying.

Soon after this, there were rebellions in some parts of the country, and the king and his two sons-in-law were obliged to go out again to fight.So the prince begged the king and said, "My dear father, let me fight with you!" "I don't want a fool like you to fight for me!" I'll give you my own horse. But there's a wagon on the road carrying hay, so use its horse."

So the prince led the horse in the carriage, but the horse was old and weak, and fell down before going far.The prince had no choice but to return to the garden very disappointed, and watched the king lead the army and set off accompanied by his two sons-in-law.As soon as they were gone, the prince went to the brook, and having obtained the permission of the faithful black horse, he put on his shining armor, mounted his horse, and galloped to the front of the battle.He slashed left and right with his sword, and once again crushed the king's enemies.Everyone shouted again: "The gods have come to save us!" But when they wanted to keep him, the black horse jumped up again and galloped away.When the king and his two sons-in-law returned home, they kept talking about the hero, wondering who could he be?

Not long after, another neighboring country declared war on them, and the king and his two sons-in-law had to lead their subjects to prepare for war.The prince asked again to go with them, but the king said he had no horses for him. "But," said the king, "you can use the horse of a man who used to bring wood from the wood to the palace, and that horse is good enough!"

So the prince brought the horse, but it was too old and useless, and the prince could not even get out of the palace gate on it.The prince had to go to the vaulted hall again, and he saw that the black horse had already prepared a new set of armor, which was even more impressive than the one he had worn several times before.The prince put on his armor, mounted his black horse, and galloped straight to the front.Once again, he killed the enemy to pieces and fled in all directions.But, unfortunately, an enemy soldier stabbed the prince's leg with a sword. The king took out his handkerchief and tied it on the prince's injured leg.The handkerchief is still embroidered with the king's name and crown!The king was so happy that he ordered the prince to lie on a stretcher and send him back to the palace immediately, and he also asked two warriors to lead the black horse to the royal stable.The prince stroked his faithful horse and struggled to get on his back, and they soon disappeared without a trace.Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help shouting in unison: "The warrior who saved us! He must be a god! He must be a god!"

The whole country, up and down, everyone is talking: Who will be the hero who has fought so many times for us?He must be a fairy!But the king said: "As long as I can meet him again, maybe he is not a god, but a person. I would like to thank him with half the country."

The prince was at home, which was the little shed in the garden where he and his wife were, and he was so tired that he lay down and fell asleep.The wife saw the handkerchief tied around his injured leg and did not know what it was.She looked closer and found that her father's name and crown were embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief.So she hurried into the palace to tell her father.The king and his two sons-in-law followed the little princess to her lodgings, and saw the young gardener sleeping on the bed, with the kerchief that had been wrapped around him slipping aside, and his golden hair shining on the pillow.They recognized it at a glance, this is the hero who played for them many times and won a big victory.

All of a sudden, the whole country rejoiced, and the king took out half of the land as a reward to the son-in-law.From then on, the prince and princess lived happily in this land...

(End of this chapter)