grey fairy tale book

Chapter 16 The Bearded Farmer

A long time ago, there was a couple who had a son named Jack.The woman thought he should go out to work and asked her husband to take him out of the house.

"You have to take him to a good place and make him a master's master," she said.Then, they were given food and tobacco.

They went to see many masters, and they all said that they could make him as good as themselves, but they couldn't do better than themselves.

The man went home and told his wife, and she said, "I'll be happy with anything you ask him to do. But I say, you'll make him a master's master." Then she gave them food and tobacco, and they set off again.

After they had gone a little way, they walked on the ice, and they saw a black horse drawing a cart, and a man was driving the cart.

"Where are you going?" the man asked.

"I took my son as an apprentice and found a good master to teach him a trade. My old woman came from a good family, and she insisted that my son be taught as a master's master."

"Then it would be great if we could meet!" said the man driving, "I can do it! I'm looking for an apprentice, you come with me." After he finished speaking, he jumped off his horse and led the young man into the sky.

"No, wait a minute," the boy's father called, "I want to know your name and where you live."

"Oh, my family lives in the southeast and northwest. My name is Windbeard Farmer," said the master. "If you come here again in a year, I will tell you whether your son is suitable or not." After speaking, they left.

The man is home.The woman asked what the son was doing now.

"Oh, God knows what he's doing!" said the man, "they're in heaven." He told his wife exactly what had happened.

After the woman heard it, she found that the man didn't even know when her son would be able to leave the teacher, nor where he had gone. She packed up the package for him and asked him to look for it, and brought him food and tobacco leaves.

The man walked for some time and came into the woods.He walked in the woods for a day, and when night fell, he saw a light and walked towards it.After walking for a long time, I saw a small thatched hut at the foot of the rock. An old woman stood at the door and drew water from the well with her nose, which was very long.

"Good evening, Granny," said the man.

"Good evening," said the old woman, "I haven't been called grandma for hundreds of years."

"Can I stay here tonight?" he said.

"No!" said the old lady.The man took out his cigarette and started smoking.After giving her a sip, she was very happy, danced and danced, and agreed to let him stay overnight.After a while, he asked about the wind-bearded farmer.

She said she didn't know the man.But she is in charge of four-legged beasts, and may be able to find out.She whistled, gathered the beasts together, and questioned them.But everyone doesn't know.

"Well," she said to the man, "we have three sisters, and perhaps they know. I'll lend you the carriage and horse, and you'll be there in the evening. She's three hundred miles away, so take a short cut."

The man set off, and the night came.When he got there, the old woman was also carrying water by her nose at the well.

"Good evening, Granny," he said.

The old woman replied, "Good evening. No one has called me grandma for hundreds of years."

"Can I sleep over tonight?" the man asked.

"No!" said the old woman.

He took out another cigarette, took a puff and put it on the back of the old woman's hand for her to smell it.She danced happily, and agreed to let him stay overnight.After a while, he asked her if she knew the wind-bearded farmer.

She didn't know the man, but she was in charge of all the fish.Maybe, she said, she could find out.She blew her whistle, gathered them together, and asked them.But none of the fish knew.

"Well," said the old woman, "I have a sister, maybe she knows. She lives six hundred miles away from here. I'll lend you the carriage and horse, and you can get there by nightfall."

The man set off, and it was getting dark.The old woman was shoveling the fire with her nose.

"Good evening, Granny," said the man.

"Good evening," she replied, "I haven't been called grandma for hundreds of years."

"Can I stay here tonight?" the man asked.

"No!" said the old woman.

The man took out the tobacco leaves, put some in the pipe, and put some on the back of the old woman's hand. She danced happily and agreed that the man would live here.

After a while, he asked about the wind-bearded farmer.She didn't know, but she said she was in charge of all the birds, and she called them together with a whistle and asked them if they knew.

A belated eagle came by, and when she asked, said he had just come from the Windbearded Farmer.The old woman told it to lead the way for the man.But the eagle wants to eat first, and wants to wait until the next day.It is too tired to fly.

When the eagle had eaten and rested, the old woman plucked a feather from its tail, and made the man sit on it, and the eagle flew away with him.It was already midnight when we reached the wind-bearded farmer.

The eagle said: "There are many dead bodies outside the door. Don't worry about them. The people in the room are sleeping soundly, and you can't wake them up easily. You go directly to the drawer and take out three pieces of bread. When you hear the snoring, start from his head. Pluck three feathers and he won't wake up."

The man did what it said.After getting the bread, he plucked a feather first.

"Ah!" the wind-bearded farmer screamed.

He pulled another one.The bearded farmer screamed again, so loudly that the man thought the concrete and bricks were about to fall, but he went on sleeping again.

The eagle told him what to do next, and he did.When he got to the stable door, he nearly tripped over a stone, and picked it up, and there were three small pieces of wood underneath, and he picked it up too.He knocked on the stable door, and it opened instantly.

He threw three loaves on the ground, and the hare came out to eat them.He caught the hare.The eagle told him to pluck three feathers from its tail and stick them on the rabbit, and then he could go home with stones and logs.

The eagle flew for a long time, landed on a stone, and asked, "Do you see anything?"

"I saw a herd of cows galloping after us," the man said.

"Then we have to fly for a while." The eagle said, and set off.

After a while, it asked again: "What do you see now?"

"I saw the cow very close to us," said the man.

"Throw down the three feathers that were plucked from his head," said the eagle.

The man threw it.As soon as it was thrown down, the feathers turned into a flock of crows and drove the cattle home.

The eagle flew some distance, stopped on the stone, and asked, "What do you see?"

"I'm not sure," said the man, "but I think I see something coming from a distance."

"Then let's fly for a while." The eagle flew away.

"What do you see now?" it asked after flying for a while.

"I see, it's right behind us," the man said.

"Throw down the three chips you picked up from under the rock," said the eagle.

The man complied.As soon as it was dropped, the wood chips became a huge forest, and the wind-bearded farmer had to go home to get his axe.

The eagle flew for a long time, was tired, and rested on a fir tree.

"What do you see?" it asked.

"I see it, but I'm not sure," the man said. "It's far, far away."

"Then let's fly for a while." The eagle said, and set off again.

"What do you see now?" the eagle asked after flying for a while.

"I see, he's right behind us," the man said.

"Now throw down that stone by the stable door," said the eagle.

The man complied.The stone immediately turned into a mountain of stone.Now Farmer Windbeard had to carve a way out before he chased them.But halfway through the climb, he broke a leg and had to go home for treatment.

The eagle flew home with the man, and took the hare with him.As soon as he got home, the man took the hare to the cemetery, sprinkled some dirt on the rabbit, and the rabbit immediately became his son Jack.

When it was time to go to the market, the young man transformed himself into a white horse, and asked his father to go with him.

"If someone wants to buy me, you tell him 100 yuan, but don't forget to take off the bridle, otherwise I can't run away from the wind-bearded farmer. He is the one who came to buy the horse."

So, that's it.A man came to buy the horse, and the man charged 100 yuan, but after selling the horse, the man asked for the bridle.

"I won't sell that," said the man. "I won't give it to you. I'll sell other horses."

They went their separate ways.The man and Jack did not go far, for as soon as the man got home he saw Jack sitting on the bench by the fire.

The next day Jack turned into a gray horse again and asked his father to go to the market with him. "If someone comes to buy me, it will cost 200 yuan. He will give you money and treat you, but no matter what you eat or drink, don't forget to take the bridle with you, or you will never see me again .”

That's all.A man came over, gave 200 yuan to buy a horse, and invited guests.He had just remembered to take the bridle off when they parted.The buyer obviously couldn't get far, and Jack took human form.When the man got home, Jack was already sitting on the bench by the fire.

On the third day, it was still the same.The young man turned into a dark horse and told his father that someone would buy it for 300 yuan.Whether it's a treat or a drink, just don't forget to take the bridle off, or it won't come back from the wind-bearded farmer.

"I won't forget," his dad said.

He went to the market and sold it for 300 yuan. The bearded farmer treated him, but he forgot to take the bridle.As a result, the wind-bearded farmer took the horse away.

After walking some distance, he went into the inn to drink, and put a bucket full of hot nails under the horse's nose, and an oats trough under his tail, and then he tied the bridle to the hook, and went into the inn.

The horse stood there stomping, kicking, snorting, rearing, restless.A girl came out of the inn and couldn't bear to see it.

"Oh, poor thing! How your master treats you like this," she said, throwing off the bridle, and trying to make the horse eat oats.

"I'm still here!" screamed the wind-bearded farmer, rushing out.But the horse had taken off the bridle and rushed into the goose pond, where it became a fish.

The Farmer the Windbeard followed him and turned into a spear, Jack turned into a dove again, and the Farmer the Windbeard turned into an eagle and followed the dove and pecked at it.

A princess stood at the window watching the battle.

"If you knew what I was thinking, fly into this window," said the princess to the dove.

The pigeon flies through the window, transforms back into Jack, and tells her what's going on.

"Turn yourself into a golden ring, and I will put it on my finger," said the Princess.

"I can't," said Jack, "Farmer Beard will make the King sick, and no one can cure it but him. Then he'll want the ring."

"I'll say it's my mother's ring and I won't give it to him," said the princess.

So Jack turned into a ring.Put it on the princess' finger.The Windbearded Farmer couldn't catch him now.Then everything the young man predicted happened.

The king was sick and no doctor could cure him.The wind-bearded farmer came, and he wanted the ring from the princess' finger.

The king sent for the princess's ring, but she refused because it belonged to her mother.The king was furious, and said he wanted the ring, whoever left it for her.

"It is useless for you to be angry," said the princess, "I cannot take it off. If you want this ring, you must cut off my finger."

"I'll try, and the ring will fall off," said the wind-bearded farmer.

"No, thank you. I will do it myself," said the princess.She went to the fire and scattered ashes on the ring.

Now the ring fell off, into the soot.

The wind-bearded farmer turned into a hare, and ashes fell into his ears as he pawed and turned over in the stove.Jack turned into a fox and bit off the rabbit's head.If the wind-bearded farmer belonged to the devil, he was already with the devil by now.

(End of this chapter)