grey fairy tale book

Chapter 28 The Twin Brothers
Once upon a time there was a fisherman who was very rich but had no children.One day, an old woman came to his wife and said, "You don't have any children, so what's the use of having so much wealth?"

"It is God's will," replied the fisherman's wife.

"No, son, it's not God's will, it's your husband's fault. If he can catch that little goldfish, you'll have a baby. When he comes home tonight, you tell him he has to catch it again. The little goldfish. He must cut it into six pieces—you must eat one, and he must eat one, and soon you will have two children. The third piece must be fed to the dog, and the dog will have two little ones. Cubs. The fourth piece must be fed to the horse, and the horse will give birth to two foals. The fifth piece must be buried on the right side of the front door of the house, and the sixth piece must be buried on the left side of the front door, so that two cypress trees will grow. "

When the fisherman came back in the evening, the wife told him the old woman's advice.The fisherman promised to bring back the little goldfish.The next morning, the fisherman went to the river early and caught the little goldfish.Then, according to the old woman's instructions, they cut the little goldfish into six pieces.The fisherman's wife gave birth to two boys as expected, they were so alike that they could not be distinguished, the dog gave birth to two very similar cubs, the horse also gave birth to two foals, and two very similar trees grew on both sides of the door. cypress trees.

The two boys have grown up, and although they have a lot of family property, they don't want to stay at home. They both want to go to the outside world and break out their own worlds.The father only had these two sons, so he would not let them leave at the same time.He said: "Go to one first, and then go to the other after you come back."

In this way, one of them went away with his horse and dog.Before leaving, he said to his brother: "As long as the two cypress trees in front of the door are green, it means that I am alive and healthy; but if one of them starts to wither, then come to me quickly." the outside world.

One day, he stayed at an old woman's house.At night, while sitting in front of the door, he saw a castle on the opposite hill.He asked the old woman whose castle it was.The old woman replied: "My child, that is the castle of 'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance'."

"I came here to propose to her!"

"Son, a lot of people have tried and died. She cut off their heads and hung them on a pillar, and there you see the pillar standing."

"Because I'm going there tomorrow to make love to her, and either she'll chop off my head or I'll make the proposal." Then he played the zither so well that no one in the country had ever heard it pleasant music.The princess herself went to the window and listened.

The next morning, the princess sent the old woman over, and asked, "Who is the man who lives with you? You play the zither so wonderfully!"

"A stranger, princess. Arrived only last night," answered the old woman.

Then the princess ordered the stranger to be brought to her.

When the stranger arrived, the princess asked some questions about his native land, his family, etc., and finally admitted that his zitra gave her great pleasure, and wished to be married to him.The stranger said that he had come for this purpose.

Then the princess said, "You must now go to my father the king and tell him that you want to marry me. He will ask you three questions and come back and tell me."

The stranger went straight to the king and told him that he wanted to marry his daughter.

The king replied, "I will be more than happy, if you will do what I ask, or you will lose your head. Listen, there is a log two feet long on the ground outside. If you can cut it into pieces with your sword Two halves, I will marry my daughter to you; if you can't do it, then you will die."

The stranger went away, and went back to the old woman's house in despair, for he knew that the next day he would have to take his own head as an apology to the king.All he could think about was how to split that log, and he forgot all about playing the harp.

In the evening, the princess went to the window to listen to the piano as scheduled, but there was silence all around.Then she called out to him, "Why are you so depressed to-night that you don't even play the piano?"

He spoke his mind.

The princess laughed it off, and shouted to him: "Are you sad about this matter? Get out your qin and cheer me up. Come to me tomorrow morning."

When the stranger heard this, he took out his qin and played for the princess all night.

Next morning the princess pulled out a hair and gave it to him, saying, "Take this hair and wrap it around your sword, and you will be able to split that piece of wood in two."

The stranger stepped forward and split the log in two.

But the king said, "Before you marry my daughter, I have one more task for you."

"Go ahead," said the stranger.

"Listen," said the king, "you'll have to ride three miles at full speed with a glass full of water in each hand. If you don't spill any water, I'll marry your daughter; if you fail, I'll take yours." Life."

The stranger then returned to the old woman's place.He became troubled again and forgot to play the piano.

In the evening, the princess came to the window as usual and listened to him play, but all was silent again.The princess shouted to him: "What's the matter, why don't you play the harp?"

Then he told her what the king had commanded.The princess replied: "Don't worry, just play the piano now, and come to me tomorrow morning."

The next morning, he went.The princess gave him her ring, and said, "Throw this ring into the water, and the water will freeze at once, and it will not spill out."

The stranger did as the princess commanded, carrying the water steadily along the way.

The king said: "Now I give you the third and last task. I have a black man, and I will wrestle with you tomorrow. If you win, you can marry my daughter."

The stranger returned to the old woman's house full of joy, and he was so happy that night, and the princess called to him, "You seem to be very happy tonight. What did your father tell you to make you so happy?"

He said: "Your father told me that tomorrow I have to fight one of his niggers. This black person is as human as I am, and I think I can conquer him and win the game."

But the princess replied, "This is the hardest thing. I am the Negro, because when I drink, I become a Negro with great strength. Go to the market tomorrow morning and buy twelve cowhide. Wrap up the horse and stick this cloth around your body. Tomorrow, when I am released to attack you, shine this cloth on me, and I will back off without hurting you. When wrestling with me , you have to try to hit my horse between the eyes, because if you kill the horse, you have won me."

So the next morning he bought twelve ox hides at the fair, wrapped his horse, and began to wrestle the blacks.When they fought for a long time, eleven hides were torn, and at last the stranger struck the negro's horse between the eyes, and the horse fell dead, and the negro was defeated.

The king then said: "Because you have fulfilled my three requirements, then I will recognize you as my son-in-law."

But the stranger said, "I have business to settle. I will be back in fourteen days to bring the bride home."

Saying this, he set off for a large town in another country, where he lodged in an old woman's house.After dinner, he asked the old woman for water, but the old woman said, "My child, I have no water for you. There is a giant occupying the well spring. We send him a maiden every year, so that we can only fetch water." Once. He ate the girl first, and then he made us fetch water; this time it happened to be the turn of the king's daughter, and she was to be sent there tomorrow."

The next day the princess was brought as expected, and bound there by a golden chain.After leaving her, everyone left.

After they had left, the stranger came up to the girl and asked her what was causing her so much grief.The maiden replied that a giant was going to eat her.The stranger said he would save her if she would be his wife.She happily agreed.

As soon as the giant appeared, the stranger set the dogs on him, and bit him by the throat until he suffocated.In this way the princess is saved.

When the king heard of this, he readily agreed to the marriage and held a grand wedding ceremony for them.The young bridegroom lived in the palace for one hundred and one weeks, and gradually felt that this kind of life was very boring, so he wanted to go out to hunt.The King wanted to stop him, but could not, and begged him to at least take enough guards, but the young man avoided them, and set out on his way, taking only his horse and dog.

He had ridden a long way, when he saw a hut in the distance, he went straight to it and asked for some water.There he met an old woman and asked her for water.The old woman said that she would first be allowed to beat his dog with a stick so that the dog would not bite her when she fetched water.Hunter agreed.When the old woman touched the dog with a stick, the dog turned into stone in an instant.Then she touched the huntsman and the horse with her stick, and at once they were also turned to stone.When this happened, the two cypress trees in front of the hunter's father's gate began to wither.Seeing this, the hunter's twin set out at once to find him.

He first came to the town where the twin brother killed the giant.By fate, he came to the old woman's house where the twin brother had stayed.When the old woman saw him, she mistook him for his twin brother, so she said to him, "Son, don't get me wrong. I was going to wish you and the princess a happy wedding."

The stranger realized the reason for the old woman's mistake, but just said: "It's all right, old man," said nothing more, and continued to ride to the king's palace.There, the king and princess also mistook him for their twin brother, and asked him in unison, "Why did you stay outside for so long? We thought something bad happened to you."

At night, he slept with the princess who took him as her husband, and he put the sword between them.At dawn, he got up early and went out to hunt.Fate made him go the same way as his brother.He saw his twin brother from afar, and knew that he had been turned into a stone statue.Then he went into the hut and ordered the old woman to disenchant his brother.But the old woman said: "Let me touch your dog with a stick first, and then release your brother."

However, he ordered the dog to catch her and bite her up to the knee.At last the old woman yelled, "Let your dog let me go, and I will break your brother's spell!"

But he only said, "Say the spell, and I will break him myself." As the old woman would not, he ordered the dog to bite her right up to the rump.

Later, the old woman shouted loudly: "I have two sticks, the green one turns people into stone, and the red one brings people back to life."

So the hunter took the red stick, and unwitched the brother, the horse, and the dog, and let the dog eat the old woman.

On the way back to the king's castle, the two brothers told the other how they saw the dry cypress tree in front of their house and rushed to find the twin brothers, how they went to the other's father-in-law's castle and recognized the princess as his wife.On hearing this, the other was furious, and struck the twin on the forehead till he died, and returned alone to the king's palace.

At night, when he was sleeping, the princess asked him: "What happened to you last night, you didn't say a word to me?"

He roared, "That's not me, it's my twin brother. I've killed him because he told me he has taken you as his wife!"

"And do you know where he was killed?" asked the Princess. "Can you find the body?"

"It's clear."

"Well, then, we will ride there to-morrow," said the Princess.The next morning, they set off as scheduled.When they came there, the princess took out a vial which she carried with her, and sprinkled a few drops of water on the corpse, and it immediately revived.

He stood up, and the twin brother said to him: "Dear brother, please forgive me for killing you in a fit of anger." Then the two brothers embraced and went back to "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance" together. The unmarried brother married "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance" "The princess is his wife.

Then, the two brothers took their parents over to live together, and the whole family lived happily together.

(End of this chapter)