grey fairy tale book

32 The Bear

Once upon a time there was a king who had only one daughter.He was very sorry for the princess, so that whenever the daughter went out of the palace, the king was always afraid that something would happen.Out of endless love for his daughter, the king made his daughter live like a prisoner, and could only move around in his bedroom every day.

However, the princess did not like such a life at all.One day she talked about it to her nurse, looking very sad.However, the wet nurse was a witch, which even the King did not know.She patiently listened to the princess talking for a while, inserting a few words from time to time to comfort the little princess. When she saw that the princess didn't listen to the comfort, the nanny said to her: "You know the king loves you very much. Anything, he will give you anything. The only thing he won't promise you is to let you out of the palace. Now, you do as I say. Go to your father and ask him for a wooden cart and a bear. Skin, come to me when you get it, I click the cart with my magic wand, it will automatically turn around, and it will take you quickly, flying to any place you want to go. As for the bear skin? It’s you 'Protective clothing', put it on and no one will recognize you."

So the princess did as the witch suggested.The king was very surprised at this strange request, and asked the princess what she wanted to do with the wooden cart and the bear's skin.The princess replied: "You never let me leave the palace, but at least you should agree to my request." So the king agreed.The princess came to her nurse with a wooden barrow and a bear's skin.

When the Witch saw the cart and the bearskin, she struck them with her wand.All of a sudden, the cart began to move freely in any direction.Then the princess put on the bear's skin, and immediately changed her appearance, so that anyone who saw her would only think that she was a bear, not a girl.In this strange attire the princess got into the barrow, and presently found herself leaving the palace, and speeding through a great forest.At this time, she stopped the cart according to the gesture of the Witch Cult, and let herself and the cart hide in the dense flower bushes.

At this time, the prince of another country was hunting in the forest with hounds.Suddenly, he noticed a bear hiding in the bushes, and he called the hounds to besiege and capture it.Seeing her own danger, the princess cried out, "Call your hound away, or I will be killed! Have I ever hurt you?" When the bear said this, the prince was stunned. Standing still, she said softly, "Will you come with me? I'll take you to my house right now."

"I am very willing," replied the bear, and got into his cart and drove towards the palace of the prince.It is not difficult to imagine the surprised look of the queen mother when she saw a bear returning home with her son. This bear was better at doing housework than any servant I had ever seen.

At this time, various grand celebrations were being held in the palace of the neighboring prince.During the meal, the prince said to his mother, "There is a ball tonight, and I must attend it."

The queen mother replied, "Then go dance. Have fun!"

Suddenly, a voice came from under the table, which turned out to be the bear curled up underneath: "Let me go to the dance too, I want to dance too."

But the prince's only response was to kick it and drive it out of the dining room.

In the evening the prince went out to the ball.As soon as he got up, the Bear came up to the Queen, and begged her to go to the ball, and promised her to hide it so that no one would know where he was.The good queen agreed.

Then she rushed to her cart, took off the bearskin, and tapped the bearskin with the wand the witch had given her.In the blink of an eye, the bear skin turned into a beautiful ball gown woven by moonlight, and the cart turned into a carriage drawn by two fine horses.The princess boarded the carriage, and went all the way to the entrance of the royal palace.As soon as she entered the ballroom, she was so lovely, so different, against the beautiful moonlight dress, that few people wanted to know who she was, but no one knew where she came from.

The prince fell in love with her from the first moment he saw her, and spent the whole evening dancing with this beautiful stranger without answering anyone else.

As soon as the ball was over, the princess drove away in her own carriage, because she hoped to get back in time to exchange the ball gown and the carriage for the bearskin and the wheelbarrow before anyone recognized her.

The prince rode his horse after him, for he was determined not to let her disappear before his eyes.Suddenly, a mist rose, separating the two, and finally she was nowhere to be seen.When he got home, he talked to his mother about the beautiful stranger with whom he had danced many times, the woman who made him fall in love at first sight.At this time, the bear under the table was snickering and whispering: "I am that beautiful stranger, ha, I finally tricked you!"

The next night there was another ball in the palace.As you can imagine, the prince couldn't miss it, because he thought he would meet that lovely girl again, dance with her, and make her talk because she never opened her lips at the first ball.

As expected, when the music of the first dance played, the beautiful stranger appeared in the ballroom, looking more radiant than the previous night, because her dress this time was woven with sunlight.The prince danced with her all evening, but she still did not speak a word.

When the ball was over, he tried again to follow her carriage, hoping to find out where she had come from.However, a jet of water fell from the sky and a blinding shower of rain caused him to lose track of her.

He went home and told his mother that he saw the lovely girl again, and this time she was even more beautiful than last time.The bear snickered again under the table and whispered, "I lied to him again, and he still doesn't know that I'm the pretty girl he loves."

On the third night, the prince finished the third dance and returned to the palace from the ball.Of course the princess went too.This time she exchanged her bear skin for a dress woven of starlight and studded with precious stones, which made her so dazzling and beautiful that everyone looked at her in amazement and said they had never seen such a thing before. beautiful girl.The prince danced with her again, and though he could not make her speak, he succeeded in getting a ring on her finger.

After the ball, the prince followed her carriage, and for a long time did not let it out of his sight.Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up between him and the carriage, making it impossible for him to keep up.

Back at the palace, he said to his mother, "I don't know what's wrong with me, I think I'm going crazy, I love that girl so much, but I have no way of knowing who she is. I danced with her and gave She has a ring, but I still don't know her name, where to find her."

Bear was still snickering and talking to himself under the table.

The prince went on: "I am dying of exhaustion, and I have the cook prepare some soup for me, but I don't want the bear to interfere. Every time I mention my love, the beast murmurs and snickers, as if mocking me." .I don't want to see that guy."

When the soup was ready, the bear came to the prince with the soup.Earlier, it tossed into the plate the ring the Prince had given him at the ball that night.The Prince began to drink his soup very slowly and listlessly, for he was very sad, and was absorbed in thinking how and where to find the lovely girl.Suddenly, the ring at the bottom of the plate caught his attention.He recognized at a glance that it was the ring he gave to the girl, which shocked him.

At this time, he saw the bear standing aside, looking at him with gentle and pleading eyes, which seemed to tell him: "Take off that layer of skin, and some kind of mystery is hidden underneath."

The bear skin fell to the ground, and the beautiful girl in the starlight dress stood in front of him. Now he finally saw the stranger he loved deeply, and now he was a thousand times more beautiful than before.He led her to see the queen mother.The princess told them her story, how she was locked up in the palace by her father, and how she was tired of the prison life.The queen liked her very much, and was very happy that her son could find such a beautiful and kind wife.

So they married, and lived happily for many years, and kept their kingdom in order.

(End of this chapter)