This is post #6 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
There was, once, a king who had three daughters: the eldest as beautiful as the day, the second more beautiful than the eldest, the third more beautiful than the other two. The king especially loved his two eldest daughters. Every time he went on a campaign, he never failed to bring them beautiful gifts. But there was never anything for the last one.
“Father,” she said to him one day, “when you go into the countryside, you never fail to bring back beautiful presents for your two eldest daughters. But there is never anything for me."
"My daughter, what do you want me to bring you?"
"Father, bring me a flower."
"My daughter, I promise you contentment."
A few days later, the king went on a campaign. While passing through a large city, he bought beautiful presents for his two eldest daughters and nothing for the youngest. That done, he set off again. In the evening, he passed near a beautiful castle, in a superb parterre. Then he remembered the promise he had made to the last of his daughters.
Immediately, the king dismounted and picked the most beautiful flower. He had just picked it up when he heard a voice.
“King, you stole the most beautiful of my flowers."
"Who are you? I hear you, but I do not see you."
"I am whoever I please, and you will see me if I want. You stole the most beautiful of my flowers. Give me one of your daughters in marriage. Otherwise, I'll eat you and yours alive."
"I will talk to my daughters about it."
The king set off again. Arriving at his castle, he summoned his three daughters.
“My daughters, listen. Here are the beautiful presents that I am bringing back for my two eldest children. This is the beautiful flower that I picked for my last, near a beautiful castle, in a superb flowerbed. I had just picked it up when I heard a voice, but I did not see the one who spoke. “King,” he said to me, “you stole the most beautiful of my flowers. Give me in marriage the most beautiful of your daughters. Otherwise, I'll eat you and yours alive." Which of you wants to marry the master of this castle?"
“Father, not me,” said the eldest.
“Father, not me,” said the second.
“Father,” said the third, “I don’t want you and yours to be eaten alive. I will marry whoever you want."
The next day, the king took his third daughter on his horse and carried her to the flowerbed from which, the day before, he had plucked the most beautiful flower.
“Farewell, my daughter. Pray to God to protect you from all misfortune."
And the king set off again at full gallop.
For a long, long time, the young girl remained alone in the flowerbed, crying. Finally, she came and knocked on the castle door. But the house was deserted, and the door did not open.
Then the poor girl returned to the flowerbed and began to pick flowers. As the sun set, she heard a voice.
“Pick flowers, darling. Pick as many as you want."
"Who are you? I hear you, but I do not see you."
"I am the one who will marry you. If you are not afraid, speak, and you will see me."
"I am not afraid."
Then the young girl saw a Flying Snake, tall and as thick as a poplar trunk.
“Here I am, darling. Do you still want to marry me?"
"Flying Snake, I will do as I said. We will get engaged whenever you want."
"Here, cutie. Here is the wedding ring."
And the Flying Snake placed a golden ring on the girl's finger.
“Listen, cutie. Keep this ring on your finger, and never, ever take it off. Otherwise, a great misfortune would happen. If you are sick, the ring will turn silver. If it turns blood color, you will be in danger of death."
—Thank you, Flying Snake. You will be obeyed. Now I want to go back to my father's castle. I am still very young. Our wedding is in no hurry."
Then the Flying Snake loaded the poor girl onto his back and took off a hundred times faster than a swallow. In a moment, she was in front of her father's castle.
Source: La Belle endormie, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
Previous Tale: The Sword of Saint Peter
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
In French, the folk tale known in English as "Sleeping Beauty" is known as "La Belle au bois dormant" (The Beautiful Girl Sleeping in the Woods). It was published in 1697 by Charles Perrault in his most famous book "Histoires ou contes du temps passé, avec des moralités: Contes de ma mère l'Oye" (Stories or Tales from Past Times, with Morals: Mother Goose Tales).
This folk tale titled "La Belle endormie" is not related at all to "La Belle au bois dormant", and French people would not confuse the two stories.
The picture at the top of this post is the painting Flaming June. It is, nowadays, the most famous painting of Frederic Leighton, a British painter of the Victorian era, who painted it in 1896.
During his life, the paintings of Frederic Leighton were very expensive, but during the first half of the 20th century, they fell out of fashion. Flaming June was bought in 1960 for less than US$1,000 and is owned by a museum in Puerto Rico.
When Kati, my wife, arrived in Pécs at the beginning of June, she took in a black dog who had been abandoned and was starving. She named her "Kormi", the diminutive of the Hungarian adjective "kormos" which means sooty, black as soot. She is close to a Mudi, a Hungarian shepherd dog breed.
In Kati's properties, there are many fruit trees. We were surprised to discover that Kormi liked to eat apples fallen on the ground or grapes on the vines. Among the fruit trees, there are four walnut trees. Last year, Kati collected more than 15 kg of walnuts. Yesterday, she shelled the last kilograms of walnuts that remained from last year. She used a very efficient tool for shelling: a hammer!
And Kormi surprised us again: she likes walnuts. So, Kati gave her many walnuts and she ate them all.
In the middle of the night, Kormi got sick and she vomited on the floor. This morning she was not very active, as she is usually.
-- Vincent Celier