This is post #8 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
"Pope of Rome, a bad man has taken my wife. Do you know where she is?"
"No, my friend. But Saint Peter will tell you."
Then the Pope of Rome looked out into the countryside and whistled. Immediately, an eagle, as big as an ox, came and landed on the edge of the window.
“Eagle, you know what I want. Obey."
The eagle took the king in its claws and carried him to the threshold of paradise. The king looked through the keyhole. He saw the Good Lord and the Blessed Virgin, who were singing vespers, among the angels and the saints. It was so beautiful, so beautiful, that he was in no hurry to knock on the door. But the eagle pecked him hard.
“Come on, hurry up. I have other business elsewhere."
At the first blow of the hammer, the door opened.
“Hello, Saint Peter. I come on behalf of the Pope of Rome, I come to ask you a great service. A bad man took my wife. Tell me where she is."
"My friend, your wife is a prisoner, on a high mountain, on an island in the sea. In the shade of a large oak tree, she sleeps and will sleep until you wake her. But you are not yet on the island, and the evil man watches night and day. He made himself King of Fishes, and rules in the air and the water. Listen. In the time of Our Lord, I was a fisherman in my country. There I left my boat, where bread and wine never fail. There I left my good line of Spanish horsehair, with a big golden hook, blessed by the hand of Jesus Christ. Get into my boat, and go out to sea without fear. When you are in front of the island, the King of Fish will terribly shake the waters, and unleash a storm. So, prime my good line with Christian flesh. Immediately, you will feel a jolt as you launch it into the sea. Hold on. Draw firmly. Six times the King of Fishes will ascend, similar to various things. But on the seventh time, he will take the form of a man. Then draw your sword and cut off his head on the side of my boat. Once this is done, the rest of your work will be easy."
"Thank you, Saint Peter."
The door of paradise closed, and the eagle took the king in its claws and carried him to the seashore. There was the boat of Saint Peter, and his good line of Spanish horsehair, with a large golden hook, blessed by the hand of Jesus Christ.
“Thank you, eagle."
The eagle flew away again. Then the king began to think.
“And now, I need Christian flesh, to put on the good line of Saint Peter."
At that moment, a little shepherd was passing by with his sheep. The king looked askance at him, but he said to himself:
" No. I will not kill this child. Let's go dig in this cemetery."
The king stopped in front of a freshly filled pit, but he said to himself:
"No. Let's leave the dead in peace."
Immediately, he jumped into Saint Peter's boat, and set off alone on the sea, a hundred times faster than a swallow. At sunrise, he was a hundred toises from the island, where his wife was still sleeping on the high mountain, in the shade of the great oak.
Then the King of Fish shook the waters terribly, and let loose the storm.
“Enjoy your rest, King of Fishes. You will hear from me."
The king drew his sword, cut a piece of flesh from his thigh, baited the great golden hook blessed by the hand of Jesus Christ, and threw the good line of Saint Peter into the sea. Immediately, he felt a shock that would knock him over; but he held firm, and pulled firm.
Source: La Belle endormie, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
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 the French book, this tale is the first of seven, labeled as "Les Belles Persécutées" (Beautiful Persecuted Women). Included are versions of "Barbe Bleue" {Bluebeard) and "Peau d'Âne" (Donkeyskin). These two folk tales are well known because versions of them were published by Charles Perrault in 1697, in a very popular book. The versions that I will soon post are slightly different.
It is interesting that, in these tales, Saint Peter gives a very detailed answer to the question asked of him. As if he knows everything for everybody on earth. In this story, he gives instructions to the king. He indicates where his boat is, and in his boat, there is a fishing line made of "Spanish horsehair". Really? When Simon Peter was leaving, there was no such country as Spain, so nothing could be qualified as "Spanish". But, the storytellers who could not read or write could not realize that.
At the vineyard house, we have a rotary tiller, also known as a cultivator. Last month, I put too much oil in it, and it refused to start.
Last week, we tried to bring it to a repair shop, but they had too many devices to repair, so they told us to come back this week. Today, I brought the tiller to the shop. The technician thought that he could solve the problem in 10 minutes, but the result was not satisfactory. The engine was working, but it was too slow. He told me that he needed to clean the carburetor, but it would take longer than he anticipated, so I had to leave the tiller at the shop.
-- Vincent Celier