Here's a fairy tale where there are no lies, and if there are, there are two words.
There once lived a king in France who had only one son named Charles. This king's brother was king of England, and he also had one and only son. Once Charles said to his father: “Father, you should write to my uncle, the English king, so that he lets his cousin stay at our court.” I want to meet him - after all, we have never seen each other before.
The French king wrote to his brother, the English king, asking him to let his son go to Paris to stay. And the English prince, whose name was Henry, came to Paris with his tutor. The young princes soon became very friendly and became inseparable.
One day they were hunting together in a large forest in the vicinity of Paris, and there were only two servants with them. Charles became interested in chasing a wild boar. His companions fell behind, he lost sight of them and got lost.
Evening came, and after a long wandering through the forest, Charles had to seek shelter at an inn, which he eventually came across. The hour was late, the prince was already hungry and, without a twinge of conscience, ate everything that the owners had. There was another guest in the house, who arrived shortly before Charles, and both dined at the same table. They started talking, but neither of them identified themselves.
At the end of dinner, the stranger invited the prince to play cards. Charles agreed, and he was so unlucky that he lost all the money to the last sou, and then the knight. “I don’t play anymore,” he said at last. “Let’s do it again,” his partner suggested. “I have nothing else, what are you going to play with me for?” “Bet your head against mine.” “Well, I agree.” - And he thought: “I must win at least once.”
The cards were dealt. Alas! The prince lost again. “In a year and one day,” said the stranger, “come to my castle to pay.” If you don't come, I will be able to find you, wherever you are. - But what is your name and where do you live? - My name is Barbover Greenbeard. And you will have to search and find the castle in which I live, otherwise I will find you myself.
The next morning, at sunrise, the prince was shown the way, and he returned home sad and thoughtful. He left the killed boar to the hotel owner as payment for the night, since he did not have a penny. At home he found everyone in inconsolable grief. But when they saw him, sadness and tears were replaced by lively joy. However, from that day on, the former gaiety and carefreeness did not return to the prince. Nothing comforted him anymore, he seemed sick and was melting before our eyes. The doctors did not know a cure for his illness, the prince’s parents and the entire court were very alarmed that he was not recovering for so long.
So ten months passed, and finally Charles said to his father: “Father, I need to go on a journey, and a rather dangerous one.” I don't know if I'll be back, so we'll say goodbye just in case.
And he left, despite all the persuasion and tears of his father, without even saying where and why he was going. He drove at random, but knowing which road to choose. I drove for several days and didn’t even notice how I found myself in the very forest where I got lost while hunting. Here night overtook him, and he knocked on the squalid hut, noticing a light in the window. An old man with a white beard opened the door for him. “Hello, hermit father,” said the prince. “Hello, my son.” What are you looking for in the forest? - I need to get to Barbover’s castle, but I don’t know where it is or which way to go there. - I know where this castle is. But you don't need to rush. Stay with me for a few days, and when the time comes, I will tell you how to find him.
The prince spent eight days with the hermit, and on the ninth the elder said to him: “My son, the time has come for you to keep your word and go to Barbover.” Listen to me carefully. Do exactly everything I say, and then you will be able to get out of trouble. Here's a ball that will roll in front of you. Just follow him, and he will lead you to the foot of the mountain, and at the top of that mountain stands Barbover's castle. Having reached this place, the ball will return to me. The mountain at the foot is surrounded by thickets of thorns and thorny brambles, so thick and continuous that you cannot pass through them. Take these scissors and you can cut your own path with them. When you no longer need them, just say: “Scissors, come home,” and they will return to me. And you go up the mountain. When you reach the top, you will see a wide plain covered with thickets of fragrant flowers. In the middle of this plain there is a pond, the water in it is clear, light, the bottom is lined with silver. There are three beautiful golden benches near the pond. Hide behind the laurel bush and wait for the three beautiful princesses to appear. They will sit on golden benches, undress and enter the water. These girls are flyers. Quickly jump onto the back of the youngest, she will rise into the air with you and take you to the castle of her father, Barbover. Do everything as I told you, and then you will return home. If you don’t listen to me, you’ll never see your home again.
Charles thanked the old hermit, promised to remember all his instructions and set off on the road after the ball that was rolling in front of him.
So he arrived at the foot of the mountain and released the ball. He rolled back to the hermit. Then the prince cut a passage for himself with scissors through the thorns and blackberries, and the scissors, like a ball, returned to the old man.
And the prince began to climb the mountain. I got to the top and saw a garden full of wonderful fragrant flowers and trees that bend under the weight of fruits. He also found a pond lined with silver, and three golden benches near the water.
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining in a clear sky. The prince hid behind a laurel bush and soon saw three large birds descending from above on wide wings. As soon as they touched the ground, their plumage fell off, and the birds turned into three girls of wondrous beauty. They sat down on the golden benches, sat for a minute, then entered the water. Charles instantly jumped out of his hiding place, ran up to the youngest and jumped on her shoulders. She let out a cry, came out of the water and, putting on her plumage, rose into the air with Charles. The other two girls followed her. They flew to their father's castle, hanging between heaven and earth. Barbover recognized the prince and said: “Oh, is that you, the son of the French king?” Have you come to pay a debt? “Yes,” answered the prince. - The deadline has come, hasn't it? - And it's good that you came, because if I had to look for you myself, you would regret it. Follow me.” “Wait until tomorrow, father,” the youngest of the daughters said to Barbover. “Okay, let’s wait until tomorrow, since he came himself.”
Barbover's youngest daughter was named Quantik. Charles told her why he came here, and Quantik promised to help him. When he went to his room after dinner, she came there after him and said: “Prince, I feel sorry for you.” However, if my father agreed to postpone the reckoning until tomorrow, then there is still hope for salvation. Tomorrow morning he will tell you what tests he wants to subject you to. Whatever he demands from you, do not lose heart, I will help you. Don’t be surprised if I speak harshly to you and even hit you sometimes. Remember that this is for your own good.
The next day, Barbover said to his youngest daughter: “Hey, Quantik, make breakfast for this young man, it’s time for him to get to work.” “Me?” - Quantik objected. “That’s why we have servants in the house, my father!” “No, you’ll prepare his breakfast yourself.” I want it that way. And Quantik prepared breakfast, pretending that she was doing it against her will. When Charles had eaten, he was given a wooden ax and ordered to completely cut down a large forest before sunset.
With an ax on his shoulder, the prince went into the forest, but when he saw the task ahead of him, he sat down under a tree and began to cry, repeating: “I’m lost now!”
At noon, Barbover ordered Quantick to take lunch to the prince. She came into the forest and found Charles in the same place under the tree: he was still sitting and crying. “Is this how you think of bringing the matter to an end?” - she asked. “Why try?” - the prince objected. “It would be better if they killed me right away than to mock me like that.” “Give me the axe, I’ll show you now how to cut down trees.” She took the wooden ax from him and hit it on the trunk of the nearest tree; the tree fell on the next one, the second fell on the third, the third on the fourth, and not an hour had passed before the entire forest lay on the ground. “So today’s lesson is over,” said Quantik. “Rely on me, prince, don’t lose heart so easily.”
And she left. At sunset, Charles also returned to the palace. He walked, whistling, with an ax on his shoulder. “Well, is the lesson done?” - asked Barbover, who was waiting for him on the threshold. “Fulfilled,” Charles answered calmly. - Did you cut down the whole forest? - I cut down the whole forest. Not a single tree remains. “You ruined me!” Such a beautiful forest! “I did only what you ordered.” “What does all this mean?” Barbover wondered to himself. The next morning he led Charles to the foot of a high mountain, gave him a wooden spade and ordered him to tear down the mountain to the ground in the evening, so that only a smooth plain remained in this place. Left alone, the prince sat down under a tree, lit his pipe and began to smoke, looking at the mountain and anxiously wondering if Quantik would come to his aid today too.
At noon Quantik brought him lunch again. “Do you think you’ll tear down a mountain this way?” - she asked. “But you yourself know,” objected Charles, “that I would never do this, even if I worked for a whole century.” Quantique took a wooden spade, hit it on the mountain and said: “Mountain, disappear!” And the mountain disappeared, and in its place lay a smooth, wide plain. At sunset, the prince returned to the castle, whistling carefree. “Lesson completed?” - asked Barbover. - Done. - It can’t be! - Climb the castle tower and see for yourself, Barbover climbed the tower and was surprised to see that the mountain had disappeared.
"What does it mean? - he thought to himself. - Well, nothing. Tomorrow I will come up with a task for him that he will not cope with so easily.” Charles had dinner and went upstairs to his room. Quantik came there secretly and told him: “Until now, you and I got out of it quite easily.” Tomorrow it will be more difficult. But be that as it may, you obey me in everything and rely on me.
The next morning, Barbover announced to Charles that he must find and deliver to the shore the large anchor of the ship on which Barbover’s grandfather had sailed. This anchor has been lying at the bottom of the sea for more than a hundred years. The prince now listened to everything that was ordered to him, no longer being afraid as before. He went to the seashore and, sitting on a rock, calmly lit a pipe.
At noon Quantik came again and said: “Now you must cut off my head and throw it into the sea.” Make a hole in the sand and collect all the blood that flows from my body into it. Just make sure you don't fall asleep. If you fall asleep, then you and I are finished, nothing will save us. Here's a knife for you: cut calmly, don't let your hand tremble.
Charles took the knife that Quantique gave him and, without flinching, cut the neck of the wizard’s daughter. He threw his head into the sea, and collected the blood from the wound into a hole, which he dug in the sand. He suddenly felt terribly sleepy, and he was about to succumb to this desire, but Quantik’s head emerged from the water. An anchor floated behind her. “You almost fell asleep, poor friend,” she said. “Hurry up, take my head and put it to the body, it will grow back on its own.” Charles raised his head, put it back, and at that very moment Quantique appeared in front of him, the same as before. “Now let’s hurry home,” she said, “because I’m very weak from loss of blood.” It’s fortunate that you no longer have anything to fear from my father, our trials are over. Tomorrow he will invite you to choose any of us three as your wife. You say that you want me, Quantik, Then the sisters will shout: “No, father, we do not agree! All three of us will turn into mice, and let them put us in a bag, and the prince will put his hand in there, and whichever one he pulls out will be his wife.” “Well, so be it,” the father will say. When you put your hand in the bag, two mice will immediately rush towards you. But don't take any of them out, because they will be my sisters. I will hide at the bottom of the bag, and it will be easy for you to recognize me.
They returned to the castle and Quantik went to bed. When Barbover saw that Charles had come out of this test with honor, he said: “Well, prince, you have no equal in the world, and I want to take you as my son-in-law.” I have three daughters, which one will you choose? “Quantique,” Charles answered without hesitation. “No, that’s not how a prince should choose!” - both elders immediately shouted. “All three of us will turn into mice, and let them put us in a bag.” The one the prince pulls out will be his wife. “Okay, let’s make sure you don’t feel offended,” said Barbover. And so the three princesses were put in a sack. Charles put his hand into it, and immediately two mice rushed towards him. But he pushed them away and began to fumble at the bottom of the bag, looking for the third one, who was sitting quietly, without moving. He pulled it out and showed it to Barbover: “I want this one!” And the mouse instantly turned into a beautiful girl. It was Quantik.
They were married, and in honor of this, a great feast was held in the castle. At night, when the newlyweds entered their bedroom to lie down, Quantik deliberately threw a candlestick onto the bed prepared for them. At the same moment, the stock fell into the abyss that opened beneath it, fell onto a wheel studded with razor-sharp knives, and shattered into small pieces. It was the Quantik sisters, sorceresses like her, who prepared a trap for the newlyweds, but they happily escaped it.
Charles and his wife traveled to Paris in a beautiful golden chariot that raced through the air. Flying over the forest where the old hermit lived, they went down and spent the whole day with him. The hermit baptized the young sorceress. Arriving in Paris, they found the old king seriously ill, close to death. But when the king saw his son, whom he considered lost forever, and his beautiful wife, his health immediately returned.
And they had magnificent holidays and feasts, at which the poor were not forgotten - not like in our time!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru