Floatling had to go through a great forest to reach the king's castle.
However he lost his way.
The forest began to grow dense and it was also getting dark in the evening.
There Floatling met an old woman in the forest. “Where are you going Floatling?”
“I am going with a letter to the king's castle.” Floatling looked around worriedly. “I have lost my way. Can you tell me how to get to the right road, mother?”
The old lady studied Floatling. “Night is not the right time to travel. You can go to the castle in the morning. I think you can rest here for the night.”
Floatling looked suspiciously as the old woman nodded. “I am not a stranger. I am your godmother.”
Finally the young Floatling agreed and he saw a pretty little house some distance away from the place where he had met the old woman. However the house looked like it had just been made to appear all of a sudden.
But the young man did not think more about it and he slept there for the night.
At that time the old woman took the letter out of the pocket of the young man and rewrote the words in the letter. “This young man with whom I have sent this letter is to be married to our daughter before I return. This is destiny.”
Floatling left the old woman's hut the next day and reached the castle with the directions from the old woman.
When the Queen read the letter that Floatling had brought she was thrilled.
She ordered arrangements to be made for the wedding immediately.
The young princess and the Queen were both very happy with the king’s letter because Floatling was very handsome and strong.
Both the royal ladies felt that the king had made the right choice on this one.
A few days later when the king came home he was shocked to find that Floatling had become his son-in-law.
He was angry at first but he saw that the Queen had his letter. The letter had his handwriting, his seal and writing and everything was proper.
He did not know what to think when he called Floatling. “What had happened on the way to the castle?”
Floatling told the king about how he had met his godmother on the way to the forest. When Floatling described the old woman the king realized that the old woman was the Fate who had given Floatling this particular destiny.
However, though the king was resigned to what had happened he was determined to change it. “You cannot have my daughter for nothing. You must bring me three golden hairs of grandfather Allknow.”
Adapted from Bohemian folk tales
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