When the Prince came back from his hunt he was sad to find his wife in great pain. He wanted to do something about it.
“I cannot leave you like this.” The Prince continued unhappily. “I will summon all the court physicians to apply some soothing medication for your toothache.” Even as he said this the Prince sprang to his feet to go in search of the physicians.
The false princess was terrified on hearing this because she was worried that the physicians would come near her and realize the trick that she had played on the princess.
She forgot her mother's advice about not speaking and nodded eagerly at the Prince willing to say something. But the words of the dove came true and all that she could say repeatedly was ‘Dirty Creatures.’
The Prince was unable to believe what he had heard.
He came to the slow realization that probably his wife was in great pain and that was why she was talking like this. He decided to leave her alone so that she could get some rest.
The Prince went to his own room but he could not sleep.
That night was very hot and airless and the Prince idly sat on the bed and looked through the window.
That was when he saw a woman with a wreath of roses on her head rise out of the sea. The Prince gasped because the woman looked like his wife.
The Prince ran and went down to the waters, but when he went there, the woman had completely disappeared.
The prince wondered whether his eyes had deceived him.
The next morning the Prince was about to go into the false princess’s room and that was when the maids of the palace told him that the princess would not speak or get up, but she ate everything that was kept before her.
The Prince wondered how the princess was able to do that with her toothache.
The Prince then decided that he had to solve the troubles aching the princess and he summoned all the court physicians and asked them to look into his wife.
Unfortunately, when the physicians entered the chamber of the princess, the false princess was so enraged that she forgot about the curse of the doves and threatened ‘dirty creatures’ repeatedly at the physicians.
The physicians were so offended by what they had heard that they left the room at once.
The Prince tried to stop the physicians but they walked away from there.
The Prince was at a loss because he did not understand how the quiet gentle girl who had been so charming for the first few days of that marriage had become so rude and sulky and she could not even control her temper.
However, the Prince realized one more thing. If the princess did not change her conduct very soon, he would have to send her away from the court.
Thinking all this in the evening his eyes went to the sea and he saw the same figure rise out of the waters.
“Wait for me, wait for me!” He shouted and he ran towards the shore.
But once the prince reached the shore there was nothing to be seen except the shadows cast by the moonlight.
The next day there was an important state ceremony taking place in a city further off from the castle.
The Prince had to ride away at daybreak and he left without seeing his wife. He hoped that she would come to her senses by tomorrow or that he would have to send her back to her father's house until she learnt better manners.
It was nearly midnight when the Prince finished his duties at the neighbouring city and returned to the castle.
Adapted from Scandinavian Folk Tales
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