The old woman studied the young girl keenly. “You are more valuable than ten kingdoms. But how is it that you neither have a father, mother or friend?”
The turkey-maiden sighed. “I lived with a fairy called Cancaline. While I was with her, all she did was hit me and treat me harshly. I ran away from there. As I ran through the forests, I saw a prince. He offered me a job to be in charge of his poultry. I accepted the offer, but I did not realize at that time that I would have to see that prince everyday.” The turkey-maiden seemed annoyed. “This was the evil prince and he comes here everyday to pester me to marry him.”
The old woman immediately realized that this was Princess Delicia.
“What is your name?” The old woman asked the turkey-maiden.
“I am Delicia.”
The fairy hugged the girl. “I am an old friend of yours. Now wear this precious dress, instead of what you are wearing.” The fairy said giving the girl a lovely robe and precious diamonds.
The fairy asked the turkey-maiden to wait till the next day while she brought some pleasant news for the turkey-maiden. The fairy went to her castle to bring the queen to this place.
Meanwhile while the turkey-maiden waited, the wicked prince went back to his own palace and cried in rage.
The king heard the prince and was annoyed. “What is the matter?”
“The turkey-maiden would not marry me.” The prince told the king angrily.
The king was furious on hearing it. He ordered his guards to bring Delicia to his own palace so that he could talk to her himself.
Adapted from the Fairy Tales written by Countess d’Aulnoy
No comments:
Post a Comment