لخّصلي

There once was a princess who needed to marrya prince from a distant land.My dear, we're delighted you're here," said the king."I hope you've had a pleasant journey?" The king and prince were surprised by this, but theypromised to do as she asked. asked the king. And so as soon as the real princess had struggled upthe Never-ending Hill on her old nag, people spoke toher as if she was her own maid! And no matter howhard she cried and claimed to be the real princess,no one believed her. She was taken to the palaceyard, where she was told that she would bethe grubby little Goose Boy's assistant! Every day she had to feed the geese. Then she hadto help the Goose Boy lead the geese throughthe higgledy-piggledy streets of the town to a meadowwhere they could peck about and roam freely.They had to make sure that the geese didn't stray tothe wrong side of the Never-ending Hill, where the landjust fell away into nothing. Then every day atdusk they led themback to the palaceyard again. The people of the town complained because the geese lefttheir droppings wherever they went. The streets and alleysof Faraway were all coated with a greenish slime. The realprincess apologised of course, but she didn't see how shecould stop the geese from making a mess. There wasn't much that the Goose Boy didn't know aboutgoose droppings. He talked about them a lot. The realprincess tried not to mind too much. She felt sorry for himbecause he'd never known any other kind of life, whereasat least she'd once been a princess. But one thing he did made her angry. When she sat by the stream in the meadow, the realprincess would often take off her maid's cap and let downher hair. Then the Goose Boy would reach out his grubbyhand and try to pull out one or two of the shining strands. The real princess would whisk her hair back underher cap. she'd cry. And the GooseBoy would hang his head and shuffle off. But the nexttime she shook out her shining hair, he was there again,trying to tweak some of it out. One day the real princess got so annoyed that shestamped her foot and shouted, "Blow breezes, blowMake his hat go!"So she asked the maid, "Won't you fetch mesome water in one of the golden goblets we've brought?" The princess was so shocked that she meekly got off herhorse and fetched her own water from the river.No one had ever spoken to her like that before. Comforted by this, she climbedback onto him and strokedhis mane. But later she forgot how rude her maid had been,and asked her again for water. Once more the maidrefused and said, "Get it yourself!You've got legs,haven't you?" The princess realised that her maid wasn't going to behelpful at all. So she got down from her horse, took offher crown and cloak and her silver shoes and paddledinto the river Cupping her hands to drink she murmured,"Falada, Falada, what shall I do?"Now you can help me to rulewisely and well!" As for the maid, after a short time of shovellingthe droppings, she went to the princess and beggedher forgiveness. The princess didn't think this was much of an apology.And she wasn't prepared to let the maid avoid herpunishment so easily You must take all the goose droppings you've clearedfrom the streets and spread them on the gardens ofFaraway," she said.People cheered andshouted, "Hooray for the princess!" Falada started to protest, but the maid leaned over andwhispered into his ear, "You'd better keep quiet, or I'll puta bag over your head!"The false princess stood up.

"I think," she said, "that such a person should be putin a barrel, and rolled down the wrong side ofthe Never-ending Hill, and never seen again!"So a prince wasfound who ruled over the land of Faraway, at the topof the Never-ending Hill.She rode around in a circlewaving, and everyone was happy that she was settingoff so joyfully.But she got on it anyway and followed the princessupstream, which was the way Falada had told them to go. They hadn't gone far before the princess began tofeel thirsty.And when the princess lookedup, she was horrified to see her maid was sitting on him.She was even wearing the princess's cloak and crownand silver shoes!said the princess."And that's my cloak, and my crown and those are mysilver shoes! Tell her, Falada!"The maid laughed, thentugged Falada's reinsroughly and rode off."They should scoop up the droppings and put them ontheir gardens," the Goose Boy said.As he stood blinking in the sunlight, the realprincess ran to him and put her arms around his neck."Dear Falada!" she cried."The maid told the Goose Boy he had to help her, of course.Soon the gardens of Faraway bloomed more beautifullythan any gardens in the world.Then the Goose Girl andthe Goose Boy settled down together to grow their ownflowers and vegetables and look after their geese.And so it can truly be said that everyonein Faraway lived happily ever after, thanksto the power of the goose droppingsand the wisdom of a talking horse.This was because thereweren't any princes who lived nearby."That doesn't sound niceat all," she wept."You must followhis advice. He'll be your best and wisest friend."And herhorse replied,

"Drink now then ride,Soon you'll be a bride."Because Falada was so fast, the maid reached the kingdomof Faraway first.Before long she came to the Kingof Faraway who sat next tohis handsome son, the prince."Oh- and my maid'll be along in a while," addedthe false princess.And the land of Faraway wasvery beautiful.saidthe false princess.

There once was a princess who needed to marrya prince from a distant land. This was because thereweren’t any princes who lived nearby. So a prince wasfound who ruled over the land of Faraway, at the topof the Never-ending Hill.

“But it’s such a long journey,” said the princess.“And I don’t even want to get married!”

Her mother told her she would have to get married, orshe could never be a queen. And the land of Faraway wasvery beautiful. However, she would have to be careful notto fall down the wrong side of the Never-ending Hill, for ifshe did, no one would ever see her again.

The princess started to cry. “That doesn’t sound niceat all,” she wept. “Anyway– how will I find my way there?”
Her mother tried to cheer her upby showing her all the gold andsilver that she would take withher, but the princess wouldn’tstop crying until the queen said,“I’ll give you a magical horse.He’ll talk to you and guide youon your way.”

The princess’s tears dried at once,for gifts of gold and silver wereone thing, and princes of distantlands another, but now she wouldhave her very own talking horse.And a maid, who would travelwith her, on her own horse.

When the day came for her to leave the princess was tooexcited to be sad. Her mother drew her wand over the riverand a beautiful horse stepped from the sparkling water.

“His name is Falada,” the queen said. “You must followhis advice. He’ll be your best and wisest friend.”
The horse shook his mane and said,

“Now that I am flesh and bone,You will never be alone.”

The princess clapped her hands in delight. Then shesprang up onto Falada’s back. She rode around in a circlewaving, and everyone was happy that she was settingoff so joyfully.

Everyone, that is, apart from her maid.

“What a fuss!” she thought, watching the queen blowkisses to her daughter. “She’s such a spoilt little goose!”

The maid was jealous because no one had made a fussabout her leaving, or given her any presents. And herhorse was just an ordinary old nag.

But she got on it anyway and followed the princessupstream, which was the way Falada had told them to go.
They hadn’t gone far before the princess began tofeel thirsty. So she asked the maid, “Won’t you fetch mesome water in one of the golden goblets we’ve brought?”

“Get it yourself,” said the maid.

The princess was so shocked that she meekly got off herhorse and fetched her own water from the river.No one had ever spoken to her like that before.

“Falada, Falada, what shall I do?”she whispered. And herhorse replied,

“Drink now then ride,Soon you’ll be a bride.”

Comforted by this, she climbedback onto him and strokedhis mane.

But later she forgot how rude her maid had been,and asked her again for water. Once more the maidrefused and said, “Get it yourself! You’ve got legs,haven’t you?”

The princess realised that her maid wasn’t going to behelpful at all. So she got down from her horse, took offher crown and cloak and her silver shoes and paddledinto the river
Cupping her hands to drink she murmured,“Falada, Falada, what shall I do?”

But the horse said nothing. And when the princess lookedup, she was horrified to see her maid was sitting on him.She was even wearing the princess’s cloak and crownand silver shoes!

“What’s going on?” she cried. “Why are you sitting onmy horse?”

“He’s my horse now,” said the maid.

“But my mother gave him to me!” said the princess.“And that’s my cloak, and my crown and those are mysilver shoes! Tell her, Falada!”

But the horse only looked sad and said,

“Alas, princess, I cannot take sides.The one who rules is the one who rides.”

The maid laughed, thentugged Falada’s reinsroughly and rode off.
The poor princess had no choice but to put on the maid’sold boots and coat and cap, and climb onto the back of herordinary old horse.

Because Falada was so fast, the maid reached the kingdomof Faraway first. She rode easily up the Never-ending Hilland everyone came out to meet her. People cheered andshouted, “Hooray for the princess!”

Falada started to protest, but the maid leaned over andwhispered into his ear, “You’d better keep quiet, or I’ll puta bag over your head!”

She knew that Falada would not be able to talk with a bagover his head.

Falada was very cross. He said,

“A maid you’ll be and a maid you’ll stay,No matter how you make me pay!”

“We’ll see about that!” saidthe false princess.

Before long she came to the Kingof Faraway who sat next tohis handsome son, the prince.
My dear, we’re delighted you’re here,” said the king.“I hope you’ve had a pleasant journey?”

“It was OK,” said the maid, “but my horse is tired.You’ll need to put him in a stable with a bag over his head–that’s the only way he can get to sleep.”

The king and prince were surprised by this, but theypromised to do as she asked.

“Oh– and my maid’ll be along in a while,” addedthe false princess. “When she gets here make sure yougive her plenty of work to do.”

“What kind of work?” asked the king.

“Oh, you know– anything dirty and tiring.”

“I know,” said the prince, “she can help to look afterthe royal geese!”
And so as soon as the real princess had struggled upthe Never-ending Hill on her old nag, people spoke toher as if she was her own maid! And no matter howhard she cried and claimed to be the real princess,no one believed her. She was taken to the palaceyard, where she was told that she would bethe grubby little Goose Boy’s assistant!

Every day she had to feed the geese. Then she hadto help the Goose Boy lead the geese throughthe higgledy-piggledy streets of the town to a meadowwhere they could peck about and roam freely.They had to make sure that the geese didn’t stray tothe wrong side of the Never-ending Hill, where the landjust fell away into nothing.

Then every day atdusk they led themback to the palaceyard again.
The people of the town complained because the geese lefttheir droppings wherever they went. The streets and alleysof Faraway were all coated with a greenish slime. The realprincess apologised of course, but she didn’t see how shecould stop the geese from making a mess.

“They should scoop up the droppings and put them ontheir gardens,” the Goose Boy said. “That’d make theirflowers and vegetables grow.”

There wasn’t much that the Goose Boy didn’t know aboutgoose droppings. He talked about them a lot. The realprincess tried not to mind too much. She felt sorry for himbecause he’d never known any other kind of life, whereasat least she’d once been a princess.

But one thing he did made her angry.
When she sat by the stream in the meadow, the realprincess would often take off her maid’s cap and let downher hair. Then the Goose Boy would reach out his grubbyhand and try to pull out one or two of the shining strands.

The real princess would whisk her hair back underher cap. “What are you doing?” she’d cry. And the GooseBoy would hang his head and shuffle off. But the nexttime she shook out her shining hair, he was there again,trying to tweak some of it out.

One day the real princess got so annoyed that shestamped her foot and shouted, “Blow breezes, blowMake his hat go!”

With that a strong wind came and blew offthe Goose Boy’s hat! He had to chase it allthe way back through the higgledy-piggledystreets, until he finally arrived at the palace.

Where he was arrested forleaving the geese.
The Goose Boy was hot and angry. He told the king aboutthe trick the real princess had played on him.

The king was impressed that a Goose Girl could makethe wind blow. As soon as she brought the geese back,he sent for her. He asked her so many questions thatthe whole story about the false princess came out.

Then the king sat for a while, deep in thought.

Finally he gave orders for a feast to be prepared, and forthe Goose Girl to be dressed as royally as any princess.

The king sat at one end of a great table with his sonand the false princess. The real princess sat atthe other end. No one asked who the real princess was?The royal guests were too busy eating.

When everyone had finished eating, the old king told themthe tale of the false princess, just as if it was a story he’donce heard. Then he asked the false princess what shethought should be done with such a wicked maid.
The false princess stood up.

“I think,” she said, “that such a person should be putin a barrel, and rolled down the wrong side ofthe Never-ending Hill, and never seen again!”

Everyone looked at her in horror.

“You really are a horrid girl, aren’t you?” said the king.He turned to the real princess. “What do you think?”he asked.

The real princess stood up. “I think,” she said, “that sucha person should be made to work as a Goose Girl andclean up all the goose droppings from the streets!”

“So be it,” said the king. The king turned tothe false princess. “Go and change your clothes,my dear. You wouldn’t want to get goose droppingsdown that pretty dress.”

“What? No way!” cried the false princess. “I’m notclearing up goose droppings! That’s her job!”

She was still shouting as she was bundled out of the room.
The king introduced the real princess to his son. Luckily,the prince was so tired of being bossed about by the falseprincess that he was quite happy to meet his real bride.

The first thing the real princess did was to ask for Falada.He was led out of the stables and the bag was taken fromhis head. As he stood blinking in the sunlight, the realprincess ran to him and put her arms around his neck.“Dear Falada!” she cried.“ Now you can help me to rulewisely and well!”

As for the maid, after a short time of shovellingthe droppings, she went to the princess and beggedher forgiveness.

“I’m sorry I was so mean,” she cried. “But people will takeadvantage if you don’t stand up for yourself!”

The princess didn’t think this was much of an apology.And she wasn’t prepared to let the maid avoid herpunishment so easily
You must take all the goose droppings you’ve clearedfrom the streets and spread them on the gardens ofFaraway,” she said. “Then you can live in peace withyour geese.”

The maid told the Goose Boy he had to help her, of course.Soon the gardens of Faraway bloomed more beautifullythan any gardens in the world. Then the Goose Girl andthe Goose Boy settled down together to grow their ownflowers and vegetables and look after their geese.

And so it can truly be said that everyonein Faraway lived happily ever after, thanksto the power of the goose droppingsand the wisdom of a talking horse.