This is post #11 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
LA FLEUR
Five minutes later, the arms and legs had grown back. The captain was as cheerful and cheerful as anyone. They both entered the flowerbed, full of beautiful trees and pretty flowers. Under the laurel tree, the Princess stood, dressed in a dress the color of the sun, with a crown of stars in her hair.
“Thank you, La Fleur. My torments and yours are over. Valet, go saddle and bridle the three best horses in the stable."
"Princess, you will be obeyed."
All three left and walked until sunset. Then they stopped in front of the gate of a large castle.
“Listen, La Fleur,” said the Princess. Here are three apples red like poppies. Enter this castle. The masters will invite you to supper, and they will make you drink poison. But you will eat one of these apples, red like poppies, and the poison will lose all its power. So, go back to your room. At midnight, I will come and get you, and we will go and get married in my father's country. Above all, when you have eaten the apple, be careful not to drink even if thirst torments you."
"Princess, you will be obeyed."
The Princess left, and the master and the servant entered, without fear, into the castle. During supper, the masters poured poison into La Fleur's glass. But he ate one of the three apples as red as poppies. That done, he returned to his room. Then he found himself seized with such a terrible thirst, so terrible, that he forgot his promise and drank a large glass of water. That done, he fell asleep soundly.
Just at midnight, the Princess arrived. La Fleur was still sleeping.
“Valet, your master has disobeyed me. Tell him that I'll give you a whole year to find myself in the City of Seven Spires."
The Princess covered La Fleur's face with a blue silk handkerchief and left. At the rising sun, La Fleur woke up.
“Captain, at exactly midnight, the Princess arrived. You were sleeping, and she said: “Valet, your master has disobeyed me. Tell him I'll give you a whole year to find myself in the City of Seven Spires." Then the princess covered your face with this blue silk handkerchief, and she left."
"Valet, we are going to pay dearly for my mistake. Let's go to the City of Seven Spires."
For a year less a day, both traveled the world; but no one could tell them where the City of Seven Spires was. Finally, they came to a high mountain. There, was the castle of the Green Man, who guards the birds, and is the master of all flying beasts.
“Hello, Green Man. Couldn't you tell me where the City of Seven Spires is?"
"My friend, I cannot. But I will question my flying beasts."
The Green Man whistled three times. Immediately, all the flying beasts on earth arrived on the mountain.
“Insects, do you know where the City of Seven Spires is?"
"No, Green Man."
"Butterflies, do you know where the City of Seven Spires is?"
—"No, Green Man."
"Birds, do you know where the City of Seven Steeples is?"
"No, Green Man."
"Eagle, do you know where the City of Seven Spires is?"
"Yes, Green Man."
"Eagle, I command you to take these two men there immediately."
"Green Man, you will be obeyed. But I must not miss raw flesh along the way."
Source: La Fleur, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
This time, La Fleur did not follow completely the instructions given to him: he drank water, even though the Princess told him not to do it. This happened in at least two other tales.
Because of what he did, he needed another year before he could meet the Princess again. Let's hope that, when he meets her, he will follow her instructions to the letter.
If you have read several of these folk tales, you may have noticed that people (or animals) acknowledge an order with the phrase "You will be obeyed". This is not a phrase that you hear every day,
The eagle seems to be a demanding bird: he says he needs raw flesh when he takes La Fleur and his servant to the City of Seven Spires. Let's hope that La Fleur brings enough meat for the trip.
I am late to post today because I was too tired to post at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. I will explain why:
In the morning, Kati's nephew Dani (Daniel) arrived with his tractor and a big trailer. He could not enter Kati's property, because the gate was too narrow. So, he parked just outside the gate.
Dani also brought a wood shredder, that he trailed with his quad.
As we had many branches and shrubs cut when building the new fence, Dany asked us not to burn them so that he could shred them. He will use the pellets in a big furnace for a new building that he is building in the city. So, we shred branches all morning.
After lunch, we felled several dead trees and shredded the branches and the small parts of the trunks.
In the end, we estimate that we got around five cubic meters of wood pellets.
Dani left with his quad and the shredder, then he came back for the tractor and the trailer around 5 p.m.
During the whole day, I was helping to bring branches to the shredder and to fell the dead trees. This is why I was so tired at the end.
-- Vincent Celier