THE TWO GIRLS
The lady of the castle forced her to take the most beautiful horse, the most beautiful bridle, and the most beautiful saddle.
— “And now,” she said to him, “mount your horse and return to your country. Don't turn around towards the castle until you are over there, over there, at the top of that hill. So raise your head and wait. »
The pretty girl thanked the lady of the castle, mounted her horse, and left for her country, without ever looking back. When she was at the top of the hill, she raised her head and waited. Then three stars came down from the sky. Two landed on his head and one on his chin.
As she was setting off again, a young man was returning from hunting, mounted on his large horse, with nine greyhound dogs following him: three black as coals, three red as fire, three white as the finest cloth. When he saw such a beautiful rider, he put his hat in his hand.
“Lady, I am the son of the King of England. I traveled the world for seven years and never found any man as strong, as bold as me. If you want, I will be your companion, to defend you against bad people."
"Thank you, son of the King of England. I will be able to find my way back to my country on my own. But I don't dare return home, for fear of my stepmother, who cannot stand me, because of her ugly daughter, ugly as sin. Three times, she forced my father to go and get me lost in the woods."
Then the son of the king of England became terribly angry. He drew his sword and whistled to his greyhound dogs.
“Lady, show me the way to your house. I want to go and feed my dogs your father, your stepmother, and your sister."
"Son of the King of England, your dogs are at your command. But you won't do that. t will not be said that my father, my stepmother, and my sister suffered the slightest harm because of me."
But the son of the King of England would not hear anything, and cried like an eagle:
“Well, I will say to my red judge: “Judge them to death." I pay for it. He has to earn his money.
"Son of the King of England, your red judge is at your command. But you won't do that. It will not be said that my father, my stepmother, and my sister suffered the slightest harm because of me.
"Well, if you want me to forgive them, you must be my wife."
"Son of the King of England, I will be your wife, if you will forgive them."
The son of the King of England therefore married the pretty girl, who was very happy with him, and became the greatest lady in the country.
Shortly after the wedding, the ugly sister, ugly as sin, learned what had happened, and said:
“I will go to the woods, too; and the same will happen to me."
So she left for the woods and walked for a long, long, long time. Finally, she arrived at the gate of the castle as big as the town of Agen.
" Bang! Bang!
- Who is it?
"It’s a girl who has lost her way, and who asks for supper and lodging."
The lady of the castle sent the ugly girl, ugly as sin, to supper in the kitchen, with the valets and maids, and ordered that she be given a good bed. The next day, she called her into her room and opened the door of the cabinet which was full of dresses.
“Mie, take off your clothes, and choose the clothes you want."
The ugly girl, ugly as sin, chooses the prettiest dress. Then the lady of the castle forced her to take the most torn, dirtiest one and made her put it on immediately. Then she opened the chest full of gold, silver, and copper coins, and jewelry of all kinds.
“Mie, take from this chest whatever you want."
The ugly girl, ugly as sin, chose a hundred Spanish quadruples and a hundred gold rings. So the lady of the castle only let her take two farthings and a copper ring. Then she took her to the stable.
“Mie, choose the beast you want, with the bridle and the saddle."
The ugly girl, ugly as sin, chooses the most beautiful horse, the most beautiful bridle, and the most beautiful saddle. So the lady of the castle only let her take a donkey, a rope halter, and a bad blanket.
“And now,” she said to her, “get on your donkey and return to your country. Don't look back towards the castle until you are over there, over there, up on the hill. So raise your head and wait."
The ugly girl, ugly as sin, did not thank the lady of the castle. She mounted her donkey and left for her country. But she turned back towards the castle, before arriving at the top of the hill, raised his head, and waited. Then three cow dung fell on her, two on her head and one on her chin.
As she set out again, she met an old man, dirty as a comb, and drunk as a barrel.
“My,” he said to her, “I find you made to my liking. You must be my wife. Otherwise, you will only die by my hands."
By force, the ugly girl, ugly as sin, had to follow the drunkard into his house and consent to marriage. Since then, the husband continues to drink like hell and beats his wife twenty times a day.
Source: Les Deux Filles, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
Next Tale: Grain-of-Millet
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.
As expected, the beautiful girl was rewarded with wealth and happiness.
She even married a prince, the son of the king of England.
But she did not want to take revenge on her father, her stepmother, and her stepsister.
And also as expected, the ugly girl who was greedy and did not obey the instructions of the wealthy lady was punished severely.
Yesterday, after lunch, we said goodbye to the two boys and Timi, and Péter drove us to the Calgary International Airport. As we were very early, we had to wait for more than two hours before boarding the plane.
The plane was half an hour late departing, but not too late arriving at Vancouver International Airport. However, there were some "technical difficulties" with the baggage handling equipment, so we had to wait for more than 30 minutes before getting Kati's suitcase.
Then, we took a taxi that brought us to our apartment in Coquitlam, some 35 km from the airport. As soon as I dropped my suitcase and my backpack, I walked to Walmart to buy supplies for our breakfast today. We have a Walmart store less than 10 minutes by foot.
We had a good resting night.
This morning I discovered that the batteries in our two cars were depleted and I was unable to start any of the cars. So, I went back to Walmart to buy a battery charger. One of the two batteries is currently charging and we will put it back soon.
We need a car today, as we are meeting my daughter Betty and her boyfriend Chris for lunch in a restaurant several kilometers from here.
So, tomorrow you will meet Betty. Some of you will be surprised!
-- Vincent Celier