Princess Mouse

Listen, all who care to listen, I will tell you a glorious tale. In this tale, there is no lie, or if there is, it’s just a word or two.

Once upon a time, there was a French king. He lived to an old age, but he had no children, and this grieved him deeply.

Finally, when the king and queen had almost given up hope, the queen gave birth to a daughter, and the court celebrated and rejoiced greatly on the occasion of the princess's birth.

But an old sorceress who lived in a nearby forest was not invited to the celebration, and in revenge, she decided to turn the princess into a mouse. The princess was to remain a mouse until someone made the sorceress's sister laugh, for no one had ever seen her laugh.

One day, as the nurse in the palace was feeding the child, everyone suddenly heard her cry out:

"Oh God! The princess has turned into a mouse and slipped out of my hands!"

"What a misfortune!" exclaimed the king. "But such, it seems, is the will of God, and we must submit to it."

A short time later, a war broke out between the French king and the Spanish king. The French king was already on his horse in the courtyard of his castle, preparing to march, when he suddenly saw his daughter, the mouse—she had been cared for and surrounded with attention in the palace. She ran up to him and said:

"I want to go to war with you, father."

"But what will you do there in such a state, my poor child?"

"Fear nothing and take me with you. Place me in your horse's ear, and let us go."

The king placed the mouse in his horse's ear, and they set off.

When the French army was already on the battlefield and ready to engage the enemy, suddenly a marvelous song rang out, and both armies stopped to listen.

"What a wonderful song!" exclaimed the son of the Spanish king. "But where is it coming from? I must find out."

The sound of the song made the soldiers of both armies want to embrace each other instead of fighting.

The Spanish king's son rode up to the French king and asked him:

"Sire, what is this singing, and where is it coming from?"

"That is my daughter singing," replied the king.

"Your daughter? But where is she?"

"Here, beside me, in the left ear of my horse."

"Are you mocking me?"

"Not at all. I have told you the truth."

"Well, then. If you agree to give her to me as my wife, the war between us is over."

"What, you want to marry a mouse?"

"Your daughter is a mouse?! No matter, I will marry her if she agrees."

"I agree, father," the mouse quickly replied.

And so the war ended, a wedding was held, and both armies, instead of attacking each other, feasted and celebrated for a whole week, toasting and making merry.

The Spanish king had two other sons, both already married: one was married to the daughter of the Turkish emperor, the other to the daughter of the Portuguese king. One day, the father summoned all three and announced that he had decided to give the crown to his eldest son and retire.

"Father," said the middle son, "it seems to me it would be fairer to give the crown to whichever of us three performs the most valiant deed. We are all your children and have equal rights to the throne."

"Well, then," said the old king, "I will set you a task. The crown will go to the one who brings me the finest piece of linen."

"So be it," agreed all three brothers.

They each returned home to inform their wives of their father's will.

When the youngest prince, the husband of the mouse, arrived home, his wife was waiting for him, basking in the sun on one of the palace windows, singing more sweetly than ever.

"Enough singing," said her husband. "I would prefer it if you were a skilled weaver."

"Why? What has happened?" asked the mouse princess.

"Father has promised to give the crown to whichever of us three brings him the finest piece of linen."

"What a pity! My father's crown is a hundred times more valuable than yours. Do not grieve, and let your brothers quarrel over the Spanish crown and try to win it with linen."

"No! As tempting as your father's crown may be, I do not wish to give up our Spanish crown."

On the eve of the day when the linen was to be presented to the old king, the prince complained to his wife:

"Tomorrow I must present father with the linen, but I have nothing. What should I do?"

"Do not worry about such trifles, prince. Take this box," replied the mouse, handing him a beautiful, tightly closed box. "Let your brothers show their pieces of linen. When you open this box, you will find something to shame them."

"Do you mean to tell me that such a small box can contain a piece of linen that will please father more than the others?"

The prince left, taking the box with him, though his wife's words did little to reassure him.

He arrived at his father's castle, entered the courtyard, and saw mules loaded with bales of linen that his elder brothers had brought from distant lands.

The king was shown the linen. He examined it carefully and praised some pieces for their beauty, fineness, and softness.

"And what have you brought, my son?" he asked the youngest when it was his turn.

Instead of answering, the prince handed his father the box and said:

"Open it, father."
The older brothers burst into loud laughter. But the king opened the little box, and immediately a piece of fabric, thin and shiny like silk, began to unfurl from it. Compared to it, the fabric brought by the brothers seemed like coarse canvas. And the most astonishing thing was that no matter how much they pulled it out of the box, there was no end in sight.

The older princes were no longer laughing.

"The crown shall go to my youngest son," said the delighted king.

"Wait, father!" both older brothers shouted in frustration. "Do not judge so hastily, based on the first test. Come up with a second one, Your Majesty, and then we shall see."

"Very well, I agree," said the king. "But what shall I ask of you this time?"

"Promise the crown to the one of us who brings you the most beautiful bride," said the eldest, who was married to the daughter of the Turkish emperor, a princess of astonishing beauty.

"Let it be so," said the old king. "The crown shall go to the one who brings the most beautiful wife."

And the three brothers set off, each in his own direction.

The youngest returned home in complete despair. He was certain that this time he would not be able to compete with his brothers, because his wife was a simple mouse.

"Why are you so sad, prince?" asked his wife, noticing his downcast expression. "Did my little box not do what was required of it?"

"The box performed excellently."

"Then the crown of Spain is yours?"

"The crown of Spain? Oh no! It is still far from being mine."

"Why is that?"

"Because father has set a second test."

"What is it? Tell me."

"What's the use?"

"Tell me anyway."

"Very well, listen: on the advice of my eldest brother, who is married to the daughter of the Turkish emperor, father declared that the crown shall go to the one of us three who brings the most beautiful wife. And you understand yourself that..."

"Is that all? Well, then calm down and rely on me."

The day came when the brothers were to present their wives to the king, and the mouse said to her husband:

"I will go with you to your father."

"To go to my father, I need not a mouse, but a woman, a beautiful woman."

"Do not worry about anything, I tell you, and take me with you."

"Why? To embarrass myself?"

And he got into his carriage and left, leaving the mouse at home. Then she said to the shepherd who was about to drive the sheep to the field:

"Shepherd, catch that big red rooster walking among the hens for me, and bridle him with a willow bark bridle so that I can ride him to follow my husband to my father-in-law, the king."

The shepherd did as she commanded, and the mouse mounted the rooster's back, took the willow bark bridle in her front paws, and rode to the court of the Spanish king. She had to pass by the castle of the enchantress who had turned her into a mouse. There was a puddle on the road, and the rooster refused to cross it. No matter how much the mouse shouted, "Gee up! Gee up! Forward!" he took one step forward and two steps back. The enchantress's sister sat by the window and, seeing this scene, burst into loud laughter, so that the echo rolled through the entire castle.

The enchantress came running and, seeing who had made her sister laugh, said to the mouse:

"The spell is lifted! I turned you into a mouse, but you were to remain one only until I heard my sister's laughter. She laughed—and you are free. From now on, you shall be the most beautiful princess under the sun, your bridle shall turn into a beautiful golden carriage, and the red rooster into a magnificent horse."

And indeed, in an instant, everything transformed just as the enchantress had said.

"Now go to your father-in-law's court," she added, "and I am sure there will be no woman more beautiful than you there."

The princess continued her journey, but now in a sparkling golden carriage, and soon caught up with her husband, who was in no hurry to reach the court.

"What, are you still here?" she said.

The surprised prince remained silent, for he did not recognize his wife in this beauty.

"Get into my carriage and leave your wretched cart and nag here."

"Do not mock me, princess, though your carriage is more beautiful and your horse better than mine."

"Look at me closely! Do you not recognize your own wife?"

"No, you are not my wife. My wife is the daughter of the French king, and an evil witch turned her into a mouse. But still, I love her as she is."

Then the princess told him what had happened, and in the end, though with difficulty, convinced him that she was indeed his wife, the daughter of the French king.

Then they rode on in the golden carriage, which sparkled brightly, and soon arrived at the court of the Spanish king. Their arrival caused a stir, and everyone could not get enough of looking at the princess, her carriage, and her horse. The princess illuminated the entire court with the brilliance of her beauty. The wives of the older princes were undoubtedly beautiful, but next to the younger prince's wife, they were nothing. The old king, cheered and delighted by the sight of such wondrous beauty, offered the princess his hand to help her out of the carriage and said:

"You are the most beautiful woman my eyes have ever seen, and most worthy of sitting on the Spanish throne beside my youngest son."

In the evening, there was a grand feast, and the king wished for the princess to sit at the table beside him. And from every dish served to her, from every drink poured for her, she hid a piece, poured a drop into her corset, which greatly surprised all the guests.

After dinner, the dancing began, and as the princess danced, pearls and flowers endlessly spilled from the folds of her dress. The two older sisters-in-law turned green with envy.

The next day, the court feasted again, and the wives of the older brothers began to hide pieces of every dish served to them and pour drops from every glass into their corsets, hoping that all this would turn into pearls and flowers for them as well. But alas! When the dancing began, they, while dancing, scattered not pearls and flowers like the younger sister-in-law, but leftovers and gravy, which soiled and soaked their elegant dresses so much that the gentlemen were disgusted and left. Meanwhile, dogs and cats from all corners of the palace ran into the ballroom and followed the princesses, causing chaos.

Because of this, the old king became very angry and drove the older sons and their wives out of the palace. Then he abdicated the throne in favor of his youngest son.

Everything that happened to them up to that point, I know and have told you the whole truth. But what happened to them afterward, I do not know and do not wish to lie. So here ends the tale.

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Princess Mouse

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