Princess Rose and the Golden Bird
Long ago, in a very remote kingdom, there lived a very beautiful princess. She had long red hair and loved roses so much that everyone called her Princess Rose. Every evening after sunset, Princess Rose would go to her window and clap her hands. A golden bird would fly from afar and land on her shoulder. Immediately, the princess’s hair would begin to shine and glow with bright red light.
Then the bird would begin to sing a magical melody, and Princess Rose would sing with him in a magical song. Everyone in the kingdom fell asleep and had happy dreams until dawn. Thus the years passed, and every evening, Princess Rose would sing with the small golden bird with a song of love, until everyone in the kingdom fell asleep and dreamed happy dreams until dawn.
Until one day, a strange event occurred. An evil sorceress learned about Princess Rose and decided to send her a curse. From here, the sorceress decided to turn Princess Rose’s shining red hair instantly to black hair like tar. In the evening, Princess Rose also went to her window and clapped her hands. But when the golden bird came, her hair glowed black instead of red. From here, the bird began to sing his magical melody, and Princess Rose sang with him as usual, and everyone in the kingdom fell asleep. But on this night, they only had disturbing dreams and nightmares.
The next day, the sad princess asked the bird: “Tell me, golden bird, how can I change my people’s dreams to be sweet again until dawn?” The bird chirped: “Put the black hair in rose water.” The princess wondered about the reason for this advice but did it anyway. She filled the basin with water, put roses in it, then completely dipped her hair in the rose water. It immediately changed back to red again. That evening, when the golden bird landed on the princess’s shoulder, the glowing red hair illuminated the night sky again. The princess sang her song, and everyone in the kingdom fell asleep, dreaming happy dreams until dawn.
The evil sorceress was very angry that her curse had been spoiled to this extent that she decided to do it again. She changed the princess’s hair color to black like tar a second time. This time, she also collected all the rose water in the entire kingdom. The sorceress said: “Let’s see how you’ll cancel my curse now!”
The sad princess asked the bird again: “Guide me, golden bird. What can I do to make people have sweet dreams again until dawn?” The bird chirped: “Black hair in rose water.” “But where can I find rose water?” “Black hair in rose water,” the bird said and flew far away.
The princess didn’t know what to do. She was very sad to the point that her eyes filled with tears, and a tear fell to the ground beneath her. At that exact moment, a handsome young prince appeared and stood under the princess’s window. He had a small box with him and a single red hair from inside the box. The young man bowed and placed his hair on the princess’s tears, and a miracle occurred. Suddenly, the red hair turned into a red rose.
The prince picked the rose and gave it to the princess. When she saw the rose, she took it immediately, then plucked its leaves to add them to the water in the basin. She dipped her hair in it, and the curse vanished. Everyone gasped in wonder, and the king asked the prince: “Young man, where did you find this red hair?”
He answered: “When I and the princess were children, I took one hair from her head as proof of my loyalty to her, and she did the same with me, taking a lock of my hair.”
The princess confirmed and said: “This is true, Father.” She took the small box, opened it, and revealed a single hair from the prince’s head inside. Everyone was happy with this news. The prince and Princess Rose were married that same day.
When the evil sorceress learned that her curse had been broken again, her evil increased so much that she exploded into a thousand small pieces. In the end, rose flowers appeared in every garden in the kingdom again. From that time on, every evening, Princess Rose would sing with all her love until everyone fell asleep, dreaming happy dreams until dawn.
Jack and the Beanstalk
One time, there was a boy named Jack who lived with his mother. They were very poor, and all they had was a cow. One morning, the mother asked Jack to take the cow to the market to sell it. On the way, Jack met a man who gave him some magic beans in exchange for the cow. Jack took the beans and returned home. When Jack’s mother saw the beans, she was very annoyed and threw the beans out the window.
The next morning, Jack went to the window and found a giant beanstalk plant growing. He went out and began climbing the beanstalk. He reached the sky and clouds. Jack saw a beautiful castle and entered. He heard a voice, so Jack ran and hid in the closet. Then a giant entered the room and sat at the table. There was a hen and a golden harp. The giant said: “Lay!” The hen laid an egg, and this egg was made of gold. Then the giant said: “Sing!” The harp began to sing on its own, and soon the giant fell asleep.
Jack jumped out of the closet, took the hen and the harp, and the harp suddenly began to sing. Jack ran and began climbing down the beanstalk. The giant followed behind him. Jack shouted: “Mother! Help me!” Jack’s mother took an axe and cut the beanstalk root. The giant fell and crashed to the ground. No one saw him again. With the golden eggs and the magical harp, Jack and his mother were able to live happily ever after.
Hansel and Gretel
There was a poor woodcutter who lived with his wife and two children named Hansel and Gretel. Their mother died when they were small, and Hansel and Gretel were very sad. Soon their father married again, but his stepwife was very evil. One day, she took the children deep into the forest and left them there. The children had some bread crumbs in one of their pockets, so they scattered them along the path so they could find their way back home. Unfortunately, the birds ate all the crumbs, and they couldn’t find the path that would lead them home.
Hansel and Gretel went deep into the forest, becoming hungry and tired. Finally, after walking for a long time, they saw a cottage made of chocolate, sweets, and cake. The brothers screamed with joy and entered to eat.
In the forest lived an evil sorceress. When she saw Hansel and Gretel, she wanted to eat them. She captured the children and locked them in a cage. The sorceress decided to make soup and put Hansel in it, eating him first. She began boiling a large pot of water for the soup. After that, Gretel sneaked out of the cage and pushed the evil sorceress forcefully, so she fell into the boiling water and died immediately. Hansel and Gretel found a treasure left in the cottage, carried it home, and their stepmother had died. Their father welcomed them joyfully, and they never went hungry again.