One day there lived a king and queen with their two handsome sons and their small daughter with beautiful golden hair, whom everyone who saw her loved. To celebrate her arrival, the queen invited fairies from all over the world and held a lavish feast. The fairies told the queen that Rosette would cause great misfortune to her brothers and they might meet their doom because of her—this is what appears about your little daughter. Unfortunately, we have nothing better. The king and queen were stricken with grief.
In the following days, the king consulted ministers and sages from all parts of the kingdom, but no one could help him. Meanwhile, the queen kept weeping beside Rosette’s cradle. The king told his wife that there was an old hermit living in the forest near the palace whom people came to consult. The queen said we must consult him; perhaps he will tell us what to do. The next day they set out to find him, but when they reached the forest, they left their horses because of the dense trees and continued on foot until they reached the tree where the hermit lived. He immediately recognized the king and queen.
He welcomed them, asking what brought them. The queen told him the reason and asked for a solution. He told her to imprison the princess in a tower and never let her leave. They rewarded him and hurried back to the palace, placing the princess in a high tower. Her parents and brothers visited her every day so she wouldn’t get bored. Her older brother was known as the Great Prince and the second as the Little Prince, and both loved her. After a short time, the king and queen fell ill and died on the same day. All the bells in the kingdom rang, and everyone mourned, especially Rosette.
The counselors seated the Greatest Prince on the golden throne and crowned him with the diamond crown, then removed their sister from the gloomy tower where she lived. Rosette saw the beautiful garden filled with fruits, flowers, grass, and fountains and was enchanted. She saw a peacock and was delighted with it. She said she had decided she would only marry the King of Peacocks. The king said to her, but where will we find him? She said, anywhere, and I won’t marry anyone else. The king and the prince thought about where they would find the King of Peacocks. The king said, “We will travel together everywhere to search for him.”
Now you must take charge as queen, and the king and the prince left the palace, going farther and farther away. They asked everyone they met about the King of Peacocks, and the answer was always no. Finally, they came to a road with a peacock on every tree, which led them to a city where all the inhabitants wore peacock feathers. Then they saw the king leading a beautiful golden carriage decorated with diamonds, pulled by twelve peacocks. The king and the prince felt happy. He asked them, “You are strangers, who are you?” They told him their story, and he agreed to marry her and said she could have whatever she wished, but if her heart was not golden and beautiful like her hair, he would punish them both.
Immediately, Rosette received a letter from her brothers telling her they had found the King of Peacocks and that she should gather her jewels and come to them because they had found him. She left her brother’s kingdom in the care of his wisest men and set out, taking with her the nurse, the nurse’s daughter, and her green dog. They boarded a boat on the sea. Rosette and her dog fell asleep. The wicked nurse said to the boatman, “Do you want some wealth?” She said, “I’ll give you 100 gold coins if you throw the princess into the sea with me. When she drowns, I’ll dress my daughter in her clothes, and we’ll take her to the King of Peacocks.” For 100 coins, he agreed, and with the nurse and her daughter, he lifted the princess with her bed and her dog and threw them into the water. By good fortune, the bed was made from rare phoenix feathers and had the ability to float on water.
So she floated on the water as if she were in a boat. The dog woke up and started barking until it woke the princess. The boat docked, and the nurse’s daughter put on the princess’s clothes and covered herself with diamonds. When she stepped from the boat and the procession of the King of Peacocks saw her, they were struck with astonishment. They said she didn’t have golden hair and was wicked. The procession was long. The nurse began slapping and shouting at anyone who approached her. Meanwhile, the fish helped Rosette reach the kingdom’s shore.
The procession arrived at the palace where the King of Peacocks, with her brothers, was waiting to welcome her. The false princess descended from the carriage and kicked a peacock. The king ordered the guards to leave them with their sister in the high tower. Rosette arrived at the same moment and said, “I am Princess Rosette,” and told him what had happened. The king was astonished and ordered the guards to seize the nurse and her daughter, bind them, and throw them into the sea. She said, “Don’t harm them; greed blinded them, and they will learn from their mistake.” The king was moved by Rosette’s goodness despite their attempt to kill her. The king forgave the wicked nurse and her daughter. The nurse returned the princess’s clothes and jewels to her, and the wedding took place immediately. Everyone lived in eternal happiness.