once there ***was a wicked fairy in the Northern land. she was always unhappy , and wanted to make others unhappy. so, she stole the baby daughter of the king of Northern land and hid her somewhere.

But in northern land there were three good fairies also. thy were happy , and wanted to make others happy. so,thy said,"when the lovely princess is fifteen years old, a prince with a true heart will come . he will find her and set her free."

"there is no such prince anywhere on earth,"said the wicked fairy.

"then the prince will come from the moon or the planets,"replied the good fairies. "he will come from somewhere, and set the princess free."

fourteen years passed by . but still no prince came.

"We have waited a long time for the prince to come ," said one of the good fairies. "there is just a month for the princess to be fifteen. isn't it time for the prince to come?" "let us wait,"said the others.

the story of the princess spread everywhere and reached the southern land. the king of the southern land had three sons . the eldest prince set out to the princess .

"there is just a month for me to find the princess,"said the prince . "I must hurry."

he travelled over rocky mountains and through sandy deserts in the hot sun. in the evening he came to a river running through a broad valley with green fields and trees and singing birds. the setting sun shone on the countless little waves in the river. the three good fairies were on the bank, among the flowers.

thy sang;

among the flowers that dance in breeze

with the singing birds and the humming bees

and the butterflies we fairies fly

we wait in sun and shower,

we wait every day , every hour,

we wait for the prince to come.

the fairies wanted to speak to the prince, but he passed them and continued his journey. he was in a hurry,he did not stop to look at the flowers in the valley, or listen to the humming bees. and he did not see the fairies or hear their song. a fairy,u know, sings very softly like a bee humming in flower.

"poor prince, he is in a hurry,"said one of the fairies. "he doi listen , he won't be able to set the princess free."

"this is the eldest prince," said another fairy.

"we will wait the younger prince.",. so thy flew among the flowers and continued their song ;

we wait in sun and shower,

we wait every day, every hour,

we wait for the prince who is true.

the prince came to a castle on a hill. it was the wicked fairy's castle. he went in and found a table with fine food on it. he was hungry, so he sat down at once and began to eat. the wicked fairy's servants ran in and caught him, and took him to the wicked fairy. she was ugly - looking.

"if you solve my riddles,"said the wicked fairy, "you can have the princess. if you can't, you are a thief!"

"here is the first riddle,". she went on . "you have two ugly ears on your head, but only one tongue. what is the reason for that?"

"yes, what is the reason?" said all the servants together.

"all men have two ears ,"said the prince. "that is the reason why I too have two ears. and two ears look quite fine".

his answer made the wicked fairy very angry.

"that is the reason why I hate me . I hate them from my heart. thy think I am ugly"!

'thy think she is ugly"! said the servants.

"silence!" the wicked fairy said to her servants, angrily. "you think your two ears are fine,"the wicked fairy went on, turning to the prince. "but we will soon cut them off".

"here is the second riddle,"she continued. "you have two but only one mouth.what is the reason for that?"

the prince remained silent.

"he is a thief", said the wicked fairy. "and that is why he ate up all our food."

"he ate up all our food,"said the servants together.

"silence please,"said the wicked fairy.

"now to the third riddle,"she said , turning to the prince again.

"why is your head above your shoulders?"

"it has always been above my shoulders", replied the prince. "that is the reason why it is there".

"ahh! but it shall not always be there", said the wicked fairy. "we will cut it off!"

"yes ,we will", said the servants. but thy did nothing of the kind.thy quietly took the prince to a secret prison.

two younger princes waited for the eldest to return, but he did not return. now the second prince set out to find his brother and to set the princess free. he too travelled over rocky mountains and through sandy deserts and reached the broad and beautiful valley. the good fairies were in the valley, still waiting for the true prince. thy young prince was in a hurry like his elder brother. the fairies tried to him, but he passed them and continued his journey.

"he should listen more!"said the good fairies.

the second prince reached the wicked fairy's castle and she asked him to solve the three riddles. he could not, so she put him too in prison.

next the youngest prince set out , do find the princess. he too saw nothing and heard nothing in the valley. the good fairies were not able to speak to him. the wicked fairy put him too in prison. seven more princes came , some from the east, and some from the west. the wicked fairy put them all in a secret prison somewhere in the forest.

she said ,"there is no true prince in the world. that is the princes can solve my riddles".

still, the good fairies in the valley continued to sing;"we wait, we wait for the prince with a true heart".

the princess's birthday came. "it is time!" said the good fairies.

in the evening a farmer's son was returning from the field with his spade on his shoulder. the good fairies were in the river. thy sang;

over the little waves we run,

and play with the light of the sitting sun,

and ride on the wings of the gentle breeze, the waves in the river, and the leaves on the trees

and we fairies wait for the prince to come.

the young man was very tried after the day's work. but his mind was peaceful. he put his spade down, washed his face, and sat down near the water. there was the sound of the breeze blowing through a thousand trees and over thousands and thousands of little waves in the river. he sat listening ,; his heart was full.

he heard the soft song of the fairies , and thy spoken to him.

"you are the prince who must set the princess free",thy said ."but I am a farmer's son and I grew up on a farm", said the young man.

" you have a prince's heart", replied the fairies.

" go and find the princess".

the young man set out at once reached the wicked fairy's castle. inside the gate there was a garden with many kinds of flowers -roses , lilies, and so on. in the centre of the garden there was a pond with lotuses and water lilies. when the young man went into the garden, the roses and lilies move in the breeze, and whispered to one another in their little language, "the prince , the prince!" there was a lovely big lotus in the pond;it looked at the young man and smiled.

the wicked fairy asked the young man to solve her riddles. he solved the first riddle thus ; "I should listen more than I speak. that is why I have two ears, but only one tongue".

he solved the second riddle thus;"I work in the field to earn bread for my old parents and for me . so I must do a lot of woy.that is why I have two hands . I should not eat all the food I grow;that is why I have only one mouth".

he solved the third riddle thus;" my mind should rule my body. that is why my head is above my body.my body should obey my mind.that is why my body is under my head".

now the wicked fairy lost all her power.

"where is the princess?" asked the young man.

"when you came in ", the wicked fairy replied, "you saw a garden with roses and lilies, and a pond in the middle of the garden. that is where the princess is. she is the Big Lotus in the pond".

" where are the ten young prince?", asked the young man.

the wicked fairy replied," at the foot of this Hill there is a field with ten tall, handsome trees.that is where the Prince are .the ten handsome trees are the young Prince".

the next moment the wicked fairy turned into a bird, and all her servants turned into birds too.

"you will be a singing bird for ten years", said the young man to the wicked fairy. "them you will become a good and happy fairy".

the young man went to the garden. the lovely big lotus smiled at him again. the next moment , in the place of the lotus he saw a lovely princess.

"let us go to the field at the foot of the hill", said the young man. "that is where the ten young princes are".

when thy came to the field , the trees waves their branches with joy and welcomed them.

the next moments ten handsome princes stood in front of them.

the young farmer went back to look after his farm and his old parents. the princess lived with him on the fields. the bad fairy, now a poor bird, and her servants often sat in the trees in the fields.

"this is where the princess works", the fairy said .

"let us sing to her". their song become sweeter and sweeter every day.

the gentle princess always loved flowers. she understood their little language and looked after them kindly. she also understood the language of the green corn and the fine trees in the fields, and looked after them with love.

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