Daughter of the Queen of Flowers

One day, a young prince was riding through miles of grass, and as he walked, a deep ditch appeared in front of him. He was going to take a detour, but he heard someone crying in the ditch. The prince dismounted and followed the sound.

The prince was startled. It turned out that an old woman fell into the ditch, and she begged the prince to rescue her. The prince bent down, pulled the old woman out of the deep ditch, and asked with concern how she fell into the ditch.

"Son," replied the old woman, "I am a very poor old woman, and after midnight I will rush to a nearby town, so that I can reach the market at dawn to sell eggs. But it was dark, and I got lost and accidentally fell into this deep ditch. If it weren't for your kindness, I would probably be trapped alive in this grave."

The prince said to her, "You are seriously injured and cannot walk. I will help you on your horse and take you home! Where do you live?"

"Right there, can you see a hut on the edge of the forest not far away? That's my home," the old woman replied.

The prince put her on his horse, and soon the two of them reached the hut. The old woman dismounted and said to the prince, "Please wait a moment, I want to give you something." She went into the house, and soon returned to the prince, saying, "You are a prince of a distinguished family, but at the same time, you have a kind heart and deserve to be rewarded. Would you like to marry the most beautiful woman in the world?"

"Of course," the prince replied.

The old woman went on to say: "The most beautiful woman in the world is the daughter of the Queen of Flowers, who is now taken by a dragon. If you want to marry her, you have to save her first, and I will help you save her. I give you this little bell, ring the bell and the king of eagles will appear; ring the bell twice and the king of foxes will come; if you ring three times, the king of fish will come to you. No matter what difficulties you encounter, they will help you. Goodbye, God bless you with a smooth journey." She handed him the little bell, and the old woman and the hut disappeared together, as if swallowed by the earth.

The prince suddenly understood that the one who had just spoken to him was a kind fairy. He put the little bell carefully in his pocket, rode home, and told his father that he was going to rescue the daughter of the Queen of Flowers. The next day he set off on his way, traveling all over the world, looking for the girl.

The prince searched all over the world for a whole year, the horses were exhausted, and he himself was tortured, but there was still no clue of his sweetheart. One day, he came to a hut, and an elderly man was sitting in front of the house. The prince asked him: "Do you know where the dragon that imprisoned the daughter of the Queen of Flowers lives?"

"I don't know," the old man replied. "But if you go down this road for a year, you'll see a hut where my father lives, and he might know."

The prince thanked the old man and continued on his way, walking along the same road for a whole year, and at the end of the road was a hut, where he saw an older old man. He asked the same question, and the old man replied: "I don't know where the dragon lives. But if you go down this road for another year, you will see a hut where my father lives, and I'm sure he can tell you."

So the prince walked along the same road for another year, and finally came to a hut, where he saw an older man. The prince asked him the same question again, and this time the old man answered differently: "The dragon lives on the mountain over there, and it has just fallen asleep, and it will sleep for a year. One whole year it will be awake all day, and the next year it will sleep all day. If you want to see the daughter of the queen of flowers, go to the second mountain. The old mother of the dragon lives there, and she holds a dance every night, and the daughter of the queen of flowers will attend."

So the prince went up the second mountain.

There was a castle on the hill, all made of gold, and the windows were made of diamonds. He opened the gate to the courtyard, and as he was about to enter the door, seven dragons rushed up to him and asked him what he was doing.

The prince said, "I have long admired the beauty and kindness of Mama Long, and I hope to work for her."

This compliment made the seven dragons very happy, and the largest of them said, "Okay, come with me, and I'll take you to see the dragon mother."

They entered the castle and passed through twelve grand halls made of gold and diamonds. In the twelfth room, the Mother Dragon was sitting on a diamond throne. It was terrifying that she had three heads and was the ugliest woman in the world. The prince was taken aback when he saw the Mother Dragon, and her voice was as chilling as many crows. She asked the prince: "What are you doing here?"

The prince replied, "I have admired your beauty and kindness for a long time, and I hope I can work for you."

"Very well," said the dragon mother, "since you are willing to work for me, take my mare to the grass first. You will look after it for three days. If you do not bring the mare back safely one day during these three nights, we will eat you."

The prince accepted the task and led the mare to graze on the grass.

But as soon as he got to the grass, the mare was gone. The prince searched everywhere, to no avail. Finally, he sat on a large rock in despair, thinking sadly about his bad luck. As he sat meditating, an eagle flew over his head. Suddenly, he remembered the little bell he had with him, took it out of his pocket and shook it immediately. After a while, he heard the flapping of wings in the air beside him, and the eagle king fell at the prince's feet.

"I know what you want me to do," said the bird. "You are looking for the dragon mother's mare, which is jumping around in the clouds. I will call all the eagles in flight and order them to catch the mare, and give it back to you." The Eagle King said and flew away. In the evening, the prince heard a loud noise in the sky, and he looked up into the sky and saw thousands of eagles driving the mare. They fell to the ground and gave the mare to the prince. The prince rode home and went to see the dragon mother. The dragon mother was very surprised to see him come back with the mare, and said, "Today you have successfully completed the task. As a reward, you can come to my dance tonight." She also gave the prince a copper cape and led him into a large room, where some young dragon sons and dragon daughters were dancing. The beautiful daughter of the queen of flowers was also among them. Her dress was woven from the most beautiful flowers in the world, and her face was as white and pink as lilies and roses. As the prince danced with her, he whispered in her ear: "I am here to save you!"

The beautiful girl said to him, "If you can bring the mare back safely for three days, on the third day, you can ask the dragon mother to give birth to a foal as a reward."

At midnight, the ball was over, and early the next morning, the prince took the dragon mother's mare to the grass again. However, the mare disappeared without a trace before his eyes again. He took out the little bell and shook it twice.

In the blink of an eye, the Fox King stood in front of him and said, "I already know what you need me to do. The mare is now hiding on a mountain. I will gather the foxes from all over the world and let them find the mare."

The fox king disappeared as he spoke, and in the evening thousands of foxes brought the mare back to the prince.

He rode back to see the Dragon Mother, who gave him another silver cloak and led him to the ballroom again.

The daughter of the Queen of Flowers was very happy to see that he was safe, and when they danced together, she said in the prince's ear: "If you can bring the mare back safely again tomorrow, take the foal and wait for me on the grass. After the dance tomorrow night, we will run away together."

On the third day, the prince took the mare to graze again, but the mare disappeared before his eyes again. The prince took out the little bell and shook it three times.

After a while, the fish king appeared and said to him, "I know exactly what you want me to do. The mare is hiding in a river. I will call all the fish in the water and order them to bring the mare back."

Towards evening, the mare returned to the prince. He led the mare back to see the dragon mother, and she said to the prince:

"You are such a brave young man. I want you to be my guest of honor. However, in order to reward your outstanding performance, what should I reward you for?"

The prince asked for a foal from the mare, and the dragon mother immediately gave him the foal and gave him a golden cloak, because the young man had praised her beauty, and she had fallen in love with him.

That night, he appeared at the ball in a golden cloak, but before the ball was over, he slipped out, went straight to the stable, rode on the foal, and went to the grass to wait for the daughter of the Queen of Flowers. Near midnight, the beautiful girl came, the prince let her sit in front of him, and the two galloped away like the wind, back to the palace where the Queen of Flowers lived. However, the other dragons found that they had fled, and woke up their eldest brother, who had planned to sleep for a year. When the Dragon King learned that the Queen of Flowers' daughter and the prince had run away, he was so angry that he decided to launch a siege on the Queen of Flowers' palace. However, the Queen of Flowers planted a dense bushes of fresh flowers around the palace, as high as the blue sky, and no one could break through this barrier.

When Queen Hua learned that her daughter wanted to marry the prince, she said to him: "I agree to this marriage, but my daughter can only live with you in summer. In winter, when everything is withered and snow covers the earth, she must come back and live with me in the underground palace." The prince agreed, and he led the beautiful bride home and held a grand and solemn wedding in his kingdom. The young couple lived a happy life together. Then winter came, and Queen Hua's daughter bid farewell to her husband and went back to live in her mother's house. In the summer she returned to her husband's side, and the couple continued to live happily ever after. Another winter came, and the daughter of the Queen of Flowers returned to her mother again. In this way, she kept coming and going between her husband's family and her mother's family. Despite the troubles, the couple were still very happy to be with each other for the rest of their lives.