Golden Crab

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who went fishing every morning, and he sold all the fish he caught to the king. One day, among the fish he caught, he found a golden crab, which was shining and very beautiful, and he took it out alone and put it on the high shelf in the cupboard. The fisherman's wife washed the fish, rolled up her long dress, and showed her feet when she suddenly heard a voice saying:

"Put it down, put down your skirt, don't show your feet."

She turned around in surprise and found that it was the golden crab talking.

"Oh my God! You can talk? That's ridiculous." Although the golden crab's words made her unhappy, she still picked up the crab and put it on the plate.

During dinner, they heard the crab say in a low voice, "Give me some too." Although they were surprised, the kind-hearted old couple still brought something for it to eat. When the old man cleaned up the crab's leftover plate, he found that it was full of gold, and he began to pay attention to the crab.

One day, the crab said to the fisherman's wife, "Tell the king that I want to marry his little daughter."

The old woman went to see the king, and the king thought it was ridiculous to marry his daughter to a crab, but the cautious king did not immediately refuse, because he knew that the crab might be able to become a prince. So he said to the old woman: "Go, old lady, tell that crab, as long as he can build a wall much higher than my tower in front of my castle by tomorrow morning, and let all the flowers in the world bloom there, I will marry my daughter to it."

The fisherman's wife went home and conveyed the king's words.

The crab gave the old woman a golden cane and said, "Take this cane and knock three times on the ground where the king asked for the wall to be built, and a wall will be erected tomorrow morning."

After the old woman did so, she went home again.

The next morning, when the king woke up, guess what he saw? He saw a wall standing there, just as he asked!

The old woman went to the king again and said, "Your Majesty's wish has come true."

"It is very good," said the king, "if he can build a garden in front of my palace, with three fountains in the middle, one of which is sprayed with gold, one with diamonds, and one with gems, I will marry my daughter to him."

The old woman struck three more times with her golden cane, and the next day the garden appeared. The king agreed to the marriage this time, and the wedding was scheduled for the next day.

The golden crab said to the old fisherman, "Now take this stick and knock on a mountain, and a black man will come out of the mountain, and he will ask you what you want. Answer him like this, 'Your master, the king, has sent me to tell you to bring him his coat that shines like the sun.' Let him give it to you, and the queen has a robe inlaid with gold and precious gems, like a meadow dotted with flowers, bring it with her. And the golden cushion."

The old man did as he said. The golden crab put on its golden coat, climbed on the golden cushion, and went to the castle with the old fisherman. The golden crab gave the queen's robe to its bride. Then there was a wedding celebration. When the new bee was alone, the crab told his wife his true identity. He said that he was a prince of a certain country, and he was enchanted to turn into a crab during the day, and he could only turn back into a human body at night. If he wanted, he could turn himself into an eagle. As soon as he finished speaking, he shook his body and immediately turned into a handsome young man. The next day he crawled back into the shell and turned back into a crab, every day. The prince was handsome and lovely, and the princess loved him very much and took care of him in every possible way, which surprised the whole royal family. No matter how much they spied, they failed to discover the secret. A year later, the princess had a child named Benjamin. The queen thought the whole thing was very strange. Finally she suggested that the king should ask his daughter why she stopped looking for a husband and stayed with a crab instead.

"Since I'm married to this crab, I can only have one husband," the daughter replied.

The king said to his daughter, "I will hold a competition and invite princes from all over the world. If you like one of them, marry him."

In the evening, the princess told the crab husband about it, and the husband said, "Take this branch and go to the garden gate and give it a whip, and a black man will come out and say to you, 'What did you call me for?' You answer like this: 'Your master, His Royal Highness, asked you to give him his golden armor, his horses, and his silver apples.' He will give these things to you, and you will bring them to me."

The princess complied and brought back everything he wanted.

The next evening, the prince dressed and went to the competition. Before leaving, he and his wife said, "Please don't tell me that I am the crab. If you leak this secret, bad luck will come. You and your sisters just stand at the window and watch the competition, and when I ride under your window, I will throw you the silver apple. If they ask, you say you don't know me." After saying that, he kissed her, told her again, and left.

The princess and her sisters stood at the window watching the competition. Her husband rode past and threw the apple to her. She caught the apple and went back to her room. The king was surprised that his daughter despised any of the princes, so the king held a second competition.

The golden crab asked his wife to go to the black man to get something like last time, and this time she got a golden apple. Before he left, he said to his wife, "I know you will reveal your secret today."

The princess swore that she would not, but when night came, the princess and her mother were standing at the window, and the prince galloped past on horseback and threw her a golden apple, her mother was furious, slapped her angrily, and shouted: "Are you not satisfied even with the prince just now? You fool!"

The princess screamed in fright, "He's that crab!"

Her mother, who had only heard of this until now, was even more angry. She rushed into her daughter's room, saw the crab shell there, grabbed it and threw it into the fire. The poor princess cried bitterly, but it was no use, her husband will never come back.

Now let's look at the others in the story. One day, an old man came to a small stream, soaked the foreskin in the stream, and was about to eat when a dog suddenly jumped out of the water, grabbed his bread and ran away. The old man chased after him, the dog broke open a door and ran in, and the old man followed. He didn't catch up with the dog, but found himself standing on the stairs. He went down the stairs and saw a majestic palace in front of him. In the hall of the palace there was a table for twelve people. He hid behind a huge painting and peeked out. At noon, he heard a loud bang, and although he was trembling with fright, he mustered up the courage to look out from behind the painting. He saw twelve eagles fly in. The eagles flew into the fountain, and suddenly they were twelve handsome young men. They sat down at the table, and one of them raised a full glass of wine and said, "May my father be healthy!" The other said, "May my mother be healthy!" So they went on one by one. One of the young men said:

"May my beloved be in good health,

May she live happily ever after!

Curse that cruel mother,

She burned my golden shell! "

Having said this, he cried in pain. The young man got up from his seat and went back into the fountain, turning back into an eagle again.

When the old man came home, he heard that the princess was ill, and the only way to make her better was to tell her stories. So he went to the palace and told her about the strange things he saw in the underground palace. As soon as he finished speaking, the princess asked him if he knew the way to the palace.

"Of course I know," he replied.

The princess asked him to take her there at once, and the old man agreed. When he got there, the old man hid the princess behind the painting and told her not to make a sound, and hid there himself. The eagles flew back and took human form, and the princess recognized her husband at once, and she wanted to get out of the painting, but the old man stopped her. The young people sat at the table, and the prince raised his glass and said:

"May my beloved be in good health,

May she live happily ever after!

Curse that cruel mother,

She burned my golden shell! "

The princess could not bear it any longer, and ran forward to hug her husband. The prince recognized her immediately and said, "Remember, remember the day I said that you would reveal your secrets? Now you know I was right. It's all over. I will be under the control of magic for another three months. Will you accompany me until that day?"

The princess decided to stay with him, and the old man went back and told the king and queen all this. Although they regretted it very much, they could not get it back. Three months later, the magic was lifted, and the prince turned back into a human form, returned home, and lived happily ever after.