"Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother,
and had the same golden hair. And when she was grown up, the king
looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he
said to his courtiers, ’May I not marry my daughter? She is the very
image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride
upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.’ When the
courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, ’Heaven forbid that
a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can
come.’ And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would
soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, ’Before I marry anyone
I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another
must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling
as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different
kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must
give a part of his skin.’ And thus she though he would think of the
matter no more. But the king made the most skilful workmen in his
kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another
silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his
hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to
take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a
thousand furs was made.
When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the
night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden
ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three
dresses–of the sun, the moon, and the stars–up in a nutshell, and
wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and
besmeared her face and hands with soot. Then she threw herself upon
Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole
night, till at last she came to a large wood."
Excerpt from Cat-Skin - Brothers Grimm
6 comments:
Exquisite as usual. I haven't read this story for years can't remember how it finishes.
You're really caught the pensive unhappiness in Catskin's face. So lovely! And her clothes make her look ready to disappear into the night forest.
Thank you very much, one and all.
Debbie here is a link to the tale - http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-62.html
Love that story. Poor little catskin she has the cares of the world on her shoulders.
Thank you Charlotte, don't worry, she's a shrewd little thing...
I just have to say that I find so much peace reading your words and seeing such beautiful creatures. It is such a blessing for me to actually find some sort of peace after the things I have been through. Thank you for sharing.
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