Fairy Tales of Human Skin

A king had three daughters. The king planned to go to the market to buy things. Before leaving home, he asked his three sons what gifts they wanted. The eldest daughter asked for a handkerchief, the second daughter asked for a high boot, and the third daughter asked for a box of salt. The two elder sisters were jealous of their little sister, so they said to their father: "Do you know why your bad daughter wants salt? She deliberately wants to make things difficult for you."

"Ah, so that's it. !" said the father, "She is deliberately making things difficult for me, right? Huh, I'm going to kick her out." He did.

The poor girl was driven out of the palace with only a maid and a purse. She didn't know where to go. Along the way, the young men she met were pestering her and annoying her. So the maid came up with an idea. At this time, a hundred-year-old woman had just died and was being buried. The maid asked the tomb man: "Can you sell us the old woman's skin?" After some bargaining, the tomb man took out a knife and peeled off the old woman's skin bit by bit, and finally peeled off the old woman's skin. The entire human skin was sold to them along with the face, white hair, fingers and nails. After the maid had tanned the human skin, she sewed it onto a piece of thin cloth and made it into a dress for the girl to wear. This centenarian walked with light feet and a voice as clear as a silver bell. People looked at her with confusion.

The girl and the maid met the son of a king. He asked the maid: "How old is the old woman?"

"Ask her herself." The maid replied.

"Grandma, can you hear me? How old are you?"

"Ask me? I am one hundred and fifteen years old." The girl said with a smile.

"God! Where are you from?"

"From my city."

"Who are your parents?"

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"I am my mother and father."

"What do you do for a living?"

"Have fun!"

The king's son found it very interesting and said to the king and queen: "Let's take this old man back to the palace. She can tell us jokes and make us happy."

So the maid After being sent away, the girl remained in the palace. People told her to live in a pavilion. When the king's son had free time, he came to talk to the old woman. Some of the strange things she said made the prince laugh.

One day, the queen said to "Bad Eyes" (people called her this because the old woman had a pair of rotten eyes on her skin): "Your eyes are so bad that you can't do any work at all." , It’s so outrageous!”

“I can definitely spin like a girl!” Bad Eyes replied.

"Then let's try spinning this bit of flax," the queen said, "and do something serious!"

As soon as the queen went out, the old woman was the only one left in the room. one person. She closed the door, took off the human skin and started spinning. She spins amazingly well. The king's son, the queen, and everyone in the court were all shocked: an old, ragged, half-blind old woman could actually do such a miracle!

The next day, the queen asked her to make a coat. When there was no one else in the room, she hurriedly cut and sewed, and even embroidered flowers on the front with the most exquisite gold thread. People no longer take it seriously. However, the king's son felt doubtful. When the old woman closed the door again, he looked into the house through the keyhole of the ax. What did he see? After the old woman took off her human skin, she was a radiant and beautiful girl, standing there gracefully. The king's son broke in without hesitation and embraced the girl tightly. She felt embarrassed and tried to hide her embarrassment. "Who are you?" asked the king's son, "and why are you disguised like that?"

The girl admitted that she too was a child of a king. The king cursed her and drove her out of the palace.

The king's son immediately ran to his parents and said, "Hey, I have found a king's daughter and I want to marry her."

News of the wedding celebration Father announced. Kings and queens from countries near and far were invited to congratulate them. Among them, the bride's father also came. However, because the bride was wearing a hat and veil, he did not recognize his daughter. The bride ordered a special dish to be prepared for her father. Except for the roasted meat, no salt was added to the other dishes. The soup was brought to the table, and the other guests ate it with relish, but the bride's father only tasted it and stopped eating. Then the steamed meat was served, but he almost didn't eat it. The fish was brought out again, but he didn't move it. "I'm not hungry," he explained. But when the barbecue was served, he liked it so much that he ate it three times in a row. At this moment, his daughter asked him, why did he eat the roasted meat with relish while not eating other dishes? The king said that he could never understand the reason, but the roasted meat tasted delicious to him, and the other dishes were delicious. Dishes are bland and tasteless.

"Now you finally understand," the daughter replied, "it would be incredible if there was no salt in the food! That's why your daughter asked you to buy salt when you went to the market Because of this, my two bad sisters said that I made things difficult for you..."

At this time, the father recognized his daughter, hugged her affectionately, and asked her to forgive him. The king punished his two jealous eldest daughters.

(Village Montal, Pistoia region)