‘You must make known to the King,’ says the hen-wife, ‘that you heard
of his sons, and wonder greatly that he concealed them all this time
from you; tell him you wish to see them, and that it is full time for
them to be liberated, and that you would be desirous he would bring
them to the Court. The King will then do so, and there will be a great
feast prepared on that account, and also diversions of every sort to
amuse the people; and in these sports,’ said she, ‘ask the King’s sons
to play a game at cards with you, which they will not refuse. Now,’
says the hen-wife, ‘you must make a bargain, that if you win they must
do whatever you command them, and if they win, that you must do
whatever they command you to do; this bargain must be made before the
assembly, and here is a pack of cards,’ says she, ‘that I am thinking
you will not lose by.’
The Queen immediately took the cards, and, after returning the hen-wife
thanks for her kind instruction, went back to the palace, where she was
quite uneasy until she got speaking to the King in regard of his
children; at last she broke it off to him in a very polite and engaging
manner, so that he could see no muster or design in it. He readily
consented to her desire, and his sons were sent for to the tower, who
gladly came to Court, rejoicing that they were freed from such
confinement. They were all very handsome, and very expert in all arts
and exercises, so that they gained the love and esteem of all that had
seen them.
The Queen, more jealous with them than ever, thought it an age until
all the feasting and rejoicing was over, that she might get making her
proposal, depending greatly on the power of the hen-wife’s cards. At
length this royal assembly began to sport and play at all kinds of
diversions, and the Queen very cunningly challenged the three Princes
to play at cards with her, making bargain with them as she had been
instructed.
They accepted the challenge, and the eldest son and she played the
first game, which she won; then the second son played, and she won that
game likewise; the third son and she then played the last game, and he
won it, which sorely grieved her that she had not him in her power as
well as the rest, being by far the handsomest and most beloved of the
three.
However, everyone was anxious to hear the Queen’s commands in regard to
the two Princes, not thinking that she had any ill design in her head
against them. Whether it was the hen-wife instructed her, or whether it
was from her own knowledge, I cannot tell; but she gave out they must
go and bring her the Knight of the Glen’s wild Steed of Bells, or they
should lose their heads.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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