THE THREE ORANGE APPLES
Source
The middle son left. For seven weeks he walked from dawn to midnight. Finally, he arrived in the land of orange apples. In this country, there is a beautiful garden, where it never snows or ice. In this beautiful garden, there is an orange apple tree all white with flowers, where seven hundred wild nightingales sing, where seven hundred wild nightingales sing night and day. On this orange apple tree, there were six apples as red as gold.
The youngest picked three orange apples, red as gold, put them in his basket, and left. At the end of his journey, he rested under a large tree, near a clear fountain. At the edge of the clear fountain sat a woman, black as the hearth, and old as a trail.
“My friend, what are you carrying in your basket?"
"Three snakes."
"Three snakes, it is."
Before sunset, the cadet arrived at the king's castle.
“King, here are the three orange apples. Now give me your daughter in marriage."
Quickly, the king opened the basket.
“Insolent, they are three snakes. Executioner, take this worthless thing and hang him."
The executioner obeys.
The next day, the youngest of the three boys said to his mother:
“Mother, you know what the town drummer shouted. Give me a basket. I'm leaving for the land of orange apples. When I return, you will have some money."
The youngest of the three boys left. For seven weeks he walked from dawn to midnight. Finally, he arrived in the land of orange apples. In this country, there is a beautiful garden, where it never snows or ice. In this beautiful garden, there is an orange apple tree all white with flowers, where seven hundred wild nightingales sing, where seven hundred wild nightingales sing night and day. On this orange apple tree, there were three apples as red as gold.
The boy picked the three apples as red as gold, put them in his basket, and left. At the end of his journey, he rested under a large tree, near a clear fountain. At the edge of the clear fountain sat a woman, black as the hearth, and old as a trail.
“My friend, what are you carrying in your basket?"
"Brave woman, I carry three apples of orange."
"Three apples of orange, it is. My friend, fill my pitcher from the clear fountain."
"With pleasure, brave woman."
"Thank you, my friend. Tell me. What do you want to do with these three orange apples?"
"Brave woman, I want to take them to the king, to heal his daughter. The king promised her in marriage to the one who would give her this present. But I'm too poor to marry the princess. Perhaps the king will give me a little money for my old mother, who can no longer work."
"My friend, you will marry the king's daughter. But you are not at the end of your trials. Listen. The king will first command you to drive away all the flies from the land. Here, take this whip. Just by hearing it click, all the flies will leave for seven leagues around, never to return, ever. Then, the king will order you to keep three hundred hares in the countryside for a whole week and to bring them back to the stable every evening at sunset. Here, take this silver whistle. You just have to whistle. Immediately, the three hundred hares will run from all sides and follow you like dogs. Then the king will ask you for one of these hares. Give it to him, but on condition. Hold. Here is a gold ring. Say to the king: “Choose your hare. In payment, I ask that we put this gold ring on your daughter's finger." As soon as this is done, the golden ring will become one with the flesh and will squeeze the finger so hard, so hard, that the king's daughter will cry: "Father, I am dying if you do not marry me to the boy who brought back the three apples of orange."
"Brave woman, you will be obeyed."
Source: Les trois pommes d’orange, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
As I expected, the middle son made the same mistake as his elder brother: he lied to the old woman, who, I understand now, is a fairy.
If this were not a folk tale but real life, two things would have happened:
first, there would be many boys that would try to get the orange apples, not just the three brothers.
second, the eldest brother would have taken the nine orange apples to prevent anybody else from getting three of them.
Several weeks ago, a woman from Kati's family gave her some small plants, without telling her anything about them. She had no idea what they were. So, she planted them in a spot where there was some cow manure.
The plants grew up. Among them, there were green and yellow zucchini. Today, she asked me to collect two of the yellow zucchini.
So, now we have seven zucchini, six yellow, and one green.
She will cook them tomorrow in a way that makes them crispy. I really like them this way.
-- Vincent Celier
My instinct was actually right, I knew that the second son who was also lazy and a drunkard like his elder brother would also make the same mistake his elder brother did.
The last son who was actually wise and brave went and got the three orange apples and because he was brave enough to be sincere with the old woman, made her trust him and also gave him more powers which I believe would help him when he gets to the King's Palace.
The story is almost coming to an end, so we will get to know what later happened.
Wow zucchini, I have never seen such a plant before, but they look like they are going to be very sweet.
What could be expected from the second brother, he also lied and got what he deserved.
Now he had to go for the three orange apples to the last son, as at the beginning of the story he says that this son was the most honest, when the woman asked him what he was carrying in that basket, he answered with his honesty and the lady for his answer gave him some articles that will help him to get the king's daughter in marriage.
Your comment about going to look for the zucchini, reminded me of the search for the three orange apples.
Now it is you who has to look for the yellow and green zucchini, I hope that the reward from Queen Kati will be something good, for obeying her request.
I knew it that even the middle son will end up bringing something else to the king too. At last, the youngest brother will be the one to finally arrive with the three orange apple. I love this. It was nice he wasn't rude to the old woman and he answered truly. And I said earlier yesterday that it will only be the person who has a clean and kind heart that will bring the three orange apples. I am glad the old woman is now helping him on how he can overcome the king's trials. That is why, it is good to be kind even to strangers. Some people in this life, it is the way you answer them that they will treat you so let's always try to respond in a kind tone to everyone and be true to ourselves.
I was thinking something yesterday after reading this and it is the exact thing you said today, that is, if this was a real story and not a tale, so many people would have gone in search of the three orange apples. The tale is only centered on the three boys because it want people to know and get the message clear.
Wow! I love the way Kati looked after the plant even though she didn't actually knew what plant was. The plant grew up looking healthy. Zucchini is one of the vegetables that is very beneficial to the body.
This tale is certainly full of wit. It is not surprising to see the second son repeating the same mistake his brother has undergone as par being foolish like the eldest son. The younger on the hand is wise enough not to lie to the fairy he has met on his way while resting. He paid attention to the fairy woman and get gifts that will change his life forever.
It is amazing to see that the plant giving to your wife grew well enough to have fruit. I'm sure you will enjoy the delicious delicacy when you wife is done cooking tomorrow. Don't forget to send mine across, I will like to have a bite.
I actually laughed when the middle son told the old woman that he was carrying a snake 😂. That's hilarious, how did that come to his mind.
The theme of this episode is on importance of being sincere and truthful. The youngest son's truthfulness was what helped him to scale through. And even more important is that he wasn't embarking on the adventure just so he could marry the king's daughter, but because he wanted to provide for his aged mother. That's so thoughtful of him.
He still has a lot of trials to undergo, but I trust that the old woman has rewarded him for his truthfulness by equipping him with all that is needed for face his trials.
Just hearing about Zucchini today, I'll have to look it up, it really looks good, I guess it tastes good to.
Plants are always proves to be useful. A woman gives You a plant and You also planted it carefully and now its fruitful.
You can get benefit from it.
If we talk about the story, You are saying right, I also agree with you that if this is not a folk tale and its a real story, younger brother will not carry only three apples and he was not a good in qualities so why he was chosen by king.
His image shown by this story was not impressive but he was honest that's why he doesn't tell a lie and told the old woman truth that he is carrying an apples.
She proves to be helpful and also told him the situations he has to faced and also told him the solution of that problems.
Waiting for the next but the end is clear now I think.
The story is becoming very interesting. What happened to the woman's second son? He also traveled for a long time and after that when he came back with the apples, they were not with him,
but he took them from Golden. On the way, when someone asked him, the snake asked him, he said that it is an apple, so he still does not understand that the person he meets on the way changes all these things, even with the boy.
It is exactly the same as what happened to his brother, this time also he told and when he came to the king, the snakes came out of the basket but the apples did not come out, so all the brothers and mother were very worried.
Now these people decided that we will go together, so all these people reached there and on the way they met a woman and she also questioned them there.
When he told them, he advised them to do it in this way, now they are doing it exactly the same way, now it is to see if they can now go and marry the prince's daughter and say the prince's daughter over and over there. I want to marry.
It is a very good thing that the vegetable man plants in his garden and enjoys eating it when it ripens because it is so fresh.
Firstly, I wonder why the woman of those three boys allowed her children to go on that kind of journey. She should have learnt from what happened to the two older sons or even the first one alone and not allow the other two or just the last one to go on that journey. She is so brave but I can't do that with my kids. I will be very scared.
Also, truthfulness is good and it saves you from so many atrocities. Just look at how the last boy spoke the truth and the black woman helped him. She did not just help me but still gave him what he will use to chase all the flies and also hints on how to do them.
A lot of people don't want to say the truth maybe because they feel they will lose or be punished but look at what truthfulness has done to this guy. Well, he is not at the end of his trials but I'm sure that he will laugh at last
The second part of this story is really interesting.. Just like I’ve known,the second son will definitely lie just as the first son did. That is why he got a snake instead of the orange apples
He was also punished just as the first son did .
But the brave and intelligent last son told the truth to the old woman and was rewarded after all . I am really glad for him
But shockingly,the king has another intention in mind so as not to make the youngest son get married to his daughter just like he promised
But thanks to the old woman who could give the youngest son what he would use as a condition for him to get married to the king’s daughter
Definitely,the youngest son will be the one to bring wealth to his family .
The middle son with all courage and never giving up desire to sort out for what needs to be sorted out for. The land of the orange apple must have look so strange to the middle son at first sight. The orange apple tree must have really been so much special.
I really felt bad for the youngest son making the same mistake again as the eldest son. Why will he mention 3 snakes instead of saying 3 fruit. It seems in this story, it portray that there is always power in tongues and confessions.
Thank God the middle son didn't make the same mistake and quickly said it is 3 apples of oranges in that box. Thank God he really made the right decision and confession to do so. Wow and thank it's goodness he encounter the brave woman who also helped him out by telling him what is about to happen and how can overcome the obstacles ahead.
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#hive #posh
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The youngest son has shown a great deal of grit. His truthfulness endeared him to the fairy-woman's heart that she shared the secret of how to go about marrying the King's daughter. A great story
The middle son lacked wisdom, and he lied to the spirit unknowingly to him. But the youngest son has a beautiful heart and he depicted it in the way he dealt with the old woman. He received instructions on how to overcome the trials set before him by the king and he eventually married the king's daughter.
Those zucchinis look very yummy and nice. I like them crispy too.