THE SON OF THE KING OF SPAIN
Then, the Son of the King of Spain loaded, on his white horse, the Ogre's breastplate, and set off at full gallop for the king's Louvre.
“Hello, King. Drink. Here is the wine that restores youth."
The king emptied the bottle. Immediately, he became young again like he was at eighteen.
“King, here is the head of the Ogre, two toises high, who was the misfortune of this country. King, here is the armor proof to the sword, the bullet, and the cannonball. And now I need your daughter in marriage."
"Son of the King of Spain, the breastplate is not my size. In place of the heart, there is a hole as big as a fist. And then, who proves to me that the armor is proof against the sword, the bullet, and the cannonball?
"King, that’s right. Tomorrow, the test will be done at sunrise. In the meantime, prepare everything you need for the wedding."
The Son of the King of Spain jumped on his white horse and set off at full gallop.
After three leagues, he stopped in front of the shop of a blacksmith, who was striking iron with his seven apprentices.
“Blacksmith, look at this breastplate. Is there enough iron and steel to forge two?"
"Yes sir."
"Blacksmith, I will pay you well, and your seven apprentices will be happy with my gift. At work. I intend to have both breastplates tomorrow, three hours before sunrise."
"Sir, you will be obeyed."
The next day, the two breastplates were forged three hours before sunrise.
“Blacksmith, here is a thousand pistoles. Apprentices, share these thousand others."
Then, the Son of the King of Spain adjusted the most beautiful of the two breastplates, loaded the other onto his white horse, and set off at full gallop for the king's Louvre.
“Hello, King. Here are two breastplates, one for me, the other for you. Choose."
"Son of the King of Spain, I choose the most beautiful. I choose the one you are wearing."
“Well, king, let’s put it to the test. Draw your sword, and strike hard."
The king drew his sword and struck hard. The breastplate was sword-proof.
“King, discharge your two pistols at me at point-blank range."
The king discharged his two pistols at point-blank range. The armor was bulletproof.
“King, order your gunners to fire a cannon at me."
"Cannoneers, fire."
At the sound of the cannon, the Son of the King of Spain fell. But he immediately got up, agile and cheerful.
“King, the force of the ball has knocked me down. But I have no problem. Look."
The armor was bulletproof.
“And now, King, take my breastplate, and give me your daughter in marriage."
"Son of the King of Spain, you have earned it."
The wedding took place that same morning. We have never seen or will see the like. The next day, the Son of the King of Spain took his wife on horseback to his country, where they lived rich and happy for a long time.
Source: Le Fils du roi d'Espagne, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
Next Tale: The Man of All Colors
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 expected, the Son of the King of Spain was able to prove to the king that he earned the right to marry the daughter of the king.
An armor that is cannonball-proof? Seriously? Even nowadays I don't think this could exist. But, in the folk tales, many things happen that are not credible. Sword-proof or bulletproof, OK. But cannonball-proof, it must be magical
And now that his daughter has gone to Spain, what will the king do? He will be sad, that is a given. Maybe he will die from a broken heart, having lost his wife and his daughter no longer being here. And who will succeed him as king? I guess there will be a struggle between the members of his family.
Yesterday afternoon, we went to buy groceries. We left Kormi in the garden of Kati's mother's house. But we were not yet in the car when we saw Kormi coming out of the cemetery. Kati suspected that there was a hole in the fence between the garden and the cemetery, but we did not know where. The dog went back to the house, then we left for the grocery store.
This morning, I was in the garden with Kormi and people were visiting the tombs of their family in the cemetery. As Kormi is trying to protect us from foreign people that she thinks may attack us, she went through the hole in the fence to bark at these people. She only barks, she never tries to bite. So, I was able to see the hole in the fence. We closed it temporarily and we will do a better job later.
This afternoon, we went back to the vineyard house to work a little more on the garden.
Here is a picture of the house. Because it is a small house, the stairs to go upstairs have been added outside.
We did clean up the right part of the garden.
We collected some green tomatoes. The small green peppers were planted too late, so they never grew to be ripe.
-- Vincent Celier