This is post #20 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
THE TURKEY SITTER
The valet entered the castle, and returned a moment later, with a full bag on his back.
“Come on, let’s go."
After seven days of travel, they arrived in a country, where they found a farm for sale, with a mansion. The valet bought it and paid cash for it with the golden coins he had received for his trouble when it was believed that he had put the king's last daughter to death.
“Master, this farm is yours. Drink, eat, hunt, and walk, while I work the fields and the vineyards."
"Thank you, valet. Many masters are not equal to you."
While all this was happening, the youngest daughter, whom her father believed to be dead, remained, as a turkey sitter, in the other king's castle where the valet had placed her. This king had a son so strong, so bold, so handsome, that all the girls in the country fell in love with him. The turkey sitter did like the others, but he didn't even look at her.
She often thought: “I will force you to look at me."
Carnival time arrived. Every evening, after supper, the king's son dressed in new clothes and mounted his horse to go dancing until the next morning in the neighboring castles. What did the turkey sitter do? During the wake, she said she was ill and pretended to go to bed. But she secretly went down to the stable, saddled and bridled a horse, and gave him a double peck of oats. Then, she went back to her room and opened the bag containing the clothes she had brought from her father's house. This done, she combed her hair, with a gold comb, put on white stockings, and little red shoes made of Flanders leather, put on a beautiful dress the color of the sky, went back down to the stable, jumped on her horse, and galloped towards the castle where the king's son had gone dancing.
When she entered the ball, the hurdy-gurdy and violin players stopped playing, the dancers stopped dancing, and all the guests said:
“Who is this beautiful young lady?"
Finally, the hurdy-gurdy and violin players began their music again, and the king's son took the young girl by the hand to lead her to the dance. But, at the stroke of midnight, she left her dancer stranded, jumped on her horse, and galloped off again.
The next day, she went to tend the turkeys, as usual, and the king's son, who met her while going hunting, thought:
“It’s astonishing how much this young peasant girl resembles the beautiful young lady I saw at the ball last night."
That same evening, after supper, he dressed in new clothes, mounted his horse, and left again for the ball. So what did the turkey sitter do? During the wake, she said she was ill and pretended to go to bed. But she secretly went down to the stable, saddled and bridled a horse, and gave him a double peck of oats. Then she went back to her room and opened the bag containing the clothes she had brought from her father's house. This done, she combed her hair, with a gold comb, put on white stockings, and small Flanders leather shoes, put on a dress the color of the moon, went back down to the stable, jumped on her horse, and left. galloping to the castle where the king's son had gone to dance.
When she entered the ball, the hurdy-gurdy and violin players stopped playing, the dancers stopped dancing, and all the guests said:
“Who is this beautiful young lady?”
Finally, the hurdy-gurdy and violin players began their music again, and the king's son took the young girl by the hand to lead her to the dance. But, at the stroke of midnight, she left her dancer stranded, jumped on her horse, and galloped off again. The next day, she went to look after the turkeys, as usual; and the king's son who met her, while going hunting, thought:
“It’s astonishing how much this young peasant girl looks like the beautiful young lady I saw at the ball last night."
The same evening, after supper, he dressed in new clothes, mounted his horse, and left again for the ball.
Source: La Gardeuse de dindons, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, 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.
Once again, here we have repetition: two evenings look the same, except for the color of the dress of the princess, the turkey sitter.
At the balls, the princess leaves at midnight like Cinderella. The difference is that she is not forced to do so; she does it so that the prince is intrigued by this beautiful girl.
I forgot to say that Kati planted the cherry tree on one of her property. It is supposed to get ripe cherries in the middle of June. But I don't think we will get any fruit from it next year.
As you can see, she planted poles around the tree, and she will put also some grid around it, to prevent the tree from being eaten by deers during winter.
Here is the picture of a sunset that I took from inside the Abbey.
The temperature these days is very high for the season: yesterday and today, it went up to 30 degrees Celsius. The mean maximal temperature in October is around 19 degrees. Quite a difference!
--Vincent Celier