The Pink | 石竹花

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There was once a Queen who had no children. Every morning she prayed in the garden for a child. An angel appeared and told her she would have a son with the power to wish for anything he desired.

She told the King the joyful news, and in time, a son was born. One day, while the Queen slept in the garden with the infant, the old cook, who knew of the child's power, stole him. He killed a hen and smeared its blood on the Queen's apron, then told the King that wild beasts had taken the child. Believing the lie, the furious King imprisoned the Queen in a high tower, condemning her to starve. However, God sent two angels as white doves to bring her food daily for seven years.

The cook, fearing the boy's power, left the palace. When the prince was older, the cook found him and told him to wish for a magnificent palace with a garden. The wish was instantly granted. Later, the cook suggested the prince wish for a beautiful maiden as a companion, which he did. The two fell deeply in love.

Fearing the prince might return to his father, the cook ordered the maiden to kill the sleeping prince and bring his heart and tongue, threatening her life if she refused. The kind maiden could not harm the innocent boy. Instead, she killed a young deer and presented its heart and tongue to the cook. When the cook came to collect them, the prince revealed himself, denounced the cook, and used his wishing power to turn the old man into a black poodle with a golden collar, forced to eat burning coals.

Longing for home, the prince decided to return. The maiden was hesitant to go to a strange land, so he wished her into a beautiful pink flower and carried her in his pocket, with the poodle following.

He found the tower where his mother was imprisoned. Using his power, he created a ladder to reach the top and spoke to her, revealing his identity and promising to save her. He then went to the King, presenting himself as a skilled huntsman. He promised to provide game for the royal table, a feat thought impossible. Using his wishing power, he summoned a great herd of deer for the hunters to shoot, delighting the King.

At a grand feast, the King insisted the huntsman sit beside him. Sitting there, the prince wished for a courtier to ask about the Queen. When the King angrily refused to speak of her, the huntsman revealed himself as the lost prince. He exposed the cook's treachery, first showing the poodle and then restoring him to human form before the court. The wicked cook was thrown into a dungeon.

The prince then showed the King the pink flower and transformed it back into the beautiful maiden, explaining how she had saved his life. The Queen was brought from the tower. Having sustained her faith in God, she died peacefully three days later and was buried, attended by the two angelic doves. The old King, consumed by grief and remorse, soon died. The prince married the maiden, and they lived on, their fate known only to God.

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