literature

Caroline, the Goose-Girl [story]

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Once upon a time, there lived a widow queen with her only daughter, princess Caroline. The princess had been arranged to marry the prince from a neighbouring castle and was preparing to leave for her wedding. Her mother, who loved her beautiful daughter, made sure she did not leave empty handed and loaded her with silver and gold, exquisite dresses and jewellery. She also gave her daughter a maid to travel with, a talking horse named Falada and right before the princess departed, a handkerchief with three drops of the Queen's blood on.

"They will protect you on your travel", she said.

The princess and her maid left for the prince's castle. On their way the princess who was thirsty asked, "Ina, fetch me some water from that river in my golden cup." Ina however replied, "If you're thirsty, then just lay down near the river and drink. I won't be your servant."

Though slightly embarrassed, the humble princess did so. While she was bended over the river, the drops of blood whispered, "If your mother knew, her heart would break in two."
Princess Caroline mounted and continued the journey, until once again she was thirsty. She asked Ina once more, yet again she was told to do it herself. This time when she bended over the river, she lost her protective handkerchief. Princess Caroline hadn't noticed it, but her maid had.

When the princess was ready to mount Falada, the maid said, "Falada is my horse, you should ride the other." The princess, weakened, did so.  The maid also forced her to swap clothes. After this, Ina also made the true princess swear to keep this all a secret.

Not soon after, they arrived at the castle, where the prince took Ina off her horse and guided her up to her new living quarters, while the real princess was left standing in the courtyard.  One of the servants saw her and reported her presence to the king. The king, who had asked the phony princess about Caroline, gave her the task to herd the geese.

Ina, who was scared someone would find out what had happened, asked the prince, "The horse I rode on here angered me. Could you please do it away?" The prince looking to please his bride, locked the horse away in the prison cellar.

The following morning, Caroline went out of the castle with Conrad, the goose-boy, and the geese. When they came past the gate, Caroline saw the small window with Falada in and said, "Alas, poor Falada, now you are locked away."

Falada replied, "Alas young Queen, if you mother knew, her heart would break in two."
They went past the gate, through the fields, 'till they reached a lake. Caroline wanted to comb her golden hair and undid her braid. Little Conrad saw this golden hair and wanted to have a piece of it, but Caroline hummed, "Blow, wind, blow, take Conrad's hat, and make him chase it, until I have braided my hair, and tied it up again."

As she finished singing, a strong wind blew Conrad's hat away, so that the goose-boy was forced to chase after it. When he returned, princess Caroline had already finished braiding her hair. Angry, Conrad and Caroline tended to the geese in silence, until evening fell.

When they arrived back at the castle, Conrad went to speak with the old king. "You Majesty,  I don't want to tend the geese with that girl any longer." When the king inquired why, Conrad answered, "She is too weird. At morning when we past the gate, she spoke to the princess' horse "Alas, poor Falada, now you are locked away", and then that horse replied, "Alas, young Queen, if your mother knew, her heart would break in two." And when we were at the lake, she hummed a rhyme and then a wind blew my hat away."
The king who had some trouble believing Conrad, followed suit the next day. And indeed as Conrad had described, the goose-girl spoke to the horse and the horse replied, and at the lake after singing the wind blew Conrad's hat away.

That evening the king called upon the goose-girl and asked her to explain what she had done. But Caroline said she couldn't or she would be killed for sure. The old king replied, "Then why don't you tell it to that stove over there?" She did so and told about Ina, how she had been forced to give her clothes and horse away.

The old king who had hidden himself behind the stove heard it all and called his servants. As they dressed her up in the country's finest clothes, the prince was told about her. The king and prince were both very pleased, for she was incredibly beautiful. The king ordered a feast to celebrate and the prince took Caroline on a ride through the meadows.

Meanwhile, Ina was still trying on the wedding dress princess Caroline had brought with her. She didn't know Falada had been released from its cell, nor did she know Caroline had been discovered as the real princess. Ina assumed the feast tonight would be an engagement party. When she arrived at the party that night, her mistress Caroline was sitting near the prince, yet Ina did not recognize her. As she sat between the king and prince, the king asked her a question: "What is the punishment for someone who deceives their master and swaps roles with them?"

"That person deserves no better fate then to take away their belongings and have them in their underwear been taken through the city. After that, they should be put in prison," she answered smugly.

"Then that will be your punishment, Ina," the king answered and the maid was taken away. Caroline was then introduced to the guests as the real princess.

The following day while Ina's punishment was taken place, princess Caroline married her prince and they lived happily ever after.
Contest entry for :iconazaleasdolls-lovers:

Word count: 997 :O_o:

It was actually longer at first (1057 words), so I was forced to slim it down.

Dolls: [link]
(Made with ~AzaleasDolls's Heroine Fanart Creator)

Yes, five outfits, but they all have a place in the story, so it should be ok, I think...

A "Disney-fied" version of the Goose-Girl, one of Grimm's fairytales. What's different?
:bulletred: Falada stays alive. In the real fairy tale he gets killed, instead of locked away.
:bulletred: Less repetition. Disney never was a fan of repetiveness, though that did happen a lot in fairy tales.
:bulletred: A small date between the prince and Caroline. It would have been more, but I had to take the max. word count in mind.
:bulletred: Ina's punishment is weakened. The punishment is actually to be stripped stark naked, and put in a barrel that is studded inside with sharp nails. Two white horses should be hitched to it, and they should drag her along through one street after another, until she is dead.


Edit: And only now I notice that the max word count has been changed to 1500 :facepalm:
© 2012 - 2024 slimmmeiske2
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