Share
Chapter 22: The Wise Girl
A HARGAN FOLK STORY
There was once a girl who was wiser than the King and all his councilors; there never was anything like it. Her father was so proud of her that he boasted about her cleverness at home and abroad. He could not keep his tongue still about it. One day he was boasting to one of his neighbors, and he said, “The girl is so clever that not even the King himself could ask her a question she couldn't answer, or read her a riddle she couldn't unravel.”
Now it so chanced the King was sitting at a window nearby, and he overheard what the girl's father was saying. The next day he sent for the man to come before him. “I hear you have a daughter who is so clever that no one in the kingdom can equal her; and is that so?” asked the King.
Yes, it was no more than the truth. Too much could not be said of her wit and cleverness.
That was well, and the King was glad to hear it. He had thirty eggs; they were fresh and good, but it wo
Related chapters
The Book of Deceive Chapter 23: A Castle that Levitated Between the clouds and the Ground
A FOLK TALE Once there was a king, who had three sons and only one daughter, who was caged and kept as his most precious possession. When the girl matured, she asked her father to let her go out with her brothers for a walk around the castle, the father agreed. When she went out, a dragon appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her and disappeared into the clouds. The brothers ran to their father and told him what happened. They will gladly search for their sister. Their father agreed, gave them each a horse and everything what they will need on the road, and so they went. On their long journey they, finally, found a castle that levitated between the clouds and the ground. They thought that their sister might be in there high above them. They started making a plan. The brothers thought and thought, until they came up with a plan. The plan was simple, they need a rope, but where to find a rope, in the middle of nowhere, they turned towards the horses. The two younger b
The Book of Deceive Chapter 24: A True Story
I Some stories are true, but most are half true. It depends what you prefer. But the story I’m about to tell is more than true. I remember the events that occurred some five hundred years ago like they were yesterday. There are only a few more events that are deeply engraved in my memory besides this one. Allow me start with the cold, boring facts about how it all began. The land, where I am from, lays far beyond the forest, hidden by tall, snowy mountain peaks and unknown and hard to track terrain, ruled over by a certain Prince Val Dragwer, or in the native language Val Dracul the Third. A prince, a general, a warrior, a warlord all of this he is; but above else he’s a strategist that carefully calculates his every move, in order to gain the upper hand and save as much of his people as he can. Generous and terrible, merciful and cruel, he’s all this and more at the same time. But this isn’t a story about him, this stories is about how I got
The Book of Deceive Chaopter 25: The Inn Part I
SCENE ILablin, one of the few larger towns in Rowena, is and always will remain a lively place, to say the least, more entertaining than most places and less entertaining than a few better places. Even to this day there is no difference; most people hope that there won’t be one and that things will never change. Who would like to change in a place like this? Nobody in the right mind state, but there are those that would. Who could blame them? Nobody, maybe they like the quietness of village or the song of the mountains as they snake their way through the shear, rugged and cold mountain paths. People have different tastes, in everything, but most returned to Lablin. Why you may ask? The people themselves couldn’t answer. Some would say it’s the market, the theater, the library, the square, the city hall or maybe it’s because of the pedlars. Whatever th
The Book of Deceive Chapter 26: The Inn Part II
SCENE IThe tavern he got was much bigger than the old Narrakort Tavern where he was housed. The building itself had a different smell, the smell of private property, his property. Narrakort Tavern had four rooms on the ground floor and four rooms on the first floor. The inn he got, in its current state, had eleven rooms that could be used. Many who knew him bet the bard would do nothing to restore it to its former glory. But again, many knew him well. They lost.The tavern at its height had twenty rooms, seven bathrooms and eight toilets.The interior configuration was different from that of other pubs, most of them were single or double floored. It was the oldest and most famous tavern in town.A large fireplace was stationed in the center, thus illuminating the entire room. He sat in his favorite chair, smoking his pipe, watching the shadows on the freshly painted walls and supports. Ther
The Book of Deceive Chapter 27: The First Event
They appeared from the bush, silent as shadows, a group of at least a hundred man armed to the teeth. They rode in silence. The horses were silent, as well. The whHaotaiga was silent. There was nothing else to it, nothing at all. Why and from where did they come to this part of taiga? What did they search for? Those were questions that were hard to answer.Their faces were covered with beech-wood masks that gathered above the forehead that was decorated with two long straps of colorful cloth. The rest of the mask was decorated with fur, feathers or colored pieced of oak that made a form of harmony. A harmony that was terrifying, to say the least, but none the less it was a form of harmony. Some might say it was a horde of demons that rode their terrible cavalcade, they weren’t wrong. This group was more demon than man. They rode. The leader stopped, looked at the sky above. An eagle flew above, it was an omen. The group stopped. The lea
The Book of Deceive Chapter 28: Time
IThrough High Hill a strange figure ran, it almost levitated, face hidden behind an plain hood of the rough woolen coat that danced on the wind like wings. The figure moved with above human speed, not even stopping to safely cross the slippery, moss-covered, rough-edged stones that appeared here and there. Plain deer hide boots walked without rest over the uneven terrain.High Hill, as the locals with suspicious looking faces called it, was still richly decorated with deciduous trees, even though it was already passed mid-autumn and the beginning of another rough winter was near. It will only bring new problems but it will also take with it many lives that weren’t meant to end and to whom diseases could do nothing. Every since the seasons changed and since Mian Vailur, the winter god, awaken for his multi-century slumber, the winters became colder and longer while the summers became shorter and hotter. The equilibrium
The Book of Deceive Chapter 29: The Goddess of Mercy Part I
Once upon a time in Sinadol there lived a certain king who had three daughters. The fairest and best of these was Kwan-yin, the youngest. The old king was justly proud of this daughter, for of all the women who had ever lived in the palace she was by far the most attractive. It did not take him long, therefore, to decide that she should be the heir to his throne, and her husband ruler of his kingdom. But, strange to say, Kwan-yin was not pleased at this good fortune. She cared little for the pomp and splendor of court life. She foresaw no pleasure for herself in ruling as a queen, but even feared that in so high a station she might feel out of place and unhappy. Every day she went to her room to read and study. As a result of this daily labor she soon went far beyond her sisters along the paths of knowledge, and her name was known in the farthest corner of the kingdom as “Kwan-yin, the wise princess.” Besides being very fond of books, Kwan-yin was thoughtful of her friends.
The Book of Deceive Chapter 30: The Goddess of Mercy Part II
The next day the princess went back to the same spot. There she found no fewer than a dozen savage beasts working under the command of the friendly tiger, gathering wood for her. In a short time enough brush and firewood had been piled up to last the convent for six months. Thus, even the wild animals of the forest were better able to judge of her goodness than the women of the sisterhood.At another time when Kwan-yin was toiling up the hill for the twentieth time, carrying two great pails of water on a pole, an enormous dragon faced her in the road. Now, in Sinadol, the dragon is sacred, and Kwan-yin was not at all frightened, for she knew that she had done no wrong.The animal looked at her for a moment, switched its horrid tail, and shot out fire from its nostrils. Then, dashing the burden from the startled maiden's shoulder, it vanished. Full of fear, Kwan-yin hurried up the hill to the nunnery. As she drew near the inner court, she was amazed to see in the center
Latest chapter
The Book of Deceive Chapter 95: The Duel
The Book of Deceive Chapter 94: The Council
The Book of Deceive Chapter 93: Traveling Stone and the Castle
The Book of Deceive Chapter 92: The Storm
The Book of Deceive Chapter 91: The Battle
The Book of Deceive Chapter 90: Profit
The Book of Deceive Chapter 89: Something Begins
The Book of Deceive Chapter 88: Something Ends
The Book of Deceive Chapter 87: Ties
