The Snake Prince
By well-wisher
- 1082 reads
Once upon a time, a handsome prince named Phillip was turned into a snake by an evil witch because he had rejected her advances.
“And you shall stay a snake until you have managed to get three kisses from three pretty maidens”, she said, laughing cruelly before turning her wand into a broomstick and flying away.
Crawling on his belly, the snake prince wandered for years looking for anyone who would kiss him but no one wants to kiss a snake; a frog perhaps but not a snake.
Every time he came near a pretty woman, she would either shriek in fear and run away or try to hit him with a stick.
“It’s no good”, he said, eventually, weeping and sobbing, “No one likes snakes. Snakes are horrible creatures or at least everyone thinks so. I’ll never get anyone to kiss me”.
But then the snake came to what looked like a mountain with a tiny crack in it and, through the crack, he heard a voice that he recognized; the voice of the evil witch.
“Now, little orphans”, he heard the witch say, “I am going out to pick some herbs from the top of the mountain and, when I come back, I will put you in my pot and make you into orphan stew”.
Then, by some strange magic, the little crack grew into the size of a doorway and out came the witch with a wicked grin upon her face before, turning to face the door, she spoke an evil spell:
“Higgledy-Piggledy, upside down; fair is foul and ripe is rotten; dark is bright and smile is frown and the rest of this spell I’ve forgotten”, she said.
And then, suddenly, the doorway started to shrink until it was only a tiny crack again, then the witch, turning her wand into a broomstick flew off up the mountain to pick herbs.
Seeing this, the Snake prince thought that perhaps it might be too dangerous to stay.
“What if that witch catches me?”, he said to himself, “She might put me in her pot and cook me”.
But then, from inside the mountain, the prince heard the three voices of little girls calling for help and, crawling towards the little crack, to his amazement, the snake prince realized that he could fit easily through it.
Inside the mountain, he saw the three little girls who the witch was holding prisoner and, seeing the tears in their eyes, felt very sorry for them.
Unfortunately, when they saw the snake, the three girls were all afraid of him.
“Please, don’t be afraid”, he said, “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m a friendly snake”.
But the three girls wouldn’t believe him.
“All snakes are bad”, the eldest girl told her sisters, “Don’t go near it or it will bite you”.
The poor snake prince didn’t know what to do to convince the girls to trust him.
But, just at that moment, they all heard the sound of the witch returning and then they heard her speaking her magic spell again.
“Higgledy-Piggledy, upside down; fair is foul and ripe is rotten; dark is bright and smile is frown and the rest of this spell I’ve forgotten”, she said.
Then they saw the little crack start to grow to the size of a door and the witch entered carrying her wand.
But, just as she was about to shrink the door again, the snake leapt up and bravely bit her on the hand, making her drop her wand on the floor and then, before she could pick it up again, the snake wrapped its coils tightly around the wand, baring its fangs and hissing at the witch, threatening, “Touch it and I’ll bite you again, you old bag”.
But the witch had other powers besides those in her wand and she turned herself into an armoured crab with snipping, snapping claws that she used to nip the snake.
“Quick!”, the prince cried to the girls, “Tip the witch’s cauldron over her”.
Realizing then that the snake was trying to help them, the three girls grabbed hold of the witches empty iron cooking pot and, pushing with all their might, tipped the cauldron over the crab, trapping it underneath.
But then the witch started to change back again and the three girls feared what might happen to them when she came out from under the cauldron.
“You’ll have to kiss me”, said the snake to them, “Only three kisses can turn me back into a prince”.
And so, though they felt quite odd kissing a snake, the three girls bent down and kissed its head one at a time.
Then, suddenly, in a puff of pitch black smoke and a flash of lightning, the snake transformed back into a handsome prince.
And, when the witch started to emerge from under the cauldron, the prince drew the sword from his scabbard and drove it into each of her three, black evil hearts, killing her instantly.
Now, the Prince was so happy to be restored to his true form and, because the three girls were orphans, he took them back to his palace to live with him, making each one a princess with a golden crown and they lived there happily ever after.
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bernard shaw Well done a
bernard shaw
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