The Maiden In The Mirror

There was once, long ago in a far-away kingdom, a very vain witch who had a magic mirror that would always make her look far more beautiful than she was.

Though her nose was long and crooked, the magic mirror would always make it look short and straight; though her eyes were too close together, the mirror would make them look further apart and though her chin was hairy and stuck out like the toe of a boot, the mirror would always show it as small and smooth as an egg.

And one day while the wicked witch was out doing her errands for evil; casting cruel spells and causing terrible calamities; a fair young maiden named Rorrima was walking through the forest and she started to get very, very thirsty and, seeing the witch’s house, she thought that she might borrow some water from its owner.

At first she knocked at the door but no one answered, then however, she noticed that the door was not locked and, perhaps rather foolishly, she opened it to look inside.

And peering into the house the young maiden saw a jug of sparkling elderflower cordial sitting upon a table with a glass beside it and, so thirsty was she that she thought to herself, “Perhaps I shall just have one sip of that cordial to quench my thirst. No one would begrudge me one tiny sip, surely?”.

But then, when the maiden entered the house she noticed something in the room; what looked like a horrible monster glaring at her.

It was not a monster of course but the witch’s magic mirror that, just as it made the witch look beautiful, made the lovely and gentle Rorrima look like a hideous and frightening creature.

Terrified, Rorrima picked up the jug of cordial and threw it at the face she saw glaring at her.

The moment she did, however, the jug struck the witch’s mirror and it shattered loudly into almost a million pieces.

“Oh no!”, cried Rorrima, seeing what she had done, weeping tears over the shattered glittering pieces on the floor.

Then, to make matters worse, just at that moment, the evil witch came home and, seeing the broken mirror and Rorrima standing before it crying her eyes blazed with anger.

“What have you done. You stupid girl!”, she yelled at Rorrima, “That mirror was magic and now, though I may put all the pieces back in place, the magic can never be restored”.

Seeing the witch, Rorrima sank to her knees and begged for mercy but the Witch was cruel and forgiving and, a chill entering her voice, she said, “I will make you pay for breaking my lovely mirror. As many as the pieces of broken glass on the floor will be the years you spend as its prisoner, this I swear”.

And, saying this, she pointed one of her long bony fingers towards the girl and the long sharp fingernail upon that finger lit up with a bright red glow, then a bolt of red lightning shot out of the fingernail and struck the young maid on the forehead and the moment that this happened all the broken pieces of mirror that were lying on the floor leapt up and put themselves back together but now, instead of a reflection, Rorrima was trapped behind the mirrors glass and, however she banged upon the inside of the mirror, she could not get out.

“Oh, please!”, she begged, sobbing, “Please  let me out!”.

“Ha! Not for a million years”, cackled the witch, evilly, “That will teach you to break other peoples things”.

Oh, that poor young girl, how unhappy her life was, imprisoned within the witch’s mirror.

But then, however, many years later a knight, called Sir Handsome, dressed in shining silver armour came riding through the forest and, as he passed the witch’s house, he heard the sound of a harp being played.

The witch had a harp in her room you see and, because it was reflected in the mirror, the maid was able to pick up its reflection and play it.

Now, when the knight heard the harp music he thought it, although sad, very beautiful and he longed to see who was making such beautiful music and, following the music, he entered the witch’s house.

When he saw Rorrima in the mirror, at first he took her to be a reflection and, turning round, he looked all about him but he could only see a harp leaning against a wall, no young woman.

But then, noticing him, and banging upon the inside of the mirror desperately, Rorrima begged him for help.

“Oh please!”, she cried out, tears of fresh hope welling up in her eyes, “Please help me!”.

Then she told the knight all about how the Witch had imprisoned her in the mirror.

“But how do I break the witch’s evil spell?”, asked the knight.

Rorrima couldn’t give an answer for the Witch had never told her how to break the spell.

However, just at that moment, so moved was the prince by the princesses distress that he leant forward to kiss her and the moment their lips met the mirror melted away so that he was able to put his arms around her and pull her back into the real world.

“Oh thank you, thank you”, she said, holding him tighter.

But then, suddenly, in the now normal mirror, the Knight saw the evil witch enter, creeping up behind him, a look of rage and evil intent in her eyes and, drawing his sword, he quickly turned round and drove his sword deep into her ugly, putrid evil filled heart.

To his surprise however, the witch, because she was not mortal, simply pulled the sword out of her, cackling as she did so and, raising it up over her foul head, was about to bring it down upon the knight when she caught sight of her true hideous reflection in his polished armour and, covering her eyes because it was so horrible, turned completely into a ugly stone gargoyle.

Now, the maiden and the knight were so happy that they held each other tightly and kissed and, not long afterwards they were married and lived happily ever after.