PRINCE FLORIAN SEEKS A BRIDE
2.
When he came home he told his parents about his failure to find a suitable partner.
"Well," said the king, "If none of those girls will do you'll have to find a wife somewhere else. You can start tomorrow on a quest to find a wife."
The next day it was raining hard and the queen said, "You're not going through that."
"Come on, darling, he's a grown boy. He won't melt from a bit of rain."
"He's not going. He'll only catch a cold and I'm the one who has to wash his snotty handkerchiefs. I don't think so."
"All right, all right, he can go tomorrow.
Later that day, as it was getting dark, there was a knock at the castle door. The king opened and saw a wet, bedraggled girl standing at the door.
"Please Sir, can I come in. I'm wet through and I have nowhere to go."
The king let her in and called his wife who came running. When she saw the soaked girl she took her to a spare room and ran a hot bath for her. While she was getting some dry clothes for the girl she asked her, "Who are you that you are out in this weather on your own?"
"I'm … I'm a princess," the girl answered. "I'm Princess Anna. I ran away when my uncle usurped my country."
"Oh, a princess, I see. I'll get your bed ready while you have your bath."
When the queen had gotten the bed ready she went to her son and husband.
"Florian might not have to go away after all," she said. "This girl may be a princess. I've set everything up for the test with the mattresses and the pea. Tomorrow we'll know."
The following morning when the girl came down to breakfast the queen immediately asked her, "How did you sleep, my dear?"
"It took me a while to get on top of all those mattresses. There were rather a lot. But once I was in the bed I slept like a rose. It was wonderfully soft."
"Oh," said the queen in a disappointed voice, "how nice for you. I suppose you'll want to move on today, Anna."
"…well … yes … of course," the dry princess in the wrinkled dress said. After breakfast she left.
As luck would have it she arrived at the kingdom with the ugly princess who happened to have a good-looking brother and parents who thought Princess Anna was the kind of daughter-in-law they wanted. The prince and the once wet princess had a happy life together. His ugly sister who was the oldest became queen, beloved by all the people. The pretty Princess Anna liked her sister-in-law and gave her tips on how to look better. A couple of years later a passing duke thought the young queen looked interesting rather than ugly. They married and she found the happiness she'd craved all her life.
But this is the story of Prince Florian and he was looking for a bride.
ooOOoo
