Once upon a time, there was a king who lived in a time when fairies still existed. He had three daughters, all of them incredibly beautiful and smart. But he loved the youngest one, Miranda, the most because he thought she was the most beautiful. One day, the king had to defend his land in a war. When he returned to the castle as the victor, he was excited to see Miranda and her sisters.
The three princesses were all dressed in satin gowns that they had specially made for the occasion, each in a different color: green, blue, and white.
The king, who saw reasons for everything, asked his oldest daughter why she had chosen the green dress. She replied, “Green is the color of victory and luck. That’s why I chose green.”
The second daughter said, “Father, I chose blue because I thank heaven that you have returned safely.”
“And you, Miranda, why a white dress?” asked the king.
“Because white is a color that suits me well,” said the youngest daughter.
The king thought Miranda’s answer was disrespectful to him and certainly not nice. But since he loved her so much, he said nothing about it.
“Well, girls, tell me what you dreamed last night,” the king asked.
The oldest daughter dreamed that her father gave her a special dress embroidered with gold and adorned with gems. The second daughter dreamed that her father gave her a spinning wheel and that she used it to make shirts for her father.
Miranda said, “I dreamed that my second sister was getting married, and on her wedding day, you were holding a golden pitcher and said, ‘Come Miranda, I will pour some water so that you can wash your hands with it.'”
The king became furious, and everyone in the castle could see that he was trying his best not to explode with anger. Strange powers must have been at work now that his Miranda no longer showed respect for her father, the king. A white dress to feel good about herself and nothing more. And now he would have served her in her dream like a slave? He became angrier and angrier at the thought.
The next day, the king got up very early.
“I think recent developments mean that strange things are going to happen against me,” the king told his guards. He ordered them to take Miranda to the forest and kill her there.
But the guards didn’t do it. They left the princess deep in the forest and told her what the king planned to do. It meant that she could never come back to the castle.
The princess walked further into the forest until she came to a flock of sheep. Among them stood a large ram, who looked impressive with his golden horns and jewels. When he saw the princess, he greeted her warmly in human language.
The ram explained that he was once a king, but he was cursed by a fairy. This fairy had fallen madly in love with him, but it was unrequited. As punishment, she had turned him into a sheep. The rest of the flock were his friends, and they suffered the same fate.
The princess told the ram about her difficulties, that her father wanted to kill her, and she had no idea why.
The ram took her to a beautiful castle, which was well hidden behind a huge mountain.
The princess began to get used to her daily conversations with the ram, although she also felt the sorrow that his shape tortured him. But he assured her that his enchantment would last no more than five years because that’s what the fairy had told him.
One day, the ram asked if Miranda wanted to be his queen. He loved Miranda so much that she eventually fell in love with him too. Besides, the strange enchantment would soon come to an end.
From time to time, the ram would send messengers out to follow the news from the surrounding area. This time they heard that Miranda’s eldest sister was getting married. The ram loved the princess so much that he allowed her to attend the wedding.
On that day, she wore beautiful clothes and no one could suspect that it was Miranda who was visiting the family castle. Even the king, her own father, did not recognize her. When she left the wedding, she left a chest for the bride. The chest contained so many treasures that the king exclaimed, “The next time she comes to our castle, we will close the gates so that she cannot leave so suddenly, as she has done today.”
Not long after, the ram and the princess received news that her second sister was also getting married. She begged the ram to let her go to this wedding too. The ram was uneasy and said it would bring bad luck. But he loved her so much that he could not refuse her.
“Go to your sister’s wedding, but it will probably mean my death,” said the ram. “I let you go so that you know how much I love you.”
The princess assured him that she would only be gone for a short time.
So she went again in beautiful clothes and everyone who saw her was so impressed that they all thought she must be a fairy tale princess. No one could take their eyes off her. The king was even happier and had his guards lock the castle in every way possible. This time she would not be able to leave the castle unnoticed.
She was shocked when she could not open the doors when she wanted to leave. The king begged her to stay a little longer for the celebration. He offered her water from a golden jug so she could dip her beautiful fingers in it. She could not resist saying at that moment, “Look now, my dream has come true. You are pouring water over my hands from a golden jug at my sister’s wedding!”
The king immediately recognized her and begged for forgiveness for his cruel decision because he understood from that dream that it predicted the loss of his crown. “And that happened,” he said, “because your sisters are leaving this kingdom to rule over other kingdoms, so Miranda (and he put his crown on her head) I hereby give you my kingdom. Long live the queen!”
The whole court shouted, “Long live Queen Miranda!” The sisters ran up and hugged her, and she told them all about her adventures all evening.
Meanwhile, the ram became more and more worried because the princess had not yet returned to him. That night, the ram went to the city to go to Miranda’s palace. He knocked on the castle door, but no one answered. Meanwhile, Miranda had told them everything, and they did not want her to go back to the ram. Although he begged, and truly begged in a way that would melt the heart of the most cold-blooded person, the door remained closed to him. Eventually, the ram died at the gate from a broken heart.
The king, who had no idea what was happening at his gate, arranged for Miranda to ride in a carriage around the city to show herself to the public as the new queen.
But what did she see there, to her great sorrow, at the entrance of the palace? There lay her beloved ram, motionless on the sidewalk.
She threw herself out of the carriage and ran to him. She was too late! She realized that she had broken her promise to return to him quickly, and that this had cost him his life.
So you see, even if you are a princess, life does not always smile at you. Especially when you forget to keep your word. And the greatest setbacks often happen at the moment when you think you have what you always wanted to have.
