The Twins with the Golden Stars

Once upon a time, there was a farming couple with three daughters: Anna, Stana, and Laptitza. All three daughters were beautiful, but the youngest, Laptitza, was the most beautiful. One summer day, the three sisters went into the forest to pick strawberries. There they met the son of the emperor, who was out hunting with his friends. They were all handsome young men, but the most handsome was the son of the emperor.

Anna said, “If any of those boys were to choose me as their wife, I would make bread and give it to him so he would always feel young and brave.” “And I,” said Stana, “would weave a shirt for my husband, in which he could fight dragons and go through fire without burning himself.” “But I,” said Laptitza, “would give my husband two beautiful sons with golden hair and a golden star on their forehead.”

“I hold you to your promise and will marry you,” cried the emperor’s son. Two friends chose the sisters, and all three were put on their horses to ride back together to the imperial court.

sprookje de tweeling met de gouden sterren

The next day, three weddings were celebrated. Anna’s promise came true quickly, exactly as she had said. The same happened with Stana’s promise. And after seven weeks, Laptitza’s promise seemed to come true as well. The son of the emperor was so proud and protective that he never left Laptitza’s side.

In another country lived an empress. She had hoped that her daughter would marry the new emperor. Now that Laptitza’s promise was becoming a reality, she had to come up with a plan. But what could the empress do, now that the emperor never took his eyes off Laptitza? So she came up with something terrible. She caused a war, and the emperor had to go to battle and leave Laptitza. On the third day that the emperor was away, two princes were born, both with golden hair and a golden star on their forehead.

de tweeling met de gouden sterren sprookje

But the wicked empress stole the two boys in the night and put two puppies in their place. She hid the twins in the ground, right in front of the emperor’s window. When the emperor returned to the palace, he found two puppies. Laptitza was locked up. The emperor married for the second time, this time with the daughter of the evil empress, who was as beautiful but as bad as her mother.

The twins found no rest in the ground. Two impressive trees grew where the empress had hidden them in the ground. The empress didn’t like it and asked her husband to remove them. At first, she couldn’t. The emperor was drawn to the trees and didn’t want them cut down. But the empress did everything she could to persuade the emperor.

“Very well,” said the emperor reluctantly, “I will remove the trees, but I will have a cradle made for me from one tree and one for you from the other.” The emperor slept wonderfully in the new bed, but for the empress, it felt like lying on nettles.

The next morning, the empress ordered two new cradles. She threw the original cradles into the fire. Two sparks rose from the fire. They flew towards the river and turned into two little fish with golden scales.

One day, an imperial fisherman went fishing early in the morning. He had never seen fish with golden scales before. “The emperor will be pleased with this,” he thought. “Don’t take us there,” begged the golden fish. “But what should I do with you?” asked the fisherman.

The fish asked him to put them in the morning dew on the leaves in the sun. And then to come back before the sun had dried the dew. The fisherman did as he was asked. When he returned, he saw two handsome princes with golden hair and a golden star on their forehead.

Every day, the princes grew enough for a year, and as time passed, they grew even faster. They not only grew remarkably quickly in age but also in strength and wisdom. “Let’s go to our father now,” said one of the princes. Guards wanted to drive the boys out of the castle, but the boys were too fast and too strong. The emperor ordered the boys to be brought to him. There, they told him their life story.

Then what should have happened from the beginning occurred. Laptitza took her place by her husband’s side. The daughter of the wicked empress remained in the palace but had to do the most unpleasant work as a servant. The wicked empress received a harsher punishment. With that, the emperor showed the world that with bad behavior, you will always be the loser no matter what.


Downloads