Story 24: Tale of Asmund and Singy (According To Online Author is Andrew Lang)

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In Online translation a huge chunk you will see is missing that is included in this story found as a read aloud book on youtube channel Fairytales English. This story is from a collection of Icelandic Tales.

Asmund and Singy

Once upon a time there lived a Royal Family in a happy, beautiful kingdom. The King and Queen had a son Asmund and daughter Singy and they loved them dearly. Both the Prince and the Princess were taught everything a good Prince and Princess should know and they grew up to be intelligent, talented and skillful. There is one thing both of them loved the most. Nature.
"I have finally convinced, Father." Asmund told his sister, the Princess.
"For what?!" She asked her brother he liked to tease her and not all his questions made sense to her. "For the Oak Trees?!"
"Correction!" Asmund scolds his sister but reveals soon he's only attempting to pull her leg a little. "'for the Oak Tree. Not trees!"
She fumed and huffed back. "Oh! Come on!"
But then she thinks better of it and decides not to show attitude and tries to reason with her jester of a playful brother but narrows her eyes and firmly replies. "You know that just like you, I too, have been wanting to stay in one of those trees. You can't go without me."
She pinched one of his ears and he exclaimed. "Ouch!"
Then startled chuckling lightheartedly. "Of course, I have asked Father for both the trees."
"And?" She questioned him yet again.
"He agreed!" The Prince informs his sister.
She was exclaiming elatedly. "Yes! Yes! Finally!"
"We shall make homes in those old hollow trees!" She spoke after a pause savoring the moment that had just been revealed. "
"Imagine, living inside a Tree," Asmund spoke excited too. "right in the middle of the Forest!"
"And yet close to the palace," stammered Singy was so very happy. "close to Mother and Father! Asmund! We are lucky!"
So the prince and the princess took the two old, hollow, oak trees in the forest right next to the palace and built their homes there, carrying their best furniture, their favorite things in their tree-homes. The two of them were so happy in the forest. They would wake up to the calls of the birds, eat outdoors in the shade of those enormous trees as though every day was a beautiful picnic.

One day, their parents sent them a message.
"Hail Your Highness, Prince Asmund and my Lady Princess Singy." The guards sent to greet them and bowed to them now.
"What is it Johnathan?" inquired Princess Singy to the guard who spoke the former words to them beforehand.
"The King and Queen have sent you this message." Johnathan answered her and hands the scroll to Princess Asmund.
"Thank you." Prince answered very gratefully to the guards.
"Hahahaha...This is for you sis!" chuckled Singy's brother.
"What is it?" She asked him keeping her cool while her curious eyes pleaded with him not to make jokes currently.
Asmund read the message aloud to his sister. "Apparently, the Prince Ring of the kingdom of Rebama is in love with you and he wishes to come to ask your hand in marriage!"
"What?" She gasps.
"Give it to me!" She commanded him.
"I have heard he is very handsome." remarks Asmund.
"And I have heard he has a beautiful sister." Singy instantly comments back at her brother.
"So, what do you think? Will you meet him?" Her pries at her more.
" I-uh, don't know." stutters Prince Singy. "When is he coming? Next Friday, five days from now. Mother and Father want us to come back to the palace."
"We still have five days," Asmund assured. "we don't have to go back today. We shall go back on Wednesday. Two days should be enough time for you to get dressed."
Singy was unmoved by his lighthearted teasing and sternly and sharply spoke. "Of course not, I am not getting specially dressed. Let him see me exactly as I am!"

Now it so happened that another pair of brother and sister stayed in the forest, a witch and a wizard. One morning as Asmund and Singy were out boating in the lake, the witch and her brother saw them.
Seeing the beauty of Princess Singy, the witch was consumed with envy (envy applies to traits you cannot gain jealous is a more protective term with objects, peoples and situations alike hence its synonym zealous.)
"How Dare Someone Much Prettier than I Stay Here in My Forest!" exclaimed the witch.
"I have heard that her beauty is so famous," the witch's brother informs his sister of passing news. "that a prince from a far off land is coming to meet her!"
"I SHALL NOT HAVE IT!" shrieks the witch as she was panicked. "I SHALL NOT HAVE IT!"
She conjures a miniature sail boat on the water in front of her.
"What are you going to do about it?" asks the wizard.
"I know what I have to do." responded the witch to her brother confidently immediately. A peach bird with red wings flew up above her head, she reached swiftly out with her hand and plucked one of its feathers put it by the skull on her hat and the witch transformed into a bird of the exact same type.
She landed on Singy's right shoulder to perch there, the Princess smiled she loved birds. She thought nothing of it. Then after a moment the bird noticed the girl's bright shiny ruby pendant necklace round her neck and flew to it and grabbed it in her beak.
"Hey! Birdie!" stammered Singy. "Hi! Ou!"
"Are you alright?" Asmund instantly asks his sister seeing the bizarreness of the bird on instant as it flew away with the pendant.
"Yes, I am fine!" Singy informs her brother. "What was that about?"
"I have never known a bird to behave like this..."spoke Asmund. "ever. Haha...Maybe it was sent by Prince to get a souvenir of you!"
"What!" exclaims Singy and she decided to pull his leg back herself. "Do you ever talk sense?"
They both laughed in sync at each other's joke talk of the others. "Hahahaha!"
Singy and Asmund had no idea what evil was waiting to pounce on them. The Witch took Singy's necklace and turned herself into her beautiful form. Her brother cast an evil spell over the oak trees.
"Sleep, sleep now and sleep still and tight." He chanted. "Sleep till noon turns as dark as night."
The curse worked both Prince and Princess were in deep slumber.
He laughed darkly. "Now they shall sleep forever."
Then the wizard went to the Royal Family waiting to welcome Prince Ring.
He stood before the King and Queen, and cast another spell similar to the one just uttered. "Vanish now, vanish and go out of sight. Come back only when noon is dark as night."
"Now they are gone forever!" he chuckles again more evilly.
In some time...Prince Ring landed and as soon as he saw the witch, now turned into Princess Singy, Prince Ring was mesmerized by her beauty.
"My Lady, you must be Princess Singy." He greets her.
"Yes, Your Highness!" agreed the Witch hiding the crack in her voice. "And I wait here to sail to your land with you!"
"But what about your parents?" inquires Prince Ring.
"My Father has had to go into battle." The witch makes up an excuse as an a cover story that is believable and reasonable. "hence they wish that we sail back to your land and they themselves will come there with presents for the wedding."
" I can help with the battle." suggests the Princess.
The Witch rejects it. "No! My Father wishes that we sail back."
"Very well!" Prince Ring finally agreed with her. "Come!"
"Wait in your ship, until I bring something that is really dear to me to take back with me." she tells the Prince.
"Sure." The Prince agrees.
The Prince found this whole affair rather queer, but he never suspected anything so evil that this was a witch and not Princess Singy. So he did as he was told.
The witch went back into the forest, uprooted the two oak trees where Prince Asmund and Princess Singy lay asleep for she wanted no evidence of what happened to remain. The trees were shrunk and she picked them up. The witch took the trees with her to the land of Prince Ring. The witch and Prince Ring sailed to Prince Ring's kingdom where they were given a warm welcome by Prince Ring's parents and his sister. A mansion was built for the witch so that she might stay in comfort till her parents came for the wedding. The witch planted the old oak trees in the garden there with Asmund and Singy still sleeping there. Nobody could see the trees since they were really small. Prince Ring would visit the witch often and take her out to Royal Banquets with his family.
The witch was sick of behaving like a Princess. She hated to smile all day and be nice to people. Day by day, the witch was getting very, very annoyed of having to be all nice and good. She wanted eat mounds more than she could, she wanted to dance wildly and roar like a fierce witch politely! Oh! The witch was angry! She went back to the mansion and kicked and screamed for the hundredth time the same old thing. "Aaah! Aargh! I am so tired of being miss goody two shoes! Where is the wild life of the forest where I could kick and run and scream all I liked! Uh! I hate smiling all day. I hate speaking in a nice, polite manner and I am starving! How little they eat! How little they eat! I will eat my brother if he does not bring food for me now! Right Now!"
Suddenly the floor gave way and her brother appeared with a table ladened with food.
"I am done! One more day of being the Princess and I shall kill the Prince myself!" responded the witch with contempt.
"Are you mad?" questioned the wizard. "The King of this kingdom is really powerful. He will punish us both!"
"Then bring back the original Singy and let us flee!" retorted the witch.
"I can't!" spoke the wizard. "I put a spell on them to sleep till day or noon turns into night which is impossible. Asmund and Singy are never coming back!"
"You!" The witch scolded her brother immediately even more panicked now. "What am I going to do?"

This is part one, you're welcome. I'm in Ohio and I should go and spend time with my family. I'll finish the last bit later on.

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