... a Golden Star on her Forehead

by Jan Laube

There was a princess with a golden star on her forehead who lived in a kingdom. She was clever and beautiful. One day, a prince from the neighbourhood country came to this kingdom. He wanted to marry her, but he was cruel. He reigned with weapons in his kingdom. The princess din´t want him, but she had to escape. Her nurse made her a furcoat from mouse fur. She had to escape from the castle, because the prince said: „If you don´t marry me, I will destroy your country“.
The princess found a kingdom, where the prince was looking for a princess to be his wife. She worked in the kitchen, where she was washing dishes and she wore her mouse coat not to be recognized. The day she came there was a ball in the castle. She put on her princess‘s clothes Everybody was amazed by her beauty. The prince looked at her. He didn´t know who she was. He met many princesses, but they all were too proud of their beauty. When he asked the princess with golden star on her forehead who she was, she answered: „If I worked in your castle, you wouldn´t notice me.You only know me, because I have the golden star on my forehead“. He gave her his ring and she gave him hers. Then she ran away from him.
The prince was very unhappy. Next day in the morning he was eating a soup. There he found his ring in it. He asked a cook who prepared that soup. The cook thought: “When the new helper salted the soup, some hair of her coat fell into the soup. “The cook called his helpers. They came to him. The prince was looking at them thoughtfully. He looked at a girl who had a strange coat. He asked her to take it off and he saw his princess. All the people were surprised.
Meanwhile the bad prince´s soldiers entered the room where they were. The good prince soldiers told their master: „Sir, the prince from neighbourhood entered our kingdom and he wants the princess with a golden star on her forehead whom we hide“. He answered: „If he entered in peace, we’ll invite him. If he entered like an enemy, we‘ll chase him out “. But the princess said: „I must marry him, because I promised it“. The good prince wanted to meet the bad prince. The princess was standing on his left side and she was wearing her mouse furcoat. The bad prince said: „You hide my princess, give her to me!“ The princess said him: „I´m your princes. The prince started to laugh: Who are you? You must be kidding! The princess said: „No, Sir, do you want to marry me?“ The prince said: „No, I don´t want you, You aren´t a princess.“ The princess put down her furcoat. The prince was surprised and cried: „You will be my wife“. The good prince interposed: „You didn´ t want her!“ The bad prince pullsd out a sword and started to fight the good prince, but he was so clumsy that he was soon defeated. The princess´ s nurse entered the room and said: „Wasn’t it enough in our kingdom? Our people chased him away with their hands and everything what they found at homes. He escaped very fast.“ When he heard her saying that, he escaped too.
And the good prince married the princess with a golden star on her forehead