The Crystal Tunnel

Once upon a time, there lived a handsome prince whose name was Lorenzo. One day, while he was out riding in the woods, Prince Lorenzo saw a beautiful girl. She was so lovely that the prince at once fell in love with her, and so he followed her home to find out who she was.

He saw her enter a house on the edge of the forest, and he told his servant to find out all he could about the beautiful girl. The servant did so and told the prince that the girl’s name was Andra and that she lived with her three stepsisters in the house on the edge of the wood.

Next day, the prince rode again to the wood and waited for Andra to go past, so that he could stop and talk to her. Soon, Andra was just as much in love with the handsome prince.

Knowing how spiteful and jealous her stepsisters were, Prince Lorenzo built a magic crystal tunnel which stretched from his palace to Andra’s house so that he could meet her and talk to her in secret. One day, he gave Andra some magic powder. “If you are ever in trouble and need me in a hurry, throw this powder on the fire, and I will come running through the crystal tunnel to your aid,” he said.

The spiteful stepsisters grew very suspicious of Andra’s strange behavior, so they decided to watch her very closely. They spied on her movements and found out about the secret tunnel where she met the prince. When the prince had returned to his palace, the jealous stepsisters took heavy axes and smashed the tunnel, so that jagged pieces of crystal lay all over the floor. Then they returned to the house and beat Andra for being so secretive.

Sobbing loudly, Andra flung the magic powder on the fire and called to the prince to help her. The prince heard her and ran to the tunnel at once, but there was broken crystal strewn all over the floor of the tunnel. It tripped the prince up, so that he fell and cut himself badly on the jagged edges. So bad were his wounds, that he had to return to the palace. There, doctors were called, but they said that there was nothing they could do for such terrible wounds, and they were afraid that the prince would die.

The news spread and soon Andra heard that the prince was wounded and might die. She was very sad and determined that she would travel over land and sea in search of a cure. She disguised herself as a beggar and crept out of the house, so that no one would know where she had gone.

All day she walked and when evening came, she found herself in the middle of a dark wood. The trees were thick all around her, and she was quite lost, but at last, she saw a light shining through the branches. She made her way to it and saw a large house in a clearing. She hid nearby, trying to see who the house belonged to and before long, a huge giant came through the trees and up to the house.

“You are very late tonight,” grumbled his wife. “I have had your supper ready for a long time.”

“Well, I have brought you plenty of news from the outside world,” replied the giant.

“Come in then and have your supper at once,” said his wife. “Then you can tell me what gossip you have heard.”

The giant went in and the door was closed. Then they both sat down in front of the open window to eat their supper. Andra climbed a nearby tree and sat on one of the branches, where she could see and hear everything that went on.

“Well, what news have you brought?” asked the giant’s wife when they had settled down.

“Oh, everything in the country is going badly,” replied the giant. “Nobody is doing anything at all, for the young prince has been wounded by some magic crystal and everyone says he is dying. The king and his ministers are not even bothering to rule the country. They are all busy searching for a cure for the young prince. The king has even promised half his kingdom to anyone who finds a cure, and if it is a woman, she shall marry the prince when he is well again.”

“And is there a cure?” asked the wife.

“There is, but nobody knows it,” replied the giant. “I for one hope nobody finds out about it, for only if the prince’s wounds are rubbed with the blood of a real giant and his wife will he be cured.”

When Andra heard this, she got down from the tree at once and knocked on the door. When the giant opened it, Andra asked for shelter, saying that she was a poor girl who had lost her way in the wood. The giant, who thought what an excellent dinner she would make for the next night, invited her in.

Andra said that in return for some supper and a bed, she would wait on them, so while they finished their meal, she sang songs for them in a lovely clear voice. When she saw that their mugs were empty, she filled them up again and again with wine, until at last, the giant and his wife were so full of food and wine that their heads sank lower and lower on the table, and they fell fast asleep.

When Andra heard them snoring loudly, she took a needle and pricked their ears gently. She took several drops of blood from the giant and several drops of blood from his wife, in a little bottle which she carried. Neither the giant nor his wife stirred, and Andra left them sleeping there and ran out of the house and through the wood, in the direction she had come from.

Soon, she reached the royal palace and she told the guards she had brought a potion which would cure the prince. The king, who was in despair, ordered that she should be taken to the prince’s room at once. There he lay, so pale that Andra feared he was already dead. She put the giants’ blood on his wounds and at once he opened his eyes.

“What has this poor beggar girl done?” asked the king. “She has saved the prince from dying when all the finest doctors in the land could not cure him. I will keep my promise and she shall marry the prince.”

When the prince heard this, he was sad, for he remembered that he had promised to marry Andra and he told his father that he could not marry the beggar girl. “Surely she will be contented with half the kingdom,” he said. He turned to look for the beggar girl, but she had gone.

Andra had gone to look for the prince’s servant, and when she found him, she asked him to bring her soap and water and a pretty dress. When he had brought them, she washed the dirt from her face and hands, changed from her rags into the dress, and went back to the prince.

When the prince saw his beloved Andra his face lit up at once. “I am the beggar girl who saved you,” said Andra.

The prince was overjoyed and the king was delighted when he saw how beautiful his future daughter-in-law was. He gave orders for the wedding to be arranged at once.

The only ones who were not happy were Andra’s unkind sisters, for the prince ordered that they should be shut up in a tall tower so that they would never again be able to do unkind things and bring unhappiness to other people.