Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful fairy next to a spring called the Fountain of Tales. The spring got this name because instead of water, new tales were constantly springing forth from it. The wonderful fairy wove a magical bag out of the gold of the sunshine, the silver of the moonbeam and the silk of her golden hair: it glittered and flared, it was inlayed with jewels, and there was a huge space in it. The fairy took the bag and poured into it one after the other the tales that gurgled out from the Fountain of Tales. When she had collected them all, she swept her magic wand at the spring, and it dried up. And in its place, a diamond-golden, duck-legged palace emerged, and there, in the smallest of the countless rooms, a little pixie was hiding. This little pixie was pinched by the Spring Fairy and hung the enchanting bag around her neck.

"Go, little Bluebell Pixie, and visit the people's homes," she said to her. "If you come across a house with children, listen to the enchanting bag and let out a fairy tale for the children's entertainment. But be careful, when the tale is over, take it and put it back in the enhanting bag so that it does not wander off!" The Spring Fairy warned the pixie.

The pixie nodded that she understood and walked away. She walked and wandered through woods and valleys, rivers and bridges, until she came to a small hovel with built above walls. But here was someone to tell a story! Screaming children ran up and down, chasing each other around the hovel.

"Listen carefully, children," said the Bluebell Pixie, "if you will be good, I will show you something interesting!"

With that, she swiftly hooked the fairy tale bag and listened pricking her ears: whether which fairy tale would want to come out of it? Children were also watching expectantly, and then suddenly a fairy tale poked its head: The Tale of the Palace of Wonder.

Adults were also amazed and stared, because they had never seen anything like this before:

The wonder palace suddenly faded in from the enchanting bag and glittered like the Sun, and then, in the twinkling of an eye, it transformed the crumbling hovel into a magnificent castle.

Suitors routed to the castle to win the hand of the beautiful princess, but the evil witch guarding the wonder palace got in their way.

She spat on the threshold: only those of the suitors could pass through and enter the princess's presence who could cope with her magic. But no one should try to step over or jump over it, because the magic power will push them far into the Witches' Forest!

Well, the suitors rushed at it, trying to get over the witch-like threshold one after the other, but they were all pushed into the Witches' Forest by the evil force. And there the witches' meeting was waiting for them, which was deliberating how to let the poor perish.

Well, this is how ninety-nine suitors happened to, one after the other, when a tired prince arrived at the wonder palace, unaware of the princess and magic. He was the youngest son of King of Wonderland [1], and he left home to find magic stories for his bored father, who said: whoever can entertain him with stories should get half of his kingdom, and after his death the whole thing.

So his three sons set forth in three directions: the first to the north, the middle to the south, and the youngest as the crow flies.

As he arrived at the glittering, invitingly beautiful palace, he thought he would stop by for a word to see if any of the residents knew where he could find entertaining stories for his father, the king. He jumped off his horse, tied the rein of his horse to the miraculous nail, holding the palace, and was about to enter, when he sensed that something was not as it should be.

He anon noticed the source of the witch's power, and he had already cast a spell against it: he sang a spell over it, which put its power to sleep and he was able to enter without fear.

Inside the door, he saluted loudly:

"Good day!"

"What are you doing here," the old hag grimaced, "do not you know that you have come here to your ruin?" You cannot have the princess anyway, because I will guard her as long as the world is up!"

With that she swished her stick and conjured up a sea in front of the prince. The prince swam well, threw himself into the foam, and swam across the sea.

There the witch greeted him giggling: "You have passed the test of magic and water, but let us see if you can stand the ordeal of fire? By the time you succeed, the princess will be old anyway, and if she becomes ugly, you will not need her!" The evil spirit giggled.

And when the prince woke up, the palace of wonder was on fire, and in the midst of the flames there was a beautiful princess screaming, from whose mouth, when she spoke, beautiful tales jingled forth. But now she was screaming in fear and pain, so the prince threw himself into the flames. He suffered the torments of hell in the smouldering pain before he remembered to go for his horse. Well, he untied it, jumped it against the flames, and his horse happily devoured all the flames, because it was a magic steed.

When the flame ceased, the old hag jumped in anger, then turned into smoke and dispersed in the air. And the princess told the prince, who listened in amazement to her entertaining and more amusing tales, and then said:

"I ask you, dear princess, to come with me to my father's palace and tell him stories, so that he will not be bored."

"I am glad to go, but I can not leave the palace of wonder here," replied the heavenly beautiful princess, and then she blew on the palace, which turned into a rainbow comb, and the princess pinned it into her long golden hair, then she sat ont he saddle of the magic steed in front of the prince, and in the blink of an eye it landed with them in the courtyard of King of Wonderland's palace.

The king received her with boredom, and then graciously gave permission for the princess to begin to tell a story. His astonishment was all the greater, when the princess was telling more and more interesting stories: in the end, he had forgotten about eating and drinking, and even about sleeping, he was so captivated by the stories.

Then he knew where he was and asked the Storyteller Princess to stay with them, and then married him to his youngest son at a wedding celebrated with all splendour, and listened happily to her tales for the rest of his life.

And the other two princes returned empty-handed from the north and the south, and enviously watched the fortune of their younger brother, who received half of their father's kingdom, and who after his death left the other half to his brothers.

"This is where the story ends," the tale ended from the Bluebell Pixie's bag, then it slipped back into the Enchanting Bag. Parents were glad that the naughty children sat calmly during the fairy tale and let them work, and they asked Bluebell Pixie:

"Will you come to tell us tales another time? It would help us a lot!"

"Another times another wanderers will knock on the door. If they ask for accommodation, give it them, and they will always delight you with some beautiful tale," Bluebell Pixie replied, then she got her packs and walked on.

Tomorrow let them be your guest!

Written: 08 / 12. 2005., by J. W. Cassandra
Translated: 07 / 04. 2025., by J. W. Cassandra

[1] King of Wonderland I chose for a special name of the king. It is regular in our folk tales and cannot be translated into English.

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