Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who was to marry a prince far away.
Her mother, the queen, loved her dearly and prepared a lavish dowry along with a maid to accompany her.
But this maid is two-faced. On the surface, she appears obedient and loyal, but in reality, she is very malicious.
She has long been crazily jealous of the princess, envious of her beauty, status, and wealth. Now that the princess is to marry a handsome prince with the same status and wealth, her jealousy drives her mad.
When she hears the queen ask her to accompany the princess on her journey, she immediately responds, ‘I will do my utmost to serve the princess and hand her over to the prince!’”
However, a sinister plot was brewing in her mind: she intended to impersonate the princess and become the royal bride herself.
Accompanying the princess was a magical talking horse named Falada, gifted to her by a fairy and raised alongside her.
The princess rode the horse as they set off.
Soon, the maid revealed her true colors. When the princess asked her to do something, the maid coldly replied, “Can’t you do it yourself? I won’t serve you!”
The princess was very surprised. This maid had always been diligent and had promised her mother, yet she acted this way towards her.
The princess was very frightened, but luckily Falada comforted her, saying: “Princess, don’t be afraid. Stay strong. Once you meet the prince, everything will be fine.”
But what was even more unexpected happened—the maid asked the princess to serve her instead.
The princess had never served anyone before. When she poured water for the maid and accidentally spilled it, the maid seized the opportunity to scold and hit her, making her cry.
Falada quickly comforted her, saying, “Please endure a little longer, princess. We are close to the prince’s kingdom. Soon, you will have your chance to punish this wicked person!”
But the maid overheard and threatened, “If you dare speak of this, I will kill you! You won’t get that opportunity!”
She forced the princess to swap clothes and horses.
However, when she tried to ride Falada, the horse threw her off.
Furious, she whipped Falada but had no choice but to return to her own horse.
When they arrived in the prince’s country, the prince came to welcome them personally. Seeing the maid dressed in the princess’s clothes, he mistook her for the princess.
The maid said to the prince, “My maid is very arrogant and disrespectful. On the way, she even tried to harm me and wanted to replace me as the princess. Please send her away from the palace!”
The prince asked the servant, who replied that there was a flock of geese outside the palace, and only one young boy was watching them, so it would be just right for her to help tend to the geese.
The wicked maid, having dismissed the princess, was worried that Farada, the talking horse, would reveal her misdeeds.
She said to the prince, “This horse is wild and has thrown me off several times; let someone kill it!”
The princess, upon hearing that Farada was to be killed, ran to the butcher in tears, begging him not to do it.
The butcher replied, “This is the prince and princess’s order; if I disobey, I will be killed instead.”
Falada wept, saying, “Princess, don’t be sad for me. I only wish for you to live strongly and one day reveal the true nature of that wicked maid, so everyone knows you are the real princess!”
The butcher was astonished to see the horse could talk.
After understanding everything, he felt sympathy and said, “I can spare the horse, but you must not let anyone know about this; otherwise, I’ll be in trouble.”
The princess and Falada agreed.
So, Falada was hidden, but whenever the princess was alone tending the geese, the horse would come out to speak with her.
The boy who herded geese with the princess saw this and couldn’t sit still anymore. He ran to the prince and said, “The new goose girl is really strange; she often talks to a horse, and what’s weirder is that the horse can really talk!”
The prince hurried to see for himself and realized it was true. Moreover, the girl didn’t look like a maid at all.
So he stepped forward to ask her.
The princess, in tears, replied, “I can’t say; if I do, she’ll kill me and Falada.”
The prince vowed, “I swear by my life that no one can harm you.”
Finally, the princess revealed everything.
The prince was furious.
On the wedding day, the maid dressed herself up beautifully. She thought proudly, “Who would have imagined that I could go from being a maid to becoming a princess, while the real princess is out herding geese.”
As she walked into the wedding hall, the prince said he wanted to tell a story first. He recounted the princess’s ordeal and then asked everyone, “What punishment should this wicked maid receive?”
Everyone shouted, “The harshest punishment!”
The prince turned to the maid and asked, “Do you agree?”
At this moment, the maid was trembling all over. She knew the prince had discovered the truth, and she stammered, “I… I agree…”
“Good, you are that wicked maid!”
The prince commanded his guards to take her away.
Then, the true bride entered, stunningly beautiful, gentle, and poised.
The crowd marveled and offered their best wishes.
The prince and princess were married and lived happily ever after, along with Falada.
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