THE ROSY AFFAIR

Many, many years ago, in a kingdom far, far away there lived a beautiful princess. She had long red hair and loved roses so much thateveryone called her Princes Minny. Every evening after dusk, Princes Minny wentout on the balcony and clapped her hands. A golden bird came flying out ofnowhere and alighted on her shoulder. Instantly, the princess's hair began toshine, ablaze with brilliant red light. When the bird started to warble an enchanting tune, PrincessMinny joined it in a song, and everyone in the kingdom fell asleep and hadsweet dreams till the break of dawn. Thus passed the years. Every evening Princess Minny, alongwith the little golden bird, sang a loving lullaby, so that all people fellasleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn. Until one day something terrible happened. A wicked witchlearned about Princess Minny and decided to curse her. "Abracadabra,Sim-Sala-Bim, may the Minny 's color dim!" the witch said, and Princess Minny's hair instantly turned as black as tar. That evening, too, Princess Minny went out on her balconyand clapped her hands. But when the golden bird appeared, her hair glowed blackinstead of red. The bird warbled its enchanting melody, and Princess Rose sangher lullaby. Everyone in the kingdom fell asleep, but that night theyonly had bad dreams and nightmares. On the following day, the saddened princess asked the bird,"Tell me, golden bird, how can I make my people's dreams so sweet againtill the break of dawn?" "Black hair in rose water," the bird chirped inreply. The princess wondered at this counsel, but abided by it,nevertheless.         She filled up a basin with water and sprinkled rose petalson its surface. Then, she dipped her hair into the rose water, and it instantlyturned red again. That evening, when the bird perched on her shoulder, theradiant red glow of her hair lit up the night sky once more. The Princess Minnysang her lullaby, and everyone in the kingdom fell asleep and had sweet dreamstill the break of dawn. The wicked witch was so very angry that her curse had beenbroken that she decided to cast it again. "Abracadabra, Sim-Sala-Bim, may the Minny 's colordim!" And the princess's hair turned as black as tar again. Only this time the witch also picked up all of the roseblooms in the entire kingdom. "Let's see how you'll break my curse now!" shesneered, filled with rage. Once again, the saddened princess asked the bird, "Tellme, golden bird, how can I make my people's dreams so sweet again till thebreak of dawn?"   "Black hair in rose water," the bird chirped inreply. "But where should I find a rose?" "Black hair in rose water," the bird chirped andflew away.   The princess didn't know what to do. So great was heranguish that her eyes filled with tears, one of them falling to the groundbelow. At that very moment, a young and handsome prince Minky, who had stoppedunder the balcony of the princess, took out a little box and a single red hairfrom within it.   Prince Minky bent down and placed the hair atop theprincess's tear. And then, a miracle happened. Suddenly, the red hair turnedinto a red rose.   The prince Minky picked the rose and took it up to theprincess. Upon seeing the rose, she immediately brushed off her tears and pluckedits petals to add to the water in the basin. Then, she dipped in her hair, andthe curse was broken. Everyone gasped in astonishment, and the King asked theprince, "Young man, where did you find that red hair?" "When the princess and I were both children, I picked asingle strand of hair from her head as a sign of my loyalty to her. And she didthe same to me, pulling out a strand of my own hair."   "It's true, father," the princess confirmed andtook out a little box. She opened it to reveal a single hair from the prince'shead inside. Everyone was delighted with this news. The prince andPrincess Rose got married on that very same day. Upon learning that her curse had been broken again, thewicked witch's evilness swelled so much that she exploded into a thousand tinypieces. Eventually, rose blooms sprang up in every garden in the kingdom onceagain. And so it went: each evening Princess Minny sang her loving lullaby, sothat all people fell asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn