Читать книгу Adventures of Indi, the Little Princess. Part 1 «Yoly» - Danil Dzha - Страница 3

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It was an unusual evening… The sun had become red, heralding the approach of the rainy season. Wild beasts hid from the heat in the most secluded corners of the jungle, stray dogs wandered through the nooks, and fish lay still in the river creek. Then the wind died down, the cicadas fell silent, the birds stopped singing and the Kingdom of Hindustan plunged into dark, silent night.

Every year at this very time, a mysterious creature emerged from the forest and abducted girls, for unknown reasons, and what’s more, only girls of the age of seven. The King knew this well, and therefore put his bravest guards near the chamber of his daughter, Princess Indi.

The sound of a curved ivory horn reverberated across Jagannath – the capital of the great kingdom. Parents rushed to lock their homes and hide their young daughters in windowless rooms, safe from the sonorous chimes of the magic bells that the creepy forest creature used to lull people into a dream, as it pursued its next victim.

The sky was cloudy and tense, the moon and stars hidden from sight. At midnight, the thunderstorm broke. The first lightning bolt hit a huge old banyan, and the tree was quickly covered in orange flames.

The little Princess was scared and called to her mother, beautiful Queen Rani. The chamber of her parents was next to hers, and the Queen immediately came and comforted her daughter. As she went to the window to shut the blinds, she saw the blazing tree, and before it the flash of a strange silhouette. But the villain escaped the Queen’s attention, and she never even suspected that it was sneaking towards its prey. There was another thunderclap, and the rain fell in a torrent such as hadn’t been seen for over a century. As the downpour extinguished the fire, the river swelled over its banks, and the streams of water swiftly turned everything around into an impassable swamp.

As Indi dozed in her room, the guards stood at the entrance and did not sleep a wink. The rain did not abate, and the thunder was getting stronger and stronger. Suddenly, at the end of the hallway, came the sound of steps. The warriors thrust their spears forward, ready for battle, but the crafty creature was not going to fight – it simply bewitched them with captivating sounds of its bells and then laid them down with the spell:

The creature snuck into the girl’s room, grabbed her, and left in her place an ominous token. No one stood in its way, as all who heard its forest song fell asleep, and the monster freely left the kingdom, sailing a self-made boat along the river.

In the morning, the storm passed and the rain ceased. King Raja woke up before everyone else and went to visit his daughter. But as soon as he came out of his chamber, he saw the sleeping guards at her door. He cried out in rage and ran into the room of the little Princess. Her bed was empty apart from a strange wooden doll. The Queen rushed in, and seeing that their only child was gone, fell into a faint.

That very day, the furious Raja selected the strongest warriors and ordered them to find and rescue the Princess, and that the forest monster be mercilessly put to death!