A Cruel Fairy Tale (Hidden Story)
The Princess Who Looked in the Mirror
Long ago, in a time when everything one wanted could be granted, there was a king and queen who had no children.
The two of them were lamenting that they had done everything they could but still had no children, and were gradually growing older.
Then one day, an old man dressed in shabby clothes came to the castle.
The king had often heard that gods sometimes came disguised as travelers, so he welcomed the old man warmly and treated him with great hospitality.
The old man asked if there were any wishes as he left the castle.
The king and queen unanimously pleaded that they had no children, and said that any child they could have would be theirs.
노인
Is any child really okay?
The old man asked with a firm resolve.
The king nodded silently, remembering that he had heard that if he was greedy in such a situation, everything would be in vain, including his children.
The old man said that the wish would come true and disappeared without a trace.
After a while, the queen became pregnant, and while the king and the whole castle were filled with joy, the baby girl was finally born.
But the princess was not only fat as a piglet, but no matter how much you looked at her, there was not a single pretty part about her.
Moreover, the queen, who was recovering poorly after giving birth and worried about the future of her ugly daughter, eventually died.
The king regretted having wanted to have children.
Still, since she was a child he had barely managed to get, he felt very sorry for her and ordered everyone around him to praise her for being cute and pretty.
He also issued a strict order to confiscate all the mirrors in the country without leaving a single one behind.
And so the ugly princess grew up being praised by everyone.
Then one day, the old man from before appeared again, and when the king complained, the old man said bluntly,
노인
I can't complain since you said any child is fine.
The king regretted it, but it was too late.
But if things went on like this, it would be a big problem when the princess grew up and realized her own ugliness.
So I discussed with the old man whether he might have some good wisdom.
노인
Even I can't make the princess pretty now. But if it's Jeong So-won's wish, I'll make sure she doesn't suffer, even if she's ugly.
After the old man said that and left, not many days later the princess became ill with an eye disease and lost the sight in both eyes.
The king had something on his mind, but now he could do nothing about it.
However, he gave instructions that it would be okay to use mirrors in the future.
An especially ugly old woman or a hunchbacked boy was chosen to serve the blind princess.
Because among the young women and girls in the castle, there was not a single one uglier than the princess.
The king could not bear the thought of a human being being compared to the princess.
The hunchbacked boy was quiet and waited patiently on the princess.
Even though the princess became very picky and irritable after losing her sight, she was attracted to the hunchbacked boy, and after the old woman who was her maid died, she kept the hunchbacked boy by her side and he grew up to be a 'beautiful blind princess'.
But as the princess approached marriageable age, she became even fatter and seemed to have difficulty moving, and then one day, out of the blue, she gave birth to a baby.
The king was surprised and asked who her father was, but the princess stubbornly refused to answer.
Moreover, he spoke carelessly in a tone that did not even acknowledge the fact that he had given birth to the child.
공주
It's definitely a piglet.
The princess became furious, saying that the king was so angry that he was suspected of something so base as to make her lose her temper just by mentioning the hunchback boy.
But when the baby was born, it had an ugly face like a pig, just like the princess, and a hump on its back like a hunchbacked boy.
The king ordered his servants to abandon the newborn baby in the forest.
And although he had no intention of handing over the throne to the hunchback, he acknowledged that the two were effectively a married couple and allowed them to live together as they had until then.
Even so, during the day, the two people looked like nothing more than a master-servant relationship to anyone who saw them.
One day, the old man came to the castle again.
He said that this was already the third time and that it would be the last time he would grant a wish.
The king had no intention of asking the old man for a wish again, but just in case, he called the princess and the hunchback and asked them if they had any wishes.
Then the princess asked for eyes that could see clearly.
The princess's wish was to see herself, who had been praised as pretty by everyone, just once.
The hunchback's face changed and he objected, and even asked that he be made blind like the princess.
If you can live without seeing what you don't want to see, you can live as the 'husband of the beautiful blind princess.'
After listening to the story of the two men, the king decided that it would be better for the hunchback's wish to be granted.
But the princess was furious and scolded the hunchback, asking if he wanted her to live blindly. So, at the princess's insistence, the old man promised to bring her some magical spring water the next time he came and restore her sight.
The hunchback thought he was in big trouble and couldn't even swallow his food properly.
When the princess opens her eyes, she will finally see her own ugliness with her own eyes.
The hunchback could not bear the thought of such cruelty.
That wasn't all.
When the princess opens her eyes, the hunchback's ugly appearance will be revealed in the bright light.
When that happened, the proud princess would have been furious at the sight of her husband's ugliness before she despaired at her own ugliness.
The hunchback spent his days helplessly beside the princess, who sat in front of an invisible mirror, waiting with joy for the day when she would see her own face.
One night, a few days later, a suspicious person sneaked into the castle.
He went into the princess's bedroom, stole the jewel box, and tried to do something bad to the sleeping princess, but he was caught and when the noise around him became so loud, he panicked and threw the boiling kettle away and ran away.
The princess had hot water poured over her face and fainted.
The hunchback heard the noise and ran out to chase after the suspicious person, but was found unconscious in the garden, having been badly beaten.
The king thought it was a strange incident.
But I couldn't just say anything without any evidence.
More important than that was treating the princess's burns.
As a result of calling in the best doctors in the country and doing their best, there was no major danger to the patient's life, and the burns healed faster than expected.
But no matter how skilled a surgeon was, he couldn't do anything about the terrible burn scars.
The princess's face was so disfigured by burns that it was almost like a ghost burned by fire, making it impossible for anyone to look at her straight.
The princess, who thought her beauty had been ruined, cried and complained to the king that she did not want the hunchbacked boy to see her like this.
The hunchback, who had been secretly listening to the princess's words from outside the door, felt that his life was in danger.
But the king took the princess's plea in a different light, thinking that his daughter was pouring out her heart to her father.
That night, the king sent someone to call the hunchback.
The hunchback was lying on the ground, his eyes stabbed with red-hot tongs.
After receiving treatment, the blind hunchback went before the king and princess and said that he had no choice but to do this, considering the princess's feelings, and asked to be allowed to remain by her side as her servant forever.
The princess remained silent, her ugly face not moving.
The king thought that silence was a sign of acceptance.
The king, who had been about to question the hunchback about whether the suspicious person was actually the hunchback himself, was reassured by the hunchback's actions and decided to leave the incident unsolved.
So the hunchback succeeded in saving himself from danger.
A few days later, the old man came again.
Now he was an 'uninvited guest' to everyone.
The king explained the whole story to the old man and refused to give him the water to open the princess's eyes, saying that he no longer needed it.
But the old man shook his head and said that it couldn't be done that way, that a promise is a promise and must be kept, and before anyone could stop him, he quickly approached the princess and poured a bottle of water over her head.
Then, a miracle happened and the princess cried out.
공주
I can see your eyes!
노인
As expected, he has eyes that can see twice as well as an average person.
After finishing speaking, the old man immediately tried to disappear somewhere.
The king was surprised and quickly grabbed the old man.
왕
Please wait. Could you please teach me? Why do we keep experiencing these unfortunate events one after another?
노인
Are you trying to say it's my fault?
The old man said with a sneer.
노인
Isn't it all your fault? Put your hand on your heart and think carefully.
노인
You have a personality that is neither here nor there, but you seem to have a strangely good understanding of things. However, you are unable to take responsibility and make decisions, so your judgments are always slightly erroneous.
노인
Your foolish actions have accumulated over a long period of time and have led to this result today.
The king felt as if he had been struck by a blow, but with one last foolish pang of courage, he asked the old man a question, at least to satisfy his curiosity.
왕
Who the hell are you?
The old man looked back briefly with an eerie look in his eyes, but left the castle without answering.
And the princess, who had obtained good eyes, soon saw herself and her hunchbacked husband with those eyes.
It is said that no one knows what kind of life the princess led after that, or what became of the blind hunchback.
A story of a king who becomes the source of all troubles with a half-hearted wish, an ugly princess with a quirky personality, a hunchbacked boy with a good personality, and an old man of unknown identity who ends up in ruin.
The king who looked in the mirror...
Oh, as I write this, a thought comes to mind?
The mirror is there to see the ugliness inside you, not the outer appearance.
The Princess Who Looked in the Mirror