Three rings, Serbian fairy-tale

   Once upon a time, a king and his son lived happily and ruled their kingdom. When the time for the prince to marry came, his father sent a letter to the other king with a ring in it in order to ask the beautiful princess to marry his son. The messenger gave the letter to the other king. He read it and called his daughter to inform her about the letter and to hear her answer. She told her father that she would marry the prince only if he brought her three rings, the first made of stars, the second made of the moon and the third made of the sun.

   Soon, the messenger was sent to bring the princess’ answer to the prince and his father. The king was devastated. He even promised the half of his kingdom and big fortune to the one who could find those rings, but, in vain. At last, the prince himself decided to start searching. He wandered and wandered, and when he lost the hope that he would find three rings and wanted to give up, he met an old lady. He greeted her and she said: ‘’God bless you! I hope this is going to be the happiest day in your life! I will help you! I am the doctor who will cure your anguished body and soul.’’ The old lady’s words surprised the prince. She, then, said: ’’I know everything about you and your problem. Now, listen- take, please, this herb from my chests and put it in yours. Then, comb the half of my hair in front of, and the other half along my shoulders and stay here till the morning.

   The prince did everything that the old lady had said to him. In the evening the old lady said: ‘’When you see the firs star on the sky, take the herb from your chest and say: Dear God, give me the ring.’’ The prince did all this and the star ring fell of the sky in front of his feet. Then, the old lady said the prince to do the same thing again when the moon appeared. After he repeated the procedure, the moon ring fell from the sky.

   Before the dawn, the old lady told: ‘’Listen carefully, when the sun rises, look at it directly through my hair and say: ‘’Dear God, convert this hair into the sun ring.’’ The prince again did everything he had been said to do, and he god the sun ring. He was very happy. He asked the old lady what she wanted in return. She said him to pray for  her as she was going to die soon, and not to tell anyone about this event.

   The prince kissed her hand and went home. Then, he visited the other kingdom along with his father to give the princess three rings and marry her. They all lived happily ever after.