The Beautiful Anna — Obscure Fairy Tales

Many moons ago, before the world was what it is today, were three sisters living together in the sicilian countryside. As they were orphaned at a very young age, the siblings had learned to live off of their handiwork as a team.

The first sister spun and coiled yarn, the second wove the linen, and the third cut and sewed the fabric into various items of clothing. Together, despite a few occasional sisterly strifes, lived in harmony. Their handiwork brought them enough money to live by and they were happy.

One day, as they were working on their craft in the morning sun, a young prince passed by their residence, looking for directions. After thanking them for their help, he sang them an ode.

How beautiful is the one who spins, with her long black hair
How pretty is the one who weaves, with her beauty worth more than a mare
How venusian is the one who sews, she stole my heart, it isn’t fair

The sisters felt a little uneasy about being sang to, but they ignored their blushing faces and thanked the prince for his song. The youngest sister, Anna, the one who sewed, did not dare say a peep, blushing like a tomato. The prince bowed to the ladies and took his leave.

The next day, whether it was on purpose or not, we may never know, the prince passed in front of the sisters’ house again. Anna and her older sisters were crafting outside again and welcomed him. They gave him directions and the prince thanked them again with the same melody before going his own way. For the rest of the day, the youngest sibling could not help but talk about the prince. Her sisters looked at each other and grinned. They knew she was falling for the prince.

The prince kept visited every morning, not missing a single day. Thus, the sisters devised a plan.

The eldest and the middle child would bring Anna to the woods where the prince originated from and leave her there to be rescued by the royal on his next visit.

The next day at dawn, the eldest asked Anna to come pick some berries with her in the woods. She said she knew of a good spot! So on they went. After walking for a while, the older sister said she had forgotten her basket and must go back to the house to get it. She then left her sister to wait for her in the forest and returned home.

Anna waited for a long time, as she did not know her way back and was scared to displease her sister by leaving their meeting spot. Unbeknownst to the sisters, the prince did not come either, as he had urgent matters to attend to that day. Thus, while Anna was waiting alone in the woods, her sisters thought she had simply gone with the prince and did not worry about her.

When the moon started rising in the sky, Anna felt the air getting frisky and decided to attempt finding her way back, despite her being in a neck of the woods she was not familiar with. She walked and walked and walked, so much that her feet were getting tired and her thighs were starting to chafe. Then, she came upon a beautiful house in a small glade and knocked on the door. To Anna’s surprise, an ogress opened the door.

“What do you need at such a late hour, pretty face? Come in!” said the ogress.

She proceeded to feed Anna some soup and lent her warm clothes for the night. However, he ogress warned the young woman that she should hide when her husband came home because he disliked humans. Anna understood.

As predicted, the husband eventually came home and Anna hid in the closet.

“I smell human flesh!” screamed the ogre in anger.

“You always smell human flesh when I come back from the market. This is just one of those times, don’t worry,” responded the ogress.

The wife prepared a bowl of soup for her beloved and sat down at the table with him.

“I think I could find a human you would actually like, such as a young and beautiful lady who could give us company.”

The ogre looked suspiciously at his wife. He knew her well enough to know she had a trick up her sleeve.

“Okay, if you can find a human I actually like, she can live with us,” responded the husband. “But if I don’t like her, I will eat her.”

The ogress then told Anna she could come out and a trembling young woman got out of the closet. The ogre was so dazzled by her beauty that he could not help but admire her and agree for her to stay.

Thus, Anna stayed with the couple from then on, and happily help take care of the housework in exchange. The ogress took such a liking to the young lady that she treated her like a daughter. Months passed and Anna grew more and more fond of her new family. Still, she missed her old one and imagined they were worried sick about her. If only she could find her way back!

In the meantime, the two older sisters had thought Anna in the young prince’s company. They assumed the couple had simply eloped! Thus, they missed their sister deeply, but were glad for her.

When nearly a year had passed, the ogress, who was not getting any younger, started to get sick and eventually passed. A few weeks later, the ogre died from a broken heart. Anna was devastated by the death of her adoptive parents and decided to try and find her sisters on her own again.

She set out to leave with a few pieces of bread and a handful of grapes. She walked and walked and walked, but could not find her way back through the thick forest. She sat down on a fallen log and ate the bread and grapes while deep in thought. She was so distracted that she started to choke on one of the grapes. Anna tried to breathe in, but are airway was blocked by the fruit. She was going to die alone here!

At the same time, the prince was riding his horse in the woods and stumbled upon the seemingly lifeless body of Anna. Right away, he tried to wake her up and checked if she was breathing. When he opened her mouth, he noticed a small round object at the back of her throat and quickly retrieved it by sucking it out, bringing her back to life.

Thankful to her saviour, Anna looked up and recognized the prince she had been dreaming about for over a year. Just as flustered, the prince quickly looked away and asked what she was doing outside alone in the forest. After she explained her reasons, he offered to bring her back to her sisters’ home, as he knew the way very well by then.

The prince admitted he had been periodically riding by the house over the past year, hoping to see her again. This confession warmed Anna’s heart. She took his hand in hers and kissed his cheek. The man smiled from ear to ear. Their eyes were telling stories that words couldn’t express.

On the way to the sisters’ house, Anna rode on the prince’s horse, hugging him from behind. Being close together like this gave them both butterflies.

When they reached the house, the sun was already finishing his descent in the horizon. The prince helped Anna off his horse and walked her to the front door. She knocked. Her older sister hugged her as soon as she answered the door, stating she knew they had run off together.

The reunion was warm and everyone seemed surprised to learn Anna’s tale of living with an ogress and and ogre all this time.

“Had I known you would get lost, I never would have left you alone,” cried one sister.

“We thought you were living a happy life,” added the other.

Anna reassured everyone she was okay and had enjoyed the time spent with the old couple. She was simply glad to be home after all this time.

Weeks passed by while the sisters spun, wove and sewed together again. The prince visited Anna everyday. After a few months, the prince and his beloved decided to marry. They had a splendid but modest ceremony in the woods and moved into the prince’s castle together. Before long, Anna was pregnant with twins and gave birth to two healthy babies named Stella and Luna.

All was well until the prince’s mother, the queen, started looking at the attention her grandchildren were getting from her son with envy. As it was, the prince used to spend time with his mother everyday, but he now could barely managed to visit her once a week. The queen devised a plan.

As her son left the castle for a few days, the queen asked her servant to fetch her grandchildren for her and led the babies to the cook in the kitchen. Then, she asked him to make the best stew he ever made using their tender meat. She also required he keep their tongues and bring them to her in a jar.

Horrified, the cook nonetheless accepted, but took the children to his mother’s place instead, unbeknownst to the queen. Then, the cook bought two young sheep at the market, slayed them, cut off their tongues and cooked their bodies in a stew.

When he presented the meal to the queen, she smelled the broth, smiled and took a sip.

“Delicious!” she said.

The queen proceeded to invite Anna to join her for dinner and the evil ruler watched her daughter-in-law eat what she thought was her own children. In the evening, when Anna asked her wet nurse about the whereabouts of Stella and Luna, she was told they were already put to bed by their grandmother after dinner. She thought no more of it, as Anna had no reason to doubt her mother-in-law’s intentions.

The next day, the young woman was asked to join her children and the queen in the garden for breakfast. Thus, Anna put on her favourite outfit, a beautiful pink dress with tiny bells all over, and joined her mother-in-law in the courtyard.

When she arrived, the queen was alone with her guards, with no children in sight. Anna thought that was odd. The queen took out a jar with two bloody tongues inside and placed it on the table.

“Here, these are Stella’s and Luna’s,” said the queen, smiling.

As Anna processed what she had just heard, tears of rage rolled down her face. She took a step towards the queen and was instantly held back by the guards.

“Take her to the courtyard,” uttered the queen as the guards before the guards took Anna away.

The young woman was led to a giant cauldron full of burning oil in the courtyard. By the queen’s orders, the guards undressed Anna, sounding the tiny resonating bells with each movement. Just outside the castle, the prince was coming back from his mission early and heard the bells ringing. He instantly knew something was going on and ran towards the sound. When he reached his wife, she was just about to be thrown into the cauldron.

He swooped in to save her and ordered the guards to seize his mother and throw her in the burning oil instead. Taking the chance to rid the world of the evil queen, the guards complied. The queen died screaming while the oil burned off her skin in agonizing pain.

As Anna kept crying about the cut off tongues of her children, the cook’s mother came in with the babies — safe and sound — and handed them to their parents.

In the following days, as the land had no more ruler, the prince became king and Anna became queen. They ruled their land in fairness and happiness until their deaths.

The serie Obscure Fairy Tales encompasses an array of tales, myths and legends from around the world. To read more, visit this page dedicated to fiction writing.