There lived a woodcutter and his wife by the big forest. They have only one child, a three-year-old girl. But they were so poor that they didn't even have the bread they needed to eat every day, and they didn't know what to feed their children. One morning, the woodcutter went to the forest to chop wood sadly. Suddenly a tall, beautiful woman appeared in front of him. She also wore a crown full of twinkling stars on her head. She said to the woodcutter: "I am the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary. You are poor and need help. Give me your child. I will take her away and be her mother and take good care of her." The woodcutter obeyed her words, brought the child, and gave it to the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary took the child to heaven. The child lived very comfortably in heaven, eating sugar cookies, drinking sweet milk, wearing golden clothes, and playing with little angels.
When she was fourteen years old, the Virgin Mary called her to her one day and said to her: "Dear child, I want to go on a far journey. These are the keys to the thirteen doors of the Kingdom of Heaven, which are kept by you." You can open twelve of the doors and see the beautiful scenery inside. This little key opens the thirteenth door, but you must not open that door, or you will be in trouble. "Little girl. Promise to listen to the Virgin Mary. After the Virgin Mary left, she began to visit the residence in heaven. She opened one door every day until she had opened twelve doors one by one. She saw a disciple of Jesus sitting at each door, surrounded by a brilliant light. This glorious sight made her extremely happy, and also made the little angels who accompanied her day and night very happy.
Now only the door remained which was forbidden to be opened. She wanted very much to know what was hidden behind the door, so she said to the angels, "I won't open the door all the way, and I won't go in. I just want to open it a crack so that we can all see what's inside." Ah, no," the little angels said, "it is a sin to do so. The Virgin Mary forbids you to open it, and you may be prone to misfortune if you don't obey." She said nothing when she heard this. The desire in her heart did not disappear, but kept torturing her, leaving her without a moment of peace. Once, all the angels went out, and she thought: "I am the only one now, so I can go in and have a look. I don't think anyone will know." She found the key and inserted it as soon as she took it in her hand. The keyhole turned once it was inserted into the keyhole, and the door opened immediately.
She saw the "Trinity" sitting inside among the fire and light (Christianity believes that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are originally one body, so it is called the "Trinity" Translator's Note). She stood there, looking at everything in astonishment, then touched her fingers to the light, and her fingers immediately turned to gold. She was suddenly frightened, slammed the door, and ran away. But no matter what she tried, she couldn't get rid of her fear. Her heart was always beating fast and she could not calm down, and the gold on her fingers could not be removed no matter how hard she rubbed or washed, the gold was still there.
The Virgin Mary soon returned from her journey. She called the little girl to her and asked her for the key to the Kingdom of Heaven. When she handed over the key, the Virgin Mary looked into her eyes and asked, "You didn't open the thirteenth door, did you?" "No," the little girl answered. The Blessed Virgin placed her hand on the little girl's heart and felt her heart beating very fast. She immediately understood that she had not obeyed and that she had opened the door. So the Virgin asked again: "Have you really never opened that door?" "No." The little girl answered for the second time. At this time, the Virgin saw the little girl's fingers that turned into gold because she touched the heavenly fire. Knowing that she had sinned, she asked her for the third time: "Are you really not?" "No." The little girl said for the third time. . The Virgin Mary said: "You didn't listen to me and you lied. You don't deserve to live in heaven anymore."
The little girl fell into a drowsy sleep. When she woke up, she found herself lying in a wilderness in the world. She wanted to shout, but she couldn't make any sound. She stood up and wanted to escape, but found that no matter which direction she went, there was always a dense bush of thorns blocking her way, and she could not get over it. In the wasteland that surrounded her stood an old hollow tree, which became her home. When night came, she climbed into the tree hole and slept inside. When it was windy or raining, she would hide inside. This life is very miserable.
Whenever she thinks of the happy life in heaven and the scenes of playing with the little angels, she will cry sadly. Grass roots and wild fruits were her only food, and she had to work hard to find them. When autumn came, she picked up the walnuts and leaves that fell on the ground and moved them into the hole. These walnuts are her food in winter, and on days when snowflakes are flying and the weather is freezing, she can only crawl into the leaves like a poor little animal to avoid freezing to death. Soon her clothes were torn and fell off piece by piece. When the sun shone warmly on the earth again, she climbed out and sat in front of the tree. Her long hair was like a cloak, covering her whole body. She just sat there year after year, feeling the misery and misfortune of the world.
As winter turns to spring, the trees turn green again. One day, the king was hunting in the forest and chased a roe deer, but the roe deer got into the bushes surrounding the forest. The king dismounted, pushed aside the bushes, and cut a path for himself with his sword. When he finally got through the bushes, he saw a very beautiful girl sitting under the tree. I saw her sitting there, her long golden hair hanging down to her heels, completely covering her whole body. The king stood there blankly, looking at her in great surprise, and then asked her: "Who are you? Why are you sitting in this wilderness?" But she could not speak because she could not open her mouth. The king asked again: "Will you go back to the palace with me?" She just nodded slightly. The king picked her up, put her on his horse, and rode back to the palace with her. When he arrived at the palace, he had her dressed in the most beautiful clothes and gave her all kinds of things. Although she could not speak, she was very beautiful and gentle. The king fell in love with her sincerely and soon married her.
About a year later, the queen gave birth to a son. That night, when she was lying alone in bed, the Virgin Mary appeared in front of her and said to her: "If you tell the truth and admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will open your mouth." , so that you can speak; but if you are stubborn and continue to deny your sins, I will take your newborn baby away." The Virgin allowed the queen to speak at this time, but the queen stubbornly said: "No, I did not open it. The forbidden door." Then the Virgin Mary took the newborn baby from her arms and disappeared with him. The next morning, when they saw that the child was missing, people began to whisper that the queen was a man-eating demon who had killed her own child. She heard all these words, but could not say anything. Fortunately, the king loved her very much, so he didn't believe what everyone said.
A year later, the queen gave birth to another son. The Virgin Mary came to her again at night and said to her: "If you admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will return your child to you and let you speak; but if you continue to deny , I will take you, the newborn child, too." The queen still replied: "No, I did not open the door." The Virgin had to take the child from her arms and take him back to heaven. The next morning, when the child was seen missing again, it was openly declared that the queen must have devoured the child. The king's ministers asked to put her on trial, but because the king loved the queen so much, he not only refused to believe what others said, but also forbade the ministers from talking about the matter, under penalty of death.
Another year passed and the queen gave birth to a very beautiful daughter. The Virgin Mary appeared to her for the third time at night and said to her: "Follow me." She took the queen's hand and took her to heaven to show her her two sons. The two brothers smiled at her and played with the globe. This sight made the queen very happy, and the Virgin Mary said: "Has your heart not softened yet? If you admit that you have opened the forbidden door, I will return your two sons to you." But the queen replied for the third time: "No, I did not open the door." Then the Virgin made her return to the earth and took away her third child.
The next morning, when the news of the missing child spread, everyone shouted: "The queen is a man-eating demon! We must judge her!" This time even the king could no longer stop the ministers. Everyone put her on trial. Since she could not speak or defend herself, she was sentenced to be burned at the stake. The wood was piled, she was tied tightly to the stake, and the fire began to burn around her. At this time, the ice of pride began to melt, and her heart was filled with regret. She thought: "If only I could admit before I died that I had opened that door!" Suddenly her voice came back and she shouted loudly: "Yes, Holy Mother, I have opened that door!" As soon as he finished speaking, heavy rain fell from the sky and extinguished the flames. A bright light appeared above her head, and the Virgin Mary held the newly born little princess in her arms, and brought the two princes to her side. She said kindly to the queen: "As long as a person admits his sins and repentes for them, he will be forgiven." She gave the three children to the queen, so that she could speak again and make her happy for life.
Login to comment
Be the first one to comment...