Usborne Young Reading: The Runaway Princess Chapter 1-2

Chapter 1 The happy king There was once a happy king. He lived with his queen and her little sister in a magnificent palace. The palace was filled with treasures and wonders. The most wonderful of all was a magic donkey, who could turn straw into gold. But the king's happiness did not last, for his dear queen fell ill. The doctors said she didn't have long to live. "Promise me something," she begged her husband. "Anything," vowed the king. "Don't marry again," she whispered,"until you find a wife as good as me!" And then she died. Now the king's heart grew cold. As the years went by, people begged him to remarry. "Who will rule after you?" "You need a child." But he always refused. "There is no one as good as my queen," he snapped. And so he grew old and cruel, with only Anna, the queen's sister, for company. Chapter 2 A proposal Princess Anna was much younger than the queen. But she grew up to be just as beautiful, and even more kind. In time, even the king noticed how lovely she was. "Now I can keep my promise," he decided. "I shall marry you." Anna's heart sank. She couldn't marry this cruel old man, but she was too afraid to tell him. Then she had an idea. "I'll set him an impossible task!" "I could never marry without a dress as beautiful as the sky," she said. The king snapped his fingers. "Fetch my best dressmakers," he ordered. That night, the king gave Anna a dress of shimmering blue, embroidered all over with silky clouds. "Now you can marry me." Anna thought quickly. "Not without a dress as beautiful as the moon," she replied. Again, the king snapped his fingers. "Get those dressmakers back here!" he said. The next day, there was a dress shining silver, trimmed with glowing moonstones. "Now you can marry me." "Not without a dress as beautiful as the sun,"pleaded the poor princess. So the king snapped his fingers again...The next day, there was a dress of glittering gold, scattered with scarlet rubies. Anna was in despair. "There's one more thing," she pleaded. "I'd like a cloak of donkey skin. And not any old skin. It must be from a magic donkey!" "He'd never harm his donkey." The next day, the king presented Anna with a shaggy donkeyskin cloak. "Oh no, poor donkey." "We'll be married tomorrow," he told her. Anna bowed her head. "There's only one thing left to do," she decided." Run away!" When the king was in bed, she bundled up her dresses, put on the cloak and crept downstairs. Then she smeared her face with ash and disappeared into the night. "Now I'll never have to see him again."