Russumilillu The Daring Princess
there were 2 kings, one had 7 daughters and another had 7 sons. One day, the king father of the 7 sons met the other king, father of the seven daughters, and he said hello to him: Hello, good king, father of the 7 “pots” , and the other replied: Hello, good king, father of the seven “swords”.
The king father of seven daughters was sorry because he would have liked to have a son, strong and brave.
One day the king was more sad than usual. His youngest daughter was worried because her father were so disheartened, and then she suggested to him: When you see the king father of the 7 sons , propose him this bet: let’s see who among the seven “pots” and the seven “swords” will succeed in the enterprise to conquer within a year the ring and the book of King Solomon. The king father of the 7 swords was sure to win. But none of his sons succeeded in the enterprise...
Then it was up to the seven pots. The first daughter disguised herself as a man and left, but after a while she met a knight who challenged her. She was about to be killed when she discovered her face, showing her long braids and begged his forgiveness. But that knight was his father who wanted to see if his daughter was capable of dealing with the dangers. The king ordered her to go home. Then, it was the turn of his other daughters. The king did the same thing with the other daughters, none of them managed to fight and so they had to come back home. The king was worried: that enterprise was really difficult for a woman.
The youngest daughter's turn came. She put on her armor, left and met the usual knight, but this time she was better than him: after a few strokes, she threw the mysterious knight that is her father - to the ground, put her foot on his chest and pointed the sword in his throat! The father, surprised by so much audacity, let her go.
The princess, dressed like a knight, rode for days to the East and arrived at the court of King Solomon. He was young and handsome and he was keen on the tournaments. She was very good at riding and the king, believing her male, took her close to him as a squire.
Time passed and the pretty squire was called Russumilillu by all because “he� had beautiful red cheeks, in fact Russumilillu means "little red apple".
The king began to suspect that he was actually a beautiful girl and secretly fell in love with her. The doubt tormented him, and then his mother suggested: “Put him to the test!”. So, Solomon brought Russumilillu to a goldsmith where they saw many masculine objects but also many beautiful women's jewelry
and asked him: “Choose one!”. Russumilillu was clever and had understood the king's design and so chose the finest sword with the sharpest blade.
Then, Russumilillu was invited to sit down on the rose petals to see if “he” had smelled them and had lain gently as a girl. But she even this proof failed. Then king Solomon invited “him” to take a bath with him at the river. The king was already in the water and invited Russumilillu to join him: “Take off your clothes and come in the water!“. She answered: “Oh my king! Forgive me! I left the window of my room open, I'm going to close it and I'll be right back. Wait for me here, please. "
Russumilillu went to the Palace, took the ring and the book of King Solomon, wrote him a letter of farewell and returned to his father's kingdom
What a wonderful surprise!!! The youngest daughter of the seven-pots king had succeeded in doing so! The bet was won, they all celebrated and from that day no one took the king around: he had become the king father of the daring
princess!
Meanwhile, King Solomon, read the story of Russumilillu in the letter and was in love with her more than ever. So, disguised himself as a pilgrim and left to go to the princess's kingdom. When he finally arrived, he saw Russumilillu , approached her and stretched out his hand to beg her alms. She was putting a coin in his hands when he immediately grabbed her finger and removed the ring. His head was discovered and she recognized him.
Russumilillu was in love with him and so she was so happy to see him again! She took off her crown and put it on the head of the king Solomon. They married after a few days and went to live in the reign of King Solomon.
Thanks for reading by Class 1 M teacher Albina Giglio
e-twinning project Writing Relay 2017-2018 Russumilillu – by Federica Ioele
Zumbini Middle School Cosenza, Italy