The restless princess

The Restless Princess Heloisa Prieto

The Restless Princess Heloisa Prieto

Illustrations by

Janaina Tokitaka

Copyright © Heloisa Prieto, 2009 All rights reserved to EDITORA FTD S.A. Rua Rui Barbosa, 156 — Bela Vista — São Paulo — SP CEP 01326-010 — Tel. (0-55-11) 3598-6000 Caixa Postal 65149 — CEP da Caixa Postal 01390-970 www.ftd.com.br contacts

director Ricardo Tavares de Oliveira publisher Isabel Lopes Coelho foreign rights Tassia Oliveira foreignrights@ftd.com.br

In the memory of my uncles Roberto Prieto, who gave me this lovely fairytale, and Paschoal Braz de Oliveira, who taught me how to write my name.

O

nce upon a time there

was a beautiful princess named Rose. She lived with her parents King Jarred, known as the wise one, and the lovely Queen Camellia.

Only child, the girl wandered through the days singing across the garden and playing in every corner of the palace.

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Their lives would have been perfect except for a small detail: Rose, the restless princess, could never stop laughing, joking, and jumping around. Even though she was so very clever, during her private lessons with her royal teachers, she kept on looking at the birds through the window, daydreaming she was singing and flying, as if she were a tiny little bird.

Her parents tried to solve the problem and asked of a famous royal tutor: — What can we do to make our beautiful Rose love studying?

Instead of answering the question, he simply said: — You can trust me! I must become your daughter’s teacher.

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On the day of their first lesson, the wise councilor introduced himself to the princess with a huge book under his arms. The princess welcomed him graciously, or so he thought: “Something must be wrong. This girl is very very sweet and clever!”

He sat next to her and opened his book. A bird came into the room.

The Princess jumped onto the table quickly trying to catch her small companion. The bird flew away. She laughed a lot. Still happy, she lost balance and stumbled over a glass of water which she knocked all over the book, ruining the pages. The tutor did not like it.

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Things got even worse. Her littler shoes slipped on the wet surface of the table. The princess, while trying not to fall down, reached out for the council’s head. A vain man, he was wearing a wig. The girl fell into the floor with the book, a wig and a broken glass falling after her.

The king entered.

— What is happening dear sir? What a mess!

All the tutor could do then was resign his position.

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By the end of the afternoon in her amazing royal bedroom, Rose was playing with her beautiful cat named Wheeze. As the Princess’s cat, the cat slept in a special bed over a pillow made of goose feathers. That night, the cat sat beside Princess Rose and whispered into her ears: — Books are so much fun! Dear Princess, would you like me to be your secret teacher? I can teach you how to read so very easily! Books open our minds to such beautiful secret realms... You would love to play with words...

But his generous offer did not matter much.

Princess Rose had already fallen asleep, the girl was very tired from playing all day long.

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Princess Rose also had a handsome horse named Sultan. Next afternoon, she had her horse saddled, because she felt like riding. Spring sunshine spread its delicate rays and the wind caressed her silky hair.

Feeling happy, the little Princess came into the forest, riding very fast. Laughing, she caressed her horse’s mane, and careless as usual she did not realize she had crossed the woods into the heart of the dark forest.

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Deep shadows frightened her, and eventually the little Princess realized she was a long way from home.

She thought about going back to the palace, but Sultan was tired from riding hard and Rose made him stop and sit down by the roots of a huge tree. She fell into a deep sleep...

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