The Weightless Princess Story in English _ Stories for Teenagers _ @EnglishFairyTales
The Weightless Princess Story in English | Story | English Story | Fairy Tales in English | Stories for Teenagers | Fairy Tales | @EnglishFairyTales
Parental Guidance: Some material of this video may not be suitable for children below 13 years of age.
Parental Guidance: Some material of this video may not be suitable for children below 13 years of age.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00The Weightless Princess
00:15A long, long time ago, there lived a king and queen who longed for a child.
00:22And after years, they were blessed with the most beautiful little princess one has ever
00:28seen.
00:29The entire kingdom erupted in jubilation, and the king himself wrote out the invitations,
00:36inviting everyone he considered important, friends and family, priests and wizards, for
00:43the child's naming ceremony.
00:46But the king forgot one name. A witch, the most powerful of them all, the most evil of
00:53them all.
00:54When the witch heard of the celebrations, she decided to go to the ceremony anyway.
01:02The king was not the least bit surprised to see her there, for he had no idea that he
01:07had forgotten to send her an invitation.
01:11Welcome! Do give a good blessing to my daughter.
01:17Most certainly, your highness. Where is the little angel?
01:27Her mother will bring her soon.
01:30Even though it was clear that the king had meant no harm and had genuinely forgotten
01:36her, the fact made the witch even more furious, and she vowed revenge.
01:42So when the naming ceremony was to begin, and scented water was to be sprayed on the
01:48princess, the witch secretly put a magic powder in the water.
01:54As soon as it was sprinkled on the baby, the baby lost all her weight.
01:59She ceased to be affected by gravity.
02:02The nurse who held her suddenly felt as though the princess was not in her arms, as the princess
02:08had become of zero weight.
02:11What is this? What just happened?
02:16In a fright, the nurse let go of the baby, but the princess did not fall.
02:22She remained hung in the air.
02:25My daughter! What has just happened?
02:30It could only mean that the princess has been bewitched!
02:36They retrieved the child.
02:38But while it may seem to mean nothing at all that someone has no weight, it created so
02:44many problems for the princess and her parents.
02:48One day, as the princess lay in bed, the queen unknowingly opened the window and left.
02:55A gush of wind came into the room, and as it would carry a feather or a grain of sand,
03:01it carried the poor baby out of the room through the window.
03:06The nurse came in and saw that the princess was not there.
03:12Where is the child? The queen may have carried her away.
03:18Where is the princess, nurse? I so want to look at my gorgeous daughter.
03:24Forgive me, your highness, but I thought the princess was with you.
03:28What nonsense! But then, where is she?
03:35And a great search was launched in the palace.
03:40The gardener was raking up leaves from the garden until he heard laughter coming from
03:45under a pile of leaves.
03:51What is that? For goodness sake, it is the princess!
03:59Where is my daughter?
04:02Your highness, the gardener found her under a pile of leaves.
04:07From that day, the king and queen got so scared that they would keep the princess under watch
04:14every moment of the day.
04:16If she were sleeping, her covers were tucked tightly around her bed such that she could
04:22scarcely move.
04:24If she were awake, she would always be in someone's arms.
04:28Once the king tried to fling her in the air and play with her, as strong fathers generally do.
04:35But the princess never came down, and she had to be fetched down with the use of a ladder.
04:41When the princess grew up, she could barely walk for the moment she put her foot down,
04:47even with the slightest force, she would bound into the air.
04:51Hence, she had to be almost carried while walking, and had a train of twenty servants
04:57holding long tassels flowing off her dresses so that she would not fly off.
05:03No weight meant that even the princess's heart could never be heavy, so she could never express sadness.
05:11And all she ever did when she was not talking was to laugh.
05:17And when we cannot be sad ourselves, we cannot understand the sadness of others.
05:23And if we cannot understand the sadness of others, we can neither be kind,
05:28nor can we know what it means to love.
05:31So the princess was rude and unkind.
05:35Child, we are so worried about you.
05:40You look so funny when you say that.
05:44Sweetheart, don't you care about us? Don't you love us even a bit?
05:50What do you mean by caring and loving? I am fine flying around.
05:56You look so funny when you make cranky faces like that.
06:00Now, if you will excuse me, I shall leave.
06:05But the princess was sad, even though her lack of weight never let her feel it.
06:10She hated being weighted upon all the time.
06:14Can't you all leave me alone?
06:19We are sorry, your highness, but we have strict instructions from the king himself to keep an eye on you,
06:26lest a gust of wind carries you with it.
06:30Please, I feel like an animal on a leash. Let go of me.
06:37We are sorry, your highness, but their majesties, the king and queen,
06:42are very worried that you shall be carried off by the breeze and that you might be hurt.
06:48The princess felt like a prisoner. How she longed to be left alone.
06:54There was only one place where she felt alive and free.
06:58The palace overlooked a grand lake. The princess would swim in it every day.
07:04It was only here that there was no danger of the wind carrying her off,
07:09or her stepping too hard so as to bound off flying.
07:13So while she was in the waters of the lake, she could be safely let alone.
07:19As the princess thought of it, she could be set free in the lake.
07:25So she would swim in it every day and night.
07:29Meanwhile, the king and queen were consulting every physician, doctor,
07:35metaphysicist, wizard in the kingdom.
07:39But none could offer them a solution for their poor daughter.
07:43Until one day, their scholars Humdrum and Kopikek came to the king.
07:50Your highness, we may have a solution to the princess's lack of gravity and weight.
07:57Tell me, quick!
07:59Well, as we all know, water seems to cure the princess of her weightlessness,
08:05at least temporarily. That is for as long as she is in the water.
08:10We all know that. So?
08:13If water that flows outside of the princess's body can cure her and delight her heart temporarily,
08:21then water flowing from within her heart might cure her permanently.
08:27I do not understand.
08:30Your majesty, we must get the princess to cry.
08:35That might cure her of her weightlessness.
08:38So, the king announced all over his kingdom that the one who made the princess cry would be rewarded.
08:47So, many men and women did try, but none could make the princess shed even a tear.
09:01That is so funny!
09:04Everyone was fast losing hope of ever making the princess well again.
09:09It so happened that one day, a prince was passing by the forests surrounding the kingdom.
09:15He had heard of the bewitched princess, but he harbored no desire to meet her.
09:20Hence, when night came, instead of seeking shelter in the palace as a guest,
09:26he found a cave in the forest and decided to spend the night there.
09:31As he came out into the forest to gather some dry wood for a fire,
09:36he saw someone bobbing in the lake below, and he thought the person was drowning.
09:41So, he lunged into the water to save her.
09:47Of course, it was the princess, and the moment he held her and felt her weightlessness,
09:53he knew she was the bewitched princess he had never wanted to meet.
09:58But now it was too late, for the moment he had laid eyes on her, he had fallen in love with her.
10:05How dare you lift me out of the lake?
10:08I thought you were drowning.
10:10How ridiculous! Now come on, put me back in.
10:14You are the princess who has no gravity. Have you ever fallen?
10:19I cannot fall. I can only be carried by the wind and made to fly.
10:24Then, why don't you try falling with me?
10:28So saying, the prince dived into the water with the princess in his arms,
10:34and it was indeed the most thrilling experience the princess had ever had.
10:40How was it?
10:42The most marvelous thing I ever knew.
10:46So, the prince and the princess met at the lake every night and swam together.
10:52The princess was unable to love, but the prince loved her so much that he lived to hear her laugh
10:59and to see her swim happily beside him.
11:02He could live thus for the rest of his life, but destiny had other plans.
11:08The witch found out about the princess's love for the lake, and so she cast a spell on the lake to make it dry.
11:16Slowly, little by little, the lake began to die, and with it, so did the princess.
11:26What is going to become of our daughter?
11:31It appears as though the princess's life is tied to that of the lake.
11:36If we don't revive the lake, we shall not be able to revive her, too.
11:43One day, when the lake had almost dried up but for a few deep pools,
11:49two youth found a golden plate below a rock that read thus.
11:55If the lake is to live for the sake of men, it must be allowed to take the life of one man.
12:02But that man must be willing to offer his life willingly.
12:06He must sit on the dry bed of the lake till the water rises up far above his head.
12:14When the king heard of this, he sent a message to every nook and corner of the kingdom.
12:21But no one came forward to give their lives to the lake.
12:25When the prince somehow heard of the king's plea deep in the forest, he proceeded at once to the palace.
12:33Your Highness, I shall offer my life to the lake, but on one condition.
12:39What is it?
12:41I want the princess to be present while I die and to keep me alive till the water rises above my head.
12:50I want her to look at me and feed me biscuits so that I do not die of starvation before the water rises up.
12:58Your condition will be fulfilled.
13:01Perhaps seeing her beloved lake fill up again might make my daughter well, too.
13:08So, the prince sat on the bed of the lake.
13:12The princess was brought in a boat.
13:14She saw the prince, but she did not acknowledge him, for she had neither love nor kindness in her heart.
13:21As the prince sat, the water slowly began to rise.
13:26Soon, it was up to his knees, and when the boat bobbed a little, the princess was delighted.
13:33My boat is floating. The water is rising. My lake is not dying.
13:40We can swim here again.
13:42Prince, let us swim together just as we used to.
13:47There is nothing I want more than to swim again with you, but I cannot,
13:53for I must die so that the lake might live, so that you might live.
13:59For the first time in her life, something tugged at the princess' heart.
14:05She did not want the prince to die, as she saw the water slowly rising.
14:11First, up to the prince's waist, then his chest, then his chin, then his nose as he began gasping.
14:20She could bear it no longer.
14:22She dived into the water and forcibly pulled the prince out.
14:27By the time she had brought him ashore, he had stopped breathing.
14:32The princess panicked, and she cried.
14:36She cried as loud as no one had cried before.
14:40The doctors came and attended to the prince.
14:43The princess demanded that he be put in her chambers.
14:47The princess, having been unwell herself, was taken to the palace as well,
14:52and it was one long, terrible night in the royal home.
14:57The next morning, the princess awoke.
15:01The prince lay still.
15:04She saw him and shed a few tears more.
15:09Oh, brave prince, wake up.
15:12Wake up, please. Please do not die.
15:17As this, the prince opened his eyes and smiled.
15:22Overjoyed, the princess got out of bed, stamped her foot hard in delight,
15:27expecting to fly for joy, but she fell instead.
15:32Ouch!
15:34Princess, you did not fly. You fell!
15:39Yes, I see that.
15:42You have got your gravity back.
15:46There was such rejoicing in the palace that the world had never seen before.
15:52The lake was full to the brim.
15:55The prince was alive and well, and the princess had got her gravity.
16:01She did have to learn to walk.
16:03But before long, all was well with her.
16:06The prince and the princess were in love.
16:09They were married, and swimming and walking and ruling their land together,
16:15and they lived happily ever after.
16:33The End