Christmas fairytale: The Story of Princess Sofia

Ewa Twardzicka writes: In honour of our grandmother, Jadwiga Twardzicka, who captivated us with the story of 'Królewna Zosia'… Let me tell you the story of Princess Sofia:

Once upon a time, in a far off land, there lived a princess, who was the only, and therefore much loved, child of her father, the king. Now he was a most noble and just ruler, a God-fearing man of integrity and honour. Every Sunday he would insist that his daughter accompany him to Mass. But one Sunday, when the princess did not come down from her rooms on time, the king began to grow impatient waiting for her and went up himself to her rooms. He knocked on the door and called out: "Sofia, what's up? Why are you not ready to come to Mass?"

And a timid voice replied through the door:

"It's because I don't feel very well, papa. I'm tired and I have a headache. Besides," she added, "I have nothing to wear" - whereupon the king burst out:

"What do you mean, you have nothing to wear? You have a wardrobe full of the finest dresses in the kingdom!" And he stormed into the room, marched across to the wardrobe and flung open the doors. But it was true! All the dresses hung up in a row had brownish stains on the back, as if they had been burnt under an iron - and, what was even stranger, was that all the matching satin slippers were also stained on the toes. What a mysterious business it was, to be sure! Well, there was nothing for it; the king had no choice but to go to Mass alone, without his daughter. But he swore that by next Sunday, the royal dressmakers would have created a whole new and magnificent wardrobe for her.

But the following Sunday exactly the same thing happened. The princess did not appear, and gave the same excuses: a headache, tiredness, and nothing to wear; and, yet again, the entire wardrobe was ruined. This time the king was livid with fury and swore that he would get to the bottom of this most vexing mystery. He posted one of his own royal guardsmen to keep watch all night outside the door of her wing of the palace, to discover once and for all what was happening to the princess and her wardrobe between Saturday night and Sunday morning…

But the princess was clever. And when she opened her door a few hours after nightfall, with a smile so sweet, and offered him a little drink of something to help pass the time on his long watch, of course the young soldier could not refuse… The next morning, when he finally woke up from such deep slumber to discover to his horror that exactly the same had happened to the princess's wardrobe, and that he had done nothing to prevent it, he didn't dare admit to the furious king that he had slept through the entire night. He simply said that he had seen no-one enter or leave by that door. The king, by now incandescent with rage, threw him out of the castle and sent for his oldest, wisest and most trusted soldier…

The latter, wishing to prepare himself well before his night watch, went first of all to question the young soldier. And when he heard the part about the little drink, he knew precisely what to do. Thus, the following Saturday, when the princess opened her door and offered him in the sweetest voice a little something to help pass the time, the wily old fox did not hesitate to accept enthusiastically. And, just as he suspected, he spied her through the chink in the door go to prepare his cocktail and, even though she had her back to him, he could have sworn that she sprinkled something, like a powder from a sachet, into his glass. So, when she watched intently as he knocked back the whole glass, he was very careful to pour all of it into the little bag sown behind his false beard, just as he had practised countless times in the preceding week. And, after fifteen minutes or so, he pretended to fall fast asleep and began to snore loudly and very convincingly indeed…

Sure enough, all too soon he heard the princess take things out of her wardrobe and pack them hurriedly into two large suitcases, then slip past him as quietly as she could, down the stone staircase of the tower. A few moments later, he sprang to his feet and followed her down the stairs and out of the castle. There in front was waiting a carriage - oh, but what a carriage! All painted black, encrusted with gold and rubies, and pulled by four magnificent horses, as black as the night… No sooner had he seen the princess get into the carriage, than the guardsman crept up to it and jumped up onto the platform at the back. He grabbed hold of the bar on one corner as tightly as he could and, at the crack of a whip, they were off, galloping into the darkness. The old soldier soon lost his bearings completely. All he knew was that they were galloping through unfamiliar and interminable woods, further and further away from the royal palace. Everything - the carriage, the horses and the impenetrable woods on both sides of the carriageway - seemed so sinister to him that he felt the urge to make the sign of the cross. And the very next moment, the horses brought the carriage to a thundering halt and reared up like wild things, neighing and panting steam through their nostrils. The soldier hardly dared breathe. But, after a few agonizing moments, he heard the driver spit out some diabolic order at the horses and crack his whip and they set off galloping again.

At last he saw some lights twinkling in the distance and he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that there, finally, would be civilization; perhaps there he would at last get to the bottom of this infernal mystery and, with any luck, be able to seek help and, if necessary, reinforcements. But it was not to be so. As they drew nearer to the lights, the soldier realized with a shudder that these were not the lights of a town or village; it was the trees themselves that were sparkling.

"May God preserve me!" he muttered under his breath. But again, the horses began to frisk about and neigh in such a way as to freeze the blood. And worse still, the thought suddenly struck him, that even if he were to return alive from this nightmarish adventure, who would believe this story of his? Straightaway, our hero gathered his wits, thought fast, then leant to one side of the carriage, holding on to the corner bar with one hand and reaching out with the other to grab at one of the enchanted trees. Luckily he managed to break off a silver branch and stuffed it quickly inside his jacket.

And not a moment too soon - for, a few seconds later, the whole colour of the iridescent forest had changed: now it glowed with a rich amber hue. And when our trusty hero leant out and snapped off a second twig, he saw that it was indeed of gold. And just as he was thinking to himself that never in his life had he seen anything more beautiful, they entered a wood that shone even more brilliantly than the two before. Sure enough, the twig that he broke off and hid inside his jacket was studded with tiny diamonds…

He had acted not a moment too soon, for just then they finally came to the end of the enchanted forests. The horses slowed down to a trot and pulled up in front of a forbidding castle of black stone, through the lit windows of which there came the bewitching sound of music. The soldier watched the princess get down from the carriage and go up the steps to the castle, where she was warmly greeted by a group of impeccably dressed men, who bowed to her and led her by the hand inside, followed by some footmen carrying her suitcases. Was it his imagination, or did each one of these men have two small bumps on their heads, beneath the curls of their wigs? And were his eyes deceiving him, or was there something that resembled a black tail flicking beneath their frock coats?

He crept stealthily up to a corner window of the castle, climbed up onto a buttress and peeked inside. There, an incredible sight greeted his eyes: a sumptuous, dazzling ballroom, with hundreds of couples whirling and swirling round to the music beneath the chandeliers, and the princess in the midst of them all, beaming and dancing as if bewitched, her eyes sparkling, and one partner after another inviting her to dance. But, after a set of three or so dances with one of them, she would excuse herself and run off to a room on the side, then reappear a few minutes later in a new dress, with satin slippers to match. Because, of course, there where the men - or whatever they were- had placed their hands on her back to embrace as they danced, or there where they had accidentally stepped on her toes, they had left the telltale marks of burning…

* * * * *

They had one week to prepare. The king at first could scarcely believe his ears, but was eventually convinced of the veracity of the soldier's tale by the sprigs of silver, gold and diamond. When he had finally calmed down, he set about devising a plan to finish with this most sinister threat to the wellbeing and virtue of his family once and for all.

The following Saturday, as soon as the princess had bid everyone goodnight and gone up to her rooms to bed, a group of soldiers left the castle and walked a certain distance along the carriageway, armed with pickaxes and shovels. Then, at the chosen spot, under cover of night, they began to dig. They carried on digging until they had dug a huge trench right across the whole carriageway. Then they lined it and filled it with water. Next, the priests from the royal chapel came and walked round and round the pit, muttering prayers and invocations, and sprinkling it all with holy water. And to finish, the soldiers lay a tarpaulin over the pit from one side to the other and covered it with a mesh of pine branches as camouflage. Then they withdrew into the woods on either side of the avenue to wait…

Only the king went back to the castle and, with heavy heart but resolute, went up to his daughter's rooms. He knocked on the door and ordered her to put on a cape and come with him.

"But where are we going, papa?" she asked, yawning.

"To the woods", came the curt reply. The princess dreaded to think what was going to happen, while she struggled to keep pace with her father, who was marching resolutely towards the woods, where the soldiers and priests were waiting in the darkness.

Just before midnight, they heard the sound of a carriage and galloping horses approaching. A few yards ahead of the pit, the horses tried to brake, but it was too late. Their hooves tore through the mesh of branches and the tarpaulin and plunged into the water, dragging the carriage behind them, with the driver and a lackey sat up front and God only knows how many demons inside. And as they sank down into the holy water, there was a great sizzling sound and a cloud of noxious black smoke arose. All that was left of the whole demonic crew were a few ashes that rose to the surface and stayed floating there…

The princess, who had been a horrified witness to this most sinister spectacle, threw herself at her father's feet, stricken with remorse and begging his forgiveness. Finally her eyes had been opened and she understood how narrowly her soul had escaped the clutches of the Devil. Of course the king, seeing the sincerity of her tears, forgave her. And so father and daughter were reunited, and continued happily along the path of righteousness and love till the end of their days…