Iron John(Part 5)

He picked some wildflowers, arranged a bouquet, and headed toward the princess's chamber. As he was climbing the stairs, the gardener encountered him and said, "How can you take these worthless and ordinary flowers to the princess? Quickly go and make a bouquet of the most beautiful and rarest flowers." The boy replied, "No, wildflowers have a stronger fragrance, and she will like them more." 

As soon as he entered the room, the princess said to him, "Take off your hat. It is inappropriate to wear a hat in my presence." The boy replied, "I cannot; I am bald." However, the princess seized his hat and pulled it off. At that moment, his golden hair fell over his shoulders, attracting attention. The boy wanted to flee, but the princess grabbed his arm and poured a handful of gold coins into his hand. He left with the money but didn’t value it and brought it to the gardener, saying, “Give this to your children to play with.”

The next day, the princess called for him again and asked him to bring her a bouquet of wildflowers. When he entered her chamber, she attempted to take off his hat again, but the boy held it firmly with both hands. Once more, the princess gave him a handful of gold coins, but he gave them to the gardener's children instead of keeping them for himself. On the third day, the same situation occurred. The princess was unable to remove his hat, and the boy did not keep the coins for himself.

Some time later, the kingdom fell into war, and the king summoned all the people to defend the realm, not knowing if they could withstand the strong enemy with its vast army. The gardener's apprentice said, "I am grown up now; I want to go to war and I only need a horse." Everyone laughed at him and said, “When we leave, we will put a horse in the stable for you. Go and take it for yourself.”

When everyone set off for war, he went to the stable and took out a horse. The horse was limping and dragging its leg on the ground. Nevertheless, the boy mounted the horse bareback and headed straight for the dark forest. As he reached the edge of the forest, he called out three times, "Iron John!" As a result, all the trees began to shake. Suddenly, the wild man appeared and asked, “What do you want?”