The Vintner
Part 2
Part 2
Image from Pixabay Images
A year later, the old lady grew ill. She was very old, and there was nothing anyone could do to save her. When she passed, the princess mourned. It saddened her to work where her mother figure had always been, so she set off to find work elsewhere. She walked for miles and miles, and eventually she made it to the next kingdom. Here she found work in their vineyard. The Queen of this kingdom was hesitant to hire such a young vintner, but when she heard where she had worked before she allowed it.
While this version of the princess was not near as pretty as her true form, she still was a beauty. One day Prince Bruno was on a run through the vineyard when he stumbled into Alessandra harvesting grapes. He was amazed by her gentleness and beauty. He introduced himself, and as soon as he looked into her green eyes he knew she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Bruno was an attractive man, dark-headed with a squared jaw. Bruno was known for his good looks. All the women in the village blushed at the sound of his name. His mother loved to brag about his strength and athleticism, but Bruno was humble.
Bruno couldn't stop picturing Alessandra's eyes in his head. He returned each day for a week, pretending to run into her each time. The two would talk for hours. Bruno knew he was falling in love with Alessandra. One day, he asked his mother if Alessandra could join them for dinner. The Queen refused, for her son needed to have higher standards than some vintner girl, and she banned him from seeing her.
Bruno was not going to let his mother keep him from Alessandra, so he still snuck out to the vineyard each day to spend time with her. The Queen discovered this and fired the Princess, banning her from their kingdom. The Prince was heartbroken, along with the Princess who decided to go back to her kingdom for work.
As Alessandra was leaving, the Prince ran out to her and embraced her head in his hands. He kissed her for the first time. As he kissed her, the grape fell out of her mouth and her real form was exposed. Bruno said in astonishment, "Are you the Princess of Arezzo? Your father has been looking for you for years!"
"Yes, but please don't tell anyone, for my father wants to marry me and I can't fathom such a thing!" replied Alessandra.
The Queen saw the whole thing and went over to them. She was amazed by the transformation, and immediately felt terribly for the way she had been treating Alessandra. The Queen asked Alessandra to explain why she had gone to all this trouble to hide her identity. Alessandra started at the beginning and explained the story of her misfortunes. After hearing her story, the Queen praised her for being a virtuous girl. "If you marry my son, then your father will no longer be able to marry you!"
A fabulous wedding was held with wonderful feasting and dancing! The Princess and the Prince lived happily ever after and Alessandra experienced the truth of saying that -
"One who acts well may always expect good."
Author's Note Continued...
In the original story, the daughter fled to the woods as a She-bear. While the daughter was in the woods, she met a prince who was astounded by her gentleness and he took her home. One day, the daughter took out the piece of wood and the prince saw her in her human form and fell in love. The prince's mother did not understand why he loved this bear, and ordered the bear to be killed. However, the servants were also taken with her gentleness and released her into the woods instead. The prince went after the bear, and begged her to become human again for him. The prince became ill and he asked that the bear be brought to his room, and so his mother gave in. The prince became sicker the more he fell in love with the bear. He begged her for a kiss, and she kissed him. As this time the wood came out of her mouth and he held her tight. She begged him not her expose her. He then married her and promised to keep her safe forever.
The original story ends with the same phrase "One who acts well may always expect good," which is the moral of the whole story, for the princess was humble enough to work the rest of her life to stay away from her father, but in the end her hard work paid off.