Charlotte the shepherd

Once upon a time there was a pretty girl. She and her pets lived in a small house in a dark forest. Not far from her a nasty witch lived in a beautiful castle. The witch had a mirror which everyday told her how pretty she was.

One fresh Spring morning the witch again asked who was the most beautiful in the land and nearly fainted when she heard the mirror’s answer: “There is a pretty young girl in a dark forest who is prettier than you!”

The witch was furious. She then decided to start looking for the girl.

Early one morning she called the captain of her army. She decided that he had to get on his horse and search for the pretty girl in the nearby forest.

Two days later he finds a group of lovely little sheep with the most beautiful shepherd. He asks her name and she answers: “Charlotte, shepherd of prince William.” He hurried back to the castle to tell the witch. She is immediately furious and unhappy. She decides to deal with this temptress on her own.

She casts a magic spell when she sees the girl. She didn’t know that the girl received a spell when she was born which would protect her forever against any danger.

She calls her and gives her an exquisite woven woolen blanket. The hair of this blanket was dipped in poison which would kill her instantly.

To her utter astonishment Charlotte wrapped the blanket around her and thanked the nasty witch from the depth of her heart.

The next day she comes in another form: now she is the loveliest, shiniest black bay horse. She neighs and kicks with her legs into the air. Charlotte, who is an animal lover, can’t resist the temptation to ride on this high-spirited horse. She gets onto the horse’s back and rides a little way. The horse ruthlessly throws her off.

Charlotte again stands up, dusts her clothes and lovingly strokes the horse!

This went on for many days. Eventually she lures Charlotte into the mountains, but now the tables are turned! While Charlotte is picking flowers and smelling them, the nasty witch flitters as a butterfly among the flowers. She thought if Charlotte moves nearer to the cliff, she will plunge into the depths!

Unfortunately for the nasty witch she doesn’t know that a huge, fat, green bullfrog is sitting in a small puddle between the flowers. When she again flies past Charlotte and tries her utmost to destroy her, a long, sticky, slimy tongue shoots out and catches the brightly coloured butterfly!

It suddenly feels as if the sun is shining brighter, the air is clearer and the birds are chirpier! Charlotte’s clothes change and around her appear many horsemen who take her back to the palace. There she discovers that the nasty witch hid her from her parents when she was a baby. This caused both her parents to die broken-hearted.

With this spell, which is now broken, she is brought back home to reign over this wonderful kingdom for many years to come.