【日記】Princess （つづき）｜こどもの頃の日記から 27

ウィーンのインターナショナルスクールに通っていた11歳の私が、
作文の宿題で書いた Princess Sumi's Husband という物語のつづき。
自分はヨーロッパの某国の王の娘の中で最年少の 16歳のプリンセスで、
イケメンの騎士に恋をしているという。

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He is walking in the garden now. I want to talk with him.

My father will go to a war soon. So will the knight.
I want to say good bye to him.

"Emerald!" I call his name. He turns his head and looks at me.
He cries in surprise,
"O, Princess! The King doesn't allow us to talk to each other!"

And I say, "Never mind. My father has gone to his Royal Forest for hunting. We can speak as much as we like to."

So we begin to talk. Emerald says, "You know, yesterday, I saw a maid stealing a pie from a cupboard in the kitchen."

I say, "Do you know, everyday my parents kiss each other in a special room!"

We become chatter-boxes. We run about the large garden. We peep inside my parents' "kissing-room." We step on a sleeping cat! We make lots of noise. And when we are hungry, we steal pieces of pie from the cupboard in the kitchen, take some ripe fruits in the King's garden, and drink water from the fountain.

When we are tired, we climb up the stairs of the highest Tower and stand by the window.
Wind blows into the window. It is nice and cool.
My long golden hair goes up and down, so does Emerald's cloak.

Suddenly, Emerald says, "I love you, dear Princess," giving me a red rose.
I faint in happiness and surprise.

At that moment, the King comes back from hunting.
He calls all of his three thousand wives and five thousand children to come to the garden and he goes up the Tower to show his wives and children the wonderful deer which he has shot that day from the Tower because there is no room which is large enough for eight thousand people.

But when he sees one of his knights with his youngest daughter in the Tower, he becomes very angry.
He sends Emerald to the prisoner's room in the Tower,
and calls his servants to carry me to my room.

〔つづく〕

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騎士の名前が「エメラルド」というのは、明らかに
手塚治虫のリボンの騎士「サファイア」の影響だろう。

しかし父親の王に王妃が3000人という発想は
いったいどこから？
玄宗皇帝の後宮じゃあるまいし…
と自分に突っ込んでみて、今、気づいたのだが、
父は古代中国史ものを好んで読んでいたので、
父から玄宗の話をきいていたのかも。

でも、11歳の娘にわざわざそういう話をするかしら？
大人の会話を聴いていて仕入れた知識かもしれない。

見出し画像はノートに書いた作文。万年筆を使っている。
小学生も万年筆で書くのが求められていた学校だった。