The Curse
Isabelle Demaneuf, Group 3: Fiction, French International School Sec. Hong Kong
nce upon a time, eras ago, nestled in the mountains of China near the Great Wall, was a beautiful
crystal palace. It is no longer exists, but it was magnificent. Everything was made out of solid crystal,
and yet it did not break. Inside this palace lived the most wonderful little princess …
HOLD ON A MINUTE! Let’s not get too soppy here. Are you associating the words
‘
wonderful’ and ‘little’ with this princess? Ha, ha! Let’s not get mixed up with the wrong lady! This
certain princess was far from wonderful and little. Her name was Jia Li Mei. She was certainly beautiful, oh, yes
she was. Princess Jia Li Mei had the most glorious mane of black, shiny glossy hair. Her eyes were jade green
and flickered with malice. Her smile was as radiant as the sun (a cliché simile, I know, but you get the picture).
Her cheeks were rosy and she was tall and slender. Her ancestry was rich, and Jia Li Mei could be proud of the
fact that her ancestresses were mostly Indian princesses and Egyptian queens and that her ancestors were
Chinese emperors and even English kings. Jia Li would often strut about and compliment herself and brag to
other people about her family history.
Nobody could stand her, not even her parents or her betrothed! Only the nanny put up with Jia Li’s
extravagance, vanity and short temper. This nanny was called Cho Hee and she was Korean. Cho Hee was a
very uncomplaining, stout woman with a warm smile but a strict temperament. Whenever Jia Li disobeyed, Cho
Hee gave the princess a stinging slap on her hand and marched her off to her room. Cho Hee used discipline to
control the childish princess, who never acted her age, even though she was eighteen years old. Cho Lee was
very efficient and had worked for many royal families, so she was experienced.
The kingdom that Jia Li would soon inherit was vast. The Royal Army was powerful and guarded the
kingdom well. Wars were rare, and when there was one, it was short and not many soldiers were killed.
However, many people lived in poverty because of the royal family’s excesses. Taxes were high but somehow
the people never complained. They loved their monarch as much as they loved their children…which was A
LOT. The royal family did care about their people and often visited them, offering fruits, food and bread (which
were, in reality, leftovers from the king’s table). The people, in return, worked hard and gave as much money as
they could to the taxmen.
Jia Li couldn’t have cared less about her people. She held them in low esteem, considering them worse
than the lowest worm. The nasty princess cared more about her appearance than the people.
One cold winter’s day, an old woman staggered up to the crystal palace. She had walked five hours just
to find shelter from the wind and snow and her legs were starting to buckle beneath her. The old woman
collapsed on the steps just as a servant was opening the door. The servant took pity of the elderly woman and
helped her get up. The old woman was then led into the palace and a warm blanket was wrapped around her
shoulders.
Jia Li stopped reading her book and stood up. “Who are you, old crone?” She demanded angrily. The
servant straightened up and looked at her in the eye. “Princess, this aged …. ‘crone’ was found on the doorsteps,
shivering in the cold and frost. Please, could you take pity on her and shelter her till the end of winter?” Jia Li
smirked and tapped a finger against her bottom lip. “Hmm…let me think about it. How about… NO!” The
selfish princess yelled. “LET HER BE THROWN INTO THE DEEPEST, DARKEST DUNGEON!”
The old woman glared at Jia Li and pointed a crooked, wrinkled finger at the princess. “I shall show
you no respect, princess, for you have not done anything to deserve it. I shall curse you to eternal life, and
eternal age, so that you will wander the Earth as an elderly woman, receiving no kindness and no forgiveness for
as long as this world lasts. You have underestimated my power, and for that you shall be punished. You shall
remain in this curse until the end of the world!”
Princess Jia Li was terribly frightened, but did not tell anyone about the curse for she was afraid of
people telling her “I told you so” and such remarks. So this miserable princess remained unhappy as the years
rolled past, and each year she aged and aged. Eventually she was alone, for she was immortal and her family and
husband weren’t.
Meanwhile, a young man took pity on her. He had heard the story from his grandmother and that the
only way to break this curse was to pluck the flower of Youth from the Garden Of Heaven. The young man,
whose name was Chen Mengyao, saddled up his horse and galloped all the way to the Sacred Well, where he
made some offerings to the gods. A ladder materialized, and Chen scrambled up. He then found himself in a
magnificent garden, filled with lilies and roses and lotus blossoms.
O