My Own Fairy Tales

Raganna

Raganna

          Once upon a time there was a widowed gentleman with his daughter named Anna. Anna was a sweet and kind young girl and her father loved her very much. But they both lived a difficult life. They were a very poor family and could hardly buy food and the clothes they wore were all ragged hand me downs. Whenever someone had old clothes they didn't wear anymore they would give them to Anna and her father like charity. Anna's clothes were the most ragged, her dresses were torn and patched. Anna and her father didn't mind if their clothes were all worn out because what mattered was they actually had something to wear. They never let anything ruin the happiness they had with each other. Their smiles always shone through.

          Both Anna and her father worked and lived at the castle, the father worked in the stables while Anna worked in the kitchen. Because of her ragged dresses she was made fun of by the other servants because their clothes were finer than hers. Every day while Anna was working she heard snickers or murmurs of 'how ugly her dress is' from the other female servants. All of the servants began calling Anna 'Raganna' because they decided it suited her with the ragged dress. So Anna was now called Raganna.

          One day Raganna was walking through the town, when something caught her eyes. An old woman was selling her old dresses on her stall. All, except one, were very beautiful and the beautiful dresses were selling out quickly. The dress, that was not beautiful, was a plain, raggedy, simple dress. It was white at the top and light brown at the bottom with a torn black sash round it. No one wanted it; they all thought it looked terrible. Just then Raganna asked the old woman for the raggedy dress.

          "You sure you want this dress instead of the pretty dresses?" the old woman asked Raganna.

          "I've worn rags my entire life madam" answered Raganna "I don't mind this dress at all".

          So Raganna bought the raggedy dress and took it straight home. Raganna and her father had a room in the castle on the third floor. As soon as she got to her room she changed into her new ragged dress. Sure the dress was raggedy, but Raganna liked the dress and decided to wear it always.

          The next day there was a lot of excitement in the castle, the king and his son the prince were holding a ball that night. The servants were excited because they were allowed to watch the ball. Raganna wanted to watch the ball too, but she couldn't bear going in rags so she decided not to go to the ball. What she decided to do was just concentrate on her work. It took the whole day for all the servants to get everything ready for the ball. The cooks started to make the food for the banquet, the musicians rehearsed their music and the maids and butlers set the dining table and mopped the floor

          That evening everything was ready, the dining table had the best china and silver, the floor was spotless and the musicians were ready to play music. In the kitchen the food was ready and looked delicious. It was time for the ball and all the guests were arriving and the servants started to move towards the ballroom to watch the ball. But Raganna and her father went straight to their room. Raganna's father didn't want to go to the ball either; he was tired and wanted to go to bed early.

          When Raganna and her father reached their room they both got ready for bed. Raganna took off her ragged dress and changed into a night dress.