The Great Little Queen | Story | English Story | Fairy Tales in English | Stories for Teenagers | Fairy Tales | @EnglishFairyTales
Parental Guidance: Some material of this video may not be suitable for children below 13 years of age.
Parental Guidance: Some material of this video may not be suitable for children below 13 years of age.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Once upon a time, in a great kingdom called Caspia, darkness fell upon the royal family
00:15as the king and the queen passed away, leaving behind their ten-year-old daughter, Sophia,
00:23as the only heir to the throne.
00:28Caspia was now in a state of gloom, unsure as to what its fate would be, and the evil
00:35Prime Minister Zahran, Zafar, knew it very well.
00:41We will crown the little girl, and when the people of the kingdom will see what a pathetic
00:47ruler she is, I will convince them that for the greater good of Caspia, I take control.
00:59And so, on the night of the full moon, Sophia was crowned as the Queen of Caspia.
01:07Horns were blown and drums were played as the little queen sat on the throne, scared
01:12and anxious, along with the sadness of the fresh wounds of her parents' death.
01:20Zahran saw fear in her eyes and grinned with satisfaction.
01:26My queen, I bow down to you and pledge my support and loyalty to you until my last breath.
01:35Can... can I go to my chamber now, if that is all right?
01:40Oh, absolutely, your highness.
01:42Nurse, please usher the queen to her chamber and make sure she has everything that she needs.
01:51Zahran's plan was coming through quite well, and as he had expected, Sophia, being a little
01:57child that she was, stayed away from the matters of the kingdom.
02:02She would spend most of her time with the nurse as she found comfort in her company.
02:11Triples the taxes!
02:12Tell them it's the queen's order, and failure to obey her command will lead to capital punishment!
02:19And that was done.
02:23A fog of devilry sheathed upon Caspia.
02:27People were tortured and punished for the smallest of crimes, and freedom of speech
02:33was a thing of the past, all in the name of the queen.
02:38But the queen, unbeknownst to all of this, lived in oblivion, as her people suffered
02:46outside the walls of her palace.
02:49But one day, something happened.
02:53While chasing after her little kitten, she reached the courtroom where she saw a man
02:58in chains knelt down in front of Zahran.
03:02Oh, what is going on?
03:05Ah, your highness, nothing important to stress your nerves.
03:10This man has committed blasphemy, spoken ill of you, and we are taking care of it.
03:17Yes, my queen, he is to be hanged till death.
03:22I see.
03:24What is your name, sir?
03:28Philip.
03:29Philip?
03:30What have I done to deserve you speaking ill of me?
03:35Don't you see we are not happy under your rule?
03:38My wife and daughter are starving because I cannot bring food to the table.
03:43And how could we?
03:45Whatever we earn, you take it away as taxes.
03:48Enough!
03:49I will have your head.
03:51Zahran!
03:53You are free to go, Philip.
03:55Zahran, please see to it that he is given ample amount of stock of food for his family.
04:00But...
04:01I want it to be done.
04:03Yes.
04:04Yes, my queen.
04:07Astounded, Philip was set free.
04:10Zahran watched him walk out of the courtroom and clutched his teeth.
04:15What taxes was he talking about?
04:18Oh, nothing, your highness.
04:20Taxes as usual that every citizen has to pay.
04:24Sophia nodded and standing up, left from the courtroom.
04:29This was close.
04:31I must do something immediately.
04:35That evening, he left the kingdom on his horse without informing anyone.
04:41Meanwhile, Sophia could only think about the troubled face of Philip
04:46and the chains in which he was tied up.
04:49She felt distraught.
04:52What is it, my queen?
04:54You look troubled.
04:57Sophia told her everything and the nurse looked down.
05:02Do you think, as a queen, I should not get emotional?
05:07As a queen, your highness, your first and foremost duty is to keep your subjects happy.
05:14I say, you did a great job today, but that is the tip of the iceberg.
05:20What do you mean?
05:23And so, the nurse told Sophia all that was going on in the kingdom after her parents' death.
05:31The little queen was shocked as tears rolled out of her eyes.
05:36I know it's tough for someone your age to take up all the responsibility,
05:41but only you can save the kingdom now.
05:46The following morning, Sophia and her nurse, disguised as common people,
05:52stepped outside the kingdom and went to the marketplace.
05:57Fifty whips if you do not produce the tax right now.
06:02But I don't have the money. My crops were damaged.
06:07I don't care.
06:10Wait, you cannot punish him like that. You have to take him to the queen.
06:15Go away, you little girl, else I will not think twice before...
06:20Before?
06:22Queen?
06:25Not only are you collecting taxes in my name, you also have the audacity to punish my people. Soldier!
06:44Do to him what he said he was going to do to you.
06:47But...
06:48Do it!
06:50No, we are not heartless like these men. We are common people.
06:55We only want a simple and happy life. Violence is not our thing.
07:02Do you see the difference? Are you ashamed now?
07:06The same people you torture refuse to be unkind towards you.
07:12I'm sorry, your highness.
07:16All new tax reforms are hereby declared to be null and void.
07:23Taxes will be collected from those who can pay, for those whose income are bare minimum.
07:30They will be exempted from all taxes.
07:34And what about us who paid the triple tax? We have nothing left.
07:41The whole ministry is... corrupted. But justice will be done.
07:47Philip, you are hereby appointed as my advisor and finance minister.
07:54If you shall be willing to take up the positions.
07:58I... I will be honored, queen.
08:01Sophia and Philip went back to the palace where she called for the king.
08:07Sophia and Philip went back to the palace where she called for the treasurer
08:11and discussed with him at length about the collection of the taxes.
08:16She found out that most of the taxes collected did not make it to the royal treasury
08:23but instead were kept by the ministers.
08:27Philip, find out who these ministers are and bring them to me.
08:33It didn't take Philip much time as some of his soldier friends told him everything.
08:40All the corrupted ministers were called to the town square
08:44where they were humiliated in public and banished from the kingdom.
08:51Next, Sophia summoned for Zafar.
08:56But the latter was nowhere to be found.
09:00Without waiting for him, the little queen ordered all the prisoners who were jailed unjustly to be released.
09:10In the next few days to come, Sophia brought multiple reforms into the kingdom
09:16and was hailed as the great little queen.
09:22But just as things began to come back to normal,
09:26in Caspia, the neighboring kingdom, twice the size of Caspia, marched towards it to attack.
09:35And the person who assisted their king was Zafar.
09:40He had gone there to pursue the king to attack Caspia,
09:44convincing him that the time was right since the queen was small and inexperienced.
09:53My queen, Stopia has attacked us and it's Zafar who is assisting them.
09:59That's why he wasn't there all these days?
10:02Yes, and with him there are these other corrupt ministers whom you had banished.
10:08Hmm, what should we do, Philip?
10:11Leave it to me.
10:13Philip had gathered all the people of the kingdom at the town square.
10:19Our kingdom is under threat. Our queen is under threat.
10:23Their army is twice the size of ours, but we can still win.
10:29How?
10:31By all of us participating. Will you take the battlefield for the queen?
10:37Yes!
10:39Will you fight for the glory of her crown?
10:43She has fought for our lives. We will fight for her till the last breath.
10:48I say yes!
10:50Yes! Yes! Yes!
10:54All hail the queen!
10:56All hail the queen!
11:01As the army of Stopia approached Caspia,
11:04they were suddenly taken back by men and women with spears and swords,
11:09coming out from behind the trees and charging towards them from the sides.
11:14And as they did, they shouted,
11:17Thank you, Zafar, for helping us trap the Stopian king!
11:22Thank you, Zafar, for trapping him!
11:25Huh? What?
11:28And at that moment, from the front came the army of Caspia,
11:33marching forward with elephants and horses.
11:38Zafar, you tricked us!
11:41No, no, no, your highness!
11:45You will pay for it, Zafar! Army, fall back! Retreat!
11:51The Stopian army fled, leaving behind Zafar,
11:55who now neither belonged to Caspia nor Stopia, ran for his life too.
12:02But as he ran a little, he saw Sophia on her horse, waiting for him.
12:09One can only run so much!
12:13I am sorry, your majesty. Please forgive me.
12:19And for the first time since her parents' death,
12:23Sophia spoke like an authoritative queen.
12:29Not everyone deserves forgiveness, Zafar.
12:33Some deserve karma. Guards, take him and lock him in the dungeons!
12:40No, no, no!
12:45And thus, Sophia came to be known as the great little queen,
12:52and under her, the kingdom flourished even more than before,
12:57teaching us that one should never underestimate someone
13:01because of their inexperience and age.