Jeanne

It happened in France in the beginning of the 17th century. There was a family living in Paris. They were neither poor nor wealthy. They had only three servants. The wife's name was Catherine Johns, and the husband's name was Nick Johns. They moved here from the Great Britain.
Their neighbors were originally French: Pierre and Diane Rousseau. They were the descendants of a noble family who had lost its authority and wealth; Pierre's grandmother's cousin was the aunt of the queen's mother. The Rousseau family didn't have any servants.
It was a lovely spring day at the beginning of April. This day became the happiest day in life for both families. Catherine Johns gave birth to a baby girl, and her neighbor Diane Rousseau gave birth to a baby girl too. Both women didn't know about the events at the neighbors' house, and the born girls coincidently were named the same – Jeanne.
A few years passed. Despite the same name, the girls were totally different. Jeanne Johns grew beautiful and bright like the sun, but stupid like a hen. Jeanne Rousseau grew smart and artful like a cat, but ugly like a gobbler. The neighbors were envious towards each other and decided to exchange their kids. It wasn't difficult to do as both girls were still small and had same names. After the exchange both families were satisfied with what they got.
Time was passing by, the parents were glad looking at their children grow. But the girls still hadn't been acquainted with each other; their parents didn't allow them to communicate. They were afraid the girls might remember how they were exchanged if they talk.
But all means are useless, if something is destined to happen. The girls met each other. They even became best friends, spent lots of time together and stood for each other in every situation. Most of all they liked that their names were the same.
Both Jeannes grew. From little girls they turned to young women. But nothing changed about their traits as well as about their friendship.
One day they went to forest together. They played there for long and on the way back they met a gray haired old man. He said, "I am Mortess, the magician. You are different, but have something in common: you both are kind and have never hurt anyone. I'll reward you for that."
Mortess waved his hands, casted a spell and disappeared. Firstly the girls didn't get what changed, but soon they realized it was just one girl instead of two of them. The new Jeanne was a true perfection: she was very smart and very beautiful.
Jeanne felt so happy. She immediately ran home to tell her parents about this adventure. But the neighbors didn't seem to be happy about it. The Johns wanted Jeanne to live with them, and the Rousseaus wanted the girl to be theirs. They fought, but didn't come to a common decision.
Jeanne ran away to forest, met there the magician's son and married him. She became neither Jeanne Johns nor Jeanne Rousseau. She remained simply Jeanne. With her husband Jacques, who also was a magician, she moved to Wonderland, and no one knows if they still live there.

July 26 2015