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''Book of a Thousand Days'' is a 2007 young adult fantasy novel by Shannon Hale. It is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Maid Maleen. ==Plot summary== When Dashti, a mucker from the steppes of Titor's Garden, seeks to find a job after her mother died due to illness, she eventually finds one in one of the 8 Realms. It's to become Lady Saren's maid, she enters into a struggle between Saren and her father. The Lord of Titor's Garden has declared that his daughter will marry Lord Khasar of Thoughts of Under, when Saren reveals that she has betrothed herself to the young Khan Tegus of Song for Evela. To tame his daughter, Saren's father shuts her and Dashti, the only maid willing to accompany Saren, in a tower far away from his city. He claims he will only release them after seven years, or if Saren will relent and marry Khasar. Saren and Dashti are visited by Khan Tegus while they are in the tower. Saren starts to show signs of schizophrenia, and, as a result, demands Dashti to play the part of the lady. Because Tegus cannot see into the tower, Dashti plays Saren's role and forms a friendship with Tegus. He visits them several times. Lord Khasar, from Thoughts of Under, also visits the girls. He is angry, like Saren's father, and goes so far as playing dangerous pranks on the girls. Dashti is given a gift by the Khan Tegus, a cat she names My Lord. The girls begin to grow weary in the tower and food supplies dwindle. When My Lord, the cat, goes missing after a night full of wolf howls, there is an infestation of rats in the basement. The guards, who are supposed to be watching the tower, don't respond to the girls' cries. Dashti uses an old knife to carve a hole to freedom. Once out, they travel together to find Khan Tegus at Song of Evela. Throughout all of this, Lady Saren's conditions do not improve and Dashti must sing healing songs to calm and soothe her, just as she did in the tower. They find a yak and Dashti gives this yak to a woman who works at the home of Khan Tegus. Saren and Dashti take up jobs as scrubbers, but Saren won't reveal her true identity to the Khan. It is revealed that Dashti can sing songs of healing, and she is hired to take care of and heal the Khan Tegus. While the girls were locked in the tower, Lord Khasar destroyed Lady Saren's home and is waging war on Khan Tegus. Now that Dashti and Saren are at Khan Tegus's home, and with Dashti so close to Tegus, Tegus begins to suspect Dashti. At Saren's request, Dashti poses as Lady Saren. She sacrifices herself to Lord Khasar but, through her gift, is able to reveal Lord Khasar's true character. He is actually a skin-changer, a wolf. Lord Khasar's army, upon seeing his true character, turn against him and he is killed. When Dashti returns to the palace, it is revealed that she is a mucker, not Lady Saren. Through the persuasion and evidence shown by Tegus and Saren, Dashti is saved and marries Khan Tegus. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Book of a Thousand Days」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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