Once upon a time, there was a girl called Folasade. She lives with her mother, and her stepfather whose name was Yomi,. Yomi was a lazy and wicked man who disliked children, especially little girls. Whenever Folasade's mother went to the market or was at the farm, slhe would treat Folasade very unkindly. He would often find a reason to shout at her as well as beat her.
Once, he lost some money and accused Folasade of stealing it. When the poor girl denied taking his money, he flogged her so hard that should could hardly walk.
Folasade was very unhappy but she could not tell her mother for fear of more beatings from her stepfather. Instead, she would leave the house after completing her house work and go to the nearby bush.
Folasade was very good with plants, she knew which particular flower, leaf, grass, and root could be used to make different types of medicine which could cure different illnesses or diseases. Anyone cured from her medicine would beg her to accept a piece of gold for her kindness, but being a kind girl, she always refused.
A year later, Folasade's mother died. After she was buried, Yomi sent Folasade out of the house. She begged and begged him but he chased her away with a stick. Folasade ran for her life, but she stopped for a minute and shouted at him saying: "I'm going, but remember this... One day you will ask me for help. Then, we shall see if I'll be ready to listen to you".
People soon noticed that Folasade was missing. When Yomi was asked, lied that she had run away. Nobody believed him, but after a long time, Folasade was forgotten.
Soon, the king of the village died and the prince, whose name was Adedeji, was installed as king. Adedeji was a good and wise man like his father and people respected him very much. But suddenly, the young king fell ill. He was so ill that he could not even get out of bed. Many traditional doctors were called but their medicines did not work. He got worse and worse and the whole kingdom got more and more worried.
One day, a thin but very pretty young lady holding a covered Calabash arrived at the palace and asked to see the king. The king's chief adviser came out. "Who are you, my child?" He asked her.
Instead of answering his question, the lady raised the object in her hands. Please, I brought some medicine to cure the king of his illness. Please let me give it to him.
At first, the old man refused. But after consulting with other advisers, the lady was given permission to enter the room, accompanied by four guards. She woke the king up , and made him drink some of the medicine. Afterwards, the king was weakly fell asleep again.
When the king woke up at sunset, he did not feel as weak as before. Two days later, to everyone's surprise, he was completely well again. But he was not happy when he was told by his chiefs that a young lady had brought the medicine that cured him, but they had not asked for her name or where she lived.
"Why did you let her go without these information?" He asked angrily. " Go and find her and bring her here!"
The king's soldiers searched all the villages and town around but they could not find the lady. This made the king Adedeji very sad because he wanted to do more thank the woman;he wanted to marry her.
Some weeks later, the king and some soldiers went hunting in the forest. Towards sunset, on their way back to the village, they noticed a small but made out of tree branches and leaves. Riding nearer, they saw someone coming out of the hut. It was a young lady. She was holding a pot. One of the soldiers pointed at her and shouted excitedly, " that is the lady who brought the medicine to the palace!"
Overwhelmed with joy, the king climbed down from his horse and went to the strange lady, who knelt down before him.
"What is your name?" He asked kindly.
"Folasade, your Majesty", was the shy answer.
" Folasade", he said holding our his hands. " I have been looking for you to thank you for saving my life. I want to ask you now to be my wife. Will you marry me?" Folasade happily agreed.
After she became queen, Folasade was more hard-working at medicine making.
One day, Folasade went to the sick man's house, followed by two maids and four guards. She immediately knew who the old man was. It was her stepfather! When he recognized her, he remembered the wicked things he had done to her and trembled with fear. He was too weak to ask her for forgiveness and he was afraid she would leave him to die. But what did Folasade do?
She asked one of the maids to cook some food and another to boil the plants she had brought. After the old man had eaten, Folasade gave him the medicine to drink. When he got better, she gave him a servant to look after him and visited him often. The was very proud of his wife for forgiving her stepfather so easily and lived happily with her for many years.
THE END
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