There was a dense sandalwood forest in the north of this beautiful Asian country. It was so dense that even during the day, the rays of the sun could hardly reach all parts of this forest. Most parts of the forest remained dark, which gave the illusion that it was still night. This was an irony, though, since there was an ancient temple in the middle of the forest that the locals called the "Temple of the Sun." The priest and his wife who lived in the temple were both colorblind. They had no children and were very sad about this.
The darkness of the forest did not bother the residents of that forest, but because of a lack of sunlight, their fruit trees had all dried up. Even the priest’s wife was finding it difficult to arrange food for two of them, as no one visited that temple. Somehow, they were spending their time hoping that, as everyone’s days changed, someday their days would also change. The priest was regular in his daily rituals, as he was a satisfactory type of person who spent all his life taking care of this temple.
One day, a holy monk came and sat with the priest, talking about various godly matters. He asked for food from the priest’s wife. The priest’s wife went to the forest. She brought whatever fruit she got. She treated the monk with whatever she collected from the forest and had in their house. The monk felt very pleased with their behavior and the treatment he received from the couple and said, "Hey dear couple! I am happy with how you both treated me. Tell me if you have any wishes, and I will fulfill one of them. "
The husband and wife said together, "O holy monk, we are both getting old. There is no one to look after us. We wish to have a child. "
The saint granted the boon, "So be it. You will have a girl child in due time. " And the monk left. In due course, the priest’s wife gave birth to a beautiful girl child, and the time passed by.
It was after eighteen years when a clothes merchant arrived in that forest and visited the temple. The priest’s daughter showed the merchant her embroidery work, which the merchant appreciated a lot and bought all her bedsheets. The next morning, the merchant left the forest and reached the nearby town. The merchant saw the king’s palace in the center of the town and sold his newly gained goods to the king’s staff.
Although the merchant had never visited this town before, he felt something strange, and he even wondered why he had never seen this palace before. In fact, it was the magical palace of the local king who knew the art of magic. That king was very greedy. He converted people into animals and kept them in slavery. He was so greedy that he would want to bring everything to his palace. He would ask his soldiers to bring him everything that he liked to have in his possession.
That’s why people call him the "Greedy King." It was a coincidence that the merchant directly reached this palace and met the queen. The queen saw the bedsheets and liked them so much that she bought all of them from the merchant at an exorbitant price. The merchant decided to stay in that town overnight.
When the king and queen slept on the first bedsheet that night, their surprise knew no bounds. They felt a different season as they slept on the bedsheet. It was summer on the Queen’s side, and she was sweating. There was a view of winter on the king’s side, and his teeth started grinding. The king, with magical powers, knew that this was the miracle of the scenes embroidered on the bedsheet.
The next morning, the king ordered him to bring the merchant from whom the queen had bought the bedsheets. The king’s soldiers brought the merchant before the king. The scared merchant stood in front of the king.
The king asked, "From where did you get these bedsheets?"
The merchant said, "There is an ancient temple in the middle of the sandalwood forest. It’s the handiwork of the daughter of a blind priest of the same temple. I just bought it from her. "The magician king was too greedy, so it came to his mind that if her hand embroidery was so beautiful, how beautiful she herself must be! She will be a good queen for me. He ordered the soldiers, "There is a girl in the sandalwood forest temple. She is such a good artist. Go bring that priest’s daughter in our court."
When the soldiers reached that temple, the priest’s daughter, Akin, was serving food to her parents. The soldiers ordered Akin to get ready immediately. The king has invited you to the palace. "
Akin asked, "But why me?"
Just don’t ask questions. Let’s go. "
Akin thought for a while and replied, "I am feeding my parents right now." After this, I have to arrange for their evening meal. Only after doing all this will I walk with you guys. " The soldiers did not listen to her. They brought her based on the king's order.
This story has the quality of a Grimm's fairy tale, @rayt2. Nicely done!
I'm assuming you know this, but just in case you don't ... you can edit a story to meet The Ink Well guidelines and ask us to re-evaluate it. We have unmuted several stories as a result of the author making edits.
We might say that, with this story, you are the Akin of the Ink Well community. You have brought this story to life. You have given depth and personality to your characters. The story reads beautifully. Your imagination takes us on a journey to good and evil. Of course good prevails, as it should in every fairy tale.
Thank you for sharing this well-written story with the Ink Well community. We appreciate your positive presence here, which you demonstrate not only through your writing but also through your support of other authors.
Wow Akin is truly a magical being herself and she embroiders only the beauty of her spirit, even the serpent that killed the greedy king wasn't intentionally created by Akin, but by the king's karmic fate.
Loved it!
I aspire to be as beautiful and pure as Akin.
Thank you @rayt2 and I agree, but unfortunately not all people are as naturally beautiful as her...
Fascinating tale. It is well told and conveys a clear message. The wicked king got what he deserved and the girl became a queen that empbroiders beauty. I'm sure the parent were also happy with this, so their kindness paid off.
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