Outline.
Long ago --- a
young prince who wanted --- Best wife --- Whom he could trust --- hold a match
--- flower seed --- become my bride --- huge celebration --- carrying a clay
pot --- choose his wife --- exchanged my seed --- the girl was honest --- got
married --- whole village celebrated all night ---
The Story.
Long ago, there
was a young prince who wanted to find his best wife. The prince wanted to marry
a beautiful girl. But above all, he wanted to marry an honest girl whom he
could trust. One day, the prince decided how to choose the right wife. "I
will hold a match, and all the girls in the village can participate," he
declared. And the girls of the village gathered to hear the prince's speech.
They were all very beautiful, and ardently desired to marry the handsome
prince. 'I know how to choose my wife from you,' declared the prince. 'I will
give each of you a flower seed, and the girl who will plant the biggest and
most beautiful flower will become my bride.' Each girl took a seed and promised
to return the following month for a festival at which the prince would choose
his bride. The festival will be a huge celebration, and the whole village will
attend so that they know who will become the Prince's bride.
The month passed quickly, and soon the day of the festival came. Food was plentiful, music was pleasant, celebrations and predictions abounded among the villagers. Each girl arrived in turn, and each carried her flower
in a small clay vase, and each flower was more beautiful and smelled more beautiful than the last. But a shy and quiet girl from the village arrived carrying a clay pot containing nothing but dirt. In the middle of the pot, the seed was alone without a flower. The girls with beautiful flowers said to her: "Why did you come even though you did not sow a flower from your seed?" The villagers mocked and mocked her for not being able to grow a simple flower while the other girls succeeded. They asked her: "How did you not succeed in growing a flower from your seed?" Then all the villagers suddenly fell silent.
The prince has
arrived, and it is time for him to choose his wife. The prince looked at all
the flowers and admired their beauty. And each girl was convinced that the
prince chose her to become his bride. But when the prince stood before the girl
carrying a vessel containing nothing but the seed, he surprised her and said,
"You will be my bride." The villagers were very surprised, but the
prince said to them, "I choose this girl because all the seeds I gave you
were sterile. I boiled them with water so that no flowers would grow from them.
Surely the other girls exchanged my seed for another so that you could grow
these flowers and deceive me, but this the girl was honest, so I choose her to
be my bride." So the young prince and the young girl got married on the
same day, and the whole village celebrated all night, and they ate and drink to
the marriage of the prince and his honest bride.