Long ago there was a king who had three sons. The king also had a niece who was very beautiful. The niece was distinctly related to the king.
But because the niece's father had died early the king brought up the niece in his own palace.
She was so breathtakingly beautiful that all the three sons of the king fell in love with her.
The king had originally intended to marry the girl to the royals of the neighbouring countries. But now that all his three sons loved the same girl he realized that he would have to choose among his own sons and decide who among them was the best to marry the beautiful girl.
So the king devised a simple plan.
He gave the three princes a simple task.
The three princes were to go to the world for the next one year and get some rare and unique time and come back to the kingdom at the end of the year.
The prince who had the most unique item would marry the beautiful girl.
The three princes together set out for their tasks.
They traveled together until they reached a particular caravan. There the path was divided into three.
The three princes decided to take one path each and to find something and bring back.
They decided that the Prince who came first would have to wait for the other two and the three of them would go to their palace together.
The first prince traveled to a small village where a busy market was going on.
There was however one vendor who wanted to sell a carpet for 40,000 gold coins.
The first Prince was surprised and went to the vendor.
After talking with the vendor the first Prince realized that the carpet was not an ordinary one. The carpet could take a person from the present place to any place that the owner of the carpet desired, in a matter of seconds.
The first Prince was very happy.
He realized that this was a unique item and he was convinced that his brothers could not get anything more unique than this.
The first prince was in half the mind to take the carpet and go back to his own kingdom.
However he remembered the deal between the three of them and he decided to spend some more time in this village before he went back to the caravan where the other two brothers would come.
The second prince went to another busy market in another village.
There, the second Prince found a particular vendor who was about to sell an ivory tube with mirrors on both sides for 40000 gold coins. Obviously this was not an ordinary ivory tube. The owner could look into the mirror and see anyone that they desired or see anything that they wanted, distance notwithstanding, as they were in the present time.
In order to test the Looking Glass the second prince put it close to his eyes and he could easily see the beautiful girl back in his kingdom.
She was very happy with her friends in her chamber.
The second prince was satisfied that the tube worked and he happily paid the vendor the amount he had asked for.
The second Prince was convinced that what he had was the most unique item ever.
The third Prince went to another busy market where a man was selling an apple for a very heavy price. Naturally the apple was not an ordinary one but it could cure anyone who smelt it from any disease or injury before death.
The prince saw the effects of the apple on a man lying on a deathbed.
The man who was selling it said that the apple had been created by a sage. The sage had apparently saved many people's lives with the apple but the sage’s own death had been too sudden and premature and the sage had not been close to the apple to save his own life.
The sage's wife needed money because she did not know how to work the Apple and hence through her agents she was selling the apple in the market.
The third prince brought the apple and decided to go to the caravan.
He firmly believed that his item was the most unique of them all.
The three brothers met at the caravan full to the other about what they had obtained during their adventures.
The second brother pulled out his Looking Glass to show to his two brothers.
That was when they were shocked.
They decided to see the beautiful girl back in the kingdom.
Unfortunately the beautiful girl was very ill and almost seemed like she was in death bed.
The first brother immediately used the carpet and brought all the three brothers to the kingdom immediately.
The third brother with the help of the apple was immediately able to save the beautiful girl's life.
The king was now in a fix. He could not decide which among the three items were more unique nor could he decide which of the three items had been useful in actually saving the girl's life.
So the king decided to hold another competition among the three princes to decide who would marry the beautiful girl.
It was a simple competition. Each brother had to throw a shaft into the air and the brother who threw it furthest would win the competition.
The first brother threw a shaft far away. The second brother threw it further away. The third prince threw it so far that it became invisible.
The ministers tried to follow the third prince’s shaft in their horses, but could not follow it any more. They were not even sure whether the third brother's shaft had gone underground or to the skies.
No matter how much they looked they couldn't find the third shaft. So the king decided to stop looking.
It was therefore concluded that the third brother had not even shot the shaft and he had just made it vanish.
Naturally the second brother was declared to be a winner.
He was the one who could marry the beautiful girl. He married the girl and was very happy.
The first Prince was so furious that he gave up everything and became a hermit.
The third Prince was also very sad and he decided to find the shaft which he had shot and which could not be found anywhere.
Adapted from the Arabian nights
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