Once in the city of Spain there lived a brother and a sister.
The sister's name was Mariquita and she looked after the house because their mother was dead.
Theirs was a very happy home and Mariquita took good care of her father and her brother and the home. There was an inner courtyard in that home which had the rarest of the rare plants and it was something Mariquita was very proud of.
Once when the father and the brother were away an old woman came to Mariquita's house.
The old woman looked around the house, and Mariquita invited the woman to the inner courtyard. The old woman admired everything and she had good things to say about the place.
However, finally she frowned. “The only thing your courtyard is missing is a fountain of silver water.” The old woman told Mariquita.
“I have never seen a fountain of silver water.” Little Mariquita was surprised. “How can I get one?”
“A little further away from here,” The old woman told Mariquita, “you will find a fountain of silver water. If you bring a jar of that water and place it in your courtyard it shall become a fountain here.”
All of a sudden Mariquita wanted nothing other than the fountain of silver water in her own courtyard. She suddenly turned gloomy and did not even notice that the old woman had gone her way.
That night when her father and her brother came back home they were surprised because the happy Mariquita was very sad and she cried a lot.
“What has happened?” The brother asked, looking alarmed.
Mariquita told the two men all about the visit of the old woman and Mariquita told her brother that only the presence of the silver fountain in the Courtyard would make her happy.
The brother was very sad to see his sister crying and at last he decided to go in search of the water for her, and he took a jar with him.
Adapted from Spanish Folk Tales
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