This time too, as the brother had walked some distance and he saw the same old man in the middle of the road. This time the brother told the old man about his new quest.
The old man frowned for a few seconds. “Take a horse and follow the narrow path which leads up the mountain and then goes into the forest. If you walk some distance into the forest, you will see the tree that you want."
However, this time too there was a caveat, and the old man told the brother about the dangers of finding and bringing the tree back home.
The brother mounted a horse and followed the directions of the old man and reached the forest and soon found the tree.
However, there was a huge serpent.
The serpent was guarding the tree.
The boy waited patiently just as the old man had advised him.
Only when he saw that the serpent's head was hidden did the boy slowly venture towards the tree.
The old man had told the boy that when the serpent’s head was hidden, that meant that the serpent was asleep.
So, after completely being satisfied that the serpent was asleep, the boy broke the branch of the tree and took it home.
The boy was able to get what he wanted because he followed the instructions of the old man perfectly.
As soon as the branch was planted in the courtyard, it grew into a lovely tree with leaves of silver and nuts of gold.
Mariquita was very happy as she found the tree beside the fountain of silver water.
After this things were well for many days.
Adapted from Spanish folk tales
No comments:
Post a Comment