The sunflower princess
Once up on a time, there lived a prince. He was fond of traveling and visiting distant lands. One day, he mounted his horse and rode away to some place.
On his way, he passed by a fully bloomed sunflower field. There stood a big and shady tree at the edge of the field. The prince decided to rest under it for some time. He dismounted from his horse and tied it to the tree. The prince lay down and was soon fast asleep.
The prince woke up at sunset. Suddenly he saw a beautiful princess walking towards him from the field. He welcomed her with a charming smiled and said, `Welcome! O beautiful princess! Will you marry me?’
The princess smiled and said, `Thank you, O prince! I am all alone in this world. I will marry you, but on three conditions.’
The prince was so captivated by her beauty that he said, `I agree to fulfill all your conditions.’
The princess said, and then listens to me carefully. My first condition is that after you marry me, you will not go back to you place. My second condition is that I will not stay with you from dawn to dusk. The third condition is that you will never ask me any question and you will not stop me from going out any where. If you fail to fulfill even one of these conditions, I will leave you and go away forever.’
The price readily agreed to all the conditions laid down by the princess. The princes married the princess. They built a place near the field and began living a happy life. At dawn, every day, the princess would leave the palace and return only after sunset. This went on for days together.
The prince was always curious and eager to known about the princess’ activities. But he remembered the strict conditions lay down by her.
One day, the prince woke up before the princess but he pretended to be asleep. The princess woke up, got ready and left the palace quietly. The prince got up and followed her secretly. The princess went to the field of sunflowers and disappeared!
There was no place in the field to hide. Where could she go? The prince was puzzled.
After thinking for a while, the prince realized that the princess must have turned into a sunflower.
The prince went from flower to flower and observed each flower care fully. A t last, he came to a sunflower and stood looking at it for a long time, gathering courage, he plucked that flower. And lo! There was a miracle. The sunflower disappeared from his hands and there stood before him his beloved princess.
The princess said, `O prince! You have finally freed me from the course of a wicked witch. But tell me, how did you recognize me from among so many sunflowers?’
The prince’s joy knew no bounds. He had got back his princess. He said, `All the flowers have dew drops on their petals early in the morning. But only one flower did not have any dew drops on it. So I was sure that it could be no one but you.’
The prince then took the princess to his palace. They lived happily ever after.
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