The Tale of the Prince and the Daughter of the Genie King
Once upon a time, there lived a king. This king had three sons. One day, the three brothers were out walking when they encountered three sisters carrying jugs to fetch water. The brothers followed the girls and overheard their conversation.One sister said:
"When I get married, I will bake bread for my husband that even the king has never tasted."
The second sister said:
"When I get married, I will weave a carpet that even the king has never sat upon."
The youngest sister said:
"And I will give my husband a son with a golden little finger and a daughter with golden hair."
The princes exchanged glances and decided to propose to these sisters.
The eldest prince said:
"I will propose to the one who promised to bake extraordinary bread."
The middle prince said:
"I will propose to the one who wanted to weave an extraordinary carpet."
And the youngest prince said that he liked the youngest sister the most.
They went to their father, the king, and convinced him to arrange the marriages.
"Well," said the king, "it would have been better, of course, for you to marry princesses, but since you love these girls so much, let it be as you wish."
And so, three weddings were celebrated at the palace.
Time passed. The elder sisters did not keep their promises. But the youngest sister, as she had promised, gave birth to a boy with a golden little finger and a girl with golden hair. Her husband, the youngest prince, was away at the time. Enraged that the youngest sister had proven more faithful and better than them, the elder sisters stole her children at night and replaced them with two puppies.
The youngest prince received a message: "Your wife has given birth to puppies instead of children. What should we do with them?" Furious, the prince wrote back: "Drown the puppies, and wrap my wife, who has deceived me so, in a bull's hide, place her in the square, and leave a hammer beside her. Let anyone who passes by strike her on the head with the hammer."
The sisters did as they were told, but they placed a piece of sugar in each child's mouth, locked them in a chest, and threw it into the sea. The chest got tangled in a fisherman's net, and he pulled it ashore, thinking he had found a great treasure. But when he opened it, he found the children inside.
"Well," said the fisherman, "this is a gift too. I have no children of my own, so I will raise them as my own."
The fisherman's wife cared for the children, feeding, washing, and clothing them, and the brother and sister grew and grew. When they turned fifteen, their friends teased them, saying, "You're not really the children of your parents; they fished you out of the sea."
The siblings went to the fisherman and his wife and said:
"Thank you so much for saving us from death and raising us as your own. We will be grateful to you for the rest of our lives. But now we must go and search for our true parents."
No matter how much their adoptive parents tried to persuade them to stay, it was in vain. They traveled from country to country but could not find their parents. Eventually, they crossed the sea and built a small house on the shore.
All the animals and birds became their friends, loving them for their kindness and helping them in any way they could. The brother went fishing in the mornings, while the sister cleaned the house, did the laundry, sewed, and cooked meals.
One day, the king and his retinue passed by the shore. By this time, the youngest prince had become the king—the father of these children.
The brother was fishing at that moment. He looked at the king but did not bow.
"Who are you to not bow to the king?" the king angrily demanded. "I'll teach you a lesson!"
The king's guards attacked the boy, but a fox ran into the forest and gathered all the animals. They fought off the guards and gave them a good beating.
The king was amazed and said:
"Why do the animals love you so much? Come to my palace, and let us talk."
"I cannot come to you without my sister's permission," the boy replied.
One day, the brother caught many small fish and brought them to his sister to fry for lunch.
"Brother," the sister said, "let's eat dry bread today and release these fish back into the sea. They are still small, and their mother will grieve for them."
The brother agreed, took the fish, and released them back into the sea. The sea grew restless, and high waves rolled onto the shore. Out of the water emerged the king of all fish.
"Thousands of people have fished in the sea, but no one has ever released their catch," he said. "You are a kind person, and I must reward you. Know that I am the king of all fish, and my name is King Jin."
He placed the boy on his back and swam with him to an underwater palace.
"Tell me, what do you want as a reward?" asked the king.
"I don't need anything," the boy replied. "I only wish to marry your daughter and to learn the language of fish, for I already know the language of animals."
King Jin agreed and said:
"I will gladly give my daughter to such a kind person. She is very sensitive, and she could never live with someone who would mistreat her."
The king richly rewarded his son-in-law and prepared his daughter for the journey.
The brother brought his wife to the little house by the sea. The sister liked the sea princess very much, and they lived together happily and peacefully.
But disaster struck unexpectedly. News reached their wicked aunts that their nephews were alive, had not drowned in the chest, but had survived, grown up, and were living happily in a house by the sea. Fearing that the truth might come out, the aunts bribed an evil witch, who went to the brother and sister to work as a servant. Unsuspecting, they took her in and gave her work.
The old witch began to subtly turn the brother against his wife.
"Why do you need a sea princess?" she said. "You should marry a beautiful peri-girl instead."
At first, the brother ignored her words, but gradually he began to listen. One day, he set out to find a peri-girl.
He traveled far and wide, and eventually, he saw an old man sitting by the road, holding two large balls of wool. He was transferring wool from one ball to the other, weighing them in his hands.
"What are you doing, old man?" the brother asked.
"Balancing good and evil," the old man replied, "so that there is an equal amount of both in the world. Where are you going?"
"I am going to find a beautiful peri-girl."
"I feel sorry for you," said the old man. "Many have passed by me, but none have returned."
"I am not afraid," said the brother. "Tell me how to find a peri-girl."
Seeing that he could not dissuade him, the old man explained:
"Ride straight ahead and stop your horse at the very edge of the sea. Peri-girls will come to bathe. When they swim a little away from the shore, grab one of their dresses, mount your horse, and flee. The forest will cry out after you: 'They've taken the dress!' The stones will also cry out, but do not look back. When the peri-girl catches up to you, make sure she does not splash water on you, or you will turn to stone."
The brother thanked the old man, spurred his horse, and soon reached the seashore. He waited and saw the beautiful peri-girls come to bathe. They undressed and swam into the waves. He jumped out of hiding, grabbed one of the dresses, and rode away.
The forest cried out: "They've taken the dress!" The stones cried out: "They've taken the dress!" And one of the peri-girls chased after him.
The brother could not resist and looked back, stunned by her beauty. She flew up to him, splashed him with water, and he instantly turned into a black stone.
The peri-girl tied his sword to her saddle and sent the horse back the way it had come.
When the sister saw the horse return alone, she knew something terrible had happened. She dressed as a man, tied her brother's sword to her side, mounted the horse, and followed his trail.
She met the old man with the balls of wool. He told her everything and advised her to be careful. He instructed her to catch a peri-girl and force her to splash water on her brother to bring him back to life.
The sister rode to the seashore, grabbed a peri-girl's dress, and rode away.
One peri-girl chased after her. When she caught up, the sister grabbed her and beat her until she splashed water on the stone, reviving her brother. She also made the peri-girl splash water on all the other stones, which turned back into young men.
The brother and sister returned home, but the house was empty: the daughter of King Jin had run away, hurt that her husband had chosen a peri-girl over her. The brother wandered sadly along the shore when he heard a little fish telling another:
"Our king's daughter has run away from her husband. He hurt her, neglected her beauty, and chased after a peri-girl. She has built a castle in the Blue Mountains and lives there."
The brother went to the Blue Mountains to find his wife, apologized for listening to the evil witch, and she returned home with him.
One day, the king passed by their house and stopped to visit. The daughter of King Jin immediately recognized him as her husband's father.
"Take a bouquet of roses," she told her husband, "place it near the woman who stands in disgrace in the square, and tell the king: 'Even a mule cannot give birth to puppies. How could you, a king, believe that your wife gave birth to dogs?' Know that this woman is your mother, and the king of this land is your father."
The brother did as his wife instructed.
The king looked at his golden little finger and his sister's golden hair and understood everything. He fell to his knees before his wife and begged for forgiveness. She was a kind woman and forgave him.
And so, they found their happiness, just as you will find yours.
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