THE KING AND THE FOUR MAIDENS
A Short Moral Story.
One day, an old and blind king said to his son, the prince.
"My son, you should look for a wife and get married. You're my only son and would ascend the throne immediately after my death. It is our tradition for the prince to choose a bride in order to properly represent the throne."
The prince said,
"Father, I like four maidens, but don't know whom to marry. I still haven’t found the right direction on how to choose between the four of them."
The old king thought for a brief moment, then came up with a plan. He demanded that the four maidens should be present at the palace the following morning. He then told the prince to go inside his room, and never to show up until everything was over.
The following morning, the four beautiful maidens presented themselves before the king. He began to cry in sorrow,
"I'm just really unhappy. I'm so heartbroken. My son is sick! The prince is terribly sick! Ever since he became sick, he wouldn't eat anything brought to him. He has no appetite for anything and could barely sit still. Now, I want each of you to prepare him his favourite soup. When you're all done, bring the soups to me and I shall taste them one by one. Any girl whose soup I find the most delicious and appetizing will marry the prince, heir apparent to the throne. I wish you all goodluck!"
The four maidens immediately made their way to the kitchen. About an hour later, they returned to the king, each with her bowl of steaming soup. The whole place was filled with enticing and mesmerizing aromas of the soups.
Without delay, the king began to taste the soups. The first maiden's soup tasted so wonderful with all the fresh herbs and vegetables embedded in it. The second maiden's soup tasted unbelievably good with spicy chicken. The third maiden's soup was great with a burning taste from hot spices. However, the fourth maiden's soup was quite the opposite. The king shook his head several times and remained silent. Her own soup was so bland and tasteless that the other maidens silently mocked her for being such a horrible cook.
Shortly afterwards, the king summoned everyone to his courtyard to announce the wedding of the prince. But he said something really shocking to everyone,
"My son will marry the maiden who cooked the tasteless soup! Their wedding ceremony will take place in a few weeks time!"
Nobody could believe what the king had just said, it was totally unexpected. Suddenly, the king's advisor came close to him and whispered,
"Why, your majesty? What's your reason for choosing her?"
The king smiled and said,
"She is genuine, caring and in fact, very smart. Anyone who is close to the prince should know that he suffers from bowel disease, and doesn't eat spicy and salty food. The other maidens cooked spicy soups just to impress me, but she cooked a bland soup for the prince's health and well-being. She is truly worthy of marrying the prince!"
MORAL LESSON:
Be smart, be genuine and don't try to do things just to please people. Always be yourself and do what you know is the right thing.
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