Friday, March 25, 2011

Almondseed and Almondella -- Georgios A. Megas


Almondseed and Almondella is a fairy tale about a poor man who was given the chance to become wealthy. The story says that the poor man came upon a black hen that was tied up, and heard a woman yelling that her black hen had been stolen. Already knowing its whereabouts, he went to her and pretended to read in a book to reveal where it was located. She rewarded him with a silver coin.

He then decided he would become a seer. The next day, the king's servants came and asked the poor man if he knew whether the pregnant queen would have a boy or a girl. He opened up his book and muttered, "Boy, girl, boy girl." He did this over and over again until the servants grew tired and left. Later, the queen had twins, and the servants took this as if the poor man really knew what she would have. They told the king and he summoned for the man.

The king gave the poor man a room, and asked him if he could reveal who stole his coffer. For the next couple of days, he would repeat how many nights he was staying in the room. Every time he would say a number, an eavesdropping thief thought he was referring to him. The thieves became so paranoid that they went to the king and asked for mercy.

Afterwards, the king walked with the poor man in the garden and plucked an almond from a tree and hid it from the man. He asked the man to reveal what he had in his hand. Seeing as how the man's name was Almondseed and his wife was Almondella, he spoke about Almondsell, a man Almondellaearlier revealed to the king. The king thought he was referring to the almond in his hand, and let the poor man go after giving him some gold.

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