A Fairy Tale (1)

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived far away. After some years, she journeyed to another land to find fame, fortune, and happiness. And she tried. She dreamed success and lived happily.

But, one day, she realized that she also wanted something else in her life. She wanted a man who will share her life. She knew that there were many handsome princes in this new land. But she did not know how she could find the right one, the special one.

She was told to consult with a wise old man... So, she went to see this wise old man and told him her desire. The wise old man listened very carefully and asked her many questions. She answered them all truthfully. The wise old man asked the beautiful princess to write down some things about herself. And she did. Then, the wise old man told her she must leave him for 2 days and come back.

The wise old man knew many good men in the village. He selected one fine young man who could fulfill the wishes of the princess. The wise old man showed the fine young man writings of the princess. And he told him to write down his response to her writings and come back 2 days later and he did. And so it went on like this.

On that day, the beautiful princess came to the wise old man, read the writings and wrote a response, she asked the fine young man to do the same thing. On the next day in time the fine young man started to learn more about this princess. He found that the wise old man had selected well, for she seemed to be just perfect to him.

The fine young man began in time to develop some feelings to the princess and longed to see her. He wrote down his wish. She did not respond to his request, but instead, talked about other things.

Now the fine young man began to wonder-why did the princess seek out the old man in the first place? Was she really looking for someone special? Why had she not written down? Would he be mistaken? He wondered at all these things-and wondered more why she did not want to meet him. Nevertheless, he continued to do as he was told.

One evening, the fine young man saw a beautiful sunset, followed soon by a beautiful moonrise. He wrote to the princess about the beautiful scene. He wished they could have seen each other. He also wondered more about the princess. He was most curious about her now.

Two days later, when the fine young man came back to the old man to see the writings of the princess, he read her words. She did not seem to talk much about love or romance, but said that she really like his long description of the sunset, clouds, and moon-shine. She asked him to write longer letters like that.

Now the fine young man was troubled. He wished to meet his princess, but she did not seem to do so. He decided that, since she asked him to write long stories to her, He thought long and hard about what to write. What story to tell? How could he approach this princess? He thought and thought. Finally, he decided to write something to her, and took out his pen and paper and began to write like this:

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived far away...