ENDLESS DESIRES

 Italian Folk Tale

2️⃣

ENDLESS DESIRES

              Once upon a time, a king went on a tour of a neighbouring country. There, he found that the land was fertile and rich crops stood in the fields. He wished to own that beautiful and fertile country.

There was a rich man in the same country. He used to be too busy to go out for a walk or joyride. He had a vast business, scores of servants and a big house to live in. He also set out on that day for sight seeing and saw a very beautiful palace.

The rich man thought, "What a beautiful palace! Its pillars are works of some great artist. I wish I were the owner of this palace too!"

A beautiful princess lived in that very palace. On that day she was standing at her window. Down below, a handsome youngman riding his horse passed by. The princess saw him and she wished to marry that youngman.

A dog also lived in that palace. It used to see other dogs run freely around on the road. It also wished for freedom to roam and run around outside like other dogs.

A cat sat in the verandah basking in the winter sun. She was enjoying the warmth. Just then, she saw a mouse run by. The cat ran after it. But the rat dodged it and dashed into its hole. Cat sighed, "I wish I had caught the rat to eat it lazily under the warm sun!"

The rat ran into the kitchen and saw loads of colorful sweetmeats behind the glass panels of the shelves. It drooled and wished to eat those lovely treats. 

On that day a very kind fairy was passing through the sky of that place. She heard all those six wishes. She thought, "let us grant all these creatures their wishes. She thought," let us grant all these creatures their wishes and make them happy." And so she did .

After granting wishes, the fairy went back to her fairyland. Sometime later the fairy happened to pass over the same place. She was shocked to find the creatures she had granted wishes no happier than before. Infact they were troubled by more desires.

The king wanted to own more kingdoms. The rich man desired more money and palaces. The princess desired many things for the future of her husband and child. The dog wanted to return to the palace. The cat wanted more rats to eat. Only the rat did not suffer from more desires after eating the sweatments. Because as the result of the cat's wish it had gone into cat's belly. The death had ended all its desires.

The fairy now realised that a living creature keeps giving birth to new desires all the time. It never ends till its death. She gave up the idea of granting any more wishes to anyone. And the fairy flew away on her journey.