Once upon a time, there was a poor village boy named Rick, who lived together with his mother in a small wooden hut. One day, his mother said to him, “Rick, could you bring the cow to the village and sell it, for a high price, mind you. For we have no more money left, except for that cow, a bit of read and a drop of milk.”
So off Rick went, and along the way, he met a merchant. He asked the merchant if he wante to buy the cow. The merchant said, “Yes, here, have a golden seed as payment.” He held out the seed in his hand and looked at Rick expectantly. Rick stared at the seed, mouth gaping wide, wondering how such a tiny seed could be worth a cow. The merchant ensed his doubt and said, “It is a magical seed. It will bring you lots of wealth and fortune.” With that, Rick took the seed, traded the cow for it and went home cheerfully.
When her reached home, he took the seed to his mother shouting, “Mother, Mother! Come see, Come see! I sold the cow for a magic seed! It will bring us wealth and fortune!” When his mother heard this, she cried,” You fool! Do you really believe all this nonsense? Now we have nothing to sell! We are doomed! Why, you deserve a hard spanking!” Hearing this, he fled to the garden sobbing. “Why was I so stupid?How could I have believed what the merchant said? Now I have gotten us into trouble. This seed is useless. I’ll just plant it here and hope it grows into a fine tree that bears fruit”, he sobbed. He threw the seed into the ground and ran back to his room.
Now, you see, it really was a magic seed and that verry night, it grew and grew and grew! When Rick’s mother looked out the window the next morning, she got such a shock! Standing in the middle of their garden was the biggest, most beautiful, most spectacular tree ever known! The tree trunk was made of solid gold with leaves that sparkled in the sun. Jewels were scattered around the tree, making it glow brightly. Rick’s mother called out to Rick, “Rick, come quick! There’s a splendid tree in our garden, you must see it!” Rick rushed over to his mother and saw the amazing magic tree. “Why, Mother! The seed really was magic after all! I planted it yesterday. Quick, let’s go outside and see it up close.”
When they went to the garden, they were even more awestruck than before. “Rick,” his mother asked, “what was it about wealth and fortune you were saying?” “Ah yes,” Rick replied. “This tree would bring us lots of wealth and fortune. Let’s wait a while longer!”
So they waited and waited, until hours passed by. Rick’s stomach rumbled and he said out loud, “How I wish I could have some bread to eat!” Right then, a loaf of bread appeared out of nowhere and sailed to Rick. It landed at his feet and he bent down and took a bite. “Mmmm, this is the best bread I’ve ever tasted in my life!”he exclaimed. His mother, seeing this, ran to the tree and said, “How I wish I had a sack of gold!” A sack of gold appeared and landed at her feet. She shrieked delightfully and said to Rick, “We shall never be poor again!” And they lived happily every after.
THE END.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to: Authors of Adapted Storeis
Title by : Jedidiah
Story written by: Sarah Tan
Editor: Eileen Tan
Publisher: Richard Tan
The Family Express 