The Beautiful Princess

The Beautiful Princess

Once upon a time, long ago in another place, far away from here, lived a beautiful Princess named Pia. She was the only child of her parents, who ruled over a small but very prosperous Kingdom. Since birth the People of the Kingdom had been captivated by her beauty. They could not turn away their eyes from her, from her eyes that resembled a bottomless lake.

As her 18th birthday approached, the King decided that it is now time to seek an appropriate groom for his daughter. He sent spies to distant lands whose job was to find out how an ideal princess was perceived in his Kingdom. "Tall and thin," said the Rajputas who lived far to the north of the country. "Small and round," said the Nagrajs who lived seven nights and seven days away to the south of the Kingdom. "She can have by no means a big nose," said the Singhas who populated the west of the country. "She must have absolutely tiny feet and have large ears," said the Manglikas who lived far to the east.

When the King heard what strange ideas were represented for an ideal princess in his Kingdom, he was very irritated. He told his daughter about it, which made her sad. And with every passing day the Princess grew sadder and sadder. "I'll never find a Prince!" She wailed. She did not even noticed the longing glances of the men she met. "I am much too big, my ears are too small and my stomach is too fat!" She worried and  ordered all the mirrors in the castle destroyed, because she found herself uglier. And so it went, day after day, and gradually the Princess fell in depression.

Her despair became so great that one day she decided to leave the Kingdom and her parents in order to spare them from dishonour because of her ugliness. She pulled a large cloak and crept quietly in the dark, starless night out of the castle. When the King and Queen came to know about the Princess disappearance the fell in grief. They sent out spies all around the Kingdom to find the Princess. 

Princess Pia, however, wandered from country to country, crossing mountains and rivers without end away from her parents. In her journey every person she met, especially the men, were impressed by her beauty. The children ran after her and sang songs. But the Princess felt small, stupid and ugly, thinking that all the people she met were nice to her because she was the Princess.

One day, after five months erring through all areas of the Kingdom, the Princess reached to the entrance of a cave, the existence of which had never ever experienced a person. She hesitated for a moment but was too tired from the rigours of the journey, so she entered the cave to rest. Suddenly she heard a slight noise, far back in the cave. It was like the rustling of leaves in the wind. She advanced carefully to where the noise was coming from. And there he sat. A Man or Beast, she did not know, covered in blackness, a shadow.

"Good day, dear," said the princess with anxious voice. "Who's there? Who bothers me?" Thundered the Cave-man back with deep, massive voice. "I... it's just me, Pia, The Princess from the Shemlans-Empire, I did not want to disrupt you, I'm sorry. I'm going already," she turned to leave. "Wait! Stay!" said the stranger's voice, now much smoother. "I want to see you!" and the Cave-Man came quite close to her and patted her face with his fine and delicate hands. The Cave-Man did not have eyes. He could only "see" with his hands, as he was blind.

For a long time the Cave-Man held her face, he felt the gentle curve of her nose, the shape of her eyes and the position of their ears. Suddenly he began to cry and said, "How beautiful you are! Never have my hands seen anything so beautiful, never have my ears heard a more beautiful sound than your voice. Never has my soul perceived a more beautiful soul than yours! Who are you?" He asked again. And suddenly all the sadness which had accompanied the Princess for so long faded away. She suddenly felt her inner and outer beauty, her eyes got back its shine and she replied in a firm voice: "I? I'm me!"

Deeply moved from the Cave-Man's soul mirror, the Princess saw his beautiful soul. She fell in love with his soul's beauty and kissed him gently. Suddenly there was light in the cave. The light engulfed the Cave-Man, and there was a flash. A beautiful Prince came out of the Light. The Princess fell in shock but the Prince caught her. "Who are you?" questioned the Princess. "I'm Prince Prashay from the Daagnan-Empire. I was trapped in this cave by a wicked witch since childhood. Thank-you Princess you saved me. Your love saved me," explained the Prince.

The Princess had finally found her Prince. She went back to her parents, to her Kingdom and told the King and Queen everything she experienced. A few months later, in a grandeur ceremony the Princess finally married her Prince. Her Prince who had taught her true love. And they lived happily ever-after.