A very kind and just king ruled the kingdom of Ozan! He always worked in the best interests of the people and kept thinking about their progress. The citizens of Ozan were totally satisfied and happy with their king's rule.
The queen of the state was equally kindhearted and also gave her full support to the king in taking the best decisions for the public. She also thought about the welfare of her subjects in just and lawful ways.
The king and queen had only one daughter. The princess was so beautiful that anyone who saw her would just keep looking at her! The beauty of the princess was discussed everywhere. Her black eyes, milky fair physique, and long wavy hair all added to her beauty. She was considered the most beautiful girl on the earth!
The princess has been hearing her praise since her childhood, so she became proud of her beauty, her beauty made her too proud. She felt, there was no one else in this world as beautiful as her!
Now the princess was proud of herself, and no one seemed to be as beautiful as herself. So she expected everyone to praise her and she was so used to hearing her praise for her beauty that if someone passed by her and did not praise her, she would fire them from work and send them to prison.
The king and the queen were worried about her behavior. They understood their daughter’s nature and tried to make her understand, but there was no effect on her.
One day, Princess expressed her desire to go to the nearby river to take a bath. She asked her father’s permission and left for the river by sitting in a special chariot to take a bath. Many maids and male servants accompanied her to the river to assist and take care of her.
The princess was sitting comfortably in her chariot, passing through the beautiful road. Suddenly she saw a beautiful small hut, which had lovely artistic figures drawn on it.
One of her maidservants began praising the artwork, “What a beautiful art form!" She said, “Would there be anything more beautiful than this hut in this world?”
The princess did not like that someone more beautiful than her should exist in this world! Then, when Princess came back after taking a bath in the river, it was evening and it was getting cold!
When on her way back the princess was feeling a little cold, she saw that cottage on her way back!
She ordered her servants to burn that cottage, saying, “Burn this hut so I could warm my body and feel better. “
The maidservant said, “This is someone’s house, so we should not burn it!”
The princess said, “If you don’t burn it now, I will punish you all.”
Everyone got scared and lit that hut. The princess used the fire to warm her hands and feet and came back to her palace! When the poor man returned after a while and saw his house on fire, he burst into tears.
"What wrong did I do to anyone so they set fire to my house?"
A neighbor came and told the complete story to that poor man. He went to the king to seek justice and told him the story of how the princess burnt his hut.
“I need justice, my lord.”
The king considered everyone equal, so he called the princess to the court and asked whether she burnt poor man’s hut!
The princess said, “Yes, I was feeling cold! What if I burned a small hut, we will give this man some gold coins, so he rebuilds his hut"!
The king did not agree to this, he said, "No, you should build his hut yourself! And until you make a hut for him with your own earnings, you will remain out of the palace!"
The queen asked the king, "Can you please find another punishment for our daughter as she is not used to working so hard?”
The king said, “No, this is the only way to improve our daughter and you should know this”
Ultimately, the princess went to the poor man’s hut but she was so angry that she started breaking everything that was left there.
But she had to follow her father’s order, so she sat there for a while and started thinking about how to earn money and get the cottage repaired! Then she stood up and started cutting wood from the nearby forest and sold that wood to the citizens of that area. She faced a lot of difficulty in the beginning, but slowly, she got used to that hard work.
The princess was now doing her work without much trouble! She had saved almost half of the money that she got by selling wood every day after spending on her daily needs for a living. Then she started construction work with help of local people. As much as she worked diligently, her mind and heart became pure and soft. She was now filled with happiness.
The day came when the princess had enough money to rebuild the entire hut. One day, the king and the poor man went to see whether the princess had completed the rebuilding of the hut. When everyone arrived, it surprised them to see that the princess had already made a beautiful cottage!
The king put his hand on his daughter’s head and said, “I am proud of you, my dear daughter!”
The princess said, “This punishment made me realize my mistake! No matter how rich or poor a person is, everyone has their value!”
She was sobbing, as she said, “Beauty is not skin deep, but it comes from hard work!”
The queen kissed her on her forehead and said, “Now you know your folly, my little girl” When the mother queen touched the princess's forehead she felt vibes of happiness entering her own body.
The princess continued, “I was so proud of my beauty that no one was prettier than me! But whatever we make with our hard work is more beautiful than our faces or skin! We should be proud of our hard work, and not of ourselves.”
Suddenly the sign of nature conveyed their approval from the sky, as the pure white heavenly birds descend on the earth smoothly, touching and cheering everyone’s hearts. The birds were flying low down. Their feathers were as white as milk, and they were showering dew drops on everyone’s hair, shoulders, and hands. Each person present was delighted with the vibrations of their magical presence. They felt as if they were sitting on a white carpet.
Everyone saw beautiful flowers blooming all around them. Butterflies were hovering over the flowers. There was a coolness in the air. The fairies came down to earth. They loved the honesty of the princess so much that they started dancing. The people present there didn’t know where the music was coming from, but they felt it coming from somewhere far away. The whole atmosphere was filled with happiness.
The princess heard her mother saying, "It's time to go back to our home." Everyone was showing their happiness in their own ways.
