The Three Lemons wrote:

EEN there once three brothers, whom their parents died leaving them nothing behind, so the sons had to go into the world, in search for luck. The older two supplied themselves as best as they could have, but the youngest brother - whom people called Ivo Zapećkar (well, in this translation anyway), because he always sat beside the fireplace and cut spill - they didn't want to take with themselves. They set off at dawn, but as much they went and hurried, Ivo Zapećkar arrived at the royal court along with these two.

Upon arriving at the court, they asked for work. The king told them, there is no work for them, but since they are so needy, he will give them some kind of job - there surely will be things to do on such a big court: they can knock nails into the wall, and when they would be done with the task, they could take them out again; and when they would be done with that task as well, they could carry wood and water into the kitchen.

Ivo Zapećkar showed himself to be the most diligent in the tasks, so he first nailed all of his nails into the walls and would be the first to take them out again, as he were diligent, when it came time to carry the wood and water. Thus his brothers were envious, so they devised and said, how he concluded that he could secure the most beautiful princess there was in the twelve kingdoms (namely, the kings queen had died, thus he stayed a widower). When the widowed king heard that, he commands Ivi Zapečkaru to do that what he claimed; or if he cannot do so, he shall be taken to the scaffold and beheaded.

Ivo Zapećkar answers, that he had never said or thought anything of that sort; but seeing how stern the king was, he decided to take his chances. And with a bag full of food on his shoulder, he set foot along the road.

But even as he put as little distance to arrive at the forest, hunger started to distract him, so he decided to sample some of the food the court supplied him with. As he set himself up nicely and sat under some lime tree along the path, an old lady limps by and asks him what's in the bag.

- Meat and bacon - answers the lad; - if you're hungry granny, come and take some.

She thanks him and tastes a bit, quenching her hunger and telling him she will repay him sooner or later (no she won't) - and limps away through the forest.

As Ivo Zapećkar became full, again he took his bag and went on. But he did not travel far, when he stumbled upon a flute. Thinking how it wouldn't be bad to have it, because he can play it along the way; and indeed it didn't take long for him to extract sound from it, when it that moment dwarfs swarm out and all in one ask:



- What does master command?

Ivo Zapećkar tells how he knows nothing of him being their master, but if he were to command anything, he would wish for them to attain the most beautiful princess there was in the twelve kingdoms.

- That is nothing exceptionally difficult - the dwarfs met his comment.

As they knew well, where she is located; easily they will show him the way, so he could take her himself (take her, huh?), because they hadn't the power to touch her (what a pornographic fairytale). Showing him the path, he went and arrived there well and happy.

There was no one to stand on his path. There which he came were the castles of the mountain giants and in those castles were three beautiful princesses. But when Ivo Zapećkar set foot inside, it was as if they suddenly maddened, flying around each other as frightened sheep, only to turn into three lemons that were left by the window.

Ever so happy Ivo Žapećkar saddens over the sight he saw so much, that he knew not what to do nor where to go. After some thought, he took the lemons and put them in his pocket. He concluded, they will not be of no use if he becomes thirsty along the way, because he heard that lemons are sour.

Departing and traveling on, he soon started feeling hot and thus became thirsty. Water was nowhere to be found, so he knew not with what to quench the thirst. Suddenly, he remembered the lemons, taking one and biting into it. When inside it, in the lemon sat a princess, springing up just above her shoulders and screaming:

- Water! Water!

If she would not get water, she would die. Thus spoke the princess from the lemon. The lad, as if he were out of himself, ran all around, in search of water. But there was no water to be found; so the princess hereupon died.

As he again departed and traveled on, he started feeling even more hot and thus became even more thirsty. And as he couldn't find anything with which he could quench his thirst, he takes the second lemon, biting into it. There was a princess sitting in this one too (where can I buy these lemons? :'), springing up just above her shoulders, prettier than the first. She too, striving for water and screaming, if she would not get water, she would die. Ivo Žapećkar ran all around, looking under each stone and moss, but there was no water to be found, so this princess had to die as well.

It seemed to Ivo Žapećkar that everything just kept going from bad to worse, as it was, because the further he went, the heat continued to increase. All the countryside was dry, the ground cracked from the drought, with no signs of even drops of water. The lad was ready to die of thirsts. For a long, long time he has refrained from biting into the last lemon, but in the end he was left with no other choice. As he took the bite, a princess appears, the most beautiful in the twelve kingdoms (yay for unintentional mental images of Archambeau due to translating and chatting on MSN at the same time). She too screams she would die, if she would not get water.

Ran all around did Ivo Zapećkar, in search of water, but this time he set his intentions on the kings miller, who showed him a path to a small lake beside the mill. When he arrived with her to the mill barrage and when he gave her water, the princess came out of the lemon, if full form, naked. Ivo Zapećkar had given her his cloak, as she clothed herself and hid in some tree. (If he was a real guy, he wouldn't give her the clothes he'd take off.) The lad wasted no moment and ran to the royal courts: as it was proper to take some dresses and gowns and bring the king the good news and stories of his travels.

While Ivo Zapećkar was rushing towards his aims, to the mill barrage came one of the cooks, to scoop some water. When the cook noticed the pretty face, that was looking at her from the water reflection, she immediately thought it was her own, so she welcomes the idea so much, that out of sheer merit she started prancing around: as she was happy that she became so pretty.

- "Let the Devil carry water, not me, who is so pretty!" - said the cook, throwing away the buckets with which she came to scoop the water.

But she suddenly noticed, that the face which was peering through the water was not hers, but of that princess, that was sitting on the tree. The cook became overwhelmingly mad, ragingly taking the princess off the three and throwing her into the lake (so, if this is Archambeau, it means I'm picturing movie!Juri who's right now trying not to drown) and clothing herself with Ivo Zapećkar's cloak as she climbs the tree.

When the king arrived and set eyes on the ugly, black cook (wtf? Rasist much...), his face started experiencing changes, in a moment he would be red, in the other pale white, but when he listened to what he was told, how it was the most beautiful there is in the twelve kingdoms, to him, himself, it seemed there was no other possibility than to believe, for there must be something lying beneath; beside that, it seemed to him that otherwise it wouldn't be fair towards Ivo Zapećkar, who endured such anguish to find her. With time, perhaps, she would become more beautiful, the king thought in himself, especially when decorated with jewelry and clothed in beautiful attire. And so he took her with himself to the court after all.



The moment they arrived at the court, immediately they sent for wig makers and seamstresses, so they would garnish and clothe her as a princess, but no matter how much they bathed and decorated her, she nevertheless stayed black and ugly, and remained that way till this day.

After some time, a servant from the kitchen went to the mill barrage to scoop some water, and when she pulled out the bucket, she finds in it a big silver fish. Immediately, she brings it to the kings chambers and there shows it to the king, who comments how magnificent it is. But the ugly princess states how it must be some kind of bewitchment and that the fish should be thrown into the fire right away, for it to burn out; the wench also noted how she instantly noticed how a charm awaits her. (?)

The fish was burned and the next day in the remaining ashes they found a silver nugget. The servant again goes to tell the tale about the miracle to the king, who was amazed upon hearing it. But the fake princess again stated her own, how the bewitchment awaits her and how the nugget should be buried at the dump. The king did not want that, but she gave him no peace, until her word was the last. And so the king decides that it shall be done as she wishes.

When morrow came, from the pile of garbage where they had buried that silver nugget, grew out a beautiful lime tree, the leaves on it flickering with a silver luster. They tell the king what has happened, who was mightily amazed. But the ugly princess again states, how it is nothing else but charm, so the lime three should be cut down at once. The king didn't want to do things that way, but the princess pestered him so much, that in the end her word again was last.

The servants had came to gather the branches of the lime tree, to kindle the fire with, but the tree had turned into pure silver.

- We don't have to say anything about this, to the king or princess - suggested one amongst them - because it would have to go into the flame too, burning out and melting. Better tuck away the silver into our trunks: it could come in handy, when a beggar comes by, so we could give him something.

They all consented on the decision. But as they carried the silver for some time, it suddenly became unusually heavy. When they wanted to take a look, from where did it come from, the branches had turned into a baby, who then slowly turned into the most beautiful princess that was ever seen.

The servants could notice, there was something lying underneath; they gave the princess some dresses and quickly went in search for the lad, who was to bring the most beautiful princess there was in the twelve kingdoms, telling him what happened.

When Ivo Zapećkar came, the beautiful princess tells him what and how it was, when the cook threw her into the lake, when turning into a fish, then a silver nugget, a lime tree and branches; thus explaining she was the real princess.

It was not easy coming to the king with her, when the ugly black cook was constantly by his side, been in late or early.

However, in the end they contrived this: they told the king, that the neighboring king has declared war. And indeed, the king came out of his chambers, seeing the beautiful princess and taking a long good look before arranging a feast. When he found out, what had the ugly black cook done from the beautiful princess, he commanded that the offender be thrown into a barrel filled with spikes which would rolled around like that. Thus they celebrated a feast that would be heard and talked about in all the twelve kingdoms.

I apologize for the crude translation, as well as the crude comments which I didn't bother taking out.
On a more interesting note, does anyone else think that the illustration style resemble the ones from the Utena movie? At least a little?

Arki wrote:

I apologize for the crude translation, as well as the crude comments which I didn't bother taking out.

I liked the comments.

I wonder if that story has gone through many variations over time. It starts out being about Ivo and then he sort of goes away for a large chunk of time. Maybe it was two stories that were merged together? It was certainly entertaining; and unpredictable.

Speaking of stories like that:

Straw, Coal, and Bean
Collected by The Brothers Grimm

An old woman lived in a village. She had gathered a serving of beans and wanted to cook them, so she prepared a fire in her fireplace. To make it burn faster she lit it with a handful of straw. While she was pouring the beans into the pot, one of them fell unnoticed to the floor, coming to rest next to a piece of straw. Soon afterward a glowing coal jumped out of the fireplace and landed next to them.

The straw said, "Dear friends, where do you come from?"

The coal answered, "I jumped from the fireplace, to my good fortune. If I had not forced my way out, I surely would have died. I would have burned to ash."

The bean said, "I too saved my skin. If the old woman had gotten me into the pot I would have been cooked to mush without mercy, just like my comrades."

"Would my fate have been any better?" said the straw. "The old woman sent all my brothers up in fire and smoke. She grabbed sixty at once and killed them. Fortunately I slipped through her fingers."

"What should we do now?" asked the coal.

"Because we have so fortunately escaped death," answered the bean, "I think that we should join together as comrades. To prevent some new misfortune from befalling us here, let us together make our way to another land."

This proposal pleased the other two, and they set forth all together.

They soon came to a small brook, and because there was neither a bridge nor a walkway there, they did not know how they would get across it.

Then the straw had a good idea, and said, "I will lay myself across it, and you can walk across me like on a bridge."

So the straw stretched himself from one bank to the other. The coal, who was a hot-headed fellow, stepped brashly onto the newly constructed bridge, but when he got to the middle and heard the water rushing beneath him, he took fright, stopped, and did not dare to go any further. Then the straw caught fire, broke into two pieces, and fell into the brook. The coal slid after him, hissed as he fell into the water, and gave up the ghost.

The bean who had cautiously stayed behind on the bank had to laugh at the event. He could not stop, and he laughed so fiercely that he burst. Now he too would have died, but fortunately a wandering tailor was there, resting near the brook. Having a compassionate heart, he got out a needle and thread and sewed the bean back together.

The bean thanked him most kindly. However, because he had used black thread, since that time all beans have had a black seam.

This is my all time favorite religious parable, though I may be interpreting it differently than the "proper" authorities do. It comes from the Ramayana, one of the Hindu epics. This story takes place after Rama wins a great battle with the help of bears and monkeys, including Hanuman, the son of the wind god. I tell a very slightly modified version:

Rama went around to his loyal followers and handed out gifts appropriate to each. To Hanuman the monkey chief, Rama gave a string of gold and pearls. After Rama had moved away, Hanuman looked closely at his gift, then chewed up the pearls and spat them on the ground. A bear saw this and was naturally shocked.

"Why did you do that? Do you not love Lord Rama? Why would you disrespect his gifts?" the bear asked.

"The string had no true value," Hanuman replied, "because it did not bear the name of God."

"Then why do you keep your body?" the bear sneered, disgusted at Hanuman's arrogance. Hanuman thought for a moment, then nodded and replied:

"I should not, you are right," whereupon he tore open his own chest. But Hanuman did not die.

A golden light poured out from inside of him, and it was revealed that Lord Rama himself sat in his heart, along with his wife Sita, and all of his bones and muscles carried the inscription "Ram, Ram, Ram".

The more obvious interpretation is that Hanuman had true value because he believed in Rama, and that is how he carried Rama in his heart; however, I see it as saying that the value of a person is inherent, and "the name of God" is inside of us all, whether we know it or not. By God, I do not mean anything supernatural: after all, I am a Humanist and believe only in Humans.

satyreyes wrote:

A woman asked Louis Armstrong: What is jazz?
Armstrong replied: Lady, if you have to ask, you'll never know.

Hey, that's exactly what the teenager girl at the tattoo shop said to me when I asked her to explain EMO!!!!

I suppose it's not unique, but I view the story of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden as a suggestion that all people have the potential to "become" God.

Site: http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/folktale.htm