A long time ago and far away in a land called Poland, there was a young boy named Jack, who lived with his grandparents in a small village. Jack was a very curious boy, who liked adventure. One night, his grandpa told him a story of a magical fern. “There is a fern deep in the woods that blossoms only on St. John’s day, which is the first day of summer. The longest day in the whole year” explained grandpa. “Whoever finds the fern, will have whatever he wishes for.” Jack’s grandparents didn’t have much. So the idea of finding the magical fern became Jack’s goal. He believed in a saying “If you put your mind into something, then you will have it.”
So the night of St. John came. All the youth from the village gathered around a huge bonfire to sing and dance. But Jack didn’t join them. He wandered into the woods in search of the magical fern. The forest seemed to be overgrown, the paths narrower and the noises of the animals louder. But he realized it’s all to scare him away and discourage him from finding the fern. He wandered and wandered and found a fern, but it wasn’t the magical fern. The night was ending and the first light was getting to Jack through the trees. He knew it was the time to get back home and wait for a year for another St. John’s night.
But it wasn’t easy to wait patiently. Jack thought to himself “The time seems to be standing still and the days seem to be getting longer.” Instead Jack made himself busy and useful around the house. The year went by much faster.
So the night of St. John came again. Jack wandered into the woods. The forest seemed to be friendlier than the last time, but the magical fern was nowhere to be found. Jack wandered and wandered till the first light came out and the roosters were crowing. Tears appeared in his eyes. It was the time to go back home and wait for another year.
Again, Jack got busy, which helped him to get through another year. And again, St John’s night came. Jack wandered through the woods, looked through each bush not to miss the fern. And then he saw a bright light coming from a plant. He looked carefully and said “That’s the magical fern.” He picked the fern, when he heard a voice “Now that you have found me, you can have anything you wish for. But remember it’s only for you. You cannot share it with anybody.” “That shouldn’t be hard” thought boy to himself. Holding the magical fern, Jack headed back home thinking what he would ask for “A big palace with servants, nice clothes, magnificent carriage with horses…” He hasn’t finished his thought, when he found himself at the edge of a forest facing a huge palace, dressed in the finest clothes and a carriage with six white horses awaiting him. He was taken to the palace, which interior was richly decorated and filled with servants. All faces were new to him, no family or friends. Suddenly, he felt some emptiness. But the tiredness was stronger. So he went to his bedroom, where he fell asleep in the nicest bed in a blink of an eye.
Next morning, feeling hungry, he followed the smell of bacon and eggs to the dining room. The table was full of food and cider. Jack ate and drank till he hardly could move. Then with a heavy belly, he went to the garden. The blooming trees were full of fruits and the blooming flowers were spreading the most amazing scent. “This is the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen” thought Jack to himself “But none of this is familiar. I’m not recognizing my village.” Everything was unknown to him. But as soon as the servants were fulfilling his wishes, he forgot about his village and family.
The time went by and the thoughts were coming back to Jack “If only I could give a sack full of coins to my grandparents to help them out.” But he knew he couldn’t share his fortune or he would lose everything. So he got busy with making the palace even bigger, adding new plants to the garden, acquiring more expensive clothes and jewels. The satisfaction of obtaining goods was short lived; the thoughts of his village and family were coming back.
One day, he got into his coach and thought of getting to his village. In that instance, the horses galloped till they stopped in front of a small cottage. Jack recognized his grandparents’ place. The tears rolled down his cheeks. Then somebody unknown to him appeared from behind the cottage. “A fine gentleman, are you lost?” asked stranger. “No, I’m looking for the old couple, who lived in this cottage” replied Jack. “They died of hunger and cold” said stranger and left. Jack couldn’t bear the thought of not helping his grandparents and blamed himself for their death. He thought “If they’re gone, then I want to be gone, too.” Suddenly, the earth opened up and Jack disappeared with his fern. That’s why the magical fern can no longer be found. It is buried deep down in the earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment