Beautiful tulips
A long time ago, there was a couple who lived on a farm. They had a huge garden with various types of flowers such as roses, orchids, sunflower and daffodil. But the gardener wished he had tulips.
“I wish I grew tulips in my garden,” said the farmer.
“Do not worry. One day, we will plant them,” his wife replied.
The next day, while heading to the garden to water his flowers, the couple were surprised to see a tulip growing among the other flowers. It was so attractive and beautiful.
“The tulip has some sandy dust on it. I think it’s from Dusty Mountain. Let’s travel to the mountain to see if there are more tulips there,” the wife suggested.
The next morning, they set off on a twohour journey to Dusty Mountain. Upon reaching the mountain, they were mesmerised to see many tulips blooming at the foothills of the magical mountain.
They cut a few tulips to present them to the princess of their kingdom.
The princess was astonished to see the beautiful tulips. She planted them in her garden.
One day, while the princess was admiring her flowers, a bird magically came out from a tulip.
“Hello, my dear princess. I am a prince from a country far away from yours,” said the bird.
“If you are a prince, how did you end up being a bird? How did you come out of a tulip?” asked the princess.
“One day, a few children trespassed into my garden and plucked my flowers. Out of anger, I chased the children out of my garden. A witch, who happened to watch the whole scene, questioned my rudeness. I replied in a cruel manner. To teach me a lesson, she turned me into a bird. I can only achieve my human form if I consume ferns boiled in water. Please help me,” the bird pleaded.
“If I help you, will you promise to be nice to everyone and treat them politely, even kids?” asked the princess.
“Yes, I promise! Please help me.”
With that, the princess took some fern and boiled in the hot water. Shen then gave it to the bird. The bird then transformed into a prince.
Before returning to his kingdom, he asked for the princess’ hand in marriage. Like in
most fairy tales, the got married, and lived happily ever after in a castle surrounded by tulips. – By Tan Yan Xi, eight
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