Section 1
Once upon a time, there was a really rich merchant. He had so much money that he could have covered an entire street with gold and still have plenty left for a little alley. But the merchant didn’t actually cover the street with gold. He knew that money was valuable and didn’t want to waste it like that. He was really smart and knew how to use his money wisely. Whenever he spent a little bit of money, he ended up getting a lot more back in return. He kept doing this until he passed away. When the merchant died, his son inherited all of his money. The son didn’t really understand the value of money as his dad did, and he spent it all in a really fun way. He went to parties wearing fancy masks every single night, and he even made kites out of really expensive five-pound notes. He also threw pieces of gold into the sea instead of rocks, like when you skip stones, but with gold instead. But because the son spent all his money on fun things, he eventually ran out of money. He didn’t have any money left, except for a pair of slippers, an old dressing gown, and only four shillings (which isn’t a lot of money). After the son lost all his money, his friends stopped hanging out with him because they were embarrassed to be seen with him. But one of his friends was nice and wanted to help him out. So, the friend sent him an old trunk with a message that said, “Pack up!” The son replied, “It’s easy to say, ‘pack up,’ but I have nothing left to pack.” So instead, he sat down inside the trunk.
The trunk that the friend sent was actually magical! Whenever someone pushed on the lock, the trunk would start to fly. The son sat inside the trunk, closed the lid, and pushed the lock. Suddenly, the trunk flew up the chimney with the son inside it. The trunk went really high up into the clouds. The son was really scared while he was inside the flying trunk because he thought it might break and he would fall out and tumble over the trees. But he managed to stay inside, and the trunk took him all the way to Turkey, a faraway land. He found a place to hide the magical flying trunk in the woods under some dry leaves. Then, he went into the town. He fit in really well there because everyone in Turkey dresses in loose, comfortable clothing like dressing gowns and slippers, which is what the son was wearing too. The son saw a nurse walking with a little child. He called out to her and said, “Hey, you Turkish nurse! Can you tell me what castle that is near the town, with the really high windows?”
The nurse replied to the question, “That’s where the king’s daughter lives. There’s a prophecy that says she’ll be really sad because of a lover, so no one is allowed to visit her unless the king and queen are there too.”
The son thanked the nurse for telling him about the castle and went back to where he hid the magical trunk in the woods. He sat inside the trunk, and it flew up to the roof of the castle. From there, he snuck into the princess’s room through a window. When the boy entered the princess’s room, she was sleeping on a sofa. She was so pretty that he couldn’t resist kissing her. The princess woke up and was really scared, but the son told her that he was a Turkish angel who came down from the sky just to see her. This made the princess really happy.
The boy sat beside the princess and talked to her. He said that her eyes were as pretty as dark lakes and that thoughts swam around in them like little mermaids. He also said that her forehead was like a snowy mountain with amazing halls full of pictures. The boy also told the princess stories about storks who bring beautiful children from the rivers. These stories were very enjoyable, and when he asked the princess to marry him, she said yes right away.
