Section 1
Once, there lived a man who was preparing to embark on a lengthy voyage. Before leaving, he inquired with his three daughters about what he could bring back for them upon his return. Then, the oldest daughter requested for pearls, the second daughter asked for diamonds, while the third daughter expressed her desire for a singing and flying lark, addressing her father as "dear father". The father agreed and said that if he could obtain the lark, he would bring it for his third daughter. he kissed all three daughters goodbye and began his journey.
When it was time for the father to return home, he had brought pearls and diamonds for his two eldest daughters, however, he had searched everywhere but couldn't find a singing, flying lark for his youngest daughter, who happened to be his favorite child, this made him very unhappy. During his journey, he traveled through a forest where he came across a magnificent castle., near the castle, he spotted a tree, and at the very top of the tree, he saw a singing and flying lark . He felt thrilled and exclaimed, "You have arrived at the perfect time!" He then instructed his servant to climb up the tree and catch the little bird.
However, as the servant approached the tree, a lion suddenly emerged from underneath it, the lion shook itself and let out a loud roar that made the leaves on the trees tremble. The lion warned, "I will devour anyone who tries to steal my singing and flying lark!" The man quickly replied, "I had no idea that the bird belonged to you." The man promised to make up for his mistake and offered to ransom himself with a large sum of money. He begged the lion to spare his life. The lion replied that nothing could save the man unless he promised to give him the first thing that he sees upon returning home, the lion then proposed a deal: if the man agreed to this condition, the lion would spare his life and give him the singing and flying lark for his daughter. The man was hesitant and explained that his youngest daughter, who had the strongest affection for him, was likely to be the first to greet him upon his return home.
The servant, on the other hand, was frightened and tried to convince the man that it might not necessarily be his daughter who would first greet him, he pointed out that it could just as easily be a cat or a dog. Eventually, the man was convinced by the servant's argument, he took the singing and flying lark and agreed to give the lion whatever he encountered first upon his return home.
Upon arriving home and entering his house, the man's youngest and most beloved daughter was the first to greet him, she ran up to him, kissed and hugged him. When she saw that he had brought a singing and flying lark with him, she became overjoyed. However, the father was unable to share in his daughter's joy and instead began to weep. He explained to her that he had paid a high price for the singing and flying lark, promising her to a fierce lion in return and he warned her that the lion would tear her apart and eat her, he recounted the entire story to her and begged her not to go to the lion, no matter what happened.
The daughter tried to console her father and said, "My dearest father, your promise must be fulfilled. I will go to the lion and try to soften him so that I can return to you safely."
The next morning, the daughter had the road pointed out to her, bid her father farewell, and fearlessly ventured out into the forest. Unbeknownst to the daughter, the lion was actually an enchanted prince who was cursed to be a lion during the day, along with all of his people, however, at night they would transform back into their natural human forms.
When the daughter arrived, she was warmly welcomed and taken to the castle. As night fell, the lion transformed back into a handsome prince, and they celebrated their wedding with great splendor and grandeur. The couple lived joyfully together, staying up at night and sleeping during the day, one day, the prince told her about a feast at her father's house the next day, as her eldest sister was getting married. He offered to have his lion companions escort her if she wanted to go. She expressed her desire to see her father again and went to the feast, accompanied by the lions.
There was a lot of happiness and excitement when she arrived because everyone had thought that the lion had killed and eaten her, and they had mourned her for a long time, she shared with them how happy she was with her handsome husband, and stayed with them during the entire wedding celebration. Afterward, she returned to the forest, bidding farewell to her family.
