The Young King, the Enchantress and the Silent Lake

Stories

The King and the Enchantress

Long ago, a young king ruled the Black Isles. He loved his wife, who was also his cousin, and he believed she loved him, too. But one afternoon, lying half asleep, he heard two maids whispering. Their mistress no longer loved her husband, they said. She was an enchantress, and she wished him dead.

The king watched her. and he found that the maids were right. When he discovered her secret, she stood over him and spoke strange words. At once, half his body turned to cold marble. He could not walk away. He could not escape.

Every morning she came and beat him with a whip. Then she destroyed his city. She turned the streets and houses into a wide, silent lake, and she changed all the people into fish of four colors.

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One Thousand and One Nights

Planner: Clara Lee

2 hours ago

The Sultan Frees the City

One day, a sultan, the ruler of a distant land, came to that lonely place and heard the young king weeping. He made a clever plan. He hid in the garden palace and spoke in the darkness, pretending to be another man. Free the king, he said, and give the people back their shape.

The enchantress obeyed. The marble fell away. The lake became a living city again. And then the sultan drew his sword and her magic ended forever.

Note on the Word Sultan

I added the ruler of a distant land, so B1 listeners who don't know the word sultan still follow who he is.