76) The Flower of Sincerity !

. . . The prince needed to find a young woman whom he could trust absolutely. On the advice of a wise man, he decided to summon all the women of the region in order to find the most worthy candidate.
Everyone heard about the preparations for this gathering - and Sousou felt very sad, for her daughter nurtured a secret love for the prince.

Moura noticed how her mother felt and she said:”my dear mother, I am not suffering and I certainly haven’t gone mad. I know that I wont be chosen. but it’s my chance to spend a few moments close to the prince, and that makes me happy... even though I know that a quite different fate awaits me."

. . . That night, all the most beautiful girls were indeed there. Wearing the most beautiful clothes. and the most beautiful jewellery. and prepared to do anything to seize the opportunity on offer.

. . . The prince announced a challenge:"I will give each of you a seed. In six months time, the young woman who brings me the loveliest flower will be the future empress!”

Moura took her seed and planted it in a pot. and since she was not very skilled in the art of gardening, she prepared the soil with great patience and tenderness, for she believed that if the flower grew as large as her love, then she need not worry about the results.

. . . Five months passed. and no shoots had appeared. Each day, she felt that her dream had moved farther off, although her love was alive as ever...

. . . At Last, the six months were up. and still nothing had grown in her pot...

The day of the audience arrived. The girl appeared with her plantless pot. and saw that all the other girls had achieved wonderful results... Each girl bore a flower lovelier than the last, in the most varied forms and colours...

Finally, the longed-for-moment came. The prince announced the result and chose Moura as his new wife!

... Then, the prince calmly explained the reasoning behind the challenge.

"This young woman was the only one who cultivated the flower that made her worthy of becoming the empress - The Flower of Sincerity - All the seeds I handed out were sterile. and nothing could ever have grown from them.”

P.s. in the picture, my very dear friends Marie "Moura" & Fady :D

✿♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•☆.｡.•*✿♪♫

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