Courage Is Very Important in Life

There is no situation that you cannot tackle with courage, intelligence, and presence of mind.

Once upon a time, in a village lived an old lady, her three daughters, and a son. The son was the youngest.

One day, the eldest sister was near the river when she saw a beautiful flower. She went and touched the flower—and she just disappeared.

After some time, the mother sent the second daughter to look for her sister. She also went near the river, saw the beautiful flower, touched it, and disappeared.

Then the third sister went, and the same happened to her.

By the time it was late in the evening, the mother and the son could not sleep at night. They were extremely worried.

The next morning, the boy told his mother, 'Mother, I am going to look for my sisters.'

'But you are too young! What if something happens to you?'

The boy was just 10 years old. He said, 'Don't worry, Mother. I will take care.'

He started walking along the bank of the river and reached a distant place.

There, he saw a bird caught in a thorny bush, struggling to get out. It was bleeding. The boy went and gently took it out. The bird suddenly turned into a goddess and said, 'I was testing whether you had kindness in you. Here, take these sandals. Wear them and think about any place, and you will be there instantly.'

The boy kept on walking.

An old woman was walking ahead of him. The boy saw something fall from her bag. He went near and realized that it was a gold coin. He called out to the woman and gave her the coin. She suddenly turned into a goddess and said, 'I was testing your honesty. Here, take this cap. If you wear it, no one will be able to see you.'

After some time, he saw a tiger standing in the middle of the road, ready to pounce on him.

The boy did not get scared. He did not run away.

He picked up a stick and became ready to fight.

The tiger, too, turned into a goddess and said, 'I was testing your courage. Here, take this key. With this, you can open any lock in the world.'

Now, the boy thought, 'Why don't I use these gifts to find my sisters?'

He wore the sandals and thought, 'Let me go to the place where my eldest sister is.'

In a moment, he was inside a palace.

There, he saw his eldest sister in royal clothes. She was very happy to see her younger brother.

She said, 'I am married to the king of this palace, and he takes care of me very well. But there is a problem. He has been cursed by a monster, because of which he has to live half his life as a bird.'

As they were talking, a bird flew in.

The sister introduced him, 'This is my younger brother.'

The bird said, 'I am the king of birds. If you need any help, just remember me.'

Now that he knew his eldest sister was happy, he wore the sandals again and thought about his second sister.

He instantly reached a palace on the shore of the ocean.

There, he found his second sister, all smiling and happy. She became very happy to see her brother.

She said, 'I am married to the king of this palace and quite happy. But my husband has been cursed by a monster, because of which he has to spend half his life as a fish.'

As they were talking, a big fish swam in.

Upon seeing his brother-in-law, the fish said, 'I am happy to see you. I am the king of the fish. If you need any help, just remember me.'

Then, he wore the sandals and thought about the third sister.

But the third sister's situation was not so good.

She was held captive by a cruel monster who had cursed the husbands of the other two sisters. He kept on pressuring her to marry him.

This monster kept saying that nobody could kill him and save her.

The boy told her, 'Ask him to tell you why he cannot be killed, and then you might consider marrying him.'

As they were talking, the monster came in.

Suddenly, the boy wore the cap and became invisible.

The sister asked the monster why he could not be killed.

He said, 'There is a dove locked in an iron cage under the sea. She has laid an egg in a nest in a secret place. Only if someone smashes that egg on my head will I die. See how difficult it is! Now, will you marry me?'

She said, 'Give me a few more days.'

The boy overheard this.

He went out silently and thought about the king of the fish, his brother-in-law.

The king of the fish appeared before him.

The boy asked for his help.

The king told his army of fish to search for the box.

They found the box and gave it to the boy.

The boy opened the cage with his magic key.

The dove was inside.

But as soon as he opened the box, the dove flew away.

Then, the boy remembered the other brother-in-law, the king of the birds.

He appeared and agreed to help.

He told his army of birds to get the dove back.

When the dove came back, they told her about the cruelty of the monster and the plight of the boy's sister who was with him.

The dove took them to her secret nest and gave them the egg.

The boy went and gave the egg to his sister.

The next time the monster came near her, she smashed it on his head. He died.

As soon as he died, his curses also became neutral.

The husbands of the other two sisters got their original bodies back.

There was a lot of wealth in the monster's palace.

The youngest sister got a nice boy as her husband, and they all lived happily ever after.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi