The Red Rose - A Fairytale
Once upon a time, there was a kind King that lived in a majestic palace. This King was fair and ruled his land well. It was a small land, but beauty had passed a generous hand over his Kingdom. It had stopped to rest in the fields and blessed them with emerald green grass and crystalline lakes with an abundance of fish.
Beauty had taken special care with the King's daughter. It had given her eyes as blue as the skies, teeth like pearls, and hair as golden as the sun. She was a happy princess, with a sweet disposition. And she was so beautiful that when she was of age, many suitors came from far off lands to beg for her hand in marriage. But she was the King's only daughter and he could not stand to be separated from her.
When Sultans and Emperors would ask to marry the young princess, the kind King would shake his head and say, "She is my only remaining family, since her mother died when the Princess was just a baby, and I will not let her go until I find someone who loves her as much as I do."
And the emperors, and sultans, Kings and Princes who came to try to marry the Princess, brought jewels from far off lands, exotic pets, food, scents, gold and silver, majestic horses with manes as white as snow. And they would offer these to the King and Princess, as testimony of their devotion to her. But the kind King would only shake his head and look at whatever grandiose treasure had been placed before him and say, "What can my daughter do with that? She lives in a palace with enough riches. I want her to marry someone who loves her as much as I do."
And the sultans, princes, emperors and kings would look at each other in bewilderment. They would go back to their respective lands thinking that the King was a fool, and wishing they could have looked at the Princess before they parted. When they would leave the palace, they were unaware that they were being watched by a young man who was the happiest man in the world to see them depart.
This young man worked as a gardener in the castle grounds, which were very large. He was very, very handsome, with dark hair that danced in the breeze while he worked. And, he was a kind hearted, simple man who loved the Kingdom in which he was born, and loved the land. He worked very hard, but never so hard then when he was told to tend to the Princesses' garden. This garden was small and full of white roses, for the Princess loved flowers above everything else. There, he worked with such care and reverence, because the Princesses garden was situated right underneath her room, so that she could gaze at it from her window.
Sometimes the young man would be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her as she looked out at the roses. Every time he saw her face, his heart beat fast and his hands quivered. She would smile at him. He felt he had never seen anything so lovely, and that his life was no longer his, but belonged to her, and she could do with it whatever she wanted.
"She can never be mine… "He would sigh to himself sadly, as he worked, "Because I am a poor gardener, and she is an Angel from Heaven, a Princess who deserves a Prince."
And time passed, and the gardener continued to gaze at the princess, and the people were happy because the King continued to rule his land well, along with his beautiful daughter, who continued unmarried because he would only give to someone who truly loved her.
But over time the Princess grew sad.
It was a sadness that seemed to envelop her like a cloud with each day. The King would sometimes hear soft sighs coming from her room, from which she never seemed to want to emerge. She would spend hours sitting by her window, her golden hair cascading down her back, her pretty head on her hands. She would gaze out into her garden, with tears in her cerulean blue eyes. Sometimes, she would see the handsome young gardener look at her, but she was indifferent, and no longer smiled at him. Eventually, she stopped coming to her window all together.
"My daughter, tell me what troubles you!" the King would plead, "Surely you are not upset that I turned away those suitors."
But the Princess would shake her head gently and said, "Dear Father, I care not for them. What ails me is something different. But I cannot tell you because it cannot be helped."
The gardener adored the Princess so much that he could not bare to see her sad. When she stopped coming to the window, he nearly went wild with desperation at her absence. Eventually he could not bare it anymore. He gathered all his courage, and one evening after he finished his work in the gardens, he gathered some stones in his trembling hand, and threw them at her window.
It was some time before the princess opened her window and her beautiful head emerged from it.
"What is it? Why do you call me so?" she asked gently. For, sad as she was, in her heart, she had not lost her kindness.
"Princess, I am but a gardener and I know I have no right to speak to someone as majestic as you, let alone ask questions, but I long to know what troubles you? I wish to remedy your pain, if there is anything that I can, please tell me so I may do it and end your sadness"
"You are very kind, but what ails me cannot be helped."
The Gardener shook his head and said with deep tenderness that came from the very depths of his soul, "Princess, you must know, surely you must know, that my life is yours. Tell me what ails you, even if it cannot be helped, my love for you is so deep, that I will find a way to help you."
The Princess hesitated for a minute, but then she began, "…My garden is full of white roses. In the entire Kingdom, does not exist a single, red rose. This rose is the symbol of love in all of my stories. It is said that a red rose is the most beautiful flower of all.. The roses here are all white. I wish, I wish with all my heart that my garden was full of them. But, I will never set eyes on a red rose…" And the tears began to emerge, for the princess adored flowers above anything else, and she quickly shut her window and disappeared.
The gardener was full of sadness. He stood by her window as the sun set and darkness fell upon the garden, pondering the Princesses; dilemma. He wanted nothing else than to see her smile at him again. Where would he find a red rose? It was true that in the entire Kingdom, the only roses that grew were white. He was too poor to travel to another land to fetch one. But seeing the princess sad was killing him! He fell to his knees in frustration and began to sob.
"Oh Why am I so poor? Why can't I help the only thing in my life worth helping?"
And suddenly his teary eyes fell upon the scissors which he used to trim the roses. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.
When morning arose and the first beams of sunlight shone on the princesses' face, she got up, sadly, to begin to dress for breakfast, when suddenly, she looked out her window and her eyes fell on her garden. There, everywhere, were red roses, as red as fire. Her garden was full of red roses!! The princess was so delighted she ran down the stairs of the palace in her nightgown and rushed out into her garden in bare feet. She squealed with delight as she gazed at the red flowers surrounding her.
Then, her smile faded as her eyes landed on something else.
In a far off corner of the garden, lying on the ground, was the gardener. Beside him lay the scissors he had used to prick his fingers, so that his blood could poor over each rose and color them. The princess ran to him. His face was pale and his beautiful dark eyes were closed.
"Oh…oh my dear, what have you done?" She cried as she fell to her knees and embraced him. And her tears, which were tears of love, fell on his eyes, and she took his cut hands and covered them with kisses.
"I have been a fool…" She whispered, "weeping over roses when such love was before me."
And then, a miracle happened. The young man's eyes, where her tears had fallen, opened and his wounded hands, which she had kissed, healed. The Princess nearly fainted with happiness.
When the King learned what the Gardener had done, he immediately announced the betrothal of his daughter to his Kingdom. Finally, he had found someone who truly loved his daughter as much as he did.