The Girl with the Beautiful

Face

Once upon a time there was a girl who, though of humble origin, was so incredibly
beautiful that she was famed throughout the region. Knowing how much the young men
of the Kingdom liked her, she rejected all her suitors, waiting for the arrival of some
handsome Prince. Well, it didnt take long for a handsome Prince to come by, and as soon
as he saw the young girl he fell for her and showered her with compliments and gifts. The
wedding was extravagant, and everyone said they made the perfect couple.

However, when the shine and excitement of the presents and the parties began to wear
off, the young Princess found out that her handsome young husband wasnt as wonderful
as she had expected. He behaved like a tyrant towards his people, he boasted about his
wife as though she was a hunting trophy, and he was selfish and mean. When she came
to see that everything about her husband was a false appearance, she didnt hesitate to
tell him this to his face, but he answered her back in a similar vein, reminding her that he
had only chosen her for her beauty, and that she could have chosen many others rather
than himself, if she hadnt let herself be carried away by ambition and her desire to live
in a palace.

The Princess cried for days, seeing the truth in her husbands cruel words. She
remembered all the many good and honest young men shed rejected only so she could
become a Princess. Wanting to undo her mistake, the Princess tried to leave the palace,
but the Prince wouldnt allow her, since everyone talked about the extraordinary beauty
of his wife, and this added to the Princes reputation as an exceptional man. The Princess
made so many attempts to escape that she ended up locked away, constantly watched
by guards.

One of those guards felt pity for the Princess, and in her captivity he tried to cheer her up
and provide some company and conversation for her. As time passed they were
becoming good friends. They came to have such confidence in each other that one day
the Princess asked the guard to allow her to escape. But the soldier, who owed loyalty
and obedience to his King did not agree to the Princess plea. Nevertheless, he answered
her, saying:

-If you so want to flee from here, I know how to do it, but it will call for a great sacrifice
on your part.
She agreed, confirming that she was willing to do anything, and so the soldier continued:

-The Prince only wants you for your beauty. If you disfigure your face he will send you
far away from the palace so no one can see you, and hell erase any trace of your
presence. Thats just the despicable, miserable kind of man he is.

The Princess replied, saying:

-Disfigure myself? And where will I go to? What will become of me, if my beauty is all I
have? Who would want to have anything to do with a horribly ugly and useless woman
like me?

-I would,

the soldier answered, confidently. His daily talks with the Princess had led him to fall in
love with her.

-To me you are even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside.

And at that moment the Princess realised that she too loved that simple and honest
soldier. With tears in her eyes she took the hand of her guard, and with his dagger in
both their hands, they made two long, deep cuts in her face

When the Prince saw his wifes face everything happened just as the guard had
predicted. The Prince sent her as far away as he could, and he made up a tragic story
about her death which made him even more popular among the people.

And so, disfigured and free, the girl with the beautiful face could finally be happy
alongside that simple and loyal soldier. He was the only person who, looking at her,
would not quickly look away, since in that face he always found the path to his heart.

Moral of the story

We shouldnt value people by their appearance, but rather for their true personality.
 The Cloud-eating Giant

Moral of the story

Soppo was an enormous giant, the biggest there had ever been. He could drink a river
dry, or eat a whole forest as if it were a salad. And, without doubt, his favourite delicacy
was the clouds in the sky; fresh, spongy, the kind he ate so many of that hed almost
always end up with an upset stomach. Hed have such pains in his belly that hed end up
crying, and the flow of his tears created great floods and torrents.

Soppo lived quietly and just how he liked, fearing nothing and no one, coming and going
as he pleased. However, despite all that he wasnt happy: he didnt have even one single
friend. Whats more, every time he visited a country, there was nothing but problems:
with him eating so many clouds the rains for the crops would disappear and, what with
his stomach aches and crying, everything would then get flooded, not to mention all the
woods and farms he would eat his way through... In the end, whenever he was spotted,
everyone would flee in terror, and Soppo never got to spend any time with anyone at all.

One night, seeing him crying, various stars came down and asked him why he was so
sad. On hearing his story they commented:

-Poor giant. He doesnt know how to make friends. Yet the Earth is the most special
planet of all, and its full of all kinds of friends.

-But, where can I find friends? How do I do that?

replied the giant.

-By giving people a hand or doing something for them. That is what makes friendship.
You didnt know that?

replied the stars, amused.

-Gee,

sighed Soppo

-that never occurred to me. What did you guys do to make friends?
-Well, we learned to show people the way at night time, and serve as guides to many
sailors. Theyre great friends. They tell us stories and keep us company every night.

So the giant and the stars kept chatting a while, and over the following days Soppo
thought about nothing else but ways to find friends. But he couldnt think of any way to
manage it. Several days later he went to ask for help from the moon. Being old and wise
the moon answered:

-You wont know how to help someone until you know them well. What do you know
about these people you want to become your friends?"

Soppo thought for a while, because really he knew hardly anything about human beings.
They were so small that hed never worried much about them.
So he thought to himself he would find out about them, and he spent long days observing
their little lives. This is how he discovered why everyone ran off when seeing him, and he
realised he was causing droughts by eating all the clouds, and that his weeping flooded
them out, and he learned a thousand other things that filled him pity and joy.

That night the giant ran to greet the stars.

-Now I know how Im going to make friends.... by eating and crying!!

And so it was. From that day on, Soppo watched the skies, and when the clouds were
preparing enormous storms he would feast himself on some of them. Then, when he
spotted some place where there was a shortage of water, he would cry above it. Before
long, Soppo changed from being the worse that could happen to a country, to being a
blessing for everyone, and he was never short of a good friend to spend a while with, to
listen to, or to offer a helping hand.