Story3 "The Golden Apple"

A long time ago, a man and his wife lived in a town. He had enough money, and he was enjoying his life with his wife. He was not much worried, but his wife felt they should have a child as they had no children.

One night, the wife had a dream. She saw a tree in a dense forest. Its branch was bent as it was loaded with fruits. She saw a huge golden apple hanging from its branch.

Incidentally, she had this dream for three consecutive nights in a row. One day she asked her husband, "Will you please go to the forest and bring me that golden apple?"

That man did not believe this, but he decided to go just for the sake of his wife. He walked in the direction described by his wife and finally reached the middle of that dense forest.

Surprisingly, he saw a tree whose branch was bent, and there was a golden apple hanging on it. He could not stop himself, so he stretched out his hand and plucked the apple from the branch.

As soon as he plucked the apple, he heard an angry voice say, "How dare you pluck this apple?"

He looked around and saw a beautiful woman asking him this question. She was not an ordinary woman, as her hair was golden and she had a golden necklace around her neck.

The man said, "Don't be angry with me." He said politely, "I didn't know it was forbidden to pluck the fruits here. I wanted to give it to my sick wife."

The woman said, "As you have told me the truth, so I gift you this golden apple."

The woman further said, "Tell your wife to eat it. There will be twins, both boys, in your house, when they turn eighteen, send them here in this forest. I will decide the fate of both of them."

You have read this in part-1 Source

It happened as the woman had said. They had twins but both were quite different from each other. One boy had deep black eyes, while the other had brown eyes. Gradually, both became young and handsome. But the black-eyed boy was cruel by nature, and the brown-eyed one was kind.

When he turned eighteen, his father sent him to the forest. The boys went to the forest. As soon as he made the sound of 'thak-thak' on the apple tree, he found himself standing in front of a beautiful woman. Small shells were lying in front of him. One of them was plain and rough, and the other was shining brightly.

The woman said, "Take one of your choices." But don't be hasty, because this will decide your fate.

The boy with the black eyes couldn't help it. He immediately swooped down and picked up the shining ball. The rough shell hit the hand of another brother.

The woman said, "Now break each of your balls. Be satisfied with whatever comes out.

The woman immediately disappeared after saying this.

The black-eyed boy was the first to break his ball-like object. He immediately saw a black Arabian horse standing in front of him. A uniform was tied to the horse's saddle and there was a sword whose handle was gold with diamonds studded on it.

"Aha! With the help of this sword, I will be able to win all the wealth of the entire world." Exclaimed the black-eyed boy.

Then the brown-eyed boy broke his piece. In front of him stood a pony with a bag on its back that contained bags full of seeds.

Both brothers mounted their respective horses and went in different directions.

The brown-eyed one reached a village and started looking for a place to spend the night. A farmer came out and said politely, "You may stay with us, but I'm sorry that I will not be able to serve you well. A dacoit loots our crops.

"Why don't you catch him?" asked the brown-eyed boy.

The farmer replied, "How can we catch him? It is the hot wind that scorches our crops."

He lay down in the farmer's courtyard, keeping his bag of seeds by his head. He felt that the seeds were moving.

"Please sow us in the earth," he heard a voice coming from the bag, "We will make such a thick wall that will stop the hot air from coming into the fields.

The next day, the boy said to the farmer, "Can I stay with you?" Maybe we both will be able to stop the hot air."

The farmer was very happy to hear his proposal, and they both started living together. The seeds he sowed grew overnight into the tall and dense line of trees. Now the hot air would collide with them and return, and wheat grew in abundance in the fields.

Once, the brown-eyed boy was passing through another village. He saw a little boy playing with a piece of a small ball that was half gold, half iron, similar to the one as they had received in the forest.

"Where did you get it?" asked the brown-eyed boy.