The Basil Girl

Once upon a time a poor man who grew basil had three daughters. Every morning the girls watered the basil growing in pots in front of the window. The youngest was the most beautiful and the cleverest of them. Opposite the girls' house stood the sultan's palace, and every morning the sultan's son looked at the girls from his window.

One morning, as the youngest girl was watering the basil, the prince called to her from his window: "Basil girl, basil girl, how many leaves does your basil have?" Without a moment's thought, the girl answered: "Sultan's son, sultan's son, how many stars are there in the sky?" The prince could not answer and shut his window in embarrassment. But he liked the girl's cleverness very much.

The prince decided to play a trick on the girl. He disguised himself as a fisherman and began to sell fish in front of the girl's door. When the girl came to the door to buy a fish, the prince said, "This fish isn't sold for money; it's sold for a kiss." The girl thought for a moment, then realised who the fisherman was, and she gave him the kiss. She took the fish and went inside.

The next morning, as the girl was watering the basil, the prince called again: "Basil girl, how many leaves does your basil have?" "How many stars are there in the sky?" said the girl. This time the prince laughed and said, "You gave a kiss for a fish." At these words the girl realised that the prince had tricked her, and she was cross. "Now I'll play a trick on you," she thought.

The girl disguised herself as a minstrel, took an oud and began to sing lovely songs in front of the palace gate. The prince wanted to listen to her and invited her in. "I'll sing you one more song," said the girl, "but on one condition. You must ride a donkey backwards around the palace garden." The prince was so curious about the song that he agreed. He rode a donkey backwards around the garden. Meanwhile the girl slipped away.

The next morning, as the girl was watering the basil, the prince called again: "Basil girl, how many leaves does your basil have?" The girl smiled: "Sultan's son, how did it feel to ride a donkey backwards?" The prince was dumbfounded. He realised the girl had played a trick on him. They both admired each other's cleverness, but this time the prince felt that he had lost.

So the prince went to his father and said he wanted to marry the basil girl. The sultan was surprised, but he could not resist his son's insistence. He sent word to the girl's father. The girl's father was overjoyed. Preparations for the wedding began. But the prince thought to himself: "This girl made me ride a donkey backwards. After the wedding I'll teach her a lesson."

The girl guessed what the prince was thinking. Before the wedding night she had a craftsman make a sugar doll her own size, looking just like her. She had the doll filled with honey and tied a string to its head. On the wedding night she dressed the doll as the bride and laid it in the bed, and she herself hid under the bed holding the end of the string.

When the prince came into the room, he took the doll for the bride and said, "Are you the one who made me ride a donkey backwards?" From under the bed the girl pulled the string, and the doll nodded. "Are you the one who made a fool of me?" Again the doll nodded. In his anger the prince drew his sword and struck the doll. The honey inside the doll spurted out onto the prince's lips. When the prince tasted the honey, he began to weep: "Oh, what have I done! How could I hurt a girl so sweet that even her blood is like honey!"

At that very moment the girl came out from under the bed: "Don't cry, my prince, here I am." When the prince saw the girl safe and sound, at first he was astonished, and then he was overjoyed. He hugged the girl and apologised to her: "You're even cleverer than I am. I'll never play a trick on you again." The girl laughed: "And I'll never play a trick on you again either. But you still don't know how many leaves the basil has!"

They both laughed. The basil girl and the prince lived happily to the end of their days. They lined all the palace windows with pots of basil and watered them together every morning. Three apples fell from the sky: one for the one who told this tale, one for the one who listened, and one for the basil girl, who outwitted even a prince.