The Pomegranate and the Three Brothers

Once upon a time a sultan had three sons. The sultan grew old, and one day he fell very ill. Whatever the doctors did, they could not cure him. At last an old dervish came to the palace and said: "Only a pomegranate that grows in the garden beyond Mount Qaf can cure our sultan. Each seed of that pomegranate is a cure for an illness."

The three princes set out to fetch the pomegranate. When they came to a fork in the road, each of them took a different path. The eldest prince chose the road to the right, the middle prince the road to the left, and the youngest prince the road in the middle. "Whoever finds the pomegranate, let's meet here again in a year," they said.

On his way the eldest prince came to an inn. In the inn music was playing and people were eating and drinking. The eldest prince sat down too, enjoyed himself and forgot about the pomegranate. When he had spent all his money, the innkeeper threw him out. The middle prince met a rich merchant on his way. "Work for me, and I'll make you rich," said the merchant. The middle prince threw himself into trade and forgot about the pomegranate.

But the youngest prince kept on his way. On the road he met a hungry old woman and gave her the bread from his saddlebag. The old woman said to him, "My son, on the road to Mount Qaf there is a giant. If the giant is asleep, his eyes are open; if he is awake, they are closed. Pass him when his eyes are open." The prince went a little further and saw a bird with a broken wing by the side of a stream. He bound the bird's wing. The bird told him, "At the garden gate two lions stand guard. One has meat in front of it and the other grass. Swap the meat and the grass, and go in."

The youngest prince walked for months, and at last he reached Mount Qaf. He passed the giant while its eyes were open. When he came to the garden gate, he saw two lions; one had grass in front of it and the other meat. He swapped the grass for meat and the meat for grass; while the lions were eating, he slipped into the garden. In the middle of the garden stood a tree full of bright red pomegranates. The prince picked the finest pomegranate and turned back at once.

When the year was up, he came to the fork in the road. There he found his brothers. Both of them were in a sorry state. The youngest prince told them, "Brothers, I've found the pomegranate. Our father will be cured." His brothers were jealous. At night, while their little brother slept, they took the pomegranate from his saddlebag and put it in their own, and they put an ordinary pomegranate in his bag. In the morning the three of them went back to the palace together.

The eldest prince went before his father and held out the pomegranate: "Dear father, I've brought you this pomegranate." The sultan ate it and was cured. Then the youngest prince gave him the pomegranate from his own saddlebag. The sultan ate that too, but nothing happened. "Our little brother lied to us," said the brothers. "He couldn't find the pomegranate, so he picked up an ordinary one on the road." The sultan was deeply hurt by his youngest son.

But the youngest prince said nothing. He waited patiently. Meanwhile a bird came to the palace; it was the bird whose wing he had bound. The bird perched on the sultan's window and spoke: "Your Majesty, the one who found the pomegranate is your youngest son. His brothers stole it from him. If you don't believe me, look at the pomegranate's skin. The pomegranate of Mount Qaf has the mark of a crescent moon on its skin."

The sultan had the skin of the pomegranate brought, and indeed there was the mark of a crescent moon on it. He questioned the eldest prince, and both the eldest and the middle prince confessed their lie. The sultan sent his two elder sons away from the palace. He made his youngest son heir to the throne.

But the youngest prince begged his father: "Dear father, forgive my brothers. They were only jealous. I've forgiven them." The sultan was amazed at his youngest son's kind heart and forgave his brothers. And the brothers apologised to their little brother and were never jealous of him again.

The youngest prince shared the remaining pomegranate seeds among the sick of the land; each seed cured one sick person. This tale tells us: the one who tells the truth may seem to be in the wrong for a while, but one day the truth always comes out. And a kind heart shows mercy even to those who wrong it.