Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 8, 2025
Soon afterwards, a camel-driver came to draw water from the well, and let down the bucket; whereupon Prince Half-a-son caught hold of the rope and held on. The camel-driver, feeling a heavy weight, looked down to see what it was, and when he beheld half-a-boy clinging to the rope he was so frightened that he ran clean away.
Still he throve and grew strong, so that when his brothers went out shooting he begged to be allowed to go out also. 'How can you go a-shooting? wept his mother, who did nothing but fret because her son was but half-a-son; 'you are only half-a-boy; how can you hold your crossbow? 'Then let me go and play at shooting, replied the prince, nothing daunted.
Then they ran away laughing; but Prince Half-a-son called out, 'Break, rope, break! my companions have gone on, and before they had gone out of sight he rejoined his brothers, who could not understand how this miserable half-a-boy outwitted them. Being determined to be revenged on him, they waited until he began to draw water from a well, where they stopped to drink, and then they pushed him in.
When they became very importunate, he threw over a few of the unripe and sour melons; whereupon his brothers became so enraged that they ran to the owner of the field and told him that half-a-boy was making sad havoc amongst his fruit. Then they watched him catch poor Prince Half-a-son, who of course could not run very fast, and tie him to a tree, after which they went away laughing.
By and by they came to a plum tree, where the fruit grew far out on slender branches that would only bear the weight of half-a-boy. 'Throw us down some! cried the whole brothers, as they saw Half-a-son with his half-mouth full. 'Remember the sweets! retorted the prince.
So they felt round, and when they came upon the six brothers, the demon ate them up one after another. So that was an end of them, and Prince Half-a-son had the best of it, in spite of his only being half-a-boy. Once upon a time there lived a mother and a daughter who worshipped the Sun.
But Prince Half-a-son had some compensation for being only half-a-boy, in that he possessed the magical power of making a rope do anything he bade it. Therefore, when he saw his brothers leaving him in the lurch, he called out, 'Break, rope, break! my companions have gone on, and the rope obeyed at once, leaving him free to join his brothers.
By and by they came to a field of melons, so carefully fenced in with thorns that only one tiny gap remained in one corner, and that was too small for any one to creep through, except half-a-boy; so while the six whole princes remained outside, little Half-a-son was feasting on the delicious melons inside, and though they begged and prayed him to throw a few over the hedge, he only laughed, saying, 'Remember the sweets! it is my turn now!
This made his brothers so angry that they ran off to the owner of the tree, and telling him how half-a-boy was feasting on his plums, watched while he caught the offender and tied him to the tree.
Now amongst the wedding guests were Prince Half-a-son's wicked brothers, who were ready to die of spite and envy when they discovered that the happy bridegroom was none other than their despised half-a-boy. So they went to the King, and said, 'We know this lad: he is a sweeper's son, and quite unfit to be the husband of so charming a princess!
Word Of The Day
Others Looking