The Boy Who Spoke in Jewels and Flowers

In a humble and forgotten kingdom, nestled far from the bustling cities and golden courts, lived a widowed woman and her two sons. Their home, barely held together by old timber and willpower, echoed with bitterness and jealousy more than laughter or love.

The elder son, tall and sharp-faced, mirrored his mother in every way—proud, unkind, and convinced of his superiority. He paraded through the village with a self-assured strut, perplexed that none of the young women fawned over him. Naturally, he blamed their taste, convinced they preferred men less “distinguished”—like his soft-spoken, younger brother.

The youngest son bore the warmth of his late father—gentle in spirit, kind in heart, and charming without effort. Yet despite his virtues, he was treated like a servant. His mother, blinded by favoritism, made him eat on the kitchen floor and assigned him every laborious task from dawn to dusk. Among his many chores, the worst was fetching water—twice a day—from a well nearly two miles away.

One quiet afternoon, while making his usual trek to the well, the youngest son was approached by a weary old man cloaked in rags.

“Please, boy,” the man rasped, “may I have a drink?”

Without hesitation, the boy smiled, drew the clearest water from the well, and offered it to him with both hands. The old man drank, wiped his lips, and transformed before the boy’s astonished eyes into a radiant fairy cloaked in silken light.

“You have a kind soul,” the fairy said. “And for your selflessness, I shall bless you. From now on, with every word you speak, flowers or precious gems shall tumble from your lips.”

Before the boy could ask why, a cascade of glittering rubies and delicate lilies fell to the ground from his mouth. The fairy smiled and disappeared into the wind.

When he returned home, his mother screamed at him for taking too long and smacked the bucket from his hands. Water splashed across the floor.

“Clean it up this instant!” she demanded.

“I’m sorry,” the boy whispered—and out dropped a stream of emeralds and peonies.

The mother’s eyes grew wide with greed. “What trickery is this?” she demanded. As her son told her the tale, pearls and daisies covered the floor, growing into a glistening heap. Unable to contain herself, she shouted for her eldest son.

“You will go to that well,” she commanded, “and do exactly what your brother did!”

The elder son sneered at the idea. But when his mother brandished a broom and chased him around the house, he finally grabbed a bucket and stormed out.

He trudged toward the well, cursing the distance, grumbling about his sore feet and the heat. When he arrived, he found a noblewoman in fine clothes waiting at the well’s edge.

“May I trouble you for a drink?” she asked softly.

The eldest scoffed. “Fine, but I didn’t come here to serve you.” He filled the bucket from the murkiest part of the well and thrust it toward her.

She took one look and shook her head. “From now on, with every word you speak, serpents and toads shall fall from your mouth.”

The boy laughed mockingly—until a snake and three toads slipped from his lips. He shrieked in horror and ran home, spitting curses and creatures all the way.

When he burst into the house, his mother rushed over. “What gift did you bring?”

“Gift? I was cursed!” he cried, as two vipers slithered to the floor. His mother screamed. In a rage, she blamed the younger son for her favorite’s misfortune and hurled whatever she could grab at him.

Heartbroken, the youngest son fled to the forest and collapsed near the well in tears.

It was there that a young huntress, cloaked in green, found him. “Why do you cry, kind stranger?” she asked. When he explained everything, daffodils and sapphires spilled gently from his lips.

She lifted a small lily from the grass and studied it. “You’re no ordinary man. Come with me.”

To his amazement, the huntress led him to the palace—she was the princess of the realm. When she introduced him to her father, the king was astounded by the jewels and flowers and asked the boy to help restore the kingdom’s fortunes.

“I will help gladly,” said the boy, “but I ask one favor in return. Please bring my mother and brother to live here. They have wronged me, but they are still my family.”

The king agreed, and messengers were dispatched. But they returned with grim news—the mother and brother had died after being overwhelmed by the very snakes and toads the eldest son now produced.

The boy mourned. Though they had hurt him, he had never wished them harm.

Years passed. The kingdom flourished, rich with the jewels that fell from the boy’s kind words. The princess and the boy became inseparable, hunting side by side, laughing under the stars, and growing in wisdom together.

One spring morning, the princess turned to him and said, “You have been my truest friend, and the kindest soul I’ve ever known. Will you marry me?”

He smiled, and from his lips bloomed a lily, just like the one she had picked up long ago.

Moral of the Story:

Kindness never goes unrewarded, and cruelty never escapes its consequence. True treasure lies not in gold, but in the words we speak and the hearts we touch.