Story time (take three)

While the descriptions in this story are not nearly as vivid as the last story, I found this tale incredibly amusing.  What do you get when you put together an old woman and a giant in a castle to show the moral of humility?  Read on to find out.

Once upon a time, there was a splendid castle standing on the bank of a river.  The castle garden was cultivated with perfumed roses.  The birds singing gave a pleasant feeling.  In the castle, the big fireplace and the beautiful wool carpet made the hall feel warm and comfortable.  The kitchen was filled with a delicious smell, because the food was prepared.  The castle was quiet and content and made people want to live in it.

There was a three-story tall giant.  He was on the way to finding a castle.  He had thick brunette curly hair and olive skin.  His chubby body was in sloppy clothing.  He was full of physical strength.  His blow could cause a terrible sandstorm.  He could push a tree down with only one finger.  Because of his power, he thought he was the best man in the world and he could control everything.  He was so huge that there was no suitable place for him to live in, and nobody wanted to share a place with such a man who considered himself as a superhero.

There was an old woman also on the way to find the great castle.  She was old, but her hair had been combed fastidiously.  Tender smiles could forever be found on her face.  Her dresses were maybe as old as her, but neat and decent.  Although she was poor, she enjoyed sharing food with the poor.  Because she was garrulous and forgetful, she often brought troubles to people.  She felt sorry to live with other people although they liked her.  She decided to find a comfortable place to enjoy a comfortable old age.

The giant and the old woman met at the gate of the castle, and they knew the other also wanted the castle.

“Let’s have a competition for the castle,” said the old woman.

“No need to.  I can blow you away easily,” said the giant.

“Oh, that’s right.  I am wondering why such a powerful giant is afraid of competing with an old weak woman,” said the old woman.

“Ok, I’m sure you will lose and you have to be my servant after the competition,” said the giant.

Then they made the rules that whoever won two times out of three would get the castle.

In the first round, the giant and the old woman contested who could get across the swamp first.  The giant won easily because of his physical advantage.  Although the old woman used her wisdom and the help of other animals, she still lost.

The giant laughed, “Hey, see how great I am.  I am the greatest man.”

The old woman said, “The competition is not over.”

In the second round, they competed over who could seek the key to the castle first.  The key was guarded by a big ferocious dog in a cave.  The giant thought that he was strong enough to fight with the dog and get the key.  He went into the cave unarmed.  Unfortunately, he was defeated by the dog and badly hurt.  The old woman cooked some delicious bacon with sleeping pills.  She took the bacon to the cave on a rainy day.  She acted that she was just hiding from the rain.  She was scared and she asked the dog to release her on condition that she would give him all the bacon.  The dog ate the bacon and soon fell asleep.  Then the old woman got the key easily.

The giant said, “In fact, I did not fail, I was just careless.”

The old woman said nothing but smiled.

It came to the last round. The winner would be the one who killed the huge poisonous snake near the castle.

“I was born to be an excellent big game hunter,” the giant raised his eyebrows.  He seemed to be sure to be the winner.

“Yes, you have a strong body and you’re full of strength, but I won’t give up until the last second,” said the old woman.

On the way to finding the snake, the giant met an old man who was as poor as a beggar.

“Hey!  Go back!  You won’t defeat the snake,” said the man.

“Who are you?  Get out of my way or I’ll cut you into pieces,” shouted the giant.

“What an egomaniac you are.  You will be a loser by your arrogance,” angrily cursed the old man as he disappeared suddenly.

A few hours later the giant found the snake.  He cut off the snake’s head with an axe.  “That’s so easy,” he laughed.  However, the snake didn’t die.  Instead, it grew two heads.  The giant was shocked by what happened.  The snake became very angry and attacked the giant violently.  The old woman came and stabbed two silver swords into the snake’s eyes.  With that the snake sharply screamed of pain and fell down dead.

“That’s impossible!” cried the giant.

“Thanks to my humility,” said the old woman, “I saw an old man in the forest.  He looked hungry and poor, so I comforted him and gave the last piece of my bread to him.  Then he told me how to defeat the snake and gave me two silver swords.”

Finally, the old woman won the competition.  The giant felt ashamed to stay there, so he intended to leave.  The old woman asked him to stay and share the castle with her.  She said that he was powerful to protect the castle.  The giant now had learned to be humble from his mistakes.  He accepted the request and said, “Let me be your guard.  I will do my best to protect the castle.”  From then on, they lived happily.