DRAGON'S DAUGHTER

Once upon a time, there was a fisherman named Vibot living near the sea. Every day, Vibot went fishing by a boat to earn income for supporting his family. One evening, when he went to fish as usual, he saw a group of children playing so happily. Those children were carrying the tail of a small turtle and swinging it, and they were also beating the shell of that turtle with a small stick to make music.

With compassion for the small turtle, Vibot gently asked those children to release it. When hearing this, the children felt so sorry that their excitement was stopped; however, they agreed to hand over the small turtle to Vibot. While holding the small turtle in hand, Vibot looked at it carefully. He was so surprised as he saw the shell of the turtle came radiant which was different from others. Then, the fisherman laid the turtle down next to the edge of sea. The small turtle bent the head down to express a great thank to Vibot and hurriedly crept into the water.

Next day, when Vibot went fishing, he prayed in a low voice, "May I have a good luck today!" After praying, he started to set the net. Suddenly, there appeared a huge turtle from the surface of the sea near his boat and bowed the head to show a respect to the fisherman and said, "Hi gentleman, I'm here to say thank to you for helping to rescue a small turtle yesterday; moreover, my master, the King of Dragon, ordered me to come and invite you to the Royal Palace in order that he can express his gratitude to you by himself. Please come and ride on my back and I'll bring you there." Vibot, in such a moment, was so surprised together with excitement and he made a quick decision to leave his boat and got onto the back of the turtle. Then, the turtle slowly turned to the right direction and swam right away. A long the journey to the Royal Palace, Vibot saw many kinds of fishes with different colors and strange sea plants along.

A moment later, they arrived at the underground of the sea where there were a lot of big mountains with deep and sallow valleys. In front of the mountain range, Vibot saw a radiant wall of a glittering royal palace of the Dragon King. The wall of this castle was decorated with different kinds of coral and the roof was embellished with various beautiful shells which made it an attractively radiant glow under the water. Vibot saw many marvelous things he had never seen before. In the end, he reached the throne of the Dragon King. The Dragon King was sitting in front of him and Vibot knee-led down to respect the King. The Dragon King said gently, "I've ordered someone to bring you here because I'd like to express my own thank to you for helping my daughter."

 Soon afterward, the Princess of the Dragon King came and said, "[ am a small turtle which you have rescued me from the children." Vibot could not speak out because he was so much attracted by her beautiful face and gentle walk like the seaweed swinging through the move of the seawater. Her smile was so nice and fresh like the waves of the sea. The Princess claimed that "[ have never left the Royal Palace. But I want to see the people on earth, [ metamorphosed into a small turtle and swam to the sea sore near the village. But when I was crawling on the sand, I was caught by the children. If you had not helped me, I would have died in that time."

She added that "r absolutely forget; you may be very hungry because you have been traveling very far!" Princes waved her hand, the table with plenty of tasty food came up. Plats, spoons and forks were all made of gold and silver. Then she waved again, suddenly the sound of music came as an entertainment during the meal. After the meal, the Princes guided Vibot to visit the wonderful castle and then they both arrived at a large window and glanced to the rice field that the farmers were transplanting rice seedling during the spring. But Vibot observed that the rice seedling grew up rapidly. The view changed rapidly from bright color in spring to the dark color in rainy season.

What made Vibot wonder so much was the rice stalk that bent down soon after transplanting. In short period of time, four seasons have gone through and ended suddenly. The times have consequently passed; Vibot lived in the Royal Palace under the sea with the wonderful life. The Princess honestly accepted Vibot as her husband. All servants served all needs of Vi bot. Vibot asked himself that it was true or it was just only a dream.

One day, however; Vibot remembered his fishing boat and the time he collected the fishing net with a lot of fishes trapped. Suddenly, he remembered his poor mother and other relatives in the village that made him feel anxiously at that time. He anxiously wanted to see those people, but he was also interested in his life living in the palace. Because of the strong feeling of anxiety, he decided to ask the Princess to visit his family. The Princess reluctantly agreed and provided a golden-colored box to him with the message "Please don't open this box, as soon as this box is in good condition, you will meet me again." Vibot tightly held the Princess's hands and promised that "I will never open it and I will be back to meet you soon." After showing respect to this farther-ill-law; he left the palace immediately.

Vibot got onto the back of the big turtle again the turtle brought him to his homeland. After he got out of the wall of the royal palace, he had to go across many small and big valleys and caverns until he appeared on the surface of the sea. While appearing on the surface of the sea, he could see the roof of his home in his village. When he reached the beach, he expressed his great thank to the big turtle and he ran so fast across the beach towards his village. But when he arrived in his village, he saw everything had changed except the range of mountain lying behind his home. All streets and homes in the village had changed. He went straight away a long the street to his home, but he didn't see it at all. He only saw a home 19 that he had never known before.

Vibot asked a villager, "Is it the place where Vibot used to live in before?" That villager looked at him doubtfully and surprisingly, then replied, "His home had become old and collapsed so long time ago. When I was young, I used to listen to my grandfather narrating a story of my great grandfather. He narrated that in one morning Vibot went to fish as usual. Since he had left his home, he was not seen coming back home. Only his boat was seen and no one knew the cause of disappearance. All villagers assumed that he might be caught by vicious sea creatures." After listening to the story till the end, Vibot thanked the villager and went to the beach.

He asked himself, "How long had I lived in the royal palace under the sea? Why am I still young?" Meanwhile, he felt so lonely and he looked at the golden box that he brought with. As Vibot forgot his wife's advice, he opened the cover of that box gently. Suddenly, the white smoke came out from the box and Vibot rapidly became a very old man with white hair and white beard.

At that moment, he heard a sound of the Princess coming out from the surface of the sea "My honey, you cannot open this box because I can help make you remain young forever. But.... I would like to say goodbye to you." After that, Vibot, who became an old person, only heard the sound of waves hitting the beach near his feet.

- The END -

Promise Is a debt.