Sophia And John
Once upon a time, there lived a great king who ruled his kingdom very well. His wife, the great Queen, had died leaving him with a little daughter. The King called her Sophia. Although Sophia was motherless, she knew that no one could take her mother’s place. So whenever the King her father would think of marrying another woman, she would try with all her might to stop him. One day the King was hunting in the woods with his courtiers when he happened to come upon a large river. Now the question was, how was he to cross it? Just then, the King saw an ugly man pulling him off his horse. The King was furious.
He shouted, “How dare you treat me in this way!” “Don’t you know who I am?” “I’m the great King.” “I will punish you as soon as I go back to my kingdom!” The man was horrified. He said, “Forgive me, Your Highness, but I was only trying to help you.” “For in this big river which you wish to cross there lies a huge lion.” “This lion sleeps for six months which is half of the year.” “For the other half he wakens and spends his time hunting for food.” “Now is the time which he shall wake up.” “I was only trying to save you from his hungry mouth.” The King felt very pleased with the ugly man. He gladly followed the man into his old, tumbledown hut.
There the man called loudly, “Oh, my most beautiful daughter, come quickly and serve our special guest.” “For it is a great honor to have His Majesty in our hut.” Quickly, a beautiful lady dressed in white showed up. She held a golden tray in her lovely hands. On the tray, in beautiful silver cups, there was milk and juice and water. The King gladly drank all this. He then looked at the lady. He thought she would make a great Queen and a very loving mother to Sophia. So he asked the ugly man if he could marry his daughter. The man agreed. The King took the lady by hand and led her back to his palace. Sophia ran out to greet her father, but seeing the lady, she asked the King, “Who on earth is this?”
The King said, “She’s going to be your new mother.” “I have decided to marry her.” Sophia was terrified at hearing this. When the lady was gone, Sophia asked her father, “Father, you know that no one in this whole earth can take Mother’s place.” “So then why have you decided to marry another woman?” The King replied, “My daughter, I know how great your love is for your dead mother.” “I, too, loved her very much.” “But, dear daughter, think of how nice it would be to have a new mother in our palace.” “She’ll give you company.”
“Please accept her before our wedding takes place, dear Sophia.” Sophia fell into tears. She cried, “Don’t you respect my mother?” “She was your wife!” “Why do you want to marry another lady?” “Send this lady back to her home at once if you love me or my mother only a tiny bit.” The King said, “You know how much I love you, Sophia.” “That’s exactly why I’m going to marry this lady.” “I’m doing it to give you a loving mother.” “Don’t you want that?” “Besides, I cannot refuse her, for her father has saved my life.” Sophia said nothing more.
She closed her eyes and ran quickly to her room where she wept with all her might. She refused to eat or drink anything. She locked herself up in a large basement. No one saw her for many days. Finally, on the day of the wedding, one of Sophia’s serving maids saw her quietly unlocking the door to the basement. Her face was all red when she came out. Her eyes were swollen. Her cheeks were wet from all those tears. She was dressed all in black, showing that she was sad.
The maid quickly informed the King that Sophia had come out at last. The King led his daughter to a hall where all of the guests were waiting. Sophia sadly talked to all the guests. When the wedding was over, the King asked Sophia to lead her new mother to her room. Sophia sadly led the lady to her room. For the next couple of days, the new lady, who was called Nassa, treated Sophia like she was her own daughter.
But just as Sophia was beginning to like Nassa, Nassa showed her true colors. She ordered Sophia to do all the chores. She sent all of the servants back to their homes and made Sophia do their work. She took away Sophia’s princess clothing and dressed her in rags. She commanded Sophia to do this and that. Sometimes, Nassa didn’t even let Sophia go to sleep at night.
She ordered her to work during the night. When all the work was finally finished, Nassa ordered Sophia to sleep on the mats and not on her royal bed. Poor Sophia didn’t say a word about this to her father, for she was too scared of Nassa. But the King was noticing everything. He finally understood that Nassa was mistreating Sophia. One day, the King called Sophia and said, “Sophia, Nassa is mistreating you, right?” “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” “I’ve been noticing Nassa’s behavior.” Sophia fell into tears at hearing this. She said, “Oh, Father, please send Nassa away!”
“She’s going to ruin my life!” The King said, “I know what you feel, my daughter.” “I, too, wish to send her away.” “But we’re already married, and remember, her father saved my life once.” “But, there’s one way in which you can live away from Nassa.” “I’ll get a beautiful palace built on the island which lies right next to our kingdom.” “You can live there.” “Don’t worry about being alone, for I’ll send lots of servants to keep you company.”
“Plus, I’ll visit you every other day.” Sophia agreed to this plan. The very next day, the King ordered 22 of his best carpenters to build a beautiful palace on the island which lay right next to the kingdom. The palace was done in about an year. Once it was ready, the King put all of Sophia’s things inside it.
He also hired 50 servants to live with Sophia. Sophia moved in the very next day. From then on, Sophia lived a very peaceful life. Every other day her father came to visit her, and she always had her servants by her side. Soon one more year passed.
One day, Sophia was walking in the gardens of her palace when she heard a big splash coming from the seas around her palace. She looked closer. Then she saw a large boat floating along the ocean. Inside the boat sat a well dressed, handsome looking man. Sophia immediately fell in love with him.
When the boat embarked, Sophia ran to help the young man get onto her island. The man fell in love with her, too. As soon as the man was settled, Sophia asked him a thousand questions. The young man finally said, “I am named John, and I’m a prince.” “I often explore this island, but I’ve never seen you on it.” “Who are you?” Sophia said, “Of course you’ve never seen me!” “I just moved to this island last year.” “My name is Sophia.” “I live on this island for a reason.” “My stepmother, Nassa, makes me work all day long.” “She mistreats me.” “So my father, the King, had a palace built, here on this island so that I could live in in peace, away from my cruel stepmother.” John and Sophia talked together for some time.
Both fell in love. Finally John said, “I must leave now, for my father awaits me.” “He’s a king, and he needs me to help him take care of his kingdom.” “But, I promise that I will come again on this very boat tomorrow to meet you.” Saying this, John gave Sophia a small, glass rock. He said, “I may not remember you the next time I meet you, so shake this glass rock as hard as you can in front of my eyes when I fail to remember you.”
Sophia took the rock and tucked it safely in her pocket. Then she bade farewell to John and watched him leave on his boat. Every day John visited Sophia. Sometimes John failed to remember her, so Sophia shook the glass rock as hard as she could in front of his eyes.
As the days flew by, John and Sophia loved each other more and more. They finally agreed to get married. However, when Sophia and John were sure that they wanted to marry each other, Sophia borrowed John’s boat and rowed to her kingdom. There she met her father in his palace. She said, “Father, a man named John comes to visit me every day on my island.” “He’s a prince, and he’s very handsome as well.” “We have agreed to marry each other.” “With your permission, Father, our wedding shall take place.” The King, who for so long had wanted to get his daughter married, gladly agreed.
He asked Sophia to stay in the palace for a few days. So Sophia moved back into the palace. The King spread the good news all over the kingdom. Nassa, who still was jealous of Sophia, heard of Sophia’s wedding with John as well. She swore that she would stop the wedding. She had also heard of Sophia’s glass rock, and she had a plan. Do you want to know what she did? Well, she quietly stole into Sophia’s room the night before the wedding, and she quickly stole the magic glass rock. She hid it in her room. In the morning, Sophia got ready for her wedding.
As she came into the wedding hall, she saw John arriving. He was dressed in wedding clothes. Just as the wedding was about to take place, John forgot all about Sophia. This wasn’t such a big problem. Sophia simply reached into her pocket for the glass rock, but she found that it was not there! Sophia searched everywhere, but the glass rock was nowhere to be found. For Nassa had hidden it in a good hiding spot. Meanwhile, John totally forgot Sophia. He thought to himself, “Why am I wearing wedding clothes?” “What’s the matter with me?”
“Am I crazy?” Quickly, John left the palace. Sophia tried with all her might to make John remember her, but without the rock, John could not remember one thing about Sophia. Poor Sophia! She had just lost her bridegroom. The King stopped the wedding and ordered a big search party to look for the magic glass rock. But it was nowhere to be found. Sophia soon lost all hopes.
The King had no choice but to get her married to his steward. Meanwhile, John went back to his kingdom and ruled happily with his father for three years. At the very end of those years John fell in love with another lady. Soon the wedding was fixed. Soon the day of the wedding came. On this very day, Sophia and the steward were out on a trip. They soon came upon the palace of John. Sophia asked the steward to wait outside while she attended the wedding. When Sophia came inside as a guest, she saw John and his bride getting ready to be married. Sophia quickly remembered John.
She ran towards John. But John did not recognize her. Then Sophia had a plan. She asked one of the maids to ask John if she could create a puppet show to entertain his guests. John gladly agreed. Sophia got some wax from a bee hive. From the wax, she made two puppet dolls. She tied them with strings so that she could control their movements. Then she used some old drapes to create curtains. She used a table for the stand. At the show, Sophia made one of the dolls say, “Oh, my love, don’t forget me like cruel old John forgot his true love, Sophia.”
Hearing this, John’s face grew pale. Next, Sophia made the other wax doll say, “If that cruel guy John forgot Sophia, why shouldn’t I forget you?” At this, John’s eyes got swollen. Finally, Sophia made the two wax dolls hug each other. Then she made one wax doll disappear from the scenery.
And she made the other wax doll break to pieces. Now John remembered everything. He hugged Sophia. He took her by the hand and led her into the hall. His new bride was sent away. Sophia was dressed in wedding clothes. Both of them were married. On that same day, the steward and John’s new bride were married, as well. John and Sophia returned to the palace of Sophia’s father. They lived there for half of the year, and for the other half they lived at their own palace which lay on the island. THE END
He shouted, “How dare you treat me in this way!” “Don’t you know who I am?” “I’m the great King.” “I will punish you as soon as I go back to my kingdom!” The man was horrified. He said, “Forgive me, Your Highness, but I was only trying to help you.” “For in this big river which you wish to cross there lies a huge lion.” “This lion sleeps for six months which is half of the year.” “For the other half he wakens and spends his time hunting for food.” “Now is the time which he shall wake up.” “I was only trying to save you from his hungry mouth.” The King felt very pleased with the ugly man. He gladly followed the man into his old, tumbledown hut.
There the man called loudly, “Oh, my most beautiful daughter, come quickly and serve our special guest.” “For it is a great honor to have His Majesty in our hut.” Quickly, a beautiful lady dressed in white showed up. She held a golden tray in her lovely hands. On the tray, in beautiful silver cups, there was milk and juice and water. The King gladly drank all this. He then looked at the lady. He thought she would make a great Queen and a very loving mother to Sophia. So he asked the ugly man if he could marry his daughter. The man agreed. The King took the lady by hand and led her back to his palace. Sophia ran out to greet her father, but seeing the lady, she asked the King, “Who on earth is this?”
The King said, “She’s going to be your new mother.” “I have decided to marry her.” Sophia was terrified at hearing this. When the lady was gone, Sophia asked her father, “Father, you know that no one in this whole earth can take Mother’s place.” “So then why have you decided to marry another woman?” The King replied, “My daughter, I know how great your love is for your dead mother.” “I, too, loved her very much.” “But, dear daughter, think of how nice it would be to have a new mother in our palace.” “She’ll give you company.”
“Please accept her before our wedding takes place, dear Sophia.” Sophia fell into tears. She cried, “Don’t you respect my mother?” “She was your wife!” “Why do you want to marry another lady?” “Send this lady back to her home at once if you love me or my mother only a tiny bit.” The King said, “You know how much I love you, Sophia.” “That’s exactly why I’m going to marry this lady.” “I’m doing it to give you a loving mother.” “Don’t you want that?” “Besides, I cannot refuse her, for her father has saved my life.” Sophia said nothing more.
She closed her eyes and ran quickly to her room where she wept with all her might. She refused to eat or drink anything. She locked herself up in a large basement. No one saw her for many days. Finally, on the day of the wedding, one of Sophia’s serving maids saw her quietly unlocking the door to the basement. Her face was all red when she came out. Her eyes were swollen. Her cheeks were wet from all those tears. She was dressed all in black, showing that she was sad.
The maid quickly informed the King that Sophia had come out at last. The King led his daughter to a hall where all of the guests were waiting. Sophia sadly talked to all the guests. When the wedding was over, the King asked Sophia to lead her new mother to her room. Sophia sadly led the lady to her room. For the next couple of days, the new lady, who was called Nassa, treated Sophia like she was her own daughter.
But just as Sophia was beginning to like Nassa, Nassa showed her true colors. She ordered Sophia to do all the chores. She sent all of the servants back to their homes and made Sophia do their work. She took away Sophia’s princess clothing and dressed her in rags. She commanded Sophia to do this and that. Sometimes, Nassa didn’t even let Sophia go to sleep at night.
She ordered her to work during the night. When all the work was finally finished, Nassa ordered Sophia to sleep on the mats and not on her royal bed. Poor Sophia didn’t say a word about this to her father, for she was too scared of Nassa. But the King was noticing everything. He finally understood that Nassa was mistreating Sophia. One day, the King called Sophia and said, “Sophia, Nassa is mistreating you, right?” “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” “I’ve been noticing Nassa’s behavior.” Sophia fell into tears at hearing this. She said, “Oh, Father, please send Nassa away!”
“She’s going to ruin my life!” The King said, “I know what you feel, my daughter.” “I, too, wish to send her away.” “But we’re already married, and remember, her father saved my life once.” “But, there’s one way in which you can live away from Nassa.” “I’ll get a beautiful palace built on the island which lies right next to our kingdom.” “You can live there.” “Don’t worry about being alone, for I’ll send lots of servants to keep you company.”
“Plus, I’ll visit you every other day.” Sophia agreed to this plan. The very next day, the King ordered 22 of his best carpenters to build a beautiful palace on the island which lay right next to the kingdom. The palace was done in about an year. Once it was ready, the King put all of Sophia’s things inside it.
He also hired 50 servants to live with Sophia. Sophia moved in the very next day. From then on, Sophia lived a very peaceful life. Every other day her father came to visit her, and she always had her servants by her side. Soon one more year passed.
One day, Sophia was walking in the gardens of her palace when she heard a big splash coming from the seas around her palace. She looked closer. Then she saw a large boat floating along the ocean. Inside the boat sat a well dressed, handsome looking man. Sophia immediately fell in love with him.
When the boat embarked, Sophia ran to help the young man get onto her island. The man fell in love with her, too. As soon as the man was settled, Sophia asked him a thousand questions. The young man finally said, “I am named John, and I’m a prince.” “I often explore this island, but I’ve never seen you on it.” “Who are you?” Sophia said, “Of course you’ve never seen me!” “I just moved to this island last year.” “My name is Sophia.” “I live on this island for a reason.” “My stepmother, Nassa, makes me work all day long.” “She mistreats me.” “So my father, the King, had a palace built, here on this island so that I could live in in peace, away from my cruel stepmother.” John and Sophia talked together for some time.
Both fell in love. Finally John said, “I must leave now, for my father awaits me.” “He’s a king, and he needs me to help him take care of his kingdom.” “But, I promise that I will come again on this very boat tomorrow to meet you.” Saying this, John gave Sophia a small, glass rock. He said, “I may not remember you the next time I meet you, so shake this glass rock as hard as you can in front of my eyes when I fail to remember you.”
Sophia took the rock and tucked it safely in her pocket. Then she bade farewell to John and watched him leave on his boat. Every day John visited Sophia. Sometimes John failed to remember her, so Sophia shook the glass rock as hard as she could in front of his eyes.
As the days flew by, John and Sophia loved each other more and more. They finally agreed to get married. However, when Sophia and John were sure that they wanted to marry each other, Sophia borrowed John’s boat and rowed to her kingdom. There she met her father in his palace. She said, “Father, a man named John comes to visit me every day on my island.” “He’s a prince, and he’s very handsome as well.” “We have agreed to marry each other.” “With your permission, Father, our wedding shall take place.” The King, who for so long had wanted to get his daughter married, gladly agreed.
He asked Sophia to stay in the palace for a few days. So Sophia moved back into the palace. The King spread the good news all over the kingdom. Nassa, who still was jealous of Sophia, heard of Sophia’s wedding with John as well. She swore that she would stop the wedding. She had also heard of Sophia’s glass rock, and she had a plan. Do you want to know what she did? Well, she quietly stole into Sophia’s room the night before the wedding, and she quickly stole the magic glass rock. She hid it in her room. In the morning, Sophia got ready for her wedding.
As she came into the wedding hall, she saw John arriving. He was dressed in wedding clothes. Just as the wedding was about to take place, John forgot all about Sophia. This wasn’t such a big problem. Sophia simply reached into her pocket for the glass rock, but she found that it was not there! Sophia searched everywhere, but the glass rock was nowhere to be found. For Nassa had hidden it in a good hiding spot. Meanwhile, John totally forgot Sophia. He thought to himself, “Why am I wearing wedding clothes?” “What’s the matter with me?”
“Am I crazy?” Quickly, John left the palace. Sophia tried with all her might to make John remember her, but without the rock, John could not remember one thing about Sophia. Poor Sophia! She had just lost her bridegroom. The King stopped the wedding and ordered a big search party to look for the magic glass rock. But it was nowhere to be found. Sophia soon lost all hopes.
The King had no choice but to get her married to his steward. Meanwhile, John went back to his kingdom and ruled happily with his father for three years. At the very end of those years John fell in love with another lady. Soon the wedding was fixed. Soon the day of the wedding came. On this very day, Sophia and the steward were out on a trip. They soon came upon the palace of John. Sophia asked the steward to wait outside while she attended the wedding. When Sophia came inside as a guest, she saw John and his bride getting ready to be married. Sophia quickly remembered John.
She ran towards John. But John did not recognize her. Then Sophia had a plan. She asked one of the maids to ask John if she could create a puppet show to entertain his guests. John gladly agreed. Sophia got some wax from a bee hive. From the wax, she made two puppet dolls. She tied them with strings so that she could control their movements. Then she used some old drapes to create curtains. She used a table for the stand. At the show, Sophia made one of the dolls say, “Oh, my love, don’t forget me like cruel old John forgot his true love, Sophia.”
Hearing this, John’s face grew pale. Next, Sophia made the other wax doll say, “If that cruel guy John forgot Sophia, why shouldn’t I forget you?” At this, John’s eyes got swollen. Finally, Sophia made the two wax dolls hug each other. Then she made one wax doll disappear from the scenery.
And she made the other wax doll break to pieces. Now John remembered everything. He hugged Sophia. He took her by the hand and led her into the hall. His new bride was sent away. Sophia was dressed in wedding clothes. Both of them were married. On that same day, the steward and John’s new bride were married, as well. John and Sophia returned to the palace of Sophia’s father. They lived there for half of the year, and for the other half they lived at their own palace which lay on the island. THE END