sPeEdYtOwN

Once upon a time, there was a small country in West Germany. It was called Agravat, which meant small yet beautiful. Agravat was a small kingdom that has many natural resources, especially jewels. The people prospered under the reign of a wise king.

The King wanted to celebrate the 100th years’ anniversary of Agravat Kingdom. He ordered a famous sculptor, Mustapo to carve a huge stone lion, a symbol of Agravat Kingdom. The King gave Mustapo one year to finish his work. The sculptor traveled around the countryside. Finally he found the right spot at northern region of Agravat. Mustapo set to work immediately. He carved the giant granite rock alone day and night. The stone lion of Agravat was completed in the end of the year. But Mustapo died out of exhaustion. He didn’t get a chance to report the result to the King yet. So, no one knew about the magnificent stone lion. And the lion stood proudly alone in the jungle, hidden from the people of Agravat.

One day, an evil witch arrived in the jungle. The witch was looking for a vault to store her treasures. She has taken them from the villagers. The witch cursed any villagers who disobeyed her into stone. The witch thought the lion’s mouth would make an excellent vault. So she put her treasures into its mouth. Then she cast a spell on the stone lion. And the lion became alive. The huge stone lion could speak although it couldn’t walk or move.

The lion roared and roared but he couldn’t scare away the evil witch. The witch says, “Silence! Guard my treasures well!” The witch left soon afterwards. The lion couldn’t take out the items in his mouth although he tried hard. So the stone lion became the guardian of the witch’s treasures.

The witch kept robbing precious items from the villagers daily. Some of the poor villagers have starved to death because they didn’t have any money to buy foods.

A brave lad from the village, Frank, secretly followed the witch to her vault. He waited patiently till the witch left. Frank told the stone lion about the villagers’ misery and the lion wept.

The lion opened its mouth. He said, “Go in. Take one item that belonged to you.” Frank climbed the stone lion. He entered the mouth without fear. There were mountains of gold coins, jewels and other precious items in the witch’s vault. But Frank only took a jade amulet, which belonged to his family. He thanked the stone lion for his kindness.

The news spread quickly in the villages. Many villagers went to the stone lion to get back their treasures. The lion’s rule never changed. The villager could only take one item, which belonged to them when he/she entered the vault.

Most of the villagers, except Voltra, followed the lion’s rule. Voltra was a rich merchant who came to reclaim his treasures. He took a big pearl and a gold necklace when he first got out of the lion’s mouth. The stone lion scolded him. Voltra lied, “Please, I need the money to cure my mother’s illness.” The lion felt sorry for him so he let him go.

Voltra was a greedy man. He took a large diamond, which wasn’t his, in his second visit to the stone lion. The lion scolded him again. Voltra lied, “Please, this belongs to my brother. I’m taking this back for him.” The lion pitied him and let him go again. The stone lion didn’t know Voltra had lied to him. Voltra didn’t have any brother. And he was an orphan so he didn’t have any mother either.

Voltra took a large chest filled with gold coins in his third visit to the stone lion. The lion asked, “Why do you take it? It wasn’t yours!” Voltra smiled. He lied, “My wife is pregnant now. I need money to buy her healthy foods. I promise to repay you in few months.”

The stone lion stared to Voltra’s ring finger. There was no wedding ring. The stone lion roared. Then he yells angrily, “LIAR! You are a bachelor!” The lion ate the greedy man.

The evil witch returned to store more treasures few days later. She found Voltra’s corpse inside her vault. The lion said, “This man is a thief. So I ate him.” The witch praised the lion for guarding her treasures well.
She didn’t need to worry about her treasures anymore. So she seldom visited her vault now.

The villagers still secretly visited the stone lion to get their treasures back. Voltra’s death has taught them about greed. They obeyed the lion’s rule. And the stone lion of Agravat became a hero for the villagers.