There once was a rich merchant. He had a son who didn't want to do anything except play and waste money. The rich merchant died and left his money to his son, but he wasted it and soon, he had nothing left in his pocket.

The Flying Trunk

When he had no money, no one welcomed him. Even his closest friends avoided him. The son was so sad that he decided¹ to move to another town.

One of his friends gave him a big old trunk. But he had nothing to put in the trunk. The only things he had were a pair of wooden shoes and stripped² pajama. When he had nothing more to put in the trunk, he put himself in.

"Wow, what is wrong with this trunk?" The trunk was closed by itself and rose slowly up to the sky ."Where am I going?"

He floated in the sky for a while, and when the trunk opened its zipper³ a little, he carefully looked down. He saw the round rooves of the towers. He arrived at the country where Trook people live. The trunk slowly landed next to a small pond in a forest. He hid the trunk and came out of the forest.

He went place to place and found the tallest tower of the area. He asked about the tower to one of the people on the road. "Who lives in the tallest tower?" "A princess is living there, but she can only meet her king and queen." "Why?" "A fairy told them that the princess will be very miserable⁴ because of a young man."

The son rode in the trunk and went to the princess' room. She was sleeping peacefully. The sleeping princess was very beautiful. She woke up from the noise that the son made. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" "I came here to send you a message from the God of the Trooks." He lied and pretended⁵ as if he was the messenger⁶ from the God.' The princess was happy and talked with him.

He told a funny story to the king and queen when they came to see the princess. He said that he was 'the messenger of the God'. The king and queen were happy and they decided to make him the groom⁷ of the prince.

"People say the princess has a partner to marry. He is a messenger from the God." The Trook people crowded into the streets and had a big party. They danced and enjoyed fireworks all night long. The son rode in the trunk and enjoyed the fireworks.

When it was dawn, he hid the trunk again and went into the street. He wanted to know what people said about him. The Trook people were all saying, "Did you see those fireworks in the sky? He must be a messenger of the God." He was happy and went back to the pond.

When he got back to the woods, his flying trunk was badly burned and only a pile of ashes was left. A small spark⁸ was in the trunk, and it had started the fire. Unfortunately, he could never fly again, and he could not be the son-in-law of the king.