Long ago, there was a rich merchant with two pretty daughters, Rose and Jasmine. Once the merchant was going to buy and sell his goods. He asked his daughters what he should bring for them. Rose wanted a beautiful dress and a pearl necklace. Jasmine requested for a beautiful pot with blue flowers on it.
The merchant went off on his journey. After work, he rode back home. He bought a pink silk dress and a pearl necklace for Rose. But in no shop could he find a pot with blue flowers. As evening fell, he saw a light and went towards it. He saw a small old hump-backed man working on a potter’s wheel. On a shelf near him was a most beautiful pot with blue flowers on it!
The merchant went up to the man and said, “Sir, would you sell that pot with blue flowers to me?”
The potter looked up and said, “No.”
The merchant was puzzled. “Why won’t you sell it? Why do you keep it here?”
“It’s my lucky pot,” explained the potter, “Whenever I am working, I keep it near me and something good always happens.”
The merchant told him about Jasmine’s request and that he had been unable to find a pot with blue flowers in any shop during his travels. The potter thought for a while.
“Sir, I’ll give it to you on one condition. Whatever your daughter says when she gets this, she must do that,” he said. The merchant was very happy. He took the pot and, thanking the kind potter, he went off home.
Rose was delighted with her gifts. Jasmine held the pot and, looking at it, asked her father where he had got it. He explained all about the hump-backed potter.
“Oh, what a kind man!” she exclaimed, “If I could hug him for his generosity!”
The merchant was miserable. He had promised the potter that his daughter would do what she first said. And she wanted to hug him! But he had to keep his word.
So, he took his daughter to the potter’s house the next day. She ran to him and hugged him, “Thank you for the pot, sir,” she said joyfully.
And magically, the potter became a young handsome man. He smiled at the merchant, “A witch had put me under a spell because I would not give her the pot. The spell would break only with a loving gesture from someone who had the pot from me.” Jasmine married the potter and lived happily with him.
