Once, there was a queen. She had no children. ‘Who will look after my subjects when I am old and weak?’ she thought. Then she had an idea. “The children of this country will be given seeds. Whoever grows the prettiest flower within two months will become the new prince or princess,” she announced. All the children planted the seeds and watered them. Little Delilah too watered her seed and turned the soil in her pot, but even after two months, there was no sign of a flower. All the children went to the queen and showed her the flowers they had grown. With a heavy heart, Delilah told the queen, “I couldn’t grow a flower although I cared for it well.” The queen said, “The seeds that had been distributed were all cooked. No one could have grown a flower with those seeds. This girl is honest. She shall be my princess.”
The Clever Queen
