THE MASTER KEY

The Magical Flower

Once there lived different types of animals in the animal kingdom. All animals were friends. They all interacted with each other peacefully. The king of the kingdom was the lion.

All the predators had agreed to eat grass as the other animals do but lion excluded himself. Because he was the king of the jungle, he did whatever he liked. He ate animals everyday.

All the animals in the kingdom were afraid of him. Even Mr. and Mrs. Tiger were afraid of him. The lion commanded everyone in the kingdom. The lion’s best friend was antelope. The antelope was the only animal who found favor in the sight of the king.

All animals feared the lion except the tortoise. The tortoise was the slowest but he was the smartest.

One day, during a meeting, the king asked his subjects what could be done so that their kingdom will last forever. Tortoise suggested that the king should also eat grass as the other animals do. The king silenced him at once. The tortoise challenged the lion. The king ordered his guard who was the elephant to throw tortoise out.

Tortoise was not happy. He constantly came to the king’s house to challenge him. He told the king that he was better than him in all things. Tortoise said he could pass the lion in a race. The lion mocked tortoise and told him that even his friend antelope will pass him.

The day for the race was set. The tortoise against the antelope. The whistle was blown. The antelope took off with speed. The tortoise started slowly and the lion laughed at him. The antelope ran till he reached the finish line. He watched back to see if the tortoise was coming. When he saw that tortoise was nowhere in view, he decided to rest under a tree. Unfortunately, he fell into a deep sleep. The tortoise continued his slow steps and crossed the finishing line. The tortoise won the race. Lion got angry and ate the antelope at once. The lion challenged the tortoise for a rematch. The tortoise agreed but he chose where they will run. Another race was set between the lion himself and the tortoise.

When the whistle was blown the lion took off with speed till he reached the bank of a river. The tortoise came and met the lion at bank of the river. The tortoise swam the river and crossed the finishing line.

After the race, everyone was amazed at how tortoise won the two races. The lion began to lose his respect. The lion was furious. The lion ordered for a rematch. The lion chose two big trees. He said that the first person to uproot the tree will be the winner. The lion chose elephant as his representative. The tortoise, the elephant and all animals were present. The competition began. The elephant used his trunk to hit the tree. Just after five blows of hitting the tree, the tree wanted to fall down. Tortoise acted smartly. He reminded the elephant how he lost his parents. The elephant became sad and fell asleep to cool his heart. The tortoise removed his shell and used it to fetch water. He poured the water on the part of the tree which led to the root. Gradually the ground became soft and the roots lost their strength. He pushed the tree down and it got uprooted. The tortoise had once again marveled all the animals. He had won another contest.

This time the king demanded a fight between him and the tortoise. No one could beat the lion because he was the strongest.

All animals came together to think of how to help the tortoise win because they knew the tortoise can never defeat the lion.

They went to the monkey who was the herbalist so that he could suggest a solution. The monkey told them that there was only one solution. He said that a Magical Flower which was in a cave far away was the only way the lion could be defeated. He added that if the magical flower was found, the person who found it could make any wish he liked. He also added that he could only wish for one thing.

The tortoise asked permission from the king to go and prepare. The tortoise embarked on the journey in search for the magical flower without the lion knowing about it. Because the tortoise was slow, it took him 100 days to get the flower.

After he got the flower and had returned, the day for the fight was organized.

The other animals told the king that they had a medicine which could make him stronger. The tortoise used his only wish. He wished that the lion should eat grass the rest of his life. After he made his wish on the flower as prescribed by the monkey, the other animals went to the king and told him that they had a medicine which could make him stronger. They grinded the magical flower and gave it to the king to eat. The king ate it. The day for the fight came. When the battle began, the lion began to eat grass instead of fighting. He ate the grass foolishly till he dropped from a waterfall and died. The whole kingdom was happy because the lion had died.

After two weeks, The tortoise was made king of the kingdom. He ruled for 150 years before he died. The mystery of how he got the magical flower was only known by his children. Till this day the tortoise is known as the wisest animal in the kingdom.