The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued

Page 44

A widowed merchant lives in a mansion in a city with his twelve children; six sons and six daughters. All his daughters are very beautiful, but the youngest, Beauty, is the loveliest. Beauty is also kind and pure of heart. Her elder sisters, in contrast, are cruel, selfish, and jealous of Beauty.

The merchant and his children become poor when their house burns down, and his ships are lost. The family of thirteen is forced to move to a small cottage in the countryside and work for a living. While Beauty makes a firm resolution to adjust to rural life with a cheerful disposition, her sisters do not and mistake her determination for stupidity.

Two years later, the merchant hears that one of his trade ships has returned. Before leaving to retrieve it, and possibly their fortune, he asks his children if they wish for him to bring any gifts back for them. His oldest daughters ask for clothing, jewels, and the finest dresses possible as they think that his wealth has returned. Beauty asks for nothing but her father to return home safely, but when he insists on buying her a present, she is satisfied with the promise of a rose.

When he arrives to the port to see his ship the merchant is dismayed to learn that his colleagues have already sold the cargo, thus leaving him penniless and unable to buy his