Prince Had a Small Nose

(A story in two parts)

King ElNose had a large and beautiful nose. He was proud of his nose. In fact everyone in his kingdom had a large and prominent nose, except Prince EsNose. The poor Prince had a small nose, almost a tiny nose.

Everyone made fun of the Prince and his small nose. Even the King joked about his nose. The Prince would feel hurt when anyone pointed at his nose or made a fun of his nose.

He would then quietly leave the palace. He would go to the royal forest. He loved birds and animals. He loved butterflies and spiders. He loved the sky and streams of clear water flowing through the forest. In the forest no one made fun of his small nose.

One day Prince EsNose was chasing butterflies in the royal forest. He wanted to catch a beautiful butterfly. He was running after a blue and red butterfly when he saw a little fairy. She was riding a little butterfly.

The Prince was astonished. He heard of fairies. He had dreamed of fairies. But he had never seen a fairy. The fairy was so small that she could easily ride on a little butterfly. He kept looking at the fairy with his mouth open.

Suddenly the Prince observed that the fairy and the butterfly she was riding would get trapped in a spider’s web. It was the web of a ferocious spider. That spider could kill even big moths that got trapped in its web.

The Prince shouted and warned the fairy, “Watch out, there is a spider’s web in your way. You will get trapped in that web.”

The fairy heard the shout. She signalled the butterfly. The butterfly quickly changed the direction of her flight.

“Thanks for the warning. My butterfly never makes such a mistake. But today we would have got trapped in the spider’s web. And I don’t even have my magic. I forgot to bring it today. It would have been a problem if we had got entangled in the web. Thanks for alerting us,” fairy said to the Prince.

“Who are you?” asked the Prince.

“I am a fairy from fairyland. I often come here. I love this forest. I love birds and animals. I love the sky and streams of clear water. It is just wonderful here.”

“You are just like me. I am Prince EsNose. I also love this forest. But you are so small! Does anyone make fun of you because you are small?”

“Actually I am as tall as any other fairy. I have become small by magic. I love to take a ride on this beautiful little butterfly. But I can’t ride her unless I become small. When I go back to fairyland I will use my magic wand and turn into a normal fairy.”

“That is fantastic.”

“Yes, there is no happiness like going through this royal forest, riding on a beautiful butterfly.”

“Can your magic wand make my nose large and beautiful?” Prince EsNose asked the fairy hesitantly.

“Your nose is already beautiful. I should say you have cute nose. If I make it large it would look ugly. Why do you want to spoil it?” fairy asked in surprise.

“In our country everyone has a large nose. Everyone makes fun of my small nose. It hurts me. I feel bad. That is why I often run away from the palace and be with myself in this forest,” mumbled the Prince.

“Don’t you ever worry about what people say? Just remember, there is no one like you in this whole world. You are a special person. Therefore, you must respect yourself. Only then others will respect you,” fairy said in sweet and warm voice.

“I think you are right. I don’t respect myself. I keep thinking about my nose. I keep thinking of what people say about my nose. I keep feeling sorry for myself,” Prince said.

“Do you know that you are smart enough to see the danger before others can see it?” fairy asked.

“Is it so?” the Prince was surprised.

“Yes. You saw that we would get trapped in spider’s web before I could see it. This butterfly is real clever but even she could not sense the danger we were heading to. ” said the fairy.

“Yes, you are right. I think I don’t have to change my nose. I have to change my attitude.”

Prince EsNose was no longer sad about his small nose.  He was happy with himself. He was proud of himself. He thanked the fairy and came back to the palace.

(to be continued)

© i b arora