Once upon a time, in days of old, there was a king named Wardan. One day, a small princess was born to the king. On that day, the king prepared three golden plates, three golden spoons, and the most delicious food, and sent to call the forest fairies.
The first fairy’s attendance at the palace and presenting the gift: There were three fairies in the forest, and each fairy would come to the small princess with a gift. The king said to himself: Which of them will bring the most beautiful gift for the princess, and what will the gift be? The first of the three fairies came, ate her food, and presented her gift. Her gift was a bag full of gold! So was the first fairy’s gift the most beautiful? The palace sage smiled and said: The bag of gold is not the most beautiful gift for the princess, because gold will be spent and become as if it never was.
The second fairy’s attendance at the palace and presenting the gift: After a little while, the second fairy came, ate her food, and presented her gift. Her gift was a large chest full of silk! So was the second fairy’s gift the most beautiful? The palace sage smiled and said: The chest of silk is not the most beautiful gift for the princess, for with the passage of time, the silk will dissolve and become as if it never was.
The third fairy’s attendance at the palace and presenting the gift: After a little while, the third fairy came, ate her food, and presented her gift. Her gift was that the small princess would be beautiful in form and have no equal to her beauty! So was the third fairy’s gift the most beautiful? The palace sage smiled and said: Beauty of form is not the most beautiful gift! With the passage of time, beauty of form will be lost and become as if it never was.
The king’s wonder at the sage’s opinion: The king was very surprised by the palace sage’s words and said: If gold is not the most beautiful gift, and silk garments are not the most beautiful gift, even beauty is not the most beautiful gift! Then what is the most beautiful gift, oh sage?
The most beautiful gift: Here the palace sage answered: The most beautiful gift for a girl and also the most beautiful gift for a boy is the love of curiosity. When the princess hears a sound, she must ask what is the source of this sound and why. When she sees a bird, she asks why does it fly? She sees feathers and asks, why is it feathers and not something else. She sees the sun and asks why it shines. She sees the moon illuminating and asks why does it appear, and why and why and why and why… And so on, because curiosity makes the child ask, and asking makes the child know, and knowledge makes the child grow and live life with confidence and culture. So knowledge is the most beautiful gift.