One day in the land of Persia, a beggar went to the banks of a river, and suddenly the river receded, leaving behind silt. The beggar started searching in it for fish that the river might have left, but he found something more valuable. He found a large sapphire. The beggar rushed to his friend who worked in the royal Shah’s kitchen and showed him the sapphire. He said to him, “Where did you find it?” The beggar said, “On the shore.” Then he said, “My friend, you helped me a lot, but can you give me free food again? How many meals can I buy with this stone?” He said to him, “It’s a sapphire, you fool, and it could change your life. Take it to the Shah immediately.”
Then he said to him, “Ask him for two containers of gold in exchange for the sapphire.” The beggar took his friend’s advice and went to the Shah. The Shah was amazed, as he had never seen a sapphire of that size before. The Shah said to him, “I will give you three containers of gold in exchange for the sapphire. Is that enough for you?” The beggar took the containers of gold and left.
Then the Shah said, “It’s precious. I will present it to my daughter on her eighteenth birthday because it will bring her good luck.” The Shah placed the sapphire in a large chest and locked it with a huge lock. His daughter’s eighteenth birthday arrived. The Shah went to bring the sapphire, and as soon as he opened the chest, he found a young man!
The Shah said to him, “Thief, you stole my sapphire!” He said to him, “What thief steals his sapphire and imprisons himself in the chest? The sapphire disappeared. This is real, and I won’t return it to you. I am here in its place. I am the Prince of the Sapphire, and I demand that you not ask me how this happened.” The Shah became very angry. Then the prince said to him, “Excuse me, I cannot tell you where I came from.” The Shah said, “If you insist, you will leave me no other choice. Since I found you in my chest, you will execute my orders and become my servant.”
The Shah wanted to execute the Prince of the Sapphire but couldn’t. He possessed steady eyes and a calm voice, making the matter difficult for him. But he remained furious about the loss of his sapphire. The Shah assigned the prince strange tasks like farming and cleaning the palace, but he never complained. Rather, he exploited every task to get closer to the princess, as he had fallen in love with her.
The Shah summoned him the next day and said to him, “There is a dragon in the waters of Persia that has been drowning our ships for months, and our trade has been severely affected. Take the sword and defeat the dragon. This is an order for you.” The prince said to him, “Your command, my lord.” Then he said, “I need a flute. I will play on it to lure the dragon out of the water to the forest.” The Shah said, “All right, but the dragon is dangerous on land like in water, but it’s the only way to execute your orders.” The Shah agreed.
The prince took his boat and reached the forest. He stood in the middle of a wide land and prepared to summon the dragon from the water. The earth shook whenever the dragon approached, and the air became warmer. The prince realized the dragon was approaching. The dragon descended with all its power and struck him. Then he said to him, “I won’t kill you, but promise me not to drown any ship or bother anyone.”
The Prince of the Sapphire returned to the palace and shocked everyone with his return. He said, “My lord, I executed your order, and the dragon will never return.” The Shah said, “You are a brave prince. I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but I will respect your wish. But request whatever you want.” He said, “I love your daughter, and with your permission, I will ask her to marry me.” The Shah said, “You have already charmed me with your courage. If she wants to marry you, how can I refuse?” The princess was also charmed by him, so she agreed to marriage immediately. The princess was gentle and loved her husband intensely. They lived together in happiness, but one question still occupied her. She said, “I don’t know anything about you. Where did you come from?”
The prince said, “If I tell you, you won’t see me again, and this matter saddens the princess, who loved her husband and wanted to know everything about him. This prompted her to ask him again while they were both sitting by the ocean. But he was sad and asked her not to force him to answer. But as he was about to tell her, the ocean swallowed him. The guards searched the entire ocean for him but didn’t find the prince. The princess blamed herself. Everyone tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, but to no avail.
The princess couldn’t bear the sadness and became ill. The doctors failed to find treatment for her. The Shah was worried about his daughter. Then a day came when the servant told her strange news. She said to her, “The entire ocean lit up last night, and the jinn danced.” She said to her, “What is this nonsense? There are no jinn.” She said, “I saw him. He had a sparkling sapphire on his head.”
That night, the princess and the servant hid behind the trees near the ocean and waited until darkness fell. Suddenly, they saw lights flying from the ocean, and the lights turned into jinn and small men. A little later, the king of the ocean appeared with his men. He was wearing a golden robe and holding a scepter. The show began, and the jinn danced, and the men displayed their tricks. But the princess wasn’t interested in this. Her eyes settled on the man standing beside the king. She never forgot the eyes. The love of her life stood like a statue.
The princess did something brave. She covered her face with a veil and danced among the jinn. The king said to her in amazement, “Request what you want.” She said, “I am the wife of the Prince of the Sapphire. I beg you, return my husband to me again. This is my only request.” The king became angry and returned to the water, taking the prince with him. Suddenly, the prince appeared. Before she could understand, the ocean spoke. “You can recover him, but don’t forget how you lost him.”
The entire kingdom celebrated the return of the Prince of the Sapphire. From that day, the princess never asked her husband about anything.