Once upon a time, there was a brave soldier who was very badly wounded in a war. When the war was over, he went to the king and hoped that he would take care of him, because he could no longer go to war.
Unexpectedly the king said coldly, “You are of no use to me now, I don’t need you anymore.” After saying this, he drove him away. The soldier had to leave the king’s palace alone, feeling sad and not knowing what to do in the future.
As he walked and thought about his thoughts, he unknowingly walked into a forest. It was almost dark, he was tired and hungry, and wanted to find a place to rest for the night. Just in time, he saw a hut in front of him and knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was an old woman who looked a little odd.
The soldier said, “Can I stay here for the night? I won’t bother you or cause you any trouble.”
The old woman thought for a moment and said, “Yes you can, but you have to do one thing for me before I let you stay.”
The soldier asked, “What is it?”
She said, “There is a deep, deep well in the forest, and at the bottom of the well there is a lamp that gives off a blue light and never goes out. You must go and fetch that lamp for me.”
The soldier was a little surprised to hear this, but he agreed. He said, “Okay, I’ll go get it for you.”
The old woman laughed and took out a big basket and sat the soldier in it, then slowly hoisted him down the well with a rope.
The well was really deep and the soldier kept falling down and couldn’t see the bottom. When he finally reached the bottom of the well, he found that there was indeed a lamp that gave off an eerie blue glow. He picked up the lamp and shouted to the top, “I’ve got the lamp, now can you pull me up!”
The witch hurriedly began to pull upward, but just as she was nearing the mouth of the well, she reached out and tried to grab the lamp. The soldier alertly hid the lamp behind his back and said, “I’ll give you the lamp only if you let me up first.”
The witch was furious to see that her plot had been foiled, and exclaimed, “Then don’t blame me!” After saying this, she let go of the rope, and the soldier fell into the bottom of the well once more.
The bottom of the well was dark and silent. The soldier knew that he was injured and could not climb up at all, and thought, “It’s over, I may die here.”
He fished out a cigarette and tried to have one last smoke to get his spirits up. He lit the cigarette with a blue light, not realizing that just as he lit it, a dwarf suddenly appeared in front of him.
The dwarf bowed and said, “Master, do you have any orders?”
The soldier was startled and asked, “What did you say? Master?”
The dwarf smiled and said, “Yes, whoever lights a cigarette with this blue light lamp and summons me is my master. I can fulfill any wish you have.”
The soldier was half convinced and said, “Then show me out first.”
Before the words were out of his mouth, he was already standing outside the well. It was then that he was fully convinced that the lamp really had magic. No wonder that witch wanted it so badly!
He immediately said to the dwarf, “That witch is so bad that she almost killed me. Can you arrest her? Let her be punished.”
The dwarf nodded and in a twinkling of an eye, he grabbed the witch out of the sky and sent her straight to the judge. It turned out that she was running away on her broom when she heard the soldier.
The dwarf also told the soldier that the witch had a lot of treasure hidden in her house. The soldier was so happy that he took some gold and stayed in the most luxurious inn in town and chose the best room.
The more he thought about it, the more angry, said: “We soldiers, fighting for the country, born to die. As a result, once we are injured and useless, we are thrown away like garbage. This king is so heartless, I’m going to give him a taste of his own medicine.”
He said to the dwarf, “Tonight while the king is sleeping, you bring him here and make him do some rough work, so that he will know what hard work means.”
That night the dwarf did bring the king. The soldier kept the king busy all night by making him carry water, sweep the floor, and wipe the table.
The next morning, the king woke up with a sore back and a hard body. He told the minister beside him, “I had a dream last night that the soldier made me do all kinds of hard labor and tortured me. I thought it was a dream, but now my body really hurts and I suspect it really happened.”
The minister said, “Don’t worry, Your Majesty, we can do a test. When you go to bed tonight, fill your pockets with beans and if someone does take you, the beans will spill out. We’ll look along the beans and find the soldier.”
The dwarfs overheard the plan in secret, and that night they scattered beans all over the city. The next day, the king sent his men to find the route left by the beans, only to find that the whole city floor was covered with beans, and it was impossible to tell which way was the right one.
The minister had another idea: “Your Majesty, next time before you go out, quietly hide a shoe under a soldier’s bed. Then we’ll search the whole city and we’ll always find him.”
This time the dwarf didn’t have time to warn the soldier, and the soldier was arrested. Because it was so sudden, he didn’t even take his blue light and tobacco pouch with him.
Before his execution, a few of his old comrades came to see him. The soldier asked them to help him get his bag from the hotel. One of his comrades said, “The king has been so desperate with us, how could I not help you fulfill your last wish?”
Just moments before the execution, the bundle arrived just in time. The soldier opened it and saw that it contained none other than the blue light lamp and the tobacco pouch.
The man in charge of the execution was also one of his comrades who had been helped by him. The man said, “Brother, I know you are wrongly accused. I promise you that I will let you smoke your last cigarette before the execution.”
The soldier nodded, took out his cigarette pouch, and lit the cigarette with a blue light. The dwarf appeared immediately.
Without hesitation, the soldier said, “Arrest the king and his ministers!”
The dwarfs moved so fast that the king and his ministers were instantly tied to the ground, unable to move.
The soldier said, “Didn’t you want to kill me? Now it’s my turn to have a say. If you don’t want to die, give me the kingdom.”
In order to save his life, the king had to agree to give the soldier the whole country.
Later, the soldier became the new king and married the prettiest princess of the neighboring country. They lived happily ever after.
This story tells how a soldier, who was abandoned by the king, changed his fate by a magical blue light. He not only punished the ungrateful king, but also became a real ruler.
The story tells us several truths:
- Being a man should have a conscience and not just look at benefits;
- Don’t give up hope even if you encounter difficulties;
- Sometimes, something seemingly insignificant may become the key to the turn of life.
If you like this style of story, you can also try to make up a similar one yourself, and maybe you can be a great storyteller too!
