The Prince and The Gardener

Once a upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a prince who built a most lovely castle. Within his castle grounds, there was the most beautiful garden anyone has ever seen. It was filled with beautiful flowers, green lawns, pretty fountains and exotic plants. Everyone who has ever seen it would proclaimed it the loveliest garden of all the kingdom. The prince loved his garden very much and would spent his time cultivating his plants and flowers to put in it. And the prince was happy.
Just outside the castle walls, there lived a humble gardener who admired the prince's lovely garden for the longest time. The prince was kind and enjoyed a good friendship with the gardener. Often he would invite the gardener over his castle walls to listen and share advice on growing the loveliest flowers anyone would ever see. And the gardener was happy.
Then came a time when the prince felt that he would like to share his garden with someone, so that they would take good care of his garden as well as he would have while he had to be away to fight in a war for a year. He searched and he searched when one day, he found a craftsman from a neighbouring kingdom who promised that he would take good care of the prince's garden. And the prince was pleased, so he took his soldiers and rode away. The craftsman worked hard in the garden, spading, pruning the prince's favourite flowers. He toiled and he toiled, working day and night at first, because he wanted the prince to reward him for the work that he has done. But sadly, because he had never taken care of any garden before this, many plants wilted and the seeds he had planted in spring did not grow. The craftsman finally, in a fit of anger, destroyed the work he has been trying to accomplished and left the kingdom. When the prince returned and saw his garden destroyed, he shut himself in his tower for 7 days and 7 nights. During this time, the humble little gardener who had seen what the craftsman had done, tried whatever he could to salvage what's left in the garden. He brought in fertilizer for the soil and cleared the broken roots away, hoping that the prince would once more look at his garden and plant new seeds in it. However, the prince was too heartbroken and would not face the once fruitful but now barren soil. Hence, he did not noticed that though the soil was bare, it was still rich and dark.

Though the prince was sad and thought that he could never grow another flower in his garden again, in his heart, he had secret hopes and yearning to have his lovely garden back again. Yet his despair stopped him from attempting it. The humble gardener realized what the prince must be feeling and seek an audience with the prince, asking for a chance to work with the prince's garden. However, the prince was too sad and did not think that it was possible for anything to grow in his garden anymore. So he turned down his good friend, the humble gardener on his request. Some seasons passed, and it was spring again, when all of a sudden, news came to the prince that a foreign wizard had arrived in the kingdom, who possessed strange and mavellous powers to do wonderous things. The prince was intringued and invited the wizard into his castle. "What magic do you possessed?" he asked the wizard. And the wizard replied "I could make what was destroy and restore them to you, your highness but my service would come with a price." The prince was overjoyed and he took the wizard to his garden. "Make it as it is again and i would pay you a roomful of gold coins" requested the prince. And lo and behold, the wizard waved his magic wand, and everything was restored to the prince. And the prince was happy. He showed his restored garden to his old friend the humble gardener who had been tending to the garden secretly all this while. The humble garden said nothing but was glad that the prince was once more happy with his garden.

However, before summer came, other kingdoms had heard about this mavellous wizard and his strange powers. Each clamoured to recuit the service of the wizard. Finally, a king from the kingdom over the mountains agreed the pay the wizard two roomful of gold coins if the wizard were to enter his service. And the wizard left, taking with him his magic. As the prince's garden has always been sustained by the wizard's magic, the garden fell once again into barren grounds when the wizard was gone. "No more!" cried the prince, "No more would i live in hope that my garden will grow again!" and the prince stayed in his tower for 14 days and 14 nights, refusing to see or talk to anyone. And the humble gardener was sad. He looked at the tower every day hoping that the prince would look into his garden and see all that he was blinded from. That the land has heal, the soil was rich and the scars were long gone even before the wizard came and hid all behind his magic. But the prince was too sad to look and to listen.

The humble garden continue to work in the garden day after day, night after night. Till one day, the prince came out and saw that the soil were spaded and awaiting new seeds to be planted for the next season. Then he saw the humble gardener, who was so tired that he had fallen asleep under the moldy pavillon. Finally, the prince said to the humble gardener, "Do what you could if you want my friend. Though i know your efforts would be furtile, i could not bear to stop you from trying." With that, the prince walked back into his castle, leaving the humble gardener in his garden. The humble gardener was overjoyed. He felt sure that once he could get the plants to grow once more, the prince would surely be happy and once more, take joy in his lovely garden. And the humble gardener worked very hard, season after season, rain and shine, in the prince's garden, spading the soil and planting each seed by hand. It was not easy because the humble gardener had no magic, and he was just one person. Yet he perservered day after day, spading, planting, pruning the plants. And the plants did grow. Slowly at first, there were shoots, then seedlings and finally a tiny bloom from the first springtime flower. Four years passed and though the prince had walk passed the garden, he had not stepped into it as the pain was still great in his heart. One spring morning, the prince heard the song of a lark, a music he long thought he would never hear again ever since the first destruction of his garden. Almost against his will, he once more walked towards he garden and the song of the lark. Now, the garden was once again blooming, and though it was not as lovely as it once was, it was healthy and there were seedlings and buds everywhere. Though there was no fountain, no exotic plants, just humble flowers from the countryside that the humble gardener had picked and transplanted, the garden was nonetheless, growing again.

The humble gardener was eager to show the prince what had been done in the last four years and was glad that the prince finally walked out into his garden again. Yet, the expression on the prince's face froze his excitement. The prince then turned suddenly and walked back into his castle. The humble gardener was crushed and chased after the prince asking him what was wrong. The prince stopped and looked at the humble gardener who was nervously fingering his gardening cap. It seemed like a long time had passed, when finally the prince said to the humble gardener, "My dear friend, i know what you have done and good work it was too. But i am sorry, it can never be and never will be what i have lost.Nothing you could have done could make it up." With that, the prince left the humble gardener and his garden and never once looked back ever again.