30 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
30 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
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THE FLYING TRUNK
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Once upon a time, many years ago in Copenhagen, in Denmark, a wealthy
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merchant had a son called Erik. Erik was a good-looking lad, intelligent too,
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but very lazy. Instead of studying or doing some work, he liked to spend his
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days roaming about, amusing himself with his friends and squandering his
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father's money on unnecessary luxuries. When the merchant died, he left all
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his money to Erik, who frittered it away in a matter of months.
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The only thing left was an empty magic trunk. The minute anyone stepped
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inside, it rose into the air. One day, Erik, who had no intention of working
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for a living, decided to face the unknown and seek his fortune. So he stepped
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into the trunk and, for days on end, flew across the seas and over woodlands
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and deserts. At last, he found himself above a city in the East and ordered
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the trunk to land on the terrace of a wonderful palace. Erik stepped out of
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the trunk and there in front of him stood a girl, staring at him in amazement.
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"I'm Tamara, the Sultan's daughter," she said. "Who are you?" Quick to turn
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the situation to his own advantage, Erik replied:
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"I'm the god of your people, come to ask your hand in marriage." Fascinated
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by the handsome stranger and certain that he really was a god, she happily
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said 'yes' and called her family. The Sultan welcomed the youth with great
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honours and immediately started to make arranaements for the wedding.
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The day before the ceremony, Erik stuffed the trunk full of jewels, golden
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candle sticks and fine damasks and flew away from the palace towards
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Copenhagen. However, weighed down by its valuable load, the trunk fell into
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the sea off the Danish coast. Erik managed to swim ashore and return to
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Copenhagen, where he sang sad songs at street corners for a living. In the
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East, on the terrace of a magnificent palace, a young girl sadly glanced at the
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sky from time to time, hoping that the god who had suddenly disappeared, would
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come back again.
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