This week I happened upon a strange Greek fairy tale called Almondseed and Almondella. In this tale Almondseed sees a black hen a few moments before a woman comes running out of her hut exclaiming she has lost her prized black hen. He then pretends that he is a seer and tells her where it is. He realizes that being a prognosticator may have some financial benefits and from that day forward he claims to have powers. The king even summons him at one point to find out if the pregnant queen is having a boy or a girl. Almondseed just keeps saying "boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl". The queen ends up having a set of twins one boy and one girl. Almondseed's wife is named Almondella. There are a few more trials he is put up against including finding the kings lost coffer and a guessing game of what is in the kings hand.
I really didn't understand the moral behind this one....if you lie long and hard enough good things will come to you. You can pretend to be psychic if you are very very vague....no real moral here though it is a cute story. A bit too heavy on the almond thing though as it is Almondseed's favorite snack, he has a wife named Almondella, and the king tests him by holding an almond in his hand. I give this tale 3 out of 5 stars.
1 comment:
I think that's how psychics do it a lot of the time - keep it vague so people can read into it what they want to.
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