The princess who loved a beggar

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess in the palace of Beria. She was charming, young, passionate and a caring woman.  She was a master of fine arts and horse riding. So attractive was her charm that princes from distant lands would come up to meet her. They would sing poems about her beauty, their valor and their love for her. They all wished to marry her. The princess would smile at the chivalry but all the princess returned were with a few gifts. None of the prince could intrigue her mind. They all felt the same to her. She was longing for love but would not give in.

One day there was a mystery guest at her doors. He wasn’t dressed in silken robes, riding a horse or singing poems. He was a beggar dressed in rags and asking for alms in a coarse voice. The princess had never seen a beggar in her life. She looked down her window as the palace guards were tackling the man away. She invited the beggar in the palace out of curiosity and asked her maids to take care of the beggar. The beggar was given a bath and clean clothes to wear.

He asked the princess for a loaf of bread. The princess was surprised at this strange request. He didn’t ask her hand for marriage but just a loaf to eat. She wanted to know more about him so she sat next to him. He talked about distant lands, wars, merchants, magic and travel as he munched on the food. His stories intrigued her even more. He was a handsome young man, as old as the princess. His name was Aziz .He was not interested to praise the beauty of the princess or to win her hand, he was happy with the food and the shelter. The princess asked the beggar to stay in the palace.

Every day the princess and the beggar used to talk and spend hours together. Eventually the princess became fond of the beggar. She started believing in his stories and his way of life. When the beggar used to talk about leaving the palace and travel to north her heart sank at the thought. The princess soon wished to marry the beggar. She thought that she could train him to become one of the army general or give him some province to run just so that nobody points out finger at her for marrying a beggar. She talked about her plans while the beggar just nodded saying nothing. His silence was taken as an acceptance. But Aziz wasn’t interested to work. He was enjoying what he had. He didn’t have to go hungry for food now; he didn’t have to brave scorching sun and the rain. He had a shelter over his head and more than enough food to fill his pallet.

The princess’s high ambitions for him bothered him. He knew that she would soon impose him in some work. If he ever was interested in work he wouldn’t be begging in the first place. One day Aziz spoke his heart to the princess. He told her that he was a vagabond and won’t stay for long, his heart belonged to the place in north and not in the palace and he wouldn’t marry her. The princess was shaken by his talk, she never imagined that Aziz would leave her alone, she was hurt, tears rolled out of her eyes. She had done everything for him. She wondered what went wrong. She always hoped best for him. But Aziz was unyielding; he wouldn’t change for anyone. He was his own master, he thought to himself.

The princess now deeply in love with him believed that she could change his mind one day. One day he would change his ways and leave the adamancy behind. She was by now abandoned by most of her friends. They didn’t like to sit with the beggar around; his coarse ways were frowned down by them. But this wasn’t enough for the princess to abandon the beggar; she was hopelessly in love with the man by now. All she wanted to be by his side and no one else. It was long since the princes had already stopped coming by her doorstep. The beggar was all she had now. She was ready to surpass any limits to have him forever. But Aziz had now started feeling the burden of being over rated by the princess.

One day Aziz left the palace without a word. He knew she wouldn’t let him leave if he talked to her. This bewildered the princess who frantically searched him. She put all her men to search for Aziz. None of them found him, he was gone. The princess mourned in his absence. She was broken down, her heart cut to pieces, her love tarnished. She blamed herself for being too hard on him. Nothing seemed to console her. Days passed, months and years. She still hoped for him to return. She had by now abandoned her interests. Stayed alone, wailing for hours. Her face started wrinkling, her body was shrunken and her talents lost.

One day someone found him and brought him to her. She was delighted. It was the first time in years that her face burst into smile. She ran to the doors to receive him. He was standing there with a pale face. Aziz was now in rags the way he was found. He had returned back to where he came from. She looked at him and confessed her love for him, how she spent years for him to return and how she was sorry that she tried to enforce things on him. Aziz started scoffing in laughter at her plight. It was amusing for him to see how the princess wasted herself so much over him. At once he blurted out without a thought, “Silly princess” and left the palace with a grin.