It is customary to wish health and happiness at the beginning of a new year, but I think we need to first heal from the wounds the pandemic has inflicted upon us in 2020. My prayer is for God's healing love to flow in all of our hearts in 2021.
This fairy tale is about healing and is based on a little story I found in a book by Bernard Bro. I love giving my own rendering of this story. I have done so in English and in French. My English version is below. My French version is here: Le prince et la pierre précieuse.
There once was a prince who had a very precious gem. This prized possession brought him much joy and he would proudly show it to all the visitors that came to his kingdom.
One day, quite by accident, the gem was damaged. To the prince's dismay, it was deeply scratched. The prince hurriedly summoned all of the jewellers in the kingdom in the hope that one of them could repair it. They all refused to touch it. The damage, they said, was much too severe and any attempt to tamper with it could only result in further harm.
The prince had reluctantly accepted the verdict of the experts and was deeply saddened by his great loss. One day, however, he heard rumours that a new jeweller had come to his kingdom from a distant land. This gem cutter had a reputation for being not only very skilled, but very wise as well. This news revived the prince's hope of recovering his precious possession. He immediately sent for the wise gem cutter.
When the craftsman saw the scarred gem, he fell silent for several minutes then turned to the prince who was waiting impatiently for a response. Finally, the wise man said: "Yes, I can give beauty back to this gem, but on one condition. You must entrust it to me, let me take it out of your castle. Such work requires quiet and solitude."
The prince was taken aback by this request. Even in its condition, the stone was still very precious to him and he did not want to risk loosing it forever. He hesitated for a long time all the while gazing into the eyes of the old man who stood before him. Finally he handed the gem over to the jeweller who took it and, without saying another word, left the castle.
Three days later, when the anxious prince heard that the jeweller had returned, he rushed to meet him in the hall of audiences. The jeweller held out his hands, slowly removed the silk cloth that he had wrapped around the stone and gave the stone to the prince. The prince looked at it and was astonished at what he saw. The scar was still there, but it was no longer ugly. The gem cutter had left it there and made of it the stem of a beautiful carved rose. The prince's gem was now more wonderful to behold than it had ever been.
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