18 Storytelling beside the Bonfire (2/2)

Sangsang had fallen sound asleep on his knee, leaving only Lee Yu and Ning Que still awake alongside the bonfire. The two continued sitting there without any words, and suddenly the little boy struggled out from the arms of the princess, rubbing his eyes and asking her to tell him a story because he couldn't fall asleep, which made Lee Yu embarrassed. The stories she had heard in the palace during her childhood had already escaped from her mind, while the romantic stories she favored as a young girl were not suitable for such a kid.

The boy, airing his grievance by being unwilling to look at his step-mother, and yet refraining from causing disturbances, looked quite pitiful. Ning Que just grinned aside at the embarrassed princess and gently made several coughs.

”The golden wheat, and the glossy green oats... The duck eggs cracked one by one, but nothing had happened to the biggest one... Mother duck looked at her big and ugly baby paddling cheerfully in the water, and proudly said, 'Look, she is not an annoying turkey, she is my baby.'”

”'But she is too ugly, and others will make judgments of her wherever she goes'... the wild duck said, 'Anyway, it has nothing to do with us so long as she doesn't marry any of the ducks from our family.'”

”One night, when the glorious sunset towards the western wilderness, the ugly duckling saw a flock of big birds flying out of the woods, whose beauty had never appeared in her life. They were bright white with slender and soft necks, unfolding their beautiful wings and flying to warm states.

”When winter had passed, the ugly duckling found she was surrounded by some big swans, which made her extremely ashamed because in her mind she was so ugly. However, those big swans were tenderly pecking at her feathers... And suddenly she glimpsed at her reflection in the water and unexpectedly found it was so beautiful... When spring came, the sun shone warmly again. The lilacs dangled their branches into the water and people began to sing and dance cheerfully when they saw the ugly duck. They excitedly yelled at her, 'Look! How pretty that swan is!'”

Ning Que randomly drew something on the ground beside his feet with a piece of scorched wood, with a smile he told that very old story with his head lowered. The story sounded simple yet indicated mixed feelings of sorrow and happiness. The little boy listened with his eyes opened widely, his body lying on the princess, and even the princess herself had been engrossed in the story. It hadn't been noticed that Sangsang woke up and joined them. She had heard the story when she was very young but still listened carefully, with childlike smiles occasionally emerging on her face.

The night went deeper, and finally the children fell into a sweet dream when the story had finished. All of a sudden Lee Yu opened her mouth after a long period of silence and said, ”Your story is too profound for Little Wild to understand. But I still have to thank you for reminding me of these things... I'll learn from that mother duck to treat him as my child and be proud of him. He'll never be mocked at and even discriminated against after we return to Chang'an. But whether he can soar up like that swan... It all depends on himself.”

Ning Que rubbed his head with a smile and then responded, ”Actually I haven't thought about it so much. It's just a story that I trumped up to comfort Sangsang when she was a child, because she always felt self-abased for her darkish and not-so-pretty appearance.”

”Anyway, it's a good story,” Lee Yu smiled and said, ”and it sounds encouraging for a disdained ugly duckling to finally grow into a respected white swan through her effort.”

The hand of Ning Que holding the scorched wood slightly stiffened. He then raised his head and said earnestly, ”You have misunderstood me. This story is desperate to a larger degree, because it's impossible for an ugly duckling to grow into a swan. And she can... because originally she is a swan, just like Your Highness and the little prince in your arms. But a real ugly duckling will in no way grow into a swan.”

Lee Yu silently stared at this lad. Reflecting on his words, she faintly understood something.

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