Princess of Fire

There was once and incredibly rich, beautiful, and wise Princess. Tired of false suitors who
were only interested in her money, she announced that she would only marry whoever
managed to present her with the most valuable, tender, and sincere gift of all.
The palace filled up with flowers and gifts of every kind, letters describing undying love,
and love-struck poems. Among all these wonderful gifts, she found a pebble, a simple dirty
pebble. Intrigued, she demanded to see whoever it was who had offered this gift. Despite
her curiosity, she pretended to be highly offended by the gift when the young man was
brought before her. He explained it to her like this,
"Dear Princess, this pebble represents the most valuable thing one can give - it is my heart.
It is also sincere, because it is not yet yours, and it is as hard as a stone. Only when it fills
with love will it soften and be more tender than any other."
The young man quietly left, leaving the Princess surprised and captivated. She fell so in
love that she took the little pebble with her wherever she went, and for months she regaled
the young man with gifts and attention. But his heart remained as hard as the stone in her
hands. Losing hope, she ended up throwing the pebble into a fire. In the heat of the fire, the
sand crumbled from around it, and from out of that rough stone a beautiful golden figure
emerged. With this, the Princess understood that she herself would have to be like the fire,
and go about separating what is useless from what is truly important.
During the following months she set about changing the kingdom, and devoted her life, her
wisdom, and her riches to separating what is truly valuable from what is unimportant. She
gave up the luxury, the jewels, the excess; and it meant that everyone in the kingdom now
had food to eat and books to read. So many people came away from their interaction with
the Princess enchanted by her character and her charisma. Her mere presence transmitted
such human warmth that they started to call her 'The Princess of Fire'.
And as with the pebble, the fire of her presence melted the hardness of the young man's
heart. And just as he had promised, he became so tender and considerate that he made the
Princess happy till the end of her days.

Hubo una vez una princesa increblemente rica, bella y sabia. Cansada de pretendientes
falsos que se acercaban a ella para conseguir sus riquezas, hizo publicar que se casara con
quien le llevase el regalo ms valioso, tierno y sincero a la vez. El palacio se llen de flores
y regalos de todos los tipos y colores, de cartas de amor incomparables y de poetas
enamorados. Y entre todos aquellos regalos magnficos, descubri una piedra; una simple y
sucia piedra. Intrigada, hizo llamar a quien se la haba regalado. A pesar de su curiosidad,
mostr estar muy ofendida cuando apareci el joven, y este se explic diciendo:
- Esa piedra representa lo ms valioso que os puedo regalar, princesa: es mi corazn. Y
tambin es sincera, porque an no es vuestro y es duro como una piedra. Slo cuando se
llene de amor se ablandar y ser ms tierno que ningn otro.
El joven se march tranquilamente, dejando a la princesa sorprendida y atrapada. Qued
tan enamorada que llevaba consigo la piedra a todas partes, y durante meses llen al joven
de regalos y atenciones, pero su corazn segua siendo duro como la piedra en sus manos.
Desanimada, termin por arrojar la piedra al fuego; al momento vio cmo se deshaca la
arena, y de aquella piedra tosca surga una bella figura de oro. Entonces comprendi que
ella misma tendra que ser como el fuego, y transformar cuanto tocaba separando lo intil
de lo importante.
Durante los meses siguientes, la princesa se propuso cambiar en el reino, y como con la
piedra, dedic su vida, su sabidura y sus riquezas a separar lo intil de lo importante.
Acab con el lujo, las joyas y los excesos, y las gentes del pas tuvieron comida y libros.
Cuantos trataban con la princesa salan encantados por su carcter y cercana, y su sola
prensencia transmita tal calor humano y pasin por cuanto haca, que comenzaron a
llamarla cariosamente "La princesa de fuego".
Y como con la piedra, su fuego deshizo la dura corteza del corazn del joven, que tal y
como haba prometido, result ser tan tierno y justo que hizo feliz a la princesa hasta el fin
de sus das