Esmeralda and the Garden of Delights

Before reading this story, please read Luke 18:9-14.

Once upon a time, in a place far away, there was a land called The Kingdom of No Clocks and No Sheep. You see, the queen of that kingdom once had a dream that her only son, the prince, would either be killed by a sheep or by a clock falling on him. She told her husband, the king, about her dream and he immediately passed a law that there would be no sheep allowed in the royal garden and no clocks in the palace.

In a small village in the Kingdom of No Clocks and No Sheep there lived a little girl named Esmeralda. Esmeralda was an exceptionally good little girl; in fact, she was horribly good! She was always truthful, kept her clothes spotless, ate her oatmeal porridge every morning without complaint, was never late for school, did her homework on time without fail, and played only with other well-mannered girls and boys.

Esmeralda was so good that the village council awarded her several gold medals. She received one medal for obedience, another for punctuality and a third one for good behaviour.

One day, Esmeralda received an invitation from the prince to spend an afternoon in his special garden of delights. Esmeralda wore her best white dress with her three medals pinned on it for all to see. She was especially proud that she was the only child in her village good enough to have been accorded this special invitation.

Since the garden could not have any sheep, the prince filled it instead with a multitude of little pigs. The pigs ate all the flowers in the garden which made Esmeralda very sad as she had determined not to pick any of the prince’s flowers to emphasize her goodness. But, in spite of the lack of flowers, there were many other wonders to behold in the garden, including various ponds with gold, blue and green fishes, multi-coloured talking parrots, and birds that hummed all the popular tunes of the day.

As fate would have it, a hungry wolf came into the garden looking for a little piggy lunch. Tragically, the first thing he spied was Esmeralda in her dazzling white dress. He began to stalk her, but Esmeralda hid behind a flowering myrtle shrub with a scent so strong that the wolf couldn’t smell her. However, Esmeralda began to tremble. As she trembled, her medal for obedience clinked against her medal for punctuality, which then clinked against her medal for good behaviour. The wolf heard all this clinking and quickly pounced on Esmeralda and devoured her to the last morsel. All that was left of Esmeralda were her shoes, bits of clothing and the three gold medals.

So, dear reader, beware, for you can be too good for your own good.

This story is adapted from The Story-Teller by Saki (H.H. Munro 1870-1916).