The Patient Stone
(Setareh)

The patient stone is an Old Persian story. One of my favorite bedtime stories which my mom used to tell me. Hope you enjoy it.
Once upon a time there was a girl named Fatimah. She used to live with her parents in a beautiful place with no worries in the world. Every day on her way to school she used to pass by water well. Until one day while she was passing by the well she saw a golden hand came out of the well looking for something and called her name: Fatimah, Fatimah The poor girl was so frightened that she ran back home telling her parents what has happened to her. After a while her parents decided to move from their home to another place. They felt their daughter wouldn't be safe anymore in that city. So they packed up and moved away.
On the way they saw this beautiful garden with huge walls all around it. Fatimah wanted to have a better look in the garden so she stepped in. But she was so busy looking around which she didn't notice the huge gates of the garden started to close behind her. By the time she found out it was too late and the gates were closed and she was all alone by herself. Her parents tried and tried but they could not open the gates and the walls were too high to be any of help. So they decided to move on and get help.
In the other side Fatimah started to look around but this time with more interest as she might have spent a long time living there. In the middle of the garden, she found a beautiful mansion with decorated rooms. She had this feeling like she has been expected by someone. She spent the night there and in the morning while she was walking through the garden she noticed a tiny room at the corner of the wall. She was wondering what the door is inside the room so she opened. There she found a handsome man sleeping on a bed with 40 needles stuck in his body. Beside his bed was a table with a note on it. "Whoever eats an almond and a spoon of water as her food and takes out a needle off my body every day, she shall broke the spell and wake me up after 40 days and I shall choose her as my bride." So she did as she was told. Soon she found a way to the top of the walls and she used to sit up there and look outside. One day she saw a caravan passing by. She asked them if she could have their servant since she was all alone in the garden and the servant who seemed like a nice girl could keep her company. They agreed and helped her to pass to the other side of garden. Fatimah liked her new friend very much. Everything was great until the girls noticed that every day Fatimah goes to a little room for some time and comes out. So one day she went to see the room by herself. She read the note and saw the man sleeping there. Just on the 40th day when it was time for the young man to wake up and Fatimah was in the house dressing up, she went in the room and ate the last almond and the water and took the last needle out of his body. The man opened his eyes and he smiled to his future wife. She went on and on about how much she has suffered waiting for this day. She also explained that she has a servant at home and her name is Fatimah.
When Fatimah saw the man and the girl together she found out about everything and she became heartbroken. From that day on she was treated as a servant by the wife but the husband liked Fatimah for some reason and he was very nice to her. One day he was going to go to another town. So he asked his wife what she likes him to bring her. The wife asked for different clothes and jewelry. He even asked Fatimah if it was anything she would like him to bring her. She said no at first but after the man insisted she said "bring me the patient stone." The man left and he found everything for his wife but he could not find the patient stone anywhere. An old man heard he was looking for a patient stone. He told him "I do have the patient stone come with me." He gave him a piece of stone. The man looked at it and put it in his bag. He was about to leave but the old man grabbed his arm. The old man asked him "who wants the stone?" the young man explained "a young girl who works in my house." He told him that he should be very careful. He said "the person who needs this has great pain. This stone will listen to her life's stories and at the end she will die. You must hide in her room. When she asks the stone "will you blow up or shall I?" Then you must say out loud "you blow the patient stone." Then you'll save her from dying." The man thanked him greatly and went back home. But he could not help himself but to think of Fatimah and what has made her so sad that she is willing to die. When he got home he gave everyone their presents and he went in Fatimah's room and hid. At night Fatimah came and sat down with the stone and told the stone the story of all her life. Now the man knew what the servant has done to her and Fatimah was the one who suffered for him so much. At the end Fatimah said, "Now oh patient stone will you blow up or shall I?" then the man quickly answered "you blow up oh patient stone" and the stone blew up to pieces. The man finally found his true bride and they got rid of the jealous girl and lived happily ever after in their beautiful mansion.