DLTK's Fairy Tale Activities
The Flower Crown
Once upon a time, in a small village in Ukraine, there lived a beautiful and kind-hearted girl named Oksana. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds, and her long golden hair flowed down her back like a river of sunshine. Everyone who met Oksana was enchanted by her kindness and gentle nature.
One day, a wealthy nobleman came to the village and saw Oksana. He was immediately smitten with her beauty and wanted to marry her. The nobleman came to Oksana's home and asked for her hand in marriage. Oksana's father was overjoyed and gave his blessing for the marriage. However, Oksana didn't feel the same way about the nobleman. She needed time to think.
The nobleman was impatient and didn't want to wait. He left the village, but not before dropping a beautiful flower crown on the ground. He told Oksana that he would return in one year, and if she was wearing the flower crown, he would know that she had agreed to marry him.
Oksana was sad and didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave her village to live in a big house with servants, she didn't want to marry the nobleman though he seemed like a kind enough man, but she didn't want to disappoint her father either. She went to the village wise woman for advice.
The wise woman listened to Oksana's story and knew that she needed help. She gave Oksana a special herbal tea to drink before she went to bed. When Oksana woke up the next morning, she found that she had shrunk in size.
Oksana knew that this was her chance. She carefully crept out a small crack in the wall of her cottage and snuck out into the village. She met a tiny mouse who offered to help her find a way to escape marrying the nobleman without hurting his feelings or causing damage to her family or her village.
The mouse led Oksana to a nearby lake, where she met a magical fish. The fish had sparkling golden scales and wise, knowing eyes.
The fish offered to help Oksana with her plight. It told Oksana to go to the nobleman's castle and to sing a special song. The song would make the nobleman forget about Oksana and fall in love with someone more suited to life in a noble house.
Oksana did as the fish instructed. She went to the nobleman's castle and sang the special song. The nobleman forgot all about Oksana and fell in love with another woman who was thrilled at the chance to be his wife.
Oksana returned home, and the wise woman gave her another cup of herbal tea to drink. She grew back to her normal size, and no one in the village ever knew about her adventures.
From that day on, Oksana lived happily ever after, knowing that she had found a way to avoid marrying someone she didn't love and to remain in the small village she adored.
And the flower crown? Oksana dried it and hung it on the door to her cottage as a constant reminder to always follow her heart.
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