Once upon a time, there was a poor couple who lived in a small village near the meadow and a river, which lead into a forest. They were very poor indeed, and the only thing that cheered them up was their deep love to each other.
One day, the husband decided to buy a proper ring for his wife, since his wife didn’t have any jewelry in her whole life, or a wedding ring. So he worked twice as hard and about five months later, he bought a plain, silver ring home for his beloved wife. The wife was very happy that night, even though the ring was so simple with no designs. She knew she could ask no more from her husband.
Unlucky things always happen to good people. One day, a strong wind blew into the house and the ring wobbled from the table where the wife always kept it. It fell on the ground and rolled away. When the wife and the husband found that the ring has disappeared, both of them were sad and frustrated, but they couldn’t do anything about it.
The ring toppled around in a corner and rolled into a small round hole in the wooden wall.
A small white mouse was eating a slice of cheese when something shiny caught his eye: a silver band. He picked it up and examined it. ” Well, what a simple little silver band. I guess it will make a fine necklace for me.” He pondered. “But how plain it is! If I wear it, I have to make it prettier.” The white mouse decided. He put down his cheese and sharpened his pointy front teeth. When the mouse had thought his teeth were sharp enough, he carved the ring by gently gnawing at the sides of the band. He worked like a sculptor and a few minutes later, the white mouse was finished. He was a great designer and the ring looked completely different and amazing: it now had the shape of the waves on its outline and some flowers were blooming on the sides. The white mouse also poked some small holes on the ring that he later decided to put some shiny colorful rocks in it to make it more terrific. He went to sleep satisfied with the beautiful silver ring beside him. The mouse was soundly asleep when he accidently kicked the ring, and it rolled into a big crack and fell inside.
The ring found itself on the meadow with some big trees in front of it. It stayed there until the morning came.
Mr. Chipmunk was up early searching for nuts, and the ring, caught his eye. “Oh, what a special little band! “ He exclaimed “It’s engraved in a most unique way, and it will make a perfect crown for Mrs. Chipmunk!” He said, excited beyond words. “But the holes look a bit empty.” Mr. Chipmunk noticed, “No worries, I’ll do something about it.” And he happily strode off. At his home, a hole in the tree trunk, he carefully took out some hazelnuts. Mr. Chipmunk slowly bit at the nuts until they were nice little round pellets and fitted them in the small holes of the ring. It was perfect and Mr. Chipmunk happily gave it to Mrs. Chipmunk. But his children, the little chipmunks were naughty and quickly snatched the “crown” from their mother’s head and threw it back and forth like a Frisbee. One little chipmunk threw it too hard and the ring went flying out of the hole, sailing above the meadow and falling in the river beside the meadow.
The ring sank into the shallow river and flowed along the current until it got washed up on the shore.
A young girl skipped along the river to collect mushrooms growing on the meadow. She noticed the ring, which was now sitting quietly on the grass. “What an unordinary ring, with funny little designs and hazel nuts between the holes.” She looked at it up and down, and she suddenly had an idea. The girl ran into her house and into her room with the ring. She took out something transparent and attached it to the front of the ring. It was a sparkling, gorgeous diamond! With the diamond, the ring looked even more magnificent. The girl smiled:” I shall take it to my father, he is a blacksmith, and he’ll make this ring even more splendid!” The young girl gave it to his father. The blacksmith was very surprised to see such a marvelous ring, but he was determined to make it flawless. The girl’s father redesigned the ring, replaced the silver with stainless platinum, and changed hazelnut into pure gold. Now this ring is not the simple silver band anymore. It was a valuable, precious, and probably the most beautiful ring in the world! The blacksmith wanted to sell the ring to the nearby jewelry store and get a good price for it, but the ring was so fantastic that anyone would keep it for himself. When the girl found out, she was infuriated. The girl couldn’t realize why her father would sell it and the ring would be shown to the world, so she stole it from his father. The girl decided to put the ring in the river, and maybe, she thought, it will be found by the right owner in the end. She dropped the ring in the water, said farewell, and went home.
The ring flowed along and, you wouldn’t believe it, went toward the poor couple house!
When the wife went outside to get water, she couldn’t believe it: a ring was sitting quietly on the ground. The size and its thickness were exactly same as the silver ring before. When she tried on her, she cried aloud in happiness and ran back to tell her husband. And you know how the story ends, the couple kissed and hugged, and tears flew down their cheeks. They were almost paralyzed by this magnificent ring.
All I know is that the wife never ever took off her marvelous ring again.
