The Most Precious Fruit (Bulgarian Folk Tale)

Once upon a time, there was a father who had three sons. The father was old, and he wanted to give only one of his three sons the entire inheritance after he died, but he couldn”t decide which one of them deserved it the most. One day he called them together, and told them the following, “I will give each of you a bag of gold. Go and walk around the world and find me the most precious fruit. The one who brings it to me, will get my whole fortune.”

The boys took the money and went in three different directions to look for the fruit. Three years passed, and the sons finally returned home. First, the father asked the eldest son, “Well did you bring me the most precious fruit ?”

The son answered, “Father, I believe that the most precious fruit must be the one that tastes the sweetest. I have been in many different countries to find you some white grapes. From all of the fruit on our earth, the white grape is the sweetest.”

“Good job son,” said the father.

“What about you?” asked the father as he turned to the middle child.

“I think that the most precious fruit is the one that is the most difficult to find, so I travelled south. I was in Africa, and I bought you fruit that you can”t find in our lands. For you, I have oranges, dates, and bananas. Here they are. Choose whatever you like,” answered the middle child.

“Well done son. I will take one of them,” replied the father.

He then turned to the youngest son. “What did you bring me? Why don”t you have anything?” questioned the father.

The youngest son said, “It”s true that I come with empty hands, and I didn”t spend the gold you gave me on fruit you can eat. I went to school with teachers and books. They taught me for three years.The fruit I have can”t be seen because it is in my heart and in my mind. I believe this is the most precious fruit.”

When the father heard these words, he said happily, “You brought me the most precious fruit son. You deserve the inheritance the most because there is no fruit more precious than those which give a man knowledge.”