The rainbow spark

Once upon a time there was a country which was very hard to live in. There were a lot of thefts, attacks, and even murders. At one time the fire of happiness was burning in that country and it was burning in rainbow colours. The person who lit a candle with the fire brought delight to every place the light could reach. And who used this fire in his stove enjoyed warmness, peace and calmness in his house.

But one day the rainbow fire burned out and since then things were worse and worse. When life was almost unbearable, the king decided not to listen to the words of courteous counselors and visited one old woman secretly - she lived under the mountains at the edge of the kingdom.

He came into her modest but cosy cottage and as soon as he sat down he began to talk about his worries.

“My dear prophetess, I do not know what to do... it seems that all things went mad. Everyone takes care only of himself and does not even look at others, only in the case when there is something to envy or steal. The truth is said only by mistake. And the man fears of his life even in his own house. My dear prophetess, give me an advise, please, how to help this country..?”

The prophetess connived her eyes and after a while she asked this answer instead: “Will you allow me to tell a little lie, my dear king?”

The king was disconcerted - to tell a little lie? But in fear that he might lose her advice, he agreed: “For the sake of this country I will allow you everything!” The prophetess agreed to cooperate and prepared for the journey.

When she appeared in front of the people, she made a strange speech: “People, the fire of happiness has burned out but there is still one spark left. One of you is carrying it. He does not know about it but if he looks for it, he will find it. Then the fire of happiness will flame up again. I will not tell you whether it is a man or a woman, an old man or a child. But be aware! If that man is in despair, the spark will burn out and then woe betide you - happiness will leave us forever.”

Everyone was amazed by her speech. Not everything is lost... And since then all of them have thought about it with a hope. Every one was longing to know who she was thinking about and who is that man carrying inside the rainbow spark.

As the time passed, one jealous man was going to murder someone. When he was standing above his sleeping rival, a strange idea occurred to him: “What if he is the man who carries the spark? It could burn out! Woe betide us then... I would rather leave him alive.“

There was yet another man so unhappy about his life that one day he put his head into a noose and his last thought was: “What if her words belonged to me? I must not despair! Nobody knows, maybe I possess that spark.“

One man wanted to drive a neighbour out of the house, a second man lifted the stick against a child and a third man wanted to ambush a pedestrian in the dark street... - all of them were stopped by the same thought: “What if they kill the spark too?“

Since that time the life in the kingdom has been changing for the better. The people behaved decently in fear they might otherwise kill the rainbow spark. And when the joy returned completely and the life became a pleasure, the king visited the prophetess again. He said to her:

“Thank you. You had thought it up very well. But it is a pity you had told a lie and that this man with the spark of happiness is not here.”

The prophetess fixed her eyes upon the king's eyes calmly and said: “You know, my king, I had to tell that little lie. There is 5not such a man here. Everyone carries the spark! But I could not tell the people this thing. Would they believe me?”