The Ridiculous Wishes English Story for Kids | Creation Story for Kids

Adaptation of the short story by Charles Perrault

Once upon a time there was a woodcutter so poor that he no longer had any illusions in this life. He was discouraged because he had never had any luck. His life was work and more work. No luxury, no travel, no entertainment…

One day, walking through the woods, he began to lament aloud, thinking that no one was listening to him.

– I don’t know what a good meal is, or sleeping on silk sheets, or having a day off to laze around a bit. Life hasn’t been kind to me!

At that moment, the great god Jupiter appeared to him with lightning in his hand. The woodcutter, terrified, leaned back and, covering his eyes, began to shout:

– Don’t do anything to me, sir! Please don’t do anything to me!

Jupiter reassured him.

– Don’t be afraid, friend, I’m not going to hurt you. I come to show you that you complain without foundation. I want you to realize for yourself the things that are really worthwhile.

I don’t understand what you mean, sir…

– Listen carefully! I will give you an opportunity that you should take advantage of very well. Make three wishes, whatever you want, and I’ll grant them. Of course, my advice is that you think carefully about what you are going to ask me, because there are only three of them and there is no going back.

As soon as he said these words, the god vanished into thin air, raising a cloud of dust. The woodcutter, excited, ran home to tell his wife everything.

As you can imagine, his wife was crazy with happiness. Luck had finally come into their lives! They started talking about the future, about all the things they wanted to buy and how many far away places they could visit.

– It will be great to live in a big house surrounded by a garden full of magnolia trees! Right, my dear?

– Yes Yes! And finally we can go to Paris They say it’s beautiful!

– Well, I would like to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a big ship and reach the Americas!…

They couldn’t contain themselves with joy! They let their imagination run wild and felt very lucky. After a while they calmed down a bit and the woman put a little order in the whole thing.

– Darling, let’s not get impatient. We are so excited and can’t think straight. We are going to decide the three wishes well before saying them so as not to make mistakes.

– You are right. I’m going to pour some wine and we’ll drink it by the fireplace while we chat. Do you feel like it?

– Good idea!

The woodcutter poured two glasses and they sat together in the warmth of the fire. They were happy and somewhat calmer. As they drank, the man exclaimed:

– This wine is quite good. If we had a sausage to go with it, it would be perfect!

The poor woodcutter did not realize that with these words he had just formulated his first wish, until a huge sausage appeared before his nose.

His wife gave a scream and, very angry, began to recriminate him.

– You will be silly…! How do you waste a wish on something as absurd as a sausage? Don’t do it again! Be careful what you say or we’ll be left with nothing.

– You’re right… It was unintentionally. I’ll be more careful next time.

But the woman had lost her temper and was still scolding him nonstop.

– That happens to you for not thinking about things! You should be more sensible! Look what to order a sausage!…

The man, tired of receiving reprimands, ended up getting nervous too and angrily answered his wife:

– Okay, okay, shut up already! Stop talking about the damn sausage! I wish you had it glued to your nose!

The rage and confusion of the moment led him to say something that, in reality, he did not mean to, but the fact is that once he released it, it happened: the sausage flew out and embedded itself in his pretty wife’s nose as if it were a huge hanging wart.

The poor woodcutter nearly fainted from fright! Without eating or drinking it, he now had a giant sausage on his face. She looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked to see her new appearance. She tried to pull it off but it was impossible: that sausage had stuck to her for life.

With tears in her eyes and trying to control her anger, she turned to her husband with her hands on her hips.

– So, what can we do now? We can only make one last wish and things have gone quite awry, as you can see.

Indeed, the decision was tricky. Trying to remain calm, they sat down to deliberate on how to use that wish. There were two options: ask for the sausage to come off the nose once and for all, or take the opportunity to ask for gold and jewels that would allow them to live like kings for the rest of their lives. What was very clear was that they had to give up one of the two things.

The woman did not want to be the bearer of a sausage that would forever disfigure her beautiful face, and the woodcutter, who loved her, did not want to see her with that monstrous appearance. In the end they agreed and the man, getting up, exclaimed:

– Let the sausage disappear from my wife’s nose!

A second later, the huge sausage had vanished. The girl recovered her beauty and he was happy that she was the same as always.

The possibility of being millionaires no longer existed, but instead of feeling frustration, they hugged each other with a lot of love. The woodcutter understood, just as Jupiter had warned him, that true happiness is not in wealth, but in being happy with the people we love.