November 20, 2024

Iron John(Part 1)

Published by
Zahra_abedi
170 published texts

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a large forest near his palace filled with various game. The king sent his hunter to catch a mountain goat, but the hunter did not return. The king said, "Perhaps he has encountered some misfortune." He then sent two more hunters to search for him, but they too did not return. On the third day, the king ordered all his hunters to gather and spoke to them: "Search the entire forest, and do not return until you have found all three of them." However, they did not come back either, and none of the hunting dogs they had taken with them returned to the palace. From that time on, no one was willing to risk their life in such a forest. As a result, the forest fell into deep silence, and only occasionally an eagle or a vulture could be seen flying high above the tall trees.

This situation continued for many years until a foreign hunter introduced himself to the king. He requested a position in the court and proposed to venture into the dangerous forest. The king was reluctant to agree and said, "There is something suspicious in this forest. I fear that you may share a fate no better than the others and may not be able to return." The hunter replied, "Your Majesty, I accept all risks at my own responsibility. I do not know fear." The hunter then entered the forest with his dog. After a short while, the dog picked up the scent of a trail and followed it, but before long, it reached a swamp and stopped. At that moment, a hand emerged from the swamp, seized the dog, and pulled it underwater. When the hunter saw this, he turned back from the way he had come. He chose three men and told them to use buckets to remove enough water from the swamp until it was empty. Once the swamp was revealed, they discovered a wild giant lying at the bottom of the water. His body was a rusty brown color, resembling rusted iron, and his hair covered his face, reaching to his knees. The people bound the giant with ropes and brought him to the palace. The wild giant caused great astonishment. The king ordered that he be placed in an iron cage and decreed that anyone who opened the cage would be executed, giving the key to the queen's chief guard. From that time on, everyone moved safely in and out of that forest.

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