The Mysterious Book

The Mysterious Book

Once there lived an old man named Pedro and his son, Juan. They owned a tiny house and had very little rice. Pedro could no longer work as hard as he once had, while Juan, truth be told, did not much care for work at all. He preferred dreaming, watching clouds, listening to travelers' stories, and imagining that one day good fortune would simply arrive at his door. Then one morning Pedro poured the last grains of rice into his palm. “Son,” he said, “dreaming is a fine thing. But dreams do not put dinner in the pot.” Juan was embarrassed. He loved his father, and he understood that waiting was no longer enough. “I will find work,” he promised. In a nearby town lived a wealthy man named Don Lusano who needed help around his home. Juan began sweeping rooms, carrying water, tending the garden, and running errands. At first the work was difficult. But day by day Juan became more capable. Don Lusano noticed and gradually trusted him more. “There are things in this house you must never touch without permission,” his employer told him one day. “I trust you to remember that.” “I will,” Juan said. Time passed. One morning Don Lusano went away on business, leaving Juan to clean his room. In a dark corner behind a wooden pillar, something gleamed. Juan bent down and discovered a small box polished until it shone. “I will only look,” he thought. He opened the lid. Inside was another box. Juan opened that one too. Inside it sat a third. Then a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth. In the seventh box lay a small book shaped like a triangle. Its cover gleamed with gold, and tiny jewels sparkled around the edges. Juan stood perfectly still. He remembered Don Lusano's warning very clearly. Do not touch anything without permission. But curiosity whispered, “Just open it once. No one will ever know.” Juan opened the book. At once the pages began turning by themselves. The air twisted around him like an invisible whirlwind, and the book lifted Juan off his feet. “Wait! Stop! Where are you taking me?” But the book carried him out of the house and swept him over the road. Don Lusano returned at that very moment. When he saw the open boxes, he immediately understood. For Don Lusano was not merely a wealthy gentleman. He knew an ancient magical art, and the strange little book was the most valuable object in his house. “Juan!” he cried, and hurried after him. The book flew fast, but Don Lusano knew its secrets far better. The distance between them began to close. Juan frantically turned the pages. On one page he read, “Whoever has touched the book and understands its word may, for a short time, become whatever shape he holds clearly in his mind.” “A horse!” Juan shouted. In an instant a small, swift horse was racing down the road where Juan had been. Hooves thundered behind him. Don Lusano had changed into a powerful mule and was catching up. “Then a bird!” Juan shot into the sky as a bright little bird. Behind him appeared a great hawk. Juan darted downward, spotted a well, and thought, “A fish!” Splash! A tiny fish with seven colors flashed beneath the water. Don Lusano became a much larger fish and plunged in after him. Juan found a narrow crack in the stone wall and squeezed inside where his pursuer could not follow. For a long time Don Lusano circled the well. At last he gave up and swam away. The well stood in the garden of the royal palace, and three princesses often came there. One day they noticed a marvelous fish whose scales gleamed in seven colors. The eldest tried to coax it closer. The fish stayed away. The second held out a basket. The fish approached, then slipped away. But when the youngest princess bent over the water, the fish swam straight into her hands. “You are beautiful,” she whispered. “Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you.” She carried the fish to her room and placed it in a large golden bowl filled with clean water. Weeks passed. The princess soon noticed that the fish seemed to understand her words. Whenever she was sad, it swam close. Whenever she laughed, it spun in happy circles. Then one evening, while the room was empty except for the princess, the fish changed into Juan. She stepped back in astonishment. “Please do not be frightened,” Juan said quickly. “I never meant to enter the palace. I was running from a magician.” He told her everything: his father, his work, the forbidden boxes, his curiosity, and the mysterious book. “So the trouble began when you broke someone's trust,” the princess said. Juan lowered his head. “Yes. I understand that much better now.” She agreed to keep his secret and let him remain in the form of a fish until the danger passed. In the evenings, when the doors were closed, they often talked. But Don Lusano had not forgotten his book. Eventually he discovered where Juan was hiding and devised a plan. Around that time, word spread that the youngest princess had become pale and restless. She truly was worried because she feared Don Lusano would find her unusual little friend. Don Lusano came to the palace. “I know how to restore the princess's peace of mind,” he told the king. “I ask for neither gold nor land. Give me only the seven-colored fish in her room.” The king looked surprised. “Only the fish?” “Only that.” The king was about to agree, but the princess understood exactly why the magician had come. When Don Lusano reached for the golden bowl, she said, “Do not touch the water. I will hand the fish to you myself.” She tilted the bowl. The fish slid toward the rim and suddenly leapt. Flash! Instead of a fish, a golden ring appeared on the princess's finger. Don Lusano lunged for it. The ring dropped to the floor and scattered into a handful of tiny mung beans. “Aha!” cried Don Lusano. He changed into a crow and began pecking up the beans. One bean rolled beneath the edge of the princess's dress. Juan was hiding inside it. “Now!” he thought. Where the bean had been, a large cat suddenly appeared. The cat sprang in front of the crow, gave an enormous yowl, and swiped a paw through the air. The crow was so startled that he flew straight to the ceiling, flapped wildly around the room, and escaped through an open window. The moment Don Lusano crossed beyond the palace grounds, the magical book that had bound his pursuit to Juan flashed with golden light. Its pages snapped shut. Don Lusano understood that the chase was over. Whatever power he had held over Juan was gone, and he never returned. The cat became Juan once more. The king stared at the young man, then at his daughter. “Would someone please explain why this room has just been full of a fish, a ring, beans, a crow, and a cat?” The princess laughed and told him the whole story. Juan did not make excuses. “I broke my word and took something I had no right to touch,” he said. “That mistake put me in danger and caused trouble for others. I want to return the book and ask forgiveness for what I did.” The king nodded approvingly. “It is good that you learned not only magic, but responsibility.” The mysterious book was locked away until a truly safe place could be found for it. Juan returned to his father. He stopped waiting for happiness to knock at the door. He worked, helped Pedro, and learned to value the trust other people placed in him. He and the princess did not forget one another. Their friendship grew stronger through the years, and when they were both older, the old tale says that they chose to marry. Juan remembered one lesson for the rest of his life. The greatest mysteries do not belong to the person who lifts every lid without permission. They open themselves to those who have learned to be worthy of trust.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨