Why the guava fruit has a crown (Original translation of Filipino fiction)

Once upon a time, there was a skinny Sultan (a person who rules an area) who was despised by his people because of his greed and cruelty. His name was Barabas.

The Sultan always wear his crown to show the kingdom of his power and might.

One day while the Sultan is eating his sumptuous lunch, a dirty orphan boy came to him and asked for some alms.

"I beg you, Sultan Barabas, I am already an orphan. I have been wandering for the last 3 days and have not eaten anything since, I have no home anymore." the child implored.

"Aaahh ... and who are you to disturb me during my meal? You should solicit with the servants instead" the Sultan snorted.

"I already tried asking food from them but they do not want to give me anything." the boy said while crying.

Go away! away! You make me lose my appetite, " the Sultan screamed to the child.

Instead of leaving, the child gets closer to the Sultan. He got so angry so he suddenly threw the bowl of hot chicken soup directly to the child. 

He was surprised as the crying child suddenly disappeared from his sight. He attempted to stand to ask for help from the servants but suddenly he fell off from his chair.

His servants approached. They check the pulse of the Sultan but it was too late, the Sultan is already dead. The Sultan was buried, no one was there to condole him.

The people he left behind decided to choose a new Sultan and since then Barabas has been forgotten.

One day, the maid of the new Sultan was in a hurry gasping for air while announcing that a tree is growing on Sultan Barabas grave. The tree is heavily packed with fruits.

"This tree bears a lot of fruits. Each fruit also has a little crown on it" said the new Sultan.

He picked a fruit and opened it. "Oh! It's filled with so many seeds, plenty of hard and small seeds." 

An old woman shouted. "The same hardness of Sultan Barabas behavior."

An old man gives the fruit a try and finds out how it taste. "It's very sour! The sourness is similar to the attitude and facial expressions of Sultan Barabas!" the old man said as he wries.

Many days have passed and nobody paid attention to the tree until its fruits were ripe. Some kids tried tasting the fruit just for fun. 

The ripe fruit taste is now sweet and full of flavor. Aside from that, the fruit also provides more nutrition to the body.

Since the fruit was called "bayabas" (guava in English) inspired by the name of Sultan Barabas.

Today, the guava fruit, aside from being eaten immediately after picking, it is also used as an ingredient in Filipino cuisines. The guava leaves are also used as medicine.

This story was translated to English from our local Filipino language.  

Image References: [1] [2]

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