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Once, on an enchanted island, lived a man named Prospero
and his beautiful daughter, Miranda. The two of them had
been banished from Spain by the wicked King Alonso. They
were set adrift in a small boat, their only companions
being thousands of books on magic, and left to die in
the open sea. But they survived and reached the
enchanted island instead. From the time he set foot on
the island, Prospero spent all his free time studying
magic. He became very knowledgeable about the subject
which enabled him to control the weather and raise
storms.
A wicked witch had once lived on the enchanted
island. Before she left, she had imprisoned a
hideous-looking spirit in a cleft pine tree. When
Prospero freed Ariel, the spirit had been trapped in the
tree for twelve long years, he was immensely grateful to
Prospero and became his devoted servant.
One day, a ship carrying King Alonso, his son,
Ferdinand, and some courtiers sailed close to the
enchanted island. Prospero saw his chance for revenge. he
invoked a terrible storm which caused the sea to rage.
The ship tossed about dangerously in the turbulent
waters and crashed against a huge rock. All the
passengers and crew were flung into the sea. once in the
water, Ferdinand vanished without a trace. King Alonso
was heartbroken as he thought his son had drowned.
Unknown to him, Ferdinand was very much alive.
Prospero had commanded Ariel to pluck Ferdinand out of
the sea and bring him to the island. He wanted Ferdinand
to meet his daughter. It was the first time Miranda had
seen another human being apart from her father. the two
young people were captivated with each other and fell in
love instantly, as Prospero had hoped for. Ferdinand
found Miranda's beauty breathtaking and thought she was
the goddess of the island. Ferdinand's happiness at
being alive and meeting the island beauty was marred by
the assumption that his father and the courtiers had
perished during the storm.
But the storm had spared King Alonso and his men too.
When the sea was clam once more, they swam to the
enchanted island. Exhausted and famished after their
ordeal, they lay down on the beach to rest.
Prospero decided to punish King Alonso a little
further. He commanded Ariel to teach the men a lesson.
Ariel made a table heavily laden with mouth-watering
food appear in front of the hungry men. As they reached
out to grab the food, it disappeared before their very
eyes ! Then Ariel showed himself to the men. They shrank
back in fear at the sight of him.
Ariel bellowed, "You are all wicked men who deserve
to die ! Many years ago, King Alonso, you set Prospero
and his daughter adrift at sea to die. For this cruel
deed, your only son has been taken away from you. Unless
you repent, you will suffer more punishment worse than
death !" And with that, Ariel vanished into thin air.
His conscience pricked, King Alonso felt much
remorse. He cried out bitterly. "Oh, I have sinned ! My
crime is too monstrous ! I have wronged Prospero and for
his sin, my beloved son has drowned. I will look for him
and lie beside him at the bottom of the sea. "Choked
with grief, King Alonso ran towards the shore.
Unknown to King Alonso, Prospero had been watching him
all the time. Wrapped in a cloak that made him invisible
to the eye, Prospero looked on with satisfaction as his
enemy grieved over the loss of his son. |
