Once upon a time, there lived a girl whose name was Penang. She was kind and beautiful, and all her neighbors loved her. But Penang had a stepmother who was evil and cruel. All the work in the house fell on the girl, and because of any trifle, her stepmother beat and scolded her. Neighbors often saw: Penang, wiping away tears, getting water from the well, washing or doing other housework, while her stepmother chatted cheerfully with the women.
One day the stepmother ordered Penang in the middle of the day:
- Sew me a dress before evening - today I’m going to visit. Pinang took her sewing, went to the garden, sat in the corner of the garden under a tree and began to sew. She was afraid that she would not have time to sew the dress on time and was in a hurry. Because of her haste, Pinang dropped her needle on the ground. No matter how much Penang crawled on the ground, no matter how much she looked for the needle, she never found it.
Pinang ran to her stepmother:
- Mother, I lost my needle and can’t find it. The stepmother got angry, hit the girl and even yelled at her:
- Oh, you are confused, you damned wretch, go and look for the needle where you lost it! You're too lazy and stupid, that's why you don't find it! If you can’t find it with both eyes, then get yourself a bigger eye - maybe then you’ll find it right away!
Weeping bitterly, Penang went out into the garden. An hour passed, then another, and evening came, but Pinang still did not return to the house. The stepmother shouted at her, but Pinang did not respond; she began to look for her stepdaughter, but she never found her. Then the stepmother called the neighbors and asked them:
- Help me find Penang - apparently the girl has hidden somewhere, I can’t find her on my own!
People began to look for the girl, but Penang disappeared into thin air. Finally, one of the searchers wandered into the corner of the garden where Penang had previously sewed. He saw an unfinished dress on the ground, and next to it a plant with beautiful large fruits that seemed to be covered with many eyes. The man began to call others to also look at the strange plant.
- This is my poor Penang! - exclaimed the stepmother, remembering how she cursed the girl - she wished that she had many eyes.
Now the stepmother has learned what loneliness is. Her heart was breaking because she had treated the girl so cruelly, and she had no other consolation in life except caring for a plant with unprecedented fruits. And it grew and produced young shoots. Since then, pineapples have appeared on earth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru