Watermelons Out of Season

Here is an enchanting tale of a king and queen and two beautiful twin princesses. To look at, they are as alike as two peas in a pod or two drops of water, but their characters are as different as can be. Bini is good and Tini is wicked. Bini is the beloved of her mother, the good Queen Bonita, and Tini the favorite of her father, the wicked King Tyran. There is a garden around the palace, tended by a faithful old gardener named Ramzi. Bini, who loves to stroll in the garden, makes friends with Ramzi, but Tini doesn`t like this at all. One day, Tini meets her sister in the garden and pushes her to the ground. Bini gets hurt. Tini then rushes to Ramzi and orders him to plant watermelons.

“It`s not the watermelon season,” Ramzi says, but Tini doesn`t listen. Time passes, and the watermelons that come up don`t taste good. So Tini gathers mushrooms instead. “They`re poisonous and they`ll make you sick,” Ramzi warns her. Tini orders him to eat the mushrooms and when nothing happens to him, Tini cooks them, serves them to her father and eats them too. She throws Ramzi into prison and orders the hangman to execute him.

But her plans go awry. The next morning, it turns out that anyone who tasted the mushrooms felt drugged and sick. Tini doesn’t feel well either, and she gropes her way through the palace while Bonita and Bini try to save Ramzi`s life. Only he knows the secret miracle plant that can cure them. Tini hears about the plant and she sends her servant to find it. What she doesn`t know is that the fruit is poisonous and only the leaves heal. So Tini tastes the fruit and gets very sick, while Ramzi gets better. And what about the king? You`ve probably guessed: he’s cured of his illness and changes into a good king who rules his kingdom wisely. And of course, Bini is the heir to the throne.