Johnny and the Cave of Eyes

Johnny is a poor orphan young boy but he was wise enough to do any kind of work. He had no place to go or no food to eat. Johnny does small works in the village like taking care of fields, carrying wheat sacks to the barn, feeding ducks. In return he got some bread to eat and a place to stay. Once the job is done, they will send him away.

On such a day, Johnny was wandering in search of a job. Far away he saw a farm with a big apple tree, rose garden and many goats. He approached the owner of the farm. His name was Lucas. Lucas is a blind man. He had no eyes in the socket. His face looked like Skeletor (He-man’s villain). Lucas asked Johnny to take care of his goats. Lucas warned Johnny, “there are three sister witches in this village. With their evil power, they will put us to sleep and take our eyes and also steal the goats for making some magic potion. That’s how I lost my eyes”.

Lucas advised Johnny to take care of the goats and also his eyes.

For the first two days Johnny took care of the goats very well. Fed them on time and made them graze the green pastures and brought them back to the stall by evening. On the third day, he was lethargic thinking that no witch is going to come and take the goat or his eyes off. He left the goats graze and he sat under a big tree.

A beautiful woman who was finely dressed up, came to him and said “Dear boy, take this apple and have a bite. It will taste fresh and juicy”.

Johnny answered “No, My lady, my stomach is already full.  I ate many apples from my master’s apple tree”. The Witch disappeared.

Second woman emerged from nowhere. She was tall and fair skinned and looked much prettier than the first woman. The woman carried a bundle of red roses in her hand. She took one rose and gave it to Johnny and said “Dear boy, this rose is especially from a magical garden. It has wonderful fragrance which you have ever smelled in your life. Come on, smell”

Johnny with a funny smile on his face said “Can you see that rose garden? It belongs to my master.  I got used to this rose fragrance and I don’t find it lovely anymore”. The second witch vanished after hearing his answer.

Third woman, who was the youngest and prettiest of the witches smiled at Johnny. She offered him a comb and said “This is a handmade comb with beautiful carvings on it. When you comb your hair, it will take you to a magical land where you will be the king and rule the kingdom”.

When she came near him, Johnny caught her and tied her with thorny bramble shoots. 

Immediately, the other two witch sisters came to rescue the youngest sister. But Wise Johnny trapped the other two sisters and tied them all together.

Johnny ran to the farm house and brought his master-Lucas to the witches.  He ordered the Eldest witch to give his master’s eyes. She refused and said “I don’t know anything about the eyes”. Johnny took her to River Elbe and threatened that he will throw her into the river. Eldest witch became scared and took Johnny and Lucas to the Cave of Eyes.

The cave of eyes was filled with different shapes and colors of human eyes, which the witches took from the villagers and people in faraway lands. From those eyes, the eldest witch picked a pair of eyes and put it into Lucas’s eye sockets. When Lucas opened his eyelids, he could only see owls and nothing else. Angry Johnny drown the eldest witch into the River Elbe.

Johnny brought the second witch to the cave. She gave Lucas a pair of eyes. Now Lucas could only see nothing but wolves. Johnny drown the second witch in river.

It was the youngest witch's turn to get the right pair of eyes. She went inside the cave and picked a pair of eyes and gave it to Lucas. Lucas could only see spade-weapon but nothing else. When Johnny was about to drown the youngest witch, she begged him to give her another chance.

Johnny gave her a chance.

This time she went inside the cave and brought the real eyes that belonged to Lucas. Now Lucas could see everything clearly. Johnny warned the witch that she should never trouble the people in the village again. The witch vanished and never took a chance to return to the village again. 

The End

Moral: Life shrinks or expands in proportion of one’s courage.