Once upon a time, in a far-off country, there lived a rich merchant. He had six sons and six daughters. Suddenly misfortune befell upon them. Their house caught fire and all their assets were burnet to ashes and father’s merchant ships were robbed by the pirates and sunk in the ocean. They had to move into a small cottage away from the town and have to start doing hard labor to earn their living. After losing everything children regretted and missed their luxurious lives. 

Only the youngest daughter, whose name was Beauty, tried to be brave and cheerful and tried her best to lighten the environment. She involved her siblings to join her in singing and dancing but they would do nothing and said back “you are fit to live this miserable life but not we”.

Nearly two years passed and everyone has adjusted themselves into the new lifestyle. Suddenly, the father received news that one of his ships, which was lost, had come safely into the port. Everyone got excited and thought that their days of struggle are now over. Father asked everyone to wait for few days until he returns from the port after checking the status of the ship. 

While he was all set to leave for port, everyone asked him to bring expensive jewels and dresses but Beauty didn’t want anything and just want her father to return back safely. When her father insisted, she said “Well, dear father, if you insist, i want a red rose. I have not seen one since we shifted here.”

After a long journey Merchant finally found his ship but it was in a bad state and was seized by the authorities. With nothing to salvage, he decided to return back home thinking “I should reach home before the weather gets worse. It will just take me few hours to get through this forest.”

But that night the snow covered the land and bitter frost made it impossible for the horse to move further. He took shelter in the hollow trunk of a great tree. The howling of the wolves kept him awake all night. By next morning, snow had covered up every path and he did not know which way to go.

He kept moving forward thinking that he’ll find some shelter. On his way he came across a beautiful palace which was full of green trees and bushes. Merchant got off his horse and went inside. As he opened the door he was surprised, there were beautiful picture and statues inside but no human being to be seen. Everything in that place was beautifully presented.

As he was hungry, he decided to go inside to look for food. He reached a hall where he saw a fire burning and a couch in the corner. He sat on the couch and waited for the owner to come but soon he fell asleep. 

After several hours had passed, he woke up and found that he was still alone in the palace. He saw a table on which delicious food was laid out so he couldn’t control himself. He started to enjoy the meal while waiting for the host to arrive, but no one came. Then he went down into the garden and said “It’s snowing everywhere but the birds are singing and flowers are blooming in the palace. It seems that everything was prepared for me, I’m so lucky. I will come back here with my children so that they can also explore this beautiful palace.”