Long ago, there lived a young man whose strength was unlike anything the people around him had ever seen. From childhood, he had been able to perform tasks that would have required several ordinary men. He could lift heavy objects, move things that others could barely touch and overcome physical challenges with remarkable ease.
Yet his extraordinary strength did not make him proud.
He was curious about the world beyond his home and wanted to discover what lay beyond the familiar places he knew. One day, he decided to leave home and travel in search of adventure.
As he journeyed from one place to another, he encountered three men who were unlike anyone he had ever met.
Each possessed a remarkable ability.
One had extraordinary sight and could see things that were happening far beyond the reach of ordinary eyes. Another possessed an incredible sense of hearing and could detect sounds from great distances. The third had an unusual gift that made him valuable whenever the group faced a difficult challenge.
The young strong man was fascinated by them.
Instead of seeing their unusual abilities as reasons to compete, he recognised that each man’s gift could complement his own strength.
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They soon became companions.
Together, they travelled through unfamiliar lands, sharing food, helping one another and telling stories about the strange things they had encountered during their lives.
For a while, their journey was peaceful.
Then they heard about a powerful dwarf who lived in a hidden kingdom.
The dwarf was feared by everyone who knew of him.
He was not an ordinary man. He possessed supernatural power and lived in a place that ordinary travellers could not easily find.
Rumours also spoke of a beautiful princess who had been taken into the dwarf’s kingdom.
No one seemed to know exactly where she was being kept.
The four companions decided to investigate.
Their journey became increasingly difficult.
They crossed unfamiliar paths and entered places where the ordinary rules of the world seemed to disappear. The further they travelled, the more certain they became that they were approaching the dwarf’s hidden kingdom.
Eventually, they reached a place where they encountered the dwarf.
He was powerful, confident and completely unafraid of them.
The companions tried to confront him, but they soon discovered that ordinary strength was not enough.
The dwarf possessed supernatural abilities that allowed him to overcome them.
One after another, the companions were defeated.
The young strong man was shocked.
He had always believed that his strength would allow him to overcome almost any opponent.
Now he had met someone who could defeat him.
Instead of abandoning his companions, however, he decided that he would find another way.
The men regrouped.
They realised that they could not defeat the dwarf by relying on strength alone.
They would need to use their individual abilities together.
The man with extraordinary sight began searching for clues.
He examined the distant landscape and looked for anything that could reveal the location of the hidden kingdom.
The man with extraordinary hearing listened carefully for sounds coming from beyond the mountains and valleys.
The others prepared themselves for whatever dangers lay ahead.
Their journey eventually led them toward a secret entrance.
Beyond it was a strange kingdom unlike anything they had ever seen.
The place seemed to exist between the ordinary world and the supernatural.
The walls were enormous.
The paths were unfamiliar.
Everything appeared to have been created according to the dwarf’s strange power.
But somewhere inside that kingdom was the princess.
The young strong man remembered why they had come.
He could have turned back.
He could have decided that the dwarf was too powerful.
Instead, he continued.
The companions moved carefully through the hidden kingdom.
They avoided guards and supernatural obstacles, using their different abilities to discover what lay ahead.
The man with extraordinary sight warned them whenever danger approached.
The man with extraordinary hearing listened for footsteps and voices.
The strong man used his physical power whenever they encountered obstacles that could not be overcome in any other way.
For the first time, they understood that their greatest advantage was not any single ability.
It was their friendship.
Eventually, they discovered the place where the princess was being held.
She had been kept away from the outside world for so long that she had almost lost hope of ever being rescued.
When she saw the four companions, she could hardly believe that anyone had managed to reach her.
The strong man told her that they had come to take her home.
But their work was not finished.
The dwarf discovered that strangers had entered his kingdom.
He became furious.
The entire kingdom seemed to change around them.
Doors closed.
Paths disappeared.
The companions realised that the dwarf knew exactly where they were.
They needed to escape quickly.
The princess followed them as they hurried through the kingdom.
The strong man carried anything they needed and removed obstacles from their path.
His companions continued using their special abilities to guide them.
But the dwarf was close behind.
At one point, the group reached a barrier that seemed impossible to cross.
The strong man pushed against it.
Nothing happened.
He pushed again.
The barrier remained.
He gathered all his strength and finally forced it open.
The companions rushed through.
Behind them, the dwarf appeared.
He attempted to stop them, but the group had already understood something important.
The dwarf’s power depended on keeping them trapped within his world.
If they could reach the outside, his advantage would be weakened.
They continued running.
The princess was exhausted, but she refused to stop.
She had spent too long waiting for freedom.
She would not allow fear to take it away again.
At last, the group reached the boundary of the hidden kingdom.
The dwarf followed them but could not prevent their escape.
The companions crossed into the ordinary world.
For the first time, the princess was free.
She looked back at the hidden kingdom and realised that the place that had once seemed impossible to escape from was now behind her.
The strong man and his companions had succeeded.
But their victory had not come from strength alone.
The young man had begun his journey believing that his extraordinary physical power was his greatest advantage.
By the end, he understood that strength without courage could accomplish very little.
His companions had abilities that he did not possess.
One could see beyond ordinary distances.
Another could hear what others could not.
Together, they had achieved what none of them could have achieved alone.
The princess also learned that courage does not mean never being afraid.
She had been frightened throughout her captivity.
She had feared that no one would ever find her.
But when the opportunity for escape finally came, she chose to move forward despite her fear.
The companions eventually returned to their homeland with the princess.
Their story spread from place to place.
People remembered the young man for his extraordinary strength, but those who knew the whole story remembered something more important.
They remembered that he had never abandoned his friends.
They remembered that he had entered a supernatural kingdom because someone else needed help.
And they remembered that the strongest person in the group was not necessarily the one who could lift the heaviest object.
True strength was the courage to continue when victory seemed impossible.
It was the loyalty to stand beside friends when danger appeared.
It was the determination to help someone who could not help themselves.
And it was the wisdom to understand that even the greatest strength becomes more powerful when joined with friendship and intelligence.
The young man had left home searching for adventure.
He returned having discovered something much greater.
He had discovered what true courage meant.
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Moral Lesson
True strength is not measured only by physical power. Courage, friendship, intelligence and determination can overcome dangers that strength alone cannot defeat.
Knowledge Check
1. What made the young man different from ordinary people?
He possessed extraordinary physical strength and could perform tasks that ordinary people could not.
2. What was unusual about the three men he met?
Each man possessed a remarkable supernatural ability that made him useful in different situations.
3. Why did the companions decide to confront the dwarf?
They learned that the powerful dwarf lived in a hidden kingdom and was keeping a princess captive.
4. Why could the young man’s strength alone not defeat the dwarf?
The dwarf possessed supernatural powers that were stronger than physical strength, forcing the companions to rely on intelligence and their different abilities.
5. How did the companions help rescue the princess?
They combined their abilities, found the hidden kingdom, located the princess and worked together to escape with her.
6. What is the main lesson of the story?
True strength comes from courage, loyalty, determination and cooperation, not simply from physical power.
Source
Adapted from Msye Savarsal (Mr Savarsal), documented in Kont ek Lezann Volim 2 (1991), Institut Kreol, pp. 25–36.
