The shepherd and the princess

 The new version of an old Japanese fairytale.
 (Translated by Sarinji Jumaulov)


One day without any reason whatsoever, a shepherd fell in love with a beautiful princess from a far-far country.
Determined, he set out to find this country and its princess. Forthwith, he left his home and native country in search of this love. He was beset by many violent storms, going through many wild forests, over hills and mountains, he swam across various rivers, moving far and far ahead, because his love was not exhausted, and did not know any bounds either. Time, nor space, nor any other kind of barriers – be they cultural, political, geographical could not stop him.
At least his heart reached him to the far corner of the continent, where he created an underground channel between the continent and the wealthy islands of the North Sea. These were blessed by the heaven of Albion where the roads were paved with pure gold and delicious marmalades as well as chocolates grown and ripened on trees. These leaned to every passerby, asking “pick me off the branch and eat me”, money and banknotes are hunting predatorily after you right on streets in order to own you by dragging you to luxury shops, restaurants, night clubs and so on.   
But the channel was dysfunctional for a very simple reason - the great and horrific dragon seemingly settled into it as its own home and safe haven. The tip of his tail was on the opposite end and his head popped out from the side where the little shanty town of Calais was situated for the migrants who wanted to go to Britain. The monster, who seems asleep, breathes clouds and fire from its nostrils. Of course, no one wants to go to and fro through such a channel until it is guarded thoroughly.    
The brave man, at first, feels alarm at the sight of this horrible monster lying on his path but he decides to go through the channel anyway by passing near the stretching body of the sleeping dragon.
“Crunch-crunch-crunch”. When he exited out of the gate on the opposite end of the dark tunnel, someone behind calls him. He turns up and sees the old man who bows to him:
-I am happy, my son, that you aren’t afraid of me. How long have I been waiting for such a brave man among the people to pass nearby. I am the king-dragon of Albion and I hope you are able to save our country from a dreadful centipede. If you aren’t, I am afraid that soon my entire country and its people as well myself and my family will be devoured by that awful greedy centipede.
-I will save your country, - answered the brave Kyrgyz shepherd to the King,- but as a  reward you will have to offer me the hand of your daughter, the beautiful Princess. Subsequently you will bless our marriage so that I may bring her to my country as my wife.
-Very well, - agreed the King of Albion gladly. According to his highly regarded intelligence services the Centipede was planning to not only marry the Princess but to devour her afterwards. He was also informed that Kyrgyzstan was not such a bad country for queens and princesses if it would just take a course correction in the right direction with reforms and honest intentions. Besides, the King wisely concluded that such a friendship might prove useful in the future considering that his flat landed country is threatened by global warming and rising sea levels as opposed to a mountainous country that would never drown even if ocean levels were to rise to their upper limits. “I would be happy to join our people and countries but first of all you need to conquer and kill the Centipede”.
What was this Centipede, what did it look like and how did it hurt these isles? Strangely enough it was a very primitive creature that moved slowly but with a great deal of productivity and with an amazing regenerating skill. It looked like an endlessly giant worm-like train that invades the homes, palaces and government  buildings through windows, doors, chimneys and even smallest of holes. The more one tries to kill and cut it, the more it grows and multiplies, creating new baby trains from every cut off part, growing ever quicker and quicker.         
People do not know how fight with such a repulsive invader and horrific intruder, that sticks to the coat, boots and body because too long has this society lived with the same lifestyle and rule of this Centipede.   
When every part of society including the whole nation is going think only about wealth and how to accumulate it independently of others – by double crossing, robbing and killing them, then after a short time of such an epidemic of greediness and degeneration, this illness passes over its tipping point. Afterwards, every part of the body of every man, and even every cell inside the body would start doing the same things, that is, independently accumulating wealth and double crossing others, as well as stamping and killing them. Man would quickly fall to death. This disease would spread around the world and experts would call it a global threat and pandemic.
-What is to be done? When everyone only thinks about money laundering as well as the personal and private collection of innumerous wealth!?– acclaimed our hero because he was obsessed by his great and pristine love for the Princess of Albion – and not for her wealth and heredity. That is why he was insightful enough to see the deep roots of such problems.
Then he quickly and effectively stigmatized these rampant plights, organized multiple stations throughout the country for the vaccination of the entire nation and within a year he completely put an end to the Centipede.
His great love saved this cold kingdom from the horrible Centipede, this endless train of thieves, robbers, bribers, terrorists, old bastards and other lunatics of power and wealth was being broken up to into multiple parts. Claws and poisonous teeth were plucked out from each and every one of these parts that was cut off.  The enemy of freedom and prosperity was totally neutralized and what was left from its body drowned into the ocean as food for marine creatures. His love breathed new life to the movement dedicated to tackling the greediness that is called kleptocracy. This illness kept this group of isles in North Sea in a stranglehold and made the centipede so strong.
The King and his great family were very happy. The shepherd who was hailed as the preserver and saviour of Albion was escorted alongside the King and his daughter into a golden carriage towards the royal home called Buckingham Palace where he invited all the preeminent people from Britain and all over the world. This is also where the great wedding ceremonies, festivities and banquets took place afterwards.
After a week of great joy and gaiety in London, our hero decided to return to his homeland even though no one on these isles wanted to part with him as these kind people were afraid of a possible invasion from another centipede-like creature from the ocean, space or anywhere else.  Every Briton looked like a small helpless child who was afraid of snakes, centipedes and other nightmares. Such a terrible toll did they take into their souls and hearts after the long years of rule by the centipede’s party and its monopoly.
The King requested that he accept these modest presents: a golden belt, pot and a singing harp. Since the Shepherd acquired the reward, he was unwilling to carry something else from this hospitable kingdom but if the King insisted then he could not refuse these presents.
Consequently, the King accompanied him to the channel and parted with his daughter and son-in-law in a warm and cordial manner. 
Eventually the brave man returned to his country with the beautiful princess of his dreams and saved two countries from the dangerous Centipede, which was now called and classified as a syndrome of the ever-insatiable greediness for catastrophic personal enrichment.
The singing harp was the most wonderful gift among them. When it began singing, the people, governmental bodies, ministries, banks, charity funds, states and private companies forgot about their selfish and sordid desires. They forgot about cheating, money laundering along with stealing and soon arrived into the great conditions and functionalities of the soul and body as a good pretext do the same in governmental bodies.
   
The pot was also marvelous. Whatever you put into the pot, it prepared delicious meals without fire and with ingredients and vitamins in the right proportions necessary for you. You could not overeat nor undereat or waste any useful part of the food. What an efficient saucepan!
Only the golden belt was ordinary, but it attracted a great deal of authority in Kyrgyzstan for our hero because the Kyrgyz people, since ancient times, preferred such presents that endowed them with enigmatic power and energy. Anyone who wore it for a minute would come in harmony with the soul and flesh which made you feel as happy as any European king who decided giving up on the brutality of unreformed and unhindered power. That’s why he presented the belt to the Kyrgyz Parliament to help incur a wonderful transformation in our political life.         
And they lived happily ever after.