Folk Tales/The Ruby Box

The Ruby Box appeared as a text based story on the Purple Moon Place website. It was featured on both Jessie’s and Arrow’s secret pouch pages. On the link to the story Jessie says, “I’m not sure I’d WANT the gift in this story…” And on Arrow’s link to the story, she says, “Sometimes I feel like the girl in this story… Too many choices!”

In the Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) Index, this tale is categorized as 331: The Spirit in the Bottle.

The Story
Kaheela and her family lived on Shipwreck Island way out in the blue Pacific Ocean. It was called Shipwreck Island because sharp rocks and coral reefs surrounded it, hidden by soft blue water. Sometimes trade ships would sail too close in a storm, and the reefs would chomp them to bits, just like teeth. All the gold and silks and spices would spill out of the ship and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Now and then, the people of the island would find a treasure in their fishing nets. What they liked, they kept. But if something looked very valuable, they would usually sell it in the marketplace to other passing traders.

One day Kaheela was swimming among the bright fish of the lagoon when she spied something shimmering in the coral. She dove to the bottom and picked it up. It was a beautiful box made of ruby-colored glass, with a jeweled lid. It was fastened shut by a small golden lock. Etched into the lock were words that Kaheela had never seen.

“What should I do with such a beautiful box?” wondered Kaheela. “Should I give it to my mother as a gift? Should I sell it in the marketplace for new cloth and leather? Surely it would bring a fine price!”

She started up the beach with the box – but a thought made her stop.

“What if the box is filled with diamonds, or rubies, or pearls? They would be worth many times the price of the box itself! I cannot sell it until I see what is inside!”

Kaheela took out one of the sharp little shell pins that held up her long hair. Carefully she pried at the golden lock, though the words on it made her a little afraid. What if they were the name of the box’s drowned owner? What if there was some kind of curse on the treasure it contained?

Still, there was no other way to see what was inside. She poked and pried at the lock until it clicked and creaked and gave way with a squeak. The box opened…

A huge thundercloud of black roiled up into the sky. On top of it stood a fierce and ancient sorcerer. He had a circlet of fire around his head, and a necklace made of heavy gold. He looked down at Kaheela and scowled.

“You who have given me my freedom – prepare to die!”

Kaheela fell to her knees and covered her eyes. Her dreams of wealth were immediately replaced by fear.

“I have done you a kindness,” she cried, still bowing. “Why should you destroy me?”

“I promised to kill whoever released me from my prison! I have been sealed in that tiny box for centuries…guarded first by a wizard, then by a nobleman, then by pirates. And then by the deep blue sea, where I have lain many a year! I thought only another magician could release me – but since it was you, you must die.”

But Kaheela was a clever girl and she thought quickly of a thing to say.

“Surely you are mistaken, oh mighty one. You are huge, on your thundercloud of black. You are high in the heavens. Someone as powerful as yourself could never fit inside such a small box.”

“Foolish girl!” boomed the sorcerer. “I can do anything, make myself any size, any substance – I can be water and smoke and snow and rain!”

“Forgive me,” quaked the girl, “But I don’t see how…”

With a loud clap the sorcerer raced down from the heavens, his cloud and his body both growing smaller, until he filled the ruby box like a tiny puff of smoke. Quickly Kaheela slammed down its jeweled lid and re-clasped the lock.

From inside the box came a tiny, desperate voice.

“Release me and you shall have anything your heart desires! Riches, beauty, magic powers…” it said.

But Kaheela shook her head. “You were going to kill me! Why should I believe you now?”

“You have my promise.”

“An eel’s promise – worth nothing!”

“I will prove it. I will grant you one wish from inside this box.”

One wish! A bolt of yellow silk…boots of sky-blue leather…a handsome house... a mountain of gold… all these things came to Kaheela’s mind. The more she thought, the harder it was to decide what to wish. But finally she made a choice.

“I wish…I wish I knew what to do with this box!”

In a flash of light, Kaheela saw everything: how the sorcerer had misused his powers; how he’d been imprisoned in the box; how he had sunk to the bottom of the ocean; and what he would do if she let him out.

Kaheela knew what to do with her treasure.

“I’m not wise enough to use the power you offer me,” she said. “I’m not sure anybody is!” And she took the box and flung it back into the ocean. And there it lies still, waiting for a fool.