Princess Aubergine (part 1)

There was a once a poor farmer who lived with his wife in a hut in a village, near Lahore. The farmer had lost all his land, and to look of his wild plants and roots for their food.
One day, when the farmer was out looking for something they could eat for their evening meal, he found an Aubergine, or egg plant as it is sometimes called.
'The fruit of the aubergine is very good to eat,' he said to himself.'I will dig it up and plant it by the door of our hut.'
So he dog up the plant and took it home. He planted it carefully. Every day he watered it, and after some time the aubergine grew tall and strong, and bore one large fruit.
'Oh!What a beautiful fruit!' said his wife.;It is as large as a pear, and its purple and white skin is so beautifully bright and shiny.'
The farmer and his wife were so pleased with their aubergine that they did not want to pick it. So the fruit hung there in the sun, day after day'.
But one day they could find nothing to eat, and the poor farmer said to his wife, 'Go and cut the aubergine and cook it for dinner.'
Unwillingly the wife took a knife and cut the beautiful coloured fruit. As she cut it, she thought she heard a cry. She sat down and began to cut the skin off the fruit. Then she heard a tiny voice say quiet clearly, 'Be careful! Cut more carefully, or I am sure you will cut me with your kniefe.'
The farmer's wife was very troubled, but she went on cutting the skin very slowly and carefully. 'Perhaps there is some magic in the aubergine,' said to herself. When she had cut off the last piece of skin, the most beautiful girl you can imagine stepped out fo the fruit. She was dressed in purple and white silk.
The poor farmer and his wife were ver surprised and exiced, and they were delighted too. They had no children of their own, and they thought that the lovely girl was a gift from the gods. They decided to keep her. So they treated her as iif she was their own daughter. They loved the beautiful child, and gave her everything she wanted.
'What name shall we give her?' said the wife.
'Let us call her Princess Aubergine', said the farmer.
'Oh yes.!' said his wife. 'Althought she is not a really a princess, she is certainly as lovely as and delicate as a king's daughter.'