It was told that three patriotic soldiers : Fayez, Nader and Ghaleb wanted to go back to their countries after war. They walked a long distance moving from one town to another and from one country to another. They had suffered during their years of fighting to overcome and exile the enemy.

They reached to a forest where they spent the night, and they took turns guarding the place from wild animals.
Fayez and Nader slept while Ghaleb collected some wood, made a big fire under a tree, and sat next to it in order to guard his two friends.

After a while, a dwarf with a red coat came towards him and asked : “who is there under the tree ?”

- Ghaleb answered : “a friend” 

- The dwarf asked : “and who is this friend ?”

- Ghaleb replied : “he is a soldier who served his country and retired, and as he had no shelter, he came to the forest with two of his friends to spend the night. Come sit with me and warm yourself from the cold.”

- The dwarf said : “I feel bad for you and your friends, and I will do my best to help you get through this tough life.” He gave him a magical robe and told him : “keep this robe and make sure you do not lose it because it is very expensive. If you wear it anytime and wish anything, your wish will come true right away.” Ghaleb thanked the dwarf who left.

After that, it was Fayez’s turn to guard the place. He woke up and let Ghaleb sleep in his place. An hour later, the dwarf came once again and was well welcomed by Fayez. As a reward, the dwarf gave him a magical bag full of gold which would not decrease no matter how much he spent.

Then, it was Nader’s turn to guard the place. The dwarf came for the third time and was well welcomed by Nader also. The dwarf gave him a magical trumpet which, if blown once, would gather people around him to enjoy the wonderful music, and if blown three times, would call large troops of armies ready to obey his orders. Nader thanked the dwarf who left.

In the morning, each of the three friends told his story with the dwarf and showed his valuable gift. They were happy and thanked God for his blessings.

They agreed to live together and share their magical fortunes, so they decided to take a trip around the world. The three friends moved from one city to another, and from one country to another, traveling by sea sometimes and by carriage other times. They lived as rich tourists, moving to the warm countries in winter and seeing the historical sights in each country they visited.

Then, they decided to live peacefully in a big house. Ghaleb put on the magical robe and wished to have a beautiful and luxurious castle for him and his friend. At the moment, they saw a great castle surrounded by luxuriant parks and vast, well-organized courts, with many farms, yards and stables. There were three beautiful carriages in front of the castle used for leisure purposes.

After a period of time, they became bored because they did not visit anyone and were not visited also. They thought about visiting the governor, so they sent a messenger to inform him of their wish. They were very well welcomed and honored by the governor who considered them as kings due to their splendid appearance. Their visit lasted for several days.

Fayez, the owner of the magical bag was walking with the princess, the only daughter of the governor. The princess saw the bag in his hand and asked him about it. He answered nicely telling her about the unlimited gold. The princess was charming and intelligent and knew the value of the magical bag and dress and the strange trumpet. She wished to have them all, so she got a bag similar to the magical one and invited Fayez over. The princess told the servant to offer him a cup of tea with a sleeping pill inside. The servant obeyed to the order of the princess and Fayez fell asleep right away. The princess took the magical bag from him and put the bag she got in its place.

In the morning, the soldiers left the castle and came back home. They needed to buy some stuff, so they took the money from the bag, but this time, the bag remained empty. The soldiers knew then that the princess had betrayed Fayez, who became very sad.

Gharib said : “do not be sad Fayez, we still have the magical dress and the strange trumpet.” Gharib put the magical robe on his shoulders and wished to be in the room of the princess. His wish came true right away, and he saw the princess counting the gold all alone. When she saw him, she started to scream : “thieves, catch the thief !” The servants came and tried to catch him. Gharib was so scared that he forgot to put on the magical dress. He run and jumped through the window, but unfortunately, the dress got stuck in a nail. Ghaleb left it and ran away before he was caught.

The princess was happy to get the magical dress so easily. Ghaleb came back home walking and weeping for his bad luck and for the loss of his dress. Nader told him : “do not be sad, we still have the trumpet !”

Nader blew three times in the trumpet and the large troops of armies appeared right away to obey Nader’s orders. Nader told the leader what happened with his two friends and that the princess betrayed them and took the magical bag and dress.
The soldiers blockade the castle at the instant, and the leader sent a messenger to the governor ordering him to hand over the bag and the dress that his daughter has taken, threatening to demolish the castle if he did not obey his orders.

The princess refused to hand over the bag and the dress to anyone, and tried to overcome this trouble in a smart way. She put on the clothes of a poor girl and took a basket containing some jewellery to sell in the enemy’s camp. She left with her maid. The princess started to walk between the soldiers’ tents, singing nice songs. The soldiers left their tents and went to listen to her singing. Nader, the owner of the magical trumpet, was among those soldiers. The princess had told the maid to sneak into Nader’s tent during that time, and take the magical trumpet, then go directly to the castle and blow in it three times when she give her a special sign. The maid executed the plan, and the leader and the soldiers ended the blockade of the castle.

The princess was victorious and now had the three magical gifts. The three soldiers became poor and they separated. Ghaleb went to the East while Fayez and Nader went to the North. Ghaleb arrived to the forest where he and his two friends had once found good luck. He was tired, so he sat under a tree to rest. He fell asleep and when he woke up the next morning, he found that the tree was full of ripe apples. He was very hungry, so he picked and ate three apples. He felt something strange happening to his nose. He touched it and found out that it became longer and kept on growing until it reached the ground, and then the end of the forest, to reach finally the road outside the forest.

Fayez and Nader were walking on the road. Suddenly, Fayez felt something on the ground. They wanted to know what it was, so they followed its traces until they reached to its beginning. It was the nose of their poor friend Ghaleb who was sleeping sadly under the apple tree.

The three friends sat and started to think and ask God to help them overcome this trouble. Afterwards, they saw their old friend, the dwarf with the red coat coming. The dwarf asked Ghaleb laughing : “how did this happen ?”, though he knew the reason and the cure. He added : “do not worry, I will tell you about the cure.”
The dwarf asked Ghaleb’s friends to bring him some pears from the tree that was next to the apple tree. The pears, he said, would heal him.
Fayez and Nader picked some pears and gave them to Ghaleb to eat. Ghaleb’s nose started to decrease in size until it took its normal form. Ghaleb and his friends were so happy. They thanked the dwarf for all his services and told him what the princess had done.

The dwarf told them about a plan to get back their valuable gifts. He said to Ghaleb : “take some of those apples and pears and sell the apples to the princess first, so that her nose will get longer just like what happened to your nose.” The three friends thanked the dwarf for his help.

Ghaleb wore the clothes of a farmer, took a basket full of magical apples, went to the castle of the governor and showed him what he had.

Everyone wished to taste those apples but Ghaleb said that he had brought them especially for the princess. The princess sent her servant to buy all the apples. The servant washed the apples and offered them to the princess. She tried an apple and found it delicious, so she ate two more.

After that, she started to have a nose ache, she touched her nose and found out that it was increasing in size.

The princess called her father who sent after the doctor right away. Her nose became so long that it hit the floor. The doctor was surprised, he gave her a medicine, but it did not help.

The governor sent for all the doctors and surgeons in every country to treat the princess, and he promised to give a valuable reward to the one who could heal her.

The doctors and surgeons came to the castle and tried all the medicines they had, but the princess did not recover. After two weeks, Ghaleb came to the castle wearing the clothes of a doctor. He brought with him some pears, and after examining the princess, he told her that she would need many visits to be cured. He asked her about the reason of her sickness. She told him that she became like this after eating three apples.

Ghaleb asked the princess to show him the apples. Then, he ordered her to eat a slice that he cut in order to see the results on the next day. In the morning, he found that her nose increased in size. The princess got more worried. Ghaleb gave a slice of pear for her to eat, and on the next day he found that she was getting better and her nose decreased in size. He told her : “the pear I have given you is your only cure, and no one knows about it except me.” Then, he gave her a slice of apple.
When Ghaleb visited her the next day, he found that her nose got longer, and that she was feeling worse. He told her : “it seems that you have committed a sin and you will not be cured unless you purify yourself from all the sins and please God.”
The princess denied having committed any sins. Ghaleb said : “you are guilty, and you will die of this malignant sickness if you do not tell the truth and ask God to forgive you.”

Ghaleb told the governor that the princess had gotten better at first, then worse again, and that she would not be cured unless she talked about the sins she had committed and asked God to forgive her. The governor asked his daughter to tell the truth in order to recover.

Finally, the princess said : “I tricked some soldiers and took from them a valuable bag, a magical robe, and a strange trumpet.” “This is my only sin” she added. The governor asked her to give those valuable gifts to the doctor so that he could send them to whom they belong and continue her treatment.

The princess asked her maid to bring the three gifts. She gave them to the doctor and begged him to give them back to the three soldiers. She described them for him. The doctor put on the magical robe and gave a pear to the princess to eat. Her nose took its normal form again, and she was completely cured. The doctor did not take anything in return. He wished to be with his two friends, and his wish came true right away.

In the end, the three friends lived a happy life full of cooperation, love and sincerity.