Honesty: Why it's cool to always tell the truth!

A story from the Neflental: In the Lichtglockental and the Drachenzahngebirge

It was winter in the Neflental. The sun tickled over the rugged peaks of the Drachenzahn mountains. The highest tooth looked like a giant grey knife caressing the clouds. The Bell of Light Valley lay below and everything glittered like golden fairy dust. The colours shone in white gold, light blue and smoky grey. There was snow everywhere, shining like amber in the sunrise.

A special promise

Rosa Immergrün trudged through the Lichtglockental valley. It was cold, but beautiful. Today she wanted to visit the Bergsteins, who live deep in the Dragon's Tooth Mountains. Even from a distance, she could hear the hammering from the workshops and the twittering of the mountain jackdaws circling over the grey rocks. The gnomes had weather-beaten faces and carried baskets full of sparkling gemstones into secret tunnels. In the caves, the light of rock crystals glittered on the walls.

Rosa knocked on a stone door. She was a little excited. Her friend Silverbeard, a clever mountain stone, had asked her for help yesterday. He had found something very important, but didn't want to tell anyone what it was. Rosa knew that honesty was important.

The strange secret

Silverbeard welcomed them into his cave. Steam rose from a warm spring and made the air very soft. Silverbeard looked nervous. He kept looking at the glittering stone box on the shelf.

"Rosa, yesterday I found the biggest crystal in the mountains," whispered Silverbeard. "I hid it because I'm afraid of the others mocking me. The crystal is not perfect. It's full of little cracks."

Rosa looked at the crystal. The light in it sparkled like a rainbow. The cracks made it unique. She asked carefully: "Why don't you want to tell me, Silverbeard?"

Silverbeard lowered his head. "Everyone thinks I only find the most beautiful crystals. When they see the one with the cracks, they might laugh. That's why I even said I hadn't found anything."

Courage to tell the truth

Rosa thought for a moment. She thought it was better to be honest. "Silverbeard, every crystal is special! Telling the truth is much better than keeping a secret. If you're honest, you'll realise that your other friends like you anyway."

Silverbeard was still unsure, but Rosa smiled at him. Together they marched to the Bergsteins' large workshop. The whole village was hammering and polishing there. Rosa and Silverbeard stepped forward and showed the crystal with the many cracks.

Surprise with friends

"Look what Silverbeard found today!" said Rosa. The sun shone through the door and made the light dance on the crystal. The other gnomes came closer.

One marvelled: "This is the most beautiful crystal I've ever seen!" Another said: "The cracks look like little flashes of gold dust!" Everyone was delighted. Nobody laughed. Everyone even admired Silverbeard. He was suddenly proud of his discovery.

In the evening, everyone sat round the campfire. They told stories, laughed and watched as the snow outside continued to glisten like gold dust.

What do we learn from this?

Rosa Periwinkle helped Silverbeard to be brave and tell the truth. Honesty sometimes takes courage, but it makes friendships stronger. If you are always honest, you never have to be afraid. Even small mistakes make you unique.

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