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The Search For The Magic Lake

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“The Search for the Magic Lake” is a folktale from Ecuador that takes place during the Inca Empire (Cole 767). The story starts by explaining that the emperor’s son is sick and nothing has been able to cure him. Distraught, the emperor goes to a priest and asks what can be done to save his child. The priest tells him that the only thing that can cure the child is water from a magic lake at the end of the world. The king is too old to make the journey himself so he offers a reward to anyone that can bring him the water. One family hears about the reward and the two oldest brothers decide to go on the quest but their father tells them that they need to return by harvest time, the brothers promise and go on their way. Much later the brothers realize that they won’t be able to find the lake in time but they still want the reward so they take water from a random lake and deliver that to their king (Cole 768). The king immediately gives the water to his son but it has no effect. The king goes to a magician and asks why the water isn’t working, the magician reveals that the king has been deceived by the brothers and the king becomes outraged and sentences the brothers to prison. When the family finds out about this the youngest daughter, Sumac, offers to go look for the magic lake in hopes that if she can bring back the water, she can convince the king to free them. With no other option the family sends her to find the water (Cole 769). Two days into her search a few

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