Sorry, I don't know, who's the author of this wonderful fairytale.
The gifted time
Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who had three daughters. People would say of the eldest, “How clever she is!” Of the second, they would remark with admiration, “Look how hardworking she is!” But when they spoke of the third, their faces would light up: “She is so kind, and she has such a wonderful laugh.”
One day, the queen said, “It is now time, my dear daughters, for you to leave home and get to know the world.” She placed an intricately woven bag over each of their shoulders, each one bulging with provisions. “This is your provision for the journey. I have given each of you a large portion of my time. Use it wisely. I cannot give you any more of it.”
The farewell was heartfelt, and then each went her own way. The First, the Wise One, hadn’t gone far before she had already made a careful calculation of how she could invest her time as profitably as possible. “Treat yourself to a little more of your time,” whispered the flowers by the wayside. “What are you thinking?” said the Wise One. “Time is money, and you don’t throw money away.” And she hurried off as if she already had no time left.
The second girl, the hard-working one, had immediately found something to do and was working hurriedly because she wanted to make the most of her time. Just then, a red ball rolled between her feet, and a child ran up and asked, “Will you play with me?” “Not now,” said the hard-working girl, “I don’t have time! I have to do tomorrow’s work today.” “Will you play with me tomorrow, then?” “I can’t. I’ll be doing the work for the day after tomorrow.” “And then—will you have time then?” “Maybe, if nothing comes up. But for now, take your ball and don’t steal my time!” So the child left and waited for the day after tomorrow.
The third daughter, however, didn’t get very far—only as far as a bench by the duck pond. A couple of elderly people were sitting there, at a loss for words, because they’d already told each other everything, and nothing new came to mind. “Do you have a little time? Come on, sit down with us!” “Of course,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been given plenty of time. I can certainly share some of it with you,” and she reached into her bag and asked the elderly couple about their lives. And they told her a great deal, and when she said goodbye, she could still hear them talking and laughing from a distance, for so many things had come to mind that they had almost forgotten.
“After a year,” the mother had said, “come back and tell us how things have gone for you.” When the year was up, the eldest sent an expensive bouquet of flowers with a short note attached: “Dear parents, thank you, but I cannot visit you. It would be unwise. The long journey to see you would take too much time.” The second daughter arrived in a great hurry and spoke of all the work that now had to be left undone; in her heart, she had already left again before she had even arrived. The third daughter, however, arrived a little late, for she had picked flowers along the way that she wanted to bring to her mother. “Do you have that much time to spare?!” asked the mother. “Of course,” said the daughter, “you never told me that the bag keeps filling up! The more time I gave away, the more I found in it.”
“You’re the only one,” said the mother with a smile, “who has discovered the secret of time given away.”
Deepl did the translation, since I was too lazy today.
