Three of the generals returned, empty-handed. But the general who had gone north was determined not to fail his King.
At last, he reached a cold mountain village. As he sat at the foot of the mountain, an old woman came by and sat next to him. The general pointed at the horizon and said, 'I belong to a beautiful kingdom, where it has not rained for a whole year. Can you help me find water?' The woman motioned the general to follow her up the mountain and into a cave. 'We have no water in our country either,' she said. Then, pointing to the icicles in the cave, she continued: 'We call this ice. Take some and your kingdom will never go thirsty again.'
The general broke off a huge piece, loaded it onto his horse-cart and rushed back home.
By the time he reached the court, the enormous icicle had melted into a small lump of ice. Nobody in the court had ever seen ice, so everybody gazed at it with wonder. 'This must be a water-seed!' one of the ministers exclaimed suddenly.
The king ordered the 'water-seed' to be sowed immediately. While the farmers dug a hole, the lump dwindled in the sun. They swiftly placed the seed in the hole, but before they could cover it up, it had vanished. The farmers there grew confused and worried. They dug deeper and deeper into the earth, all night long, looking for the mysterious seed.
At the break of dawn, the King found the farmers fast asleep around a hole. Curious, he peeped in and cried out in amazement 'Wake up my worthy men - the water-seed has sprouted! There's water in the hole!'
This is how the first well was created.