"Yet, when New Year's Day comes, the house lord will smash you in an instant", the oranges that lived on the next tree told him. They, then, explained to him "the smashing custom" in Greece, according to which every house lord must smash a pomegranate on New Year's Day for good luck. Our good pomegranate became confused by what he heard, yet, paid little heed.

The next day that the housewife came to collect him from the tree, however, he got very scared. "She'll definitely smash me", thought the pomegranate as she placed him in the cupboard. He, then, noticed the coins she had left next to him so as to have something to give the little children that would soon knock on her door to sing carols. He realized that his end would soon be close: it was already New Year's Eve.

So, he decided to act. As soon as the housewife went to the kitchen, he hid behind the tinsels next to the Christmas tree. There, he saw another pomegranate made of plastic that was placed on a decorative plate.

"Why don't you take my position at tomorrow's smashing custom?", he suggested to the plastic pomegranate and asked it to swap positions. After giving it some thought, the plastic pomegranate replied: "No, as I am made of a material that cannot break, and this would mean bad luck for the house". The other plastic decorations agreed.

Our good pomegranate, then, thought of another trick. He borrowed a horseshoe from the other decorations, and gathered as many garlands as possible. After making sure the housewife was not looking, he went to the bathroom and scanned all the bottles. There, he found a shoe shiner which he applied all over himself, as well as perfume with which he got sprayed. After making sure everything was alright and that nobody would suspect him, he went back to the living room, wrapped himself with garlands and sat next to the plastic pomegranate so as to be mistaken for an ornament.

The next day that the housewife's son came, she got curious. "I think I left it in the cupboard...", she told him confused. The son, then, searched the living room and found the two pomegranates: the plastic and the real one that was disguised as a fake.

"Which of the two is real?", they both exclaimed with wonder, and decided to wash them so as to find out. The water didn't affect the plastic one. As for the real one, however, as soon as all the polish and perfume he had applied was washed away, his natural scent filled the house.

"It smells so nice, it's a pity to smash it!", they agreed with each other as soon as the pomegranate's natural odor reached their nostrils, and decided to make an exception this year. Instead of smashing him, they placed him in the fruit case so he would brighten up their mornings with his beautiful smell.

And so, our good pomegranate was spared, as the specific fruit's natural scent can be easily compared to that of the most expensive perfume....