The story that begins with a lie and ends with a lie
A king went out with his minister to check on
his people. He saw a very beautiful girl who entranced him despite her
simple attire. He asked his minister to check her out, only to find out
that she comes from a poor family and is married to a fisherman. The minister
added:" It's simple. If you want her we can easily get rid of her husband."
The King sent for her husband, who arrived at the court shaking with fear.
The King said:" I want to test you with a request, if you don't deliver
I will cut your head, and if you do you will survive. I want you to come
here riding-walking at the same time."
The fisherman went back home bewildered and
depressed, thinking of the King's request. His wife calmed him down, and
asked her sister who asked a wise genie who advised him to take a small
mule and enter the King's court riding him yet walking on his two feet.
When the King saw him he said:" You win this time. My second re- quest
is for you to come back tomorrow dressed- naked." The fisherman went back
home, totally distressed. His wife's sister advised him to wrap the fishing
net around his naked body. Upon seeing him the king said: "You have escaped
this time too. Tomorrow, you must bring me a baby to tell us a story that
is an absolute lie from beginning to end. If you fail I will cut your head
off." The fisherman went back home confused, telling himself: 'I will never
be able to do that." When he told his wife, she went to her sister who
brought her a baby saying:" This baby will tell the king what he wants."
When the fisherman saw the baby he thought:" This is definitely the last
day of my life." He took him to the King's court where all the ministers
and high officials were present. Everyone was surprised at the site of
the baby whom the fisherman sat on a chair.
The King said sarcastically:" Is this the
one who will tell us the story?" Immediately the baby started talking:
" Fifty years ago I went out to pick dates from a nearby palm tree. I didn't
find any date on the ground so I started throwing stones on the tree, and
many dates fell filling three dunums of land. I ran quickly to the house
and pulled two cows with a plough, carried three Tons of sesame and placed
them all on the palm tree, then I turned the ground with the plough and
divided it into lines and sections and planted the sesame. When I finished
and was returning with the two cows a farmer passed by and asked:" What
are you planting this season?" I answered "Sesame". He said:" But this
is not the season." I didn't answer and returned to collect the sesame
seeds, when I picked them all there remained one sesame seed less than
three Tons. So what do you think? Should I leave it?" The King asked:"
And what happened next? " The baby replied:" Nothing, I left it and kept
looking for it for fifty years, I never allowed myself to lose it, even
if it was one sesame seed." The King said:" You collected three tons except
for that seed, why don't you forget about it and relieve yourself?" the
child answered:" And why don't you leave the fisherman's wife when you
have tons of women?" The King said:" You are right!" he turned to the fisherman
and said:" God bless you for what you have, take your child and go home."
Source: Al Ashhab, Dr. Rushdi. Kan Ya Ma Kan:
Popular Stories from Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Alloush publishers, 1996.