Visits of Kings

A Tale from the Middle East

     The Imperial Majesty visited a small teahouse one morning. He called for an omelet. With great ceremony he was flattered and served the omelet on the crude tableware of the teahouse. The owner apologized over and over for the common cloth on the table and the simple furniture. "Not at all up to the standards of a king!" he said.

"It's fine," the king reassured him. "How much do I owe for the omelet?"

"For you, Sire, the omelet will be 1,000 pieces of gold."

"Whoa!" The king raised an eyebrow. "Eggs must be expensive around here. Is that because they are scarce?"

"It's not the eggs which are scarce around here, Your Majesty," said the shopkeeper, "It is the visits of kings!"

Cooking by Candle

A Sufi Tale from the Middle East

     Mula bet some friends he could survive a night on an icy mountain with nothing to warm him. Taking only a book and a candle for some light, he sat through the frigid night. When he came down to claim his winnings, his friends asked, "Did you take anything up there with you to keep warm?"

"No," said Mula, "just a small candle to read by."

"Aha!" they exclaimed, "Then you lose!"

     

     A week later he invited these same friends to a feast. They waited and waited for food. "Dinner's not ready," said Mula, "Come and see why!"

In the kitchen they saw a huge pot of water under which a small candle was burning. Mula said, "Does this remind you of our bet? I've been trying to heat this pot of water over this candle since yesterday and it's not warm yet!"

The Stolen Ax

This is A Taoist Tale from China by Lieh Tzux
     A woodcutter went out one morning to cut some firewood and discovered that his favorite ax was missing. He couldn't find it anywhere. Then he noticed his neighbor's son standing near the woodshed. The woodcutter thought, "Aha! That boy must have stolen my ax. I see how he lurks about the shed, shifting uneasily from foot to foot, greedy hands stuffed in his pockets, a guilty look on his face. I can't prove it, but he MUST have stolen my ax."
     A few days later the woodcutter was surprised and happy to come upon the ax under a pile of firewood. "I remember now," he said, "Just where I'd left it!"

The next time he saw his neighbor's son, the woodcutter looked intently at the boy, scrutinizing him from head to toe. How odd, he thought, somehow this boy has lost his guilty look . . .

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The Boatman

     Let's try some story that is not about turtle. This is a Sufi Story from the Middle East.
    scholar asked a boatman to row him across the river. The journey was long and slow. The scholar was bored. "Boatman," he called out, "Let's have a conversation." Suggesting a topic of special interest to himself, he asked, "Have you ever studied phonetics or grammar?"
"No," said the boatman, "I've no use for those tools."
"Too bad," said the scholar, "You've wasted half your life. It's useful to know the rules."
Later, as the rickety boat crashed into a rock in the middle of the river, the boatman turned to the scholar and said, "Pardon my humble mind that to you must seem dim, but, wise man, tell me, have you ever learned to swim?"
"No," said the scholar, "I've never learned. I've immersed myself in thinking."
"In that case," said the boatman, "you've wasted all your life. Alas, the boat is sinking."

   

The Boy and The Turtles

     Native Americans have many stories about Turtle too. Here is one I hope you enjoy! 

     A boy went on a turtle hunt, and after following the different streams for hours, finally came to the conclusion that the only place he would find any turtles would be at the little lake, where the tribe always hunted them. 
     So, leaving the stream he had been following, he cut across country to the lake. On drawing near the lake he crawled on his hands and knees in order not to be seen by the turtles, who were very watchful, as they had been hunted so much.  Peeping over the rock he saw a great many out on the shore sunning themselves, so he very cautiously undressed, so he could leap into the water and catch them before they secreted themselves. But on pulling off his shirt, one of his hands was held up so high that the turtles saw it and jumped into the lake with a great splash. 
     The boy ran to the shore, but saw only bubbles coming up from the bottom. Directly the boy saw something coming to the surface, and soon it came up into sight. It was a little man, and soon others, by the  hundreds, came up and swam about, splashing the water up into the air to a great height. So scared was the boy that he never stopped to gather up his clothes but ran home naked and fell into his grandmother's tent door. 
"What is the trouble, grandchild," cried the old woman. But the boy could not answer. 
     "Did you see anything unnatural?" He shook his head, "no." He made signs to the grandmother that his lungs were pressing so hard against his sides that he could not talk. He kept beating his side with his clenched hands. The grandmother got out her  medicine bag, made a prayer to the Great Spirit to drive out the evil spirit  that had entered her grandson's body, and after she had applied the  medicine, the prayer must have been heard and answered, as the boy commenced telling her what he had heard and seen. 
     The grandmother went to the chief's tent and told what her grandson had seen. The chief sent two brave warriors to the lake to ascertain whether it was true or not. The two warriors crept to the little hill close to the lake, and there, sure enough, the lake was swarming with little men swimming, about, splashing the water high up into the air. The warriors, too, were scared and hurried home, and in the council called on their return told what they had seen. The boy was brought to the council and given the  seat of honor , and was named "Wankan Wanyanka" (sees holy). 

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The Tortoise and the Hare

Another popular story about turtle!

 One day a rabbit was boasting about how fast he could run. He was laughing at the turtle for being so slow. Much to the rabbit's surprise, the turtle challenged him to a race. The rabbit thought this was a good joke and accepted the challenge. The fox was to be the umpire of the race. As the race began, the rabbit raced way ahead of the turtle, just like everyone thought. The rabbit got to the halfway point and could not see the turtle anywhere. He was hot and tired and decided to stop and take a short nap. Even if the turtle passed him, he would be able to race to the finish line ahead of him. All this time the turtle kept walking step by step by step. He never quit no matter how hot or tired he got. He just kept going. 
     However, the rabbit slept longer than he had thought and woke up. He       could not see the turtle anywhere! He went at full-speed to the finish line but found the turtle there waiting for him.

The Flying Turtle

I would like to tell you a very popular story about turtle..
   
     Once upon a time there lived a small turtle named 'Kittu' in a lake near jungle. One day Kittu saw some birds flying in the sky. He too felt like flying with them. He expressed his desire to his mother. His mother got scared and explained Kittu that he can never fly like birds because he had no wings. He can rather swim like a fish and she asked Kittu to learn swimming. But Kittu was not satisfied with her reply and was determined to fly. 

Kittu's dream

So one day Kittu climbed up a big stone and asked a little bird who sat there whether she could help him to fly. The bird said to Kittu, " You should not try things which are out of your limits. Go back to your mother ". However Kittu didn't like her reply and waited there for some more time. Later a giant bird came there and Kittu asked her to help him to fly. The big bird tried to convince the little turtle. But finally she gave up. She agreed to help Kittu in flying.          She held him in her big claws and started flying. Kittu was very happy on reaching the sky. He felt as if he was flying on his own. So he asked the giant bird to free him. The bird said," what are you saying? If I leave your hold, you will fall down ". But Kittu started shouting at the bird to free him and let him fly on his own. Annoyed the bird opened up his grip and flew away. As a result Kittu started falling down. He screamed for help. Bur nobody was there to help him. He fell on his back and and cried due to pain. And then he remembered his mother. Kittu understood his mistake and very soon started swimming in water with his mother.

MORAL: One should not blindly imitate others.