The Caliph and the Clown

The Caliph and the Clown

The Caliph of Baghdad hired an intelligent and high spirited man as his court jester, and was much amused by his clever, witty comments. The Clown showed him great respect. And so the Caliph was much surprised one day when he heard his beloved clown crying out in distress from the throne room. The Chaliph hurried there and was astonished to find the guards beating the clown badly.

“Leave him alone at once!” he ordered. “why are you beating him?”

“We found him sitting on your throne, O majesty!” the captain of the guards explained.

“out of my sight!” commanded the Chaliph. “For sure the jester did not do it with the intention of offending me.”

The clown, however, continued to weep and wail even after the guards had left.

“Stop it! Said the irritated Caliph.

“You’re still in one piece, aren’t you?

“I’m not crying for myself, my lord, I weep for you,” the clown explained.

“For me?” exclaimed the Caliph in surprise.

“Certainly! If I get beaten so badly for having been only a few minutes on  the throne, how many beatings must you have suffered in all the years that you have been there?”

The Owl and the Nightingale

There was once a nightingale in a cage by a window, that was his habit to sing only at night. An owl was puzzled by this and went to ask the nightingale what the reason was. “When I was captured,” explained the nightingale, “ it was day and I was singing. In this way I learnt to be more carefully and to sing only at night.”

“Are you afraid you might be captured a second time?” asked the owl. “Oh, it would have been better if you had been more careful the first time when your freedom was at risk. Now it doesn’t really matter any more, right?”

The Story of Buggy Races

Once upon a time there lived two best friends, the hare and the tortoise. They like to race against each other, but the hare always won.

One day, the hare asked the tortoise to race down to the beach. The tortoise refused, he said that he will loose anyway. The hare replied in a kind voice that he felt sorry about it.

But the next day, the hare found a way to race the tortoise that would be fair and lots of fun too. He asked the tortoise to come with him. The tortoise was slowly plodding over the sandhill towards the bench. Now the two friends can race against each other all day and something tells me that the tortoise might win this time. 

Adapted from 50 Bedtime Stories, 2002