Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Fables from Kaleela wa Dimna

Rasha-al-Raisi
Rasha-al-Raisi
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LICE AND THE FLEA


A lice lived on the bed of a rich man for a long time. Every night, she would nip on his bed and sip from his blood without him knowing.


She stayed for a while like that until she invited her friend the flea home and asked him to stay the night, offering him soft bed and a good meal.


When the man went to sleep, the flea jumped on him hastily and bit him — which woke him up immediately. He called his servants to search the bed.


They found the lice and crushed it while the flea ran away. Moral of the story: even when the wrongdoer weakens, his deed will bring him down.


LION AND HIS FRIENDS


There was a lion living in a jungle with three friends: a crow, a jackal and a wolf. During that time, a group of camel herders were passing by and one of their camels got left behind. He went into the jungle and met with the lion who asked him to stay and graze safely nearby, which he accepted happily. One day the lion went hunting an elephant and got wounded in the pursuit. For days, his three friends starved as they were dependent on him for their feed. He felt sorry for them and asked them to go hunting for themselves and bring him a bite too.


Instead of hunting, the three met and started plotting against the camel — the useless herbivore according to them. The crow suggested that he’d convince the lion to kill him and feed them all. The lion was angered by his suggestion as he’d promised the camel to protect him.


Feeling disheartened, the crow went back to his friends and came up with a better plan: one by one, the three would offer themselves to the lion as a feed while the other two should find fault in the appeal.


Returning to the lion, the first to offer himself was the crow. The other two disapproved immediately as he didn’t have enough meat on him. Then the jackal offered himself and the other two declined as his meat was contaminated from eating corpses.


When the wolf suggested himself the other two scoffed quoting a well-known medical advice: “whoever wants to die should eat a wolf’s meat”. Thinking that the rest would decline his plea the way they’ve been doing for each other, the camel offered himself as his meat was clean.


The three friends agreed at once and thanked him for his generosity before pouncing on him and tearing him apart. Moral of the story: there is so little you could do when others plot against you.


HERMIT AND WEASEL


In the land of Gorgan in Persia, lived a hermit and his wife. They had a pet weasel that they’d adopted when he was a kit. After years of desperation, the wife got pregnant and had a beautiful baby boy.


She decided to go to the public bath to wash after a few days of her delivery and left the baby with his dad. The King’s messenger arrived shortly and asked the hermit to accompany him to the palace. The hermit left, trusting the weasel to guard his baby.


When he came back, he was welcomed by the weasel with a bloodied mouth. Imagining the worst, the hermit lost his mind and killed the weasel at once. When he went inside, he heard the baby cry and next to it was a dead black serpent. He was filled with regret instantly. Moral of the story: hasty decisions are like arrows or words; once out, they’re irretrievable.


(To be continued…)


Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com


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