Skip to main content
Read page text
page 176
THE SHORT STORIES OF ZAKARIA TAMER sun golden-rayed, the plants green, and the flowers yellow, red and white. He was sad and his resentment for death, and for the owl, grew. But he forgot all of this the second he caught sight of a fat fox. The elderly lion readied himself for action. The owl screeched: “The fox will die, the fox will die!” The fox realized that he would die and felt total fear, but he did not flee. The fox approached the lion and cried out: “The soothsayer spoke true! The soothsayer spoke true!” This made the lion curious. He asked the fox: “What are you talking about?” The fox replied: “Yesterday a soothsayer told me that you will die one day after I die.” The lion grinned a malicious grin: “And how do you know that I am the lion the soothsayer meant? As you know, lions do not have names.” At once the fox replied: “The soothsayer prophesied: that when I see the lion who will expire after my death, I will know the thoughts that fill his head. When I saw you, I knew what you were thinking.” The lion was shocked: “What was I thinking?” “You were thinking,” replied the fox: “that fox-meat might help cheer you up.” The lion was taken aback and said: “You have spoken true.” At that the owl screeched: “The wily fox outwits the powerful lion.” The lion said with anger in his voice: “Shut up and mind your own business.” Then he turned to the fox and beseeched him: “Live with me and I will provide all the meat and grapes you need.” The fox was happy and agreed to the lion’s suggestion. The fox loved his own cleverness so much more, now that it had provided a happy life free of work and free of danger. Then one day the lion became hungry, he was starving. He could not find anything in the jungle to eat. He lost all selfcontrol, he pounced on the fox, he devoured the fox, and he 174 BANIPAL 53 – SUMMER 2015
page 177
13 STORIES FOR CHILDREN did not even notice the fox yelp for help. Now full, the lion headed for the river where he washed his paws and brushed his teeth. Then he lay down underneath a tree. He was about to fall asleep when he jumped, panicstricken, at the screech of the owl: “The lion will die.” He now realized what he had done. His regret was utter regret – he knew that he would die the next day, as the fox had said. Except that he did not die. He lived on and hunted foxes. Man and Animal Sulayman roamed from city to city because he loved to travel. One day, he arrived at a high-walled palace that was owned by an old man. The old man greeted him and gave him the food and water he needed. The old man lived there alone, and he told Sulayman: “This is my palace. Stay with me, and you will find here forty unlocked rooms. In each room you will see wonders that shock and awe. But I advise you not to open the door of the fortieth room. You will regret it if you do.” Sulayman asked him: “What will happen?” The old man said: “You will turn from a man into an animal.” BANIPAL 53 – SUMMER 2015 175

THE SHORT STORIES OF ZAKARIA TAMER

sun golden-rayed, the plants green, and the flowers yellow, red and white. He was sad and his resentment for death, and for the owl, grew. But he forgot all of this the second he caught sight of a fat fox. The elderly lion readied himself for action.

The owl screeched: “The fox will die, the fox will die!” The fox realized that he would die and felt total fear, but he did not flee. The fox approached the lion and cried out: “The soothsayer spoke true! The soothsayer spoke true!”

This made the lion curious. He asked the fox: “What are you talking about?”

The fox replied: “Yesterday a soothsayer told me that you will die one day after I die.”

The lion grinned a malicious grin: “And how do you know that I am the lion the soothsayer meant? As you know, lions do not have names.”

At once the fox replied: “The soothsayer prophesied: that when I see the lion who will expire after my death, I will know the thoughts that fill his head. When I saw you, I knew what you were thinking.”

The lion was shocked: “What was I thinking?” “You were thinking,” replied the fox: “that fox-meat might help cheer you up.”

The lion was taken aback and said: “You have spoken true.” At that the owl screeched: “The wily fox outwits the powerful lion.”

The lion said with anger in his voice: “Shut up and mind your own business.”

Then he turned to the fox and beseeched him: “Live with me and I will provide all the meat and grapes you need.”

The fox was happy and agreed to the lion’s suggestion. The fox loved his own cleverness so much more, now that it had provided a happy life free of work and free of danger.

Then one day the lion became hungry, he was starving. He could not find anything in the jungle to eat. He lost all selfcontrol, he pounced on the fox, he devoured the fox, and he

174 BANIPAL 53 – SUMMER 2015

My Bookmarks


Skip to main content