Three
Eggs
A
long, long time ago the khaan (1)
of a mighty empire sent a messenger to the khaan of his neighbouring kingdom.
The messenger presented three eggs to him and asked what would become of them.
The neighbouring khaan accepted the eggs and thought: "I guess, I will put
my ministers and officials to the test." When he had gathered his ministers
and officials together, he asked them: "Is anybody here who knows what will
become of those eggs?" Nobody knew it.
But
when the boy who tended to the khaan's lambs, heard of the eggs he stepped in
front of the khaan and said: "Dear khaan, would you show me the three eggs
the foreign khaan sent you? I will try to discover what will become of
them."
The
khaan said: "How can some snotty, dirty boy know something wise men don't
understand?"
"You
shouldn't judge a man as you shouldn't measure the ocean!" the boy answered.
The
khaan gave the matter considerable thought and finally said: "Oh well, take
a look then!"
The
shepherd boy looked upon the three eggs and said: "This is the egg of a
sparrow, this is the egg of a snake, this is the egg of a lizard."
"How
do you know that?" the khaan asked.
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"In
them there are small animals who are growing," the boy explained,
"I shrieked like a hawk. Because the animal in this egg wanted to
flee once it heard the cry of the hawk it moved and the egg rolled around.
The hawk hunts the sparrow. So the animal in this egg is certainly a
|
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young
sparrow. I barked like a fox. Because the animal in this egg wanted to flee once it heard the barking of
a fox it moved and the egg rolled around. The fox hunts the lizard. Therefore
the animal in this egg surely is a baby lizard. I rustled like a hedgehog.
Because the animal in this egg wanted to flee once it heard the rustling
of an hegdehog it moved and the egg rolled around. The hedgehog hunts the
snake. So the animal in this egg has to be a snake." |
Lizard
by Alfredo Giunta |
The
khaan send for the messenger and told him what the boy had just told him: "Amongst
the reptiles the snake lays eggs, amongst the two-legged animals the birds and
amongst the four-legged animals the lizard does. This is the egg of a snake."
When the messenger broke the egg open, a small snake crawled out. "This is
the egg of a sparrow," the khaan then said, and when the messenger broke it
open a young sparrow appeared. "This third egg is from a lizard," the khaan
said. When the messenger broke it open, too, a baby lizard came out of it.
This
is how a shepherd boy solved the secret of the three eggs which the khaan and
his minister and officials couldn't and so the boy became well known in the
whole kingdom for his cleverness and his knowledge.
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(1)
The title of the khaan is similar to the one of the king. (back
to the text)