Taken from pg 589, where King Yunan plans on executing the sage who cured him:
Then the sage added, “Is this my reward from your Majesty? It is like the reward of the crocodile.” The king asked, “What is the story of the crocodile?” The sage replied, “I am in no condition to tell you a story, but if you will spare me and not return my good deed for your evil one, before God, I will tell you.”
[The Tale of the Crocodile]
The story of the crocodile, your Majesty, starts like this. It was said very long ago that there once was a swamp that housed a proud and conniving crocodile. The crocodile had great jaws with which he caught his enemies, and a long tail that he was very proud of. The men in a nearby village feared this crocodile because he was so big and fierce, and one day, a young hunter left his house to try and kill him. The hunter hid in the swamp until he came within fifteen feet of the crocodile, and hurled his spear, where it impaled the crocodile’s tail to the ground. The crocodile flashed his eyes and roared so loudly, the young man fled in terror.
For three days, the crocodile’s tail remained impaled to the ground by the spear, and the proud beast was reduced to the laughing stock of the swamp.
“Somebody help me,” the crocodile roared, thrashing his head weakly from hunger. The birds tittered in the air, but one small, kind frog with beautiful skin hopped up to the crocodile.
“I’ll help you, if you promise that you and your kind will never eat me or my kind again,” the little frog said. The crocodile laughed. “You? How could you possibly move man’s spear? But if you are able to, friend, we will spare you,” the crocodile said, his eyes flashing.
The frog hopped to the crocodile’s tail and examined the spear. He looked this way and that, and then proceeded to dig a hole around the spear. The little frog dug for two days and two nights, and finally, the crocodile was able to pull his tail and the spear from the ground. The crocodile could move again, but the spear was still stuck in his tail, so he was forced to hold it above his head.
“Come, friend,” the crocodile said to the exhausted frog, “You have helped me this far. Come closer so I may at least thank you for letting me move again.”
The tired frog hopped weakly to the crocodile, but when he came drew near, the crocodile lunged forward and swallowed him whole. The birds in the air twittered angrily, but the crocodile laughed and fell asleep with a satisfied belly. The frog, however, had been poisonous, and when the hunter gathered his courage and came back to finish the crocodile off, he found the animal dead with a spear in his tail. And it has always been since that frogs and crocodiles were enemies.
Then the sage asked again, “Is this my reward from your majesty? Like the reward of the crocodile? For God’s sake, spare me, and God will spare you. Destroy me, and God will destroy you.”
But the king insisted, “I must kill you.”
This tale ties beautifully with the story of King Yunan; well-done. You also do a great job of mirroring the style of the original/translated text (little interjections like “before God”; paired adjectival descriptions as in “a proud and conniving crocodile”).
Hey JoMaris,
Your story is awesome! I can only hope my addition to be as good as your tale.
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Just as the king was about to summon for the executioner, his noblemen hurried to the court once more to bring the bad news. The vizier, worried that his evil plan would be exposed and he would suffer the same fate as the sage, fled the city with all the wealth that he accumulated from the king over the years. The king, though dim-witted, pieced together the clues and finally realized that the sage was innocent all along. He immediately released the sage, apologized for his actions, and promised to give him double the thousand dinars that he has been getting.
The sage, relieved that he escaped death by a close margin, thanked the Almighty God as well as the king. He wished to thank the king for his kindness by crafting another ball and mallet, this time filled with potions to strengthen the body, lengthen the lifespan, and broaden the mind’s eye of the king. The king gladly accepted his proposal, appreciative that this wise sage decided to stay despite his actions.
A week later, the sage presented the newly minted set. The ball was ivory white, and the mallet a blend of red, blue and yellow. “My king,” the sage kneeled before the king, “I am going on a journey to seek more powerful potions to aide your reign. Consider this my parting gift. The white potion grants you immense knowledge of the universe; the red grants you immense strength; the blue grants you ever lasting life; the yellow god-like charisma.” The sage steadily strolls out of the court, leaving the king marveling at the incredible gift.
Two weeks after his departure, the sage relaxes comfortably in his byzantine home, frogs croaking in cages all around the beautiful architecture. On the table is a crystal ball, with an image exactly like that of the king’s court. The king, lying on the ground, is gushing out blood. His face glowing with white, yellow, red, and blue haze. The mallet and ball still in his hands.