The Khan and the Cobbler
Whether this story happened or not is not our concern.
Once, during the old days, the Khan became bored and decided to entertain himself. He took two of his advising viziers and set off to this capital to see and hear what the people were saying around.
Late at night, while passing through the outskirts of the city, he noticed a light in a small adobe house. He looked through the window and saw a cobbler working inside.
"Why are you up so late, master?" the Khan asked.
The cobbler recognized the Khan, stepped outside, bowed, and replied, "Necessity compels me, my lord!"
"How long have you been here?" the Khan inquired.
"Forty years, mlord," the cobbler answered.
"And when did snow fall on this mountain?" the Khan continued.
"Three years ago, mlord," replied the cobbler.
"Out of the twelve , why not take one for rest," the Khan advised.
"Necessity mlord does not allow it,," the cobbler replied.
"Well, then, I'll send you two oxen. Take their meat for yourself and return the bones to me," said the Khan, and he rode on with his viziers.
After they had left the cobbler's house, one of the viziers said to the Khan, "Oh, my lord! This cobbler is a deceitful man. He has lived in our city for only three months, not forty years; and we have seen snow on the mountain since our childhood, yet the cobbler says it fell three years ago. And his other answers, my lord, are very vague. There is no truth in his words."
The Khan grew angry at his unperceptive viziers and said, "Though you are my viziers, you understood nothing from my conversation with the cobbler. If you do not unravel the meaning by morning, you will not escape the gallows."
The viziers escorted the Khan back and hurried to the cobbler's house, begging him to explain the conversation with the Khan.
"Did you understand nothing yourselves?" asked the cobbler. "You are viziers and should be wise." He refused to explain.
"We will give you a hundred golden coins," offered the viziers, "just explain your conversation."
The cobbler refused.
"Take three hundred coins," said the viziers, but the cobbler remained firm.
"Take five hundred coins," the viziers persisted.
The cobbler thought for a moment and agreed, "Give me your coins, and I will explain."
After receiving the money, he began, "When the Khan asked how long I had been here, he wanted to know my age. I answered that I am forty. When he asked when the snow fell on this mountain, he meant when my hair turned gray. Then the Khan advised me to take one of the twelve months in a year for rest. I replied that necessity does not allow it. His last words, 'I'll send you two oxen, take their meat for yourself and return the bones to me,' meant he would send you two viziers, take five hundred golden coins from them, and let them return to me. You should not be viziers but oxen," the cobbler concluded and returned to his house.
Ashamed, the viziers went back to the Khan.