![]() That butter was carried on one side of the camel and honey on the other was clear because ants had been attracted to melted butter on one side of the road and flies to spilled honey on the other. The tracks showed the prints of only three feet, the fourth being dragged, indicating that the animal was lame. Because there were lumps of chewed grass on the road the size of a camel’s tooth, presumably they had fallen through the gap left by a missing tooth. It is clear from the princes’ reply that they had brilliantly interpreted the scant evidence observed along the road.Īs the grass had been eaten on one side of the road where it was less verdant, the princes deduced that the camel was blind to the other side. ![]() The princes are brought before Emperor Beramo, who asks them how they could give such an accurate description of a camel they had never seen. It is only after the driver’s neighbour finds the camel that they are released. Concluding that the princes have stolen the camel, the driver has them imprisoned. The camel, they say, carried a load of butter on one side and honey on the other, and was ridden by a pregnant woman. The camel driver, impressed by the accuracy of the description, immediately hurries off in pursuit of the animal.Īfter a fruitless search, and feeling deceived, he returns to the princes, who reassure him by supplying further information. Ever ready to dazzle with their wit and sagacity, the princes mystify the camel driver by asking him if the lost camel is blind in one eye, missing a tooth and lame. Although they have not, they have noticed signs that suggest a camel has passed along the road. Misfortune befalls the princes when a camel driver stops them on the road and asks them if they have seen one of his camels. “Thus they started their peregrination and moved out of his kingdom until they reached the kingdom of a great and powerful emperor, whose name was Beramo.” He summons his sons and, giving the impression of being angry and disappointed because they have all disobeyed him, banishes them from Serendip. The two younger sons also refuse when commanded in a similar manner.Īlthough the king is astonished by the wisdom displayed by his sons, he decides to send them on a prolonged journey so that they can acquire empirical experience. The eldest son politely refuses, insisting that his father is wiser and should reign until his death. So he summons his eldest son and announces that he wishes to retire to a monastery and that his son should succeed him as ruler. However, when the tutors inform the king of his sons’ achievements, he is sceptical. ![]() In order to provide the best tutors for his sons, the king travels throughout the island until he finds a number of scholars, each specialized in a different field, “And to them he entrusted the training of his sons, with the understanding that the best they could do for him was to teach them in such a way that they could be immediately recognized as his very own.”Īs the three princes are endowed with great intelligence, they soon become highly trained in the arts and sciences. So begins the fascinating story of The Three Princes of Serendip. And being a good father and very concerned about their education, he decided that he had to leave them endowed not only with great power, but also with all kinds of virtues of which princes are particularly in need.” He had three sons who were very dear to him. “In ancient times there existed in the country of Serendippo, in the Far East, a great and powerful king by the name of Giaffer.
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