THE THREE BROTHERS (AN ARMENIAN FOLKTALE)

The news about Baghdad’s caliph wisdom and justice spread around the world. Once three wise men decided to test this themselves and they set out on a journey to Baghdad.
On the way one of them said:
- My friends, a camel must have travelled on this way, this camel had just one eye and also his front teeth were missing.
- This is true- said the other wise man-, and on one side of its hump there was wheat hanging and on the other side there was honey.
- A pregnant woman was sitting on this camel- said the third wise man.

After some time the wise men noticed that a man was following them. When he reached them, he asked them if they had seen his lost camel.
- A one eyed camel whose front teeth were missing ?- asked the first wise man.
- And on whose one side there was wheat and on the other side of the hump there was honey? – asked the second wise.
- Yes.
- On which a pregnant woman was sitting?- asked the third one.
-Yes
The man pleaded them to tell him , in which direction did his camel go.
Then the three of them in one voice replied that they had not even seen the camel.
The man thought that these men were thieves and he complained to the caliph.
- The people have taken my camel away and they know what it was carrying, and still they say that they have not seen him.
- How do you know the peculiarities of the camel , if you haven’t seen him?- the caliph asked them.
- That the camel had one eye and his front teeth were missing, I know from the fact that the grass on one side of the road has been eaten and that too only on the two sides, the middle part of the grass has been left- answered the first wise man.
- That, on one side of the camel hump, there was wheat hanging and on the other side honey, I came to know from that on the way where the camel went, on one side there were flies and on the other were the birds – answered the second wise man.
- That there was a pregnant lady sitting on the camel, I came to know from the place where the woman might have climbed down from the camel, on the ground there were signs of two palms. Only childbearing women usually climb down with support of both their hands- answered the third wise man.
The caliph was surprised at the three men’s wisdom and so he invited them for lunch in his palace. When after the lunch the three men went away to the room which was given to them, one of the palace’s servants listened from outside what the three men were talking out.
- The rice was tasty which they offered us, sadly it had the smell of dead body- said one of them.
- The meat was not bad either, but it had dog’s smell- said the other.
- The wine we drank was also fine , but its taste and smell just reminded me of blood- said the third.
When this conversation was reported to the caliph, he ordered to inquire into the matter. They found out that the field where the rice was grown, earlier used to be a graveyard; the lamb which was killed for the lunch had drunk dog’s milk for some days before; and that while pressing the grapes the person pressing them had a cut on his leg, and so his blood had mixed with the wine.
The caliph then called the three men and awarded them handsomely for their knowledge and wisdom.
The camel owner went away with fleas in his ear.

Translated from Hungarian by me