Traditional | Middle East

The Hunt for the Camel

A man accuses wise men of stealing his lost camel, but their keen observations prove their innocence and wisdom.

The Hunt for the Camel
Text Version

Once upon a time, in a small village in the Arabian desert, there was a man who loved his camel very much. They often traveled together across the sandy desert. One day, the camel disappeared.

The man was very sad and looked everywhere in the village and around it. He asked everyone, "Have you seen my camel?" But no one had seen it.

After several days of searching, the man met three wise men traveling through the area. He hoped they might know something, so he asked, "Excuse me, have you seen my camel? I lost him during my travels."

The wise men thought for a moment. The first one asked, "Is your camel blind in one eye?" The man was surprised and said, "Yes, he is!"

The second wise man asked, "Does your camel limp?" Again, the man was amazed and said, "Yes, he does!"

The third wise man asked, "Was your camel carrying different loads, like honey on one side and grain on the other?" The man was very hopeful now and said, "Yes, that's right! How do you know this? Where is my camel?"

But the wise men said, "We have not seen your camel. We just guessed these things from what we saw on the road."

The man was confused and a little angry. He said, "You must be joking! How can you know this if you haven't seen my camel?"

The wise men and the man went to see the village king to solve the problem. The man told the king that the wise men must have stolen his camel because they knew so much about it.

The king asked the wise men how they knew these things. The first wise man said, "We saw that the grass was eaten only on one side of the road. So, we thought the camel was blind in one eye."

The second wise man said, "We saw grain on one side of the road and honey on the other side. So, we thought the camel was carrying uneven loads."

The third wise man said, "The camel's hoof prints were not the same on both sides. One side was lighter. So, we thought the camel had a limp."

The king was impressed by their smart guesses and said the wise men were innocent. He told the man to search along the path the wise men described.

The man realized he was wrong and apologized to the wise men. He followed their advice and went to look for his camel. The king, happy with the wise men's wisdom, made them his trusted advisors.

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The Hunt for the Camel