THEGARDENER
AND THE FAKIR
nce upon a time,
somewhere in the east,
there lived a very rich
sultan. He was so
unbelievably rich that
even the country's flag
was studded with
diamonds.
Sometimes an emir
— a sort of
under"sultan — would
come to visit and tell
him whether the wheat
harvest had been
successful or if the
children were working
hard at school. That
sort of thing.
These emirs always
brought along a present
for the sultan. That was
the custom. Mostly
these were very
expensive things,
because... well... you
can't come to see a
THE GARDENER AND THE FAKIR
gloves. Every year, the
sultan, who was already
immeasurably wealthy,
received ever more
gold candlesticks,
pieces ofjewellery and
precious jewels.
One day an emir
came to visitwho gave
the sultan a small box.
The sultan opened it
eagerly. He expected a
gold ring, a silver
watch or a diamond,
but instead, there was a
kind of onion in the
box.
Taken aback, the
sultan looked at the
emir. 'M/hat is this?'
'l understand your
surprise, oh great
Sultan,' said the emir
quickly, (but it is a tulip
bulb. It must be planted
in the ground and then
a wonderfully beautiful
flower, a tulip, will
122
 these bulbs with me so 'I'll give you some medicine
that you will have the and you'll soon get better,' said
most beatfiiful garden the doctor,
in the world.
'Oh,' said thésult%n. He didn't e..-.Cö

look very happy and he said to

his servant: 'Summon the 0
gardener and help him to plant
all the... er... the... er... tulip
thingummybobs.' Then he turned
back to the emir and said: 'l .0
thank you for this gift. And tell
me now one thing: are you busy
with important matters of state?
Or just with flowers?'

The sultan's gardener was a dear

old man who loved his work. He
was always busy making the
garden as beautiful as possible.
Now he was tired, after piling up
all the sacks of tulip bulbs in the
shed.
He wearily traipsed back to his
house on the edge of the large
palace grounds.
He held one little bulb in his
hand. il'm curious,' he said and But the sultan
he planted it behind his house. 'If didn't get better.
these tulips really are as He just got
beautiful as the emir says, then worse, and
we can plant all the •others. in the became even
A couple ofdays after the emir more ill. Other
had left, the sultan became medical
unwell. Really very unwell. The experts were
doctor came and the sultan summoned
whispered hoarsely: 'It's just as if but no-one knew
I have a tummy ache in my head exactly what
and a headache in my tummy.' was ailing the
sultan. Soon

THE GARDENER AND THE FAKIR 123

 people throughout the land
were talking about their
ruler's strange illness that
appeared to have no cure.
The old gardener was busy
watering the magnolias when
a tramp came wandering into
the garden, He was a thin
man wearing worn-out
sandals. He had a very long
beard and a dusty turban on
his head. Under his arm
he.ouas carryifåg a little
rolled-up carpet.
'Good day,' said the gardener.
'You look thirsty. Would you
like something to drink?'
Silently the tramp took a pitcher
of water and slowly drained it.
Then he said: 'You are a good
man. Do you have a shady spot
here where I can rest?' 'But of
course,' answered the gardener.
'Come with me. You can eat
something too, ifyou like.'
He led the tramp to his
cottage where he gave him
a big oat cake. In the
shade behind the house,
the man unrolled his
carpet. Inside was a sort of
flute.
'What a lovely instrument,'
said the gardener.
'It is a shanai,' said the
tramp. He put the instrument
up to his lips and began to
blow.
An exquisite melody
could be heard, such
THE GARDENER AND THE FAKIR
beautiful music that tears
welled up in the gardener's
eyes. He listened in
amazement. All of a
sudden he saw something
curious in the ground right
in front of him. A small
red shoot had pushed itself
out of the earth. He took
another good look and,
yes, he was right: a red
flower was growing out of
the ground. The gardener
had never seen anything
grow so fast! It was in the
very place that he had
planted the tulip bulb. The
bewitching sound of the
shanai had made the
flower spring into life.
'Oh, how marvellous the
gardener cried out. 'The sultan
has to see this!'
When the tulip had grown to
its full magnificent height, the
man stopped playing. He said:
Rich is the man who has
great wealth
Butgives it all away
Aperson who givesfeely
Finds happiness every day
They both looked at the
tulip in silence. The
gardener thought about
the sultan. As ifthe man
could read his mind, he
said: 'I am a fakir. I know
why the sultan is ill. He is
ill because of all his
124
power and wealth. It is too on his face. 'The tulip
much, much too much thingummybob,' he
forjust one person. OnIy whispered. 'How lovely,
when he can value true 'We will put it next to
beauty, will he get better.' your bed,' said the
'True beauty?' said the doctor, 'then you can
gardener. 'Then I will go look at it as often as you
at once and show him the like.'
tulip!' He carefully Towards evening the
unearthed the tulip and doctor went to the
planted it in a pot. He gardener's cottage. The
went to the fakir was still there. 'It's
fantastic!' said the
doctor. 'I don't know
why, but all of a sudden
ANTON P)ECK
r-zu.„-q

palace and a little later

he stood by the bed of the sultan is feeling much better.

Ever since he saw your flower!'
the ill sultan. 'That is wonderful news,' said
the gardener.
The sultan had his
'Do you have any more
eyes closed and was
ofthose tulip thingummybobs?
breathing heavily, white
asked the doctor.
as a sheet.
'Do I ever! I've got a couple
The doctor who had
ofthousand ofthem in the shed!'
been watching over the
the gardener cried
sultan day and night
enthusiastically.
whispered: (Oh good
The fakir said: 'We should
Sultan, the gardener
plant them all right away.
wishes to show you
Doctor, ask the sultan to appear
something.'
at his window tomorrow
On hearing this, the
morning!'
sick man opened his
They worked all through the
eyes and stared for
night and, by the first rays of
several moments at the
the morning sun, the sultan
beautiful flower. His
appeared on his balcony.
eyes closed again but a
Beneath him he saw the fakir
blissful smile appeared
THE GARDENER AND THE FAKIR 125
who was sitting cross-legged on
his little carpet. He was playing
his shanai and the sultan
listened, gripped with emotion.
His mouth fell open in
amazement at what he saw
•next. Hundreds ofred flowers
stuck their little heads .öüt.ofthe
earth. It was an incredible sight,
all those tuHpsl growing
together at the same time. The
early sunlight played on the
petals of the flowers and tears
•ofjoystreamed down the sultan's
cheeks.
But what was that? Suddenly
the fakir stopped playing. Slowly
the little carpet floated upwards
and lifted the fakir off the
ground. As he hoverd towards te
sultan, he took out a weapon.
When he arrived by the window
he endangered the sultan and
said to him: I helped you getting
better, don't misuse it! He
floated back tot the tulpis and
started playing again. Even he
treated the sultan not well for a
moment, he still was amazed by
the beautiful music the fakir was
playing. He looked at the flowers
growing and knew he needed to
treat his people better and
needed to be more kind.
When he realised this, he went
back to his room and started
organizing a party for all of his
people. Everyone was very
happy with the final result and
they lived happily ever after!

THE GARDENER AND THE FAKIR 126