Today
Saba is holding a pair of shoes. They
look like boys shoes! Everyone is
puzzled by looking at them.
As
usual they enter the little cottage and sit on the Persian rug to hear what is
new that day. Once the freshly baked
bread is served by Bibi, she starts the tale of…..
The prince and the poor boy’s shoes
Once upon a time there lived a young
boy with his mother in a remote village.
Every day he used to walk for miles to earn money and bring food for his
mother. He worked in a bakery, where at
the end of each day he would be given the leftover of the bread that hadn’t
been sold.
The boy’s shoes were so old and
worn-out that they hardly protected his feet from the cold. One
day after cleaning the shop he was getting ready to go home, when he suddenly
saw a pair of pure leather shoes in the storage behind the shop. He asked his master if he could have them
since they seemed to be his size.
The master refused to give the shoes
and told him not to tell anyone about it.
So the boy finished cleaning the shop and the old brick oven and set off
to walk home. It took him quite a while
to reach home as it was very cold and wet.
By the time he reached home his
feet were quite sore and cold and he couldn’t feel them anymore.
After a simple dinner he went to bed
to rest his tired feet and legs. Half
way through the night he woke up with a noise, right at the entrance of their
little cottage. He jumped out of bed
and looked through the window. Outside
it was pitch black and he couldn’t see anyone or anything. As he was going back to bed he heard another
noise. He thought someone was knocking at the
door. He slowly went back towards the
window and peeked out cautiously. He
noticed a squeaky noise at the door. As
he looked more closely he saw the pair of shoes that he had seen in his
master’s shop.
That night he slept like a rock,
feeling so pleased that he didn’t need to worry about the cold feet any
more.
The next day he set off for work with
great energy, happily whistling while walking.
As he reached to the shop, he
saw his master waiting for him at the entrance.
He looked quite angry and
disappointed.
The boy had no clue why his master was
angry. He walked closer to say hello.
“Good morning Sire.” Said the boy.
“How dare you to even come close to my
shop.” Shouted the master “you are
nothing but a thief”!
“Beg your pardon Sire, I don’t
understand”
“You don’t understand? How could you say that to my face?” said
master with a louder voice.
As he was getting louder and louder
everyone was gathering around the shop. Thinking that the boy has stolen something
they took him to the king’s palace, where the thieves and criminals were always
taken to be taken to the high courts.
The prince was practicing his horse
riding, when he saw the people bringing the young boy through the gates.
“What is happening?” said the
prince.
“This boy is a thief and has stolen
something from his master.” One of the
men said.
“What has he stolen?” asked the prince.
“He has stolen the shoes from his
master’s shop”.
“I did not steal them. They were left outside my house.” The boy shouted.
“Outside your door aye?” laughed the
men at once.
The prince was staring at the shoes,
while asking the men to take the boy inside the palace.
“Please leave him here. I will take him to the court rooms” said the
prince.
When everyone had left the Prince took
the young boy inside the palace.
“Tell me the truth, where did you get
these shoes from”? asked the prince.
So the young boy told the whole story
and how he got the shoes.
“These were my shoes that I had left
by the river when we had gone hunting last year.” Said the Prince. “I had been looking for them since
then. They are quite precious as they
belonged to my great grand-father”.
So the young boy and the prince became
very good friends. The mother and his
son never went hungry again.