The Strangest Animal

Once upon a time, long ago, a rumor came to the Sultan that a very strange animal had been brought to their desert city of Mecca. He was told that the hunter who caught it, shut the animal up in a cage in secret cavern and refused to allow anyone to get even a quick glimpse.

“But why?” asked the Sultan.

“The hunter is taking bets,” said the Sultan’s spy. “He is making the people guess at what kind of animal he is hiding. The winner will get half the money.

“Did he give any clues?” asked the Sultan.

“He said, “The animal stands for an idea larger than the whole sky and world.”

“Bring this hunter to me,” the Sultan requested.

When the hunter was brought before the Sultan, he said to the hunter, “You are taking bets in my kingdom, you must tell me what kind of animal this is that you have captured and brought here.”

But the hunter stood silent for a long time. Then he said, “Because you are the Sultan I will give you a second clue. The animal is like a book of knowledge.”

The Sultan thought to himself. This man is tricking the people. The Sultan came up with a plan.

He called his workers and told them to fill a large vase with gold. “Here is my bet.” He said to the hunter. “I will send you my guess tomorrow.”

The hunter turned to go but the Sultan said, “If I find you have tricked me or my people, you will loose your head.”

After the hunter left, the Sultan called in his five best spies and gave them instructions to go find the cave. “But wait until late tonight. There is a quarter moon and the night will be very dark.”

So in the middle of the night the Sultan’s spies went out to find the hidden cave holding the strange animal. They saw the hunter sleeping near a large stand of rock. Before long they found the cave opening and the Sultan’s five spies entered the dark cavern.

The 1^st spy went to the deepest end of the cavern north of the cage. He reached his arm into the cage and gasped as he felt a fat hose-pipe. The 2^nd spy went to the side of the cage and reached his arm in. He felt a large fan. The 3^rd spy bent down and felt what he thought was a standing pillar. The 4^th spy reached high into the back of the cage and felt a small snake wiggling. The 5^th spy heard the 1^st spy gasp so he went to that end of the cage and reached his arm into the cage and felt a long sword.

They left in a hurry to go tell the Sultan what they had found.

"When I touched the strange animal I felt something like a fat hose-pipe." The 1^st spy said.

"No, it wasn't like a pipe. It felt like a large fan," the 2^nd spy said.

"No, more like a standing pillar," said the 3^rd spy.

"Well, I felt a wiggly snake," said the 4^th spy.

"You are all wrong," said the 5^th spy. "I felt a long round sword."

"Only one of you can be right, the Sultan said. What kind of animal has a snake at one end, a stove pipe at another, stands on a pillar, wears a fan and carries a sword? It must be a trick. Tomorrow when I see this fake animal, I will have the hunter’s head."

The day of the show, the Sultan put on all his gold finery and jewels and had his servants carry him to where the hunter waited. There was a large crowd of hopeful, shouting people waiting for the hunter to show the animal.

"I am right," called out one man.

"No I am." Said another.

"I’ll bet I am right," said a women.

They had all made a guess at what kind of animal it was.

The Sultan sat in his carriage and waited. He had his hangman standing ready to cut off the hunter’s head if the animal was fake.

Finally the moment arrived. The hunter stood up and went into the cave. He walked out into the sunlight pulling a rope. At the end of the rope was the largest animal any of the people had ever seen. A few people fainted.

"What is it," asked the Sultan.

"It is an elephant," said the hunter.

True enough as the Sultan looked he could see the hose hanging in front, the large fan ears, the pillars it stood on, the snake like tail, and the long tusks at its mouth.

"I was right," said the 1^st spy.

"No I was," said the 2^nd.

"We were all right," said the 3^rd, "but my part is the most important."

"No mine is because the elephant needs its tusks to defend itself."

"My part is most important so the elephant can hear."

"No my part because the tail swipes off flies."

"My part because the pillars are needed to hold it up."

"Stop," the Sultan yelled.

"The hunter said, "It is all parts of one animal. How can any part be more important than the other?"

The Sultan looked at the hunter and smiled, "Ok, I can see now how this animal is a book of knowledge. But how does this elephant stand for and idea larger than the whole universe and world as you said?

"I am not truly a hunter," the man admitted, "I am a sage and teacher. This elephant is my instruction book. The elephant is a symbol for the God of the universe. All its parts are the different religions that people believe makes their own God the most important.

Laughing, the Sultan said, "You are truly a wise man."

So the wise sage got to keep all the money and his head that day.